Position in chronology
JANES 18, 50 29
About this tablet
An administrative receipt from the great religious capital of Nippur, dated to the reign of King Iddin-Dagan of Isin (around 1970 BCE). It records sheep set aside on two specific days as the regular daily offerings for Enlil, chief god of the Sumerian pantheon, and his consort Ninlil, transferred from one temple facility to the slaughterhouse. Sealed by temple accountants, it is a small window into the meticulous bookkeeping that kept the gods fed — and the temple economy running — day after day.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Six rams were disbursed on the 26th, and three more on the 28th, as the regular daily offerings for the gods Enlil and Ninlil in Nippur. The animals were transferred from the E-gissu building and delivered to the meat house for slaughter. The transaction was sealed by the temple administrators. Dated to the tenth month of the year King Iddin-Dagan made a great emblem for the goddess Ninisina — in effect, the temple's routine paperwork for keeping the divine meals supplied.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine6 rams — the 26th day; 3 rams — the 28th day: regular offerings (sattukku) of Enlil and Ninlil, in Nippur; from the E-gissu ("House of the Shade") delivery to the <house> of meat (slaughterhouse). Sealed by the šatammu-officials. Month: Ab-e (10th month, Nippur calendar). Year: Iddin-Dagan, the king, fashioned a great emblem for Ninisina.
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
6(disz) udu-nita2 u4 2(u) 6(disz)-kam 3(disz) udu-nita2 u4 2(u) 8(disz)-kam sa2-du11 en-lil2 u3 nin-lil2 sza3 nibru ki# e2-gissu-ta mu-kux(DU) <e2>-uzu-sze3 kiszib3 sza3-tam-e-ne iti ab-e3# mu i-din-da-gan lugal-e szu-nir-gal nin-isin2?-na-ra mu-na-dim2
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Early Old Babylonian (ca. 2000-1900 BC)) — JANES 18, 50 29. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Iddin-Dagan y1 — Iddin-Dagan became king based on canonical year-name formula in the transliteration.
Attribution
Image: OIM A30001 (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA) — from Nippur (mod. Nuffar) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P200690). source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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