Position in chronology
OSP 2, 087
About this tablet
A small bookkeeping tablet from Nippur in the Sargonic (Old Akkadian) period, roughly 2300–2200 BCE, found in the University of Pennsylvania's excavations. It records quantities of garlic (or onions) counted in strings or bundles and then measured by capacity, with the result assigned to named individuals — E-pa'e, Lugal-..., Uri and Ur-pisan. It is a glimpse of how the temple or palace administration at Nippur verified and distributed a humble but valuable crop, converting a count of bundles into a standard volume measure.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Two hundred forty strings of garlic were checked; measured out, they came to 1 ban and 1 sila (about 11 liters) each. These are booked under E-pa'e. Next come 191 of something whose label is broken; then 120 for Lugal-(name lost), measured at 1 ban and some sila; then 66 more, also measured at 1 ban and a lost number of sila. Uri's share is 180 strings, measuring 2 ban, and Ur-pisan's is 240 strings, measuring 1 ban. Several entries are damaged, so the names and some figures are incomplete.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. 4(geš₂) = 240 (strings of) garlic, checked (kab₂-ku₅); 2. its garlic (yield): 1 ban₂ 1 sila₃ each. 3. E₂-pa-e₃. 4. 3(geš₂) 1(u) 1 = 191 [...] 5. 2(geš₂) = 120 (for) Lugal-[...]: 1 ban₂ [...] sila₃. 6. 1(geš₂) 6 = 66 [...]: 1 ban₂ [...] sila₃. 7. 3(geš₂) = 180 (for) Uri: 2 ban₂. 8. 4(geš₂) = 240 (for) Ur-pisan: 1 ban₂.
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
4(gesz2@c) szum2 kab2-ku5 szum2-bi 1(ban2@c) 1(disz) sila3-ta e2-pa-e3 3(gesz2@c) 1(u@c) 1(disz) [...] 2(gesz2@c) lugal#-[...] 1(ban2) [...] sila3 1(gesz2@c) 6(asz@c) [...] 1(ban2@c) [...] sila3# 3(gesz2@c) uri 2(ban2@c) 4(gesz2@c) ur-pisan 1(ban2@c)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — OSP 2, 087. 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 (P216241) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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