Grain Storage Report on Clay Tablet

At the entrance of a cool subterrain man-made cave, a scribe is sitting down holding a clay tablet. For each vessel that passes him by, he makes a mark on his clay tablet.

Purpose

In the bigger cities in crocua, by the kingly decree, the priests and priestesses gather grain and preserved foods that lasts a long time so that in times of bad crops the people will not starve. To keep track of the food stored and how much there is, they are tasked to make one mark per vessel (standardized size vessel provided by the king) stored within that storage building.

Document Structure

Clauses

The first types of this document is simply an uncomplicated drawing of what it represent, e.g. a picture of a grain, fried fish or fruit. Besides the drawing, is a tally mark for each vessel in the storage.

Publication Status

A copy of it is kept at the place of where food is stored, and the original is sent to the court of the king. It is not publicly accessible.

Legal status

By the decree of the king, the report may not be meddled with or falsified. If found that there is food stolen or not accounted for, the persons responsible would be thrown to the crocodiles.

Historical Details

Background

The ruling class noticed that hungry people are displeased and will create trouble, but sated people will not. So these pockets of food stores were created, especially in bigger settlements, to keep the population from uprising and stirring up problems for the ruling class to deal with.

Public Reaction

When it was new, some people were worried it wasn't going to work and that the food would simply be stolen or eaten in secret. However, as a bad year came when the crops failed and dried fruits, nuts and grains were distributed to the hungry and needy, people came to see it as a good thing and the practise spread to other big cities by word of mouth, correspondence between state officials or diplomatic visits.

Legacy

No one knows exactly which city it was first decreed that a state mandated royal food storage was to be kept, but we know it comes from the Crocuan continent and the river valleys of the deserts, where bad crops could mean many would die and unrest was only a few empty plates away.

Cuneiform early pictographic signs by William Albert Mason

Type

Record, Historical

Medium

Clay

Location

Crocua