Position in chronology
MAD 1, 291
About this tablet
A small accounting tablet from Ešnunna (modern Tell Asmar in Iraq) from the Old Akkadian period, roughly 2300–2150 BCE. It records two transactions: a man named Ṭāb-aḫī took out a loan of silver and barley at interest, and a second entry lists barley, wool, and oil issued as rations to one Tamtalik and the children of the household. It is a snapshot of ancient credit and household provisioning — the everyday paperwork behind debt and dependents in one of Mesopotamia's early Akkadian-speaking cities.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Ṭāb-aḫī has received a loan of 14 shekels of silver and 16 gur of barley, to be repaid with interest. In addition, the account books record rations issued to Tamtalik and the children: 2 gur, 3 barig and 2 ban of barley, 5 minas of wool, and a quantity of oil whose amount is broken away on the tablet.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. 14 shekels of silver, 2. 16 gur of barley — 3. as an interest-bearing loan 4. Ṭāb-aḫī (Du-aḫī) 5. received. 6. 2 gur 3 barig 2 ban of barley, 7. 5 minas of wool, 8. [x] sila of oil 9. [as] barley rations (for) 10. Tamtalik 11. and the children.
Our translation engine — Fable 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
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Transliteration
1(u@c) 4(asz@c) _gin2 ku3-babbar_ 1(u@c) 6(asz@c) _sze gur_ a-na hu-bu-lim du10-a-hi im-hur 2(asz@c) 3(barig@c) 2(ban2@c) _sze gur_ 5(asz@c) _ma-na siki_ [...] _sila3 i3_ [a-na] _sze-ba_ tam2-ta2-lik u3 _dumu-dumu_
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — MAD 1, 291. 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 (P215120) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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