Position in chronology
MS 2782/15
About this tablet
This is a small fragment of a proto-cuneiform administrative tablet from the Uruk period, likely from the area of Umma, recording quantities of textiles — wool, garments, and linen cloth — issued or accounted for in an institutional setting. The final surviving line names a 'sanga,' the temple or institutional administrator responsible for the transaction, situating this as routine bureaucratic bookkeeping from one of the earliest literate societies, roughly 3200–3000 BCE. Such tablets, often just a few centimeters across, are the first written economic records in human history, tracking goods rather than telling stories.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This broken clay tag records a short list of textile goods — some wool, one garment, and several units of linen cloth — each entry paired with a quantity, in the terse tally-style of the earliest Sumerian accounting. Partway down, an entry seems to note '1 unit' of something followed by a count involving a woman or female worker and a portion-marker, though the exact meaning is unclear because the tablet is broken there. The last legible line mentions an official called the 'sanga' — essentially the manager or administrator overseeing the goods — before the text breaks off entirely, with the remainder lost to damage.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine[...] , wool (SIG₂) 1 (unit) , garment (TUG₂) 1 (unit) , linen cloth (GADA) 1 (unit) , [...] 4 (units) [...] , [...] 2 (units) , linen cloth (GADA) 1 (unit) [...] , 1 (N57-unit) woman/female (SAL) [half-portion/BAR] [...] , foot/leg-sign (GIR₃), administrator (SANGA) [...] [...] , [...] X, half-portion/BAR(?) [...]
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.
Engine notes
read from photo8 uncertain terms ↓
- SIG2~b — Conventionally 'wool' in Uruk-period contexts, but the reading of this archaic sign variant is debated; it may refer to a processed wool product or fleece rather than raw wool.
- TUG2~a — Read as 'garment/cloth'; the ~a variant marks an early sign form. Generally accepted but context-dependent.
- GADA~a — Interpreted as 'linen cloth'; the proto-cuneiform sign for linen/flax-derived textile. Reading is broadly accepted but the precise textile type is uncertain.
- SAL# [BAR] — SAL is the sign for 'woman/female'; in ration-list context it likely denotes a female worker category. BAR is a partial/uncertain reading and may indicate 'outside,' 'half-ration,' or a different commodity marker. Both signs are damaged (#).
- GIR3~c# — Could be read as 'foot,' 'under (the authority of),' or as part of a personal or administrative title. Sign is damaged; reading is tentative.
- SANGA~a# — Rendered 'temple administrator'; the archaic ~a form is consistent with Early Dynastic/late Uruk palaeography. The precise administrative rank signified in this early period is not fully established.
- 4(N01)# / 1(N01)# — The # diacritic indicates the numeral impressions are partially damaged in the transliteration; counts may differ from what survives on the clay.
- BAR#? — Highly uncertain sign in the final line; could be BAR ('half,' 'outside,' or a dividing marker) or a different sign entirely. Reading flagged with both # (damaged) and ? (uncertain identification).
Reasoning ↓
Visual examination of the photo shows a small, roughly trapezoidal clay fragment photographed from multiple angles. The obverse (main face, upper centre image) displays clearly ruled case-lines dividing the surface into compartments — characteristic of Uruk-period administrative tablets. In the upper-left compartment I can make out a roughly circular impressed sign consistent with a round-stylus numeral (N01 or similar), and in the adjacent compartments sign shapes that could correspond to TUG2~a (garment) and GADA~a (linen). The middle-left area shows what appears to be a bisected oval sign, plausibly SAL or a related sign. The lower portion of the obverse is eroded and partially broken, making individual signs difficult to confirm. The reverse (lower image in the photo) shows faint incised lines and what may be two or three sign compartments, but surface wear renders them largely unreadable visually. The museum accession ink label 'ms 2782/15' is legible on the edge. Overall the photo broadly confirms the transliteration's structure (ruled cases, numeral impressions, textile-sign shapes), but the fragmentary and abraded state means I cannot independently verify the damaged or bracketed signs (#, [...]), particularly GIR3~c, SANGA~a, and the BAR readings at the bottom. The cross-check therefore shows general agreement in structure and the recognisable signs (numerals, SAL-type sign, cloth signs) but the damaged passages cannot be verified from the photo.
Generated by Claude Sonnet 4.6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 14, 2026 · 2171 in / 1143 out tokens
Transliteration
[...] , SIG2~b 1(N01) , TUG2~a 1(N01)# , GADA~a 1(N01)# , [...] 4(N01)# [...] , [...] 2(N01) , GADA~a 1(N01) [...] , 1(N57) SAL# [BAR] [...] , GIR3~c# SANGA~a# [...] [...] , [...] X BAR#? [...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Uruk III (ca. 3200-3000 BC)) — MS 2782/15. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Schøyen Collection, Oslo, Norway (P006135) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
Related tablets
Related sources
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.