Position in chronology
OIP 014, 163
About this tablet
A small field-survey and barley record from Adab in southern Iraq, dating to the Sargonic (Old Akkadian) period, roughly 2300 BCE. A surveyor notes the width and length of a plot, computes its area — the arithmetic actually checks out — and adds a second small parcel belonging to an official called Agargal. The land is marked as leased, and a named tenant, Ur-sag, appears with a quantity of barley tied to a 'measuring' or inspection, probably the assessed rent or yield. It is a glimpse of how land was surveyed, rented and taxed in one of the earliest territorial states.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
A plot measuring 15 by 70 rods: that works out to 1 eše and 4½ iku of field (about 3.8 hectares). Then another parcel of 2 iku less 20 sar, belonging to Agargal, the courier. This is rented land, in the hands of Ur-sag. Barley: 4 gur and 4 ban, counted as the barley from the field inspection, charged to Ur-sag.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. 15 (nindan) — the width, averaged(?); 2. 70 (nindan) — the length, averaged(?); 3. its area: 1 eše 4½(!) iku of field. 4. 2 iku of field less 20 sar — 5. (of) Agargal, the sukkal (courier/envoy): 6. rented field (apin-la₂), 7. Ur-sag. 8. 4 gur 4 ban of barley, 9. barley of the measuring/check (kab₂-du₁₁-ga): 10. Ur-sag.
Our translation engine — Fable 5.1. 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
1(u) 5(disz) sag hi 1(gesz2) 1(u) us2 hi GAN2-bi 1(esze3) 4(iku) 1/2(iku)! GAN2 2(iku) GAN2 la2 2(u)# sar agar4-gal sukkal apin-la2 ur-sag 4(asz) 4(ban2) sze gur sze kab2-du11-ga ur-sag
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — OIP 014, 163. 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 (P216019) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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