Position in chronology
Nik 1, 120
About this tablet
This is a small round clay tablet from Girsu (ancient Tello) in southern Iraq, dating to the Early Dynastic period, roughly the mid-third millennium BCE — one of the oldest bureaucratic documents in human history. It records a barley loan carrying silver-denominated interest owed by or to a fisherman named Lugal-nigani, tracking how much grain was still outstanding and how much had already been repaid. Such compact, lentil-shaped tablets were often quick administrative notes or receipts, checked and filed by a scribe or accountant — the everyday paperwork of an early Mesopotamian institutional economy.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
The record notes a loan of 1 gur and 2 barig of barley, charged as interest reckoned in silver, involving a man named Lugal-nigani, who worked as a fisherman. A further 1 gur 2 barig of barley is listed as still outstanding on the books. Separately, 1 gur of barley — again tied to silver interest — has already been paid back. The tablet closes by noting this is an account belonging to the individual concerned, drawn up by the official responsible for reckoning such accounts.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1 gur 2 barig barley — as silver-interest (maš-ba): Lugal-nigani (the) fisherman. 1 gur 2 barig barley, standing (allocated/outstanding). 1 gur barley — as silver-interest — he has repaid (i₃-su₃). (This is the) account of the person (nig₂-lu₂), (by) the man of the accounting (lu₂ nig₂-ag₂).
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) sze ku3 masz-ba lugal-nig2-ga2-ni szu-ku6 1(asz@c) 2(barig@c) sze gub-ba 1(asz@c) sze ku3 masz-ba i3-su3 nig2-lu2 lu2 nig2-ag2
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED IIIb (ca. 2500-2340 BC)) — Nik 1, 120. 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 (P221889) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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