Position in chronology
MVN 02, 354
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P113653.
Transliteration
1(ban2) 4(disz) sila3 sze 8(disz) sila3 ziz2 sze sar-sar-ra ugu2 ur-szul-pa-e3 ga2-ga2-dam 2(disz) sila3 i3-gesz erin2 bala-sze3 gub-sze3! ba-ab-szesz2(KWU896) kiszib3 lu2-he2-gal2 tum3-dam kiszib3 lu2-he2-gal2 tum3-dam mu amar-suen lugal
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — MVN 02, 354. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Amar-Suen y1 — Amar-Suen became king based on canonical year-name formula in the transliteration.
Attribution
Image: University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium (P113653) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P113653..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.