Graphic Data Base: Tablets

Terqa Final Reports 2

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TFR 1 1

     The first volume of the Terqa Final Reports contains the archive of Puzurum. The full publication (in French) is given in the Electronic Library section of this website as TFR 1.
     Here one will find an English summary of each text, plus color photographs of the tablets that supplement the paper publication.
     The summaries and the choice of images is due to Dr. Barbara Cifola.

TFR 1 1 (tablet) and 1E (envelope)

See printed version in PDF format.

     This tablet contains the record of the purchase of a field measuring 3 iku (ca. 1.1 hectares or 2.7 acres) and identified by two neighboring fields, a road and a canal. The owner Ili-dumqi sells it to Puzurum, who also owns one of the bordering fields, for 12 shekels of silver (almost 100 grams or about 1/4 pound).
     The field cannot be the object of any claim, not even in the case of a remission of debt. The penalties mentioned in the clauses guaranteeing this legal status are heavy, both pecuniary (20 times the price of the field) and physically (pouring of hot asphalt on the claimant's head). The names of the recipients of the indemnities are too damaged to read, but typically include the owners of the bordering properties and the presiding official.
     Eleven witnesses to this transaction are listed, followed by the compensation for the scribe, here double the amount that is paid in the other contracts, that is 1/2 shekel of silver (ca. 4.2 grams or 1/6 ounce). The date is given by day, month and a year name of the king Yadih-abu (ca. 1725).The first picture shows the two seals that are impressed longitudinally on the left side of the tablet, in which only one owner's name is identifiable with that of one of the witnesses. The obverse of the tablet and its envelope are shown in the other pictures. The remaining fragments of the obverse of the envelope contain the label "sealed document" and a brief summary of the contract including the area of the field and the names of the buyer and seller. The bottom side is missing, but non-epigraphic seal impressions appear on all preserved sides.

TFR1 1 - left side

TFR1 1E - obverse

TFR1 1E - reverse