Position in chronology
BIN 08, 029
About this tablet
A small, thick clay tablet from Isin in southern Iraq recording the settlement of a dispute — one of the oldest kinds of legal paperwork we have. Two men, Lugal-nigzu and Ur-ni-beda, are said to have pulled up a boundary peg in a field, and a donkey that had been handed over is at issue; someone promises to make good the loss. A donkey-herdsman named Ur-su stands as witness, the matter is declared closed, and the record is directed to the governor of Nippur. It is a glimpse of village-level litigation over land markers and livestock, roughly forty-five centuries ago.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Lugal-nigzu and Ur-ni-beda pulled the marker peg out of the field. Regarding the donkey that had been handed over to him, he declared: "I will make it good." Ur-su, the donkey herdsman, was present as witness. A line about a house follows, and one more line too damaged to interpret. The case is closed, and the record goes to the governor of Nippur. The final line is broken, ending with something noted as being "present" or "on hand."
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engineLugal-nigzu (and) Ur-ni-beda removed the peg in the field; as for the donkey that he had released to him, "I will make replacement," he said to him. Before Ur-su, the herdsman of donkeys. The house ... [...] ... a2 ba KU a (unclear) The case is concluded. For the governor of Nippur. ... [...] is present.
Our translation engine — Opus 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Spotted an error? Suggest a correction — confirmed corrections feed the engine's knowledge base.
Transliteration
lugal-nig2-zu ur2-ni-be6-da asza5-ga gag bi2-zi-ge-[esz2] ansze i3-na-du8-a ga-su i3-na-du11 igi ur-su sipa ansze-sze3 e2 x [...] a2 ba KU a inim-<be6> al-til ensi2 nibru-sze3 x [(x)] a-gal2
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED IIIb (ca. 2500-2340 BC)) — BIN 08, 029. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Nies Babylonian Collection, Yale Babylonian Collection, New Haven, Connecticut, USA (P212608) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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