Position in chronology
Nik 1, 244
About this tablet
This is a small cushion-shaped administrative tablet from Girsu (modern Tello), part of the large Nikolski I archive that records the movement of goods through the palace and temple economy of Lagash under the ruler Urukagina, around 2350 BCE. It tracks two animal hides — one from a kunga-mule and one from a domestic donkey — issued in connection with a royal courier and processed under the supervision of Enniggal, a well-documented chief administrator (nubanda) of this period. Texts like this one show how closely even small quantities of raw material such as leather (likely destined for straps, harness, or footwear) were logged, dated by month-name, and attributed to named officials in one of the world's earliest bureaucracies.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
One hide from a mule was issued to a courier named Girnunkidu; the record notes it had not yet been treated or processed. The transaction is dated to the month called "the sheep-count of Ningirsu." Enniggal, the administrative overseer, took the item back into his charge — essentially confirming receipt. A second entry logs a hide from a domestic donkey, allotted under the authority of Urukagina, ruler of Lagash. The tablet closes with a tally mark of one.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1 hide of a kunga-mule (donkey-hybrid) — Girnunkidu, the courier (gabakasda) — it was not treated/rubbed (na-ba-da-ri). Month: "the sheep-count of Ningirsu." Enniggal, the overseer (nubanda), had it returned into hand (received/re-issued it). A hide of a domestic donkey — was allotted — (to/under) Urukagina, ruler (ensi2) of Lagash(?). Total: 1.
Our translation engine — Sonnet 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
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Transliteration
1(asz@c) kusz dur3 kunga2 gir2-nun-ki-du10 gab2-kas4-da na ba-da-ri iti udu-sze3-sze-a-nin-gir2-su-ka-ka en-ig-gal nu-banda3 szu-a bi2-gi4 kusz ansze u2-rum ba-ba6 URU-KA-gi-na ensi2 lagasz-ka? 1(|ASZxDISZ@t|)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED IIIb (ca. 2500-2340 BC)) — Nik 1, 244. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation (P222013) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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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.
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.