Position in chronology
NMSA 4112
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P342109.
Transliteration
[n] udu#? x x [...] 3(disz) masz2-gal 1(disz) sila4# x x x ma x-du-du szagina 1(disz) sila4 2(disz) masz2 en inanna 2(disz) udu niga 1(disz) kir11 wa-da-ru-um 1(disz) sila4 lugal-nir-gal2 mu-kux(DU) iti ki-siki-nin-a-zu# mu si-mu#-[ru-um ...] u3 x-[...] u4 8(disz)-kam
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — NMSA 4112. 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 (P342109) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P342109..
Related tablets
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.