Position in chronology
LB 1130
About this tablet
An administrative account of dates from the Old Akkadian period (roughly 2300–2150 BCE), findspot unknown. A storehouse official tracks outgoing quantities of dates: a large delivery to the palace, a consignment carried to the holy city of Nippur by a fuller named Ur-li, portions for the cupbearer and for processing, and a small allotment to one Dudu — all closed out with a grand total. It is the everyday bookkeeping of a redistributive economy, showing how a single commodity was parcelled out among institutions, destinations, and named individuals.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Ledger of dates paid out. Four barig of dates went to the palace. Ur-li the fuller took one barig and two ban of dates to Nippur. Three ban went to Lugal-la for the cupbearer, and another three ban — also under Lugal-la — were processed into packed (strung) dates. Dudu received two ban, and the entry was recorded. Bottom line: one gur, two barig, and two ban of dates disbursed in all.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine4 barig of dates, (in the) gur (measure): brought to the palace. 1 barig 2 ban: Ur-li, the fuller, to Nippur he brought (it). 3 ban: Lugal-la, for the cupbearer. 3 ban made into gi-lam (packed/strung dates): Lugal-la. 2 ban: Dudu; it was written down. Total: 1 gur 2 barig 2 ban of dates.
Our translation engine — Fable 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(barig@c) zu2-lum gur e2-gal-sze3 al-de6 1(barig@c) 2(ban2@c) ur-li azlag2 nibru-sze3 i3-de6 3(ban2@c) lugal-la2 sagi-sze3#? 3(ban2@c) gi-lam-sze3 al-ak lugal-la2 2(ban2@c) du-du i-sar-sar szunigin 1(asz@c) 2(barig@c) 2(ban2@c) zu2-lum gur
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC) ?) — LB 1130. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: de Liagre Böhl Collection, Netherlands Institute for the Near East, Leiden, Holland (P389537) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
Related tablets
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.