The “addition” (níºg-diri.g) corresponds to extra attributes. A third
part, the “gift”^163 (níºg-ba) has no identifiable counterpart in the extant
texts and varies to such an extent that that it may be negotiable
and prestige-related. In two documents, it is replaced by a payment
with a possible reference to a haircut (munsub (am 6 -)ku 5 )—a sym-
bolic act of separation. These three payments are made or at least
calculated in one of the standard currencies: copper, silver, or grain.
As the last part of the price, several payments in kind (clothing and
food) for the sellers, i.e. the recipients of the price (lú sa 10 .m kú), and
their relatives at the feast are listed. A list of witnesses—normally
very long —follows, concluded by public witnesses such as the field
scribe (dub-“ar a“a 5 .g.k), the owner of a neighboring field (-ús),
the surveyors (um-mi-a lú é 铺gar “scholar who put(s) the measur-
ing rope to the house”), and the town crier (niºgir sila.k)—not all on
the same occasion. Finally, the agricultural district and the buyer of
the field or house (lú a“a 5 .g/é sa 10 ) are named, followed by an entry
noting the “turn” (bala) of a named person, perhaps an eponym as
a means for dating the document.7.1.3.2 As a rule these texts do not use any finite verbal forms.
They list facts and are stylized neither from the buyer’s point of
view (ex latere emptoris) nor the seller’s (ex latere venditoris). And neither
does one party “buy” nor the other “sell”; rather, one of them pro-
vides goods labeled “price (of the object)” and the other accepts (lit.,
eats) it. This act of acceptance changes the object’s legal status: the
provider of the price may take possession, the recording of which
does not seem to be of importance.7.1.4 Between the Fàra Period and Ur-Nan“e.k of Laga“
From this period date clay and stone documents from several cities
in southern Mesopotamia: Nippur, Isin and Adab. Best preserved
are two stone tablets (ELTS 14–15) in which the price consists of
a standardized silver payment of ten shekels of silver per rope of
land and an additional grain payment (i“-gána < i“kinù) of one tenth
the value (rounded) of the silver.^164 In addition wool and fat—again(^163) Or “allotment”, according to Krecher, “Neue sumerische.. .,” 150, and “Kauf,”
492.
(^164) Wilcke, “Neue Rechtsurkunden.. .,” 19–21, 33–43.
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