Position in chronology
CUSAS 35, 268
About this tablet
A short letter from the Old Akkadian (Sargonic) period, found at Adab in southern Iraq, written by a man named Lugal-amu to someone he addresses as 'my brother.' It concerns two men — an unnamed merchant and one Ur-ešpeš — who are royal servants currently staying in the city of Lagash, and it asks that they be handed over to the recipient. Letters like this are among the earliest personal correspondence in history, showing how officials tracked and reclaimed personnel across cities of the Akkadian empire.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Message from Lugal-amu. Tell my brother the following: there are two men — a merchant and a man named Ur-ešpeš — who are servants of the king. They are currently living in Lagash. See to it that they are handed over to you.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. Lugal-amu 2. (is who) speaks: 3. to my brother 4. say (this): 5. 1 — the merchant, 6. 1 — Ur-ešpeš: 7. servants of the king [they are]. 8. In Lagash 9. they are dwelling. 10. May he give them to you.
Our translation engine — Fable 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
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Transliteration
lugal-a#-mu# na-be2-a szesz-mu u3-na-du11 1(asz@c) dam-gar3 1(asz@c) ur-esz5-pesz# ARAD2 lugal-[me] lagaszx(|LA.SZIR.BUR|)#-[a?] ab-durunx(|DUR2.DUR2|)-ne2#-esz2# ha-mu-ra-ne#-szum2#-mu#
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC) ?) — CUSAS 35, 268. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Schøyen Collection, Oslo, Norway (P253791) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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