Sumerian·Book

Position in chronology

DP 270

~2400 BCE·Early Dynastic·P220920

About this tablet

This is a small clay administrative tablet from Girsu (ancient Tello) in southern Iraq, dating to the Early Dynastic period, roughly the mid-third millennium BCE — among the very oldest surviving bureaucratic paperwork. It records a disbursement of oil, in two grades, handled through an official called En-shu-gigi and overseen by the well-known manager (nu-banda3) Eniggal, whose name appears in dozens of contemporary Lagash texts. The oil is designated for the 'women's household' (é-mí), the great institutional estate at Girsu run under the patronage of the goddess Nanshe and administered in practice by the ruler's wife — one of the best-documented economic institutions of early Sumer.

Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.

Written in modern English

This tablet is a receipt or delivery note: 5 jars of top-grade oil and 10 jars of ordinary cow's oil were handed over to an official named Enshugigi, passing through the hands of the ka-shagan officer, as pressed oil sent out for delivery. The transaction was overseen by Eniggal, the manager, and dated to the month called 'barley carried for the sheep.' The goods belonged to Nanshe's women's household and were poured out (i.e., issued) for it — total: 3 (units, likely referring to a count of jars, entries, or a sealing notation).

A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.

Translation — our engine

Our engine
Medium confidence
5 jars of prime-quality oil (i3-nun), 10 jars of cow's oil (i3-ab2) — (for) Enshugigi, to the ka-šagan (official) — pressed oil (i3-ir-a), for delivery (ra2-de3). Eniggal, the manager (nu-banda3): month: "barley carried for the sheep" (iti udu-še3 še a il2-la). Of Nanše's women's household (e2-munus-a), poured out for her (i3-na-de2): 3.

Our translation engine — Sonnet 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.

Engine notes

read from photo
9 uncertain terms
  • i3 nunLiterally 'prince/noble oil,' conventionally translated 'finest oil' or 'clarified/pure oil' (ghee-like product). The precise distinction from i3 ab2 is debated — nun may indicate quality grade rather than source animal.
  • i3 ab2Oil derived from cows (ab2 = cow); possibly butter-fat or ghee of bovine origin, as opposed to the finer nun-grade oil. The exact processing difference is unclear.
  • en-szu-gi4-gi4Personal name; literally something like 'Lord who returns the hand(?)' — the ŠU element may be 'hand/receive' and gi4-gi4 'to return repeatedly.' Standard Girsu personal name; no ambiguity about it being a name, but etymology is uncertain.
  • ka-szagan-raCould be a personal name 'Kašagan' in the dative, or a toponym/institutional designation ('mouth of the šagan'). Most editors treat it as a personal name in this administrative context.
  • i3-ir-a ra2-de3Difficult verbal phrase; possibly 'to carry/bring the oil for anointing/pressing.' The compound ir-ra / ra2-de3 is debated: could relate to the process of oil extraction or transport. Some read it as a locative-terminative construction.
  • iti udu-sze3 sze a il2-laMonth name: 'the month of (bringing) sheep for barley, barley being lifted/carried.' An Early Dynastic Girsu calendar month; the exact agricultural activity it commemorates is interpreted but not entirely certain.
  • e2-munus-aLiterally 'house of the woman/women'; an institutional building within the Nanše temple complex. Whether it denotes a harem, a weaving house, or a female personnel dormitory is debated in the literature.
  • i3-na-de2Verbal form: 'it was poured out (into/for them).' de2 = to pour; na = 3rd person singular patient marker in the verbal chain. Standard disbursement verb in oil accounts.
  • 3(|ASZxDISZ@t|)A complex composed sign, a variant numeral or vessel-count notation. The exact reading of the composed sign |ASZxDISZ@t| and what it counts here (vessels? additional jars?) cannot be fully verified from the photograph at this resolution.
Reasoning ↓

The photograph shows a small, well-rounded Early Dynastic lenticular tablet (AO 13478, Louvre) displayed in a multi-face layout: obverse (main inscribed face with ruled columns), edges (left edge bears the modern museum ink number 'AO 13478'), and reverse (largely blank/smoothed, with faint ruling lines visible). The obverse is divided into two columns by a vertical line and several horizontal rulings, giving approximately 5–6 rows. The clay surface is in reasonably good condition — wedges are legible though slightly worn; no major breakage or lacunae are apparent on the obverse. Visually I can confirm signs consistent with DUG (jar determinative), numerals (groups of diagonal wedges), and what appear to be personal name elements in the middle rows; the lower rows show more complex sign clusters consistent with the verbal and locative phrases in the transliteration. The transliteration supplied by the project is consistent with what the photograph shows in terms of line-count and columnar arrangement. The reading i3 nun ('finest/clarified oil') and i3 ab2 ('cow-milk oil / ghee') are standard Early Dynastic commodity designations well-attested from Girsu archives. The personal names En-šugi-gi and En-iggal, and the title nu-banda (overseer), are also well-attested from the Lagaš corpus. The month name 'udu-sze3 sze a il2-la' is a known Early Dynastic Girsu month designation. The phrase 'i3-na-de2' (it was poured out) and the location 'e2-munus-a' (women's house) are intelligible but the final numeral '3(|ASZxDISZ@t|)' is a complex sign I cannot fully verify from the photo at this resolution. No significant discrepancies between photo and transliteration were detected; confidence is medium rather than high primarily because edge and reverse signs and the complex final sign cannot be verified at the available resolution.

Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 16, 2026 · 2256 in / 1531 out tokens

Transliteration

5(asz@c) dug i3 nun
1(u@c) dug i3 ab2
en-szu-gi4-gi4
ka-szagan-ra
i3-ir-a ra2-de3
en-ig-gal
nu-banda3
iti udu-sze3 sze a il2-la
nansze-ka
e2-munus-a
i3-na-de2 3(|ASZxDISZ@t|)

Scholarly note

Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED IIIb (ca. 2500-2340 BC)) — DP 270. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).

Attribution

Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P220920) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).

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