Position in chronology
NYPLC 348
About this tablet
This is a short work-gang tally from the Old Akkadian period, around 2300–2150 BCE. Its findspot is unknown, and it is now in the New York Public Library. It counts able-bodied male workers (guruš) supplied from several sources. The first group comes through a merchant, Lugal-kisal son of E-u'e, and a second group is apparently linked to the city of Adab. The account ends by naming the official who took charge of the whole crew of 61 men. Documents like this show how Akkadian-era administrators mustered labour and recorded who answered for it.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Lugal-kisal, son of E-u'e, the merchant, supplied 35 workmen, and 25 more came from Adab (if the place name is read correctly). A further entry, under a name ending in "-lugal", is partly broken, and its number is lost. All together the crew comes to 61 men. Lugal-sigar, the city's elder, took charge of them.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engineObverse/Reverse (no section markers in source): 1. Lugal-kisal(?), 2. son of E-u'e, 3. the merchant: 4. 35 workmen; 5. Adab(?): 6. 25 workmen; 7. [...]-x-lugal [... (workman/workmen)]; 8. Total: 61 workmen. 9. Lugal-sigar, 10. the elder (ad-da) of the city, took charge (of them).
Our translation engine — Opus 5.5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Spotted an error? Suggest a correction — confirmed corrections feed the engine's knowledge base.
Transliteration
lugal#-kisal? dumu e2-u6-e dam-gar3 3(u@c) 5(asz@c) gurusz adab? 2(u@c) 5(asz@c) gurusz [...]-x lugal szunigin 1(gesz2@c) 1(asz@c) gurusz lugal-si-gar ad-da iri i3-dab5
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC) ?) — NYPLC 348. 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: New York Public Library, New York, New York, USA (P342764) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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