Position in chronology
OAIC 10
About this tablet
A short Old Akkadian letter from Ešnunna (Tell Asmar, in the Diyala region of Iraq), written around 2300–2200 BCE. A man named Manunu writes to Ginunu about settling the balance owed on a purchase: he promises to weigh out the remaining silver and asks the addressee to come in person. The opening names — Idarak and Mašum 'the elder' — may be people involved in the deal, perhaps connected with a shepherding concern. It is a rare glimpse of private business correspondence from one of the earliest periods when Akkadian was written.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Idarak, the one responsible for the shepherds' affairs (if that is what the phrase means), and Mašum the elder — this is from Manunu, to Ginunu: As for the house where he had the goods delivered, I will pay you the balance of the purchase price in silver. Come over, and ... — the last word is not understood.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. Idarak, 2. šūm (= "that of"?) 3. the shepherdhood(?) (sipa!-tum), 4. Mašum, 5. the elder (abba): thus (says) 6. Manunu 7. to Ginunu: 8. in the house which(?) he had (it) brought, 9. for the rest of the purchase price 10. let me weigh out (silver) to you. 11. Come, and 12. ba-dam (meaning unclear).
Our translation engine — Fable 5.1. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
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Transliteration
i-da-ra-ak szu-um _sipa!(PA-KU)_-tum ma-szum# _abba2_ en-ma ma-nu-nu a-na gi-nu-nu in _e2_ szi usz-da-a-bi2-la a-na szi-tim _sa10_-me lu-usz-ku-ul-kum al-kam-ma ba-dam
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — OAIC 10. 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: Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, USA (P215882) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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