Position in chronology
Gudea Statue G
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSRI(i 1) For Ninĝirsu, the powerful warrior of Enlil, his master, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, the builder of Ninĝirsu's E-ninnu, built Ninĝirsu, his master's E-ĝidru, the temple of seven niches, the temple whose scepter takes precedence, (and) for which Ninĝirsu decided a good fate. Ninĝirsu dispatches the joyful bridewealth of Bau, the child of An, his beloved spouse, from this (temple). (Gudea's) personal god, Ninĝišzida follows them, (and) Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, escorts them from Ĝirsu to Iri-kug to congratulate (on the occasion). (ii 17) In this very year he transported diorite from the mountains…
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 Q001546.
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/Q001546/.
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.