Position in chronology
NRVN 1, 068
Not yet translated
This tablet is catalogued with its transliteration, but no published translation exists yet. Our translation engine works through the untranslated corpus every night, oldest first — this page will update the day its turn comes. If you are a specialist and can read it, we would love your help.
The world it comes from
A bureaucratic golden age, the Code of Ur-Nammu.
From the same catalogue range (near P122281)
Transliteration
1(asz) sze gur a2# [lu2 hun] 5(disz) sila3-ta iti x-x-x se3-ga# 2(u) sar du8-de3 ad#-da-kal-la u3 u-bar ur-sukkal#-ra# mu lugal-bi in#-pa3 1(disz) ur-tum-al 1(disz) lu2-en-lil2-la2 1(disz) ad-da lu2#-inim-ma-bi iti sze-sag11-ku5 mu i-bi2-suen lugal-[am3] ad-da-kal-la dumu ur2-ni-[...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — NRVN 1, 068. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Ibbi-Suen y1 — Ibbi-Suen became king based on canonical year-name formula in the transliteration.
Attribution
Image: Ist Ni 00457 (cast: CBS 09720 ?) (Arkeoloji Müzeleri, Istanbul, Turkey) — from Nippur (mod. Nuffar) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P122281). source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P122281..
Related tablets
Related sources
The earliest historical document in human history.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.
The oldest surviving law code in human history. The principle that the state — not the wronged family — defines and enforces justice begins here.
Not the first law code, but the most complete and the most famous. Inscribed on a black diorite stele over two meters tall, displayed in a public place — law made visible, law made monumental.