Evidence · Unread cuneiform: half a million tablets and the limits of Sumerian

Krecher identified regular sign substitutions (UD for AN, GAL for EN, NUN for LIL) across the Fara and Abu Salabikh…

Krecher identified regular sign substitutions (UD for AN, GAL for EN, NUN for LIL) across the Fara and Abu Salabikh literary tablets, and every later edition works from his system.

Supported0

What it means

Key questionWhy do the Early Dynastic literary texts from Fara and Abu Salabikh resist reading, and can they be read without later duplicates?

3 answers, none ahead yet

Openunchanged

Answer this evidence bears onUD.GAL.NUN is a recoverable orthography

Supports1 for, 1 against

Still possibleunchanged

Next steps 1

Compile the full UD.GAL.NUN substitution table from Krecher, Krebernik and Lisman and test its regularity across the Fara and Abu Salabikh tablets on CDLI.

~20 h

On: Why do the Early Dynastic literary texts from Fara and Abu Salabikh resist reading, and can they be read without later duplicates?

—not judged

Ranked by how likely each is to move the key question, for the time it takes

Sources 2

Sumerische Literatur der Fara-Zeit: Die UD.GAL.NUN-Texte (I)

Krecher 1978

SRC

The Sumerian Zame Hymns from Tell Abū Ṣalābīḫ, with an appendix on the Early Dynastic colophons

Krebernik 2020

SRC

Cite it

Mysteries Department. (2026). Krecher identified regular sign substitutions (UD for AN, GAL for EN, NUN for LIL) across the Fara and Abu Salabikh… [Evidence EVD0DEDYQRHMP6Q]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEDYQRHMP6Q

@misc{mysteriesdept_evd0dedyqrhmp6q,
  title     = {Krecher identified regular sign substitutions (UD for AN, GAL for EN, NUN for LIL) across the Fara and Abu Salabikh…},
  author    = {{Mysteries Department}},
  year      = {2026},
  note      = {Evidence, catalog key EVD0DEDYQRHMP6Q},
  url       = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEDYQRHMP6Q}
}