Babylonian Slaves: 16 (2024-06-01)

Created by: Englund, Robert K.

Slave accounts of the Late Uruk period (ca. 3350-3000 BC)

Furthermore: an inspection of the section to the lower left of the account’s obverse exhibits the same accounting structure. The initial case describes 12 apparent ‟three-year olds” (U4×3N57 TUR), each of whom is named in twelve following subcases. We note that not one of these names can be credibly assigned Sumerian ‟readings” that comport with the millennium of traditional naming practice in that language from the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC, and therefore that, despite all considerations of a benevolent master class allowing slaves to retain their native names, the identification of Sumerian as the language of these earliest Babylonian scribes, seen in so many treatments of the period by cuneiformists, is best taken with a grain of salt. See R. K. Englund, CDLJ 2009/4. CDLI entry: P006268

credit: Englund, Robert K.