Position in chronology
FAOS 19, pl. 9, Ki 2
About this tablet
A short business letter in Old Akkadian from the city of Kish, written in the era of the Akkadian empire (later third millennium BCE). The sender, Eštar-balik, complains to his correspondent Dabibi that a bird-catcher named Eštar-tukultī has been detained by an official, and asks for the document securing the man's provisioning, while summoning a third party to come in person. It is a vivid slice of everyday bureaucracy: even a fowler's livelihood depended on the right tablet reaching the right hands.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Message from Eštar-balik to Dabibi: Ḫarim-bēlī, the commissioner, has arrested Eštar-tukultī, the bird-catcher. Please, sir, send me the tablet that documents his food allowance — I have already handed over the (other) tablet to him. And have Ilšu-aḫa come here at once. That is the whole letter: a request to fix a detained worker's paperwork and to dispatch a man in person.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. Thus (says) 2. Eštar-balik 3. to Dabibi: 4. Eštar-tukultī, 5. the fowler — 6. Ḫarim-bēlī, 7. the commissioner, 8. has seized (him). 9. The tablet concerning 10. his sustenance-allotment 11. may the gentleman 12. grant to me; 13. and the tablet — I have given (it) to him(?); 14. and let Ilšu-aḫa 15. come here!
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
en-ma esz18#-dar#-ba-likx(LUH) a#-na# da#-bi2-bi2# esz18#-dar#-tu3-kul2-ti# _muszen#-du3#_ ha#-ri2#-im#-be-li2 _maszkim_ i-hu-uz# _dub_ sza-a u2-kul2-la-i3-su _lu2-ulu3_ li-isz-ru-ka3-me u3 _dub_ a-ti-nu-szum u3 dingir-su-a-ha li-li#-kam#-me
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — FAOS 19, pl. 9, Ki 2. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK (P213214) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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