Position in chronology
Berens 070
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P105781.
Transliteration
3(ban2) ku6-sze6 ki szabra-e2-ta ku6-ba lu2 mar-sa-sze3 kiszib3 ka5-a-mu dub-sar mar-sa giri3 ur-nin-mar iti# sze-sag11-ku5 ka5-a-mu dub-sar dumu he2-ti
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — Berens 070. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Ireland (P105781) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P105781..
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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.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.