MS 2514

~3100 BCE·Uruk Period·P006082

About this tablet

One of the earliest written records in human history, this small lenticular clay tablet dates to the Uruk period (roughly 3300–3000 BCE), likely from the city of Umma in southern Iraq. It is an administrative account recording quantities of commodities — grain, beer, and goats — probably allocated to or overseen by a 'sanga', a senior temple official. The signs are proto-cuneiform, a pictographic precursor to the cuneiform script, and the text is only partially decipherable even by specialists. Tablets like this are the very origin of writing itself, invented not for literature or religion but for bookkeeping.

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

Written in modern English

This tablet records the distribution of several commodities, probably under the authority of a senior temple administrator. Two units of a commodity (possibly grain-related) are noted alongside some processed grain, then one unit of beer of a specific type, and two she-goats, all apparently assigned to the chief administrator. A large billy-goat also goes to the chief administrator. On the reverse, three units of a 'BAR' category — perhaps half-portions or distributed rations — together with grain, are recorded. Several signs remain too archaic to read with confidence, and the full meaning is only partly recoverable.

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

Translation — our engine

Our engine

Low confidence

Obverse: [Col. i] 2 [units] — ZATU694~c, DA~a DA~a [Col. ii] NI~a, grain (SZE~a@t), AN, DI, RAD~a [Col. i] 1 [unit] — beer (KASZ~c), |ZATU737xE~a|(?) [Col. ii] GAL~a, chief administrator (SANGA~a) [Col. i] 2 [units] — she-goats (UD5~a), DI, A [Col. i] 1 [unit] — large billy-goat (MASZ2 GAL~a), chief administrator (SANGA~a) GAL~a Reverse: 3 [units] — BAR, NI~a [damaged], grain (SZE~a@t), AN

Our translation engine — Sonnet 4.6. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.

Transliteration

2(N01) , ZATU694~c DA~a DA~a
, NI~a SZE~a@t AN DI RAD~a
1(N01) , KASZ~c |ZATU737xE~a|?
, GAL~a SANGA~a
2(N01) , UD5~a DI A
1(N01) , MASZ2 GAL~a SANGA~a GAL~a
3(N01) , BAR NI~a# SZE~a@t AN

Scholarly note

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Uruk III (ca. 3200-3000 BC)) — MS 2514. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).

Attribution

Image: Schøyen Collection, Oslo, Norway (P006082) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-18/v5-modern-rendering).

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Related sources

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