Position in chronology
NMSA 3823
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P342004.
Transliteration
[2(disz) udu?] niga [x] unu#-sze3 [...]-x sagi maszkim 2(disz) masz2-gal niga en-me-szara2 giri3 ur-e2-x-x sagi a-tu sagi maszkim# iti u4 1(u) 6(disz) [ba?]-zal# ki a-hu-we-er-ta ba-zi iti sze-sag11-ku5 mu hu-uh2-nu-ri ba-hul 4(disz)
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — NMSA 3823. 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 (P342004) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P342004..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.