Position in chronology
Fs Leichty 504
About this tablet
This is a short Ur III administrative-legal memorandum from Nippur, dated to the year Šulgi's forces destroyed the city of Šimanum (Šulgi's 45th regnal year). It records that a governor named Tišatal and a group of eighty workmen, identified as men of Ninua, swore a formal oath — apparently before or in connection with the temple of the god Ninurta — with an official named Bazaza, son of Bušama, acting as the responsible intermediary (giri3). Oath-swearing texts like this typically settle disputes over missing labor, goods, or obligations, giving a rare glimpse of how the Ur III state used sworn testimony to close out administrative accounts.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This record notes that Tišatal, a provincial governor, and a work crew of eighty men — identified as coming from Ninua — took a formal oath at (or concerning) the temple of Ninurta. The transaction was handled through the official Bazaza, son of Bušama. It is dated to the 28th day of the month Gan-gan-e3, in the year that Šimanum was destroyed.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1: Tišatal, the governor; 80 workmen — they are men of Ninua. (In) the [temple of Nin]urta, they swore an oath. Via Bazaza, son of Bušama. Month: Gan-gan-e3, day 28 having passed. Year: Šimanum was destroyed.
Our translation engine — Sonnet 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
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Transliteration
1(disz) ti-isz-a-tal ensi2 1(gesz2) 2(u) gurusz lu2 ni-nu-[a]-me [e2 nin]-urta#-ka nam#-a#-erim2 ib2-ku5 giri3 ba-za-za dumu bu-sza-am-ka iti gan-gan#-e3# u4 2(u) 8(disz) ba-zal mu szi-ma-num2 ba-hul
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — Fs Leichty 504. 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: OIM A31210 (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA) — from Nippur (mod. Nuffar) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P499171). source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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