The bald accountants' formulation of these texts conceals a potential wealth of information about the textile industry in the later Assyrian empire. We give here a rapid survey of the evidence to enable the reader to appreciate the content of these texts and the associated problems. Many individual terms and questions have to be passed over, but it is hoped to study the whole subject of Neo-Assyrian textiles in more detail in a forthcoming article.
A line like 1 TÚG.na-ṣa-bat bir ZAG SA5 KAR is difficult to disentangle at first sight, but the comparison of different texts and contexts can shed some light. In most texts the scribes use the terms which provide the technical description of the textiles in a fairly constant order, and for ease of reference we have found it helpful to classify these terms (in seven Groups, A to G) according to their rank in the sequence. Group A are the basic words for the textile or garment, such as "coat" or "blanket." There are more than 20 of these, discussed below under Types of Textile. The other groups are:
Group B (type or purpose): This includes (textiles for) "a bed" (GIŠ.NÁ), and "a chair" (GIŠ.GU.ZA). There is one occasion each of GIS.HUR.MES ("for drawings"?) and nakbassi; but much the commonest term in this group is bé-te. This usually qualifies maqāṭu (also once each hullānu(?) and sa-suppāte), and although never written É, it seems probable that it means simply "house," and refers to a garment used indoors.
Group C (material): Two common terms are used here, birše, often abbreviated to bir, which probably refers to a coarse woollen fabric, and GADA = kitû "linen." Rarely we also meet tabrību (written HE.MED); this features more often in its own right in lists of wool (e.g. nos. 110 and 115), and is only certainly attested for the SI.LUH textile (see below) and for dappastu in the precious metal lists. Where no material is specified, we are probably entitled to assume that it would have been self-evident to the scribes from the type of textile. No doubt most were wool, but clearly we cannot take this as certain.
Group D (details): This is the most difficult category to interpret. There are only two terms in frequent use: ZAG and LAGAB, and neither their Akkadian readings nor their meanings are known. Without rehearsing all the arguments - none of which is decisive - we will propose the following solutions. Each term should refer to a part of the textile which is usually different from the main body of it, and is further described by its colour or other quality under Group E. For ZAG the Akkadian pūtu and the meaning "front" is probable, although not apparently otherwise attested in connection with clothing. Interpreting the multivalent LAG AB sign is more difficult, but the best option seems to be NIGÍN = liwītu, in Neo-Assyrian probably libītu (unless it were the word libu, attested in Middle Assyrian, cf. Assur 2/iv [ 1979] 6; Donbaz, Festschrift Garelli [Paris 1991], 79). This is likewise unattested for clothing, but can easily be taken to refer either to a decorative feature, such as an encircling "band" or a strip of "edging," which would appropriately be in a different colour. In one case (no. 109) the doubled sign NIGIN is used; since the entries on this tablet differ from the usual it is hard to say whether NIGIN is the same as NIGIN, but it is at least possible.
Group E (colour): The simple colour terms in use are clear: "white" (BABBAR = paṣ(i)u), "black" (Gl6 = ṣalmu), "red" (SA5, usually written with one less vertical than SI+A, and probably to be read sāmu [NA form?]). We also have GÙN(.A) = birmu "multi-coloured." Each of these colours may give the colour of the main garment or textile, but black and especially red are often referring to the Group D details, the "front" or "band." SA5 is often further qualified by one of the terms KAR or KUR, which can be seen from no. 105 or no. 120 to be alternatives. For KAR it is certain from ND 2307:14-15 SÍG.SA5, ka-a-ri that we have the word kāru "port"; this is perhaps therefore "commercial red," while KUR might be "country" (mātu) or perhaps "mountain" (šadû), hence "natural red." There does also appear to be a "limestone red" (SA5 pu-li; nos. 107 and 108), which might be associated with SA5 NA4 "stone red" in nos. 96 and 105. Evidently a variety of red dyes was in use, which were sufficiently distinctive to be readily differentiated by the administrative officials. These distinctions apply only to "red," as may be told from the cases where the scribes have omitted the colour, merely writing KAR.
Group F (miscellaneous details): Towards the end of the sequence of designations there are many terms which remain enigmatic or completely obscure, such as me/irṭu ("worn, rubbed"?), KA (= appu "fringe"?), NU (probably denoting the absence of a feature), gubli ("of Byblos"?), etc., etc. They no doubt refer to attributes of various kinds.
Group G (size): In a few instances the scribe simply adds "big" (GAL.MEŠ) or "small" (QÀL). More frequent are indications of the weight, found at the end of the sequence in nos. 106-109. The weights range from 3/4 to 1 2/3 minas (a mina being roughly 1 lb. or 0.45 kg.). What these entries mean is clear from no. 108 i.10'-12': here we have an entry of 18 textiles, ending with "1 1/2 minas," followed by 59 textiles classed as "1 1/3 mina" and 5 as "1 1/4 mina"; both the variation in the number of textiles and the descending order of the weights show that the final entries refer to the weight of each individual textile in the group.
F.M. Fales & J.N. Postgate
F.M. Fales & J.N. Postgate, 'The Terminology of the 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/theterminologyofthetextiles/]