Position in chronology
CUSAS 03, 0706
About this tablet
A small receipt from Garšana, a private estate in southern Iraq around 2035 BCE, during the reign of Šu-Suen of the Third Dynasty of Ur. It records a weighed bundle of goat hair — just over 2.5 kilograms — handed over by the felt-maker Hani, and it is sealed by Iškur-illat, the scribe of the estate's owner Šu-Kabta. Such tiny records show how closely even raw textile fibre was tracked in this household economy.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
One bundle of goat hair, weighing 5 minas and 10 shekels (roughly 2.6 kg). Hani the felt-worker weighed it out. Dated to the month of 'Gazelle-eating' in the year Šu-Suen, king of Ur, built the temple of Šara at Umma. Sealed by Iškur-illat, scribe, son of Abia, servant of Šu-Kabta the physician, son of Naram-ili.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1 ša-tag (bundle) of goat-hair (siki-ud5), its weight: 5 minas 10 shekels. Hani, the felt-worker (tug2-du8), weighed (it) out. Month: "Gazelle-eating" (maš-da-gu7). Year: "Šu-Suen, king of Ur, built the temple of Šara in Umma." (Seal:) Šu-Kabta, the physician, son of Naram-ili: Iškur-illat, scribe, son of Abia, is your servant.
Our translation engine — Fable 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
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Transliteration
1(disz) sza3-tag siki-ud5 ki-la2-bi 5(disz) ma-na 1(u) gin2 ha-ni tug2-du8 i3-la2 iti masz-da3-gu7 mu szu-suen lugal uri5-ma-ke4 e2 szara2 umma-ka mu-du3 szu-kab2-ta a-zu dumu na-ra-am-i3-li2 iszkur-illat dub-sar dumu a-bi2-a ARAD2-zu
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — CUSAS 03, 0706. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Šu-Suen y1 — Šu-Suen became king based on canonical year-name formula in the transliteration.
Attribution
Image: CUNES 48-06-007 (Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA) — from Garšana (mod. uncertain) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P322596). source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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One of the earliest specimens of human writing. Not literature, not law — accounting. The need to keep track of grain in a temple bureaucracy is what pushed marks-on-clay into a system that could one day carry epics.
A window into the world's first total state. The Ur III administration tracked every animal, every worker, every shekel — for a population in the millions. The level of paperwork was not exceeded until the modern era.