Position in chronology
AAICAB 1/2, pl. 167, 1975-297
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P248931.
Transliteration
la2-ia3 9(gesz2) 4(u) 8(disz) 1/2(disz) gu-nigin2 gi la2-ia3 e2-us-ga lu2-du10-ga su-su-dam sza3 bala-a mu en inanna unu masz2-e i3-pa3 lu2-du10-ga dub-sar dumu lugal-nesag-e
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — AAICAB 1/2, pl. 167, 1975-297. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK (P248931) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P248931..
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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.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.