QuestionsProto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of UrukDo the roughly 440 personal names in the archaic texts follow Sumerian, Semitic or some other naming pattern?Answer
Answer · Proto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of Uruk
The names avoid Sumerian name elements (Englund)
The archaic names avoid the signs of the Sumerian name elements: the people listed had a naming tradition distinct from the Sumerian one, as Englund argued.
Where it stands
Still possibleNone pieces of evidence for, one against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.
What it predicts
- Names will contain the signs of Englund's Sumerian element list less often than pseudo-names drawn from the corpus baseline (below the null's 2.5th percentile).
- The deficit will hold in each archive.
What would rule it out
- The element share of archaic names is at or above the corpus baseline.
Evidence none for · 1 against
Tested by 1 run
| Run | Measured | Result | Against | Decision | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Run | share of names containing at least one listed element, against a resampling null; token odds ratio with a tablet-cluster bootstrap | {'S_vs_B1': {'or_95': [1.09, 1.6], 'null_95': [0.074, 0.124], 'decision': 'NO PREFERENCE', 'observed': 0.124, 'odds_ratio': 1.35, 'null_median': 0.098}, 'S_vs_B2': {'or_95': [0.7, 1.38], 'null_95': [0.104, 0.159], 'decision': 'NO PREFERENCE', 'observed': 0.124, 'odds_ratio': 0.97, 'null_median': 0.13}, 'S+EN_vs_B1': {'or_95': [1.31, 2.2], 'null_95': [0.137, 0.2], 'decision': 'ENRICHED', 'observed': 0.265, 'odds_ratio': 1.8, 'null_median': 0.169}, 'S+EN_vs_B2': {'or_95': [0.79, 1.51], 'null_95': [0.215, 0.285], 'decision': 'NO PREFERENCE', 'observed': 0.265, 'odds_ratio': 1.11, 'null_median': 0.25}} | B1: 17,976 Uruk III administrative non-name entries · B2: 300 non-name entries on the 41 name tablets | Primary test (Englund's list S against the corpus baseline B1): NO PREFERENCE, at the upper edge of the null. The deficit Englund's argument implies is absent against both baselines. With EN added the set is enriched against B1 only; see the follow-up run for where that comes from. |
The questions it answers
Cite it
Mysteries Department. (2026). The names avoid Sumerian name elements (Englund) [Answer ANS0DFQRTBS5NZP]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DFQRTBS5NZP
@misc{mysteriesdept_ans0dfqrtbs5nzp,
title = {The names avoid Sumerian name elements (Englund)},
author = {{Mysteries Department}},
year = {2026},
note = {Answer, catalog key ANS0DFQRTBS5NZP},
url = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DFQRTBS5NZP}
}