Position in chronology
OSP 2, 079
About this tablet
A small roster from Nippur in southern Iraq, written under the kings of Akkad around 2300 BCE. A scribe lists twelve men by name, each counted as one, and notes that this work gang has been posted to a field belonging to the ensi, the city governor. It is a glimpse of how the state organised agricultural labour: ordinary workers with homely names like 'Fox' and 'Shadow' assigned to till the governor's land.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Here are the twelve men: En-lil-la, Lugal-DU, Gissu, Ka'a, Ug-il, Lu-UN-da, Iri-mu-du, Lugal-kigala, Zur-zur, Lugal-e'ana, Inimani and Ur-pisan — one each. That makes a crew of twelve šar-workers in all. They have been posted to the governor's field and are on duty there.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. 1 En-lil-la 2. 1 Lugal-DU 3. 1 Gissu 4. 1 Ka'a 5. 1 Ug-il 6. 1 Lu-UN-da 7. 1 Iri-mu-du 8. 1 Lugal-kigala 9. 1 Zur-zur 10. 1 Lugal-e'ana 11. 1 Inimani 12. 1 Ur-pisan 13. Total: 12 šar-men; 14. at the field of the governor 15. they are stationed.
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(asz@c) en-lil2-la2 1(asz@c) lugal-DU 1(asz@c) gissu 1(asz@c) ka5-a 1(asz@c) ug3-IL2 1(asz@c) lu2-UN-da 1(asz@c) iri-mu-du6 1(asz@c) lugal-ki-gal-la 1(asz@c) zur-zur 1(asz@c) lugal-e-a2-na 1(asz@c) inim-ma-ni 1(asz@c) ur-pisan szunigin 1(u@c) 2(asz@c) lu2 szar-ra-me GAN2 ensi2-ka an-su8-ge-esz2
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — OSP 2, 079. 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 (P216233) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
Related tablets
Related sources
An early example of administrative writing from Uruk. Its fragmentary numerical entries and commodity signs document record-keeping during the formative period of writing.
A surviving administrative record of named people and livestock in the Ur III period. Together with other archives, such accounts reveal the work of managing animals, deliveries and institutional responsibility.