DP 542

• 1(u@c) 2(asz@c) sze gur saggal — 'Gur saggal' denotes the large standard capacity measure (as opposed to gur dub2); the numerical notation '12' uses the large-capacity system (u@c = 10 in that system). The exact conversion to modern volume is debated but roughly 12 large gur of barley.
• sze gu4 gu7-dam — 'Barley for oxen to eat' — dam here is a verbal suffix meaning 'to be eaten/for eating.' The phrasing is a standard ration formula in Girsu ED texts.
• mu-na-szum2 — 'He/she has given to him/her' — the standard ED Sumerian verb of disbursement. The subject in each clause is the named individual just preceding; the indirect object is the institutional recipient implied by context.
• sze-numun sze gu4-re6 gu7 — 'Seed-barley (is) barley brought/carried by ox (and) consumed' — this clause appears to clarify the nature of the seed-barley category: it is barley transported by ox-team. 're6' (to bring/carry) is sometimes read 'tum2'; the exact phonological value is contested.
• GAN2 du5-uh2-ka-sze3 — 'For the threshing floor work' or 'for the purpose of field-clearing/threshing.' GAN2 = field/agricultural area; du5-uh2 relates to threshing or loosening; the compound is an ED administrative term for a specific agricultural operation.
• sag-apin-ra — 'To Sag-apin' — a personal name meaning roughly 'head/chief of the plow.' The -ra is the dative case marker.
• nu-banda3 — Standard Sumerian title for a middle-ranking military/administrative overseer, often rendered 'captain' or 'overseer.' The precise administrative rank relative to other titles in the Girsu hierarchy varies by text corpus.
• 1(|ASZxDISZ@t|) — This closing sign — ASZ with a small DIŠ inscribed within, written as a tablet-shape — is typically interpreted as a summary notation meaning '1 tablet' or '1 account,' i.e., a self-referential closing marker indicating the document is a single record. Its exact function is still discussed in the literature.
• puzur4-ma-ma — Personal name: 'Protected by Mama' (the goddess Mama/Mami). A well-attested name at Girsu in the ED III period.
• a-ba-sa2-e — Personal name, possibly meaning 'Who equals the father?' or 'Abasa'e.' Interpretation of the name element sa2-e is debated.

The photograph shows a well-preserved, rounded clay tablet with two main faces and four edges all bearing cuneiform impressions — a typical Early Dynastic lenticular administrative tablet from Girsu. The obverse face displays clear horizontal registers with densely packed wedge impressions; the surface is cream-buff in color with some minor erosion at the upper edge and light pitting. The museum inventory number AO 13750 is visible written in ink on the lower lenticular piece shown separately (the reverse/tag view). On the main obverse, I can make out what appear to be large numerical signs (consistent with '1(u@c) 2(asz@c)' = 12 in the large-gur system) in the first register, followed by the characteristic ŠE (barley) sign, and repeated sign clusters in subsequent rows consistent with personal names and verbal chains. The right and left edge pieces (shown flanking the main face) carry additional sign columns consistent with the edge inscriptions expected on such tablets. The reading aligns well with the transliteration: the grain quantities, the recipients Puzur-Mama and Abasa'e, the overseer En-iggal (nu-banda3), and the closing tally sign are all consistent with standard Girsu administrative formulae of the ED IIIb period. The final '1(|ASZxDISZ@t|)' is a summary/account tablet notation rather than a quantity of grain. I cannot verify from the photo the precise sign forms of the personal names in the lower registers due to the resolution, but the overall layout and sign density match the transliteration.