JCS 28, 238 03

~1934 BCE·Old Babylonian·P466540

Translation · reference

Experimental

Source: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P466540.

Why it matters

Transliteration

3(ban2) 6(disz) sila3 1(u) 4(disz) x i3#-[nun]
1(ban2) 8(disz) 1/3(disz) sila3 ga-ar3
2(barig) 7(disz) 1/3(disz) sila3 zu2-lum
iti udru
3(ban2) 7(disz) 1/2(disz) sila3 i3-nun
2(ban2) ga-ar3
2(barig) 1(ban2) 1(disz) 2/3(disz)# sila3# zu2-lum
iti# sze-sag11-ku5
1(ban2)# 7(disz) 1/2(disz) sila3 i3-nun
[n] ga-ar3
nu-ur2-i3-li2-szu#
szu# ba-an-ti#
mu li#-pi2-it#-esz18#-dar# lugal-e en-nin-sun2#-[zi] en nin-[gubalag] uri5#-[ma] masz2-e i3-[pa3]

Scholarly note

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Early Old Babylonian (ca. 2000-1900 BC)) — JCS 28, 238 03. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Lipit-Eštar y1 — Lipit-Eštar became king based on canonical year-name formula in the transliteration.

Attribution

Image: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (P466540) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P466540..

Related tablets

Related sources

~3200 BCE

Proto-Cuneiform Account Tablet

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.

~3500 BCE

Kish Tablet

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.

~2450 BCE

Stele of the Vultures

The earliest historical document in human history.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.