the cuisine of ancient sumer

The Cuisine of Ancient SumerAuthor(s): Henri LimetSource: The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 50, No. 3 (Sep., 1987), pp. 132-147Published by: The American Schools of Oriental ResearchStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3210058 .

Accessed: 09/10/2013 13:05

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

The American Schools of Oriental Research is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extendaccess to The Biblical Archaeologist.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 142.51.1.212 on Wed, 9 Oct 2013 13:05:13 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=asor

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3210058?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


The

C U1I'SI'NE ofAncientSurner

byHenriLimet

iggurat. Sumer. Akkad. Uruk. Gilgamesh. Gudea. Ebla. To the person interested in the history of the

ancient Near East, these words and names call up rich, often powerful, images: images of human origins and progress, of the first great civili- zations and the art and literature they produced; images that cause us to journey back into time, to study and seek to understand those origins and to evaluate that progress.

Our attempt to understand early human history is, of course, not new. The great myths and epics first recorded by the Sumerians also give reasons for the human condition. They address these human questions, however, in the arena of the gods or of superhuman, often semi- divine, beings. What of the lives of ordinary people? How did they live? What role did they play in their villages or in the larger sphere of Meso- potamian society. What did they eat and drink? How did they survive? And where can we turn for this type of information?

Archaeology provides abundant data that help us reconstruct much about early Mesopotamian life, but

often in broad terms. We can determine when population groups began to settle, when they first cultivated grains and domesticated animals. We can learn about the basic societal units, about pottery and architec- tural traditions, and even about some of the basic elements of their diet. Unfortunately, however, the archaeology of Mesopotamia, at least in its early stages, was sometimes more interested in the spec- tacular finds, with the palace and temple complexes, with archives. Again, the less privileged of society were only studied inasmuch as they were part of the greater and more important institutions.

In this article I will attempt to reconstruct one aspect of Mesopo- tamian life in one period of its history: the Sumerian diet at the end of the third millennium B.C.E. We will look at the diet not only of royalty but also of the common people, of the privileged classes and of the lower classes of the soldiers, artisans, and peasants. To do this, I will draw from a variety of texts dating from the period of Sumerian history known as the Third Dynasty of Ur (see the accompanying sidebars for

IX. AIi , k

,, It•'•, U. ll

o

I

lit~l

Alt,

...... ...

A ll '

~ ~A1

Al III

V il o l 1 jt. 1 i

Drawing of an offering scene carved on an alabaster vase found at the Sumerian city of Uruk. The central figure in the top register is the goddess Inanna (or her priestess), who is being offered a wide range of foodstuffs. Drawing, by Elisabeth Andrae, is from Klein- funde aus den Archaischen Tempelschichten in Uruk (Berlin: Deutsche Forschungsgemein- schaft, 1936), by Ernst Heinrich.

132 Biblical Archaeologist, September 1987



C I •j f•.1. WSit 1 -- - 5

/4 Till ~ '4';h \

I, - 7k7fjlo

Q!IfVIP / f

Itt

WE:.ui Ti

.1114:1

~c' '')II ,

I " . . ' : '

.. . Y Pii :.. ' " '!'

hki~])' ~ It ~ ijt'4, *171,-

14 i 1. IIt /ij 1 q,1

rr JuI

Vu "' I Iry

It-" ,," ,l jL ol J .*C' \ N

more detailed information on both the texts consulted and the history of this period).

I should mention here that, while these documents do inform us of the staples of the Sumerian diet, we are at a great loss to know how the foods were prepared. Unfortu- nately, we have not yet discovered one text containing recipes or de- scriptions of the taste, texture, or appearance of Ur III cuisine.

Sumerian Diet What, then, were the items that made up the Sumerian diet in the Ur III period? The oldest lexical lists begin with the terms for water, bread, beer, and soup. Other texts include various types of oil, meat, fish and poultry, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, cereal grains, and a wide variety of herbs and spices. Bread. Barley was the most common cereal grain cultivated in Mesopo-

tamia during this period, and as such was most used in the pro- duction of bread. Other grains were cultivated as well but in smaller amounts: wheat and emmer, the latter a coarser cereal. Of these grains, wheat was better able to withstand the high salt content of the soil found in some areas of Sumer.' Despite this, the proportion of wheat to barley was low. A milling list, for example, records the processing of 556 kur of barley, 469 kur of flour (barley flour), 14 kur of wheat and 6 kur of emmer (Jones and Snyder, 1961: 135).

The barley was winnowed; then the kernels were ground into flour with portable millstones. Milling produced various grades of flours. Sometimes grain was toasted before it was ground. It could be cracked to produce a kind of groats or hulled and crushed, much like the bourghoul of present-day Syria. Emmer yielded a special flour called esa.

These flours were then com- bined with water (generally without any leavening agent) to produce various kinds of breads. A number of varieties are attested: excellent, ordinary, fresh, and dry. Of course barley flour was most commonly used (in fact, unless a different type was spec- ified, we may assume that barley flour was used in a given bread). This basic bread resembled the large flat cakes (hobes) that women knead and bake in the Middle East today. It was a rather coarse food, very plain and certainly tasteless.

A better kind of bread was the ninda.d.d.a, which was improved by "beating in" various fatty substances: vegetable oil (sesame oil), lard (pork fat), mutton "butter," or even fish fat. Among these breads, distinction was made between first-quality and ordinary, between black and white. Honey was sometimes added (MSL XI, 119, 24-35).

Giig cakes were made with a higher quality flour (Legrain 1937: numbers 288 and 985)2 and a "noble" fat (ghee or clarified butter?). The

Biblical Archaeologist, September 1987 133



V 'o o i'", Ilk

.AMR MW 97

"IF

IV "Ael

or,

'YAW,,, 7777

Side B of the so-called Standard of Ur depicts scenes from a banquet in three panels. This mosaic, which was found in Royal Tobmb 779, is made of shell, blue lapis lazuli, and red stone (possibly jasper). It measures 22 by 9 inches and dates to around 2600-2450 B.C.E. (See pages 98-102 of Ur'of the Chaldees') Photograph courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum.

common folk did not eat them (Gordon 1959: 1.52, note 6). Breads and cakes made from other kinds of flours (regular and high-quality) were destined for the royal table.

One text seems to provide the proportions in which the ingredients are to be mixed for cakes that "have gone to the palace" (Delaporte 1912: number 7248): 1 sila of butter; 1/3 sila of white cheese; 3 sila of first- quality dates; 1/3 sila of Smyrna rai- sins. We may assume that "excellent" flour would have been added, but it was not mentioned in this case.

We may compare this with a recipe for a ninda.1.d6.a from Nippur, a recipe that dates from the time of Hammurapi: x sila of flour; x sila of dates; 1/2 sila, 5 gin of butter; 9 gin of white cheese; 9 gin of grape juice; 5 gin of apples; 5 gin of figs (Sigrist 1977: 169).

