Position in chronology
NATN 205
Translation · reference
ExperimentalSource: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P120903.
Why it matters
Transliteration
1(disz) ma-na 1(u) 2(disz) gin2 ku3-babbar2 ki nin-za-ge dam ur-szul-pa-e3-ta lugal#-a2-zi-da# x-x szu ba-ti iti bara2-za3-gar-ra-ta iti szu-numun-a gi4-gi4-dam mu us2-sa si-mu-ru-um ba-hul# lugal-a2-zi-da dumu lu2-al-du10-ga dam-gar3
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — NATN 205. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Šulgi y24 — Year after: Simurrum destroyed based on canonical year-name formula in the transliteration.
Attribution
Image: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (P120903) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P120903..
Related tablets
Related sources
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.