Position in chronology
MAD 4, 168
About this tablet
A short list of names from the Old Akkadian period, around 2300–2200 BCE, now in the Louvre. It records about a dozen men, some identified by their jobs: a scribe, two lamentation-priests, a shepherd, a foreman, and a governor of the city of Šuruppak. The tablet does not say why they were listed. Such lists usually record people who received rations, owed work, or took part in an official event. One name stands out: Lugal-zage-si, governor of Šuruppak. He shares his name with the famous king of Uruk whom Sargon of Akkad defeated, but here he is a local official, apparently a different man with the same name.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a roster of people. Šubur the scribe, Tir-kuge, Si-ku-e, Dubi the lament-singer, Balli, also a lament-singer, Lugale the shepherd, Enannatum, and Lugal-zage-si, governor of Šuruppak. The next two names, beginning Galzu- and ME-, are broken off. The list ends with Amar-lu, the foreman.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engineŠubur, the scribe; Tir-kuge; Si-ku-e; Dubi, the lamentation-priest (gala); the lamentation-priest (gala) Balli; Lugale, the shepherd; Enannatum; Lugal-zage-si, the city-ruler (ensi) of Šuruppak; Galzu-[...]; ME-[...]; Amar-lu, the foreman.
Our translation engine — Opus 5.5. 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
szubur dub-sar tir-ku3-ge si-ku3-e2 du-bi gala gala ba-al-li2 lugal-e sipa en-an-na-tum2 lugal-za3-ge-si ensi2 szuruppak gal-zu-[...] ME-[...] amar#-lu2 ugula
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — MAD 4, 168. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P215328) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5-5 (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.