MS 2900/22

~3100 BCE·Uruk Period·P006230

Translation · reference

Experimental

Source: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P006230.

Translation · AI engine

read from photo

Low confidence

4 [...] 3 [...] [...] [...] 2 [...] 5 [...] ... 3 ... male workers 1 [...] [...] ... [...] [...] ... quality/fine ... [...] [...] [...] 1(×10) + 6 [...] , goats/kids [...] , [...] woman [household?] elder/supervisor

7 uncertain terms ↓

N14 — Higher-order numeral whose precise value (×6 or ×10 relative to N01) depends on the commodity system in use; here tentatively read as ×10, giving 1(N14)+6(N01) = 16, but this is not certain.
ERIM~a — Proto-cuneiform sign conventionally read as 'male workers' or 'men' in labor lists; the exact referent in the Uruk administrative system is debated.
MASZ2 — Proto-cuneiform sign for goat or kid; the precise species or age category (adult goat vs. kid) is not always distinguishable from the sign alone.
PAP~a — Archaic sign of uncertain meaning; possible readings include 'elder,' 'ancestor,' or a supervisory title. Its administrative function in this period is not firmly established.
SIG — Possibly 'fine quality' or 'low/thin'; its exact meaning in the proto-cuneiform corpus is context-dependent and contested.
SAL E~b PAP~a — This cluster at the end of the tablet may denote a category of female worker or a named individual with a title, but the combination is fragmentary and its reading remains uncertain.
MA — If present (the transliteration marks it within a broken context), could refer to a boat (later Sumerian má) or a container; referent is genuinely uncertain in the archaic corpus.

Reasoning ↓

Visual examination of the photograph confirms that this is a small, lenticular (lens-shaped) clay tablet photographed from multiple angles (obverse, reverse, edges, and two end views). The museum number MS 2900/22 is legible in ink on the top view. The obverse (upper large face) is heavily worn and eroded; I can make out faint impressed marks in the right-centre area that may be the remnants of one or two signs, but they are not legible enough to read securely. The reverse (bottom large face in the composite photo) shows the most clearly preserved surface: on the left I can see a group of approximately 4–5 horizontal impressed lines consistent with N01 numerals, followed by what appears to be a vertical stroke arrangement — consistent with the transliteration's rendering of groups of N01 signs. To the right of these, more complex sign forms are visible, including what might be vertical wedges and a rounded impressed area, possibly consistent with ERIM~a or related signs. The edge views show the characteristic lenticular profile of early Uruk accounting tablets. Overall, the photo broadly agrees with the transliteration's structure (left column of numerals, right column of commodity/category signs), but the surface erosion and the small scale of the object prevent verification of most individual signs. The 1(N14) + 6(N01) entry and the MASZ2 (goat) logogram on the penultimate line cannot be independently confirmed from the photo due to resolution. ERIM~a as 'male workers' and SAL as 'woman/female worker' follow standard proto-cuneiform administrative readings (Englund & Nissen, ATU series). The N14 sign is interpreted as the higher-order unit in the sexagesimal system, giving a total of 16 in that line. Multiple lines are broken and restorations are not possible without parallel tablets.

Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 14, 2026 · 2196 in / 1171 out tokens

Why it matters

Transliteration

4(N01)# , [...]
3(N01)# , [...]
[...] , [...]
2(N01)# , [...]
5(N01)#? , [...] X
3(N01)# , X ERIM~a
1(N01)# [...] , [...] X
[...] , [...]
, SIG X [...]
[...] , [...]
1(N14)# 6(N01)# [...] , MASZ2
[...] , [...] SAL# E~b# PAP~a

Scholarly note

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Uruk III (ca. 3200-3000 BC)) — MS 2900/22. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).

Attribution

Image: Schøyen Collection, Oslo, Norway (P006230) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P006230..

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