Position in chronology
OSP 1, 026
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P216093.
Transliteration
1(barig@c) lugal-en-nu 1(barig@c) e-lu2 1(barig@c) giri3-ni [...] 5(asz@c) geme2 szu-gi4 1(asz@c) sza3-du10 munus lugal-sa6-ga an-da-sze [...] munus usz#-bar [...] gin2 sze [...] x-me-za [x sza3-du10?] nita [x sza3]-du10# munus
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (ED IIIb (ca. 2500-2340 BC)) — OSP 1, 026. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (P216093) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P216093..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.