QuestionsUnread cuneiform: half a million tablets and the limits of SumerianWhy do the Early Dynastic literary texts from Fara and Abu Salabikh resist reading, and can they be read without later duplicates?Answer
Answer · Unread cuneiform: half a million tablets and the limits of Sumerian
Only texts with later duplicates can be read
Early Dynastic literary texts without a later duplicate cannot be read with confidence by any method, because the spelling omits what grammar needs; only compositions with Old Babylonian parallels will ever be secure.
Where it stands
Still possibleTwo pieces of evidence for, none against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.
What it predicts
- No full, agreed translation of a Zame hymn or UD.GAL.NUN myth appears without the discovery of a later duplicate.
- Any newly excavated Old Babylonian duplicate of an Early Dynastic composition immediately changes its reading substantially.
What would rule it out
- A complete UD.GAL.NUN substitution table plus internal analysis produces a translation of a duplicate-less composition that specialists accept as secure.
Evidence 2 for · none against
FOR
The questions it answers
Cite it
Mysteries Department. (2026). Only texts with later duplicates can be read [Answer ANS0DEDWX41X1XH]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DEDWX41X1XH
@misc{mysteriesdept_ans0dedwx41x1xh,
title = {Only texts with later duplicates can be read},
author = {{Mysteries Department}},
year = {2026},
note = {Answer, catalog key ANS0DEDWX41X1XH},
url = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DEDWX41X1XH}
}