Position in chronology
MAD 1, 283
About this tablet
A small administrative memorandum from Ešnunna (modern Tell Asmar) in the Old Akkadian period, the age of the dynasty of Sargon. It records that a man named Ida-ilum — apparently in connection with a journey to Agade, the royal capital — holds an outstanding balance, and it states flatly that he must pay the shortfall. Terse notes like this were the receivables ledger of the Akkadian state: a bookkeeper's reminder of who still owed what.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a debt note. Someone — the opening lines are broken — went to Agade, the capital. The account then turns to Ida-ilum: there is an outstanding amount standing against him, and he is to pay the deficit. In modern terms: 'Re: the trip to Agade. Ida-ilum has a balance due on his account; he will settle the shortfall.' The first half of the record is too damaged to recover the details of the transaction.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. [I]da-ilum 2. [...]-um 3. [... to Ag]ade 4. [...] 5. [...]-mu(?) 6. [he we]nt. 7. [Wi]th(?) 8. Ida-ilum 9. there is (an amount); 10. he shall pay 11. the deficit.
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
[i]-da#?-dingir [...]-um [... a-ga]-de3 [...] [...]-mu#? [i-li]-ik# [isz?]-te4 i-da-dingir i-ba-szi4 i-na-da-an _la2-ia3_
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — MAD 1, 283. 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 (P215112) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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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.