A series of letters written in Sumerian and concerning the events surrounding the fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur during the reign of Ibbi-Sin (circa 2028 - circa 2004 B.C.E.) were a part of the regular school curriculum during the Old Babylonian period (circa 1894 - circa 1595 B.C.E.). Whether these letters are authentic is open to question, but they nonetheless appear to reflect the political situation that allowed Ishbi-Erra, a once trusted official of king Shulgi (circa 2094 - circa 2047 B.C.E.), to rebel successfully against his current overlord. Ibbi-Sin gave Ishbi-Erra twenty talents of silver with which to purchase grain. Ishbi-Erra wrote to the king that he bought all the grain in the land, enough to last fifteen years, and—because of the movements of hostile Amorites from the west-he placed the grain in the...