Early balance weights in Mesopotamia and Western Syria: Origin and context

EARLY BALANCE WEIGHTS IN MESOPOTAMIA

AND WESTERN SYRIA: ORIGIN AND CONTEXT

LORENZ RAHMSTORF

ABSTRACT

Early balance weights have been found at several Early Dynastic/Akkadian/Ur III sitesin southern Mesopotamia since the late 19th century but not all were identified as suchand very few have been published adequately. The existence of weight metrology al-ready in the Chalcolithic period cannot be verified so far. In Syria, a steadily increas-ing number of weights have come to light in excavations at Early Bronze Age sites inthe last decades. In a recent comprehensive and not yet published study, the authorhas assembled nearly 2000 third-millennium balance weights from 163 sites betweenthe Aegean and western India, and discussed them under chronological, contextualand metrological aspects. In this contribution, some results concerning Mesopotamiaand western Syria will be presented.

Mesopotamian balance weights which can be dated securely to the third millenniumBC seem to be rather elusive. The aspects of their origin and context are seldom con-sidered, due to the fact that the c. 2000 Mesopotamian weights in museums worldwidein most cases lack any contextual or chronological information. Only a few of theweights assembled by M. Powell (Powell 1973: 249-273, tab. 17; Powell 1979: 71,note 1) and S. Karwiese (Karwiese 1990: 83-111) were dated to the third millennium.However, there are several third-millennium sites in southern Mesopotamia with bal-ance weights found since the late 19th century, even if very few have been publishedadequately. In Syria, the known sample is smaller than in southern Mesopotamia butthrough the increasing number of excavated EBA sites in the last decades more andmore weights have been brought to our attention. We are especially well informedabout the weights from Ebla/Tell Mardikh IIB1 (Ascalone and Peyronel 2006a). Themost typical shape of Near Eastern weights is called sphendonoid (i.e. the shape of asling bullet, e.g. Fig. 2,13-14) and made of a dark mineral (haematite, goethite etc., seeFig. 1), but there is a range of other shapes and stones used, as we will see below. Pos-sible EBA weights from nearly 70 sites in Anatolia and the Aegean have only recentlybeen identified and carefully studied (Rahmstorf 2003; Rahmstorf 2006; Rahmstorf2010; Rahmstorf in press). These are spool-shaped to cylindrical objects made from at-tractive colourful stone or from spondylus shell. A few bear markings implying un-doubtedly use as balance weights (Fig. 1). They are found as far east as at Tarsus in

04_ICAANE 2012 II Excav 20_38NAj NOWSZA:ICAANE 2012 3/19/14 1:32 AM Page 427

428 Lorenz Rahmstorf

Cilicia (Rahmstorf 2009: 202-203, fig. 1; Rahmstorf 2010: 90-92, fig. 8,2; Fig. 1). Tothe east of Mesopotamia, in the Persian Gulf and especially in the Indus Valley(Kenoyer 2010: 115-117), nearly 50 sites are known with cubical-shaped weights of theHarappan culture (Fig. 1). Finally in Egypt, and in extremely few cases in the south-ern Levant, weights of rectangular Egyptian type have been found (Fig. 1). In a recentcomprehensive study, the author has assembled nearly 2000 (possible) balance weightsfrom more than 150 third-millennium sites in the ‘Greater Near East’ between theAegean and western India and discussed them in their chronological, contextual andmetrological aspects (Rahmstorf in press). Around 400 weights come from nearly 30third-millennium sites in Syro-Mesopotamia, but this number is highly imprecise dueto the lack of identification and publication of these objects. In this contribution, wewill consider the aspects of their origin and context in Syro-Mesopotamia. Due to thelimitation of space, a metrological analysis of the data cannot be presented.

ORIGIN

It is not an easy task to define the beginnings of weight metrology as weights mighthave become standardised in shape and in material only after they had already a con-siderable history of use. Nevertheless, there are a number of specific criteria (Rahmstorf2006: 9-10; Rahmstorf 2010: 99-100) which help in the identification of weights: theyshould form a distinct class of artefacts (hard material, similar shape and careful treat-ment of surface), they should appear in sets, especially in settlements, and the presum-able objects should form a weight system which is logical and practical in daily use.

