Position in chronology
Lippmann Coll 062
About this tablet
A food ration record from the city of Adab in southern Iraq, dating to the Akkadian (Sargonic) period, roughly 2300–2200 BCE. It distributes bread loaves and beer to a small group of named individuals — officials or dependent workers — each assigned to a named commissioner (maszkim) who is accountable for their allotment. The personal names are a striking mix: Sumerian names like Lugal-ezem ('King of the Festival') and Anše-gun3 ('Dappled Donkey') sit alongside Akkadian names like Tibarum and Beli-ṭāb ('My Lord Is Good'), a snapshot of the bilingual administrative world of the Sargonic empire. The tablet closes with a precise date — the first day of the month mu-tir — making it a timestamped record in what was almost certainly a longer series of such accounts.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
On day 1 of the month of mu-tir, the following food rations were issued. Tibarum received 20 bread portions and one jar of beer; the barley commissioner was responsible for his allotment. The household received 10-plus bread portions under the commissioner Gi-sur. Lugal-ezem received 15 portions, overseen by the commissioner Eš2-[...]-gid2 — whose name is partially broken. Ni-[...] (name damaged) received 15 portions under a commissioner whose name may be Sukkal. Beli-ṭāb received 15 portions under the commissioner Anše-gun3. Finally, the vizier Ur-su received 5 portions.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine20 bread (rations), 1 (vessel of) beer — Tibarum; commissioner (of) barley. 10+[x] bread for the house — commissioner: Gi-sur. 15 — Lugal-ezem; commissioner: Eš2-[GAN2?]-gid2 [...]. 15 — Ni-[...]; commissioner: Sukkal[?]. 15 — Beli-ṭāb; commissioner: Anše-gun3. 5 — Ur-su, vizier. Month: mu-tir, day 1.
Our translation engine — Sonnet 4.6. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Transliteration
2(u@c) ninda# 1(asz@c) kasz ti-bar-um maszkim# sze 1(u@c) x ninda e2-e maszkim gi-sur 1(u@c) 5(disz) lugal-ezem# maszkim# esz2-[GAN2?]-gid2 [x] 1(u@c) 5(disz) ni-[x-x] maszkim sukkal#? 1(u@c) 5(disz) be-li2-du10 maszkim ansze-gun3 5(disz) ur-su# sukkal iti mu-tir u4 1(disz@t)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — Lippmann Coll 062. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: CL 292 (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, P472362). 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.