Position in chronology
AnOr 07, 047
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P101342.
Transliteration
1(disz) gu4 u2 2(disz) udu u2 1(disz) sila4 u4 2(u) 5(disz)-kam ki in-ta-e3-a-ta ur-ku3-nun-na i3-dab5 iti ezem-me-ki-gal2 mu e2 szara2 ba-du3 du11-ga [dub-sar] dumu lu2-[nin-gir2-su] sipa na-gab2-tum
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — AnOr 07, 047. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Montserrat Museum, Barcelona, Spain (P101342) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P101342..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.