Position in chronology
ICP varia 34
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P275231.
Transliteration
2(disz) sila3 kasz 2(disz) sila3 ninda 2(disz) gin2 i3 ba-za-mu lu2 tukul 2(disz) sila3 kasz 2(disz) sila3 ninda 2(disz) gin2 i3 sag-lugal-e-zu lu2 tukul 4(disz) sila3 kasz 4(disz) sila3 ninda 4(disz) gin2 i3 sa2-du11 u4 2(disz)-kam lugal-ni-mah lu2 tukul iti ezem-dumu-zi# mu en ga-esz ba-hun
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — ICP varia 34. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Institut Catholique, Paris, France (P275231) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P275231..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.