BuB 2, 17

About this tablet

This is a short personnel list from Umma in southern Iraq, written in the Sargonic period (about 2300–2150 BCE), when the kings of Akkad ruled Sumer. It names men by their fathers and groups them under their foremen, with a higher-ranking officer, Nig-ul, in charge of both groups. Records like this let the provincial administration track who owed labour or military service and who answered for them. The tablet is now in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

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

Written in modern English

One man, Ur-emega son of Abba-saga, and E-gissu son of Amar-su, both serve in the team of the foreman Lugal-nig. One man, Lugal-gigire son of Ur-ildu, serves in the team of the foreman Gal-ug. Both teams are under the captain Nig-ul.

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

Translation — our engine

Our engine

Medium confidence

1. 1 (man): Ur-emega, 2. son of Abba-saga; 3. E-gissu, 4. son of Amar-su; 5. foreman: Lugal-nig. 6. 1 (man): Lugal-gigire, 7. son of Ur-ildu; 8. foreman: Gal-ug. 9. Captain: Nig-ul.

Indicative reading — translated without a photograph. Generated from the transliteration alone, without examining the original. Read it as an accessible first taste, not as a verified catalogue entry.

Our translation engine — Opus 5.5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.

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Transliteration

1(asz@c)#? ur-eme2-ga#
dumu ab-ba-sa6-ga
e2-gissu
dumu amar-su4
ugula lugal-nig2
1(asz@c) lugal-gigir-e
dumu ur-ildux(NAGAR)
ugula gal:ug3
nu-banda3 nig2-ul

Scholarly note

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — BuB 2, 17. 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: State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation (P214943) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).

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Related sources

~3200 BCE

Proto-Cuneiform Account Tablet (VAT 15211)

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A surviving administrative record of named people and livestock in the Ur III period. Together with other archives, such accounts reveal the work of managing animals, deliveries and institutional responsibility.

~3300 BCE

AoF 30, 238,1