Position in chronology
ARET 03, 131
About this tablet
A fragment of an administrative record from the palace archives of Ebla in Syria, around 2350 BCE — part of the huge cache of everyday accounts kept by the city's scribes. It notes garments issued in connection with two men, Zikir-raku and Guriš, who were 'struck down' (likely killed or wounded) in the city of Armi, and records a delivery of cloaks, coarse cloth, fine garments and multicoloured sashes to a man named Raʾizu, with the king himself receiving something now lost in the break. Such textile disbursements were Ebla's standard way of marking events — journeys, deaths, diplomatic contacts — so even this scrap preserves a flash of news from a violent episode at Armi.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a torn page from Ebla's palace ledger. It opens with two names, Zikir-raku and Guriš, noting that they were struck down in the city of Armi; whatever followed is lost in a break. When the text resumes, the king has received something, and then comes a clothing issue: one ʾadaum cloak, one length of coarse gu-mug cloth, three fine garments, and three multicoloured sashes, handed over to a man called Raʾizu. 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) Zikir-raku (and) Guriš, who were struck down in Armi. [... Break ...] The lord (the king) received (it). 1 ʾadaum-cloak, 1 gu-mug (coarse) cloth, 3 fine (garments), 3 multicoloured ib-sashes: (for) Raʾizu. [... rest 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
zi-kir-ra-ku gu2-ri2-isz _szu ra_ in ar-mi [...] _en_ _szu ba4-ti_ 1(asz@c) 'a3-da-um 1(disz@t) 1(asz@c@90) _gu-mug 1(disz@t)_ 3(asz@c) _SAL_ 3(asz@c@90) _|IB2+3(DISZ@t)| dar tug2_ ra-i3-zu2 [...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ebla (ca. 2350-2250 BC)) — ARET 03, 131. 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 (P242319) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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A window into the world's first total state. The Ur III administration tracked every animal, every worker, every shekel — for a population in the millions. The level of paperwork was not exceeded until the modern era.