Cuneiform Tablet
Account of Rations for Six Persons
Working as Messengers for the City Governor
لوحة مسمارية من بلاد الرافدين رافقت رواد الفضاء كولومبيا في رحلتها المشهورة عام 1989 ضمن برنامج " ناسا " الفضائي تتضمن مؤنة رحلة لستة مسافرين وهي الاقدم بهذا الخصوص في العالم .
Mesopotamia, Umma.
ca. 2040 B.C.
x 3.23
This tablet was taken by astronaut Sonny Carter, an Emory University alumnus, on the November 1989 mission of the space shuttle Discovery as part of NASA's Object in Space Program. Representing the oldest human artifact to have traveled in space, the cuneiform writing on the tablet lists rations for 6 messengers undertaking a journey:
Here is the translation:
For Bama: 5 quarts beer; 5 quarts bread; 5 ounces onions; 3 ounces oil; 2 ounces alkali
For Baza: the menial: same amount
For Lugal-sazu: same amount
For Su-Esdar: 10 quarts beer; 10 quarts bread; 5 ounces onions; 3 ounces oil; 2 ounces alkali
For Mas: 5 quarts beer; 5 quarts bread; 5 ounces (onions); 3 ounces oil; 2 ounces alkali
For Ubarum: 3 quarts beer; 2 quarts bread; 56 ounces (onions); 3 ounces oil; 2 ounces alkali
Day; 24 Year: Huhnuri was raided (=Amar-Suen 7, 2040 B.C.)
