Position in chronology
OIP 092, 0048
About this tablet
An administrative receipt from the Persepolis Fortification Archive, the vast filing system of the Persian Empire's heartland under Darius I (around 500 BCE). Written in Elamite, it tracks a sizable consignment of wine — about 290 liters — from a named supplier through a receiving official and a carrier, earmarked 'for the king.' Thousands of such dockets survive, showing how the Achaemenid court provisioned itself with meticulous paperwork for every jar of wine and sack of grain moving through the Persepolis region.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Delivery slip: 30 marriš of wine (roughly 290 liters), drawn from the stock managed by Ušaya. Tiššantamma signed for it on receipt, and Parnumatiš transported it on to Ukbeyataš. The shipment is charged to the king's account — royal provisions. A final notation adds a name, apparently identifying the responsible agent as the mardam (servant or courier) of Nariyapik.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine30 marriš of wine, supplied by (kurmin) Ušaya. Tiššantamma received (it). Parnumatiš carried (it) to Ukbeyataš. (It is) on behalf of the king. (Second line:) mardam of Nariyapik.
Our translation engine — Fable 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
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Transliteration
3(u) ma-ri!-isz _gesztin-mesz_ kur-min2 u2-sza2-ia-na ti-isz-sza2-an-tam5-ma du-isz par2-nu!-ma-ti-isz ku-ti-isz uk-be-ia-tasz _eszszana_-na-ma mar-da-um na-ri-ia-pi-ik-na
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Achaemenid (547-331 BC)) — OIP 092, 0048. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: OIM L— (PFAP, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA) — from Pārśa (mod. Persepolis) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P382734). source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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