Chapter 01 · 4000 – 3100 BCE
Uruk Period
The birth of the city, the birth of writing.
~3100 BCE · CUNES 51-10-026 — Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
CUSAS 01, 136
In plain English
The first entry records 1 large unit and 4 smaller units of grain, but its label is lost. The next three entries are broken away completely. A later entry lists 2 units of one grain measure and 1 of another, assigned to the PIRIG~b1 heading with the note BA, which may mean 'allotted'. A further entry has 1 large unit marked ḪI. The last entry is too damaged to read.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“1. 1(N01) 4(N39a) (units of grain), [......] 2. [......], [......] 3. [......], [......] 4. [......], [......] 5. 2(N42a) 1(N25) (units of grain), PIRIG~b1 BA 6. 1(N01) (unit of grain), ḪI 7. [......], [......]”
Source: engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-11-08/v10-evolved) · claude-opus-5-5 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3100 BCE · CUNES 50-06-205 — Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
CUSAS 01, 137
In plain English
The account opens with a quantity of grain whose details are lost. Next come entries in grain measures: one unit for NE-type cakes, a broken entry, a further measure whose item is lost, another unit for NE-type cakes, and one more measure whose item is broken. Then come cakes associated with URU, and two small measures of malt for the household, marked URU and 'returned' (GI4). After a few damaged entries, the reverse sums things up. Something for URU was consumed. For URU, the household's purchase, together with a U4-type item and malt, was consumed. A final line notes the purchase and its consumption.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“1(N51) [...] 1(N28) (grain measure): NE~a GUG2 cake(s) [...] (number): [...] 1(N14) (grain measure): [...] 1(N28) (grain measure): NE~a GUG2 cake(s) 1(N14) (grain measure): [...] GUG2 cake(s), URU~a1 2(N39~a) (grain measure): AB~a (household), malt, URU~a1, GI4~a [...] 1(N03) [...]: [...] [...] URU~a1, consumed URU~a1, purchase, AB~a (household), |U4×1(N01)|, consumed, malt Purchase, consumed”
Source: engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-11-08/v10-evolved) · claude-opus-5-5 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3100 BCE · CUNES 50-09-025 — Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
CUSAS 01, 138
In plain English
The account opens with 10 units of two kinds of goods whose exact identity is unclear (LAGAB~a׊A and LAGAB~a׊ITA~a1). It then lists 2 jars of a special marked type, 2 cauldron-type vessels, and 1 ordinary jar. Next come 1 and a fraction of something called DU6~a, and 5 and a fraction of a SAG item. After that there are 2 units of bread or rations, and the rest of that line is lost. A partly legible line mentions AN, apparently as an allotment, and the last surviving line mentions fish, with the quantity and the rest of the entry lost.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“Obverse 10 (units): LAGAB~a׊A (and) LAGAB~a׊ITA~a1 2: jar(s) of the DUG~c type marked with N58 2: ŠEN-vessel(s) 1: jar 1 and 1(N26) (fraction): DU6~a 5 and 1(N29~a) (fraction): SAG 2 [...]: bread/rations (GAR) ...? AN, BA (allotted) [...]: fish [...]”
