CUNEIFORM READING SERVICE

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I offer a cuneiform transliteration and translation service, provided by an academic Assyriologist through me.

This covers inscribed tablets, cones, bricks, plaques, vessels and inscribed cylinder seals inter alia.

Photographs

Working from good pics is perfectly feasible: light should come from the upper left corner at about a 45 degree angle in order to cast shadows into the wedges.
Use a directional light, not overall overhead lighting. If you are unsure which way is “up” ask me!
JPEGs saved in low resolution (72ppi), about c. 500 pixels high for objects up to 3inches tall; larger objects would need several photos.
For inscribed seals, an appropriately illuminated photo of the seal impression is also needed.

Authenticity.

It is generally possible to make statements about authenticity of inscribed clay tablets, cones, and bricks, even from a photo.

However, the authenticity of engraved stone or metal cannot be guaranteed in this way so no statement about authenticity can be offered for seals, or vessels

Prices

PLEASE NOTE:

As from March 2008 I have been obliged to add 17.5% VAT to these fees for people within the EU.
So, the prices shown in brackets here are inclusive of VAT for EU residents but the lower price is for the rest of the world.

TABLETS/FOUNDATION CONES/ BRICKS etc

• A foundation cone, stamped brick, or short votive inscriptions on objects.

Full transliteration and translation. £35 (£41.13)

CUNEIFORM TABLETS

• Basic reading of a tablet : period, language, general description of contents, remarks on interesting names, the name of the person mentioned on any sealing impressions, date, or other features

(Not full transliteration and translation) £30 (£35.25)

• Typical short URIII or OB administrative tablet:

Full transliteration and translation. £65 (£76.38)

• Average longer/more complex administrative/contract tablet:

Full transliteration and translation £90 (£103.13)

• For anything else (literary, lexical, large and difficult tablets or very large cones etc.) you would get a quote.

SEALS.

No definite statement about authenticity can be offered for seals.

• A seal inscription: from either a seal or from a impression on a tablet.

Full transliteration and translation £35 (£41.13)

If your piece is thought to be fake:

TABLETS/FOUNDATION CONES/ BRICKS etc

For producing a basic description of the item if it is thought to be a fake or pastiche. £25 (£29.38)

Particular “errors” would be commented upon.

SEALS

You get a full transliteration and translation of the inscription, including a note about any errors/variations in the inscription.

We cannot go into iconographic and thematic details to any extent; the emphasis is on the inscriptions as such.

The full fee would be charged, £35 (£41.13)

To encourage collectors to have their cuneiform artefacts properly read we offer a small discount if you have six or more pieces to send for reading at the same time.

Basic readings , for example are reduced from £30 each to £24 (with VAT £28.20)

How you can help

I would very much like to place some of the images of the pieces (or just the text parts, if collectors would prefer not to have their pieces shown) on my website along with the reading work.
This would allow us to develop a database which would help us cuneiform illiterates to start learning to recognise the commonly found sign groups.
When you get in touch with me please let me know one way or the other. Attribution to you by name, by your membership ID or anonymously: whatever you prefer.

Academic databases and Publication

If the piece is of academic importance and interest the translator requests that you would agree to allow the images/inscription to be recorded for eventual publication, so the new information is made available to scholars.

Over 100 pieces read in the first year of this service!

Contact me if you would like to use the service.

I will let you know if your pics are suitable.

Cheers,

Bron.

Worked on cuneiform foundation cones

An example of what you can ascertain from a mere fragment of a cuneiform tablet.

This is part of an administrative account of the Third Dynasty of Ur,

2150-2000 BC.

This is a fragment of a large administrative tablet recording amounts of several food products: bran and vegetable oil are the only preserved terms. Although the concluding section which contained the name of the official involved and the date the tablet was written is not preserved, there is a date (year name) in the fragment which refers to the year the particular transaction occurred: “The year the land of Zabshali was destroyed.”, which is year 7 of King Shu-Suen of Ur.

