Position in chronology
OIP 014, 118
About this tablet
A small accounting note from the city of Adab in southern Iraq, written during the Old Akkadian period (roughly 2300 BCE), when Sargon's dynasty ruled Mesopotamia. It records the disbursement of five sila (about five liters) of pig fat: four to a messenger who was also the head fuller, half a sila to a smith for treating bronze, and half a sila for the king's weapons. The oil accountant Ur-dingira signs off, and two officials called 'commissioners' vouch for the entries. It shows animal fat being used as a workshop material — a lubricant or polish for metal — not just as food.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Four liters of lard went to the messenger, who is also the chief fuller. Half a liter was used on bronze by Ur-Ninazu the smith, with Dugani acting as the supervising official. Another half liter went for the king's weapons, handled by the treasury staff, with Lu-Ašgi supervising. That makes five liters of lard in all, booked as oil expended from Ur-dingira's account.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. 4 sila of [lard], 2. the messenger (našparum) used (it); 3. (he is) the chief fuller. 4. ½ sila — (for) bronze (it) was used; 5. Ur-Ninazu, the smith. 6. Dugani 7. (was) commissioner. 8. ½ sila — (for) the royal weapon(s), the uzga-personnel; 9. Lu-Ašgi (was) commissioner. 10. Total: 5 sila of lard. 11. Oil expended, (account of) Ur-dingir[a].
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
4(disz) sila3 i3-[szah2] na#-asz2-pa2-ru-um-e ab-ak azlag4-gal 1/2(disz) sila3 zabar ab-ak ur-nin-a-zu simug du11-ga-ni maszkim 1/2(disz) sila3 tukul lugal uz-ga-ne lu2-aszgi maszkim szunigin 5(disz) sila3 i3-szah2 i3 zi-ga ur-dingir#-[ra]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — OIP 014, 118. 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: Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA (P215974) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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