2900 – 2334 BCE
Early Dynastic
City-states, kings, the first wars.
Sumer fragments into competing city-states — Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Kish, Nippur. Kings emerge as a permanent class, supported by temples and armies. The earliest royal inscriptions, the earliest border disputes (Lagash vs. Umma), and the earliest literary fragments date to this turbulent age.
Primary sources
Tablets from this period
3196 tablets dated to Early Dynastic — showing 24 below; browse all 3196.
CDLI Lexical 000002, ex. 191
[...] |1(N58).BAD~a| EN, IB [...] Linen-cloth(?) SUKKAL (vizier) Great one, GARA2 Garment, GARA2 [...] Great one of the throne-base Great one of |ZATU737xDI| SANGA-priest of |ZATU737xX| SANGA-priest of |ZATU737xX| [ZATU725(?)] [DAM(?)] (spouse/wife?)
Writing & LiteratureDaily Life
CDLI Lexical 000003, ex. 034
1 unit — NAM2[...] 1 unit — GAL~a (great/large) SZAH2~a 1 unit — NAM2 APIN~a (plow [official]) 1 unit — GAL~a [...] 1 unit — GAL~a SZAB~a 1 unit — PA~a NAM2 [...] 1 unit — AB~a [...] 1 unit — GAL~a [...]
Writing & LiteratureDaily Life
CDLI Lexical 000013, ex. 023
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC)) — CDLI Lexical 000013, ex. 023. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureCDLI Seals 006634 (physical)
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC)) — CDLI Seals 006634 (physical). No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
CUSAS 17, 103
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC) ?) — CUSAS 17, 103. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
CUSAS 17, 104
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC) ?) — CUSAS 17, 104. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
CUSAS 17, 105
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC) ?) — CUSAS 17, 105. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
CUSAS 35, 471
[...] , [...] [...] , [...] 4 (units) , UR[?] X goat DA~a 4 (units) , [dedicated/given] 4 (units) , [overseer/person?] head [...] , [...] bird DAR~a? [...] , [...] DA~a [milk/dairy?] 4 (units) , young animal (calf?) lord/EN [distributed?] 2 (units) , storehouse? BU~a [bread-ration with fire/fuel?] [...] , [bread-ration with fire/fuel?] X X [...]
Writing & Literature
CUSAS 35, 472
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC) ?) — CUSAS 35, 472. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
CUSAS 35, 473
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC)) — CUSAS 35, 473. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureEarly Town on the Deh Luran Plain 154, 156
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC)) — Early Town on the Deh Luran Plain 154, 156. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
EK 1, pl. 06, 1a
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC)) — EK 1, pl. 06, 1a. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
EK 4, pl. 34, W 1930-752
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC)) — EK 4, pl. 34, W 1930-752. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
EK 4, pl. 38, W 1930-339c
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC)) — EK 4, pl. 38, W 1930-339c. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
FMB 27
PA~a GU4(?) 4(N14) — NESAG~a, KI~a, EN~a, NAM2, KAB, GAR 5(N14) — GAN2, AB~a, X, EN~a(?) 3(N14) — X, AD~c(?) 3(N14) — KA~a, DU6~a 2(N50) 7(N14)(?) — GAN2, |SILA3~a×DUG~a| [X] — IB~a, MASZ, URUDU~a [X] — TUM3, DUB~b [X] — MUSZ3~a, X 2(N14) — GISZ×SZU2~a, X [...] 2(N14) — BU~a# [...] 2(N14) — X, BU~a# [...] 4(N14) — GAL~a, X, SZUBUR(?) [...]
Writing & LiteratureFs Krecher 330-332 01
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC) ?) — Fs Krecher 330-332 01. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureFs Krecher 336-337 03
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC) ?) — Fs Krecher 336-337 03. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureFs Krecher 338 05
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC) ?) — Fs Krecher 338 05. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureFs Krecher 339-340 07
12 she-goats, 2 male goats — Utu-im-ru. 16 she-goats, 3 male goats — E2-su13-ag2. 33(?) she-goats — Me-mah-nu-sa2. 23 [she-goats] — Nam-mah2-sud3. 15 [she-goats] — Amar-gu2-la2. 40 male goats. 144 — grand total.
Writing & LiteratureFs Krecher 340 08
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC) ?) — Fs Krecher 340 08. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureFs Krecher 341-342 10
1 Lugal-inim-ma(?) 1 Sud-[...]-[...] 1 donkey, [young/prime type] 1 jenny (female donkey) [1]0+5 sheep [n] selected [animals(?)] [...] ... 1 SAG×HA, DI, [...] 1 donkey, [young/prime type] 1 jenny (female donkey) [1]0+5 sheep 5 minas of copper, [weighed as] tun3-la2 [...] steppe(?)-si(?)
Writing & LiteratureFs Krecher 342-343 11
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC) ?) — Fs Krecher 342-343 11. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureFs Krecher 343-344 12
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED I-II (ca. 2900-2700 BC) ?) — Fs Krecher 343-344 12. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureFs Krecher 349-350 17
[n?] AN# [x] [x?] 3: Hu-bu7 1: Ur-Nanshe 1: Bilx-ga-UL4, foreman ½: Mes-ukken 2: Lugal-a2-mah
Writing & Literature