Position in chronology
Nik 1, 117
About this tablet
This small Early Dynastic tablet from Girsu (modern Tello) is a brief administrative note recording the settlement of silver-loan interest in barley. It lists a total quantity of barley held 'outstanding,' then itemizes two payments of barley made to cover the interest owed on silver debts — one to a man named KUM-tuš (identified as 'the man of Lu-Baba'), and one to a leatherworker named Ur-Baba, son of Abamu. Texts like this illuminate the everyday credit economy of a Sumerian temple city around 2500–2350 BCE, where silver loans were commonly repaid or offset in grain.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This record notes a total of just over one gur of barley (roughly 144 liters plus 2 barig and 4 ban2) held as outstanding stock, associated with someone or something called Memush. From this, one portion of barley was paid out to cover the interest owed on a silver loan — the payment went to a man named KUM-tuš, described as belonging to (or working under) Lu-Baba. A second portion of barley likewise settled interest on a silver loan, this time paid to Ur-Baba, a leatherworker, son of Abamu. In short: a short bookkeeping note tracking two barley payments made to clear interest on silver debts.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1 gur saggal (measure), 2 barig, 4 ban2 of barley — barley outstanding (standing barley), (of/for) Memush. 1 (unit) barley: the interest on the silver was paid out — to KUM-tuš, the man of Lu-Baba. 1 (unit) barley: the interest on the silver was paid out — (to) Ur-Baba, the leatherworker, son of Abamu.
Our translation engine — Sonnet 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) 2(barig@c) 4(ban2@c) sze gur saggal sze gub-ba me-musz3 1(asz@c) sze ku3 masz-ba i3-su3 KUM-tusz-sze3 lu2 lu2-ba-ba6 1(asz@c) sze ku3 masz-ba i3-su3 ur-ba-[ba6] aszgab dumu a-ba-mu
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED IIIb (ca. 2500-2340 BC)) — Nik 1, 117. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation (P221886) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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