Position in chronology
MAD 5, 034
About this tablet
A small administrative roster from the Old Akkadian (Sargonic) period, excavated at Kish in central Iraq. A scribe lists workmen one by one, each identified by his father's name, notes that they are (or served) 'in Agade' — the famous capital of the Akkadian empire whose site has never been found — and totals them at fourteen men under an overseer named Aruru. Such personnel lists are the everyday bookkeeping behind the world's first territorial empire, and the explicit mention of Agade gives it added interest.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
A head-count of laborers: one man named Bubu, son of Ininnu; one named Puzur-Eštar, son of Ilum-azu; one named Kurub-ilak, whose father's name is partly lost, listed alongside a son of Ilum-muda. The surviving entries account for only a few of the men — the rest of the list is damaged — but the bottom line is clear: fourteen workmen in all, stationed in Agade, working under a foreman called Aruru.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1 Bubu, son of Inin[nu?]; 1 Puzur-Eštar, son of Ilum-azu; 1 Kurub-ilak, son of [...], son of Ilum-mu[da]; in Agade. Total: 14 [workmen], overseer: Aru[ru].
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
1(asz@c) bu3-bu3 _dumu_ i-nin-[nu?] 1(asz@c) puzur4-esz18-dar# _dumu_ dingir-a-zu# 1(asz@c) ku-ru-ub-i3-<la>-ak# _dumu_ [...] _dumu_ dingir-mu-[da] in a-ga-de3[] _szu-nigin2_ 1(u@c) 4(asz@c) [_gurusz_] _ugula_ a-ru-[ru]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — MAD 5, 034. 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 (P215359) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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