Position in chronology
Aleppo 069
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P100401.
Transliteration
3(gesz2) 1(u) nigin2 ma-nu gu-nigin2-ba 2(disz) 1/2(disz)-ta a-sza3 tur-ta e2 szara2-sze3 ki lu2-[...]-ta lu2-nin-szubur szu ba-ti giri3 szesz-kal-la maszkim iti dumu-zi mu ur-bi2-lum ba-hul lu2-nin-szubur dub-sar dumu du10-ga szabra
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — Aleppo 069. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: National Museum of Syria, Aleppo, Syria (P100401) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P100401..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.