Position in chronology
Lippmann Coll 055
About this tablet
An Akkadian-period delivery record from Adab — a major administrative hub of the Sargonic empire in southern Iraq — documenting two agricultural commodities, an aromatic plant and marsh garlic, dispatched to Akkad, the imperial capital. The goods are linked to a man named Ur-E₂-mash, meaning 'Servant of the E₂-mash temple,' son of a man called Engar-zira, a name invoking the idea of a righteous farmer. An official or associate named An-na-šum₂ is also recorded, likely as the dispatching or authorizing party. The entry is dated to the orchard month, placing this within the seasonal cycle of produce deliveries that fed the Sargonic administrative machine.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Eleven units of aromatic u₂-ḫab₂ herb and eleven gurdub-measures of marsh garlic are being sent to Akkad. The transaction involves a man named Ur-E₂-mash, son of Engar-zira. An official named An-na-šum₂ is also on record — most likely the dispatching or authorizing authority. The record was made during the orchard month. The exact roles of the two named individuals are not spelled out, but the overall shape of the document is a routine delivery note from a provincial city to the imperial capital.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine11 u₂-ḫab₂[-plant], gu₂ 11 gurdub [of] ab-šum₂ [marsh garlic] Ur-E₂-mash, son of Engar-zira — to Akkad An-na-šum₂ Month: [orchard] (iti nig₂-kiri₆)
Our translation engine — Sonnet 4.6. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Transliteration
1(u@c) 1(asz@c) u2-hab2 gu2 1(u@c) 1(asz@c) gurdub ab-szum2 ur-e2-masz dumu engar-zi-ra a-ga-de3-sze3 an-na-szum2 iti# nig2-kiri6
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — Lippmann Coll 055. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: CL 065 (Carl L. Lippmann Collection, Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid, Spain) — from Adab (mod. Bismaya) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P472355). source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware).
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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.