DP 368

~2400 BCE·Early Dynastic·P221018

Translation — curated editorial

Editorial

Experimental

Editorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P221018.

Translation · AI engine

read from photo

Medium confidence

150 minus 40 bundles of grass/fodder, sitting-stored — U2-U2, town-overseer, brought (them). Grass/fodder cut: E2-me-lam2-su (the storehouse of Melamsu). Overseer: En-iggal, the captain (nu-banda). The granary/storehouse of Mes-an-du: delivered. (Witnessed by) 2 (officials).

10 uncertain terms ↓

3(gesz'u@c) la2 2(gesz2@c) — Sexagesimal notation: 3 × 50 (gesz'u = 50) minus 2 × 60 (gesz2 = 60) has been debated; more likely 3 × 60 − 2 × 60 = 60, or alternatively the notation means 180 − 40 = 140 bundles. The exact numeral system applied to 'sa' (bundles) requires contextual parallel comparison.
sa u2 durunx(|KU.KU|)-na — 'sa' = bundle; 'u2' = grass/plant/fodder; 'durunx' (written |KU.KU|) = 'to sit/store in sitting position', here meaning stored/stacked. The compound is well-attested in Girsu fodder accounts but the precise logistical meaning of 'durun'-storage vs. active disbursement is debated.
U2-U2 — Personal name; the reduplicated U2-U2 is attested in Girsu ED administrative texts. May be a personal name or an abbreviated institutional title.
ugula-iri — 'ugula' = overseer/foreman; 'iri' = city/town. Compound: 'town-overseer' or 'city-overseer'. Could also be read as a personal name element in some contexts.
u2 ku5-ra2 — 'u2' = grass/fodder; 'ku5-ra2' = cut (past participle of ku5, to cut). Standard phrase for cut/harvested fodder in Lagašite accounts.
e2-me-lam2-su3 — Literally 'house/storehouse of (the one whose) melammu is profound/far-reaching'; likely a proper noun — the name of a storehouse or the official who administers it. 'Me-lam2-su3' may be a personal name meaning 'his/her divine aura is vast.'
nu-banda3 — 'nu-banda3' = military captain, troop commander, or administrative supervisor (a mid-ranking Sumerian official title). Sometimes translated 'inspector' or 'lieutenant.'
ganun mes-an-du — 'ganun' = storehouse, granary, or storage facility; 'mes-an-du' is most likely a personal name meaning 'the mes-tree of heaven is established' or similar, denoting the responsible official or the storehouse named after him.
i3-kux(DU) — 'i3-kux' (DU reading) = 'was brought in / delivered'; the standard Sumerian verb for delivery into a storehouse in administrative texts. The DU sign here carries the value 'kux' (enter/bring in), not the plain 'du' (go).
2(|ASZxDISZ@t|) — The compound sign ASZ×DISZ in tally form typically denotes a small integer count (here: 2). Its precise referent in this context — 2 officials, 2 deliveries, or 2 witnesses — is not entirely clear from the text alone.

Reasoning ↓

The photograph shows a small, well-preserved rounded clay tablet (museum number AO 13574, excavation label DP 368 visible on the left edge). The obverse face (upper tablet in the image) carries cuneiform signs arranged in two columns separated by a ruled line, with roughly 5–6 lines visible; the lower tablet in the image shows the reverse, which is largely blank on the left half with a few signs on the right half. The wedge impressions are moderately clear: I can visually confirm what appear to be large numeric signs in the upper left area of the obverse (consistent with the high numeral 3(gesz'u@c) la2 2(gesz2@c)), and sign clusters in subsequent lines that are consistent with the transliteration's personal names and titles. The circular sign visible in the upper-left of the obverse is consistent with the 'la2' (balance/minus) sign. The reverse shows only a small cluster of signs on its right side, consistent with the final lines i3-kux and the small numeric '2'. The transliteration and photo are broadly in agreement; I cannot verify every individual sign in detail at this resolution, particularly the compound signs like durunx(|KU.KU|) and the logogram for 'nu-banda3', but no major discrepancies are apparent. The numeric notation '3(gesz'u@c) la2 2(gesz2@c)' means 3×60 minus 2×60, i.e., 180 − 40 = 150 units, a standard Early Dynastic sexagesimal computation. The label 'DP 368' follows the Deimel corpus (Deimel, Šumerisches Lexikon / Inventar der Tontafeln von Lagaš).

Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 16, 2026 · 2150 in / 1646 out tokens

Transliteration

3(gesz'u@c) la2 2(gesz2@c) sa u2 durunx(|KU.KU|)-na
U2-U2
ugula-iri
mu-de6
u2 ku5-ra2
e2-me-lam2-su3
ugula
en-ig-gal
nu-banda3
ganun mes-an-du
i3-kux(DU) 2(|ASZxDISZ@t|)

Scholarly note

Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED IIIb (ca. 2500-2340 BC)) — DP 368. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).

Attribution

Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P221018) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P221018..

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