Position in chronology
MMFM 2005, 29, 07
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P113023.
Transliteration
2(gesz2) gag-a#-[ra]-ab#-ba# ki#-la2-bi 3(disz) ma#-na# 9(disz)# gin2# inim-ma-dingir-i3-zi i3-la2 [ugula] lugal-ku3-zu mu# ig ge6 gid2-sze3 giri3 lu2-inanna iti dumu-zi mu szu-suen lugal uri5-ma#-ke4# ma-da za-ab-sza-li mu-hul
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — MMFM 2005, 29, 07. 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: Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm, Sweden (P113023) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P113023..
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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.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.