Position in chronology
TCL 02, 5494
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P131584.
Transliteration
5(gesz2) 4(u) 1(disz) udu 4(gesz2) 2(u) la2 1(disz) masz2 mu-kux(DU) lugal ki ab-ba-sa6-ga-ta ha-ba-lu5-ge2 ensi2 adab i3-dab5 iti szu-esz5-sza mu amar-suen lugal 1(gesz'u)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — TCL 02, 5494. 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: Louvre Museum, Paris, France (P131584) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P131584..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.