Position in chronology
JANES 18, 44 06
About this tablet
A small receipt from Nippur in the early Old Babylonian period, dated by a year name of Išbi-Erra, founder of the Isin dynasty after the fall of Ur (around 2000 BCE). It records bread and oil-bread disbursed for offerings during the NE-NE-gar festival month, handled by a cupbearer and sealed by an official named Abuni. Abuni's own seal identifies him as a royal steward, son of Nur-ili, and 'servant' of King Išbi-Erra — a snapshot of how the new dynasty's officials handled routine temple provisioning.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Receipt: 30 liters of fine-flour bread and 60 liters of oil-enriched bread, issued for the offerings of the NE-NE-gar festival. The delivery was handled by Ša-mu, the cupbearer, and the transaction was sealed by Abuni. Dated to the month of NE-NE-gar, in the year King Išbi-Erra installed the high priestess of the god Lugal-Erra. Abuni's seal reads: 'Išbi-Erra, mighty king, king of his land — Abuni, the steward, son of Nur-ili, is your servant.'
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine3 ban of bread (made of) fine <flour>, 1 barig of oil-bread, (for) the offering of the NE-NE-gar festival; conveyor (giri): Ša-mu(?), the cupbearer; seal of Abuni. Month: NE-NE-gar, Year: "The nin-dingir priestess of (the god) Lugal-Erra was installed." (Seal inscription:) Išbi-Erra, mighty king, king of his land — Abuni, the steward, son of Nur-ili, (is) your servant.
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
3(ban2) ninda <zi3> sig15 1(barig) ninda i3 siskur2 NE-NE-gar giri3 sza3?-mu sagi# kiszib3 a-bu-ni iti NE-NE-gar mu nin-dingir lugal-er2-ra ba-il2 isz-bi-er3-ra lugal kal-ga lugal ma-da-na a-bu-ni agrig dumu nu-ur2-i3-li2 ARAD2-zu
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Early Old Babylonian (ca. 2000-1900 BC)) — JANES 18, 44 06. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: OIM A30004 (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA) — from Nippur (mod. Nuffar) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P200671). source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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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.