This paper studies mathematical aspects of earthwork projects in the Ur III city of Umma, c.2053–2032 b.c. The main purpose of this paper is to describe the practical procedures involved in moving earth for hydraulic works around Umma. It also shows how Old Babylonian pedagogical “mathematical texts” about earthworks, from the early second millennium b.c., are indebted to the practical procedures adopted by Ur III officials.