The Reconstruction Of The Archive Of Beli-ili, The Courier Of The Tribute Animal Center Of Ur-â…¢ Dynasty(AS4ii/2-(?)S5i/25)

Ur III dynasty (2111B.C-2004B.C) is the most brilliant period in SumerianCivilization and the last dynasty during the time when Sumerians dominate theancient Mesopotamia. Derehem animal tribute center whose Sumerian name is“é-Puzrish-Dagan” was built by the king ulgi at his38thyear’s dominance, professorWu yuhong translated it into Chinese is the Office of Puzri-Dagan. This animaltribute center located at Drehem site in modern Iraq. Following the power of the UrIII dynasty increasing strong, the sacrifices to the gods are growing in frequency andin volume, more and more animal tributes came from all over the cities of the dynasty.Also, the royal families, the palace officer and the officials of the royal court as wellas the soldiers needed the massive domestic animals as foods from the king and theofficers of the dynasty. These receiving and withdrawals of the large amount ofanimals required the special accounting office to manage. Therefore, Derehem animaltribute center has been built. Derehem animal tribute center occupies very importantposition in the economic management system of Ur III dynasty, so the documentswhich were excavated in Derehem become very important historical materials tostudy politics, economical, religious and diplomacy of the ancient Mesopotamia. theworld of international study of Assyriology is going on widely, but the fragmentedwork of the archaeologist of different countries leads to the archives were delivered tovarious site of the world, and many achievements are not well integrated. Therefore,the Institute for the History of Ancient Civilizations (IHAC) started theReconstruction of the Archives of the Ur III Dynasty (“Drehem Project”) in the yearof2000, it intend to study the Ur III Dynasty comprehensively and systematically andfurther improve the historical materials of the animal tribute center which will providethe scholars of Assyriology a comprehensive and systematical historical materials.The work in this paper is to reconstruct the documents of Beli-ili, who was thecourier in the tribute animal center. At present, there are80texts regarding hisactivities were excavated in Derehem, the time of Beli-ili appeared in Drehem texts inthe period from AS4ii/2to S5i/25, experienced two dynasties. This paper isdivided into two parts: In the first part, the paper analyze the professions of Beli-ili,his colleagues contact and his work; In the second part, we reconstructs the archive ofBeli-ili according to the chronological order, and presented Sumerian transliterations,English translations and Chinese translations. Through the reconstruction and analysisof the archive of Beli-ili, we can clearly see the basic work of main officials and the administration of the tribute animal center, and the foundational profession and dutyof Beli-ili, which contributes to provide primeval and trustworthy documentarytestimony for the research of the tribute animal center and the politics, economics,religion and diplomacy of Ur III dynasty. It also provides reliable documentalfoundamentation for studying the elementary social form of Sumerian country.