Position in chronology
MS 4561
About this tablet
One of the earliest written documents in human history, this small clay tablet from around 3200–3000 BCE belongs to the proto-cuneiform administrative tradition of Uruk-period Mesopotamia, possibly from the city of Umma in southern Iraq. It records quantities of commodities — probably grain, animals, or similar institutional goods — using the numerical notation system that preceded fully readable writing. The reverse bears cylinder-seal impressions, identifying the official or institution responsible for the transaction. Tablets like this were the world's first bureaucratic paperwork: accountants' tools for tracking the flow of goods through a temple or palace economy before language itself could be written down.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This tablet records a series of numerical entries in two sections, divided by a ruled line. The upper section lists several large quantities against commodity designations, most of which are now illegible or lost in damaged areas. The lower section continues with further numerical groupings, at least one of which appears to be labeled with a sign for grain (SZE~a), and a final entry seems paired with signs suggesting a storage or ration category (LAGAB~b GAR), possibly with a disbursement notation (BA). The precise commodities and totals cannot be fully recovered because many of the commodity signs in the right-hand columns are too damaged to read.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engineLine 1: 1(N34) 2(N01) | 1(N39~a) Line 2: 1(N51) 2(N01) | 1(N24) Line 3: 2(N51) 3(N01)? | 1(N28)? Line 4: 5(N51)# 1(N14)#? 2(N01)#? | 1(N29~a)#? Line 5: 1(N54)# 5(N51)# | [...] [horizontal ruling / section break] Line 6: 2(N20)# 3(N42~a)#? [...] | [...] Line 7: 2(N20)# X 1(N25) | [...] Line 8: 2(N20)# 4(N05)# | [...] Line 9: 5(N20) 2(N42~a) 1(N25) 1(N28~c) | [...] Line 10: 1(N46) 2(N20) 1(N05) 3(N42~a)#? 1(N25)? 1(N29A~c) | [damaged sign] Line 11: 2(N46) 4(N20) 1(N05)? 3(N42~a) 1(N25) | [damaged sign] [BA#?] Line 12: 1(N46) 2(N20) 2(N05) [...] | SZE~a Line 13: 1(N37)# 6(N20) 3(N05) 3(N42~a) 1(N25) | LAGAB~b GAR
Our translation engine — Sonnet 4.6. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Transliteration
1(N34) 2(N01) , 1(N39~a) 1(N51) 2(N01) , 1(N24) 2(N51) 3(N01)? , 1(N28)? 5(N51)#? 1(N14)#? 2(N01)#? , 1(N29~a)#? 1(N54)# 5(N51)# , [...] , 2(N20)# 3(N42~a)#? [...] , [...] 2(N20)# X 1(N25) , [...] 2(N20)# 4(N05)# , [...] 5(N20) 2(N42~a) 1(N25) 1(N28~c) , [...] 1(N46) 2(N20) 1(N05) 3(N42~a)#? 1(N25)? 1(N29A~c) , X 2(N46) 4(N20) 1(N05)? 3(N42~a) 1(N25) , X BA#? 1(N46) 2(N20) 2(N05) [...] , SZE~a 1(N37)# 6(N20) 3(N05) 3(N42~a) 1(N25) , LAGAB~b GAR
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Uruk III (ca. 3200-3000 BC)) — MS 4561. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Schøyen Collection, Oslo, Norway (P006330) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-18/v5-modern-rendering).
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.