The provincial dues for the bala were delivered either to Puzri“-
Dagan or, if the central administration decided that a neighboring
province ought to benefit from a certain product, directly to that
province. Another part of the bala income was used directly within
the province itself to maintain the various services and officials of
the state. The bulk of the bala income went to the three royal cities
of Nippur, Ur, and Uruk.
The archives found at Drehem document mainly the management
of livestock collected and distributed under the bala system. More
than sixty thousand animals passed each year through Puzri“-Dagan
or its accounts.^42 The annual rota spread the deliveries from the
provinces over the year and ensured the warehouses a constant and
regular supply.
The bala system functioned properly only for about twenty years
after Shulgi’s reign. The empire collapsed when the system ceased
to work and the central authority was no longer able to use it to
collect the provinces’ surplus resources.2.4.3 The Peripheral Regions
Information is much more sparse for the peripheral regions of the
empire. Having conquered areas to the north and east of the Tigris,^43
the Ur III kings found themselves obliged to continue campaigning
and to maintain large military garrisons, thus creating a loosely con-
trolled buffer zone on the eastern frontier.
These areas did not participate in the bala system. Instead, they
were charged an annual tribute, payable either by the local prince
or by the military authority (“agina and nu-banda 3 ) installed by the
king of Ur. This annual tribute was called gú-n(a) ma-da.^44 From
the attested examples, it would seem that control of these border
areas did not last more than about fifteen years after Shulgi’s death.^45192
(^42) Sigrist, Drehem, 20–21.
(^43) Frayne, “Zagros Campaigns...”
(^44) Michalowski, “Foreign Tribute.. .”; Steinkeller, “Administrative.. .”; Maeda,
“Defense Zone.. .” This tribute is explicitly called gu 2 -n(a) ma-da only from year
3 of Shu-Suen’s reign, at which date important reforms appear to have been intro-
duced in the imperial administration.
(^45) Shulgi: 35 attested texts; Amar-Suen: 35; Shu-Suen: 19; Ibbi-Suen: 2. See
Steinkeller, “Administrative...”
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