Position in chronology
RIME 4.01.04.07, ex. add17
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P460890.
Transliteration
isz-me-da-gan lugal ki-en-gi ki-uri-ra u4 en-lil2-le nin-urta ur-sag kal-ga-ni maszkim-sze3 mu-ni-in-tuk-a szita mi-tum sag ninnu mu-na-dim2 szeg12 al-ur3-ra tukul ki-ag2-a-ni mu-na-an-gub-ba-am3
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Early Old Babylonian (ca. 2000-1900 BC)) — RIME 4.01.04.07, ex. add17. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (P460890) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P460890..
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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.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.