Chapter 03 · 2334 – 2154 BCE
Akkadian Empire
Sargon brings rival city-states under imperial rule.
~2270 BCE · N 0363 — University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
OSP 2, 105
In plain English
Zurzur: 140 units, plus 2 ban and 5 sila. Utu-gazi: 124 and two-thirds units. Nita-zi: about 10 of something, the rest is lost. Then a fourth person whose name begins Sag-... with a figure of about 30; the remainder of the line is broken away. The tablet is a running list of people and the amounts credited to or issued to each of them.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“1. Zurzur 2. 2(gesz2) 2(u) [= 140] (units), 2 ban 5 sila 3. Utu-gazi 4. 2(gesz2) 4(disz) 2/3 [= 124 2/3] (units) 5. Nita-zi 6. 1(u)? [= 10?] [...] 7. Sag-[...] 8. 3(u)? [= 30?] [...]”
Source: engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved) · claude-fable-5-1 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2270 BCE · CBS 06256 + N 0048 — University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
OSP 2, 106
In plain English
What survives is a list of grain allotments, each with a recipient's name. The top is broken; the first readable entry is a disbursement connected with a man called Mašda. Then: Ur-[...] gets 1 barig and about 5 sila; Ur-Ninildu gets 3 barig; Ur-sa gets 3 barig; Belili is listed next (his amount is not written or not preserved); Lugal-engar-du and Sag-[...] each get 3 barig 2 ban; Nirgal gets 1 gur 2 barig; A-ni-ta's amount is lost; an unnamed person gets 1 barig; another gets 3 barig 2 ban 4 sila; Ur-En-[...] gets 1 barig; and Kur-mu gets 1 gur 3 barig. The beginning and the ends of several lines are missing.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“1. [...] given (šum2) — Maš-da5 2. [...] 1 barig 5(?) sila — Ur-[...] 3. 3 barig — Ur-Nin-ildu 4. 3 barig — Ur-sa6 5. Be-li-li 6. 3 barig 2 ban — Lugal-[engar]-du10 7. 3 barig 2 ban — Sag-[...] 8. 1 (gur) 2 barig — Nir-gal 9. [...] — A-ni-ta 10. 1 barig — [...] 11. 3 barig 2 ban 4 sila — [...] 12. 1 barig — Ur-En-[...] 13. 1 (gur) 3 barig — Kur-mu”
Source: engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved) · claude-fable-5-1 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2270 BCE · UM 29-13-410 — University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
OSP 2, 107
In plain English
What remains is a tally of people and plots. After two unreadable lines, someone named Ur-sa is listed with the number 2, and a note says these belong to the women's household. A broken entry gives 20 of something, then An-ikuš is listed with 3, followed by Lugal-e-ana, again marked as belonging to the women's household. A heading names a field, 'Igi-nimma-tur'. Under it come Ur-Damu, Lugal-uri with 3, Adda, and A-GIR-gal; a final name ending in '-mu' is barely legible, and the rest of the tablet is gone.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“1. [...] ... 2. [...] ... 3. [...] 2 (units/persons): Ur-sa 4. (they are) people (lu) of the [women's house]? 5. 20 [...] ... 6. [...] 3: An-i-kuš 7. [...] Lugal-e-ana 8. [... (of) the] women's house? 9. [Field: Igi]-nimma-tur 10. [...] Ur-Damu 11. [...] 3: Lugal-uri 12. [...] Adda 13. [...] A-GIR-gal 14. [...]-mu? (rest broken)”
Source: engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved) · claude-fable-5-1 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2270 BCE · N 0066 — University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
OSP 2, 108
In plain English
One lidga of coriander, delivered through Girini. From it: 3 barig and 3 ban to Ane-da; 4 ban to Ur-Enlil; 2 ban to Ana the cook; another 3 ban to Ur-Enlil. The next line is lost. Then: 1 barig to someone whose name is broken; a name beginning Ki-...; 2 ban to another person; 1 ban and 5 sila to another; 2 ban to yet another. The remaining entries are too damaged to read.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“1. 1 lidga of coriander (še-lú), 2. via Girini (giri₃-ni); 3. 3 barig 3 ban: Ane-da; 4. 4 ban: Ur-Enlil; 5. 2 ban: Ana, the cook; 6. 3 ban: Ur-Enlil; 7. [......] 8. 1 barig [......] 9. Ki?-[......] 10. 2 ban: ... [......] 11. 1 ban 5 sila [......] 12. 2 ban: [......] (rest not preserved in the edition)”