Chalcolithic weights at Tepe Gawra?There have been attempts to identify weights already from the Chalcolithic period, i.e.from the late sixth to the fourth millennium BC, for example at Tepe Gawra by A. J.Tobler. Some are big conical objects in limestone with one flatted surface (Tobler 1950:pl. XCVIIb, 1-2. 7; Fig. 2,1-7), others are spherical to barrel-shaped made from darkstone (Tobler 1950: pl. XCVIIb, 3.6; Fig. 2,3.6) or have a small cylindrical to cubical,rather irregular shape (Tobler 1950: pl. XCVIIb, 4-5.8-9; Fig. 1,4-5.8-9). They werefound in various levels (XVIII, XIII, XII, XI, X, IX), always as a single piece. Theearliest artefact (Fig. 2,4) comes from level XVIII, the early Obeid Period; the threelatest (Fig. 2,1-2.5) from level IX, the early Uruk Period; together a period of time ofover 1500 years. Not surprisingly, the assumed units of weight the single objects shouldrepresent are not convincing.1 In conclusion, these objects are implausible as weights.Tobler himself was aware of the hypothetical nature of his presumptions. Nevertheless,

1 Tobler 1950: 205-207. On such an archaeological basis, any metrological analysis seems to be mislead-ing, especially as Tobler assumed the use of different, much later weights units known from the third andsecond millennium. The weight and level of the objects: No. 1: 66.81 g (level IX); No. 2: 45.70 g (levelIX); No. 3: 47.45 g (level XIII well); No. 4: 11.43 g (level XVIII); No. 5: 3.56 g (level IX); No. 6: 30.79g (level XI); No. 7: 19.36 g (level X); No. 8: 5.83 g (level XIII); No. 9: 8.71 g (level XII).


we should be thankful to him for presenting the artefacts with figures, descriptions,their measurements and weight. Only with such evidence at our disposal might wecome closer to answering the question of the origins of weighing. Indeed, an identifi-cation of some stone objects from level VIII as weights seems to be more likely. E. A.Speiser cited three objects, two of which were illustrated (Fig. 2,10-11). Their shape,material and surface treatment is much more reminiscent of later balance weights. Fur-ther positive confirmation comes from the mass of one of the objects. The barrel-shaped object of diorite with flatted ends weighs 75.1 g (Fig. 2,10). A smallduck-shaped object from level VII (Fig. 2,12), the typical zoomorphic shape of manylater Mesopotamian weights, weighs 7.49 g, that is a tenth of the possible barrel-shapedweight from level VIII. While level VII belongs undoubtedly to the early third mil-lennium BC (Ninive 5), level VIII is much more controversial in its chronology. In themost detailed study, M. S. Rothman concluded that habitation in level VIII ended be-fore the middle of the fourth millennium (Rothman 2002: 46-51 with further refer-ences). Only after a hiatus of 500 years, life starts again at Tepe Gawra in the early thirdmillennium (Rothman 2002: 3, tab. 1.1). Nevertheless, the stratigraphy is much dis-turbed by the later building activities which took place during level VI, dated to theAkkadian period (and possibly also to the latest ED III).2 On the basis of present evi-dence, it remains doubtful whether the likely weights from level VIII should actuallybe dated to the Uruk period in the fourth millennium, and not to the early third mil-lennium BC.3 Finally, in level VI, there are 18 certain weights of hematite or otherdark stone, mostly sphendonoid, but also spherical and cylindrical in shape. A fewhave also parallel slashes (Fig. 2,13-14) which mark the number of units of measurerepresented. In addition, five scale plates were found in level VI (Speiser 1935: 113,115; Müller-Karpe 1993: 134 pl. 66,973; Fig. 2,15).

