Position in chronology
MVN 01, 005
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P113038.
Transliteration
1(ban2) 2(disz) sila3 kasz saga 4(ban2) 7(disz) sila3 kasz du u4 2(u)-kam 1(disz) dug dida [...] ka e2?-gal-x 1(disz) dug dida# du 1(ban2) 5(disz)? [sila3] 1(disz) kal-la nar? 1(disz) dug dida du 1(ban2)# 5(disz)# sila3 ki# ur-mes-ta kiszib3 ensi2 iti [x-]suen#? mu [szu-]suen# [lugal?]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — MVN 01, 005. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Šu-Suen y1 — Šu-Suen became king based on canonical year-name formula in the transliteration.
Attribution
Image: Museum Forum der Völker (Völkerkundemuseum der Franziskaner), Werl, Germany (P113038) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P113038..
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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.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.