Chapter 03 · 2334 – 2154 BCE
Akkadian Empire
Sargon brings rival city-states under imperial rule.
~2270 BCE · JRL 0016 — John Rylands Library, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
CST 016
In plain English
One jar of beer takes one barig of barley, and five sila of fine flour are also needed. That is the requirement for a single day. For a whole month, brewing needs 3 gur 3 barig of barley, measured by the standard 'sag-gal' gur, plus 1 gur 1 barig of emmer. The grand total comes to twenty-some gur by the same measure, but the exact figure is lost. A second total and the next lines are too damaged to read, except for a note that something 'will be added'. The rest of the tablet is lost.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“1(?) (jar of) beer: 1 barig of barley per jar; 5 sila of fine flour: this is (the allotment) for 1 day. Barley for beer: 3 gur 3 barig, (by the) standard gur sag-gal; emmer for beer: 1 gur 1 barig: this is (the allotment) for 1 month. Total: n+20 [... gur], (by the gur) sag-[gal] ...; total: [......] ... it is(?). [......] ...(?) [......]-a(?) will be added. [......] (rest destroyed)”
Source: engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved) · claude-opus-5-5 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2270 BCE · JRL 0018 — John Rylands Library, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
CST 018
In plain English
Land statement: 30 bur of field in the Amar-uga district, 30 bur in the Edin-hu…-gid district (part of that name is damaged), 12 bur in Amer-zatur, 10 bur in Barbara and 20 bur in Dapeš. That comes to 102 bur in all, roughly 660 hectares. All of this field was taken over by (or assigned to) Eṭib-mer.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“(Obverse / continuous text; no side markers in the source) 1. 3 bur'u (= 30 bur) of field, 2. meadow-district of Amar-uga; 3. 3 bur'u (= 30 bur), PAP field, 4. meadow-district of Edin-hu?-[...]-gid?; 5. 1 bur'u 2 bur (= 12 bur), PAP field, 6. meadow-district of Amer-zatur; 7. 1 bur'u (= 10 bur), PAP field, 8. meadow-district of Barbara; 9. 2 bur'u (= 20 bur), PAP field, 10. meadow-district of Dapeš. 11. Total: 1 šar 4 bur'u 2 bur (= 102 bur) of field: 12. field taken over (dab5-ba) 13. (by) Eṭib-mer.”
Source: engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved) · claude-opus-5-5 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2270 BCE · JRL 0019 — John Rylands Library, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
CST 019
In plain English
Sesame oil, 2 barig each, went to Si-AN-HA, Pap-gi-su4, Si-nam-ki-ri-ir and Adda-SIG-ba, who all belong to Bad-da-elam's group. The closing note says this goes on the 'mehi' tablet and is not to be counted as a hubūtu, which seems to mean a loan.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“2 barig of sesame oil: Si-AN-HA; 2 barig: Pap-gi-su4; 2 barig: Si-nam-ki-ri-ir; 2 barig: Adda-SIG-ba; (these are those) of Bad-da-elam. For the tablet of mehi (?), not hubūtu.”
Source: engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved) · claude-opus-5-5 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2270 BCE · JRL 0020 — John Rylands Library, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
CST 020
In plain English
Grain on hand: 80 gur of barley, listed under Adda and associated with Meme's ox-house. Ur-še is down for 42 gur and Ur-niĝ for 30 gur, and the tablet then notes that this is Ur-še's barley. It ends with a note that is hard to interpret ('ma-buru4') and closes by stating that the barley is available, in stock.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“Obverse (and continuation; no side markers in the source) 1. 80 gur of barley: 2. Adda; 3. (at/from) the ox-house (?) of Meme. 4. 42 (gur): Ur-še; 5. 30 (gur): Ur-niĝ; 6. it is the barley of Ur-še. 7. ma-buru4 (meaning unclear); 8. barley that is on hand.”