Chalcolithic weights at Uruk?Uruk is another site with questionable Chalcolithic weights, but again the evidence isnot conclusive. In early excavations, documentation of the architecture was the maingoal of the excavators, whereas exact stratigraphical and contextual information aboutthe find-spots of the objects is mostly lacking. In the final publication of the smallfinds in stone by A. Becker, 44 remain undated, 17 are dated to the OB to Parthiantimes and three are dated to the Uruk period (Becker 1993: 37-41, pl. 23-25). The ob-jects from the Uruk period were not weighed and only two of them were illustrated.One fragmented object is made of whitish-pinkish stone (Becker 1993: 38, pl. 24,561;Fig. 2, 17). At its middle, where the object is broken, it has a suddenly enlarged diam-eter which would be very exceptional for a sphendonoid weight. The other made ofblack stone with its cylindrical slightly double conical shape looks like a typical sphen-donoid weight (Becker 1993: 38, pl. 24,562; Fig. 2, 16). Becker described them as belonging to the late Chalcolithic Uruk period, but both were found next to the White

Early Balance Weights in Mesopotamia and Western Syria 429

2 These disturbances were already understood – even if only partially – by the excavators E. Speiser andCh. Bache (Speiser 1935: 19).

3 For a more detailed discussion, see Rahmstorf in press.


Temple at the Anu district in contexts dated to Uruk III, i. e. the Jemdet Nasr period(c. 3100-2900 BC). The Anu district was also overbuilt in later times. The evidencefrom Uruk does not imply that weight metrology was already practised in the fourthmillennium. At the earliest, it appears with the Jemdet Nasr period around 3000 BC butthe evidence is meagre so far. In addition, the textual evidence is also not conclusiveregarding weight metrology during the Uruk period. The numerical systems used in theArchaic texts for counting discrete things (humans, animals, grain products, rations,etc.) note area measures, capacity measures and time and calendar units, but there isno certain evidence for weight measures. The so-called System EN is attested only inthe Uruk IV period and had an uncertain application. According to R. Englund’s percep-tion, it was ‘possibly used to note weight measures’ (Englund 1998: 118, fig, 41), but thisis only an assumption not substantiated by concrete evidence. In conclusion, it is possi-ble but not yet proven that weight metrology was practiced in fourth-millennium Syro-Mesopotamia. Definite positive evidence could only be provided by finding a number ofweights which fulfil the above given criteria in a modern excavation of an Uruk-periodsite.

Weights from the beginning of the third millennium BCOnly with the earlier third millennium BC, possible or certain weights, apart from thealready mentioned weights from Tepe Gawra VII, appear at several sites in Syro-Mesopotamia. At Tell Judaideh in Amuq Valley, two possible weights were found inphase G which is dated to around 3000 BC (Braidwood and Braidwood 1960: 324,fig. 251,6). One is hemispherical (Fig. 2,18), the other oblong with a circular depres-sion on top (Fig, 2,19). There are no further indications beside this possible marking(?) and their shape that these objects could be balance weights. Further west, at Tarsusin Cilicia, a small sphendonoid hematite weight was found in an EBA I context (Goldman1956: 275, fig. 420,117). In southern Mesopotamia, some weights from Khafajah/Tutub(Delougaz 1940: 155-159, 162-164; Delougaz and Lloyd 1942: 137, 150, 152; Meyer1981: 300-302, 304, 307-310) and Tell Asmar/Ešnunna (Delougaz and Lloyd 1942: 207,209, 210, 213; Meyer 1981: 300-304, 307-310) are dated to ED II. Unfortunately, theweights of the last two mentioned sites have been awaiting publication for decades. Fromthe early third millennium, at least from 2800 BC, balance weights were obviously in usein Syro-Mesopotamia.

CONTEXT

We will now consider the archaeological contexts of early balance weights. Some ex-amples shall be presented here.


