Position in chronology
OSP 2, 147
About this tablet
A small administrative tablet from Nippur in southern Iraq, dating to the Old Akkadian (Sargonic) period, roughly 2300 BCE. It records modest quantities of garlic or onions and other goods issued to or handled by named individuals — a cupbearer, a carpenter, a scribe — with 'commissioners' named as the officials responsible for each transaction. It is a glimpse of the everyday paperwork of a temple or palace storehouse, where even a few baskets of onions were written down and someone was held accountable for them.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Two measures of garlic (the next words are unclear) went to Ur-Inanna, with E-da acting as the responsible officer. Three measures of garlic were checked out (the rest of the line is broken). Two talents' worth went to Dudu the cupbearer, with Ur-ni, the carpenter who works copper, as responsible officer. Two measures were checked out for He-sasa. Namu-dab received three ban (about 30 liters), and Nita the scribe received two barig (about 120 liters).
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. 2 (gur) of garlic/onions ... ... 2. Ur-Inanna; 3. commissioner: E-da. 4. 3 (gur) of garlic/onions, measured (kab₂-ku₅) [...]; 5. 2 talents(?): Du-du, the cupbearer; 6. commissioner: Ur-ni(?), the carpenter (of) copper(?). 7. 2 (gur), measured (kab₂-ku₅): He-sa-sa. 8. 3 ban: Na-mu-dab. 9. 2 barig: Nita, the scribe.
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
2(asz@c) szum2 x x ur-inanna maszkim e2-da# 3(asz@c) szum2 kab2-ku5 [...] 2(asz@c) gu2 du-du sagi maszkim ur2-<ni> nagar uruda? 2(asz@c) kab2-ku5 he2-sa6-sa6 3(ban2@c) na-mu-dab 2(barig@c) nita dub-sar
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — OSP 2, 147. 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 (P216301) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5-1 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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