Position in chronology
CUSAS 35, 100
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P252721.
Translation · AI engine
read from photo[n] bread-portions House of the Son (é-dumu): 3×60 + 3 (= 183) House of the Gudu-priest (é-gudu): 2×60 bread-portions + 2 (= 122) House of Igi-si (é-igi-si): 2×60 bread-portions + 2 (= 122) Ur-nu: 1×60 [bread-portions + 1] House of the Nin-[mug] (= [61]) Day 23 Month: 'the-asza-basket-is-set-up'
9 uncertain terms ↓
- ninda — Conventionally 'bread' or 'bread-ration'; could also denote a generic food allotment. The sign NINDA is the standard bread/food logogram in ED administrative texts.
- e2-dumu — 'House of the Son/Child' — dumu = son/child/offspring. May refer to a specific institutional subdivision of a temple estate named after a divine or royal 'son,' or a ward/heir's household. Exact referent at Adab unclear.
- e2-gudux(AH) — The gudu/gudug priest (gudug4 or gudux) is a cultic functionary, possibly a purification priest. The AH sign is the conventional writing for this title in ED sources; the exact cultic role is debated.
- e2 igi-si4 — 'House of Igi-si' — igi-si4 may be a personal name ('the eye is set/placed straight') or an institutional epithet. The reading si4 (= red/bright) is one possibility; si (= to set upright) is another.
- ur-nu — A personal name: 'Ur-nu' — ur = servant/man, nu possibly a divine name abbreviation or a commodity. The entry appears without an é- 'house' determinative, suggesting an individual rather than an institution, but the following broken line may supply more context.
- nin-mug — Partially broken in transliteration. Nin-mug is a known Sumerian goddess (lady of the hairdresser/weaver) attested at Early Dynastic sites. The restoration [mug] is plausible given the divine name list at Adab, but the final sign is damaged.
- u4 2(u@c) 3(disz@t) — Day 23 of the month. The curved (case) form @c for 20 and the tally @t for 3 are Early Dynastic numeral conventions. Reading as day-count within the month is standard for this formula.
- iti asza5-il2-szu-gar — 'Month: the asza-basket is set up/carried.' A festival month name attested in the Adab calendar; asza5 denotes a type of harvest or offering basket. The exact festival is not fully understood but relates to agricultural/cultic activity.
- gesz2@c — The curved (case) form of the 60-unit sign (šuššu/géš), the basic large unit in the sexagesimal counting system. Transliteration convention '@c' marks this archaic curved variant.
Reasoning ↓
The photograph shows a small, well-preserved lenticular clay tablet — the classic 'round tablet' form common in Early Dynastic Sumer. The obverse (central panel) carries four to five horizontal registers separated by incised lines, with cuneiform signs clearly impressed. The reverse (bottom large panel) is almost blank except for a single circular hole/indent, consistent with a numeric or seal impression. On the left edge the modern accession label 'MS 3789/44' is legible in ink. The wedge clusters on the obverse are consistent with the transliteration: curved numeral signs for the large sexagesimal counts (gesz2@c = 60×), the AŠ signs for smaller units, and what appear to be the logographic sequences for institutional names (é-signs followed by descriptors). The upper-right portion of the tablet appears chipped/eroded, matching the transliteration's lacuna '[n] ninda' at the start. The sign cluster readable as 'ur-nu' in line 4, and the date line at the bottom with the curved '2(u@c) 3(disz@t)' numeral for day 23, are consistent with what the photo shows, though individual wedge resolution is limited at this magnification. The month name 'asza5-il2-szu-gar' cannot be fully verified from the photo but is a known Early Dynastic Adab calendar month. The institutional name é-gudu(AH) uses the AH sign for gudug/gudu, a cultic functionary — this is consistent with Adab administrative texts published in CUSAS 35.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 16, 2026 · 2251 in / 1476 out tokens
Transliteration
[n] ninda e2-dumu 3(gesz2@c) 3(asz@c) e2-gudux(AH) 2(gesz2@c) ninda 2(asz@c) e2 igi-si4 2(gesz2@c) ninda 2(asz@c) ur-nu 1(gesz2@c) [ninda 1(asz@c)] e2# nin#-[mug] u4 2(u@c) 3(disz@t) iti asza5-il2-szu-gar
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED IIIb (ca. 2500-2340 BC)) — CUSAS 35, 100. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Schøyen Collection, Oslo, Norway (P252721) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P252721..
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