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Palace and administrative buildings: Ebla, Tell Beydar, Tell al Hiba/LagašThe balance weights from a palatial context at Ebla have received the most detailedpublication in the recent study by E. Ascalone and L. Peyronel (2006a).4 The most in-teresting among these is a set of weights found in the small room L.2712 in the north-eastern corner of the courtyard of the Royal Palace. Among the seven heavy basalt andlimestone weights, five were marked. In addition, four tiny spherical weights werefound together (Ascalone and Peyronel 2006a: 186-189, tab. 5.6, pls. III,6; IV; VIII,22-23; XI,38-39; XIV-XVII). The authors consider them to have been the official weightsof the royal bureau for controlling the products disbursed from the office (Ascalone andPeyronel 2006b: 51). In the late ED palace, in the centre of Tell Beydar in Field F inRoom 6445 (Locus 6995), a hematite weight was found together with fragments oflapis lazuli, three bivalves and one stone bead (Milano 2004: 2, fig. 2 [6995-M-1]). Thecomplex of rooms in the east of the palace constitutes a similar service or storage area,and here another weight was found (Milano 2004: 3, fig. 4 [6110-M-1]).5 At Tell alHiba/Lagaš in southern Mesopotamia, a late ED administrative building was exca-vated in the early 1970s (Hansen 1973: 67-68, fig.. 7-8). Weights were mentioned butnot described or depicted (Zainab 1989: 117). Further confirmation that weighing wasconducted in this building is in the form of a hoard of various objects which comprisedalso a pair of scale plates (Hansen 1973: 69, fig. 12-13; Zainab 1989: 123-124, pl.LIII,7-8; Müller-Karpe 1993: 134, pls. 65,969; 66,967-968). These examples demon-strate the importance of weights in official administrative procedures like the storingor disbursing of products or rations.

Temple: Tell Brak, Mari, Khafajah/TutubDated to the Akkadian Period M at Tell Brak, a small sphendonoid hematite weight wasfound in a pit in the temple court in Area FS (Oates et al. 2001: 617, fig. 485,33), andtwo marked weights came to light in the northwest of the temple in Area SS (Oates etal. 2001: 618-619, fig. 485,34-35). These are well published in comparison to weightsfrom Mari. Already at the start of the excavations in the 1930s, five potential weightswere found in the area of the temple of Ishtar (Fig. 3,1). One sphendonoid (‘en formede saucisson’), apparently with six parallel incisions, and another in the shape of aswan were found outside of the temple in houses to the north (Parrot 1956: 176-177[M. 420; M. 614], pl. LXIII,M. 420). Their connection to the temple remains thereforeunclear, similar as that of a duck weight from a house to the east of the temple, and ofa further fragmented duck (Fig. 3,2) weight with a perforation, originally with a metalring, from X’’24 to the south of the temple (Parrot 1956: 176-177 [M. 544; M. 1015],pl. LXIII,M. 1015). It seems to be more correct to assume a domestic find context forthese four weights. Only one weight came directly form the temple: a spherical weight


4 See also Ascalone and Peyronel 2006b for contextual information.5 Already in a younger pit of the Akkadian period a sphendonoid weight was found in the north of the

palace in Field F (Locus 6990), see Milano 2004: 3, fig. 5 [6990-M-5].


with 8 incisions lay in the ‘chambre des prêtres’ of the Ishtar temple (Parrot 1956: 176[M. 748]). In and around the temple, an extensive inventory of figurines, decoratedshell inlays, jewellery and weapons came to light. Also in the temple of Ninni-zazamore in the centre of the City (Fig. 3,1), a 12,8 cm long object (Parrot 1967: 195-196,198, fig. 241-242,2817; Fig. 3,3) was found in the 1950s in Room 13. It can be iden-tified as a sphendonoid weight. Room 13 is the rectangular cella of the temple withbenches and pedestals along the walls on the north and east sides of the room. Further14 weights from a grave in Trench III Z16 (Fig. 3,1) will be discussed below. All theseweights from Mari have been published inadequately without detailed descriptions,detailed drawings and without giving the mass of the objects. Weights also appear intemple contexts in southern Mesopotamia, for example at Khafajah/Tutub at the SînTempel III, the Nintu Tempel VI and VII and the Small Temple VIII (Delougaz 1940:155-159, 162-164; Delougaz and Lloyd 1942: 137, 150, 152).

