Position in chronology
OSP 2, 020
About this tablet
A small Old Akkadian administrative receipt from Nippur, written around 2300–2200 BCE, recording quantities of gold issued for the manufacture or decoration of a figurine. The gold is earmarked for specific body parts of a 'laḫmu' — a hairy, protective mythological hero often shown guarding doorways — namely its arm, left thigh and face. The tablet closes with the standard accounting formula that the metal was delivered and received by a named individual, probably a goldsmith or temple official, giving a rare glimpse of the raw-material side of ancient cult image production.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a receipt for gold. The opening amounts are broken, but we can read '[so many] shekels of gold' and a further '[so many] shekels'. The gold is to go toward one arm and one left thigh, and toward the face of a small laḫmu figure (a protective hero-figurine). The recipient is Adda-ki. The gold was delivered, and he received it.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. [...] shekels of gold 2. [...] 3. [...] shekels 4. [1] arm and 1 [left] thigh, 5. for 1 face of a small(?) laḫmu(-figure): 6. Adda-ki 7. delivery; 8. he received.
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
[...] _gin2 ku3-sig17_ [...] [...] _gin2_ [1(asz@c)] _a2 u3 1(asz@c) ur2 [gab2_] [a]-na# 1(asz@c) pa2-ni la-ah-[me] _tur#?_ ad-da-ki _mu#-kux(DU)_ im-hur
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — OSP 2, 020. 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: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (P216171) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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