Position in chronology
NATN 859
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P121556.
Transliteration
1(barig) 2(ban2) zi3-gu saga# 1(asz) 4(barig) 2(ban2) dabin gur sza3-gal szitim e2 geme2-en-lil2-la2 dumu-munus lugal lukur nin-urta x-x-me ki ur-en-lil2-la2-ta ba-zi iti szu-numun-a u4 3(u) ba-zal mu ma-da# za-ab-[sza]-li# ba-hul
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — NATN 859. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA (P121556) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P121556..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.