Position in chronology
Šu-Suen 07
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSRI(shoulder 1) Šu-Suen, the beloved of Enlil, the king whom Enlil chose in his heart, the powerful king, king of Urim, king of the four quarters, dedicated this (statue) for his well being. (colophon 1, 1) Inscription, right shoulder, stone statue. (socle 1) 2 sila of bread, 2 sila of date-syrup, 1 sila of liquor, 1 sila of beer, one cut of meat, as monthly food offering from the table of Enlil, my master; 1 ..., 1 sila of good oil, as monthly food offering from the temple of Ninlil, my lady, was assigned by Šu-Suen, the beloved of Enlil, the king whom Enlil chose in his heart, the powerful…
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions — scholar edition (Vienna).
Scholarly note
Sumerian royal inscription, published in the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI) by Gábor Zólyomi and collaborators. Translation reproduced from the ETCSRI edition. ORACC text Q000994.
Attribution
Image: .
Translation excerpted from Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q000994/.
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.