Position in chronology
MAD 4, 163
About this tablet
A land-survey record from the Sargonic period (Old Akkadian, about 2300–2150 BCE), when the kings of Akkad ruled Mesopotamia; where it was found is unknown, and it is now in the Louvre. A surveyor wrote down the four sides of an irregular, roughly four-sided field: two long sides and two short sides, each marked 'upper' or 'lower'. He then wrote down the field's area. Small tablets like this were the working notes behind the large estate and land-allotment accounts of the Akkadian state, and they show the practical geometry that scribes learned.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
The field measures 115 nindan (about 690 metres) along its lower long side and 70 nindan along its upper long side. Its upper short side is 66 nindan and its lower short side is 56 nindan. The total area of the field is recorded as 2 eše plus 1 eše of land.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engineObverse (as given): 1. 115 nindan: the lower length; 2. 70 nindan: the upper length; 3. 66 nindan: the upper width; 4. 56 nindan: the <width>, lower. 5. 2 eše (and) 1 eše: field (area).
Our translation engine — Opus 5.5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
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Transliteration
1(gesz2) 5(u) 5(disz) nindax(DU) us2 sig-ta 1(gesz2) 1(u) nig2 us2 igi-nim 1(gesz2) 6(disz) nig2 sag igi-nim 5(u) 6(disz) nig2 <sag> sig-ta 2(esze3) 1(esze3) GAN2
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — MAD 4, 163. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P215323) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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