Position in chronology
CUSAS 39, 169
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P250620.
Transliteration
mu# szu-[]suen# lugal# uri5-ma-ke4 na#-[ru2]-a-mah en-[lil2] nin-lil2-ra mu-ne#-du3# lu2-du10-ga u3 [...] [...] du [...] ti ur-nun-gal dub-sar dumu ur-szara2 sza13-dub-ba-ka
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — CUSAS 39, 169. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Šu-Suen y1 — Šu-Suen became king based on canonical year-name formula in the transliteration.
Attribution
Image: Schøyen Collection, Oslo, Norway (P250620) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P250620..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.