Position in chronology
EEN 297, CBS 06593
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P229199.
Transliteration
[...]-kur [...] sze-nu gesz sze-du10# gesz sze#-sze# gesz szinig# gesz szinig-dili gesz szinig-kur gesz szarx(NE)-sza4-bid3# gesz MES-[...] [...] ildag2#-kur#-ra# gesz# ildag2-bur-ra# gesz# ildag2-szita3-na [...] kur-ra [...] ab#-ba
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)) — EEN 297, CBS 06593. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (P229199) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P229199..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.