Another type of pastry, mentioned quite frequently, was the girl.lam. This was most often offered to the gods, but it was sometimes received by the king. Sweetened with honey and bound together with small amounts of flour, it was a preparation of fruit, always dates, and also sometimes of figs.

Oil, Ike AN&LA"

.77 '19

- If

qw use-

silk .J- J low

- 0 Awl

Limestone relief from Ur showing a libation offering before a seated god (upper register) and a temple facade (lower register). In the lower scene a figure also holds a live kid, possibly for sacrifice. In the center of the plaque, which dates to around 2450-2100 B.C. E., is a hole that was used to fasten the panel to a wall. (See pages 123-24 of Ur'of the Chaldees') Photograph courtesy of the Tustees of the British Museum.




Mediterranean Sea

i ?mm

Vegetable oil. Vegetable oil, another important part of the Sumerian diet, was generally produced by an oil- bearing plant, sesame. The olive tree was not grown widely in the Near East until much later. Also known were mutton fat, lard, fish oil, and, above all, the "noble fat." Sometimes the oil was seasoned or flavored and was described in Sumerian as "made good." This seasoning would mask the rancid taste that the fat would have quickly acquired in the heat of the Fertile Crescent. Drinks. Another essential compo- nent of this diet was drink. Water was the natural drink, of course, one that needed no other preparation and that was available to all; therefore, it is seldom mentioned in the lexicographic lists.

The lists do, however, contain many terms describing various types

Though we have not yet found a text

that contains a recipe from Ur III, the

texts do tell us what items made up the Sumerian diet.

of beer. Though the Sumerian word ka' has been translated as "beer," this is not strictly accurate. It is in- stead "barley-beer," for it was not flavored with hops. Plain barley-beer, first quality as well as ordinary, is listed, along with a beer that appears to have been weaker in alcoholic content (honey or grape juice was sometimes added to it-Civil 1964: 67 and following). A dark beer was favored at Ur; a clear beer was also

brewed. Freshly brewed beer and well-aged beer are mentioned. This latter beer must have been very strong. Sweet and pleasant beers, as opposed to beer one might call "bitter," are also attested.

The Sumerians also drank milk: cow's milk, goat's milk, and, it would seem, ewe's milk. A wide variety of cheeses were produced: a white cheese (which was on the royal table), a "fresh" cheese, and




a

4i. If i

Dairy scene that makes up part of a frieze found in the temple of Ninhursag at Tell al-cUbaid. Dating to the first half of the third millennium B.C.E., the frieze shows typical dairy activities-milking, straining, and, possibly, making butter-but the fringed garments of the workers sug- gests that they are priests rather than ordinary laborers. (See page 108 of Ur'of the Chaldees' Photograph courtesy of the Iraq Museum, Baghdad.

a cheese that was richer than the others. The lexical lists also include flavored, sweetened, and sharp cheeses.

Although the vine was cultivated (Legrain 1937: number 1368), it does not seem that wine was an everyday drink in Mesopotamia. The Sume- rian word for grape juice literally means "that which comes forth from the grape." The word we translate as "grape-water" does not describe wine but vinegar. This fermented grape juice was used to season certain dishes. At Mari, it should be noted, wine was brought in from the north and the west and was offered as a gift (Finet 1974-1977: 122-31). Soup. Soup, food that is both liquid and solid, came at the top of the lexicographical lists but is not mentioned in any other texts of the period. Should we conclude from this that it was the everyday food of the people, too common to merit special note? These soups had a starch or flour base: chick-peas, lentils, barley flour or emmer flour. They were sometimes made with hulled barley and may have resembled the bourghoul dish that is still prepared in Syria or the kishk soup found in several parts of the Middle East today. Certain soups contained mutton fat or oil, honey, or meat juice. They were rarely sim- ilar to our vegetable soups. A soup of turnips seems to have been rather unusual (MSL XI, 113, 4-46), though another list mentions a few soups with a vegetable base. A "forerunner

list" has a possible mention of a "fish soup" (MSL XI, 152). These were thick and nourishing soups that must have really stuck to the ribs. Meat. The diet we are describing is that of a settled population. It was principally vegetarian, made up of cereals and legumes, which provided protein, some carbohydrates, and lipids from the oils and the fats. Nomads ate more dairy products, as well as moderate amounts of meat. The Sumerians, too, certainly ate meat. There was a "slaughterhouse" at Lagash, but this meat may have been reserved for the temples (Oppenheim 1948: 6, note 13).

There are, however, a number of indications that animals were raised "for cooking." At Puzrish-Dagan (Drehem), not far from Nippur, there were some very large structures that were probably used to confine nu- merous animals. These flocks and herds came from voluntary or obliga- tory contributions and were redistrib- uted for dietary or cultic needs.

The documents often list animals described as "delivery for cooking." Sometimes the animals were delivered alive, then slaughtered by the butcher; on occasion they arrived already dead. This does not seem to have made them unfit for human consumption in the eyes of the Sumerians. According to the Drehem texts, the meat was for the soldiers of the guard, the couriers, and the cult functionaries.

The following document, from the second year of king Shu-Sin is

. .

TWo banquet scenes are portrayed on these plaster impressions taken from cylinder seals found in Royal Tomb 800 at Ur, which dates to around 2600-2450 B.C.E. (See pages 64 and 76 of Ur'of the

Chaldees'.) Photograph courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum.

typical of the listings of the Ur III period. It gives the shipments of animals for several days of one particular month. Besides six sacrificial steers, these animals were used for food:

day 11: 8 steers, 4 cows were loaded on a boat when the king went to Uruk. day 16: 1 living steer and 1 dead cow for cooking were loaded on a boat when the king went to Nippur. day 19: 4 steers, 11 cows, placed at the disposal of the soldiers of the guard who hauled the boat




from Ur. (Gregoire 1981: number 142)

Steers and cows were also provided for the fourth, fifth, ninth, fourteenth, twenty-fourth, and twenty-fifth days of the month. We know neither the number of the soldiers nor the size of the royal suite for whom this meat was intended. So, even if we were able to determine the size of each person's serving of meat, we would still not know the proportion of meat in the Sumerian diet.

Other records list deliveries of animals on the occasion of the king's trip to Ur or Nippur (Schneider 1931: number 108). Elsewhere, entries are made of animals delivered to the palace. At Lagash, the workers at the textile workshop got 194 sheep and 39 lambs. At other times, they were given 100 sheep; a single steer with salt; and 6 sheep with bread and salt (Hackman 1937: number 73; Genouillac 1912: numbers 4957 and 5417, 1911: number 4135).

