The following analysis was kindly
provided by
Professor Lambert (University of
Birmingham):
‘Clay bulla, spherical, solid, with a
hole in the top
where originally a string projected,
with which to
tie the object to a leather bag. The
sides are
divided into eleven portions, like the
segments of
an orange, each inscribed with one
line of
Sumerian cuneiform script.
Translation:
Leather bag containing documents which
She-
Dada, son of Ur-Tur.Tur.Se received,
and the
purification priest received. Barley
disbursed
from Gulum. Lugal-…..Year 4, month 7.
The method of dating, only giving the
year of the
ruler, but not his name, indicates
that this
document comes from the town of Umma
and
dates to c.2400-2200 BC. Tablets with
this
dating are not rare, but this may be
the only
bulla, which in any case is very
unusual for the
arrangement of the many lines of
script. Also
bullae generally were attached to clay
boxes
which served as filing cabinets. This
may be the
only one mentioning a leather bag as
containing
the tablets described on the bulla. It
is in an
excellent state of preservation.’
