Position in chronology
WF 092
About this tablet
An administrative labor roster from Šuruppak (modern Fara, Iraq), dating to roughly 2600–2500 BCE, during the Early Dynastic period. It tallies male workers — guruš, the standard Sumerian term for conscripted or assigned laborers — distributed across six major cities of ancient Sumer: Uruk, Adab, Nippur, Lagash, Šuruppak itself, and Umma. The closing lines confirm that all 670 men have been formally 'stationed,' dispatched, and handed over, with an explicit grand total that cross-checks to the exact sum of the six city entries. This tablet is a striking piece of evidence that some coordinating authority at Šuruppak was tracking — and possibly directing — a large inter-city labor force across what are otherwise thought of as rival or independent Sumerian city-states.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
182 workers assigned to Uruk; 192 to Adab; 94 to Nippur; 60 to Lagash; 56 to Šuruppak; 86 to Umma. These are men who have been formally stationed throughout Sumer — dispatched and officially handed over. Grand total: 670 male workers stationed across all cities.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine182 male workers — Uruk; 192 — Adab; 94 — Nippur; 60 — Lagash; 56 — Šuruppak; 86 — Umma. Men who have been stationed [in these cities], [throughout] Sumer — dispatched [and] delivered, [and] handed over. Grand total: 670 male workers [who] have been stationed.
Our translation engine — Sonnet 4.6. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Transliteration
3(gesz2@c) 2(asz@c) gurusz unu 3(gesz2@c) 1(u@c) 2(asz@c) adab 1(gesz2@c) 3(u@c) 4(asz@c) nibru 1(gesz2@c) lagaszx(|NU11.BUR.LA.MUSZEN|) 5(u@c) 6(asz@c) szuruppak 1(gesz2@c) 2(u@c) 6(asz@c) umma lu2 ba-durunx(|DUR2&DUR2|) ki-en-gi DU-DU szu szum2 szu-nigin2 1(gesz'u@c) 1(gesz2@c) 1(u@c) gurusz lu2 ba-durunx(|DUR2&DUR2|)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED IIIa (ca. 2600-2500 BC)) — WF 092. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin, Germany (P011049) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware).
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Related sources
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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.