Position in chronology
Nisaba 30, 51
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P332370.
Transliteration
1(asz) gu2 siki x [...] 3(u) ma-na siki [3(disz)-kam us2] 2(asz) gu2 siki 4(disz)-kam us2 4(asz) gu2 5(disz) ma-na siki du szunigin 7(asz) gu2 3(u) 5(disz)! ma#-[na] [...] pisan-bi 1(u) [...] mu-kux(DU)# a-bi2-a-ti#? [...] ki um?-me?-[...-ta] iti ezem-szul#-[gi] mu en-nanna kar-zi-da ba-[hun]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — Nisaba 30, 51. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: private: anonymous, New York, New York, USA (P332370) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P332370..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.