Position in chronology
Gudea Statue D
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSRI(shoulder 1) Gudea, ruler of Lagaš. (statue i 1) For Ninĝirsu, the powerful warrior of Enlil, his master, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, (whose) name is everlasting, the boat-tower of Enlil, the shepherd chosen by Ninĝirsu in the heart, the powerful steward of Nanše, who submits to the orders of Bau, the child born by Ĝatumdug, entrusted with authority and the lofty sceptre by Ig-alima, provided richly with vigour by Šul-šagana, the just person loved by his city, made an eternal thing appear: he built his E-ninnu-anzud-babbar, (and) built his beloved divine audience chamber from fragrant cedarwood…
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions — scholar edition (Vienna).
Scholarly note
Sumerian royal inscription, published in the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI) by Gábor Zólyomi and collaborators. Translation reproduced from the ETCSRI edition. ORACC text Q001543.
Attribution
Image: .
Translation excerpted from Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q001543/.
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One of the earliest specimens of human writing. Not literature, not law — accounting. The need to keep track of grain in a temple bureaucracy is what pushed marks-on-clay into a system that could one day carry epics.
Marks the boundary between proto-writing and writing. We can see signs being used systematically — but not yet phonetically. The leap to recording speech itself comes a few centuries later.
The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.