Position in chronology
UET 2, 0183
About this tablet
This is an Early Dynastic administrative tablet from Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar in southern Iraq), now held in the British Museum. It records quantities of cereals and other commodities — likely including barley, dairy products, and possibly eggs or fish roe — distributed or accounted for under the authority of a temple administrator (sanga). The tablet belongs to the very early phase of Mesopotamian literacy, when writing was primarily a tool of institutional bookkeeping rather than literature or narrative. It is a rare example of proto-cuneiform-style accounting surviving into the Early Dynastic period at Ur, giving us a glimpse into how ancient temple economies tracked goods and rations.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This tablet is a commodity ledger: so many units of barley and associated goods go to one category of recipients, another quantity to a different group, and so on down the list. Several commodity types are recorded — grain, something large or 'great' in dairy form, a vessel or measured amount called szagan — all tallied in the archaic number system that preceded the more familiar cuneiform numerals. The final line closes the account by naming the institutional authority: the temple administrator, under whose oversight the barley and the cattle-stall or storehouse belonged. The rest of the entries are damaged or use signs whose exact meaning remains debated.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine4(N14) [units], barley — [bread/ration commodity] — governor/official 5(N14) 2(N01) [units], AN — MUSZ3 — [allocation] 4(N14) 4(N01) [units], LA LA NI 3(N14) 2(N01) 1(N08) [units], MA — egg/roe [commodity] 3(N14) 3(N01) [units], woman — storehouse — [received/allocated] [...] 2(N01) 1(N08) [units], large/great — cream/dairy product 2(N19) 3(N04) [units], AN — MUSZ3 — [allocation] 2(N19)? 3(N04) [units], LA LA NI 3(N19) 3(N04) [units], MA — egg/roe [commodity] 1(N19) [units], woman — storehouse — [received/allocated] 2(N19) [units], large/great — cream/dairy product 1(N19) [units], SZAGAN [vessel or commodity] [total] — barley — temple administrator — cattle-stall/institution
Our translation engine — Sonnet 4.6. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Transliteration
4(N14@f) , SZE~a |NINDA2xSZIM~a| ENSI 5(N14@f) 2(N01@f) , AN MUSZ3~a AK~a 4(N14@f) 4(N01@f) , LA~e LA~e NI~b 3(N14@f) 2(N01@f) 1(N08@f) , MA NUNUZ~a1 3(N14@f) 3(N01@f) , SAL E2~a TI [...] 2(N01@f)# 1(N08@f) , GAL~a GARA2~a 2(N19@f) 3(N04@f) , AN MUSZ3~a AK~a 2(N19@f)? 3(N04@f) , LA~e LA~e NI~b 3(N19@f) 3(N04@f) , MA NUNUZ~a1 1(N19@f) , SAL E2~a TI 2(N19@f) , GAL~a GARA2~a 1(N19@f) , SZAGAN , SZE~a SANGA~a AB~a
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC)) — UET 2, 0183. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: British Museum, London, UK (P005771) — 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.