Position in chronology
ARET 03, 211
About this tablet
A small clay tablet from the palace archives of Ebla in northern Syria, written around 2400 BCE. It records the handing over of goods: two men from the city of Kakmium make a delivery, two royal sons are listed, and further on a standard three-piece set of clothing — cloak, aktum-cloth and a coloured belt-garment — is issued to the badalum, the second-ranking official of the city of Abarsal. Abarsal is the state with which Ebla concluded one of the oldest known international treaties, so even this routine clothing issue is a trace of diplomacy between two Bronze Age kingdoms.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Delivery received from Dubi-zikir and Iti-Malik of Kakmium. Two individuals are listed, the sons of the ruler. (Several lines are lost here.) Then an issue of clothing: one ʾadaum-cloak, one aktum-cloth and one fine multicoloured belt-garment, given to the badalum — the deputy ruler — of Abarsal.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engineDubi-zikir (and) Iti-Malik of Kakmium — they have delivered (šu mu-tag₄). 2 persons ("heads"): the sons of the lord (en). [break] 1 ʾadaum-garment, 1 aktum-cloth, 1 belt-garment (IB+3) of fine multicoloured cloth — (for) the badalum of Abar[sal].
Our translation engine — Opus 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
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Transliteration
du-bi2-zi-kir i-ti-ma-lik kak-mi-um _szu mu-tag4_ 2(asz@c) _sag_ _dumu-nita_ _en_ [...] 1(asz@c) 'a3-da-um 1(asz@c@90) _aktum_ 1(asz@c) _|IB2+3(DISZ@t)| dar sa6 tug2_ ba-da#-lum# a-bar!-[sal4]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ebla (ca. 2350-2250 BC)) — ARET 03, 211. 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 (P242403) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-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.