Position in chronology
WF 064
About this tablet
An administrative account from Šuruppak (modern Fara) in southern Iraq, written around 2600 BCE in the Early Dynastic period. A scribe records amounts of grain measured in the large 'lidga' unit (each roughly 240 liters) issued to or received from named individuals — among them a shepherd — with a summary on the back crediting 23 measures to the palace. It is a snapshot of how one of the world's earliest city bureaucracies tracked bulk commodities against people and institutions.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a grain ledger. Mes-uba is down for 10 lidga-measures; Nin-ulgal for 4 lidga plus 1 of a drink product; 2 lidga go to AN-ur, the shepherd; then 3 lidga of barley and 1 more for Ša-guba. On the back the accountant tallies it up: 23 measures booked to the palace, and 16 more against a name or category that can no longer be read. Everyday warehouse paperwork from one of the oldest cities on earth.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine(obverse) 10 lidga (large capacity measures) — Mes-uba; 4 lidga, 1 (lidga of) nag-duga (a drink/libation product?) — Nin-ulgal; 2 lidga — for AN-ur, the shepherd; 3 lidga of barley(?), 1 (for) Ša-guba; (reverse — totals) 23 (lidga): the palace; 16 (lidga): ... (sign illegible).
Our translation engine — Fable 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
1(u@c) lid2-ga mes-u4-ba 4(asz@c) lid2-ga 1(asz@c) nag-du11-ga nin-ul4-gal 2(asz@c) lid2-ga AN-ur2-sze3 sipa 3(asz@c) sze? lid2-ga 1(asz@c) sza3-gu2-ba 2(u@c) 3(asz@c) e2-gal 1(u@c) 6(asz@c) x
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED IIIa (ca. 2600-2500 BC)) — WF 064. 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: Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin, Germany (P011021) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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