Position in chronology
MVN 03, 049
About this tablet
This is a short barley account from the Old Akkadian (Sargonic) period, about 2300–2200 BCE. Its findspot is unknown, and it is now in the Free Library of Philadelphia. It lists grain amounts against two named individuals, Niṣrum and Ilum-tabba, and dates each amount by year: one entry covers two years and another covers one. It is probably a record of grain owed or delivered over several years. The tablet shows how the Akkadian-era bookkeeping tracked people's grain obligations from year to year.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Niṣrum's account has two entries: 3 gur of barley for a two-year period and 28 gur of barley for a single year. Ilum-tabba's account has 2 gur of barley for two years and 26 gur of barley for one year. The tablet gives each man's barley year by year and adds no other comment.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. 3 gur of barley, 2. (for) 2 years; 3. 30 less 2 (= 28) gur of barley, 4. (for) 1 year: 5. Niṣrum. 6. 2 gur of barley, 7. (for) 2 years; 8. 26 gur of barley, 9. (for) 1 year: 10. Ilum-tabba.
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
3(asz@c) sze gur 2(disz@t) mu 3(u@c) la2 2(asz@c) sze gur 1(disz@t) mu ni-is,-ru-um 2(asz@c) sze gur 2(disz@t) mu 2(u) 6(asz@c) sze gur 1(disz@t) mu dingir-tab-ba
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — MVN 03, 049. 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: Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (P215703) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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