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The Sumerian civilization was an extremely
advanced and complex society situated in
modern day Iraq. Lasting for some four thousand
years, the Sumerians were among the first
cultures to develop most of what we now take for
granted, from complex economies to advanced
record keeping, literature, international trade and
recorded mythologies. Thanks to the Sumerian
habit of recording everything on clay tablets
using cuneiform – one of the first complex
writing systems – we can infer a great deal about
their society. We know that Sumer was
characterized by various city-states, running in
competition with one another for wealth and
conquest, while sharing similar characteristics
and material goods. They used slave labor, based
around large temples and palaces, and were keen
to form alliances and thus push out the
boundaries of their nation into Central Asia and
Turkey. Their trade networks were extensive, and
colonies of Sumerian peoples have been
identified all across the region. Rule was by
kingship; rulers varied considerable in their
methods although extreme cruelty and martial
law (such as that exercised under Eannatum of
Lagash) was the exception rather than the rule.
Temples were the mainstay of local economies. It
was here that produce was brought as tax, legal
proceedings carried out and deals were struck.
Records of this period are almost exclusively
written by scribes who lived within the temple
walls and worked under the auspices of the
administrators, who were themselves under the
authority of the priests.
This is three-sided and hollow where originally
rope or cord with knots was enclosed within it.
The bulla was to protect the package or sack
from interference.
Thus the sides are covered with impressions of
the scribe’s cylinder seal and with his name and
the date:
Month Shunigal, year: the high priestess of Nanna
of Karzida was installed
This is the ninth year of Amar-Sin, third king of
the Third Dynasty of Ur, c. 2038 BC.
The seal shows a standing figure with bare head
and long robe raising one hand to greet a seated
deity. A three-line inscription names the seal
owner, then gives his title and his father’s name,
but all three lines are not sufficiently clearly
preserved to be read in full. What the package
contained may have been stated on the bulla, but
if so it is now covered with hard incrustation and
cannot be read.
Such bullae were normally broken when the
package was opened, so this is a rare item, at
large.
- (LSO.33)
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