Position in chronology
ARET 03, 053
About this tablet
A fragment of a textile-distribution record from the palace archives of Ebla in northwest Syria, written around 2350 BCE. The palace bureaucracy tracked outgoing gifts of garments — cloaks, tunics, and decorated belts — issued to rulers and high officials, here a 'king' (en) and a badalum, a title borne by senior officials in the cities of northern Syria. Such records, thousands of which survive from Ebla, map the diplomatic gift network that bound the courts of Early Bronze Age Syria together.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a page from the palace clothing ledger. After a damaged opening, it records that the king and the badalum-official of Ḫalsum were issued one gu-dùl cloak and one aktum tunic. Then, after a gap, another entry: a king received two double-weight 'à-da-um cloaks, two aktum tunics, and two fine multicolored belts — the standard three-piece garment set the Ebla palace handed out to dignitaries. The beginning and end of the tablet are lost.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine(Obverse, beginning broken) [...] ... (two illegible signs) the king (en) and the badalum-official of Ḫalsum: 1 gu-dùl cloak, 1 aktum-tunic. (Break) the king (en): 2 'à-da-um cloaks of double (quality), 2 aktum-tunics, 2 multicolored belts of fine quality. (Remainder broken)
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
[...] x x _en_ wa ba-da-lum hal-szum2 1(asz@c) _gu-dul3_ 1(asz@c) _aktum_ [...] _en_ 2(asz@c) 'a3-da-um 2(disz@t) 2(asz@c@90) _aktum_ 2(asz@c) _|IB2+3(disz@t)| dar sa6 tug2_ [...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ebla (ca. 2350-2250 BC)) — ARET 03, 053. 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 (P242238) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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