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holders of allotted subsistence fields (lú “uku.r dab 5 -ba)^40 and deep-
sea fishermen (“u-ku 6 ab-ba.k)^41 are given rations only for four months
(ix–xii) in the year and seem to have served the temple directly only
during this period. From Irikagina’s second year as king onward,
these people are qualified in the ration lists as “owned” (lú ú-rum),^42
which suggests a status of slavery probably no different from that of
slaves owned by private individuals. Other personnel took temple
fields encumbered with duties (ku 5 - §rá ús-sa) on lease (a“a 5 .g apin-lá)
and paid rent (“e gub-ba, ma“) for them.^432.1.3.4.2 A special tax which must have replaced an original duty
of corvée labor is called dusu “bricklayer’s basket”, a word which
comes to mean “corvée.” This tax may be one of the central con-
cerns of the still poorly understood Enlilemaba Archive from Nippur^44
and it occurs occasionally in other documents.^45 Responsibility for
the tax seems to have been upon the head of the (extended) fam-
ily, while individual members had to contribute.2.1.3.4.3 Iri-kagina.k claims by his reforms to have changed taxes
or fees collected on special occasions (weddings, divorces, funerals)
or from holders of special offices, for example, the dusu-tax collected
from the saºgºga.^46(^40) Attested from Lugalanda 5 to Irikagina 3. Only one undated source is avail-
able for year 4; year 5 is not attested; monthly rations were given throughout year
6 due to the difficult military situation (rations no. 5; 6; 9 and 11 are attested). In
chronological sequence: VAS 25 12; RTC 54; VAS 25 23; FAOS 15/2 5, 4; VAS
25 73; FAOS 15/2 6; VAS 27 6; FAOS 15/1 Nik 13; FAOS 15/2 55; TSA 20;
FAOS 15/2 7, 10, 118, 8, 68, 9; FAOS 15/1 Nik 52; FAOS 15/2 67; DP 121;
FAOS 15/2 81, 11.
(^41) TSA 19; FAOS 15/2 28.
(^42) First attested in DP 113 xv!3–5 (year 2, 8th ration) “Ba"u’s barley rations of
(= for) blind persons, porters, and single “à-dub workers, owned persons.” From
this time on, (lú) ú-rum in the ration lists also qualifies the géme “female slaves”
and their children and the lú “uku dab 5 -ba “holders of subsistence fields.”
(^43) See Steinkeller, “Renting of Fields.. .,” 142–145; Bauer, Altsumerische Wirt-
schaftstexte.. ., no. 7; note that in the summary (ix) the field is called a“a 5 “e mú
apin-lá a“a 5 dusu “rental barley-producing field, corvée field.”
(^44) Westenholz, Old Sumerian.. ., 59–86, nos. 44–78; he considers it a “common
fund...literally the family ‘basket’” (60).
(^45) See, e.g., Donbaz and Foster, Sargonic Texts.. ., no. 59.
(^46) FAOS 5/1 Ukg. 4 v 4–21 || 5 v 1–18; 4 ix 2–6 || 5 viii 11–15.
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