Position in chronology
NMSA 3968
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P342076.
Transliteration
1(u) ma na SZIM kasz buru14 e2 nin-szubur x 1(disz) szu-e3-am3 1(disz) SZIM iti dal 1(disz) SZIM iti min-esz3 2(disz) [...] ki#? ri#? x x [...] te 1(disz) SZIM [...] la ni u3 a-tu gu-za-la2
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — NMSA 3968. 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 (P342076) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P342076..
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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.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.