Position in chronology
MCS 9, 276
About this tablet
A small administrative memorandum from Umma in southern Iraq, dating to the Old Akkadian (Sargonic) period, around 2300 BCE. It records three equal-sized plots of field, each one sar in area, with the amount of barley booked against each plot and the person responsible: an individual named Igi-zi-maḫ, an official called the sukkal-maḫ, and a man named Si-du. The closing lines identify the land as a 'tested' field in an irrigated arable district — likely a record of an inspection or sowing/yield check, the kind of routine field audit by which ancient estate managers kept track of their land and grain.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Three one-sar field plots are listed, each with its barley: 21 sila (2 ban 1 sila) charged to Igi-zi-maḫ; 12 sila (1 ban 2 sila) to the chief envoy (sukkal-maḫ); and 20 sila (2 ban) to Si-du. The land in question is a field that underwent the standard inspection procedure, lying in an irrigated arable tract; the name or further specification of the field is lost in the final broken line.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. 1 field (plot of one) sar, 2. its barley: 2 ban 1 sila — 3. Igi-zi-maḫ. 4. 1 field (plot of one) sar, 5. its barley: 1 ban 2 sila — 6. the sukkal-maḫ (chief envoy/minister). 7. 1 field (plot of one) sar, 8. its barley: 2 ban — 9. Si-du. 10. Field of the kab₂-du₁₁ (inspection/testing), 11. arable tract, field of [...].
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) a-sza3 sar sze-bi 2(ban2@c) 1(disz) sila3 igi-zi-mah 1(asz@c) a-sza3 sar sze-bi 1(ban2@c) 2(disz) sila3 sukkal-mah 1(asz@c) a-sza3 sar sze-bi 2(ban2@c) si-du3 a-sza3 kab2-du11#-ga# agar4 a-sza3 [...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — MCS 9, 276. 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 (P215539) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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