Position in chronology
OIP 014, 156
About this tablet
A small accounting tablet from the city of Adab (modern Bismaya in southern Iraq), dating to the Akkadian period, roughly 2300–2200 BCE. It records amounts of bronze — a valuable alloy of copper and tin — held by three named men, one of whom is identified by his father's name, and totals them at just under twelve minas (about six kilograms). The closing phrase marks the metal as 'returned to hand', meaning the quantities had been handed back or settled in the books. It is a glimpse of how precious metal was tracked between individuals and an institution in one of Mesopotamia's older cities.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a bronze ledger. Lugal-nig has 7 minas of bronze; Ur-nigar has 2 minas; Ur-mes, son of Ur-dingira, has 3 minas less 12 shekels. All together that comes to 12 minas less 12 shekels of bronze — about six kilograms. The bronze has been returned and the account is settled.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. 7 minas of bronze — 2. Lugal-nig; 3. 2 minas of bronze — 4. Ur-nigar; 5. 3 minas less 1[2 shekels] — 6. Ur-mes, 7. son of Ur-dingir[ra]. 8. Total: 12 minas less 12 shekels of bronze, 9. returned to hand (i.e., received back / accounted for).
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
7(asz@c) ma-na zabar lugal-nig2 2(asz@c) ma-na zabar ur-nigar 3(asz@c) ma-na la2 1(u@c) [2(disz) gin2] ur-mes dumu ur-dingir-[ra] szunigin 1(u) 2(asz@c) ma-na la2 1(u@c) 2(disz) gin2 zabar szu-a gi4-am3
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — OIP 014, 156. 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 (P216012) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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