The so-called Persepolis Treasury Tablets were written in the period 492–460 BC and with the exception of one tablet, all are written in Elamite (Cameron 1948, p. 1). These tablets were found during excavations at Persepolis in 1936–38 in a block of buildings that were identified as the royal treasury. Note that this Persepolis treasury was only one of the royal treasuries, not the treasury of the entire empire (ibid., pp. 11–12). From a monetary point of view, these tables are important because they give the equivalents between the value of silver expressed in shekels and the value of sheep and wine:

1 sheep = 3 shekels of silver,

1 jar (marriš) of wine = 1 shekel of silver.

The shekel here refers to a unit of weight of silver, not a coin of that weight. One silver shekel weighed 8.333 g (Hallock 1969, p. 72) and one marriš represented a volume of 10 quarts, i.e. 9.46 liters (Hallock 1969, p. 717, entry kuršam). These equivalents also allow various agricultural commodities and domestic animals to be valued using the weight of silver. For example one bar (10 quarts, i.e. 9.46 liters) of barley was usually worth 0.3 silver shekels (ibid., p. 17).

These equivalents for sheep and wine are stated for both or only one of these commodities in Tablets 1, 9, 12–16, 18–19, 21–22, 24 and 26–30 (numbering according to Cameron 1948). These tablets date from the period 490/89 BC (Tablet 1, ibid., p. 84) to 470 BC (Tablet 30, ibid., p. 135). They thus fall into the reigns of Darius I (522–486 BC) and Xerxes I (486–465 BC). Tablets 13, 15–16, 18–19, 21–22 and 26–30 explicitly state that these equivalents are given by royal edict. It is therefore necessary to bear in mind that these are administratively determined prices for payments to royal officials, servants and hired workers, and it cannot be ruled out that prices on the free market may have been somewhat different.

As an example, Tablet 1 is given below, which orders payments for services performed in the period of five months from 26 October 490 to 20 March 489 BC in the 32nd year of the reign of Darius I. The translation and (slightly modified) summary of the content are taken from Cameron 1948, p. 83, where the transliteration of the Elamite text is also given. For further detailed information see ibid., pp. 83–4. Key parts of the text in terms of equivalents expressed in silver are marked in bold.

Tablet 1

1	(To) Shakka speak,
2	Baradkama says:
3	3 karsha and 2 shekels
4	(and) a half of a shekel,
5	silver, (to) Haradkama, his name,
6	an Egyptian wood-
7	worker (and) chief-of-hundred,
8	(who) is earning wages
9	at Parsa (and for whom) Vahauka is responsible,
10	give him. Sheep
11	and wine (serve) as the equivalent (of the money):
12	1 sheep for 3 shekels,
13	1 jug (of wine) for 1 (of) the same.
14	Months: Varkazana and
15	Açiyadiya and Anamaka,
16	Samiamantash, Viyaxna—
17	within a total of 5 months
18	in the 32nd year.
19	1 man, per month, 6 shekels
20	and a half
21	of a shekel is to receive. Hipirukka
22	wrote (the tablet), the receipt from Mardukka
23	he received.

Contents

Baradkama informs the treasurer Shakka that the sum of 3 karsha and 2½ shekels of silver should be given to an Egyptian woodworker and “centurion” named Haradkama who is a wage earner at Persepolis and for whom Vahauka is responsible. The payment is not in cash, however, but in sheep and wine at the rate of one sheep for three shekels, one jug of wine for one shekel. The sum is paid for services performed in the five-month period from the 8th to the 12th month of the 32nd year of Darius I. One karsha represented 10 shekels (ibid, p. 4), so 3 karsha and 2½ shekels means 32.5 shekels. Thus, the Egyptian is to be paid the equivalent of 6.5 shekels per month. The scribe of the tablet was Hipirukka, who received a receipt (for the order?) from Mardukka.