Position in chronology
NMSA 3729
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P341965.
Transliteration
1(disz) udu 1(disz) masz2 siskur2 ab2 e2-tur3 gurum2-bi ak ki ur-e11-e-ta kiszib3 ensi2-ka iti nesag mu ma2-dara3 ab zu en-ki ba-ab-du8 szu-suen lugal kal-ga lugal uri5-ma lugal an-ub-da limmu2-ba a-a-kal-la ensi2 umma ARAD2-zu
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — NMSA 3729. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: National Museum of Syria, Aleppo, Syria (P341965) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P341965..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.