Position in chronology
OIP 092, 0054
About this tablet
An administrative receipt from the Persepolis Fortification archive, written in Achaemenid Elamite by clerks of the Persian imperial economy around 505–502 BCE (years 17 and 20 of Darius I). It tracks foodstuffs moving into Persepolis itself: a man named Kurizza brings 49 measures of wheat from the storehouse town of Matezzikaš, and a much larger consignment of 730 measures of flour arrives in another year, apparently handled as some kind of exchange transaction. Tablets like this — tens of thousands survive — are our best window into how the Persian Empire actually fed and paid the people who built and ran its capital.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Delivery record: 49 measures of wheat, issued by Mangišna from the depot at Matezzikaš, were picked up by a man named Kurizza, who was handling the grain allocation; he received the wheat and hauled it to Persepolis. He obtained it as an exchange transaction, apparently from the seller, and the deal was entered to their account. Dated year 20. A second entry: 730 measures of flour were shipped to Persepolis; Upirradda handled it and received it, likewise as an exchange. Dated year 17. A final line — something about the apportioning, possibly at a place called Hatumasan — is too obscure to render with confidence.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine49 (BAR of) wheat, supplied by Man-gi-išna(?), from (the place) Matezzikaš: (a man) named Kurizza, apportioning the irše-grain(?), received (it) and carried (it) to Persepolis. He acquired(?) manuš tumara(?) as an exchange (manmakka) (from) the seller(?). That was done for their account(?). 20th year. 730 (BAR of) flour was carried to Persepolis. It was …-ed(?) (by) Upirradda(?), and he received (it) as an exchange (manmakka). 17th year. … apportioning(?) … at Hatumasan(?).
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
4(u@v) 9(disz@v) _sze-gig-mesz_ kur-min2 man#?-gi#?-isz#-na ma-te-iz-zi2-kasz#-ik-ka4#-mar ku-ri-iz-za hi-sze ir-sze-na sza2-ra-man-na du-sza2 ba-ir-sza2-an ku-iz-za ma-nu-isz tu#-ma-ra man-ma-ak-ka4 ul-li-ri-ri du-ma-isz hu-be ap-pi-ka4-na-sze hu-ud-da-na be-ul 2(u)-um-me-man-na _7(disz) me_ 3(u) _zi3-da-mesz_ ba-ir-sza2-isz ku-ut-ka4 u2-pir2-ra-ad-da a-ak man-ma-ak-ka4 du-ma-isz-da be-ul 1(u) 7(disz)-na u-man-na sza2-ra-ma ha-tu#?-ma-sa-an
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Achaemenid (547-331 BC)) — OIP 092, 0054. No scholarly translation has been published; 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, P382740). source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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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.