Position in chronology
BuB 2, 17
About this tablet
This is a short personnel list from Umma in southern Iraq, written in the Sargonic period (about 2300–2150 BCE), when the kings of Akkad ruled Sumer. It names men by their fathers and groups them under their foremen, with a higher-ranking officer, Nig-ul, in charge of both groups. Records like this let the provincial administration track who owed labour or military service and who answered for them. The tablet is now in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
One man, Ur-emega son of Abba-saga, and E-gissu son of Amar-su, both serve in the team of the foreman Lugal-nig. One man, Lugal-gigire son of Ur-ildu, serves in the team of the foreman Gal-ug. Both teams are under the captain Nig-ul.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. 1 (man): Ur-emega, 2. son of Abba-saga; 3. E-gissu, 4. son of Amar-su; 5. foreman: Lugal-nig. 6. 1 (man): Lugal-gigire, 7. son of Ur-ildu; 8. foreman: Gal-ug. 9. Captain: Nig-ul.
Our translation engine — Opus 5.5. 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
1(asz@c)#? ur-eme2-ga# dumu ab-ba-sa6-ga e2-gissu dumu amar-su4 ugula lugal-nig2 1(asz@c) lugal-gigir-e dumu ur-ildux(NAGAR) ugula gal:ug3 nu-banda3 nig2-ul
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — BuB 2, 17. 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 (P214943) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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