Position in chronology
UET 2, 0185
About this tablet
An administrative grain account from the city of Ur, written in the Early Dynastic period (early third millennium BCE), when writing was still close to its pictographic origins. It records quantities of barley, measured in the archaic capacity system, disbursed to a series of named individuals or offices — several entries carry the same standard amount, suggesting fixed rations or allotments. A short summary line on the reverse totals or classifies the account as 'new' barley of a particular allotment category. Tablets like this are among our earliest windows into how a Sumerian city fed and organized its people.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This is a barley ledger. The top entry is partly broken, but it opens with a large quantity of grain assigned to a ration category, followed by further measured amounts — one entry explicitly labeled as barley from the 'new' (fresh) stock on hand. Then comes a run of individual disbursements: Ud-ur, Ezen-amar, and Azu-na each receive the same standard measure; Lugal-gal-gir gets slightly more; smaller single measures go to two others, including An-an-amar; entries for Adda-a and for the plow(man) are too damaged to give the amounts. The reverse closes the account with a short summary: seven measures, new barley of the same ration category. The everyday grain bookkeeping of Ur, five thousand years ago.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine(obverse) [...] 2(N45) 6(N14) [measures of grain] — [...] NINDA₂×(GIŠ.DAR) (ration/allotment category); 1(N36) 2(N46) 2(N19) 2(N04) [measures] — — (for) Si-ša ("horn, within"?); 1(N34) 2(N45) 8(N14) 2(N01) [measures] — barley, — (for) Pa-tun, — new (stock), within; 2(N45) 5(N14) — (for) Ud-ur; 2(N45) 5(N14) — (for) Ezen-amar; 2(N45) 5(N14) — (for) Azu-na; 2(N45) 5(N14) 1(N01) — (for) Lugal-gal-gir; 1(N45) — (for) Si-...-ab(?); 1(N45) — (for) An-an-amar; [...] — (for) Adda-a; [...] — [...] the plowman/plow (team); (reverse, summary) 7(N14) — NINDA₂×(GIŠ.DAR) allotment, barley, new (stock), within.
Our translation engine — Fable 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
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Transliteration
[...] 2(N45@f) 6(N14@f) , [...] |NINDA2x(GISZ.DAR~a)| 1(N36@f) 2(N46@f) 2(N19@f) 2(N04@f) , , SI SZA3~a1 1(N34@f) 2(N45@f) 8(N14@f) 2(N01@f) , SZE~a , PA~a TUN3~a , GIBIL SZA3~a1 2(N45@f) 5(N14@f) , U4 UR~a 2(N45@f) 5(N14@f) , EZEN~b AMAR 2(N45@f) 5(N14@f) , AZU NA~a 2(N45@f) 5(N14@f) 1(N01@f) , LUGAL GAL~a GIR2~a 1(N45@f) , SI X AB~a#? 1(N45@f)# , AN AN AMAR [...] , ADDA A [...] , [...] APIN~a 7(N14@f) , |NINDA2x(GISZ.DAR~a)| SZE~a SZA3~a1 GIBIL
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC)) — UET 2, 0185. 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: British Museum, London, UK (P005773) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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