Position in chronology
BIN 08, 027
Translation · reference
ExperimentalSource: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P212607.
Translation · AI engine
read from photo3 gur of barley, received (su-ga), e-gi, son of Ama-NU+NU; 1 gur 1 barig: Amar-giri, builder (šitim); 1 [gur], head/principal of barley: Amar-ku-ara, shepherd (sipa); 1 gur 2 barig: Lugal-nigzu; 1 gur 2 barig: Lugal-damda.
10 uncertain terms ↓
- su-ga — Standard ED Sumerian for 'received' or 'returned' (lit. 'entered'); the formula confirms this is a receipt or return-of-grain entry rather than a disbursement.
- e-gi — Likely a personal name, but could conceivably be a title or institutional label; the combination e + gi is attested as a name in ED texts.
- ama-|NU+NU| — A personal name containing the sign compound NU+NU (a ligature); the exact reading of the compound sign is uncertain — it may be a specific deity name or an epithet. The # in the transliteration flags this uncertainty.
- amar-giri16 — Personal name: 'calf of the divine Giri' or similar; giri16 is a reading of a divine name sign whose vocalization in this period is debated.
- szitim — Sumerian šitim, 'builder' or 'construction worker'; well attested in ED administrative texts as a professional title.
- sag sze — Literally 'head of barley' — could mean a principal allocation, a ration head-count total, or a first/primary barley entry. The precise administrative meaning here is uncertain.
- amar-ku6-a-ra2 — Personal name: possibly 'calf/young of the fish(-god)' or similar; ku6 = fish, a-ra2 may be a divine epithet or directional suffix. Reading is uncertain.
- sipa# — Sumerian sipa, 'shepherd'; the # indicates slight damage or uncertainty in the sign on the tablet, but the reading is highly probable from context.
- lugal-nig2-zu — Personal name: 'the king knows his property/affairs' or 'the king is your lord'; nig2-zu is a common theophoric/royal name element.
- lugal-dam-da — Personal name: 'the king, together with (his) wife' or similar; dam = 'wife/spouse'; -da = comitative postposition. Both name signs are marked as uncertain (#) in the transliteration.
Reasoning ↓
The photograph shows a small, roughly lenticular clay tablet — a characteristic shape for Early Dynastic administrative documents. The obverse (central large view) is the most legible face: I can see horizontal ruling lines dividing the surface into registers, with cuneiform wedges visible in each. The signs are compact and somewhat worn, consistent with an ED III administrative hand. I can confirm the presence of numerical notations (the large circular impressions characteristic of the round stylus used for capacity measures — gur and barig signs) in the upper registers, and personal name signs in the lower registers, broadly consistent with the transliteration provided. The edge views show a few signs that appear to be continuation lines, again consistent with the transliteration's structure. I cannot verify the precise sign readings for the more damaged lower register entries (e.g., 'lugal-dam-da', 'lugal-nig2-zu') from the photograph at this resolution, but the overall structure — numerical notations followed by personal names and profession labels — aligns well with the transliteration. The sign 'su-ga' (meaning 'received back' or 'returned') is a common formula in ED grain accounts. The reverse (bottom large view) appears to bear only a few signs, possibly a total or date formula, but is too worn to read with confidence. No significant discrepancies between photo and transliteration are detected; the photograph cannot verify the exact damaged (#) signs in lines 8–9.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 16, 2026 · 2290 in / 1303 out tokens
Why it matters
Transliteration
3(asz@c) sze gur su-ga e-gi dumu ama-|NU+NU| 1(asz@c) 1(barig@c) amar-giri16 szitim 1(asz@c) sag sze amar-ku6-a-ra2 sipa# 1(asz@c) 2(barig@c) lugal#-nig2#-zu 1(asz@c) 2(barig@c) lugal#-dam-da
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED IIIb (ca. 2500-2340 BC)) — BIN 08, 027. 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 (P212607) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P212607..
Related tablets
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.
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.