The original tablet was multi-columned, with parts of three columns still preserved on this fragment . The left column (i') has only a single vertical wedge at the end of one line; the second middle column preserves all of three lines and part of a fourth, while the right column iii preserves the beginning of 3 lines.

i'	(missing except for trace of one sign)
ii' 1'.	0.3.5 2 1/3 sila [duh] / sig₅ gur	3 "bushels" 5 "pecks" 2 1/3 "quarts" of good quality bran
2'.	9.0.3 6 2/3 sila duh-gin gur	9 kor, 3 "bushels" 6 2/3 "quarts" of ordinary quality bran
3'.	[d]uh-bi níg-gál-la / [x] gur kam íb-ta-/zi	its (total) bran available: [x] kor … to be subtracted.
4'.	[x +d]Nin-ur₄-ra A/-[pi]-šal^ki	[…] (for?) (the god) Ninurra of A[pi]shal.
	(break)
iii' 1'.	[…] / ši-ik-[…] / šà-gal […]	… fodder (for animals)
2'.	diri šu-nigin [… mu ] / ma-da [za-ab-ša]-/li^ki b[a-hul]	excess of the total of […the year named] "the land of [Zabsha]li was de[stroyed]. *
3'.	3 sila 15 [gín í-]/nun du₁₀-ga m[u …]	3 "quarts" (and) 1/4 "quart*" of sweet, good quality oil, (of the) y[ear …]
	(break)

* 15 gín = 15/60 of one sila = ¼ quart, approximate.

The traditional English measurement terms used in the translation do not convey closely the actual volume of the Mesopotamia terms, but show the relative size- greater or lesser only- of the units.

* The full text for this named year would be:

mu ^dszu-^dsuen lugal uri₂^ki-ma-ke₄ lugal an ub-da 4-ba ma-da za-ab-sza-li^ki mu-hul
Year: "Shu-Suen, the king of Ur, king of the four quarters, destroyed the land of Zabshali"

The full named year list is as follows:

1a. mu us₂-sa en-^dnanna kar-zi-da^ki-ka ba-hun
Year after the year: "The en-priestess of Nanna of Karzida was installed"

1b. mu ^dszu-^dsuen lugal-am₃
Year: "Shu-Suen is king"

2a. mu us₂-sa ^dszu-^dsuen lugal
Year after the year: "Shu-Suen is king"

2b. mu ^dszu-^dsuen lugal uri₂^ki-ma-ke₄ ma₂ dara₃-abzu ^den-ki in-dim₂ mu-du₈ Year: "Shu-Suen, the king of Ur, made / caulked the boat of Enki (called the) ‘ibex of the abzu"

3a. mu us₂-sa ma₂ dara₃-abzu ^den-ki ba-ab-du₈ ba-dim₂
Year after the year: "The boat of Enki (called the) ‘ibex of the abzu’ was made / caulked"

3b. mu ^dszu-^dsuen lugal uri₂^ki-ma-ke₄ si-ma-num₂^ki mu-hul
Year: "Shu-Suen, the king of Ur, destroyed Simanum"

4a. mu us₂-sa ^dszu-^dsuen lugal uri₂^ki-ma-ke₄ si-ma-num₂^ki mu-hul
Year after the year: "Shu-Suen, the king of Ur, destroyed Simanum"

4b. mu ^dszu-^dsuen lugal uri₂^ki-ma-ke₄ bad₃ mar-tu mu-ri-iq ti-id-ni-im mu-du₃
Year: "Shu-Suen, the king of Ur, built the amurru wall (called) ‘muriq-tidnim / holding back the Tidanum"

5. mu us₂-sa ^dszu-^dsuen lugal uri₂^ki-ma-ke₄ bad₃ mar-tu mu-ri-iq ti-id-ni-im mu-du₃
Year after the year: "Shu-Suen, the king of Ur, built the amurru wall (called) ‘muriq-tidnim / holding back the Tidanum"