Source: engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-11-08/v10-evolved) · claude-opus-5-5 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3100 BCE · CUNES 51-10-028 — Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
CUSAS 01, 139
In plain English
This is a ledger entry, plain and simple. It records roughly two large units plus eleven of a foodstuff called GUG₂, marked as received; two large units of a commodity written SI A; a lost entry; twenty birds assigned to a storage category; and another lost entry. On the back, the accountant added up the columns: a total including six large units, a ten, and three single units. The middle entries and parts of the total are too damaged to read — the surviving numbers and commodity signs are all that remain of this ancient stocktaking.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“(obverse) 2(N34) 1(N14) 1(N01) [i.e. two large units, one ten, one unit] — GUG₂ (a foodstuff/grain product), ŠU ("received"/"in hand") 2(N34) [two large units] — SI A [...] — [...] 2(N14) [two tens] — bird(s) (MUŠEN), UB (storage/accounting category) [...] — [...] (reverse, total line) [...] 6(N34) [...] 1(N14) [...] 3(N01) [i.e. six large units ... one ten ... three units]”
Source: engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-fable-5 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3100 BCE · CUNES 50-11-013 — Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
CUSAS 01, 144
In plain English
This is a barley ledger, now shattered. One readable entry logs about twenty measures of barley; another logs ten of some commodity now lost. A third entry records three units against a person or office written with signs meaning something like 'mixed' and 'ration' — probably a title or name we can no longer decipher. Another line held a further twenty-odd measures. Everything else — who received the grain, from whom, and why — has broken away, and the back of the tablet carries no writing.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“(Obverse; all lines fragmentary) [...] 2 N14 (= 20, or 12 in the grain-capacity system) [...] — barley (ŠE) [...] 1 N14 (= 10, or 6) [...] — [...] [...] — (one illegible sign) [...] — [...] 3 N01 (= 3 units) — HI ("mixed"?) (and) GAR ("ration/deposited"), with the compound signs ZATU714×HI and ZATU651×GAR (unread designation, likely an official's title or name) [...] — [...] [...] 2 N14 (= 20, or 12) [...] [...] — [...] (Remainder of obverse lost; reverse uninscribed or effaced)”
Source: engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-fable-5 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3100 BCE · CUNES 50-11-059 — Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
CUSAS 01, 146
In plain English
This is a ledger entry, mostly broken. The first line is lost. Then: five units of a processed commodity; six units of something now illegible; eleven units of another unreadable item. A summary note records that the goods were consumed or disbursed — with a reference to NAGA (perhaps a substance or a category) — on day one, under the temple administrator and the chief temple administrator. One further entry records a small fractional measure of something lost in the break. The final surviving line preserves only a single sign, TE, before the tablet breaks off entirely.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“(obverse) [...] : [...] 5 (units) : DU8 (a processed product) 6 (units) : [...] 11 (units) : (illegible commodity) consumed/disbursed — NAGA — 'day 1' — the temple administrator (and) the chief temple administrator 1 (small fractional measure, N24) : [...] (reverse/final section) [...] : TE [...] (rest broken)”
Source: engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-fable-5 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3100 BCE · CUNES 50-09-022 — Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
CUSAS 01, 153
In plain English
This is a damaged inventory sheet. The opening entries are mostly lost; what survives records small counted lots: a measure of beer-bread, one more cake, and one unit of an unidentified commodity. After a gap the list resumes: one tablet belonging to the chief administrator; one container delivered by hand for the lord; one entry concerning the cattle-pen with five units; two items under the supervisor; two more marked with the divine/sky sign; and ten units of the same unidentified commodity. A three-sign notation — perhaps a classifying subscript or an official's mark — closes the account. The beginnings of most lines, and whatever transaction tied them together, are lost to damage.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“(column/section as preserved) [...] — [...] [...] — NU11 [AN] [...] (and) 1 — AN, ŠA, UR2 [...] — [PA], "pure" A, [GIŠ3] 1 (N22-measure) — GUG2-cake (with) beer, BAR-category 1 GUG2-cake 1 — ZATU776 ... (unidentified commodity) [...] — [...] (Break) 1 — tablet (of) the SANGA-administrator 1 — GA2-container, ME, the EN (lord/priest-ruler), delivered by hand 1 — cattle-pen; 5 (N57-units) 2 — ME, DAR, PAP (supervisor) 2 — AN, NU11 [...] 10 — ZATU776 ... (unidentified commodity) (final entry/subscript:) A, HAL, AL”
Source: engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-fable-5 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3100 BCE · CUNES 50-06-210 — Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
CUSAS 01, 157
In plain English
This is a short institutional account. It lists: four measures of a fish product and three measures of another processed commodity, booked under the administrator in charge of the cattle-pen; then one and a fraction measures set down as a daily deposit or ration; one and a fraction measures of the fish product for the courtyard; ten units for the cattle-pen; and two units of the processed goods under the entry HAL. Several of the commodity terms are written with signs we can no longer identify, so we know the quantities better than the goods themselves. The back of the tablet carries no further entries.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“Obverse: 4 (N39) units: fish, ZATU710 (product); 3 (N39) units: ZATU714+HI (product), ME; (under) the SANGA-official (of) the cattle-pen. 1 (N39) 1 (N24) units: day(?)-ration deposited (U4 GAR); 1 (N39) 1 (N24) units: ZATU710 (product), fish, (of) the courtyard; 10 (N14) units: cattle-pen, ME; 2 (N01) units: ZATU710 (product), HAL, ZATU714+HI (product). Reverse: uninscribed (no text preserved beyond surface traces).”
Source: engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-fable-5 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry