Position in chronology
ARET 03, 240
About this tablet
A fragment of an administrative textile account from the palace archives of Ebla in northern Syria, written around 2350 BCE. Palace clerks kept meticulous records of luxury goods — cloaks, sashes, fine garments, and a copper-and-gold bracelet — handed out to named individuals, including a man from the town of Arugadu and two women, Kešdut and Tarkabdulum. One delivery is destined 'for the mausoleum,' meaning the goods were issued on the occasion of a death, for funerary rites. Tablets like this reveal how the Ebla court used precious textiles as currency of favor, ceremony, and mourning.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a broken page from the palace ledger. One entry: for Nibarzu, on behalf of the man of Ilzi — one heavy cloak, one lightweight cloak, and two multicolored sashes. After a gap, another entry: garments, two more multicolored sashes, and a bracelet of copper and gold at a recorded weight, issued to Irbašu of the town of Arugadu. A further broken passage records goods sent 'to the mausoleum' — a funerary delivery: five fine zara-gowns and five rush bindings for the ladies Kešdut and Tarkabdulum. The final line is too damaged to read.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine(column i) The man of Ilzi: 1 'a-da-um cloak of double (quality), 1 'a-da-um cloak of single (quality), 2 multicolored ib-III sashes — (for) Nibarzu. [...] (Break) [...] garment(s), 2 multicolored ib-III sashes, 1 bracelet of copper (and) gold of ŠU2+ŠA-2 (weight) — (for) Irbašu of Arugadu. [...] (Break) to the mausoleum (É×PAP). 5 zara-garments, 5 bindings of rushes — (for) Kešdut (and) Tarkabdulum. ... [...] (remainder illegible)
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
_lu2_ il2-zi 1(asz@c) 'a3-da-um 2(disz@t) 1(asz@c) 'a3-da-um 1(disz@t) 2(asz@c@90) _|IB2+3(DISZ@t)| dar tug2_ NI-bar-zu2 [...] [...] TUG2 2(asz@c) _|IB2+3(DISZ@t)| dar tug2_ 1(asz@c) gu2-li-lum _a-gar5 ku3-sig17_ |SZU2+SZA|-2 ir3-ba-szu a-ru12-ga-du [...] si-in |E2xPAP| 5(asz@c) _zara6_ 5(asz@c) _nig2-la2_ |ZI&ZI| kesz2-du-ud tarx(BAN)-kab-du-lum x x [...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ebla (ca. 2350-2250 BC)) — ARET 03, 240. 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 (P242432) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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