Position in chronology
ARET 03, 099
About this tablet
A fragment of an administrative textile account from the palace archives of Ebla in northern Syria, around 2350 BCE. It records sets of garments — cloaks, tunics, and multicolored kilts — issued to named individuals, one of them through an official agent as a reward for bringing news that Ibrium, the powerful vizier of Ebla, had erected stelae somewhere. Texts like this show how the Ebla court used fine clothing as a currency of diplomacy and information, paying messengers in textiles for delivering political news.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Ibazi-minu, the man from Ada, received a standard clothing set: one ʾadaum-cloak, one aktum-tunic, and one multicolored kilt. The transaction went through the agent NE-zi-malik, and the garments were given as a reward for the announcement that the vizier Ibrium had set up stelae at a place whose name is now broken away. After a gap, the record resumes: another tunic and a fine kilt went out, connected with Kura-gar-ru and A-PEŠ-danu, and the last preserved line counts thirteen ʾadaum-cloaks before the text breaks off.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engineIbazi-minu, the man of Ada: 1 ʾadaum-cloak (single quality), 1 aktum-tunic, 1 multicolored kilt — (through) the agent NE-zi-malik; (as) announcement-gift (for the news that) Ibrium erected stelae (at/of) [...]-DU. (Break) [...] [...] 1 aktum-tunic, 1 fine kilt [...], (for) Kura-gar-ru (and/of) A-PEŠ-danu. 13 ʾadaum-[cloaks ...]
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
i-ba-zi#-mi-nu _lu2_ a-da 1(asz@c) 'a3-da-um 1(disz@t) 1(asz@c@90) _aktum_ 1(asz@c) _|IB2+3(DISZ@t)| dar tug2_ _maszkim_ NE-zi-ma-lik _nig2-mulx(|AN&AN.AN&AN|)_ ib-ri2-um _na-ru2-na-ru2_ [x]-DU [...] [...] 1(asz@c@90) _aktum#_ 1(asz@c) _|IB2+n(DISZ@t)|# sa6_ [x x] ku-ra#-gar3-ru12 a-PESZ2-da-nu 1(u@c) 3(asz@c) 'a3[...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ebla (ca. 2350-2250 BC)) — ARET 03, 099. 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 (P242284) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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