Position in chronology
FTP 105
About this tablet
An Early Dynastic administrative disbursement list from Šuruppak (modern Fara, southern Iraq), dating to around 2600–2500 BCE. It records large measured allocations of clarified butter, processed milk, and oil distributed to a series of recipients — among them Enki, Nu-muš-da, Nin-kur, and Lugal-meslam, all divine names or epithets, suggesting these are provisions for temple cult offerings or for temple personnel bearing theophoric names. One named official, Di-Utu, is identified by his professional title as 'herdsman,' tying the list to the pastoral economy of a temple or palace institution. The tablet belongs to the extensive archive of economic records excavated at Fara, one of the most important Early Dynastic city archives known from ancient Sumer.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
At least 2 large jar-measures and some additional sila of clarified butter, together with 3 jar-measures of processed milk, are allocated to Enki. Lugal-meslam receives 3 jar-measures and 3 barig of oil, counted out by the sila. After a damaged passage, the list continues under the heading AN-AN: Nin-kur, Nu-muš-da, and Nin-PA-unken-gal each receive 2 jar-measures and 2 barig — all under the authority of Di-Utu, herdsman. Larger portions of 3 jar-measures and 3 barig go to Nin-me-šu-du7, with at least two further recipients whose names are too damaged to read. The final lines are broken beyond recovery.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine[x] 2 áš, [x] sila of clarified butter; 3 áš, [x] sila of processed milk — (for) Enki. 3 áš 3 barig of oil, (measured) in sila — Lugal-meslam. [...] AN-AN. 2 áš 2 barig — Nin-kur; 2 áš 2 barig — Nu-muš-da; 2 áš 2 barig — Nin-PA-unken-gal. Di-Utu, herdsman. 3 áš 3 barig — Nin-me-šu-[du7]; 3 áš [x] — Nin-[x]; 3 áš [x x].
Our translation engine — Sonnet 4.6. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Transliteration
[x] 2(asz@c)#? sila3 i3-nun 3(asz@c) sila3 ga szu-tag en-ki 3(asz@c) 3(barig@c) i3 sila3 lugal-mes-lam [...] AN-AN 2(asz@c) 2(barig@c) nin-kur 2(asz@c) 2(barig@c) nu-musz-da 2(asz@c) 2(barig@c) nin-PA-unken-gal di-utu na-gada 3(asz@c) 3(barig@c) nin#-me-szu-[du7] 3(asz@c)#? [x] nin#-[x] 3(asz@c)#? [x x]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED IIIa (ca. 2600-2500 BC)) — FTP 105. 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 (P222172) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware).
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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.