MS 2433

~3100 BCE·Uruk Period·P006050

About this tablet

This is a proto-cuneiform livestock account from the late Uruk period (around 3200–3000 BCE), possibly from the area of Umma in southern Iraq. It comes from the earliest phase of writing, before signs clearly recorded spoken language. The front lists sheep and goats by type: rams, ewes, she-goats, kids and some less clear categories. The back gives a total for the whole flock, with what looks like the name or title of the person or office responsible. Records like this show writing being invented as a tool for keeping track of animals held by temples and other institutions.

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

Written in modern English

Flock tally. There are 2 animals of a category we can't identify, 4 rams, 2 animals marked with a special qualifier, 5 kids and 1 ewe. A second group has 2 she-goats and 1 more of the qualified animals. The back gives a total of 16 sheep and goats and credits them to 'GI MASZ KI', which is most likely the person or office in charge. The meaning of that name or label is unclear.

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

Translation — our engine

Our engine

Low confidence

Obverse 1. 2 (units): UTUA~a (animals of an uncertain category) 2. 4: rams 3. 2: NUN~b (a qualified category of animal) 4. 5 (N02 units): kids 5. 1 (N02 unit): ewe (Case division) 6. 2: she-goats 7. 1: NUN~b (a qualified category of animal) (Case division) Reverse 8. 16 (1 ten and 6 units): small livestock (sheep and goats), in total 9. GI MASZ KI (the official, office or institution responsible; the meaning is unclear)

Our translation engine — Opus 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(N01) , UTUA~a
4(N01) , UDUNITA~a
2(N01) , NUN~b
5(N02) , MASZ2
1(N02) , U8
,
2(N01) , UD5~a
1(N01) , NUN~b
,
1(N14) 6(N01) , UDU~a
, GI MASZ KI

Scholarly note

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Uruk III (ca. 3200-3000 BC)) — MS 2433. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).

Attribution

Image: Schøyen Collection, Oslo, Norway (P006050) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).

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