Land lease for the cultivation of land belonging to the temple on a sharecropping basis.  Dialogue document.

A1 and A2 ask (qabû) B, the king’s supervisor (bēl piqitti ša šarri) that he gives them (nadānu, wr. (i)bīnamma) 1 estate (šīhu) of the Lady-of-Uruk situated on the Nār-Bānītu and next to the plot of C, for cultivation on a sharecropping basis (errēšūtu).

B agrees (šemû, lit. listens). Starting in Nisan (I) of 2 Ner., A1 and A2 will cultivate (erēšu) the land there and give a share (zittu) (of the harvest) from the land to the Lady-of-Uruk in the same way as (akî) the other sharecroppers (errēšu) who cultivate temple’s lands.

A1 and A2 will cultivate (erēšu) all the suitable (ṭābu) land there and leave the land that is not suitable uncultivated (muššuru-ma lā erēšu) (this part of the plot was probably meant to be used by A1 and A2 for animal husbandry; Janković 2013 (PhD diss.), 2991114). They will also not cultivate the BUR(?)-irrigation district without B’s consent. Additionally, A1 and A2 will give 1 two-year-old ungelded bull (alpu šuklulu) and 1 grown sheep (ṣēnu rabû) as present (nāmurtu) of B.

This is apart (elat) from the fresh dates (uhinnu) on the trees which B will subject (emēdu) to the impost estimation (imittu) for them.

Names of 4 witnesses and the scribe.

A1= Nūhāya/Nabû-qāt-ṣabat; A2= Il-natan/Mannu-liqīm; B= Šumu-ukīn/Bēl-zēri//Basia, king’s supervisor (bēl piqitti ša šarri) and a known rent farmer (see Janković/Hackl/Jursa 2011); C= Ṣillāya.