Position in chronology
OIP 014, 119
About this tablet
A small accounting tablet from Adab (modern Bismaya in southern Iraq) in the Old Akkadian period, around 2300 BCE, recording disbursements of lard — pig fat used as a cooking fat and, above all, as a body ointment. The entries name the officials who received or supervised each portion: managers of an expedition, a barley commissioner, an envoy, an oil-presser. Most striking is the allotment of three liters of fat for the 'booty of Elam', that is, captives brought back from Elam (southwestern Iran) who used it to rub their bodies — a rare glimpse of war prisoners being provisioned by a city administration under the Sargonic kings.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Three jars of lard went to the household managers of the expedition; the scribe Si-du handled it. Three liters of lard were issued to the Elamite captives, who rubbed themselves with it; the house manager acted as supervising official. Two-thirds of a liter went to Lugal-iri, the barley commissioner. Another two-thirds of a liter went to Meme, with a certain [...]-al, the envoy, supervising. One jar went to Ur-Enlila, the oil-presser. In total: four jars and four and a third liters of lard, booked as oil expended. This is the account of Ur-dingira.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. 3 jars of lard — 2. (for) the household managers of the expedition; 3. Si-du, the scribe (was responsible). 4. 3 sila (of lard) — the (captive) booty of Elam 5. anointed (themselves) with it; 6. the manager of the house (was) commissioner. 7. 2/3 (sila) — Lugal-iri, the commissioner of barley. 8. [2/3 (sila)] — Meme; 9. [...]-al, the envoy, 10. (was) commissioner. 11. 1 (jar) — Ur-Enlila, the oil-presser. 12. Total: 4 jars (and) 4 1/3 sila of lard, 13. oil expended; 14. it is (the account) of Ur-dingira.
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
3(asz@c) dug i3-szah2 szabra kaskal-me si-du3 dub-sar 3(disz) sila3 nam-ra-ak elam-ke4 ib2-sze szabra e2 maszkim 2/3(disz) lugal#-iri maszkim sze [2/3(disz)] me-me [...]-al sukkal maszkim 1(asz@c) ur-en-lil2-la2 i3-ra2#?-ra2#? szunigin 4(asz@c) dug 4(disz) sila3 1/3(disz) i3-szah2 i3 zi-ga ur-dingir-ra-kam
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — OIP 014, 119. 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 (P215975) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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