Position in chronology
NMSA 4050
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P342090.
Transliteration
6(bur3) 1(iku) GAN2# gesz-ur3-ra a-ra2 2(disz@t) 1(esze3) GAN2-ta a2 erin2-na-bi u4 1(gesz2) 4(u) 5(disz) 2(bur3) 1(esze3) GAN2 gesz-ur3-ra a-ra2 3(disz) 1(esze3) GAN2-ta# a2 erin-na-bi u4 [x] [...] x kiszib3# [...] dub-sar mu amar-suen lugal ur-bi2-lum mu-hul nig2-u2-rum dub-sar dumu nanna-i3-zu#
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — NMSA 4050. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Amar-Suen y1 — Amar-Suen became king based on canonical year-name formula in the transliteration.
Attribution
Image: National Museum of Syria, Aleppo, Syria (P342090) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P342090..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.