Position in chronology
MS 4561
About this tablet
This is a proto-cuneiform economic tablet from the Uruk period (roughly the late fourth millennium BCE), one of the earliest forms of writing in human history, found probably at or near Umma in southern Iraq. It is a numerical accounting text: a series of ruled cases, each pairing a quantity written in one of several archaic numeral systems with a commodity or category sign — barley and what looks like a stored-goods or enclosure term appear near the end. Rather than sentences, it records tallies — likely grain or field measures kept by an early institutional administration — and stands as a direct ancestor of the account books that would define Mesopotamian bureaucracy for the next 3,000 years.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This tablet is a ledger page of numbers, not a story. Line after line, a scribe recorded a quantity — using different counting systems depending on what was being measured, whether land area, capacity, or discrete items — followed by a short sign indicating what the quantity was of. Most of these commodity signs are now broken or illegible. Near the end of the list, two entries are still readable: one records a quantity of barley, and the final entry records a quantity of some stored good associated with an enclosure or bin. The rest of the tablet's fine detail — exact totals, and most of the commodity labels — has been lost to breakage and wear.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engineObverse (Case 1) 1(N34) 2(N01), 1(N39~a) (Case 2) 1(N51) 2(N01), 1(N24) (Case 3) 2(N51) 3(N01)?, 1(N28)? (Case 4) 5(N51)? 1(N14)? 2(N01)?, 1(N29~a)? (Case 5) 1(N54) 5(N51), [......] (Case 6) [blank/broken], (Column ii) (Case 7) 2(N20) 3(N42~a)? [......], [......] (Case 8) 2(N20) x 1(N25), [......] (Case 9) 2(N20) 4(N05), [......] (Case 10) 5(N20) 2(N42~a) 1(N25) 1(N28~c), [......] (Case 11) 1(N46) 2(N20) 1(N05) 3(N42~a)? 1(N25)? 1(N29A~c), x (Case 12) 2(N46) 4(N20) 1(N05)? 3(N42~a) 1(N25), x BA? (Case 13) 1(N46) 2(N20) 2(N05) [......], barley (ŠE~a) (Case 14) 1(N37) 6(N20) 3(N05) 3(N42~a) 1(N25), enclosure-goods (LAGAB~b GAR)
Our translation engine — Sonnet 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
1(N34) 2(N01) , 1(N39~a) 1(N51) 2(N01) , 1(N24) 2(N51) 3(N01)? , 1(N28)? 5(N51)#? 1(N14)#? 2(N01)#? , 1(N29~a)#? 1(N54)# 5(N51)# , [...] , 2(N20)# 3(N42~a)#? [...] , [...] 2(N20)# X 1(N25) , [...] 2(N20)# 4(N05)# , [...] 5(N20) 2(N42~a) 1(N25) 1(N28~c) , [...] 1(N46) 2(N20) 1(N05) 3(N42~a)#? 1(N25)? 1(N29A~c) , X 2(N46) 4(N20) 1(N05)? 3(N42~a) 1(N25) , X BA#? 1(N46) 2(N20) 2(N05) [...] , SZE~a 1(N37)# 6(N20) 3(N05) 3(N42~a) 1(N25) , LAGAB~b GAR
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Uruk III (ca. 3200-3000 BC)) — MS 4561. 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: Schøyen Collection, Oslo, Norway (P006330) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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Related sources
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