Position in chronology
Syracuse 091
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P130642.
Transliteration
1(gesz'u) 6(gesz2) 5(u) 2(disz) sa gi sza3 kiszib3-ba 1(gesz'u) sa gi gu-nigin2-ba 1(u) [x sa-ta] gi gu-nigin2-na tur-ra [(x)] ku3-bi 4(disz) gin2 1(u) [n] sze la2-ia3 su-su inim-gi-na lu2-du10-ga dumu lu2-ga-mu giri3 da-da-ga mu us2-sa ki-masz ba-hul lu2-du10-ga dumu lu2-ga-mu
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — Syracuse 091. 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 (P130642) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P130642..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.