Position in chronology
AAICAB 1/4, Bod S 340
About this tablet
A small administrative tablet from the Akkadian period (roughly 2300–2100 BCE), recording measured quantities of various processed flours and grains — fine flour, chickpea flour, semolina, and malt flour — possibly as rations, disbursements, or inventory. One entry specifically names Agade (Akkad), the capital city of Sargon's empire, suggesting either the origin or destination of the goods. The final line noting '2 years, 2 months' likely gives a time period relevant to the transaction or storage. Such tablets are the routine bookkeeping of ancient Mesopotamian grain management, and even in their damaged state they offer a window into the provisioning systems of one of the world's first empires.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Translation · reference
Low confidence1 barig 3 ban of fine flour, (from/for) Agade; 1 gur 1 barig of chickpea flour; 3 gur of semolina; 2 gur [2 ban?] of malt flour; 2 ban … … [broken] … [broken lines] … [broken] … [1 barig?] … … 2 years, 2 months.
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-12/v4-interpretation)
Translation · AI engine
read from photo1 barig 3 ban of fine flour, (from/for) Agade; 1 gur 1 barig of chickpea flour; 3 gur of semolina; 2 gur [2 ban?] of malt flour; 2 ban … … [broken] … [broken lines] … [broken] … [1 barig?] … … 2 years, 2 months.
7 uncertain terms ↓
- a-ga-de3 — Agade / Akkad — the Akkadian imperial capital. Its role here (provenance of flour, destination, or administrative label) is unclear from the fragmentary context.
- zi3-sig15 — Conventionally 'fine flour' or 'pure/white flour'; the precise grade designation is debated in the literature.
- zi3-gu — 'Chickpea flour' or 'legume flour'; gu can refer to various legumes, chickpea being most common in this context.
- dabin — Usually rendered 'semolina' or 'groats'; a coarse-ground grain product, exact milling grade uncertain.
- sze zi3-munu4 — 'Malt flour' — flour produced from malted grain, used in brewing or baking. The compound is well-attested but the exact line reading is marked uncertain (#?) in the transliteration.
- 2 mu 2 iti — '2 years, 2 months' — a time notation common in Akkadian administrative documents; whether this is a duration, a date reference, or a loan term is unclear without more context.
- Lines 5–8 (heavily broken) — Multiple signs marked x or with # in the transliteration; content irrecoverable from both photo and transliteration as provided.
Reasoning ↓
The photograph shows a small, roughly lenticular clay tablet displayed from multiple angles (obverse, reverse, and edges), bearing the museum number '5340' written in modern ink on the lower edge fragment. The obverse (upper central image) preserves several lines of cuneiform wedges that are partially legible: I can make out what appear to be capacity measure signs (the large circular/semi-circular impressions characteristic of Akkadian-period grain measures) alongside sign groups consistent with zi3-sig15, and what may be the GUR container sign. The signs are moderately well-preserved but the surface shows erosion and some chipping, particularly toward the lower lines. The reverse (lower large image) is heavily worn and the signs are almost entirely illegible from the photograph. The left and right edge fragments show a few sign impressions but are too worn and cropped to read confidently. The transliteration's commodity terms (zi3-sig15, zi3-gu, dabin, sze zi3-munu4) and capacity notations align broadly with what the obverse wedge patterns suggest, but lines 5–8 cannot be verified from the photo due to damage. The final line '2 mu 2 iti' (2 years, 2 months) is a standard Akkadian administrative time notation. The mention of a-ga-de3 (Agade) is notable but its syntactic role — origin, destination, or institutional affiliation — is unclear from the surviving context.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 12, 2026 · 3075 in / 1067 out tokens
Why it matters
Transliteration
1(barig@c) 3(ban2@c) zi3-sig15 a-ga-de3 1(asz@c) 1(barig@c) zi3-gu gur 3(asz@c) dabin gur 2(asz@c) 3(ban2@c)#? sze zi3-munu4 gur 2(ban2@c) x x x AN#? x la# A# x x x x x x x x x x 1(barig@c)? x x x x 2(disz) mu# 2(disz) iti
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — AAICAB 1/4, Bod S 340. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK (P368469) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-12/v4-interpretation).
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Related sources
One of the earliest specimens of human writing. Not literature, not law — accounting. The need to keep track of grain in a temple bureaucracy is what pushed marks-on-clay into a system that could one day carry epics.
Marks the boundary between proto-writing and writing. We can see signs being used systematically — but not yet phonetically. The leap to recording speech itself comes a few centuries later.
The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.