Position in chronology
MVN 03, 114
About this tablet
This is a small expenditure note from Girsu in southern Iraq, written in the Old Akkadian period (c. 2300–2150 BCE). It records beer handed out in large jars to three men, each identified as the dependant or agent of a more important person: Beli-ursag, Ur-nim and Lugal-ezem. The tablet ends with the word for 'expended' and a personal name, probably the official responsible for the issue. Notes like this show how a provincial household tracked even modest outlays of beer to named people.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Beer issued: two large jars for Beli-ursag's man, one large jar for Ur-sa, who works for Ur-nim, and one large jar for Lugal-ezem's man. The total is recorded as one ordinary jar plus one large jar of beer. All of it is booked as spent, under the name of Utu-lu.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine2 gur4-gur4 (jars) of beer: (for) the man of Beli-ursag. 1 gur4-gur4 (jar) of beer: (for) Ur-sa, the man of Ur-nim. 1 gur4-gur4 (jar) of beer: (for) the man of Lugal-ezem. Total: 1 jar (dug) (and) 1 gur4-gur4 (jar) of beer, expended. Utu-lu.
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
2(asz@c) kasz gur4-gur4 lu2 be-li2-ur-sag 1(asz@c) kasz gur4-gur4 ur-sa6 lu2 ur-nim 1(asz@c) kasz gur4!-gur4 lu2 lugal-ezem szunigin 1(asz@c) dug 1(asz@c) kasz gur4-gur4 zi-ga utu-lu2
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — MVN 03, 114. 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 (P215761) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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