Position in chronology
TJA pl.53, IOS 17
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P134111.
Transliteration
1(u) 4(disz) sze ur5-ra kiszib3 lu2-he2-gal2 2(u) 1(disz) sze-ba kiszib3 lugal-e-ba-an-sa6 3(asz) 3(barig) 2(ban2) sze-ba gur kiszib3# da x x x sa6 e2-kikken gibil-ta iti sig4-i3-szub-ba-gar mu us2-sa ma2 en-ki ba-ab-du8
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — TJA pl.53, IOS 17. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Institute of Oriental Studies, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (P134111) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P134111..
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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.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.