Position in chronology
MCS 9, 260
About this tablet
An inventory from the Old Akkadian (Sargonic) period, around 2300 BCE, now in the World Museum Liverpool. It lists luxury goods — a silver ring weighing a full mina, silver-trimmed and fine garments, a chariot, a mule-like equid with its neck-cloths and blinkers, perfumed oil and sandals — recorded as the 'gift' of a man named Bēlī-galzu, associated with one Dudu. Such lists show how elite wealth circulated: not as coined money but as weighed silver, textiles and transport animals, carefully tallied by a scribe.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a packing list of valuables presented as a gift by Bēlī-galzu, the man of Dudu. It itemizes: one silver ring weighing a mina (about half a kilogram); one garment with silver, the silver also weighing a mina; one našparum robe and two bala robes; a chariot and a kunga equid (a prized donkey-hybrid), complete with four neck-cloths and four sets of blinkers for the team; a flask of fine scented oil; and a pair of sandals. Two further entries add a pair of sandals for a person whose name is partly broken ([...]-abni) and one garment for a soldier.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. 1 silver ḫar-ring of ḫulla(-type), (weighing) 1 mina, 2. 1 gú-lagab garment (with) sil[ver], 3. its weight: 1 mina, 4. 1 našpa[r]um-garment, 5. 2 bala-garments, 6. 1 chariot, 7. 1 kunga-equid, 8. 4 donkey neck-cloths, 9. 4 blinkers, 10. 1 šakkan-flask of fine oil, 11. 1 (pair of) sandals, é-ba(-type), 12. gift of Bē[lī]-galzu, 13. the man of Dudu. 14. 1(?) [...]-abni: 1 (pair of) sandals, 15. 1 garment (for) the soldier (aga-ús).
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) ma-na har hul3#-[la] ku3#-babbar# 1(asz@c) tug2 gu2-LAGAB# ku3#-[babbar] ki-la2-bi 1(asz@c) ma-na 1(asz@c) tug2 na-asz2-pa2#-[ru]-um 2(asz@c) tug2# bala 1(asz@c) gigir2# 1(asz@c) kunga2# 4(asz@c) tug2 gu2-ansze 4(asz@c) igi-tab 1(asz@c) szakkan i3-du10-ga 1(asz@c) esir5 e2-ba nig2#-ba# be#-[li2]-gal-zu lu2 du-du 1(disz)#? x-ab-ni 1(disz) esir5 1(disz@t) tug2 aga3-us2
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — MCS 9, 260. 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: World Museum Liverpool, Liverpool, UK (P215531) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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