The Kish tablet (MSVO 4, 74)

Not kept here. This copy isn't ours to show. See it where it's published.

A polished limestone tablet, 61 by 56 by 29 mm, found in 1926 in the upper stratum of the palace at Kish and often called the oldest written document. CDLI classes it as an Uruk III administrative text with signs for heads, workers, copper and a festival; it is one of five proto-cuneiform texts from Kish. Not to be confused with the later Kish tablet of the Sumerian King List.

Iraq Museum, Baghdad (plaster cast in the Ashmolean Museum). CDLI terms: transliteration reusable with attribution; photograph copyright National Museum of Iraq

Copies 1

Cdli transliteration, photograph and line art (p005476)cdli.earth · CDLI terms: transliteration reusable with attribution; photograph copyright National Museum of IraqPrimary source: MSVO 4, 74 (P005476): the Kish tablet, CDLI artifact record1 step from the original

Where it's published

Where it is kept

Iraq Museum, Baghdad · Museum

Sources 2

Cite it

Mysteries Department. (2026). The Kish tablet (MSVO 4, 74) [Artifact ART0DEDRGBK9XPY]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ART0DEDRGBK9XPY

@misc{mysteriesdept_art0dedrgbk9xpy,
  title     = {The Kish tablet (MSVO 4, 74)},
  author    = {{Mysteries Department}},
  year      = {2026},
  note      = {Artifact, catalog key ART0DEDRGBK9XPY},
  url       = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ART0DEDRGBK9XPY}
}