Position in chronology
CUSAS 27, 058
About this tablet
A short letter from the Old Akkadian (Sargonic) period, roughly 2300–2150 BCE. A high official — Isu-ilum, the 'chief scribe' — writes to a man named Šu-ilissu about a dispute involving a field belonging to an ereš-dingir priestess and property or persons that have been seized. He orders that the matter be resolved and that whatever was carried off be handed back. It is a small window onto how disputes over temple-linked land and confiscated goods were handled by written order in the world's first territorial empire.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Message from Isu-ilum, chief scribe, to Šu-ilissu: About the priestess's field and the things (or people) that were seized — see that their case gets settled. And whatever was carried off, make sure it is handed back over. A few phrases in the middle are too obscure to pin down exactly, but the thrust is clear: this is an instruction to resolve a dispute and restore what was taken.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. Thus (says) 2. Isu-ilum, 3. the chief scribe, 4. to Šu-ilissu: 5. Concerning(?) the field of the ereš-dingir priestess 6. and the seized (persons/property) — 7. their case 8. let it be settled(?); 9. and whatever 10. ...(?) 11. they carried off, 12. let him make (them) hand (it) over.
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
en-ma i-su-dingir _dub-sar-mah_ a-na szu-i3-li2-su a-ra-sze3 _GAN2 eresz-dingir_ u3 za-ab-ti a-wa-zu-nu li ik dam u3 mim-ma a-ra-sze3 szu ut ti it-ba-lu li-sa-ti-in
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — CUSAS 27, 058. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Schøyen Collection, Oslo, Norway (P251903) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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