6a. mu us₂-sa ^dszu-^dsuen lugal uri₂^ki-ma-ke₄ bad₃ mar-tu mu-ri-iq ti-id-ni-im mu-du₃ mu us₂-sa-a-bi
: Second year after the year: "Shu-Suen, the king of Ur, built the amurru wall (called) 'muriq-tidnim / holding back the Tidanum"

6b. mu ^dszu-^dsuen lugal uri₂^ki-ma-ke₄ na-ru₂-a mah ^den-lil₂ ^dnin-lil₂-ra mu-ne-du₃
Year: "Shu-Suen, the king of Ur, erected a magnificent stele for Enlil and Ninlil"

7a. mu us₂-sa ^dszu-^dsuen lugal-e na-ru₂-a mah mu-du₃
Year after the year: "Shu-Suen, the king, erected a magnificent stele"

7b. mu ^dszu-^dsuen lugal uri₂^ki-ma-ke₄ lugal an ub-da 4-ba ma-da za-ab-sza-li^ki mu-hul
Year: "Shu-Suen, the king of Ur, king of the four quarters, destroyed the land of Zabshali"

8a. mu us₂-sa ma-da za-ab-sza-li^ki ba-hul
Year after the year: "The land of Zabshali was destroyed"

8b. mu ^dszu-^dsuen lugal uri₂^ki-ma-ke₄ ma₂-gur₈ mah ^den-lil₂ ^dnin-lil₂-ra mu-ne-dim₂
Year: "Shu-Suen, the king of Ur, made a magnificent boat for Enlil and Ninlil"

9a. mu us₂-sa ^dszu-^dsuen lugal uri₂^ki-ma-ke₄ ma₂-gur₈ mah ^den-lil₂ ^dnin-lil₂-ra mu-ne-dim₂
Year after the year: "Shu-Suen, the king of Ur, made a magnificent boat for Enlil and Ninlil"

9b. mu ^dszu-^dsuen lugal uri₂^ki-ma-ke₄ e₂-^dszara₂ umma^ki-ka mu-du₃
Year: "Shu-Suen, the king of Ur, built the temple of Szara in Umma"

Shu-sin was king of Sumer and Akkad, and was the penultimate king of the Ur III dynasty. He succeeded his brother Amar-Sin, and reigned circa 2036 BC-2028 BC.

Following an open revolt of his Amorite subjects, he directed the construction of a fortified wall between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers, intending it to hold off any further Amorite attacks. He was succeeded by his son Ibbi-Sin.

Third Dynasty of Ur c. 2112-2004 B.C.

2112-2095... Ur-Nammu

2094-2047... Shulgi

2046-2038... Amar-Suena

2037-2029... Shu-Suen

2028-2004... Ibbi-Suen

Neither Shu-Suen nor Ibbi Suen are known to have had male children and the father of Ibbi-Suen is not known.

Another example; this time a full reading of a partial tablet.

This is a list of personal names.

The reverse has a double ruling near the bottom, and below it may have a total of the number of persons / workers.

The last line could be either part of a personal name (...-Inana) who might be an overseer, or maybe the workers are identified as belonging to the Inana temple workforce.

Obv. Names: Dada, Ur-shara, Ur-Gilgamesh, Ur-ennun, Kalba, Ur-sukal, ...

Rev... bailiff, ..., ...-da, smithy, (double ruling) [N] workers (under the supervision of ?) ...-Inana (Or: belonging to the Inana temple/fields...)

In the photos below you can see what signs are what. The lowercase m (the vertical wedge) is the “personenkeil” which preceds personal names. The lowercase d (‘star” sign) is the “divine determinitive” which precedes the names of deities.

The name Ur-Gilgamesh is simply the name using the now deified Gilgamesh as a regular Sumerian deity. Well attested in the Lagash period and Ur III.