Position in chronology
OSP 2, 108
About this tablet
A small administrative tablet from Nippur in the Sargonic (Old Akkadian) period, around 2300 BCE. It records a large quantity of coriander — a lidga, the biggest capacity measure of the day — and then lists smaller portions issued to named individuals, including a cook called Ana and a man named Ur-Enlil who appears twice. It is a glimpse of how a temple or palace kitchen in Nippur kept track of its spices and foodstuffs, person by person.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
One lidga of coriander, delivered through Girini. From it: 3 barig and 3 ban to Ane-da; 4 ban to Ur-Enlil; 2 ban to Ana the cook; another 3 ban to Ur-Enlil. The next line is lost. Then: 1 barig to someone whose name is broken; a name beginning Ki-...; 2 ban to another person; 1 ban and 5 sila to another; 2 ban to yet another. The remaining entries are too damaged to read.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. 1 lidga of coriander (še-lú), 2. via Girini (giri₃-ni); 3. 3 barig 3 ban: Ane-da; 4. 4 ban: Ur-Enlil; 5. 2 ban: Ana, the cook; 6. 3 ban: Ur-Enlil; 7. [......] 8. 1 barig [......] 9. Ki?-[......] 10. 2 ban: ... [......] 11. 1 ban 5 sila [......] 12. 2 ban: [......] (rest not preserved in the edition)
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) sze-lu2 lid2-ga giri3-ni 3(barig) 3(ban2) a-ne-da 4(ban2@c) ur-en-lil2 2(ban2@c) a2-na muhaldim 3(ban2@c) ur-en-lil2 [...] 1(barig@c) [...] ki?-[...] 2(ban2@c) x [...] 1(ban2) 5(disz) sila3 [...] 2(ban2@c) [...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — OSP 2, 108. 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 (P216262) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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