Position in chronology
Rochester 029
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P128134.
Transliteration
2(disz) udu amar 2(disz) sila4 niga 2(disz) masz2-gal iti u4 2(u) 6(disz) ba-zal 2(disz) masz2-gal niga 2(disz) sila4 niga 2(disz) masz2-gal iti u4 2(u) 7(disz) ba-zal nig2 ezem-ma ab-e3 szul-gi-ra giri3 a-a-dingir-mu sagi sza3 nibru ki a-hu-ni-ta ba-zi iti ezem-an-na mu amar#-suen lugal 1(u) 2(disz)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — Rochester 029. 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: Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA (P128134) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P128134..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.