Position in chronology
CUSAS 26, 078
About this tablet
This is a livestock record from the Sargonic period (about 2300–2150 BCE), when the kings of Akkad ruled Mesopotamia. It notes that a small flock of 121 animals (sheep and goats) belonging to a man named Mištiti was driven to Agade, the royal capital, together with the local governor. That makes it a small piece of evidence for how provincial leaders sent animals to the centre of the empire, probably as tribute or supplies. The date refers to digging a canal named after Meskigala, who is known as a governor of Adab. This suggests the tablet came from Adab, although its exact findspot is unknown.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a list of Mištiti's animals: 39 ewes, 70 rams, 7 nanny-goats and 5 other goats. They were driven to the capital, Agade, when the governor went there. It was written in the sheep-shearing month, in the year the Meskigala canal was dug.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engineObverse/Reverse (no side division marked in the source): 1. 40 minus 1 (= 39) ewes, 2. 1 sixty 10 (= 70) rams, 3. 7 nanny-goats, 4. 5 LAK020 (goats), 5. sheep (and goats) of Mištiti, they are; 6. with the governor 7. to Agade 8. they were driven. 9. Month: Ga-udu-ur ("sheep-shearing"). 10. Year: the canal of Meskigala 11. was dug.
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
4(u@c) la2 1(asz@c) u8 1(gesz2@c) 1(u@c) udu-nita 7(asz@c) ud5 5(asz@c) LAK020 udu mi-isz-ti-ti-kam ensi2-da a-ga-de3#-sze3 ba-da-lah5 iti ga2-udu-ur4 mu i7-mes-ki-gal-la al-dun-na
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — CUSAS 26, 078. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: private: anonymous, unlocated (P427633) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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