Position in chronology
OSP 2, 125
About this tablet
A small administrative receipt from Nippur in southern Iraq, written in the Sargonic (Old Akkadian) period, roughly 2300–2200 BCE. It records a few modest quantities of crushed garlic handed out to several individuals — a commissioner attached to the temple of Enlil, an official handling a legal case, and a cook of a private household — each disbursement countersigned by a responsible 'commissioner.' The garlic came out of the stock of a man named Lugal-nig-bedu. It is a glimpse of how even kitchen staples moved through the paperwork of a great temple city.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
One barig (about 60 liters) of crushed garlic went to Ur-saga, the commissioner of Enlil's temple. One ban (about 10 liters) went to Puzur-ḫalum. Two ban went to Ibkuku, the commissioner handling the lawsuit, drawn from the house, with Su-pium acting as the responsible official. One ban went to Namudab, the cook of Lugal-KA's household, with Ur-Erra as the responsible official. All of it was issued from the stores of Lugal-nig-bedu.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. 1 barig of crushed garlic: 2. Ur-saga, 3. commissioner (maškim) of the house of Enlil. 4. 1 ban: Puzur-ḫa<lu>m. 5. 2 ban: Ibkuku, 6. commissioner for the lawsuit, 7. from the house; 8. [Su]-pium (is) its commissioner. 9. 1 ban: Namudab, the cook, 10. (of) the house of Lugal-KA; 11. Ur-Erra 12. (is) its commissioner. 13. From Lugal-nig-bedu 14. it was withdrawn (expended).
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
1(barig@c) szum2 gaz ur-sa6-ga maszkim e2 en-lil2 1(ban2@c) puzur4-ha-<lu>-um 2(ban2@c) ib-ku-ku maszkim di-da e2-ta [su]-pi#-um maszkim-bi3 1(ban2@c) na-mu-dab muhaldim e2 lugal-KA ur-er9-ra maszkim-bi3 ki lugal-nig2-be-du10-ta al-zi
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — OSP 2, 125. 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 (P216279) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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