Evidence · Unread cuneiform: half a million tablets and the limits of Sumerian
CDLI estimates more than 500,000 exemplars and has catalogued more than 400,000; York's 2026 figure is above 550,000…
CDLI estimates more than 500,000 exemplars and has catalogued more than 400,000; York's 2026 figure is above 550,000; BDTNS transliterates 75,818 of 105,187 catalogued Ur III texts.
What it means
Key questionHow many cuneiform tablets survive, and what share has been published or transliterated?
No answer ahead yet
Openwas No evidence yet
Answer this evidence bears on500,000+ survive; under half transliterated
Supports1 for, none against
Still possibleunchanged
Next steps 1
1
Tabulate the CDLI catalogue by period and genre with the share transliterated.
~6 h
—not judged
Ranked by how likely each is to move the key question, for the time it takes
Sources 3
About CDLI (Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative)
SRCInitiative 2026
SRC
Cite it
Mysteries Department. (2026). CDLI estimates more than 500,000 exemplars and has catalogued more than 400,000; York's 2026 figure is above 550,000… [Evidence EVD0DEEB0X4E2DT]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEEB0X4E2DT
@misc{mysteriesdept_evd0deeb0x4e2dt,
title = {CDLI estimates more than 500,000 exemplars and has catalogued more than 400,000; York's 2026 figure is above 550,000…},
author = {{Mysteries Department}},
year = {2026},
note = {Evidence, catalog key EVD0DEEB0X4E2DT},
url = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEEB0X4E2DT}
}