CUNES 49-02-029

~2050 BCE·Ur III · Neo-Sumerian·P323252

About this tablet

This is a short Ur III 'letter-order' — a messenger tablet in which one official instructs another to disburse a small quantity of silver. Ur-Suen, son of Ur-Utu, directs Ur-Šulpa'e to take one shekel of silver (out of a two-shekel sum held by a man named Ur-silaluh) and hand it over to a third party, Lu-duga, with a closing admonition not to neglect the instruction. Such texts, common at Umma around the reign of the Ur III kings, show the everyday bureaucratic machinery of silver disbursement between officials rather than a formal contract — quick, functional notes carried by a messenger.

Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.

Written in modern English

This is a note from Ur-Suen, son of Ur-Utu, to Ur-Šulpa'e: 'Out of the 2 shekels of silver that Ur-silaluh is holding, give 1 shekel of it to Lu-duga. As for the rest of that silver [text broken here], don't fail to see to it.' Signed, Ur-Suen, son of Ur-Utu.

A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.

Translation — our engine

Our engine

Medium confidence

To Ur-Šulpa'e speak: Silver, 2 shekels, of Ur-silaluh, which is present in (his) possession — from it, 1 shekel, to Lu-duga, let it be given. Its silver, [...] [...] let him not neglect (it)/let him not disregard it. Ur-Suen, son of Ur-Utu.

Indicative reading — translated without a photograph. Generated from the transliteration alone, without examining the original. Read it as an accessible first taste, not as a verified catalogue entry.

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

ur-szul-pa-e3-ra
u3-na-a-du11
ku3 2(disz) gin2
ur-sila-luh-ka
ki-na i3-gal2-la
sza3-bi-ta
1(disz) gin2 lu2-du10-ga
he2#-na#-ab#-szum2#-mu#
ku3-bi x x
nam-mi-gu2-re
ur-suen#
dumu ur-utu

Scholarly note

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — CUNES 49-02-029. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).

Attribution

Image: CUNES 49-02-029 (Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA) — from Umma (mod. Tell Jokha) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P323252). source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).

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