Domestic context: Tell Sweyhat, Tell SelenkahiyeMost of the balance weights seem to be found in habitation areas. The predominanceof excavations of temples and monumental architecture in the excavations in the 19th

and earlier 20th centuries may explain their apparent meagre representation in archae-ological literature. With its focus on habitation areas in settlements, especially in theexcavations of the last 40 years in Syria, it has become obvious that they are commonfinds in domestic contexts, even if they are often still not being published. Two suchcases shall be discussed. At Tell Sweyhat, the so-called ‘Burned Building’ is situatedin Area IV at the western end of the citadel wall. The building has a rectangular andregular plan (Fig. 4,1). Room 3 contained a limestone weight with the inscription ‘1Mina’. The palaeography and the archaeological context are now considered to date tothe early Akkadian period (Holand 2006: 231). In the neighbouring rooms, other possi-ble weights were found: in Room 4 – four small possible hematite weights (Fig. 4,6-9)and an elongated possible weight of dark brown vulcanic stone (Fig. 4,10), in Room2 – a spherical but unpolished hematite object. All were published without their weightgiven. Their use in connection to metal working and economic transactions is impliedby the finds of slag, strips of metal, a crucible (Fig. 4,2) and tongs (Fig. 4,4) from theserooms (Holland 2006: 235, fig. 161, 1, pl. 121a). At Tell Selenkahiye, possible weightswere found in six domestic buildings of the excavated area. The publication is howeverinconsistent. Of the 16 possible weights published by W. H. van Soldt only five weredepicted and only three of the illustrated ones are likely to be weights (van Soldt 2001:pl. 9.2,c.f.e). In the discussion of houses and their inventories, D. Meijer mentionedweights which were not discussed by van Soldt.6 This example demonstrates that theseartefacts are still attracting little attention in final publications of large scale excava-tions.


6 The 16 hematite weights from Square W42/W43 (Meijer 2001: 49) which do not appear in van Soldt’sgeneral discussion of the weights from Tell Selenkahiye.


Foundation Deposit: NippurIn rare cases, weights are also found in foundation deposits. A Late Akkadian depot wasexcavated in the ‘Area AF sounding’ in level XIIIC at Nippur with seven shell andstone beads (McMahon 2006: 135, pl. 165). Like the weights from the grave from Mari(see below) they demonstrate which shapes were contemporaneously in use.7

Tomb: Mari, UrWeights in third millennium funerary contexts are very rare. Both examples we canquote here are to a certain extent dubious. In trench III Z 16 at Mari, J.-C. Margueronexcavated a set of 14 weights apparently from a grave from the end of the Early BronzeAge, but he neither provided a description of the specific grave nor of its other contents(Margueron 1982: 28, fig. 6). Hence, its dating cannot be considered as secure.8 Mostof the weights seem to be made of hematite or goethite (Fig. 3,4-14.16), two (Fig.3,15.17) are of lighter stone. Their shapes are sphendonoid to spherical, a few have flat-ted surfaces. In grave 1413 in the east of the Royal Cemetery of Ur, L. Woolley exca-vated seven hematite weights and two pebbles of mixed shapes next to two ceramic andone copper/bronze vessel, three chisels, an axe and a saw (Woolley 1934: 473, 586).The possible weights were not depicted in the publication. The mass of the objects9 isnot in any logical sequence. While in this case the third millennium date is unques-tionable, the correct identification of the objects is not completely without its doubts.Generally weights become much more common in graves with the Old Babylonianperiod, as examples from Ur (Peyronel 2000) or Tell ed-Der (de Meyer 1978: pl 16,1;17,4-5.7) demonstrate.

