with a broad furrow-sinker or hoe.^19 Soil preparation by means of ploughing and
harrowing ended by manual levelling of the areas where the animal teams wheeled
around (Civil 1976 : 89 , verses 122 – 132 ). As well as serving as access, such areas^20
along the field edges might have been sown with supplementary crops.^21
According to the ‘Farmer’s Instructions’, cereal ridges (‘closed furrows’) were shaped
manually,^22 with a recommended count of eight furrows per 1 nindan (= 6 m). The
text also contains detailed advice for the preparation of the plough^23 and records the
distribution of supplies to ploughmen (sag-apin). A team of four and more paired
oxen (Selz 1993 ) harnessed to a wooden ard need 120 hours for the preparation of
one hectare of arable land, including the preparation of the ridges. The same team
will sow this area with a seeder plough in 60 hours. The work of the team must be
interrupted by frequent pauses. The author of ‘Farmer’s Instructions’ says that in the
ploughing season a quota of one plough amounted 18 iku ( 6. 35 ha); in order to make
the recommended eight furrows per 1 nindan, the ploughman would have to plough
more than 83 km.^24 M. Powell ( 1984 : 48 , 53 , 56 ) estimates that a simple breaking
into straight furrows would have taken at least eight days. If we add transversal
ploughing and several harrowing shifts, the ploughing season could well have extended
over one month and perhaps even longer. The dated texts of Ur III times indicate
that seed and fodder were usually issued from the stores for two to three months
(Yamamoto 1979 : 85 – 86 ). Verses 54 – 63 and 67 – 68 of the ‘Farmer’s Instructions’
give a full description of the procedures of ploughing and shaping the field furrows.
The final adjustments of cereal ridges, as well as of the direct-irrigation trenches, were
undoubtedly carried out manually with the aid of hoes (al) with broad trapezoidal
blades, and shovels (mar), used both for digging and shovelling (Hrusˇka 1995 : 34 – 36 ).
— Agricultural techniques —Figure 4. 3 Seal impression showing animal traction, working team and seeding plough
(Hrusˇka 1988 : 143 ).