JANES 18, 44 08

~1984 BCE·Old Babylonian·P200673

About this tablet

A short administrative memorandum from Nippur, written in the reign of Šu-ilišu of Isin (early second millennium BCE). It records 27 sila (roughly 27 liters) of coarse-flour bread set aside as provisions for a religious festival in the second month, held in the keeping of a man named A-zida, son of Ur-nigar, who is obliged to hand them over three months later. Tablets like this are the receipts and IOUs of temple festival logistics — proof that even sacred offerings were tracked to the liter, with a named person on the hook for delivery.

Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.

Written in modern English

Twenty-seven liters of barley-meal bread, earmarked as festival supplies for the month of Gu'sisu, are currently held by A-zida. He is to hand them over in the month of Abu. Dated to the month of Gu'sisu, in the year Šu-ilišu became king. Responsible party: A-zida, son of Ur-nigar.

A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.

Translation — our engine

Our engine

Medium confidence

2 ban₂ 7 sila₃ of bread (made) of dabin-flour, festival provisions for the month Gu'sisu (month II), which are on hand with A-zida; in the month NE-NE-gar (Abu, month V) it is to be delivered. Month: Gu'sisu. Year: Šu-ilišu (is) king. A-zida, son of Ur-nigar.

Indicative reading — translated without a photograph. Generated from the transliteration alone, without examining the original. Read it as an accessible first taste, not as a verified catalogue entry.

Our translation engine — Opus 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.

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Transliteration

2(ban2) 7(disz) sila3 ninda dabin
nig2-ezem-ma iti gu4-si-su
ki a2-zi-da gal2-la
iti NE-NE-gar szum2-mu-dam
iti gu4-si-su
mu szu-i3-li2-szu lugal
a2-zi-da
dumu ur-nigar

Scholarly note

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Early Old Babylonian (ca. 2000-1900 BC)) — JANES 18, 44 08. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Šu-iliszu y1 — Šu-iliszu became king based on canonical year-name formula in the transliteration.

Attribution

Image: OIM A29993 (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA) — from Nippur (mod. Nuffar) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P200673). source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).

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