Position in chronology
MVN 05, 128
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P114348.
Transliteration
6(disz) amar masz-da3 [...] e2-uz-ga ki uri5-ki-[du10] muhaldim 6(disz) amar masz-da3-nita2 szu-gid2 e2-kiszib3-ba-sze3 sza3 mu-kux(DU)-ra-[ta] u4 2(u) 1(disz)-kam ki in-ta-e3-[a-ta] ba-zi giri3 nu-ur2-suen dub-sar iti ezem-me-ki-gal2 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)) — MVN 05, 128. 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: private: anonymous, unlocated (P114348) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P114348..
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Related sources
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.