Chapter 01 · 4000 – 3100 BCE
Uruk Period
The birth of the city, the birth of writing.
~3100 BCE · CUNES 51-07-010 — Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
CUSAS 01, 037
In plain English
The tablet is a tally. The first entry is 18 of something whose label is lost. Then come 5 marked '3 days', 2 marked '2 days', 6 marked '1 day', 2 marked with the 'tablet' sign, and 10 marked with what may be the 'salt' sign. Next is a further 6 whose label is lost, and 3 marked '1 day'. The closing line totals everything at 52 and adds a final sign, PAP~a, whose meaning is unclear.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“[1 ten] 8 (units): [...] 5 (units): U4×3 (3 days?) 2 (units): U4×2 (2 days?) 6 (units): U4×1 (1 day?) 2 (units): DUB~b (tablet?) 1 ten (= 10 units): MUN~a1 (salt?) 6 (units): [...] 3 (units): U4×1 (1 day?) 5 tens 2 (units) (= 52): total (KISZ), PAP~a”
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 51-01-103 — Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
CUSAS 01, 040
In plain English
The tablet logs a series of institutional commodities and personnel counts. Ten units of salt; one tally record; various day-unit entries involving young animals; six female workers; five heart/interior-category items; four and three further day-unit entries with young animals and salt; fifteen sheep; thirty-five items under a 'Kiš' or institutional heading involving fodder and additional qualifiers; ten more salt; twenty-five disbursed young animals; ten more salt; eighteen female workers; and finally seven items of highland or foreign-land provenance. The right half of the reverse is too damaged to read in full.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“1(N14) [= 10], MUN~a1 [salt] 1(N01) [= 1], DUB~b [tablet/tally] 3(N01) [= 3], |U4x2(N57)| [day-unit × 2 notch] 3(N01) [= 3], |U4x1(N57)| AMAR [day-unit × 1 notch, calf/young animal] 6(N01) [= 6], SAL [women/female workers] 5(N01) [= 5], SZA3~a2 [interior/heart — commodity or category] 4(N01) [= 4], |U4x2(N57)| [day-unit × 2 notch] 3(N01) [= 3], |U4x1(N57)| AMAR MUN~a1 [day-unit × 1 notch, young animal, salt] 1(N14) 5(N01) [= 15], UDU~a [sheep] 3(N14) 5(N01) [= 35], KISZ NAM2 KAB# U2~b DIN [Kiš-category/institution, NAM2, KAB, fodder/plant, DIN] 1(N14) [= 10], MUN~a1 [salt] 2(N14) 5(N01) [= 25], |DU8~cxAMAR| [release/disbursement of young animals] 1(N14) [= 10], MUN~a1 [salt] 1(N14) 8(N01) [= 18], [SAL] [women/female workers] 7(N01) [= 7], KUR~a [foreign land / highland / mountain origin]”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware) · claude-sonnet-4-6 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3100 BCE · CUNES 52-20-010 — Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
CUSAS 01, 044
In plain English
What survives of this account records: 32 units of an oven-related or heat-processed commodity; 42 rams; and an uncertain number of goats. Several lines are broken beyond recovery. A lower section preserves larger numerical totals — including a figure combining units of different denominations — but the commodities or headings those totals belong to are lost. The rest of the tablet is too damaged to read.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“[...] [...] 3(N14) 2(N01) — UTUA~a [oven-product/heated-vessel category] 4(N14) 2(N01) — UDUNITA~a [rams/male sheep] [...] 2(N14) [...] 2(N01) — MASZ2 [goats/caprids] [...] [...] [...] [...] 4(N01) — [...] BU~a [...] UR2# [...] [...] [...] [...] 1(N48) [...] 3(N34) [...] [...] 4(N34) 3(N14) 2(N01) [...]”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware) · claude-sonnet-4-6 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3100 BCE · CUNES 51-01-097 — Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
CUSAS 01, 045
In plain English
The tablet records two separate livestock lots. The first group comprises 28 ewes, 13 rams, 2 animals of a category called KIR11, and 8 mountain-type lambs, assigned to an official or category designated DA/PA. The second group has 9 ewes, 7 rams, 2 KIR11, and 3 mountain-type lambs, noted under a disbursement or receipt formula. Summary totals at the bottom give 51 animals under the DA/PA heading and 21 under the receipt/disbursement formula — the closing accounting line of what appears to be a two-entry flock record.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“28 ewes, 13 rams, 2 KIR11, 8 [animals of] KUR~a type, lambs DA~a PA~a 9 ewes, 7 rams, 2 KIR11, 3 [animals of] KUR~a type, lambs |BU~a+DU6~a| SZU |GISZxSZU2~a| ZATU752 |BU~a+DU6~a| SZU |GISZxSZU2~a| 51 [total?] DA~a PA~a 21 |BU~a+DU6~a| SZU |GISZxSZU2~a|”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware) · claude-sonnet-4-6 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3100 BCE · CUNES 50-06-218 — Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
