Position in chronology
FTP 073
About this tablet
A beer distribution list from Šuruppak (modern Fara, southern Iraq), written during the Early Dynastic period around 2600–2500 BCE. It records quantities of beer — measured first in sila (roughly one litre each) and then in the larger barig unit — allocated to named individuals and at least one institution, the 'courier's house,' probably a relay station or messenger depot within the city. Recipients include people with theophoric names honouring the great god Enlil, and at least one woman. The lower half of the tablet is broken away, so we have only a partial accounting; what survives is the everyday paperwork of an Early Dynastic storeroom.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Seven sila of beer went to Ur-ni. The courier's house received four sila (the exact opening of that entry is broken). Enlil-amah received four sila, and Munus-ma received one. A second section records larger quantities: two barig of beer for someone whose name ends in -si, with a note that the goods came from Za-sudu — probably a district or depot on the far side of the city. Another two barig appear before the tablet breaks off entirely. The rest is lost.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine7 sila of beer — Ur-ni [...] 4? [sila] — the courier's house 4 [sila] — Enlil-amah 1 [sila] — Munus-ma [...] 2 barig of beer [in sila] [...]-si [...] from Za-sudu 2 barig [of ...] [...]
Our translation engine — Sonnet 4.6. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Transliteration
7(asz@c) kasz sila3 ur2-ni [x] 4(asz@c)#? e2-kasz4# 4(asz@c) en-lil2-a2-mah 1(asz@c) munus-ma [x] 2(barig@c) kasz# [sila3] [...]-si [x] za3#-sud3-ta 2(barig@c) [...] [...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED IIIa (ca. 2600-2500 BC)) — FTP 073. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (P222149) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware).
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.