Source: engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved) · claude-opus-5-5 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2270 BCE · JRL 0023 — John Rylands Library, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
CST 023
In plain English
Seed-barley ledger: [...] gur (the amount is broken) to Dada, son of Ur-e; 24 gur to Ur-Šara; 6 gur 2 barig to Adda-tur. Next comes a figure of 220 gur of seed barley, then about 144 gur of threshed barley (less 2 ban), with a partly lost name, ...-si. The last lines say that what the head plowmen still owe must be delivered. The final line gives a period of one year and a number of months, but the months are lost.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“Obverse(?) 1. [...] gur of barley [at disposal(?)], ... seed: 2. [Da]da, son of Ur-e. 3. 24 gur of barley, seed: 4. Ur-Šara. 5. 6 gur 2 barig of barley, seed: 6. Adda-tur. 7. 220 gur of barley, seed. 8. 144 gur 2 barig less 2 ban, 1(?) of barley, threshed. 9. x-x-si. 10. The arrears of the chief plowmen(?) [... plow]men(?) 11. [are] to be brought out. 12. 1(?) year [n months].”
Source: engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved) · claude-opus-5-5 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2270 BCE · JRL 0026 — John Rylands Library, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
CST 026
In plain English
Ur-Enlila is down for 6 litres of top-grade ghee and 3 litres of ordinary ghee, plus a further entry of 6 whose commodity is broken away. Ur-emega gets 6 litres of ghee, and E-ki gets 12. The total comes to one jar plus 17 litres of ghee, described as oil that was poured out, or poured off. The last line is damaged; only the end of one word, possibly a name or a note, survives.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“(Obverse / reverse sequence as given; no side markers in the source) 1. 6 sila of first-quality [ghee], 2. 3 sila of [gh]ee, 3. 6(?) [......]: Ur-Enlila. 4. 6 sila of ghee: 5. Ur-emega. 6. 12 sila of ghee: 7. E-ki. 8. Total: 1 jar (and) 17 sila of ghee, 9. [o]il poured out(?). 10. ...... [......]-si(?)”
Source: engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved) · claude-opus-5-5 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2270 BCE · CST 172 — Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, California, USA
CST 172
In plain English
Harvest report. Ur-Gigir's crew reaped five plots of barley: one of 2 bur 1 eše, which took two days, and four more of 1 bur 1 eše 1 iku, 1 bur 1 iku, 1 bur 1 eše and 1 bur 3 iku, each done in a day. That comes to 7 bur 5 iku of barley land harvested in six working days. Lugal-si's crew reaped 1 bur 2 iku in one day. Ur-dumu's crew reaped 1 eše 3 iku in one day. The record ends with the name Lugal-KA.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“1. 2 bur 1 eše of field: 2 days; 2. 1 bur 1 eše 1 iku of field: 1 day; 3. 1 bur 1 iku of field: 1 day; 4. 1 bur 1 eše of field: 1 day; 5. 1 bur 3 iku of field: 1 day; 6. total: 7 bur 5 iku of field, 7. barley harvested; 8. labour: 6 days; 9. foreman: Ur-gigir. 10. 1 bur 2 iku of field: 1 day; 11. foreman: Lugal-si. 12. 1 eše 3 iku of field: 1 day; 13. foreman: Ur-dumu. 14. Lugal-KA.”
Source: engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved) · claude-opus-5-5 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2270 BCE · CST 197 — Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, California, USA
CST 197
In plain English
Livestock tally. From Ur-Šara: one breeding ewe, one ram, one fattened male lamb, four breeding nanny-goats and two kids. From Ur-Suen: one fattened female lamb, three fattened lambs, two full-grown goats, two fattened female kids and two fattened kids. These sheep and goats are what Abilu still owes (one sign before his name can't be read), and he is holding them. Dated year 2, month 8.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“Obverse (sections as given in the source; no side markers are supplied) 1. 1 mother ewe 2. 1 ram 3. 1 male lamb, fattened 4. 4 mother nanny-goats 5. 2 kids 6. (These are) of Ur-Šara. 7. 1 female lamb, fattened 8. 3 lambs, fattened 9. 2 full-grown kids/he-goats 10. 2 female kids, fattened 11. 2 kids, fattened 12. (These are) of Ur-Suen. 13. The sheep (and goats), the deficit of [x?] Abilu, 14. are with him (i.e. are in his keeping). 15. Year 2, month 8.”
Source: engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved) · claude-opus-5-5 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry