Position in chronology
MAD 5, 024
About this tablet
A short receipt from Kish in the Old Akkadian period, around the 23rd century BCE. A man named Naḫšum-bala acknowledges that he received five gur of barley from Ilī-ištakal, measured by a specified standard and with a small adjustment. A clause about '11 sila each' may give a rate, possibly interest or an increment, so this could be a loan of grain. Although it is a routine document, it records an actual transaction between two named people, written in early Akkadian rather than Sumerian.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Naḫšum-bala received 5 gur of barley from Ilī-ištakal at Dugal. The grain was measured in standard 'large' gur, less 2 sila on the gur. A rate of 11 sila each is noted, apparently as an increase or interest charge, although the wording of that clause is unclear.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engineObverse/Reverse (single sequence as given): 1. 5 gur of barley, (by the) sag-gal₂ (measure), 2. by the gur UL, less 2 (sila); 3. of it (?), 11 sila each, 4. (is) the increase (?). 5. Naḫšum-bala 6. from Ilī-ištakal 7. received (it), 8. in Dugal.
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
5(asz@c) _sze gur sag-gal2_ in _gur UL la2_ 2(disz) sza-ti 1(u@c) 1(asz@c) _sila3-ta_ ra-ba-at na-ah-szum-bala_ isz#-te4# i3-li2-isz-ta2-kal2 im-hur in _du5-gal_
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — MAD 5, 024. 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: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK (P215350) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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