ConclusionsSo far, there is no conclusive archaeological (and textual) evidence that weight metrol-ogy was practiced during the late Uruk period in the later fourth millennium. Possiblyduring Gemdet Nasr at earliest and clearly from ED II around 2800 BC, balanceweights were certainly present in Mesopotamia. Contextually, they appear in palacesand temples as well as in domestic habitation areas, much more seldom in foundationdeposits and graves. Generally weights are still inadequately identified, published andstudied, even in very recent publications. Certainly we need more sensitivity in thetreatment of possible weights. In most cases, they are not easy to identify as they mighthave an asymmetrical shape, bear no markings or inscriptions. Some possible EDweights were described as ‘pebble weights’ which are ‘stones ground to no specialshape or rounded pebbles that can be identified as weights only if they are marked


7 In levels XIIB and XIIA, two heavy pierced weights (McMahon 2006: pl. 163, 17-18, the latter weigh-ing three minas) were found close to Old Akkadian tablets which list various commodities like textileswhose weight are given in minas (McMahon 2006: 20-21, 166-169, pl. 192, 2-3; 193, 1-3).

8 According to G. Chambon (2006: 188), it might also be possible that they date to the Middle Bronze Age.9 In the original publication their mass is given in gain (Woolley 1934: 586). Their mass in grams: 1.75 g;

5.7 g; 9.85 g, 11.66 g; 12.51 g; 12.96 g; 33.5 g; 36.74 g.


with slashes to indicate some unit of measure or abraded on a side or sides to adjustthe weight to match some standard’ (Meyer 1981: 300). One should add to Meyer’sstatement that the precise documentation of the context and of the possible weightswith drawings/photographs, descriptions, measures and weights is a prerequisite.10

Therefore, any artefact or any stone which has been found in peculiar circumstances(e.g. as a set of similar stones) should receive more attention in final publications. Onlythrough such basic work, the origin, practice and frequency of weight metrology ineveryday life in Early Mesopotamia can be assessed with more precision.

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Fig. 1: Distribution of weights in the Near East in the third millennium BC. Sources of depictedweights: Aegean-Anatolian weight from Tiryns (Rahmstorf 2003: pl. LX, b2; Rahmstorf 2010:fig. 8,1.3), Near Eastern weight from Tepe Gawra (Speiser 1935: pl. XLIII,4), Harappan weightfrom Tell Abraq (Potts 2000: 128, fig. [in the middle]) and Egyptian weight from Elephantine(Raue et al. 2005: pl. VI). Not to scale.



Fig. 2: Alleged and definite stone weights from Tepe Gawra (1-14), Uruk (16-17), Tell Judaideh(18-19) and a bronze scale plate from Tepe Gawra (15). Sources: 1-9: Tobler 1950: XCVIIb,1-9; 10-14: Speiser 1935: pl. XLII, 15; XLIII,1.4.7; 15: Müller-Karpe 1993: pl. 66, 973; 16-17:Becker 1993: pl. 24,561-562; 18-19; Braidwood and Braidwood 1960: fig. 251,2.6.1-9: not to scale; 10, 12-14, 16-19 scale 1:2; 11, 15 scale 1:4.



Fig. 3: Plan of Mari (1) and stone weights found near the Temple of Ishtar (2), in the Temple ofNinni-zaza (3) and in a grave in Trench III Z 16 (4-17). Sources: 1: Margueron 2004: fig. 104;2: Parrot 1956: pl. LXIII, M. 1015; 3: Parrot 1967: fig. 241-242,2817; 4-17: Margueron 1982:fig. 6.2, 4-17: scale 1:2; 3: scale 1:3.



Fig. 4: Plan (1) of the ‘Burnt Building’ in Area IV at Tell Sweyhat and selection of finds (2-10)from rooms 2-4. Sources: 1: Holland 2006, pl. 155, b; 2: Holland 2006, fig. 223,1; 3: Holland2006, fig.163,2; 4: Holland 2006, fig. 161,1; 5: Holland 2006, fig.163,8; 6-9: Holland 2006, fig.163,9-10; 10: Holland 2006, fig. 163,3 2-3 scale 1:3; 4-10 scale 1:2.


Early balance weights in Mesopotamia and Western Syria: Origin and context

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