Position in chronology
CUSAS 03, 0900
About this tablet
This is a small Ur III administrative receipt from Garšana, a military-agricultural estate in southern Mesopotamia run under the authority of the general Šu-Kabta. It records the disbursement of two leather containers and a sheepskin item — probably equipment for archery or harness gear — issued from the stores of a man named Ana-ah-ili in the reign of King Amar-Suen. The tablet is sealed by Iškur-illat, a scribe who identifies himself as the servant of Šu-Kabta the physician, giving us a glimpse of the household staff and material culture (leatherwork, quivers, sheepskins) that kept a royal estate running.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a receipt: two leather quivers (or similar containers) of the 'ti-bala' type, dried, plus one sheepskin mouth-cover, were taken out of stock from a man named Ana-ah-ili and booked as disbursed. The transaction is dated to the month called 'ki-siki of Ninazu,' in the year that the great ceremonial barge for the gods Enlil and Ninlil was built. The document carries a seal reading: 'Šu-Kabta the physician, son of Naram-ili — Iškur-illat the scribe, son of Abi'a, is your servant,' identifying the scribe who recorded and validated the transaction as a subordinate of Šu-Kabta.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine2 dugan-containers (leather quivers?), ti-bala-type, dried; 1 sheepskin, ka-tab (mouth-cover/flap) — from Ana-ah-ili, was disbursed (withdrawn). Month: "ki-siki of Ninazu"; Year: "The great magur-boat, for Enlil (and) Ninlil, was [caulked/dedicated]" (mu-[du8]). (Seal:) Šu-Kabta, the physician, son of Naram-ili; Iškur-illat, the scribe, son of Abi'a, is your servant.
Our translation engine — Sonnet 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Spotted an error? Suggest a correction — confirmed corrections feed the engine's knowledge base.
Transliteration
2(disz) du10-gan ti-bala had2 1(disz) kusz udu ka-tab ki a-na-ah-i3-li2-ta ba-zi iti ki-siki nin-a-zu mu ma2-gur8-mah en-lil2 nin-lil2-ra mu-[du8] 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, 0900. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: CUNES 48-04-012 (Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA) — from Garšana (mod. uncertain) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P322526). source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-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.