CUSAS 27, 060

~2270 BCE·Akkadian Empire·P251905

About this tablet

A short letter in Old Akkadian from the Sargonic period (about 2300 BCE), sent by a man named Šu-Mama to one Šu-ilīsu. Šu-Mama instructs that a slave-woman and a slave be issued rations — barley, fish, and lard — and promises to make the amount good himself when he arrives, adding sternly that the goods must not be held back. Letters like this show how personal credit and trusted intermediaries kept household provisioning running in the world's first empire; the affectionate closing, 'Who is like a brother?', is a classic flourish of the genre.

Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.

Written in modern English

Message from Šu-Mama to Šu-ilīsu: Please see that the slave-woman and the slave are given two barig of barley, one barig of fish, and two sila of lard. I will settle it with him myself when I come — under no circumstances is he to withhold the provisions. After all, who is as good as a brother?

A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.

Translation — our engine

Our engine

Medium confidence

1. Thus (says) 2. Šu-Mama 3. to Šu-ilīsu: 4. To the slave-woman and the slave 5. 2 barig of barley, 1 barig of fish, 6. (and) [2] sila of lard 7. let him give. 8. I myself, 9. when I come, 10. will repay(?) it to him. 11. He must not withhold (it). 12. Who is like (my) brother?

Indicative reading — translated without a photograph. Generated from the transliteration alone, without examining the original. Read it as an accessible first taste, not as a verified catalogue entry.

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
szu-ma-ma
a-na szu-i3-li2-su
a-na _geme2_ u3 _ARAD2_
2(barig@c) _sze_ 1(barig@c) _ku6_
[2(disz)] _sila3 i3-szah2#_
li-di3-in
a-na-gu
in a-la-ki
lu-ti-szum
a ik-la
ma-num2 <ki> a-hi

Scholarly note

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — CUSAS 27, 060. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).

Attribution

Image: Schøyen Collection, Oslo, Norway (P251905) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).

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