Evidence · Proto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of Uruk

The archaic names carry an Akkadian name signature no better than a Sumerian one, and far below either language's own…

A data-driven Akkadian name signature (15 signs learned from 852 Old Akkadian-period Akkadian names, held-out odds ratio 12.3 in Akkadian names and 1.3 in Sumerian names) scores 1.76 (95% 1.48–2.06) in the Uruk III names; the matching Sumerian signature (held-out 70 in Sumerian names) scores 2.04–2.10 (1.44–2.67).

Suggestive0

What it means

Key questionWhat language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?

5 answers, none ahead yet

Openunchanged

Answer this evidence bears onProto-cuneiform records a non-Sumerian language

Counts againstnone for, 2 against

Still possibleunchanged

What it implies

No known-language name signature is present in the archaic names at anything near native strength; the naming tradition is unidentified, consistent with an unrecorded language or a pre-phonetic writing of names that hides its language.For the key question: What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?

Next steps 14

Labels or names: element reuse against Early Dynastic

Could shiftGood odds~4 h

On: What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?

40score

Details

Compare how the archaic names reuse their elements (type-token curves, share of elements in two or more distinct names, compositional pairs) with Early Dynastic names at matched sample sizes; linguistic names, of any language, reuse a small vocabulary productively, while ad hoc labels should not.

Test the numeral-order argument on Sumerian accounts

Could shiftGood odds~6 h

On: What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?

34score

Details

Englund argues that putting the numeral before the noun is un-Sumerian; Dahl notes that account formats may have their own order. In Early Dynastic administrative texts written in Sumerian (Fara and later, from CDLI or Oracc), measure how often the numeral precedes the counted noun. If Sumerian accounts also put it first, the syntax argument drops out and the Sumerian answer loses one objection; if they put it after, the archaic order stays as evidence for the unknown answer.

Officials' names in Uruk III

Could decideFair odds~10 h

On: What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?

28score

Details

Identify name-like entries attached to officials and institutions in Uruk III (heads of households, seal owners, officials in the Professions-list vocabulary) and score them against the Early Dynastic benchmark. Sumerian-pattern officials with non-Sumerian dependents point to a foreign workforce; non-Sumerian officials point to non-Sumerian scribes or a labelling notation.

Officials' names

Could decideFair odds~10 h

On: What language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?

28score

Details

Test name-like entries attached to officials and institutions in Uruk III, to separate the scribes' own naming culture from the listed workers'.

Ranked by how likely each is to move the key question, for the time it takesAll 14 on the question

How it was found 1 run

Semitic signature test and Archaic Ur in the archaic convention

Method Name-element enrichment against a corpus baseline · Session 7

Result. Semitic: the archaic names match the Akkadian signature no better than the Sumerian one, and far below either language's own names. That counts against H-OTHER's prediction, with low power. Archaic Ur: the Uruk III / Archaic Ur contrast holds in one convention under both conversions. Carry-over: there is a sharp turnover in name vocabulary between Uruk III and Archaic Ur..

Odds ratio of data-driven Akkadian and Sumerian name signatures in the Uruk III names; odds ratio of Englund's elements in ED I–II names converted to the proto-cuneiform convention; cosine similarity of name sign profiles across periods{'uruk3': {'95': [1.09, 1.6], 'OR': 1.35}, 'cosine': {'ed12_names_vs_ed3a_names': 0.73, 'uruk3_names_vs_ed12_names': 0.47, 'uruk3_names_vs_ed12_words': 0.28}, 'AKK_signature': {'uruk3_95': [1.48, 2.06], 'uruk3_OR': 1.76, 'train_names': 852, 'heldout_OR_akk': 12.31, 'heldout_OR_sux': 1.29}, 'SUX_signature': {'uruk3_95': [1.49, 2.67], 'uruk3_OR': 2.1, 'heldout_OR_akk': 5.4, 'heldout_OR_sux': 70.17}, 'ED12_pc_crosswalk': {'95': [4.68, 7.06], 'OR': 5.84}, 'ED12_pc_conservative': {'95': [2.75, 4.89], 'OR': 3.82}}Semitic: the archaic names match the Akkadian signature no better than the Sumerian one, and far below either language's own names. That counts against H-OTHER's prediction, with low power. Archaic Ur: the Uruk III / Archaic Ur contrast holds in one convention under both conversions. Carry-over: there is a sharp turnover in name vocabulary between Uruk III and Archaic Ur.

Figure 1

Neither a Sumerian nor an Akkadian name signature is present in the Uruk III names at anything like native strength

Odds ratio of each data-driven signature (15 signs) in names against non-name words; held-out Old Akkadian-period names and Uruk III names, 95% intervals for Uruk III

odds ratio95% low95% high

The Sumerian signature reaches 70 in held-out Sumerian names (off the scale). The Akkadian signature is mostly syllabic signs, so its absence from pre-phonetic names is weak evidence.

Drawn by the site with Semitic signature test and Archaic Ur in the archaic convention

Archaic personal names in proto-cuneiform (editor-marked, CDLI)Early Dynastic Sumerian personal names, lemmatized (Oracc ePSD2 admin corpora ED I–II, IIIa, IIIb)semitic_and_ur.py names_test.py 2 outputs

Sources 2

Kingship in the Early Mesopotamian Onomasticon 2800–2200 BCE

Andersson 2012

SRC

Semitic Names in the Fara Period

Biggs 1967

SRC

Cite it

Mysteries Department. (2026). The archaic names carry an Akkadian name signature no better than a Sumerian one, and far below either language's own… [Evidence EVD0DG2PS4YKX1E]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DG2PS4YKX1E

@misc{mysteriesdept_evd0dg2ps4ykx1e,
  title     = {The archaic names carry an Akkadian name signature no better than a Sumerian one, and far below either language's own…},
  author    = {{Mysteries Department}},
  year      = {2026},
  note      = {Evidence, catalog key EVD0DG2PS4YKX1E},
  url       = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DG2PS4YKX1E}
}