Princeton 1, 277

~2036 BCE·Ur III · Neo-Sumerian·P126966

Translation · reference

Experimental

Source: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P126966.

Why it matters

Transliteration

2/3(disz) sila3 la2 1(disz) gin2
i3-nun du10-ga
i3 szu-nir-ra
nin-ur4-ra a-pi4-sal4
ki ur-e11-e-ta
kiszib3 sza3-ku3-ge
mu us2-sa szu-suen lugal-e bad3 mar-tu mu-du3
sza3-ku3-ge
dumu he2-sa6-ge
iszib szara2-ka?

Scholarly note

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — Princeton 1, 277. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Šu-Suen y2 — Year after: Šu-Suen became king based on canonical year-name formula in the transliteration.

Attribution

Image: Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey, USA (P126966) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P126966..

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The earliest historical document in human history.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.