Position in chronology
Lippmann Coll 187
About this tablet
This is a small economic tablet from Adab (modern Bismaya) dating to the Akkadian period, roughly the 23rd century BCE. It records quantities of carded wool, measured in minas, allotted to five named women — likely workers or overseers in a textile-producing household or temple workshop, a very common form of institutional record-keeping in this era. The closing line notes that the wool 'was delivered,' marking the transaction as complete.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This tablet is a short wool-distribution record. Geme-Enlil received 17 minas of combed wool; Nin-nigzu received 11 and two-thirds minas; Nig-banda received 2 minas; Sebetum received 2 minas (the number is a little unclear); and Nin-amamu received 8 and a half minas. A closing note confirms that the wool shipment was delivered. It reads like a routine payroll or ration slip from a textile workshop, tracking exactly how much raw wool went out to each named worker.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine17 (minas) mug-wool: Geme-Enlil. 11 2/3 (minas): Nin-[nig]-zu. 2 (minas): Nig-banda. 2(?) (minas): Sebetum. 8 1/2 (minas): Nin-amamu. It was delivered.
Our translation engine — Sonnet 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
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Transliteration
2(u) la2 3(disz@t) siki mug# ma-na geme2-en-lil2 1(u) 1(disz) 2/3(asz@c) nin-[nig2]-zu 2(disz) nig2-banda3 2(disz)#? se-be2-tum# 8(disz) 1/2(disz) nin-ama-mu mu-de6-am3#
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — Lippmann Coll 187. 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: CL 135 (Carl L. Lippmann Collection, Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid, Spain) — from Adab (mod. Bismaya) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P472487). source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-5 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware).
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Related sources
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