Position in chronology
AAICAB 1/2, pl. 124, 1971-260
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P248775.
Transliteration
1(gesz2) sze gur lugal gur-zabar u3 gur-gibil-ta uri5-sze3 ki-su7 a-kun-bil-ta ki ARAD2-ta gi-ne2 ma2-lah5 szu ba-ti iti min3-esz3 mu nanna kar-zi-da e2-a-na ba-an-kux(KWU147)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — AAICAB 1/2, pl. 124, 1971-260. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK (P248775) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P248775..
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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.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.