Position in chronology
Syracuse 291
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P130842.
Transliteration
3(u) 6(disz) geme2 u4 1(disz)-sze3 geme2 kikken2-na ugula lu2-sa6-i3-zu ka i7-da-ta umma-sze3 sze si-ga u3 sze ga6-[ga2] kiszib3 nam-sza3-tam ur-nam2-nun-ka iti e2-iti-6(disz) mu amar-suen lugal ur-nam2-nun-ka dub-sar dumu ur-nin-su sa12-du5-ka
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — Syracuse 291. 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: Syracuse University Library, Syracuse, New York, USA (P130842) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P130842..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.