Position in chronology
NMSA 4157
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P342124.
Transliteration
2(disz) gurusz u4 3(u)-sze3 a2# ur-dub-la2 u3 ad-da-<ni>-ir gal2 e2-gal-ke4 a2 si-ra-a ki ur-szara2-ta kiszib3# ARAD2 mu us2-sa e2 puzur4-da-gan mu us2-sa-bi lugal-iti-da dub-sar dumu szesz-kal-la
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — NMSA 4157. 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 (P342124) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P342124..
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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The earliest historical document in human history.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.