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

Cooper judges the UD.GAL.NUN compositions very hard to understand and thinks they left the curriculum before Ur III…

Cooper judges the UD.GAL.NUN compositions very hard to understand and thinks they left the curriculum before Ur III, which would mean no later duplicates exist to be found.

Suggestive0

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 onOnly texts with later duplicates can be read

Supports2 for, none 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 1

Sumerian Literature and Sumerian Identity

Cooper 2016

SRC

Cite it

Mysteries Department. (2026). Cooper judges the UD.GAL.NUN compositions very hard to understand and thinks they left the curriculum before Ur III… [Evidence EVD0DEDYSNXZZ9Q]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEDYSNXZZ9Q

@misc{mysteriesdept_evd0dedysnxzz9q,
  title     = {Cooper judges the UD.GAL.NUN compositions very hard to understand and thinks they left the curriculum before Ur III…},
  author    = {{Mysteries Department}},
  year      = {2026},
  note      = {Evidence, catalog key EVD0DEDYSNXZZ9Q},
  url       = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEDYSNXZZ9Q}
}