Position in chronology
CUSAS 01, 063
About this tablet
This is one of the earliest written documents in human history, dating to the Uruk period (roughly 3300–3000 BCE), a time when writing had only just been invented in southern Iraq. The tablet records quantities of women — likely female workers or dependents — categorised by type, alongside distributions of a commodity called SUHUR, probably a type of fish or fish-related product. It is the kind of administrative record kept by a temple or palace institution tracking the movement and ration-allocation of people and goods. Because proto-cuneiform writing had not yet developed into a fully readable language, many of the signs can only be partially interpreted, but the accounting structure — numbers paired with categories of persons and goods — is unmistakable.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Translation · reference
Low confidence1 [unit], |assembly-vessel+DIN| [...], [...] 2 large units, SUHUR — disbursed 2 large units, SUHUR — 5 [units] [House+1 unit] — 5 [units] 1 [unit], woman — ZATU676~b 1 [unit], woman — young/small young/small 1 [unit], woman — ZATU676~b 2 [units], women — head-... 1 [unit], SUHUR — 5 [units] [House+1 unit]
Source: engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-12/v4-interpretation)
Translation · AI engine
read from photo1 [unit], |assembly-vessel+DIN| [...], [...] 2 large units, SUHUR — disbursed 2 large units, SUHUR — 5 [units] [House+1 unit] — 5 [units] 1 [unit], woman — ZATU676~b 1 [unit], woman — young/small young/small 1 [unit], woman — ZATU676~b 2 [units], women — head-... 1 [unit], SUHUR — 5 [units] [House+1 unit]
8 uncertain terms ↓
- |UKKIN~bxDIN| — A complex composite sign; UKKIN is associated with 'assembly' or a collective body/vessel, DIN with a plant/herbal commodity. The exact referent of this compound in Uruk-period administration is unknown. Cannot verify from photo.
- SUHUR — Conventionally interpreted as a type of fish (carp?) or fish-product in proto-cuneiform administrative texts, but this is not definitively established. The sign resembles a fish-head profile.
- BA — Interpreted as a disbursement/distribution notation by analogy with later Sumerian 'ba' (to allot), but this reading is an extrapolation; in proto-cuneiform it may simply be a commodity or action marker.
- ZATU676~b — An as-yet undeciphered proto-cuneiform sign; its semantic value and commodity reference remain unknown. Listed in the ZATU sign catalogue but not translatable.
- SAL TUR TUR — SAL = woman/female; TUR = small/young. The reduplication TUR TUR may indicate 'very young' or 'children' (female children?), but this is interpretive. Could denote a sub-category of female workers or dependents.
- SAL SAGSZU — SAGSZU (also written SAKSZU) is an uncertain sign or sign combination; possibly related to 'head' + another element. Its administrative meaning in this context is unclear.
- |E2~ax1(N57)@t| — A composite sign involving the E2 (house) sign with a numeral impression and a rotated element. Possibly denotes a specific institutional building or household category. The '@t' notation indicates the sign or component is rotated/tilted.
- 2(N39~a) — N39~a is a large capacity/numerical sign in the proto-cuneiform system, representing a higher unit than N01. Its exact quantity relative to N01 depends on the commodity counted and is not universally fixed.
Reasoning ↓
The photograph shows two faces of a small, rounded clay tablet with multiple views (obverse, reverse, edges, top, bottom). The obverse (upper central image) displays a grid of impressed and incised signs arranged in clear registers separated by ruled lines; the surface is moderately eroded but many wedge-clusters are legible at photographic resolution. On the obverse I can confirm: round-impression numerals consistent with N01 and larger N39~a impressions in the left columns; signs in the right column that include what appears to be SAL (the broad, slightly trapezoidal female sign) repeated several times across distinct rows — this aligns well with the transliteration's repeated 'SAL' entries. The SUHUR sign (a fish-head profile sign in proto-cuneiform) is plausible in several positions but cannot be confirmed with certainty at this resolution. The reverse (lower large image) shows further sign clusters including what may be the E2~a (house) composite sign and additional numerals; the surface here is more abraded and individual wedges are harder to resolve. The museum label 'SI-10-011' (Cornell CUNES 51-10-011) is legible on the left edge in the photograph, confirming identification. The transliteration aligns broadly with what can be seen visually; the repeated SAL entries and numeral columns are consistent. Signs such as |UKKIN~bxDIN|, ZATU676~b, and SAGSZU cannot be independently verified from the photograph at this resolution. The proto-cuneiform sign values for SUHUR, BA, and the composite house-signs are extrapolations from the transliteration rather than independent visual readings.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 14, 2026 · 2092 in / 1331 out tokens
Why it matters
Transliteration
1(N01) , |UKKIN~bxDIN| [...] , [...] 2(N39~a) , SUHUR BA 2(N39~a) , SUHUR 5(N57) |E2~ax1(N57)@t| 5(N57) 1(N01) , SAL ZATU676~b 1(N01) , SAL TUR TUR 1(N01) , SAL ZATU676~b 2(N01) , SAL SAGSZU 1(N01) , SUHUR 5(N57) |E2~ax1(N57)@t|
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Uruk III (ca. 3200-3000 BC)) — CUSAS 01, 063. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA (P325745) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-12/v4-interpretation).
Related tablets
Related sources
One of the earliest specimens of human writing. Not literature, not law — accounting. The need to keep track of grain in a temple bureaucracy is what pushed marks-on-clay into a system that could one day carry epics.
Marks the boundary between proto-writing and writing. We can see signs being used systematically — but not yet phonetically. The leap to recording speech itself comes a few centuries later.
The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.