Position in chronology
Erm 14335
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P225743.
Translation · AI engine
read from photo50 persons (of the) si-U-NU(-type); 12 gab2-il2-fish; Lugal-me-gal-gal, the fisherman of A-ses: (for) the month of sheep-grass, barley of Ningirsu's temple — En-iggal, the overseer (nu-banda3), into the women's house has brought (it) in. (Sealed by) Bara-nam-tara, wife of Lugal-anda, governor of Lagash. 3 (tablets/entries).
8 uncertain terms ↓
- si-U-NU — The precise meaning of this designation for the 50 persons is unclear; it may be a professional title, ethnic designation, or institutional category. The sign U within SI-U-NU is uncertain in reading.
- gab2-il2 — A type of fish or a profession connected with fish; the exact species or role is debated in the literature.
- szu-ku6 — Literally 'hand of the fish(-pond/fishery)' — conventionally interpreted as 'fisherman'; the compound is well-attested in Lagashite texts but nuances of the role vary.
- a-ses-ke4 — A personal or institutional name in the genitive; 'A-ses' could be a personal name or a place/institution. The -ke4 marks genitive-agent. Identity not firmly established.
- iti udu-sze3 — Literally 'month of sheep-grass' or 'the barley-month of sheep'; interpretation as a month name is standard for Early Dynastic Lagash calendars, but the precise equivalence to a month number is debated.
- e2-munus-a — Literally 'house of the woman' or 'women's house'; could refer to the gynaeceum of the palace, or a specific institutional household managed by the governor's wife.
- 3(|ASZxDISZ@t|) — The final notation — three tally marks — may indicate three entries, three tablets in a dossier, or a summary count. Interpretation as a tablet/dossier number is plausible but not certain.
- nu-banda3 — Conventionally rendered 'overseer' or 'commander'; in the Lagashite administrative hierarchy it sits below the ensi2 and above ordinary foremen. Exact functional scope varies by context.
Reasoning ↓
The photograph shows a small, lenticular tablet (museum number 14335 is legible on the label in the top panel) photographed from multiple angles: obverse, reverse, top edge, and two sides. The obverse (second image in the composite) is the most legible face: several clear wedge clusters are visible, arranged in two column registers separated by a ruled line, with approximately six to seven lines per register. Individual sign clusters are discernible — the large numeric notation in the top-left register, what appear to be fish-determinative signs (KU6) in the upper right, and personal name signs further down. The reverse (bottom large image) shows fewer lines, with sign clusters visible on the lower half — consistent with the short seal phrase and governor-title lines of the transliteration. The left and right edge views show a small number of signs consistent with an edge notation or overflow line. Photo resolution is insufficient to verify each individual sign reading, but the overall layout (two-column obverse, short reverse, lenticular format) is fully consistent with a Girsu Early Dynastic administrative tablet of this type. The transliteration is accepted as the primary source; photo broadly confirms its structure without contradicting it. The reading 'bara2-nam-tar-ra' (Bara-nam-tara) as wife of Lugal-anda governor of Lagash is consistent with the well-documented archive of this couple from Girsu (cf. Bauer, Altsumerische Wirtschaftstexte). The sign kux(DU) for 'bring in / deliver' is standard in Lagashite administrative texts. Cannot verify the precise sign forms of '5(u@c) sag si-U-NU' and 'gab2-il2' from the photo at this resolution.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 16, 2026 · 2446 in / 1288 out tokens
Transliteration
5(u@c) sag si-U-NU 1(u@c) 2(asz@c) gab2-il2 ku6 lugal-me-gal-gal szu-ku6 a-ses-ke4 iti udu-sze3 sze a nin-gir2-su-ka-ka en-ig-gal nu-banda3 e2-munus-a i3-kux(DU) bara2-nam-tar-ra dam lugal-an-da ensi2 lagasz-ka 3(|ASZxDISZ@t|)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED IIIb (ca. 2500-2340 BC)) — Erm 14335. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation (P225743) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P225743..
Related tablets
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.
Marks the boundary between proto-writing and writing. We can see signs being used systematically — but not yet phonetically. The leap to recording speech itself comes a few centuries later.
The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.