Position in chronology
Syracuse 015
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P130566.
Transliteration
2(u) gurusz bar-la2 i7 lugal-gu4?-e szu-luh ak u4 1(disz)-sze3 2(u) gurusz dih3 ku5-<a> 1(u) 5(disz) sar-ta a-sza3 muru13 ugula ur-mes kiszib3 a-kal-la mu ki-masz ba-hul a-kal-la dub-sar dumu lugal-e2-mah-e
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — Syracuse 015. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Syracuse University Library, Syracuse, New York, USA (P130566) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P130566..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.