Position in chronology
MVN 02, 276
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P113575.
Transliteration
pisan-dub-ba sza3-bi su-ga sza3-ze2 i3-gal2 mu us2-sa bad3 mar-tu ba-du3
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Ur III (ca. 2100-2000 BC)) — MVN 02, 276. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Šulgi y38 — Year after: The Amorite wall was built based on canonical year-name formula in the transliteration.
Attribution
Image: Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva, Switzerland (P113575) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P113575..
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Related sources
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Marks the boundary between proto-writing and writing. We can see signs being used systematically — but not yet phonetically. The leap to recording speech itself comes a few centuries later.
The earliest historical document in human history.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.