A note on the Sumerian expression SI-ge 4 -de 3 /dam

The expression SI-ge 4 -dam/de 3 appears in some of the loan documents of the Ur III period where it was used to establish the interest rate or the loan fee. In addition, it is sometimes preceded by ki-ba 'in its/this place/ground' or, in some cases, ma 2 -a 'in the boat'. The regular verb SI.g was closely related, perhaps even synonymous with, the reduplication verb ḡar/ḡa 2 -ḡa 2 'to put' or 'to place'. While it may be concluded that SI-ge 4 -dam/de 3 had nothing to do with the verb si 'to fill' or gi 4 'to return', the correct analysis of the expression remains somewhat uncertain. The article proposes that the SI should be read se and understood as a phonetic writing for the regular verb se 3 .g 'to put', 'to place'. The combination of the verb with the ki-ba may suggest that a more parochial form of keeping products existed side by side with the large centralized granaries and storehouses of the city.

was also originally drawn up in Ur.It should be noted, however, that structurally similar texts can also be attested from other cities of the Ur III state ^.As for the editors' interpretation of the barley in the text as a reimbursed loan, it is more problematic.Nothing in SET:238 or in the likewise unsealed JJET 3:917 indicates that the barley in these texts should be seen as a loan (or as an interest rate or a «loan fee»).Loan contracts of the Ur III period all seem to derive from the creditors' archives, while contracts sealed by the creditors to be kept by the debtors are conspicuous by their absence.It seems to be a logical assumption that the practice of closing and sealing the contracts was a way for the debtor to insure that the contracts, stored by the creditor, remained unaltered.Hence, the envelope would be opened and the seal broken when the loan was repaid and contracts without sealed envelopes would be considered already repaid.This would also explain the absence of receipts of repayments (obviously to be kept by the ex-debtor) since the mere opening of the envelope would release the debtor from any future claims from the creditor, therefore rendering any further receipts superfluous.Thus, if this theory has any merit, only loan contracts still in their unbroken envelopes would represent unpaid loans while the loan contracts without, or with only fragments of envelopes, would represent the actual number of (repaid) loans made ' ^.
^ This observation is of some importance since it has been suggested that contracts may have been destroyed (dissolved in water?) when the loans were repaid and loan contracts recovered.Hence CIVIL (1987, p. 39, n. 4): «If the loan documents were destroyed after repayment, the number of preserved documents would indicate not the number of loans made, but the number of unpaid loans.Could the debtor keep a copy after payment?Could the creditor?».
^ Note, however, PDT 1:631: SILVER, gÍ4-gÍ4-dam, ki PNj-ta, PN2, su ba-ti that indeed seems to denote a repayment of silver by PNj.traction involving the reduplication verb si (generally considered to have a final g, i.e. si.g ^) 'to fill', which in our text would have to be written se ki-ba si-si-ge4-de3 ^.In loan contracts from Ur the expression «to be returned» was normally written with the reduplication verb su (i.e.su-su-dcs/dam) and the interest rates usually were established using the reduplication verb gar (i.e.ga2-ga2dcs/dam) or with the expression se-ge4/5-de3/dam (but never si gÌ4-gÌ4-de3/dam ^).
Thus, the expression se ki-ba SI-ge4-de3 in our text is not referring to any transaction taking place in the actual document but should rather be understood as a designation or clarification of the intentions for the barley in the first line: «the grain shall be ... in its/this place/ground».There seems to be little doubt that our expression is closely related to the verbal construction ga2-ga2-de3/dam 'shall/it is to be put ^'.Apart from the already mentioned alternative formulae used in establishing interest rates or loan feessometimes using ga2-ga2-de3/dam and sometimes se-ge4/5-de3/damthere are further indications that the two verbs could replace each other, in the particular context found in SET:23S as well.In UET 3:358 the first 5 lines read: 1 1/3 ma-na urudu, ki-ba ga2-ga2-de3, ki Ses-kal-la-ta, Lugal-sar2-ur3-re, su ba-an-ti «1 1/3 mina copper (~ 2/3 kilogram), shall be put in its place, from Ses-kal-la, Lugal-sar2-ur3-re received».Note also the last column (Rev.Ill) of the long text UET 9:1370, where large amounts of different fat and ^ E.g.CAVIGNEAUX and AL-RAWI (1995, p. 177): «... verbe si(g) 'fourrer, remplir' (différent de si-0 [à désinence vocalique] 'déployer, étendre...').»Cf., however, THOMSEN (1984, p. 314), who attributed the occasional «g-Auslaut» of the stem, to a confusion with the regular verb si.g, si.ig (see further below).
^ An expression si ge4-ge4-de3/dam is, as far as I know, not found in the Ur III texts.
^ Note the somewhat different translation of the expression ki-ba ga2-ga2 by Marcel SIGRIST (1995, p. 64 and n. 1): «to be recorded at the right place» with the explanation: «In instances of substitution it was imperative that all accounts affected be revised to reflect the substitution.»However logical this may seem, the interpretation of ki 'place' as the administrative place of a document or a document's data is not completely certain.dairy products as well as a variety of fruits are recorded to have been «brought from the surrounding area via Ur-^se-ESa-nun-BU» (bar-ta gal2-la, [gijris Ur-^se-ES2-nun-BU, lines 6-7 ^°), «put in their place by the inspector Da-a-a» (ki-b[a] ga2-ga2 Da-a-a sabra, lines 4-5) so that they could be «disbursed separately by (lit.'from') Gatils-e» ([z]i-ga didli, k[i GJa-tils-e-ta, lines 2-3).The ki-ba ga2-ga2(dcs/dam) is mainly found in connection with oxen/cows or other animals in texts from Puzris-Dagan {PDT 1:50,190, 533, 557 {Rev.Ill); PDT 2:882, 1263; OrSP 47-49:75; SiGRlST 1995:80, 106, 136; etc.) but may occasionally also appear in texts from other cities dealing with agricultural products (e.g.MVN 12:164 from Girsu or MA:.2:259; FALES 1989:43 from Umma).In Ur the expression is found in connection with copper {UET 3:358) or with rations consisting of agricultural and textile products (Í7£r 3:1081 ^^).

