Position in chronology
Nisaba 25, 23
About this tablet
A small administrative list from the ancient city of Ur, dating to the Early Dynastic period (roughly 2600–2350 BCE). Each surviving line records a single counted unit alongside a personal name — most likely a roster of individuals assigned to, or receiving something from, an institutional household. The names include several with the element 'ama' (mother) and 'amar' (calf/young one), typical of Sumerian personal name formation in this era. Though fragmentary, it offers a rare glimpse of the named working people — perhaps women or junior personnel — who passed through Ur's administrative machinery.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
The tablet lists nine people, each tallied as one unit: [ŠEŠE+IB]-du₁₀, Ur-ge₆, Amar-[ME]-TE, Amar-nirahx, Ama-ul₄-gal, [a woman?]-alan, Pa-bilx-ga, Bilx-me-si, and Ama-GA₂-si. One entry per person, one unit each — a simple count, probably a work assignment or ration record. The rest of the tablet is broken away.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1 (unit) — [personal name: |ŠEŠE+IB|-du₁₀] 1 (unit) — Ur-ge₆ 1 (unit) — Amar-[ME]-TE 1 (unit) — Amar-nirahx 1 (unit) — Ama-ul₄-gal [1 (unit) — woman?]-alan 1 (unit) — Pa-bilx-ga 1 (unit) — Bilx-me-si 1 (unit) — Ama-GA₂-si [...broken...]
Our translation engine — Sonnet 4.6. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Transliteration
1(N01) , |SZESZ+IB|-du10 1(N01) , ur-ge6 1(N01) , amar#-ME#-TE# 1(N01) , amar-nirahx(UET2_153) 1(N01) , ama-ul4-gal [1(N01) munus?]-alan# 1(N01) , pa-bilx(|NE.PAP.UET2_377|)#-ga# 1(N01) , bilx(|NE.PAP.UET2_377|)#-me-si 1(N01) , ama-GA2-si [...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC)) — Nisaba 25, 23. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: British Museum, London, UK (P449010) — 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.