Position in chronology
TCNU 658
Translation · reference
ExperimentalSource: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P135504.
Why it matters
Transliteration
3(disz) gin2 ku3-babbar a2 dumu ga-ti mu-kux(DU) gu-du-du szu ba-ti mu szu-suen lugal-e ma2-gur8-mah en-lil2 nin-lil2-ra mu-ne-dim2
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — TCNU 658. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Šu-Suen y2 — Great barge for Enlil and Ninlil fashioned based on canonical year-name formula in the transliteration.
Attribution
Image: Museo di Antichità di Torino, Turin, Italy (P135504) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P135504..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.