Position in chronology
MVN 03, 079
About this tablet
A short administrative note from Ešnunna (Tell Asmar, east of Baghdad) in the Sargonic period, about 2300 BCE. It lists copper sickles assigned to three men, Laya, Ilu-ilum and Ṭāb-aḫī, six sickles in all. The last line says these are 'not received', so the note may record tools that were owed or still outstanding. Copper farm tools were valuable state property, and records like this tracked who held them.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Copper sickles: Laya, 2; Ilu-ilum, 3; Ṭāb-aḫī, 1. The next phrase ('ki-bi ir-da-ba-an') is obscure. It may refer to replacing the sickles, or it may be another name. The note ends by saying these sickles have not been received.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engineObverse/Reverse (sections not marked in the source): 1. Laya: 2. 2 copper sickles; 3. Ilu-ilum (written I-lu₅-DINGIR): 4. 3 copper sickles; 5. Ṭāb-aḫī: 6. 1 copper sickle. 7. ki-bi ir-da-ba-an (meaning uncertain; perhaps 'their place/replacement' plus a verb or personal name Irdaban); 8. not received (lā maḫirūtum).
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
_la-ia3_ 2(asz@c) _gur10 uruda _ i-lu5-dingir 3(asz@c) _gur10 uruda _ du10-a-hi 1(asz@c) _gur10 uruda _ ki-bi ir-da-ba-an la ma-hi-ru-tum
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — MVN 03, 079. 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 (P215731) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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