Position in chronology
ARET 03, 039
About this tablet
A fragment of an administrative account from the palace archives of Ebla in western Syria, written around 2350 BCE. It is an inventory of textiles — cloaks, tunics, gowns, sashes, and kilts — counted by the dozens and graded by quality, from 'top' to 'good' to 'ordinary.' Ebla's economy ran heavily on wool and cloth, and thousands of such tallies survive from its burned archive, showing how carefully the palace tracked its most valuable manufactured goods.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a stock list of clothing from the palace stores: at least 4 double cloaks and 93 aktum tunics; 31 fine gowns; 17 textiles of the NI&NI type; 49 heavy linen mantles; 39 lightweight cloths; 5 chest sashes and 9 headbands; 2 kilts in top-grade cloth, 1 in ordinary cloth, and 72 in good-quality cloth. The count continues with at least one more item, but the rest of the tablet is broken away.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine(obverse, column fragment) [n+]4 double ('a3-da-um) cloaks, 93 aktum-tunics, 31 zara6-gowns, 20 minus 3 (= 17) NI&NI-textiles, 50 minus 1 (= 49) gu-dul3 cloaks of 'a3-da type, of linen, 40 minus 1 (= 39) fine (SAL) textiles, 5 chest-bands, 10 minus 1 (= 9) head-bands, 2 kilts (with 2 tassels) of top-quality cloth, 1 kilt (with 1 tassel) of ordinary cloth, 72 kilts (with [n] tassels) of good quality [...], [n+]1 [...] (remainder broken)
Our translation engine — Fable 5. 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
[n] 4(asz@c) 'a3-da-um 2(disz@t) 1(gesz2@c) 3(u@c) 3(asz@c) _aktum_ 3(u@c) 1(asz@c) _zara6_ 2(u@c) _la2_ 3(disz@t) TUG2-|NI&NI| 5(u@c) _la2_ 1(disz@t) _gu-dul3_ 'a3-da _gada_ 4(u@c) _la2_ 1(disz@t) _SAL_ 5(asz@c) _nig2-la2 gaba_ 1(u@c) _la2_ 1(disz@t) _nig2-la2 sag_ 2(asz@c) _|IB2+2(DISZ@t)| tug2 sag_ 1(asz@c) _|IB2+1(DISZ@t)| tug2 u2_ 1(gesz2@c) 1(u@c) 2(asz@c) _|IB2+n(DISZ@t)|# sa6_ [x] [n] 1(asz@c) [...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ebla (ca. 2350-2250 BC)) — ARET 03, 039. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: National Museum of Syria, Idlib, Syria (P242223) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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