# 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…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/unread-cuneiform/evidence/EVD0DEEB0X4E2DT/cdli-estimates-more-than-500-000-exemplars-and-has  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Unread cuneiform: half a million tablets and the limits of Sumerian](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/unread-cuneiform)Evidence

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.

Supported0

## What it means

Key question[How many cuneiform tablets survive, and what share has been published or transliterated?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/unread-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT2T64VQB/how-many-cuneiform-tablets-survive-and-what-share-has-been)

No answer ahead yet

**Open** was No evidence yet

Answer this evidence bears on[500,000+ survive; under half transliterated](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/unread-cuneiform/answers/ANS0DEEANK5JS75/500-000-survive-under-half-transliterated)

Supports1 for, none against

**Still possible** unchanged

## Next steps 1

1

Tabulate the CDLI catalogue by period and genre with the share transliterated.

~6 h

[On: How many cuneiform tablets survive, and what share has been published or transliterated?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/unread-cuneiform/questions/QST0DEDT2T64VQB/how-many-cuneiform-tablets-survive-and-what-share-has-been)

**—** 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)](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDHPH2QMG3/about-cdli-cuneiform-digital-library-initiative)

Initiative 2026

SRC

[Database of Neo-Sumerian Texts (BDTNS): About](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDH8V5MW2C/database-of-neo-sumerian-texts-bdtns-about)

Molina 2026

SRC

[Towards Universal Access to Cuneiform Heritage (TUA-CH)](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDHQ2ATWMM/towards-universal-access-to-cuneiform-heritage-tua-ch)

York 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
```

Key

**EVD** 0DEEB0X4E2DT

Kind

Evidence

Tier

Supported

Version

1

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