Chapter 04 · 2112 – 2004 BCE
Ur III · Neo-Sumerian
A bureaucratic golden age, the Code of Ur-Nammu.
~2050 BCE · Anonymous 479900 — private: anonymous, unlocated
Fs Milano 339-340 02
In plain English
This tablet records a ration payment: 49 male workers each received 6 shekels of lard, totaling 4 5/6 sila and 4 shekels of lard altogether. This oil allotment was for the porters, and they received it. It was overseen by a foreman named ...-šu-da (the beginning of his name is broken off). The record is dated to the harvest month, in the year that Huhnuri was destroyed.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“49 male workers, 6 shekels of lard each, its lard: 4 5/6 sila₃ 4 shekels — oil-ration for the porters (ug₃-il₂), received. Foreman: ...-šu-da Month: “Harvest” (sze-sag11-ku5) Year: “Huhnuri was destroyed.””
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-sonnet-5 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2050 BCE · N 1192 — University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Hattori diss. p. 280, N 1192
In plain English
What survives is the tail end of a list of people's names — a man named Lu-Enlila appears twice, another person's name ends in '-Suen,' and one man is identified as 'son of Ur-[...].' Most of the entries in between are too damaged to read. The list closes with the word 'merchant(s),' suggesting the whole roster was classifying these individuals under that occupation, but the context — what they owed, delivered, or were being counted for — is lost.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“[Lu]-Enlila [...]-...-ga [...]-daga [...]-Suen [...]-... [...]-... [...]-... Lu-[Enlila?] Da?-[...] son of Ur-[...] merchant(s)”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-sonnet-5 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2050 BCE · OIM A31679 — Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
HLC 005 (pl. 004)
In plain English
This record notes one royal gur of barley paid out as wages for temporary workers at several shrines, drawn from Ur-Suen's boat shipment. The barley was supposed to be repaid — the transaction was sealed under Lu-Baba's authority and repayment was again confirmed as due — but a note says it was never delivered. The tablet is dated to the year after 'Urbilum was destroyed,' and was written and sealed by the scribe Lu-Baba, son of Ur-dam.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“1 gur (royal measure) of barley — wages of hired workers, (for) the various shrines, from the boat of Ur-Suen — is to be repaid; sealed by Lu-Baba — is to be repaid; it was not delivered. Year after: "Urbilum was destroyed" (year name). Lu-Baba, scribe, son of Ur-dam.”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-sonnet-5 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2050 BCE · OIM A31710 — Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
HLC 040 (pl. 011)
In plain English
This record logs 24 gur, 4 barig, 3 ban2 of barley (measured by the royal standard) that was taken into official custody as fodder and consumed by a work crew during the harvest season. The document is sealed by an official named Lu-Lagaš. After a gap in the tablet, it is dated to the year Urbilum was destroyed — one of King Šulgi's military campaigns — and names a scribe, apparently Ur-mes, along with a further fragmentary reference to Šulgi himself. The rest of the tablet is broken and illegible.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“24 gur 4 barig 3 ban2 barley, royal measure (gur-lugal), as fodder, taken in charge; and by the labor-troops, consumed at the harvest. Seal of Lu-Lagaš. (break) Year: "Urbilum was destroyed." [Ur?]-mes, scribe. ... Šulgi (break)”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-sonnet-5 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2050 BCE · SM 1911.10.420 — Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
HSS 68, 462
In plain English
Twelve gazelles were entered into the account as dead, during the month of the Akitu festival. Two more gazelles were entered as dead in the month of the Great Festival; Šu-Kubum took charge of them. This happened in the year following the one in which Simurrum was destroyed for the third time — a Šulgi-era date. The tablet ends with a seal note: it belongs to Šu-Kubum, a royal courier, who identifies himself as the servant of Geme-Suen, wife of King Šulgi of Ur.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“12 gazelles, delivered dead (as carcasses). Month: Akiti (the a2-ki-ti festival month). 2 gazelles, delivered dead; month: ezem-mah (the Great Festival month). Šu-Kubum received (them). Year following the year: "Simurrum was destroyed for the third time." Geme-Suen, wife of Šulgi, king of Ur. (Seal of) Šu-Kubum, the mounted courier (rāgaba), your servant.”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-sonnet-5 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~2050 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
Ibbi-Suen 01
Ibbi-Suen's own account of fortifying Ur's walls — the defensive building programme of the last king of the Ur III dynasty, undertaken as Amorite pressure and internal fragmentation were already straining the empire he claimed to rule.
“(i 1) Because of his great love for Suen, Ibbi-Suen, the protective god of his land, the powerful king, king of Urim, king of the four quarters, decided to extend Urim. On this account, in order to make the Land secure, and so that the south and the highlands surrender, he surrounded his city with a big wall whose archer's loopholes cannot be reached being (as high) as a verdant mountain range. He marked out the place of its foundation deposits in (its) foundation. (ii 7) The name of this wall is „Ibbi-Suen is the majestic canal-inspector”.”
Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q001005/
Read the full tablet entry~2050 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
Ibbi-Suen 02
“(1) After he roared over Susa, Adamšah, and the land of Awan like a storm, made them submit in a single day, and captured their lords, Ibbi-Suen, the protective god of his land, the powerful king, king of Urim, king of the four quarters, fashioned for Nanna, who spreads radiance over his people, the most luminous lord among the gods, his master, an artfully wrought golden šagan bowl, whose decoration with bisons and snakes, and with the awe-inspiring dark raincloud1 attracts never-ending admiration, so that the mouth-opening ritual (carried out) with it at the place of the treasure chest during the great festival at the turn of the year, when (the statue of) Nanna is bathed, may never cease. He dedicated it for his well-being to him.”
Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q001849/
Read the full tablet entry~2050 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
Ibbi-Suen 04
“(o 1) For Nanna, the fierce calf of An, lord, the firstborn child of Enlil, his master, Ibbi-Suen, the god of his land, the powerful king, king of Urim, king of the four quarters, fashioned an image of the Meluhhan leopard brought to him as a diplomatic gift from Marḫaši. He dedicated it to him for his well-being. The name of this leopard is „May it be caught!"”
Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q001851/
Read the full tablet entry