Position in chronology
ATU 7, pl. 018, W 19416,a
About this tablet
This is a very early administrative accounting tablet from Uruk (modern Warka, southern Iraq), dating to the late fourth millennium BCE — among the oldest written records in human history. Both sides record quantities of goods using the archaic numerical notation typical of the Uruk period, listing commodities that likely include textiles or wool, fruit (possibly apples or a similar product), measured fields or enclosures, and plant or grain products. The sign ZATU735~b is an as-yet incompletely deciphered logogram, making the exact nature of the primary commodity uncertain. Tablets like this were produced by temple administrators managing the redistribution of goods in one of the world's first urban bureaucracies.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Translation · reference
Low confidence2 [units] of MA, ZATU735~b (commodity/vessel type) 2 [units] of GU, fine wool(?), apple(s)/fruit 2 [small units] of DIN, |GAN~c × LAGAB~b| (field/enclosure sign) 2 [small units] of |GAN~c × X| 1 [unit] of GAN~b (field?) [...] GI, |SAR~a × ŠE~a|, DA~a (reed, grain-measure/garden, alongside) [...] of DIN 7 [small units] of MA 2 [large units] of apple(s)/fruit 2 [units] of MA, ZATU735~b |SAR~a × ŠE~a|, A [...]
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-12/v4-interpretation)
Translation · AI engine
read from photo2 [units] of MA, ZATU735~b (commodity/vessel type) 2 [units] of GU, fine wool(?), apple(s)/fruit 2 [small units] of DIN, |GAN~c × LAGAB~b| (field/enclosure sign) 2 [small units] of |GAN~c × X| 1 [unit] of GAN~b (field?) [...] GI, |SAR~a × ŠE~a|, DA~a (reed, grain-measure/garden, alongside) [...] of DIN 7 [small units] of MA 2 [large units] of apple(s)/fruit 2 [units] of MA, ZATU735~b |SAR~a × ŠE~a|, A [...]
8 uncertain terms ↓
- ZATU735~b — An archaic Uruk-period sign not yet fully deciphered; its commodity referent is unknown. 'ZATU' = sign list of archaic Uruk texts (Englund & Grégoire).
- SIG2~b — Conventionally read as 'wool' or a wool-related product in Uruk-period contexts, but the precise reading is debated for the earliest period.
- HASZHUR — Generally interpreted as 'apple' or a similar orchard fruit; the exact species is uncertain.
- DIN — Commodity sign of uncertain referent in archaic Uruk texts; possibly a liquid (beer/oil) or processed product.
- |GAN~c × LAGAB~b| — Composite sign; GAN is associated with fields/land measurement in later texts, but the archaic value and referent here are not securely established.
- |SAR~a × ŠE~a| — Composite sign; SAR can mean 'garden' or be a measure; ŠE means 'barley/grain'. The combination may denote a grain-garden or measured grain plot, but is not fully resolved.
- MA — Commodity or vessel logogram; referent uncertain in the archaic corpus — possibly a boat (later Sumerian má) or a container type.
- N14, N01, N34 — Archaic numerical notation signs: N14 is a large impressed circle (value debated, often ~10 in some systems); N01 is a small impressed circle (~1); N34 is a large impressed circle with internal mark (~60 in some systems). Their exact values depend on the commodity counted (metrological context).
Reasoning ↓
The photograph shows two faces of a roughly trapezoidal clay tablet catalogued as W 19416,a from Uruk. The upper image (obverse or reverse) is heavily weathered with a prominent crack running vertically; individual wedge impressions are discernible at the top — I can make out what appear to be large impressed circles/numerals on the left edge consistent with N14 or N01 notations, and angular sign groups to the right, though surface erosion makes precise sign-by-sign confirmation difficult. The lower image is better preserved: the left column clearly shows a column of large circular impressions (likely N14 or N01 numerals — I count approximately 4–5 distinct circles), and the right columns show more complex sign groupings including what appears to be a large composite sign consistent with |SAR׊E| or similar. The museum number 'W 19416,a' is visible handwritten on the upper photo. The overall layout — numeric notation in left column, commodity signs in right column — is entirely consistent with the scholar-provided transliteration for a Uruk-period archaic administrative tablet. The sign ZATU735~b cannot be positively identified from the photograph at this resolution. Several lines in the transliteration carry damage markers (#) and lacunae ([...]) that correspond to visibly eroded or broken areas in the photo, confirming the state of preservation described.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 12, 2026 · 3258 in / 1241 out tokens
Why it matters
Transliteration
2(N14) , MA ZATU735~b 2(N14) , GU SIG2~b HASZHUR 2(N01) , DIN |GAN~cxLAGAB~b| 2(N01) , |GAN~cxX| 1(N14)# , GAN~b , [...] GI |SAR~axSZE~a| DA~a [...] , DIN 7(N01)# , MA 2(N34) , HASZHUR 2(N14) , MA# ZATU735~b , |SAR~axSZE~a|# A# [...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Uruk IV (ca. 3350-3200 BC)) — ATU 7, pl. 018, W 19416,a. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: German Archaeological Institute, Berlin, Germany (on loan, University of Heidelberg); Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (cast) (P003182) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-12/v4-interpretation).
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.
Marks the boundary between proto-writing and writing. We can see signs being used systematically — but not yet phonetically. The leap to recording speech itself comes a few centuries later.
The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.