Position in chronology
ARET 03, 191
About this tablet
A fragment of an administrative textile account from the palace archives of Ebla in Syria, around 2350 BCE. It records the issue of standard clothing sets — a cloak-like aktum garment plus a multicoloured kilt — to visiting dignitaries and their staff: the badalum (a high official, roughly a vizier) of the city of Iridum, a man named Iram-malik from Amidu, someone connected with the city of Ursaum, and a courier. Such handouts of garments were the diplomatic currency of the Ebla court, and thousands of tablets like this document its network of contacts across northern Syria.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a clothing-disbursement record. The vizier-like official (badalum) of the city of Iridum received one aktum garment and one multicoloured kilt; the rest of his entry is broken. Iram-malik, an agent from Amidu, received the same set — one aktum garment and one multicoloured kilt. Then comes an entry for Ursaum: one fine textile and one multicoloured kilt, issued to his courier. The tablet breaks off after that, so any further recipients are lost.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engineThe badalum-official of Iridum: 1 aktum-textile, 1 multicoloured kilt (íb+III-túg) [...] Iram-malik, the man of Amidu: 1 aktum-textile, 1 multicoloured kilt [...] (For) Ursaum: 1 fine textile, 1 multicoloured kilt [...] (for) his courier (mazalum) [... rest 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
ba-da-lum ir-i-dum 1(asz@c) _aktum_ 1(asz@c) _|IB2+3(DISZ@t)|# dar tug2_ [...] ir3-am6-ma-lik _lu2_ a-mi-du 1(asz@c) _aktum_ 1(asz@c) _|IB2+3(DISZ@t)| dar tug2_ [...] ur-sa2-um 1(asz@c) SAL[] 1(asz@c@90) _|IB2+n(DISZ@t)|# [x] dar_ ma#-za#-[lum]-su3# [...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ebla (ca. 2350-2250 BC)) — ARET 03, 191. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: National Museum of Syria, Idlib, Syria (P242384) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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