Position in chronology
TCBI 1, 004
About this tablet
A small Early Dynastic account from Adab (modern Bismaya, southern Iraq), roughly the mid-third millennium BCE. It records three male slaves belonging to a temple administrator (sanga), transferred from one man to another, together with sums of silver — one and a half mana and four mana — and a short list of the men involved, including a city governor. Documents like this are among the earliest written evidence anywhere for people being bought, held, and accounted for alongside weighed silver.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Three male slaves, the property of the temple administrator, passed from Ibi'a to Imaba'a (the rest of that line is broken). Against them stand sums of silver: one and a half mana, and four mana — silver of the ašda. The men named in connection with the transaction are Lu-[…], En-[…], I-ḫulḫula, Ur-šul the governor, and Geš-kulab; the property is registered as being at his disposal. Several signs are damaged, and some names survive only in part.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine3 male heads (male slaves), they belong to the sanga (temple administrator); from Ibi'a Imaba'a [...] 1 1/2 mana of silver, 4 mana of silver, silver of the ašda; Lu-[x], En-[...], I-ḫulḫula, Ur-šul the governor (ensi), Geš-kulab — it is at his disposal (an-da-gal₂).
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
3(asz@c) sag# nita sanga#-kam i-bi2-a-ta i3-ma#-ba#?-a [(x)] 1(asz@c) 1/2(disz@c) ku3# ma-na 4(asz@c) ku3# ma-na ku3# asz2-da# lu2#-x en#-[...] i3#-hul-hul-a ur#-szul ensix(|GAR.PA.TE.SI|) gesz-kul-ab an-da#?-gal2
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED IIIb (ca. 2500-2340 BC)) — TCBI 1, 004. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Banca d'Italia, Rome, Italy (P382257) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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