Position in chronology
MCS 9, 251
About this tablet
A short business letter-order from the Old Akkadian (Sargonic) period, found at Umma in southern Iraq. An estate's chief administrator writes to Mesag — a well-known governor and estate manager of the region under the kings of Akkad — instructing that a sizeable consignment of dairy goods (butter, ghee, and cheese) be handed over, apparently for delivery to the uzga, a cultic or provisioning establishment. It is a vivid piece of everyday administrative correspondence, showing how written orders moved foodstuffs between officials in one of the world's first territorial empires, around 2300–2200 BCE.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Memo from the chief household administrator to Mesag: please release eleven one-ban jugs of cow's butter, twenty two-ban jugs of ghee, and just over three gur of cheese. These go to Dada, and Iddi-Erra is to hand them over to the uzga establishment. Signed off by Enuri, the scribe. Logged as a delivery, dated in a year and month notation of which only 'seven months' survives clearly.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. Thus (says) 2. the chief household administrator of the house(hold) 3. to Mesag: 4. 11 jugs of 1 ban (each) of cow's butter, 5. 20 jugs of 2 ban (each) of ghee, 6. 3 gur 1 barig of cheese — 7. to Dada, 8. [which(?)] Iddi-Erra 9. [t]o(?) the uzga(-establishment) 10. shall give. 11. Enuri, 12. the scribe. 13. Delivery. 14. [n] year(s), 7 month(s).
Our translation engine — Fable 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
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Transliteration
en-ma _szabra# e2_ a-na me-sag2 _1(u@c) 1(asz@c) dug 1(ban2@c) i3-ab2_ 2(u@c) dug 2(ban2@c) _i3-nun_ _3(asz) 1(barig) ga-ar3 gur_ a-na da-da [szi?] i#-di3-er3-ra [a]-na#? uz-ga li#-di3-in en-uri3 _dub-sar-e_ _mu-kux(DU)_ [n] mu 7(disz@t) iti
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)) — MCS 9, 251. 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: World Museum Liverpool, Liverpool, UK (P215522) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-09-20/v8-evolved).
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