Canal excavation volumes, dated (UET 5, 856)

machine draft

Old Babylonian problem text from Ur computing earthwork for a canal, dated by a year name.

View at Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative · Try the in-browser translator

Designation	UET 5, 0856
Museum no.	IM 057600
Collection	National Museum of Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq
Language	Sumerian
Period	Old Babylonian
Genre	Mathematical
Provenience	Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar)
Findspot	30.9607, 46.1063
CDLI no.	P254848
Source	Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative — CDLI: reuse of catalogue/transliteration data with citation of CDLI; images restricted (not fetched)
Lines	39 (39 with machine English)
Font	Santakku (Old Babylonian (cursive)), by Sylvie Vanséveren

Machine draft. English generated by model atf-en-best-v2 (montycrypto/atf-to-english) (version d871547f92875415dbbc7f4a37fd65e35f8ac97d) on 2026-10-05, line by line from the ATF. Not a scholarly translation.

Line	ATF	Cuneiform	English (machine draft)
obverse
1	6(disz) ninda 4(disz) kusz3 [us2]	· 𒃻 · · ·	6 ninda 4 cubits the length
2	1/2(disz) ninda 2(disz) kusz3 [sag]	· 𒃻 · · ·	1/2 ninda 2 cubits, the head
3	2(disz) kusz3 bur3#	· · 𒁓	2 cubits depth
4	sahar-bi 8(disz) 1/3(disz) sar 6(disz) gin2	𒅖𒁉 · · 𒉡 · 𒍤𒀀	its soil: 8 1/3 sar 6 shekels
5	3(u) 3(disz) 1/2(disz) ninda us2 1(disz) ninda sag	· · · 𒃻 𒍑 · 𒃻 𒊕	33 1/2 ninda, the length, 1 ninda,
6	2(disz) kusz3 bur3	· · 𒁓	2 cubits depth
7	sahar-bi 1/2(iku) GAN2 1(u) 7(disz) sar	𒅖𒁉 · 𒃶 · · 𒉡	its soil: 1/2 iku surface area, 17 sar;
8	2(u) 6(disz) 1/2(disz) ninda 3(disz) kusz3 us2	· · · 𒃻 · · 𒍑	26 1/2 ninda 3 cubits the length
9	1/2(disz) ninda 2(disz) kusz3 sag	· 𒃻 · · 𒊕	1/2 ninda 2 cubits, the head
10	2(disz) kusz3 bur3	· · 𒁓	2 cubits depth
11	sahar-bi 3(u) 6(disz) sar	𒅖𒁉 · · 𒉡	its soil: 36 sar;
12	2(u) 2(disz) ninda us2 1(disz) ninda sag	· · 𒃻 𒍑 · 𒃻 𒊕	22 ninda, the length, 1 ninda,
13	2(disz) kusz3 bur3	· · 𒁓	2 cubits depth
14	sahar-bi 4(u) 4(disz) sar	𒅖𒁉 · · 𒉡	its soil: 44 sar;
15	1(gesz2) 2(u) 9(disz) ninda us2	· · · 𒃻 𒍑	89 ninda length,
16	sahar-bi 1(iku) 1/2(iku) GAN2 5(disz) 2/3(disz) sar	𒅖𒁉 · · 𒃶 · · 𒉡	its soil: 1 1/2 iku surface area, 5 2/3 sar;
reverse
1	sza3-ba 7(disz) 1/2(disz) ninda us2	·𒉿 · · 𒃻 𒍑	therein: 7 1/2 ninda length,
2	1(disz) ninda sag 2(disz) kusz3 bur3	· 𒃻 𒊕 · · 𒁓	1 ninda the head, 2 cubits the depth
3	sahar-bi 1(u) 5(disz) sar ki 1(disz)	𒅖𒁉 · · 𒉡 𒆠 ·	its soil: 15 sar, with 1;
4	3(u) 7(disz) 1/2(disz) ninda us2 1/2(disz) ninda 2(disz) kusz3 sag	· · · 𒃻 𒍑 · 𒃻 · · 𒊕	37 1/2 ninda, the length, 1/2 ninda, 2 cubits, the height
5	2(disz) kusz3 bur3	· · 𒁓	2 cubits depth
6	sahar-bi 1/2(iku) GAN2 ki 2(disz)	𒅖𒁉 · 𒃶 𒆠 ·	its soil: 1/2 iku surface area, 2
7	1(u) 6(disz) 1/2(disz) ninda us2 4(disz) kusz3 sag	· · · 𒃻 𒍑 · · 𒊕	16 1/2 ninda, the length, 4 cubits,
8	2(disz) kusz3 bur3	· · 𒁓	2 cubits depth
9	sahar-bi 1(u) 1(disz) sar	𒅖𒁉 · · 𒉡	its soil: 11 sar;
10	1/2(iku) GAN2 2(u) 6(disz) sar#	· 𒃶 · · 𒉡	1/2 iku surface area: 26 sar
11	kal-{d}szu-bu-la	𒆗·𒁍𒆷	Kal-ubula
12	1(u) 4(disz) 1/2(disz) ninda us2 1(disz) ninda sag	· · · 𒃻 𒍑 · 𒃻 𒊕	14 1/2 ninda, length, 1 ninda,
13	sahar-bi 2(u) 9(disz) sar	𒅖𒁉 · · 𒉡	its soil: 29 sar;
14	2(u) 9(disz) 1/2(disz) ninda us2 1/2(disz) ninda 2(disz) kusz3 [sag]	· · · 𒃻 𒍑 · 𒃻 · · ·	29 1/2 ninda, the length, 1/2 ninda, 2 cubits, the height
15	sahar-bi 3(u) 9(disz)# 1/3(disz) sar#	𒅖𒁉 · · · 𒉡	its soil: 39 1/3 sar
16	1(u) 7(disz) ninda us2 [4(disz) kusz3 sag]	· · 𒃻 𒍑 · · ·	17 ninda length, 4 cubits width
17	sahar-bi 1(u) 1(disz) 1/3(disz)# [sar]	𒅖𒁉 · · · ·	its soil: 11 1/3 sar
18	1/2(iku) 2(u) 9(disz)# [2/3(disz) sar]	· · · · ·	1/2 iku 29 2/3 sar
left col 1
1	ARAD2-i3-li2-szu	𒀴𒉌𒇷𒊒	Warad-ilu
2	szunigin 1(iku) 1/2(iku) GAN2 5(disz) 2/3(disz) sar us2	𒋗𒃸 · · 𒃶 · · 𒉡 𒍑	total: 1 1/2 iku surface area, 5 2/3 sar surface area
left col 2
1	i7 buranun-na	𒀀𒇉 𒌓𒄒𒉣𒈾	the Euphrates
2	iti du6-ku3	𒌗 𒁲𒆬	month: “Mudammiq,”
3	mu e2 {d}inanna sza3 larsa{ki}-ma ba-du3	𒄭 𒂍 · · ·𒈠 𒉿𒁲	year: “The house of Inanna in Larsa was erected.”