Position in chronology
UET 2, 0028
About this tablet
An administrative account from archaic Ur, written in the Early Dynastic period (roughly 2800–2600 BCE), among the earliest written records from that city. It is a tally: small numbers of units — most likely persons or commodities — set against strings of archaic signs that probably function as personal names or designations. Texts like this show writing in its bookkeeping infancy at Ur, centuries before connected Sumerian sentences: lists of who or what, and how many, kept by an institutional household. The lower part of the tablet is broken away, and much of the sign repertoire resists confident interpretation.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a short running account, ticking off small quantities against a series of entries: three units for one entry (Kal-dug), then a line without a preserved number (Gan-ama), then single units each for four more entries, two units for another, one for the next, two more, and two final single-unit entries before the tablet breaks off. The entries are almost certainly names or labels — of people, or perhaps of goods — but the archaic writing no longer tells us which. The bottom of the list, including any total, is lost.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine(obverse) 3 (units): KAL-DUG, ... : GAN-AMA, 1 (unit): AK-AN-MUŠ, 1 (unit): UR(?)-MA-NUNUZ, 1 (unit): ḪI-GIŠ-GI, 2 (units): GAL-SAG(?) ... [...], 1 (unit): SAG-GAL-MU-GU, 2 (units): U-NU-ME, 1 (unit): GAL-...-NI-... [...], 1 (unit): BU-[...], [...] : [...] (remainder broken)
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.
Engine notes
read from photo14 uncertain terms ↓
- N01@f — Archaic numerical notation — tally strokes; the '@f' variant indicates a specific formal shape of the N01 number sign in the Ur corpus.
- KAL~b2 — Sign KAL variant b2; conventionally 'strong' or a type of vessel/strong vessel (DUG following suggests jar determinative context).
- DUG~a — Vessel/jar; variant DUG~a. Could be a jar determinative or lexical entry for 'pot/jar'.
- GAN~d# — Field or garden; '#' indicates damaged/uncertain reading by editor. Could also be read as a different sign.
- AMA~b — Mother; variant b of the AMA sign. Standard reading 'mother' but in a lexical list may simply be the sign name.
- AK~a# — Sign AK, action verb 'to do/make'; '#' indicates editor uncertainty. In a sign list this is the sign entry itself.
- MUSZ3~a — Snake; the sign for serpent/snake. Standard reading but variant designation ~a noted.
- UR~a? — Possibly UR (dog, or a determinative for animals/persons); '?' in transliteration indicates editor uncertainty about this reading.
- NUNUZ~a1 — Egg or spawn; also used as a sign for 'seed' or 'roe'. Variant ~a1.
- HI — To mix, stir; also a musical instrument term. In a lexical list, primarily the sign name.
- ME~a# — Divine essence, divine power (Sumerian 'me'); '#' indicates damaged reading. One of the most theologically significant Sumerian terms, but here likely a lexical sign entry.
- NI2 — Self, own; also 'fear' or 'awe'. Difficult to determine semantic context in a sign list.
- BU~a — Sign BU; multiple meanings including 'to pluck', 'to blow', or a type of plant. Context insufficient to determine.
- GU2 — Neck, bank (of river); could also be a unit of weight (talent). In this lexical context, likely the sign name 'neck/bank'.
Reasoning ↓
Visual examination of the photograph (British Museum 128906, labeled U.12599 on the envelope/case): the obverse (centre-top image) shows a small, roughly square clay tablet approximately 3–4 cm across. The surface is heavily worn and cracked; individual wedge impressions are visible under raking light but resolution is insufficient to confidently isolate individual sign forms. The numerical notches (N01@f tally marks) along the left edge are discernible as short diagonal incisions, consistent with the transliteration's tally-mark notation. The main sign area in the right column shows dense incised marks but individual signs cannot be confirmed at this resolution. The reverse (centre-lower view) appears largely uninscribed or too eroded to read. The tablet is an Early Dynastic lexical or administrative exercise from Ur, and the sign sequences — KAL, DUG, GAN, AMA, AK, AN, MUSZ3, etc. — are consistent with known Early Dynastic Ur sign lists (cf. UET 2 lexical tablets; Englund & Grégoire, MSVO 1). Because this is an early scribal practice/lexical tablet, the 'translation' represents sign names and their referents rather than continuous prose: this is a sign list, not a narrative text. Many signs in the transliteration are flagged with '#' or '?' indicating the editor's own uncertainty, and several positions are marked 'X' (unread) or broken; confidence is accordingly low.
Generated by Claude Sonnet 4.6 · prompt 2026-05-11/v3-conventions · May 11, 2026 · 3099 in / 1160 out tokens
Transliteration
3(N01@f) , KAL~b2 DUG~a , GAN~d# AMA~b 1(N01@f) , AK~a# AN MUSZ3~a 1(N01@f) , UR~a? MA NUNUZ~a1 1(N01@f) , HI GISZ GI 2(N01@f) , GAL~a# SAG#? X X [...] 1(N01@f) , SAG# GAL~a MU GU2 2(N01@f) , U4 NU ME~a# 1(N01@f) , GAL~a X NI2 X [...] 1(N01@f) , BU~a [...] [...] , [...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC)) — UET 2, 0028. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: British Museum, London, UK (P005601) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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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.
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.