A mission led by Iraqi and European archaeologists has discovered a cuneiform archive in the administrative quarter of ancient Lagash, belonging to the 'Master of the Royal Granaries'. The collection of over 400 clay tablets details the meticulously managed inflow of grain from communal farms and the subsequent rationing of barley and oil to temple workers and military personnel during the Third Dynasty of Ur.
The tablets include unique entries regarding emergency grain reserves kept for years of low Nile-like floods, demonstrating a sophisticated level of centralized planning and risk management. This discovery offers a granular view of the socioeconomic structures that allowed Sumerian city-states to maintain stability and power through the control of basic food resources.