The Sumerians had no prohibi- tion against pork. They ate (on rare occasion, it is true) roast suckling pig (Limet 1976: number 70, reverse 1, 4, 5; Oppenheim 1948: 43, E3, n.c.). It is clear, however, that they were repulsed by donkey meat, much as we are repulsed by the flesh of dogs. Horse meat does not enter into consideration here, since horses had not yet come into the area. Fish and Poultry. The Sumerians ap- preciated poultry and fish, though these are seldom included in the texts. This may be because many of the texts from this period are economic tablets, records of trans- actions of either the temple or palace. Birds and fish were beyond the control of both institutions; they were not, therefore, quantifiable items for the scribe to record. The many canals contained masses of fish, while game was plentiful as well. And all peasants were capable of raising poultry outside their homes.

Nevertheless, we see the following entry made for one day at the

palace at Ur. A suckling pig is delivered for roasting, as well as two wood-pigeons, one duck, and one pigeon (all dead). The fowl were destined, no doubt, for the stewpot (Keiser 1971: number 366). Among the other foodstuffs mentioned, occasionally the following were sent: a lamb, a pigeon, one or two geese (once, a goose fattened with barley), and a number of birds that we are unable to identify. And eggs (probably from ducks, geese, or chickens) were certainly repre- sented in the Sumerian diet.

Fish were also on the royal table. Again, it is difficult for modern historians to identify exact species, although the documents list many different kinds of fish (Limet 1976: number 93). The Sumerians enjoyed saltwater and freshwater fish but preferred those that had been raised in "fish ponds." These ponds were actually reservoirs that held water before it was released into the canals? Fruits and vegetables. The landscape of southern and central Mesopo- tamia was very different from the one that we see today in Iraq and Syria. What are now the desolate vistas and arid countryside with their few scattered villages were once far more fertile, planted with fruit trees and gardens. Sumerian cooking made great use of these vegetables and fruits. Chick-peas and lentils begin one list of vegetables (MSL X, 245). But the base of their diet contained members of the onion family: onions, leeks, shallots, and garlic. Their use and variety are shown in both lexical and economic texts. The "Dilmun onion" of the pre-Sargonic period was called the "Maharsi onion" in the Ur III period. The characteristics of these onions were also noted: sharp, sweet, or those "which have a strong odor."

To this well-established group of vegetables we may add many varieties of lettuce (perhaps even esca- role), the hearts and the tops of which were eaten. Cucumbers, both

of summer and of winter, both sweet and bitter, are attested, as is a kind of rape, which most likely was the turnip.

Because the cultivation of dates was not profitable, they were scarce and were reserved for the temples and the court. Apples, pears, grapes, figs, plums (or this may have been a medlar fruit), pistachios, and pome- granates were commonly grown. Of course, a few other fruits whose identification is uncertain were listed in the lexical texts. The fruits were used frequently in the preparation of the giri.lam cakes mentioned above.

Food Preparation By gathering the elements of the Sumerian diet, we have done our shopping, so to speak. Now we must try to understand the finer points of Sumerian cuisine. How were these foods prepared or given flavor in order to please the palate or, on a more basic level, in order simply to be edible?

The Sumerians were very con- scious of the superiority of their cuisine over that of the bedouin of the western desert. These people, they said, did not know what civi- lized life was. They ate their food raw. If you gave them flour, eggs, and honey for a cake, they would not know what to do with them (Limet 1972: 130).

Was this pride in Sumerian culinary art justified, or were they simply being pretentious? This is, of course, impossible for us to judge. As I stated above, not a single text from this period contains both proportions of ingredients and instructions for preparation of a given dish. We know nothing of the texture or appearance of any Sumerian foods; however, cultic recipes from the later Old Babylonian period do give us specific directions for food preparation (See Bottiro: 1985). Texts have also been discovered that contain exact measurements for pharmaceutical preparations (Goltz 1974: 49). Is it




not equally possible that such preci- sion existed in food preparation during the Ur III period? With this possibility in mind, let us examine a few facts from which we may draw some conclusions that are not too farfetched. Use of herbs and spices. Sumerian and Arabic cuisines, though they are much separated by time, share the tendency to use spices in large quantities. They also share a taste for garlic and other kinds of onions, which give a very piquant flavor to their respective foods.

Among the spices used by the Sumerians, naga (see sidebar on documentation) was the seasoning of the poor. A very piquant spice called gazi, used in meat dishes, was reserved for the well-to-do. It gave rise to the proverb, "The poor man is the one who does not have gazi when he has meat, nor does he have meat when he has gazi" (Gordon 1959: 1.55). According to the same proverb, one ate bread with salt.

The list of condiments is lengthy: coriander, black and white cumin, "the mountain plant," watercress, and many medicinal herbs were included. In fact, it is from the Sume- rian word for cumin that our name for this spice is derived (it was written i'.TIR but was read gamun= cumin). Many of the names for seasonings are not translated but surely describe very common plants such as thyme, fenugreek, rue, and marjoram.

Further, most spice names show a Semitic influence. (Does this in- dicate a foreign influence on the dietary customs of the Sumerians?) These "herbs" were grown in a "kitchen garden" (see Limet 1982: 259) and were not imported to Sumer (unlike the pepper, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger that arrived in the Mediterranean and Near Eastern coun- tries from the Far East in the Middle Ages; see Rodinson 1949:151). Sweeteners. The Sumerians evidently never encountered sugar. In- stead, they used fruit juices, espe-

She archivists of the Ur III period have preserved innumerable records for Sus. These records come from a variety of sources: Economic, literary,

and lexical texts all inform us about Sumerian life and culture. Economic texts. Income, expenditures, amounts of harvest, salaries, ration lists, numbers of livestock at hand, and receipts of even the smallest trans- actions were all carefully recorded and preserved. Not a single action that had any economic significance was overlooked by the scribes. These records may have been kept indefinitely, or collated and revised periodically (and the ori- ginals discarded). Lexicons. The Sumerian language - a non-Semitic tongue - seems to have ceased being spoken near the end of the third millennium B.C.E. It later fell into disuse even as a written language, although it was preserved for cultic purposes and studied in the scribal schools. Some ancient texts were copied even in the last centuries B.C.E. Because Akkadian began to be more widely used than Sumerian, lexicographical lists were drawn up in the beginning of the Old Babylonian period (around 1900 B.C.E.) giving Akkadian equivalents for Sumerian words.

The lexicon for foodstuffs is well furnished. The principal source is found in the series of tablets known as HAR.RA = hubullu texts. Food is mentioned as follows: Tablet XVII (MSL X, 82 and following) mentions vegetables and various condiments; tablet XXIII (MSL XI, 69 and following) lists soups, beers, and various flours and breads; tablet XXIV (MSL XI, 78 and following) has terms for honey, oil, milk, cheese, and fruit. The "forerunner lists," especially those from Nippur, also enhance our knowledge of Sumerian foods (MSL XI, 93 and following).

