Position in chronology
MAD 1, 323
About this tablet
An Old Akkadian administrative account from Ešnunna (modern Tell Asmar) in the Diyala region of Iraq, written during the Akkadian empire (c. 2350–2200 BCE). It lists deliveries of ghee — clarified butter, a prized cooking and ritual fat — brought in by six named individuals, measured in jars and sila (roughly liter) units, and then totaled by the scribe. Such receipts show the empire's provincial bookkeeping at work: every jar counted, every supplier named.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
A receipt for incoming ghee. Zuzu delivered 5 jars; Ilī-sukkal 2 jars and 1 sila; Šu-ilīsu 1 jar and 3 sila; Ududa 1 jar and 4 sila; Bibi 16 sila; and Salulu 23 sila. The clerk adds it all up: 10 jars and 17 sila of ghee received in total. The arithmetic works out if a jar held 30 sila — the loose sila amounts roll over into one extra jar.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. 5 jars of ghee — 2. Zuzu; 3. 2 jars (and) 1 sila of ghee — 4. Ilī-sukkal; 5. 1 jar (and) 3 sila of ghee — 6. Šu-ilīsu; 7. 1 jar (and) 4 sila of ghee — 8. [U]duda; 9. 16 sila of ghee — 10. Bibi; 11. 23 sila of ghee — 12. Salulu. 13. Total: 10 jars (and) 17 sila of ghee, 14. received (deliveries).
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
5(asz@c) _dug i3-nun_ zu-zu 2(asz@c) _dug_ 1(asz@c) _sila3 i3-nun_ i3-li2-sukkal 1(asz@c) _dug_ 3(asz@c) _sila3 i3-nun_ szu-i3-li2-su 1(asz@c) _dug_ 4(asz@c) _sila3 i3-nun_ [u2]-du-da 1(u@c) 6(asz@c) _sila3 i3-nun_ bi2-bi2# 2(u@c) 3(asz@c) _sila3 i3#-nun_ sa-lu-lu _szu-nigin2_ 1(u@c) _dug_ 1(u@c) 7(asz@c) _sila3 i3-nun_ mu-hu-ra-um
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — MAD 1, 323. 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 (P215151) — 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.