Position in chronology
MAD 1, 312
About this tablet
An Old Akkadian administrative record from Ešnunna (modern Tell Asmar in Iraq), around 2300 BCE, tallying large quantities of goat hair — a fiber used for ropes, sacks, and coarse textiles. Two individuals, Zuzu and Ududa, are listed with their amounts, and a grand total is given. Interestingly, the total (19 talents 33 minas, roughly 585 kg) exceeds the two preserved entries, suggesting the account originally drew on further entries — a small window into how Akkadian-period bureaucrats kept running wool-and-hair ledgers.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
An inventory of goat hair by weight: Zuzu is credited with 8 talents and 44 minas (about 262 kg), and Ududa with 2 talents (about 60 kg). The bottom line declares a grand total of 19 talents and 33 minas of goat hair — roughly 585 kg. The total is larger than the two listed entries combined, so the accountant was evidently summing more deliveries than the ones written here.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. 8 talents 44 minas of goat hair: 2. Zuzu; 3. 2 talents: 4. Ududa. 5. Total: 19 talents 33 minas of goat hair.
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
8(asz@c) gu2 4(u@c) 4(asz@c) ma-na siki-ud5 zu-zu 2(asz@c) gu2 u2-du-da szunigin 1(u@c) 9(asz@c) gu2 3(u@c) 3(asz@c) ma-na siki-ud5
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — MAD 1, 312. 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 (P215140) — 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.