These lexical tablets give us only the elements of the cuisine of this society. We have not yet discovered a collection of recipes from the Ur III period. Our major obstacle is the precise identification of the products used in cooking: What particular type of vegetables, cereals, fish, poultry, and game are intended? The messenger texts. These texts give us a reasonably correct picture of the Sumerian diet. They come primarily from Lagash and Umma and list provi- sions given to people such as military personnel or couriers who passed through a particular locale on their mission (see Jones and Snyder 1961: 280-310). They were generally given beer, bread, and oil. The bread could be replaced by flour, while another fat such as mutton oil might be substituted for the sesame oil (Thureau-Dangin 1903:390,392,397). The beer was sometimes'good quality." A typical daily ration was 5 sila (4 liters) of beer and roughly the same amount of bread. The oil was measured by the flagon, which held a bit less than 2 deciliters. The ration varied depending on the importance of the recipient.

This type of ration has been confirmed by many documents that also specify the number of days for which a quantity of food is anticipated (see Reisner 1901: 199, 217). At Umma a few fish were added to this frugal diet,

cially grape and date juice. Honey was used only by the wealthy. As mentioned in merchants' records, it may have been imported. But only "mountain honey" was definitely brought from afar. "Dark," "red," and "white" honey are also attested. "Date-honey" was a syrup made from the dates, not an actual honey. Honey is classified in the lists with oil,

cheese, and the resinous perfumes. It was, therefore, considered a natural product but one that was proc- essed before it could be used (MSL XI, 156, 268-75). Salt. Though salt was plentiful, it is seldom mentioned in the texts. When it is included, it is grouped with other spices (MSL XI, 158). It was weighed in the form of a block




_ _.

The Sumerians used a system of writing known as cuneiform, where a reed stylus was used to make wedge-shaped impressions in a clay tablet. This tablet, dating to the Third Dynasty of Ur (approximately 2100 to 2000 B.c. E.), lists the quantities of barley received by the ruler Shulgi from various farmers. Photograph courtesy of the 71Tustees of the British Museum.

along with a bunch of onions and a seasoning derived from an alkaloid plant (the naga) whose ashes, sprinkled on fish or bread, gave it some taste.

The proportion of bread in their diet corresponded to that of the other Sumerians. Five sila a day would equal 6 bushels per year. This is the precise amount of barley that a slave is bound to furnish to the wife of his master in order to insure her maintenance. He was also obligated to provide her with 6 sila (almost 5 liters) of oil (see Falkenstein 1956: number 7). Food for royalty. Other documents describe the table of the king as more lavishly decked than those of his subjects. A princess on her journey to Ashnan in Elam takes with her butter, cheese, jugs of milk (clabbered milk?), dried apricots, onions, and two spices (Lambert 1968: text 46A; Thureau-Dangin 1903: number 384).

Note: Sumerian IJAR.RA (Akkadian hubullu) means "debt" or "obligation (with in- terest)."These texts (along with the "forerunner texts" are catalogued and collated in the MSL series. Work on these collections of Sumerian-Akkadian texts was begun by Benno Landsberger, with volume I published in 1937 and the latest volume appearing in 1985. Volumes I-IX are published under the title Materielien zum Sumerische Lexicon, Volumes X-XVII are entitled Materiels for the Sumerian Lexicon. They are based on Landsberger's work and edited by E. Reiner and M. Civil. The entire set is published by the Pontificum Institutum Biblicum in Rome.

and then crushed. The weight of salt was most commonly reckoned in minas. Once, three talents (90 kilo- grams) of salt is noted (Genouillac 1910, number 892, IV; 4135; Legrain 1937: numbers 126 and 1021, reverse 6; MSL XI 161, VI). Grinding grains. Barley was ground with millstones.4 Some had a protu- berance that served as a handgrip,

while those of inferior quality did not. The stones that one could turn by hand while using the grip were more desirable (Hussey 1915: number 5, reverse I, 12-13; reverse III, 17-18; Genouillac 1912: numbers 5509, 6145; Legrain 1937: number 272, IV, 40-41).

The difference between the grades of flour depended both upon

the bolting, which left more or less bran, and upon the fineness of the grind. Emmer and chick-peas were roughly ground or often crushed. (Gregoire 1970: number 135, VI, 34). Coriander and gazi were also crushed so that they might give off all their flavor.

Barley and barley-flour were often toasted in an oven. Fruits were frequently dried in an oven or in the open air to insure their preservation and facilitate their transport. Grapes were pressed in order to produce their juice, just as sesame seeds were pressed in order to produce oil. Cooking. While the fruits, the salads, the onions, and the cucumbers could all be eaten raw, the breads, the cakes, the meats, and the soups all had to be cooked. The vocabulary for cooking is imprecise in both Sumerian and Akkadian. For example, the Chicago Akkadian Dictionary translates the Akkadian verb ba'alu as "to boil, to roast," pro- cesses that are quite different. And von Soden's Akkadishes Handwdr- terbuch translates baIalu simply as "to cook."

Certainly though, precise and different methods were used to prepare the food. When meat was placed in direct contact with the fire, the cooking was described by the terms meaning literally, "to touch with fire" or "touched by the fire" (MSL XIII, 157, 73-76, 79). Meats were often cured, dried, and roasted as well. Fish is described as "touched by fire" and "placed upon the fire," possibly placed in the glow- ing coals. Some breads seemed to have been cooked in the coals as well. A grill was used for cooking over the flames. The stews and soups had to be prepared in pots placed upon the fire. The vocabulary for such vessels, whether of clay or metal, is very full. We can imagine the foods simmering slowly in the kettles of various shapes and sizes (see Salonen 1966).

The Sumerians used several different types of ovens. The du.ru.un




110

FIN,

W.. "e-W

40 OF.

A man and a woman, seated respectively on the right and left, are shown being served in the upper register of this alabaster plaque dating to the third millennium B.C.E. found at Khafajah, northeast of Baghdad. Photo- graph courtesy of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago.

or di.li.na was a clay oven (see Civil 1973: 172-75). Its sides were pre- heated before bread was baked in them, as is still done today. If the opening at the top of the oven was closed off with a cover, heat high enough for the baking of cakes and other dishes was produced. The ki.ne was probably used as a modern bar- becue is. We may conclude, then, that at the beginning of the second millennium B.C.E. the culinary ter- minology became more precise, most likely demonstrating developments in diet.

It would appear that men were the professional cooks during this period. They are mentioned a number of times in the documents from Ur (Legrain 1937: number 46, 1257). While one text from Lagash lists the cooks merely as "workers" (Reisner 1901: number 139, IV, 23-25; Oppen- heim 1948: 3, note 5), a list of artisans from the Early Dynastic period begins with "cooks" (MSL XII, 17, 13;

other artisans included are metal- workers, basket-weavers, and jewelers). Another text lists "the great cook" and "chief cook" (MSL XII, 36, 95-97). One of these chefs even left an imprint of his seal, which he claimed was given to him by King Ibbi-Sin himself.

