Position in chronology
BIN 08, 044
About this tablet
A barley distribution record from the Early Dynastic period of ancient Mesopotamia, most likely around 2600–2350 BCE. It tracks allocations of grain — measured in the large gur unit — drawn from an institutional sealed storehouse managed by an official known as 'the barber,' a recognized professional title of the period. Several named individuals and sub-institutions receive specific quantities, two witnesses (or officials) are listed by name, and the grain is formally classified as 'primary barley from its base account.' The reverse records a separate formal receipt: Aba-Enlil, son of Amar-Abzu, acknowledged taking delivery of just over four gur. This is the routine administrative paperwork of Sumerian grain management — the kind of record that kept a city's temple or palace storehouses accountable.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Ten gur of barley — a substantial quantity from a sealed institutional granary run by the barber — was distributed as follows: Igi-si received 2 gur 2 barig; Usz, son of Za-ge, received the same; 3 gur was returned or credited to the storehouse itself; and Ur-gu, son of Lugal-ennu, received 2 barig. Two officials, Inim-zida and An-da-gal, are named — likely as witnesses. The grain is noted as being of primary quality, drawn from the foundation stock. On the reverse, Aba-Enlil, son of Amar-Abzu, confirmed receipt of a further 4 gur 2 barig of barley.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine10 gur of barley — (from) the storehouse of the barber: 2 gur 2 barig: Igi-si. 2 gur 2 barig: Usz, son of Za-ge. 3 gur: (for) the storehouse of the barber. 2 barig: Ur-gu, son of Lugal-ennu. Inim-zida (witness). An-da-gal (witness). It is the principal barley; it is its source (base account). 4 gur 2 barig of barley: Aba-Enlil, son of Amar-Abzu, received (it).
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) sze gur e2-kiszib3 szu-i2 2(asz@c) 2(barig@c) igi-si4 2(asz@c) 2(barig@c) usz dumu za3-ge 3(asz@c) e2-kiszib3 szu-i2 2(barig@c) ur-gu dumu lugal-en-nu inim-zi-da an-da-gal2 sze sag-kam ur2-ni-kam 4(asz@c) 2(barig@c) sze gur a-ba-en-lil2 dumu amar-abzu szu ba-ti
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED IIIb (ca. 2500-2340 BC)) — BIN 08, 044. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Nies Babylonian Collection, Yale Babylonian Collection, New Haven, Connecticut, USA (P212620) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware).
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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.
A window into the world's first total state. The Ur III administration tracked every animal, every worker, every shekel — for a population in the millions. The level of paperwork was not exceeded until the modern era.