MSVO 3, 01

~3100 BCE·Uruk Period·P005312

Translation · reference

Experimental

Source: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P005312.

Translation · AI engine

read from photo

Low confidence

2(N46) [units], IR~a PAP~a 1(N46) 8(N19) 3(N04) [units], AB~b KID~b E2~b NE~a […], PAP~a 3(N34) 7(N14) 2(N01) [units], barley (ŠE~a) 1(N49) 1(N46) 8(N19) 4(N04) [units], 1(N46) 4(N19) 3(N04) [units], |GISZ.TE| [commodity] 1(N49)#? 4(N34) 1(N45) 3(N01) [units], barley (ŠE~a) SI KI

6 uncertain terms ↓

IR~a — Archaic Uruk period logogram; phonetic value and meaning unestablished with certainty. Possibly a commodity or institutional label.
PAP~a — Possibly 'elder,' 'supervisor,' or a category title; meaning in this period is genuinely uncertain. May denote a type of worker or an institutional category.
AB~b KID~b E2~b NE~a — A compound sign cluster. AB~b may relate to a building or enclosure; KID~b to a reed-mat or product; E2~b to a house/institution; NE~a possibly fire or a commodity. The compound's meaning is not securely established.
|GISZ.TE| — A compound of the wood/tree sign (GISZ) and TE; possibly a wooden object or tool. Exact referent uncertain.
SI KI — Two logograms following the barley entry. SI may mean 'horn' or be a phonetic indicator; KI means 'place/ground' in later Sumerian. Together their administrative meaning here is unclear.
N46, N49, N34, N19, N04, N01, N14, N45 — Numerical signs belonging to the archaic sexagesimal (and possibly bisexagesimal or capacity) system. Exact values relative to each other depend on which sub-system applies to each commodity, which is not always determinable for this tablet.

Reasoning ↓

The photograph shows both faces and all four edges of a small, roughly square, lenticular clay tablet characteristic of the late Uruk period (Uruk III–IV, c. 3200–3000 BCE). The obverse (upper image) is divided by impressed lines into compartments (cases), each containing round and elongated impressed numerical signs alongside incised pictographic word signs. I can visually confirm: large round impressions consistent with N46/N34 numerical signs, smaller round impressions consistent with N19/N04, and incised pictographic signs in several cells including what appears to be ŠE (the ear-of-grain sign, confirmed on both obverse and reverse by its distinctive herringbone/feather form) and a sign cluster in the lower-right area of the obverse consistent with a building or institutional sign (E2~b complex). The reverse (lower image) also shows numerical impressions and the ŠE sign clearly. The tablet is well preserved on the upper face but shows some surface erosion on the lower-left of the obverse and around the edges; the '#?' marker in the transliteration for N49 in the last line is consistent with what appears to be a slightly damaged or ambiguous impression in the lower register. The sign readings from the photo broadly align with the transliteration provided. The logographic signs IR~a, PAP~a, AB~b, KID~b, NE~a, and |GISZ.TE| cannot be individually verified at this resolution with full confidence, but the overall layout and numerical sign distribution match the transliteration. Meanings of most logograms at this pre-cuneiform stage remain contested in scholarship (Englund, Nissen, Damerow MSVO series).

Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-12/v4-interpretation · May 14, 2026 · 1866 in / 1200 out tokens

Why it matters

Transliteration

2(N46) , IR~a PAP~a
1(N46) 8(N19) 3(N04)# , AB~b KID~b E2~b NE~a
, PAP~a
3(N34) 7(N14) 2(N01) , SZE~a
1(N49) 1(N46) 8(N19) 4(N04) ,
1(N46) 4(N19) 3(N04) , |GISZ.TE|
1(N49)#? 4(N34) 1(N45) 3(N01) , SZE~a SI KI

Scholarly note

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Uruk III (ca. 3200-3000 BC)) — MSVO 3, 01. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).

Attribution

Image: Land Berlin, Berlin, Germany (P005312) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P005312..

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