TMH NF 1-2, 208

~2037 BCE·Ur III · Neo-Sumerian·P134519

Translation · reference

Experimental

Source: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P134519.

Why it matters

Transliteration

5(disz) ma-na
1(u) gin2 siki nig2-lam2 4(disz)-kam us2
ki lugal-ma2-gur8-re-ta
um-mi-t,a-bat5
szu ba-ti
iti NE-NE-gar
mu szu-suen lugal
sza-at-suen
dumu-munus lugal
um-mi-du10
geme2-ni

Scholarly note

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — TMH NF 1-2, 208. 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: Hilprecht Collection, University of Jena, Germany (P134519) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P134519..

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The earliest historical document in human history.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.