Source: engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved) · claude-fable-5-1 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2270 BCE · CBS 06246 + N 0595 — University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
OSP 2, 109
In plain English
This is a receipt for garlic. Ur-Enlil is down for one barig (about 60 liters). Then, under the heading 'garlic of Ur-gu', come five more entries: Adda with 2 barig 2 ban, Gubbani with 1 barig 3 ban, Gissu with 2 barig, Ka'a with a small lot of 1 ban 5 sila, and Dasa with 1 barig 4 ban. The chief gardener signed off that the garlic was received.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“1. 1 barig of garlic: 2. Ur-Enlil. 3. Garlic (of) Ur-gu: 4. 2 barig 2 ban — Adda; 5. 1 barig 3 ban — Gubbani; 6. 2 barig — Gissu; 7. 1 ban 5 sila — Ka'a; 8. 1 barig 4 ban — Dasa, 9. the chief gardener, 10. received.”
Source: engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved) · claude-fable-5-1 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2270 BCE · N 0520 — University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
OSP 2, 110
In plain English
Here is who gets grain this time: Uku-mul and Aneda share one barig; Girini also gets one barig. A-GIR₂-gal gets two ban, and so does Lugal-gubbani. Ilī-dān, who works for Pūsa, gets one ban. The chief leatherworker gets two ban. That is the whole list — no total, no date, no signature, just the names and the amounts handed out.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“1. 1 barig — Uku-mul, 2. (and) Aneda; 3. 1 barig — Girini; 4. 2 ban — A-GIR₂-gal; 5. 2 ban — Lugal-gubbani; 6. 1 ban — Ilī-dān, 7. the man of Pūsa; 8. 2 ban — the chief leatherworker.”
Source: engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved) · claude-fable-5-1 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2270 BCE · CBS 06183 — University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
OSP 2, 111
In plain English
The tablet is a ledger listing people one per line, but the left side with the amounts is gone. The first line mentions silver, though the rest of that entry is broken. Then come the names: Enlil-amu, someone whose name ends in '-sa', Ur-tir, Lugal-gubbani, Ur-li, a name ending in '-da', Ur-kidma, a name built on the god Enlil, a name with the element 'ur-ni', a name ending in '-ra', and a last damaged name ending in '-da'. Nothing more of the record survives.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“Obverse(?) 1. [...] silver(?) ... [...] 2. [... En]lil-amu 3. [...]-sa 4. [...] Ur-tir 5. [...] Lugal-gubbani 6. [...] Ur-li 7. [...]-da 8. [... Ur-kid]ma 9. [... En]lil-la 10. [...] ur-ni 11. [...]-ra 12. [...] ...-da”
Source: engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved) · claude-fable-5-1 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2270 BCE · CBS 06267 — University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
OSP 2, 112
In plain English
The record opens with an entry of four of something (the word is damaged), followed by a lost line. Then it lists people with counts beside their names: Ur-Inanna, one; Na-pa-lu, one; Lugal-KA, two; a man named Ur-something, one. The scribe notes that these entries make up the shortfall — the amount still outstanding. The official in charge of the matter was Gal-sar, acting as commissioner.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“1. 4 lu [gu2(?)] 2. [...] 3. 1 Ur-Inanna 4. 1 Na-pa-lu 5. 2 Lugal-KA 6. 1 Ur-[...] 7. It is the deficit (arrears). 8. Commissioner: Gal-sar.”
Source: engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved) · claude-fable-5-1 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry