Position in chronology
ARET 03, 165
About this tablet
A fragment of an administrative record from the palace archives of Ebla in Syria, around 2350 BCE — one of thousands of tablets tracking the distribution of textiles, the kingdom's signature export and diplomatic currency. This piece records cloaks, wraps, and colourful kilts issued to a named individual, Ir'am-malik of the town of Arḫadu, and to the official (a 'commissioner') accompanying him. Such garment disbursements were how the Ebla court paid, rewarded, and honoured envoys and functionaries across northern Syria.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
The surviving portion reads like a clothing-issue ledger. One fine multicoloured kilt goes to Ir'am-malik, a man from the town of Arḫadu. His accompanying official — his commissioner — receives a larger set: two 'a-da-um cloaks of the standard first type, two aktum wraps, and two multicoloured triple-band kilts. The beginning and end of the record are broken away, so we don't know the occasion for the handout or who else was on the list.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine(Break) [...] 1 fine, multicoloured kilt (íb+n-textile) — (for) Ir'am-malik (of) Arḫadu. 2 'a-da-um cloaks of type 1, 2 aktum-textiles, 2 multicoloured triple kilts — (for) his commissioner. (Break)
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
[...] 1(asz@c) _|IB2+n(DISZ@t)|# sa6 dar_ ir3-am6-ma-lik ar-ha-du 2(asz@c) 'a3-da-um 1(disz@t) 2(asz@c@90) _aktum_ 2(asz@c) _|IB2+3(DISZ@t)| dar tug2_ _maszkim_-su3 [...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ebla (ca. 2350-2250 BC)) — ARET 03, 165. 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 (P242357) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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