Position in chronology
TMH 05, 082
About this tablet
An administrative receipt from the great religious center of Nippur, recorded around 2350 BCE: a single black ox, charged to the storehouse keeper, was consumed — that is, slaughtered and eaten — by the temple household of the god Ninurta. What makes this small note remarkable is its date formula: the year in which Lugal-zagesi 'received the kingship.' Lugal-zagesi of Umma was the last great Sumerian ruler before Sargon of Akkad conquered Mesopotamia, and this tablet is a rare contemporary witness to the very year his rule was recognized at Nippur.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
One black ox, booked against the man in charge of the storehouse, was delivered to the temple of Ninurta, whose household consumed it. The transaction took place at the start of the month, at the new moon, in the month of emmer wheat. The date is given by the year's defining event: the year Lugal-zagesi received the kingship.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1 black ox — it is (the ox) of the man of the storehouse; the house of Ninurta consumed it. Beginning of the month, (at the) new crescent, [the month] of emmer. Year: Lugal-zagesi the king[ship] received.
Our translation engine — Fable 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) gu4 ge6 lu2 ganun-kam e2 nin-urta ab-gu7 sag iti-sakar [iti] ziz2-a mu# lugal-za3#-ge#-[si] nam#-[lugal?] szu ba-ti
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED IIIb (ca. 2500-2340 BC)) — TMH 05, 082. 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: Hilprecht Collection, University of Jena, Germany (P020496) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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