Nos. 93-106 form a remarkable group of labels bearing lists of textiles, and generally showing both stamp seal impressions and traces of the string to which the labels were affixed. As may be seen from Plates V-VI, they are not all of the same type. The only completely preserved labels are nos. 93 and 94, each inscribed horizontally and bearing a centrally placed stamp seal impression on one or both faces. Both are dated, one to 681 B.C., the other to 658 B.C., and they evidently refer to small transactions within the administration: no. 93 names one person responsible, Aššur-killanni, and another from whom the textiles seem to have come. No. 94 just lists the textiles and gives a date. One can only presume that each of these labels was attached to the textiles it mentions.
The remainder of this group probably all come from much larger labels; many fragments also show one or more stamp seal impressions, and there are string holes in some. Others can only be identified as parts of labels by their shape, tapering in one or two directions. The best example of these larger labels is no. 95; like all the other larger pieces, it is inscribed vertically, that is to say with the lines parallel to the short axis of the label, from the short, straight, top edge down towards the narrower end. The size of these labels evidently reflects the amount of information the scribes wished to put on them. They give us long lists of different kinds of textile, recorded in precise detail. The individual entries are not huge (45 gulēnu in no. 96; 77 textiles in no. 101; 60 maqāṭi in no. 104), and totals are in the hundreds, not thousands (100 plus in no. 96; 300 plus in no. 101; 700 plus in no. 104). Nevertheless, these are quantities which could not have been contained in a bundle secured by a single sealing; it seems probable therefore that the labels come from either large chests or sealed rooms.
It is difficult to be precise about the nature of the textiles listed. Some are certainly pieces of clothing, others rugs or blankets. Details are given of their shape, material and colour, but they are telegraphic and many terms remain obscure. For an attempt to classify them see below. Frustratingly, none of these pieces is preserved at the end of the text where one might expect to be told of the nature of the consignment; we can only speculate that they relate to tribute (maddattu), audience gifts (nāmurtu) or similar contributions to the palace which could be expected to include a wide variety of items in relatively small numbers.
The last of the label fragments (no. 106) also includes information about the weight of the individual pieces, and this feature associates it with the following texts, nos. 107-109, which are probably all from the same hand. These are fragments from tablets with several columns, densely inscribed and listing textiles of the same kind as the larger labels. The scribe has made extensive use of the ditto sign, occasionally using as many as four in succession. Given the repetitive nature of the data he was listing, this is an understandable attempt to save time and space, but it is less convenient for us today because the words to which the ditto signs refer have often been broken away. Nevertheless, it is helpful to know that the information similar to that on the labels was also committed to regular tablets by the palace administration.
F.M. Fales & J.N. Postgate
F.M. Fales & J.N. Postgate, 'Textiles', Imperial Administrative Records, Part I: Palace and Temple Administration, SAA 7. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 1992; online contents: SAAo/SAA07 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2021 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa07/inventoriesreceiptsanddisbursements/textiles/]