Women played virtually no role in the royal kitchens, as confirmed by the many paleo-Babylonian texts, including those from Mari. (There were female servants who molded the barley.) This distribution of tasks is described in official administrative texts. It is probable, however, that within the households of the peasants it was the women who prepared the meals.

Conclusion The economic and lexical texts from the Ur III period provide us with a good understanding of the various foods and components of the ancient Sumerian diet. Yet, certain impor-

tant questions remain unanswered. For example, many varieties of plants, fish, vegetables, and wild and domesticated animals contained in the lexical lists cannot be identified pre- cisely. Our greatest difficulty, however, lies in our ignorance of the manner in which these foods were prepared.

Sumerian cuisine seems to have corresponded closely to the Mediter- ranean diet of ancient and modern times (see Sorre 1943-1948: I, 267). It was essentially a vegetarian diet, made up of cereals, legumes, and garden produce supplemented by large quantities of milk, cheese, and fish, and smaller amounts of red meat. For the less privileged, the diet was quite frugal, one which just met basic needs. But in contrast to the nomads, the Sumerians were privileged. They had already passed the stage of hand-to-mouth existence and were not confined to a few products obtained by poorly managed agriculture, by meager barter, or by dangerous raids.

The upper classes enjoyed a more varied and refined cuisine, as the wide variety of spices and seasonings indicates. Perhaps the professional cooks of ancient Sumer had the skill and imagination of the great chefs of our own day.

Notes This article, originally written

in French, was translated by Jonathan Glass.

'By the end of the third millennium B.C.E., certain areas of land were covered with salt because of the poor drainage of the irrigation canals. Sometimes a field was called ki.mun "salty place." This salinization is reflected in the Atra- Hasis myth, in the plague of famine with which the gods afflicted humanity (tablet II, iv: 7-8).

2The term g"ig does not describe a container, as was once thought.

3For the distinction between "saltwater fish" and "pond fish," see Delaporte (1912: numbers 7091, 8812) and Salonen (1970: 198).

4The term na4 may describe simply




A Brief History of the Third Dynasty of Ur

(aJ' F

A"' -

-

~c

T he history of the ancient civilization of Sumer is one of remarkable achievement (see Hallo and Simpson 1971; Jacobsen 1977; Kramer 1963,

1981; Roux 1980). By the end of the Early Dynastic period (the twenty-fourth century B.C.E.), the Sumerians had invented writing and cylinder seals, developed a ruling system that has been characterized as a primitive democracy (see Jacobsen 1943, 1957) or an oligarchy (Oppenheim 1977: 112), planned and completed monumental building projects, and produced sophisticated art and literature. In many ways, however, the Third Dynasty of Ur, which lasted from approximately 2100 to 2000 B.C.E., marks their greatest accomplishment. Under the Ur III kings, Sumer experienced a cultural and political renaissance (Hallo and Simpson 1971: 77); the arts once again flourished, and a highly efficient political bureaucracy emerged.

In some respects this ruling system was the last in a series of innovations which began even before the Early Dynastic period (2900-2300). At that time, rule in the early settlements was almost certainly clan- or kinship-based. As the settlements grew in size, their affairs came to be governed by an assembly of free adult males. In times of emergency (generally a military crisis but occasionally economic or environmental problems-Redman 1978: 307), one

A reconstruction of the great ziggurat at Ur built by Ur-Nammu. The structure was part of a temple complex that included a courtyard in front of, and connected to, the ziggurat area. The excavator of Ur, Leonard Woolley, believed that the terraces were planted with trees. The building on top was the god's house and would therefore be seen from the ground outside the walls as tiers of greenery with the god's house on top. (See pages 141 and 145-49 of Ur 'of the Chaldees' [Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1982]; this book is PR R. S. Moorey's revision and updating of Woolley's Excavations at Ur.) Drawing courtesy of the 71Trustees of the British Museum.




A detail from the Stele of Ur-Nammu, foun- der of the Third Dynasty at Ur. Ur-Nammu is depicted carrying tools (an ax, compasses, and basket for mortar or bricks) for the ceremonial founding of a temple. The hands in the lower right of the picture belong to a priest who accompanies the king. Photo- graph courtesy of the 71-Tustees of the British Museum.

,Oki

member would be appointed to rule the village or city; however, the ruler was responsible to the council and was not to act without its sanction (Jacobsen 1943: 165-67). When the crisis ended, the ruler was divested of his power and the council again reigned supreme (Jacob- sen 1957: 99-104). This was Jacobsen's primitive democracy. It was a democracy in the "classical rather than in its modern sense" (Jacobsen 1943: 159), an interesting mix of kinship, shared, and individual ("charismatic") rule.

As the Early Dynastic period continued and the number and size of city- states in Sumer increased, there was evidently a shift toward centralization of power (Jacobsen 1943: 160). Rulers seem to have consolidated their control rather than to relinquish power to the assembly Although the council continued to be active even in later periods, its powers were circumscribed and the king reigned supreme. Kingship came to be considered as divinely bestowed upon a ruler and his city-state, and the first true dynasties emerged. Initially, city- states remained semiautonomous; a loose city-state league may even have been formed (Jacobsen 1957: 106; Hallo and Simpson 1971: 43). But the drive toward "concentration of power in as few hands as possible" continued (Jacobsen 1943: 160). By the end of the Early Dy- nastic period, major city-states in Sumer were competing for supremacy over one

another (Redman 1978: 305-07). Ironically, the dynastic ideal was

more fully realized under a Semitic (Akkadian) than a Sumerian ruler. Sometime around 2300, Sargon, an Akkadian usurper, wrested control of the city-state of Kish from his lord, Ur- Zababa. After establishing a new city, Akkad, as his capital, he undertook several military expeditions to such distant areas as southern Anatolia, Elam (southwestern Iran), the Zagros Moun- tains, and eastern Syria. During most of his reign, the city-states of southern Mesopotamia remained, as before, inde- pendent. It happened, however, that his power came to be challenged by a coalition of some fifty kings, led by Lugalgalezi of Uruk. Sargon routed the coalition, thereby gaining control of their cities. Thus emerged the world's first empire.

The Akkadian empire continued under Sargon's two sons and reached its fullest development under his grandson, Naram-Sin, who ruled from 2254 to 2198. He was the first Mesopotamian king to take the title "king of the four quarters" (which was roughly equivalent to "king of the universe") and claim divine status. Military campaigns expanded his territory so that it stretched from Dilmun (modern Bahrain) in the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. His long reign was also marked by sound economic and administrative policies.

