Position in chronology
OTR 081
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P123016.
Transliteration
1(gesz2) 2(u) 5(asz) 1(barig) 2(ban2) zi3 sig15 lugal 7(gesz2) 1(u) 2(asz) 1(ban2) 1(disz) sila3 dabin 4(asz) 2(barig) 1(ban2) ar-za-na [nig2]-ar3#-ra saga [...]-da [ki ...]-ba-[...]-ta# [...]-la szu ba-ti iti ezem-li9-si4 u4 1(u) ba-zal mu amar-suen lugal
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — OTR 081. 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: Columbia University Library, New York, New York, USA (P123016) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P123016..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.