Position in chronology
BuB 2, 15
About this tablet
This is a short livestock account from Umma in southern Iraq, written during the Akkadian empire around 2300–2200 BCE. It lists sheep one by one, each against a name. Most of these look like personal names, but the last entry goes to Inanna of Zabalam, the goddess of a well-known nearby cult city. The sheep are tied to a man named Inim-manizi, who is described as a lamentation priest and livestock official, and the palace is said to have 'consumed' them. It is a small look at how Akkadian palace administration drew on temple staff and their flocks.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Record of sheep: one each for Karmah, Esagšu, Dingir-ebgal, Nin-ur, Šagepada, Esagkala and Urbartab, plus two or more for the goddess Inanna of Zabalam. These animals are the nig-saga of Inim-manizi, the lamentation priest and livestock manager. The palace used them up. The tablet ends with a period of 3 years and 7 months, which is probably the time span the account covers.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. 1 sheep: Karmah; 2. 1: Esagšu; 3. 1: Dingir-ebgal; 4. 1: Nin-ur; 5. 1: Šagepada; 6. 1: Esagkala; 7. 1: Urbartab; 8. [n+]2: Inanna of Zabala(m). 9. (This is) the nig-saga of Inim-manizi, 10. the lamentation priest (gala) (and) livestock manager (šuš). 11. The palace consumed (them). 12. 3 years (and) 7 months.
Our translation engine — Opus 5.5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
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Transliteration
1(asz@c) udu kar-mah 1(asz@c) e2-sag-szu4 1(asz@c) dingir-eb-gal 1(asz@c) nin#-ur4 1(asz@c) sza3-ge#-pa3-da 1(asz@c) e2#-sag#-kal-la 1(asz@c) ur3-bar-tab n 2(asz@c) inanna zabala6 nig2#-sag#-a# inim-ma-ni#-zi-kam# gala# szusz3 e2#-gal-e bi2-gu7 3(disz@t) mu 7(disz@t) iti
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — BuB 2, 15. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation (P214941) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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Related sources
One of the earliest specimens of human writing. Not literature, not law — accounting. The need to keep track of grain in a temple bureaucracy is what pushed marks-on-clay into a system that could one day carry epics.
A window into the world's first total state. The Ur III administration tracked every animal, every worker, every shekel — for a population in the millions. The level of paperwork was not exceeded until the modern era.