Position in chronology
PPAC 5, 1646
About this tablet
An administrative memorandum from the city of Umma in southern Iraq, written around 2050 BCE under the Third Dynasty of Ur, one of history's most intensively documented bureaucracies. It concerns barley from subsistence field plots — land granted to workers in lieu of wages — under two named men, Ur-Geštinanka and Ur-Ištaran, plus leased plow-land managed by a foreman named Abba-kalla. Strikingly, the scribe twice notes that the matter 'is to be investigated': this is not a settled account but an internal audit note, a reminder that the barley figures needed checking. It offers a rare glimpse of the ancient bureaucracy policing itself.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
Five gur of barley from the subsistence plots at the A-uri field, under foreman Ur-Geštinanka; another five gur from Ur-Ištaran. The barley from these fields still needs to be looked into. There is also an allotment — the amount is lost in a break — charged to Ur-Geštinanka and Ur-Ištaran: barley from the Ki-sumun field, land held on plow-lease by the foreman Abba-kalla. The barley rations there also need to be investigated. In short: an auditor's checklist flagging two barley accounts for review.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine5 (gur), šuku-allotment, field A-uri; foreman: Ur-Geštinanka. 5 (gur): Ur-Ištaran. The barley of the field — its case is to be investigated. [...] šuku-allotment, from Ur-Geštinanka and Ur-Ištaran: barley of the Ki-sumun field, leased (plow-)land of Abba-kalla, the foreman. Regarding the barley rations — its case is to be investigated.
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
5(asz) szuku a-sza3 a uri3 ugula ur-gesztin-an-ka 5(asz) ur-isztaran sze a-sza3 en3-bi tar-e-dam [...] szuku ki ur-gesztin-an-ka u3 ur-isztaran sze a-sza3 ki-sumun apin-la2 ab-ba-kal-la ugula sze-ba-a en3-<bi> tar-e-dam
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — PPAC 5, 1646. 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: BM 096228 (British Museum, London, UK) — from Umma (mod. Tell Jokha) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P370927). source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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