CUSAS 01, 046
In plain English
This is a livestock account, probably from a large institutional household. Someone designated as a supervisor or senior figure (PAP~a) is associated with a female worker or female category. Two rams are recorded under the heading SZUR2~a; three rams fall under another category that is now partly broken away. Further entries are too damaged to read. Toward what would have been the bottom of the tablet, at least three more sheep are recorded in connection with a carpenter or craftsman. The middle sections are entirely lost.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“PAP~a — female (SAL) 2 rams (UDUNITA~a) — SZUR2~a 3 rams (UDUNITA~a) — AN [broken] [broken] ... [broken] [broken] ... [broken] [broken] — 3 sheep (UDU~a) — carpenter/craftsman (NAGAR~a) — [broken]”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware) · claude-sonnet-4-6 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3100 BCE · CUNES 51-01-110 — Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
CUSAS 01, 049
In plain English
This tablet is a livestock inventory. It records: 1 ewe, 3 rams (one of them allocated with a grain designation), and further entries that are partly broken. It then lists 45 goats, 9 ewes, 1 ram, 9 she-goats, 1 goat, and a reed-ration entry. A subtotal line counts 39 sheep against a grand-total marker of 1(N57). The closing lines record 13 animals in a 'processed/disbursed' category under an overseer's charge, and 29 animals counted to a pen or enclosure. The final lines are too damaged or technically complex to read with certainty.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“1(N01) ewe 3(N14) rams 1(N01) ram — for ŠE3 [fodder/grain allocation?] 1(N14) 1(N01) [commodity unclear] [...] 2(N01) [NUN~b category] 4(N14) 5(N01) goats 9(N01) ewes 1(N01) ram 9(N01) she-goats 1(N01) goat 1(N14) ŠU GI [reed ration / hand + reed?] 9(N01)# [...] 3(N14) 9(N01) — 1(N57) sheep [subtotal marker] 1(N34) 3(N14) — GURUSZDA~a |DU8~c × UDU~a| DA~a PA~a [finished/released sheep — overseer category] 2(N34) 9(N01) — LAGAB~b UDU~a [enclosure/pen sheep]”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware) · claude-sonnet-4-6 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3100 BCE · CUNES 51-07-009 — Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
CUSAS 01, 050
In plain English
This record lists small livestock distributed or allocated from a herd: 5 sheep (female, disbursement portion), 4 male goats, 3 rams (disbursement portion), 3 male goats (disbursement portion). Two lines are too damaged to read. Then: 8 she-goats (disbursement portion), 16 sheep, and 13 rams. The rest is lost or broken.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“5 , BAR + sheep (female) 4 , goat (male) 3 , BAR + ram (male sheep) 3 , BAR + goat (male) [...] , [...] [3(N14)] 8(N01) , [...] 8 , BAR + she-goat 1(N14) 6(N01) [= 16] , sheep 1(N14) 3(N01) [= 13] , ram (male sheep)”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware) · claude-sonnet-4-6 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry~3100 BCE · CUNES 51-10-001 — Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
CUSAS 01, 053
In plain English
This tablet records a count of small livestock across two sections. The first section lists: 2 ewes, 2 rams, 2 she-goats, 5 goats, 1 animal of an unclear type, and 3 animals in a special category (possibly a quality grade or origin designation), followed by another 5 goats. Several lines in the middle are too damaged to read. The second section, on the reverse, resumes with 2 she-goats, 3 more in the special category, and then a final entry — a higher numerical notation alongside what appears to be a generic 'sheep' entry. The rest is lost or too broken to recover.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“Obverse: 2 ewes 2 rams 2 she-goats 5 goats 1 [...] 3 [NUN~b category] 5 goats [...] [...] [...] [...] Reverse / lower section: 2 [...] 2 she-goats 3 [NUN~b category] [...] [...] 2(N14) [...] sheep”
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware) · claude-sonnet-4-6 · low confidence
Read the full tablet entry