Trade and tribute brought needed com- modities to Akkad from distant vassal territories. In order to ensure loyalty and stability, Naram-Sin appointed many of the royal family to important positions throughout the empire.

Near the end of Naram-Sin's reign, signs of unrest and even weakness became evident. But it was when his son Sharkalisharri took the throne that the empire fell apart. Tradition credited a nomadic tribe from the Zagros Moun- tains, the Gutians, with his defeat, but they were most likely only one of many factors leading to the end of the Sargonic period. The Elamites (in southwestern Iran) declared their independence, and additional threats to the east (the Hur- rians) and west (the Amorites) doubtless contributed to his downfall. In 2193, Sharkalisharri was defeated, and this period of Akkadian rule ended.

The Akkadian empire was followed by a brief period of Gutian control. The Sumerian King List records the length of this interlude at 125 years, including twenty-one kings. The accuracy of the list has been questioned, however, and William Hallo argues that their rule cannot have lasted for more than 40 or 50 years. The geographical extent of Gutian hegemony is also unclear but is likewise considered to have been fairly limited. Georges Roux has suggested that they occupied "Nippur and a few strategic sites" (1980: 154), while Hallo




79

sit

A

A detail from the Stele of Ur-Nammu showing him pouring a libation on a plant before a god. According to the inscription between the registers on the back, this action symbolizes watering the fruits of the earth. Photograph courtesy of the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania.

has said that their control was at least initially limited to northern Mesopo- tamia and that it "rested lightly and briefly on Sumer and Akkad" (1971: 710-11; 715). Certainly many Sumerian city-states remained completely in- dependent of the Gutian rulers.

In 2120, Utu-hegal, then ensi (gover- nor) of Uruk, rebelled against the Gutian overlords. Other city-states joined the uprising, and the last Gutian king, Tiri- gan, was overthrown. Utu-hegal reigned for only 7 years, when Ur-Nammu (possibly his son, almost certainly a member of his extended family) declared himself king of Ur and founded the Third Dy- nasty of Ur.

Under Ur-Nammu (2112-2095) Su- merian control was established throughout greater Mesopotamia and Syria. It was eventually expanded, during the reigns of his descendants, to approximately the same size as the Akkadian empire (Roux 1980: 165; for a more conservative estimate of the geographical control exercised by the Ur III dynasty, see Redman 1978: 317). Ur- Nammu's concerns were mainly domes- tic -establishing stability throughout the empire. He is credited with promul- gating one of the earliest law "codes," a collection of casuistic, or case, laws, one that is marked by monetary rather than capital penalties for crimes. He also carried out extensive building projects, the most noteworthy of which are the

ziggurats of Ur, Uruk, Nippur, and Eridu. The base of the best preserved of these, in Ur, measures 200 by 150 feet and probably supported a three-story structure. It seems that one of Ur- Nammu's strategies for expanding his influence was to build temples for the gods of the various city-states, thus ingratiating himself with their cults. Once he controlled (or at least signifi- cantly influenced) the temple of a given locale, political control often followed quickly. The empire was then divided into a series of provinces (ultimately there would be as many as 40 separate districts), each with a city-state as its center. Provided that a province remained loyal to the king and supplied the throne with the demanded tribute, it enjoyed at least some measure of self- rule (Hallo and Simpson 1971: 80). In addition, Ur-Nammu began such significant projects as expanding the irrigation canal system and fortifying many of the other important cities of his devel- oping empire.

His son, Shulgi (2094-2047), succeeded him and enjoyed the longest reign of the dynasty. In his early years he devoted himself to completing the building projects begun by Ur-Nammu and to consolidating the empire further. Once this was successfully accomplished, he turned to the economic and cultural spheres, where significant gains were realized in the second half of his reign.

Texts from Umma, Lagash, and Ur at- test, respectively, to a banking or redis- tribution system, a well-developed judi- cial system, and government-controlled trade and industry. It is in this period that a monied economy (based upon silver) first developed (Hallo and Simp- son 1971: 81; Oppenheim 1977: 87).

Also in the second portion of his rule, he conducted a number of military expeditions against tribal groups across the Tigris river. These were both for defensive and economic purposes: to protect the empire and develop trade. He was succeeded by his two sons, first Amar-Sin, then Shu-Sin.

Amar-Sin (2046-2038) spent much of his comparatively short rule in building and military activities. It was in the reigns of both Amar-Sin and his father that the Sumerian empire was most powerful and extensive and may have stretched from Susa to Byblos. The control enjoyed by both kings was a conse- quence of their efficient centralized government.

Like his brother, Shu-Sin (2037- 2029) embarked on regular military campaigns in the northeastern sector of the empire. Among his many building and restoration projects was a fortress- wall, the purpose of which was to deter the Amorites. Mention of these nomadic peoples in texts of the time is the first sign of the weakening of the dynasty.

Ibbi-Sin's rule began in approximately 2024, following the death of his father, Shu-Sin. Though he reigned for 24 years, his rule was beset by internal and external struggles. The economic bureaucracy that was so efficient under his predecessors eventually became too large to support itself and drained the royal economy. A number of more distant provinces refused to submit to taxa- tion, ultimately causing both famine and severe inflation at Ur.

Added to the economic disaster was military pressure, both from the Amo- rites in the north and from city-states that began to assert their independence. Ultimately, it was the challenge of the Elamites that brought down the Third Dynasty of Ur. When they besieged and destroyed Ur in 2004, Ibbi-Sin was cap- tured and taken to the Elamite city of Ashnan. Thus ended the last period of Sumerian rule in Mesopotamia.

C. E. Carter




a rock, a stone weight, or, in the proper context, a millstone.

Bibliography Benito, C.

1969 "Enki and Ninmah"and "Enki and the World Order." Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms.

Bottero, J. 1982 La plus vieille cuisine du

monde. L'histoire 49: 72-82. 1985 The Cuisine of Ancient Mesopo-

tamia. Biblical Archaeologist 48: 36-47.

Civil, M. 1964 A Hymn to the Beer Goddess.

Pp. 67-89 in Studies Presented to A. Leo Oppenheim. Chicago: Oriental Institute of Chicago.

1973 Notes on Sumerian Lexicog- raphy. Journal of Cuneiform Studies 25: 172-75.

Delaporte, L., editor 1912 Textes de l'6poque d'Ur. Mission

de Chaldee. Inventaire des tablettes de Tello conserves au Musee Imperial Ottomon. Vol- ume IV Paris: E. Leroux.

Falkenstein, A. 1956 Die neusumerischen Gericht-

surkunden II. Munich: Verlag der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.

Ferrara, A. J., editor 1973 Nanna-Suen's Journey to Nippur.

Series: Studia Pohl series major 2. Rome: Biblical Institute.

Finet, A. 1974- Le Vin a Mari. Archiv ftr 1977 Orientforschung 25: 122-31.

Flfigge, G. 1973 Der Mythos "Inanna und Enki"

unter besonderer Berijcksich- tigung der me. Series: Studia Pohl 10. Rome: Biblical Institute.

Genouillac, H. de, editor 1910 Textes de l'6poque dAgade et de

l'6poque d'Ur. Volume II of Mission Frangaise de Chaldee. Inventaire des tablettes de Tello conserves au Musde Impirial Ottoman. Paris: E. Leroux.

1912 Textes de l'dpoque d'Ur. Volume III of Mission Frangaise de Chaldie. Inventaire des tablettes de Tello conserves au Musde Impirial Ottoman. Paris: E. Leroux

A Sumerian/Akkadian Glossary

The Sumerian for this glossary is taken from a variety of texts of the Ur III or early Old Babylonian periods. Most entries are from the HAR.RA=

hubullu texts, which often (but not always) provide an Akkadian translation of a given Sumerian term. Where the Akkadian is not listed we have furnished it based either on the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary (CAD) or von Soden's Akkadisches Handwarterbuch. These restorations are marked with an asterisk (*). There are, however, Sumerian words for which the Akkadian is unknown. All Akkadian entries are listed in their lexical form.

The following conventions have been used: Sumerian is transliterated in lowercase roman text; where the exact reading of a word is unknown, it is transliterated in uppercase roman letters. The Akkadian words are listed in italics.

Fruits and Vegetables apple ha1hur ha'hflru* bitter lettuce hi.is.ges marrutu chick-pea gi.gal.gal hallufru cucumber ukui qiCid date zti.lum suluppfU fig pe tittu* grape gestin karanu/kirdnu * lentil gii.tur.tur kakkfi lettuce hi.is hassi- onion (generic) sum fmu onion (exact sum.gaz

variety unknown) sum.ha.din sum.za.ha.din

plum (or medlar fruit?) sennur salluru* pomegranate nu.uir.ma nurmu sweet pomegranate nu.Yr.ma.ku,.ku, kuduppainu* Smyrna raisin geitin.haid.a muziqu turnip lu.uib laptu* vegetable sar arqu white onion (garlic?) sum.sikil susikillu

Grains and Grain Products barley se e'u barley flour dabin (ZI.SE) tappinnu emmer ziz kunasu emmer flour esa sasqu emmer groats ni.ar.ra.ziz.an munud kunsi* flour (generic) zi qemu excellent flour zi.siks qemz^ damqu* flour (varieties) zi.ba.ba

zi.kum isququ */ziqqu zi.gu asguqu zi.gu.ba.ba zi.gu.sigs isququ damqu *

flour for cake zi.1.d6.a groats ni.ar.ra mundu hulled barley ar.za.na arsanu lentil flour zi.gu.tur.tur isquq kakki* toasted barley flour zi. se.sa tappinnu laptu* wheat gig kibtu




Breads and Cakes bread ninda akalu cakes made with g6g kukku*

"excellent flour" and "noble oil"

cakes to which many ninda..d6.a mersu/mirsu different types of oil were added

dry bread (ninda.)hIad akalu ablu "excellent" bread (ninda.)sigs akalu damqu *

fruit pastries, girLlam offered to temple and palace

fruit p-te' .da ordinary bread (ninda.)gin akalu gin- *

Drinks apple juice has'hur.&.a

(literally, "that which comes forth from the apple")

fig juice pes.e.a grape juice getin.&.a

t.batu barley beer kas 'ikaru clear beer ka'.babbar

pes.u dark beer ka'.gi6 ikaru sallamu *

first-quality beer kas.sig5 sikaru damqu* freshly brewed beer ka'.gibil sik aru esu *

ordinary beer ka'.gin sikaru ginzl *

sweet/pleasant beer kal.ku,.ku, ikaru matqu* a weaker beer, ka'.dida bikletu/bilat labki to which honey or juices were added

well-aged beer kaJ.libir sika-ru labiru* water a mU

Oils and Fats oil i amnu butter (clarified?; i.nun himetu

literally, "noble fat" CAD: ghee)

fish oil L.ku6 aman nhni lard .sah naihu mutton fat L.udu saman immeri* sesame oil L.gis amnu ellu "sweet oil" i.gis.dig.ga samnu tabu

Soups soup tu7 ummaru chick-pea soup tu,.gU.tur ummar halliri emmer broth tu,.ziz ummar kunai lentil soup tu,.g6i.gal ummar kakki meat broth tu,.a.uzu ummar mb leri turnip soup tu7.lu.6ib ummar lapti

Dairy Products milk ga lizbu cow's milk ga.ib lizib litti ewe's milk ga.u8 lizib lahri* goat's milk ga.iz lizib enzi

Goltz, D. 1974 Studien zur altorientalischen

und griechischen Heilkunde. Sudhoffs Archiv, Beiheft 16. Wiesbaden: Steiner.

Gordon, E. 1959 Sumerian Proverbs. Glimpses of

Everyday Life in Ancient Meso- potamia. Philadelphia: Univer- sity of Pennsylvania.

Gregoire, J.-P. 1970 Archives administratives sumbr-

iennes. Paris: P. Geuthner. 1981 Inscriptions et archives admin-

istratives cuneiformes. Series: Materiali per il vocabolario neo- sumerico 10. Rome: Multi- grafica editrice.

Hackman, G. G. 1937 Temple Documents of the Third

Dynasty of Ur from Umma. Series: Babylonian Inscriptions in the Collection of James B. Nies 5. New Haven: Yale Univer- sity Press.

Hallo, W 1971 Gutium. Pp. 708-20 in Reallexi-

kon der Assyriologie 3, edited by E. Ebeling, B. Meissner, and W von Soden. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.

Hallo, W., and Simpson, W 1971 The Ancient Near East:

A History. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich.

Hussey, M. I. 1915 Sumerian Tablets in the Har-

vard Semitic Museum, Volume II. Series: Harvard Semitic Series 4. Cambridge, MA: Har- vard University.

Jacobsen, T. 1943 Primitive Democracy in Ancient

Mesopotamia. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 2: 159-72.

1953 The Reign of Ibbi-Suen. Journal of Cuneiform Studies 7: 36-47.

1957 Early Political Development in Mesopotamia. Zeitschrift fuir Assyriologie 52: 91-140.

1977 Mesopotamia. Pp. 123-219 in The Intellectual Adventure of the Ancient Man, edited by H. Frankfort and others. Chi-

cago: University of Chicago Press.

Jones, T. B., and Snyder, J. W. 1961 Sumerian Economic Texts from

the Third Ur Dynasty. Minne-

apolis: University of Minnesota Press.




