The Sumerian Expression a-ra2 X-kam and the Use of Installments in the Ur III Administration

Widell, Magnus ORCID: 0000-0002-2825-8252 (2022) The Sumerian Expression a-ra2 X-kam and the Use of Installments in the Ur III Administration. .

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/29497833-00901003

Abstract

<jats:p>This short communication investigates the Sumerian expression a-ra<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> X-kam, which was used to denote ordinal numbers in the Ur III period, typically to rank in a sequential order deliveries/receipts within the state administration. The literal and the cognitive meanings of a-ra<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> X-kam remain unchallenged, and the article will focus on the practical application of the expression within the Ur III state bureaucracy, and its significance for our overall understanding of the administrative and archival procedures of the period. The use of sequentially ordered installments in the Ur III administration supports the hypothesis that many Ur III texts may have been written <jats:italic>post factum</jats:italic>, and suggests that such texts were produced anywhere from a few days up to several weeks after the economic transactions they document would have occurred.</jats:p>

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Unspecified)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Adminstration, Ancient Near East, Bureaucracy, Cuneiform, Mesopotamia, Sumerian, Ur III
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Histories, Languages and Cultures
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	03 Dec 2021 08:17
Last Modified:	30 Jan 2023 20:04
DOI:	10.1163/29497833-00901003
Related URLs:	Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3141378