Position in chronology
Adab 0849
About this tablet
A short administrative note from Adab, in southern Iraq, from the Old Akkadian period (about 2300–2150 BCE). It lists reed mats by number and length in cubits, grouped by the boats they belong to or were issued for. The first group is assigned to the boat of a man named Iškur-andul, a name meaning roughly 'the storm-god Iškur is a protecting shade'. The second group goes to a large cargo boat whose owner's name is lost. Woven reed matting was an everyday material in Mesopotamian river transport, used for covering cargo and lining hulls, and the tablet shows how even such humble equipment was counted.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Reed mats, listed by size. Three mats are 7 cubits long, six are 6 cubits long, and two are 5 cubits long. All of these are for Iškur-andul's boat. Another six mats of 6 cubits and two more of about 5 cubits go to a cargo boat. The name of that boat's owner or skipper is broken off. The rest of the back of the tablet is blank.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engineObverse 3 reed mats, 7 [cubits (long)]; 6 reed mats, 6 cubits (long); 2 reed mats, 5 cubits (long): boat of Iškur-andul. 6 reed mats, 6 cubits (long); 2 reed mats, 5? [cubits (long)]: Reverse cargo boat [of ...]. (rest of reverse uninscribed)
Our translation engine — Opus 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Spotted an error? Suggest a correction — confirmed corrections feed the engine's knowledge base.
Transliteration
3(asz@c) kid 7(asz@c) [kusz3] 6(disz) kid 6(disz) kusz3 2(asz@c) kid 5(asz@c) kusz3 ma2 iszkur-an-dul3 6(disz) kid 6(disz) kusz3 2(asz@c) kid 5(disz)? [kusz3] ma2-gur8 [...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — Adab 0849. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA (P217548) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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