Position in chronology
TMH 05, 130
About this tablet
A small barley-account tablet from Nippur, written in the Early Dynastic period (roughly the 26th–24th century BCE). It records two lots of grain measured in lidga, a large capacity unit, distinguishes a "head" or principal amount from a second category, and states that a man named Lugal-inim-gina is carrying the total on his account for one year before handing it over to a grain-porter called Inanna-ursag. Documents like this are the plain bookkeeping behind a temple or estate granary — a named individual made answerable for a specific quantity of grain, with the transfer put in writing so it could be checked later.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Two lots of grain are on the books: 190 lidga entered as the principal amount, and a further 95 lidga under a second heading. The term of the account is one year. Lugal-inim-gina is the man holding the grain to account, and he handed it over to Inanna-ursag, the barley-porter. The reverse is blank except for the two ruled lines at the top that finish the entry.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine190 lidga of barley — it is the principal ("head") barley. 95 lidga of barley — it is the *za* barley. It is the 1st year. Lugal-inim-gina holds it on account. To Inanna-ursag, the barley-carrier, he gave it. (Reverse: uninscribed apart from the two ruled cases at the top, which carry the closing lines.)
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(gesz2@c) 1(u@c) sze lid2-ga sag# sze-kam 1(gesz2@c) 3(u@c) 5(asz@c) sze lid2-ga za sze-kam mu 1(disz@t)-kam lugal-inim-gi-na an-da-gal2 inanna-ur-sag-ra sze-il2 i3-na-szum2
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED IIIb (ca. 2500-2340 BC)) — TMH 05, 130. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Hilprecht Collection, University of Jena, Germany (P020544) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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Related sources
One of the earliest specimens of human writing. Not literature, not law — accounting. The need to keep track of grain in a temple bureaucracy is what pushed marks-on-clay into a system that could one day carry epics.
A window into the world's first total state. The Ur III administration tracked every animal, every worker, every shekel — for a population in the millions. The level of paperwork was not exceeded until the modern era.