Keiser, C. 1971 Neo-Sumerian Account Texts

from Drehem. Series: Babylo- nian Inscriptions in the Collec- tion of James B. Nies 3. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Kramer, S. N. 1963 The Sumerians: Their History,

Culture, and Character. Chi- cago: University of Chicago Press.

1981 History Begins at Sumer, third revised edition. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Lambert, M. 1968 Tablettes 6conomiques de

Lagash (6poque de la IIIe dynastie d'Ur). Series: Cahiers de la Societe asiatique 19. Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

Legrain, L. 1937 Business Documents of the

Third Dynasty of Ur. Ur Excava- tions. Texts III. London: British Museum and the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania.

Limet, H. 1972 Le'tranger dans la societe sumeri-

enne. Pp. 123-38 in Gesell- schaftsklassen im alten Zweistromland und in den angrenzenden Gebieten, edited by D. O. Edzard. Munich: Verlag der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Recontre assyri- ologique internationale, XVIII).

1976 Textes sumeriens de la IIIe dynastie d'Ur. Series: Musees royaux dart et d'histoire. Docu- ments du proche orient ancien 1. Brussels: Musees royaux d'art et d'histoire.

1982 Les Sumeriens et les plantes. Archivffir Orientforschung 19: 257-70.

MSL 1937- Materielien zum Sumerische

1985 Lexikon (volumes I-IX) Materials for the Sumerian Lexicon (volumes X-XVII). Rome: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum.

Oppenheim, A. L. 1948 Catalogue of the Cuneiform

Tablets of the W Eames Collec- tion. Series: American Oriental Society 32. New Haven: Ameri-

sweet milk ga.ku7 ,izbu matqu cheese ga.ar eqidu *

cheese seasoned ga.ar.gazi eqid kasi* with gazi

fresh cheese ga.sig,.a rich cheese ga.SE.A sharp cheese HAB kisimmu

Fish and Poultry bird musen issuru duck uz.tur paspasu* eggs nunuz pelz ezitu-bird (exact e.zi ezitu

type of bird unknown) dove kaskal wood pigeon tu.gur4 sukanninu *

(CAD: turtledove) fish ku6 nznu carp? suhur puradu* fish-pond fish ku6 kun.zi salt-water fish ku6 ab.ba varieties of fish pe.gi'd.da

sag.kes Herbs and Seasonings

plant 6 uammu an alkali naga uhhlu/uhhulu aromatic spices se.zi.bl.tum zibitum

Wim riqqu* black cumin zi.zi.bl.a.num zibibanu coriander e.16 kusibirru cumin 6.TIR (gamun) kamhnu "grape-water" a.getin.e.a tabatu

(vinegar?) meat juice a.uzu me ̂eri* a garden herb for spice or 6.hur.sag.ga azupiru*

medicinal use "mountain plant" ui.kur.ra nin^

generally used medicinally

mustard(?) gazi kasz (a pungent spice)

salt mun tabtu variety of spice hu.ri.a.nfim huri'inu watercress zi.hi.li sahbl honey li dilpu dark honey lil.gi6 dilpu $allamu date honey (a syrup) kil.zii.lum.ma disip suluppi mountain honey lal.kur dilip ladi red honey lhl.su4 dilpu peld white honey lMl.babbar lallaru

Food Preparation brazier ki.ne

kinunu




clay oven di.li.na tinufru du.ru.un tinuiru

cook (AhW); NE (seg6) basWlu boil, roast (CAD) butchered meat (lamb) udu.dim.ma takmesu (bread) cooked in coals izi.ninda.mur.ra akal tumri crushed in a mortar bur.ra.ar.ra boiled meat sil.qum silqum dried (fruits, bread, had ablu

vegetables) dried (meats) tir.zum tersum grill (?) or pan (?) nig.izi.sig.ga nakmr millstone na4.urs er5 millstone (the upper nu4.urs5 u si.ga narkabtu

stone of a handmill) millstone (the lower na4.urs5 u nu.tuku erzA

stone of a handmill) placed upon the fire izi.ta.na.a roasted tah.hi.a tahzA toasted (barley) se.sa laptu touched with fire izi.tag.ga Summrn

izi.sig.ga kamr Measurements block (literally, "brick," sig4 libittu *

that is of salt) kur (252 liters) kur kurru *

sila (0.84 liters) SILA qu* gin (about 8 grams) gin

Technical Terms brick kiln

udun. utinu dead ba.i delivery for cooking su.gid.e.muhaldim flask (2 deciliters) a.gam for cooking e.muhaldim.sk ana bit nulatimmi for the king ki.lugal.s ana sarri(m) for the queen ki.nin.s ana beltim foodstuffs; offering mal.da.ri.a head (of vegetable) ugu muhhi* heart (of vegetable) libis libbu *

kitchen e.muhaldim bit nrihatimmi pottery kiln gir4 kAru slaughterhouse 6.gu4.gaz

Occupations and Functionaries cook li.muhaldim nuhatimmu courier ldi.kas4 ldsimu *

cult functionary 16.kur6.ra female servant gemp.kikken ararrutu

who molds barley soldier of the guard aga.6is redz * worker guru& etlu*

can Oriental Society. 1977 Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait

of a Dead Civilization, revised edition, completed by E. Reiner. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Redman, C. 1978 The Rise of Civilization.

San Francisco: W H. Freedman and Co.

Reisner, G. 1901 Tempelurkunden aus Telloh.

Berlin: W Spemann. Rodinson, M.

1949 Recherches sur les documents arabes relatifs a la cuisine. Revue des Etudes Islamiques 95-165.

Roux, G. 1980 Ancient Iraq, second edition.

Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, Ltd.

Salonen, A. 1966 Die Hausgerite der alten Meso-

potamien II. Helsinki: Sou- malainen Tiedeakatemia (Vertrieb: Akateeminent- Kirajakauppa).

1970 Die Fischerei im alten Mesopo- tamien. Helsinki: Soumalaisen Tiedeakatemian toimituksia. Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae.

Schneider, N. 1931 Die Drehem- und Djoha-

Urkunden der Strassburger Universitits- und Landesbib- liothek. Series: Analecta Orien- talia 1. Rome: Pontificio Istituto Biblico.

1932 Die Drehem- und Djohatexte im Kloster Montserrat. Series: Analecta Orientalia 7. Rome: Pontificio Istituto Biblico.

Sigrist, R. M. 1977 Offrandes dans le temple de

Nusku a Nippur. Journal of Cuneiform Studies 29: 169-183.

Sorre, M. 1943- Les fondements biologiques de 1948 la gdographie humaine I. Paris:

A. Colin. Thureau-Dangin, E

1903 Recueil de Tablettes Chaldeennes. Paris: E. Leroux.

1921 Rituels accadiens. Paris: E. Leroux.

Wilcke, C. 1969 Das Lugalbanda-Epos. Wies-

baden: Harrassowitz.


