One of the most notable documents is a shipping official's time sheets, accounting for his time in half day increments, Included location, cargo handled, origins and destinations, and other details.

Some social idealists are rather distressed that written language probably originated from accounting. Originally, caravan inventories were beads of clay stamped with a symbol representing particular goods. These were placed in a jar sealed with wax and the sealer's imprint. At the other end, the accountant would break the jar and compare the symbolic beads with physical inventory of the caravan.

Later, the jars were replaced by clay tablets, with specific symbols for types of goods and a numeric symbol for how many of each, plus the seal of the originator.

Lots of examples of the beads and tablets have been found, but it was a while before archaeologists realized what they were.