Position in chronology
CDLI Literary 000339, ex. 022
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P346101.
Transliteration
[...]-ka# gal2 ba-an#-[...] [...] za#!?-gin3-na szu ba-an-[...] [...] ba#?-ra-an-e3 u4 gal ki bi2-in-us2# [...] mah#-a sa i-ni-in-sa3-x? [...] mar-ru10 sa2 bi2-in-du11 [...]-ga#? sahar su#? bi2#-ib#-zi-x [...]-ga#? szika# [...] [...] x [...] [...] x [...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)) — CDLI Literary 000339, ex. 022. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: British Museum, London, UK (P346101) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P346101..
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Related sources
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.