SI.G = SE3.G {SAKÃNUM, SAPÃKUM)
A meaning of the expression SI-ge4-de3/dam that is synonymous with ki-ba ga2-ga2-de3/dam can be obtained if we read the SI as se and understand it as a phonetic variant to the regular verb scs.g 'to put' or 'to place' {sakãnum) ^^ but also 'to heap up', 'to store' different commodities such as barley, metal, etc. {sapãkum) ^^.Indeed, the alternating use of verbs scs.g and gar/ga2-ga2 in texts from Ur concerning the decorations (i.e. the «puttings») of precious metal objects has already been demonstrated by H. LiMET (1960, pp. 163f.).As can be seen in CAD (S/I, p. 412 with further references), not only scs.g but also SI.g seems to have corresponded to the verb ^° The expression bar-ta gal2-la can be found all over the Ur III state for different kind of food products, animals, wool/textiles, metal/metal objects, wood and bitumen.For the tentative translation 'carried/brought from the surrounding area', see PSD B, 97 translating bar 'surrounding area (of a city)'.For gal2 'to transport goods, carry, bring' (nasûm) see CAD N/II, pp.80ff., esp.87ff.The «surrounding area» may refer to small-scale -perhaps temporary -stores closer to the actual production areas situated outside the city.I have recently argued for the existence of such stores or stacks for textiles situated in the periphery of the city of Ur (see WiDELL 1999).
^^ The text has both ki-ba ga2-ga2 as well as the ki-ba ba-a-gar 'it was put in its/this place'.
12 See THOMSEN 1984, p. 314.^^ See CAD S/I, p. 412; for the meaning 'to store (stocks of grain and other provisions)', see pp. 415f.
(c) Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Licencia Creative Commons 3.0 España (by-nc) http://sefarad.revistas.csic.essapakum and it seems therefore rather probable that SI.g in (at least) these cases can and should be read se.g as an unorthographic variant of scs.g.The «probably regular verb» Sl.g has been described as «not very clear; it is sometimes used about things which are placed on or into the ground, for instance foundation (cf. ex. 698 [Gudea,Cyl. A XI,(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)) or standards, ...» ^l Thus, the combination with the noun ki in our text, which in addition to 'place' also denotes 'ground' or 'soil' ^^ seems fitting.However, it should be noted that the verb Sl.g also appears without ki for products placed in boats (i.e.PRODUCT ma2-a SI-ge4-de3) ^^ and the interpretation of ki as 'ground' or 'soil' in this context remains uncertain.Nevertheless, we should have no difficulty to speculate that the Ur III people -on a small-scale -were storing barley and other products in the ground or in semi-subterranean jars/silos as a protection against the elements (heat, damp, etc.), theft, noxious animals and pests.Possibly, such places were only used temporarily before the products could be either disbursed or put in more permanent locations such the e2-kisib-ba 'store house' or the guTj 'granary' (see above and note 10) ^''.In a recent article, Christian Huber is discussing the expression guruy-a im urs-ra and concludes «So, one might think of covering a pit with some kind of 'roof a prominent component of which was clay after being filled with grain (or providing it with some protection otherwise), or some comparable operation.»^^ Thus, while guruy-a im ur3-ra may have been the technical expression for the work of making or closing/sealing such storages, ki-ba se-ge4-de3/dam may perhaps have been used at an earlier stage to denote that the products in question were to be stored in this kind of storage.
1^ Indeed, large storage jars for barley have been found from the Ur III period (see BRECKWOLDT 1995/96, p. 64 with further references) and we know that similar jars for different food products were submerged in the ground, at least in later periods (HODJASCH 1999, p. 226).

SUMMARY
The expression SI-ge4-dam/de3 appears in some of the loan documents of the Ur III period where it was used to establish the interest rate or the loan fee.In addition, it is sometimes preceded by ki-ba 'in its/this place/ground' or, in some cases, maj-a 'in the boat'.The regular verb Sl.g was closely related, perhaps even synonymous with, the reduplication verb gar/ga2-ga2 'to put' or 'to place'.While it may be concluded that SI-ge4-dam/de3 had nothing to do with the verb si 'to fill' or gÍ4 'to return', the correct analysis of the expression remains somewhat uncertain.The article proposes that the SI should be read se and understood as a phonetic writing for the regular verb se3.g 'to put', 'to place'.The combination of the verb with the ki-ba may suggest that a more parochial form of keeping products existed side by side with the large centralized granaries and storehouses of the city.KEYWORDS: Sumerian, Ur III, administration, economy.