Position in chronology
CUSAS 03, 1369
About this tablet
This is a small Ur III administrative memorandum from Garšana, a provincial estate town in southern Iraq, recording the write-off of a large cargo boat (capacity 60 gur, roughly 18,000 liters) that had been destroyed or lost. The scribe notes that the boat's bitumen coating had to be recorded as lost and that it no longer had its towline, then formally charges the loss against the account of an official named Iškur-illat. Such texts are common in the Garšana archive, which documents the intense administrative oversight — including boat maintenance, loss, and accountability — of a Crown-linked agricultural and workshop estate under king Šu-Suen.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
One boat with a capacity of 60 gur has been destroyed. Its bitumen coating is written off as lost, and it no longer has its towline. The loss is charged against the account of Iškur-illat and formally struck from the books, processed by Ibni-Iškur the scribe. Dated to the month of the Meki-gal festival, in the year the en-priestess of Inanna of Uruk was chosen by omen (Šu-Suen's first year). Signed: Ibni-Iškur, scribe, son of Libur-ili.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1 boat, (capacity) 60 gur — was destroyed (damaged/lost). Its bitumen was recorded as lost (missing); its towline/rigging does not exist (is not present). From (the account of) Iškur-illat it was withdrawn (written off). Conveyed by Ibni-Iškur, the scribe. Month: 'Festival of Meki-gal.' Year: 'The en-priestess of Inanna of Uruk was chosen by the goat (omen).' Ibni-Iškur, scribe, son of Libur-ili.
Our translation engine — Sonnet 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
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Transliteration
1(disz) ma2 1(gesz2) gur ba-gul esir2-bi zuh-a ba-gar esz2?-gara2?-bi nu-gal2 ki iszkur-illat-ta# ba-zi giri3 ib-ni-iszkur dub-sar iti ezem-me-ki-gal2 mu en inanna unu-ga masz2-e i3-pa3 ib-ni-iszkur dub-sar dumu li-bur-i3-[li2]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — CUSAS 03, 1369. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: CUNES 48-02-026 (Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA) — from Garšana (mod. uncertain) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P322428). 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.