Position in chronology
CDLI Literary 000823, ex. 001
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P346414.
Transliteration
[...] x x [...] u4 na-me dumu nam-tag-ga nu-tuku# ama-ni nu-um-tu-u4! inim# la-ba-si erin2 nam-tag-ga nu-tuku# la i-du-u2! i-na s,a-bi-im ul#?-ta nu-gal2-la-am3 dab-dab-ba-da u4 ba-da-zal it-ta-am!-ra-at gu4-gu4-u4-da utu ba-an-da-szir3 it-ta-am-ra-at! x-ri szul-e gaba-diri-ga sza# lu-sze-te-er-mi iti6 ba-an-da-an-szum2
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)) — CDLI Literary 000823, ex. 001. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: British Museum, London, UK (P346414) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P346414..
Related tablets
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.