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Thread: How to translate an ancient Sumerian Tablet. With examples.

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    Default How to translate an ancient Sumerian Tablet. With examples.

    This is a test. For the next few minutes you will be tested on your abilities as a Sumerian scribe. After the proper training of course.

    From time to time I am asked whether or not I am a "real" translator of ancient Sumerian writings. Perhaps this is because I am self-taught, with over 15 years of experience, and yet I do not have the appropriate initials after my name, nor a University that owns my work. I also have no agenda, no boss, and no government telling me what I may or may not publish, so that's to my advantage. My only agenda is to provide the truth.

    I'm going to show you how I translate one of the oldest versions of the Sumerian written language - the pictographic or proto-Sumerian that was used before they developed the cuneiform style of writing. I have worked with the later classical cuneiform signs as well, but since there are fewer people that understand this older style and thus it makes for better evidence of my abilities, I thought I would share this with you today. And you may have fun trying your own hand at it.

    I chose a short tablet so that I would not bore some of you to death, and I picked this one especially since it is, in my opinion, an example of a training tablet - perhaps used by a senior scribe to either instruct new scribes or to test their abilities. As such it represents an interesting and amusing example for us to learn with.

    Our traditional scholars tell us that this tablet is from an excavation at Uruk, in modern Warka, Iraq, and that it dates to circa 3350 BC. It has not been translated until now. The transliteration (changing the symbols into Sumerian words or word parts) was done by Robert K. Englund, who is really the top translator and one of the founders of the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. He’s the Einstein (Big Dog) of the Sumerian tablet translation business, if you will. (He unfortunately passed away a few years ago.)

    I checked each of the symbols personally, and agree with his obviously professional transliteration, so it's simply a matter of converting that Sumerian into something that we can understand in English, which is the work of translation.

    I should mention that this is from the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin, Germany, and it's
    identification number in the proto-cuneiform catalog and on the UCLA site is P001263.

    Please examine the below image of the tablet with its symbols. I have placed the transliteration or Sumerian words next to each of the symbols, but otherwise this is entirely the work of Dr. Englund.

    Click image for larger version

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    Let me get the credits out in front and then we shall begin.
    Author(s) Englund, Robert K.
    A joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Oxford, and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin
    Found at: <http://cdli.ucla.edu>, and copyright of the Author and:
    Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative
    398 Humanities Building
    University of California
    Los Angeles, CA

    What I wished to bring out is that this 5,372 year old example of writing contains messages that are understandable to us today. And as I propose this as a training tablet for new scribes, I also posit that it has multiple possible meanings, and the task of the scribe-trainee was to uncover all of them, in order to pass the test.

    For the purposes of this example, I am not including absolutely all of the meanings that might attach to each symbol - if we are speaking about a school, then books, desks, chalk-board, teacher, students, papers and ideas might fit, but cows would not. So I have pre-eliminated some of the obvious non-working terms for you.

    Here are the traditionally accepted and peer-reviewed definitions for each of the symbols:

    Kašz is the transliterated word for this first sign, however the same sign was also used to write their words be2 and bi. The numbers after the "be" designate different versions of a sign, since most of the signs have variants, and it is the translators way to designate those variations.
    Definitions:
    1. "beer; alcoholic drink"
    2. "to open, undo; to be remote; to close"
    3. "to speak, to do"
    4. "a clay pot; a unit of liquid capacity"

    This is normal for a symbol to have many varying definitions. The Context is King in determining which of the four above is the most appropriate for the overall theme of the tablet message. So normally that's the way that we would work towards. However, in this case your instructor, the Head Scribe, is asking you to furnish him with all of the possible meanings.
    So let’s do just that, together. When we are done, the tablet entry in the Sumerian initiative can be corrected from not translated to "translated".

    The number 1 can mean either the "numeral one, or first, principal, primary," depending also upon the context, and you often need to decide which of the symbols it is referring to, since it is often placed at the side, top or bottom of a column or section. In this case it's not that important a distinction.

    Next we have the symbol for Tug2. First I should provide you with a bit of background. As a scribe in Sumer, you would be expected to understand the history, culture, religion, government, and geo-political situation, as well as having an understanding of the versions of cuneiform produced by surrounding cultures. A great many people of that time used cuneiform, and even the early pictographic form, to write their messages, and they often produced variations of the symbols to match their individual styles and preferences. You would be expected to know and recognize all of these variations.

    As part of your required knowledge of culture, you would need to know that a "fuller" is one whose occupation is to clean cloth, and in particular wool, to eliminate oils, dirt and other impurities, and to make it thicker and more durable.

    In later Roman times, fulling was conducted by slaves working the cloth while ankle deep in tubs of human urine. Urine was so important to the fulling business that it was taxed. We should assume that it was similarly employed in Sumerian times.

    Tug2 is a symbol that was also used to express the Sumerian words azlag2, dul5, nam2, tuku2, and umuš.
    Definitions:
    1. "textile, garment"
    2. "a fuller"
    3. "to cover"
    4. "fate, destiny; determined order; will, concern"
    5. "to acquire, get; to have; to marry; to be owed"
    6. "consideration, mind, thought, forethought, planning; understanding, sagacity; "

    Our final symbol is Lal2. Lal2 is actually the name for a sign that is written with two signs indicating lal. In other words, Lal2 = Lal x Lal, or two mentions of lal. So you could use two definitions for lal, or one definition that has examples using the lal2 form only.
    Definitions:
    Lal by itself, so you can choose two of these for this one symbol:
    1. "to be small, little, to be insignificant, of low value"
    2. "to harness, tie up; to suspend, harness team, member of a team, team-worker"
    Lal2, so only one of these:
    3. "to balance, suspend; to weigh out, pay; to carry; to supervise, check; to show, display"
    4. "syrup; honey"
    5. "to stretch out; to be in order" (organized, expanding, growth)

    I can understand how a scribe in training might find this a bit complicated. However, this is actually a short and fairly simple example. And yes, it is normal to have from three to a dozen meanings to choose from in each symbol. Again, the overall theme, timeline, and context, along with a careful study of how the symbols were employed on other tablets, will be your primary guide. But now it is time for us to provide our answer - the Head Scribe is not forgiving, and his impatience is beginning to show!

    Take each of the meanings from the three symbols and one number, and see what you can come up with. Here are my own answers:

    On the surface we have an answer that seems to be the most obvious one for the terms given:

    "Beer and Clothing, as a principle, are insignificant or small things."

    And this is due to the fact that the scribal group formed a part of the priestly class, and worked in the temple complex or in government spaces. Their clothing was probably a uniform tunic, and while beer was part of their entertainment time, it was not conductive to working as a scribe. This answer, while perhaps not correct on all occasions, would please the Head Scribe. (This is what I call the suck-up answer.)

    Next we have the wisdom text type answers:

    "To get things done first requires forethought and planning; then a little bit of teamwork."

    "To relate the fate or destiny (of others), first weigh it out and then display it." Especially when foretelling the fate of important personages, you need to slowly weigh it out, without rushing the story, and then display, or sell it to the customer. And if you see him or her becoming displeased with what you have to say - divert and downplay the topic, immediately.

    "To open up remote areas (expansion), first marry or inherit; then you can stretch out (expand) and become organized".

    "To principally speak what's on your mind, and then do it, is as sweet as syrup or honey."

    "First you give the beer to a fuller: and then it gets balanced out." Balanced out as the urine that is spread over the woolen cloth that you are working on.

    "A clay pot full of liquids first needs a cover, if you wish to carry it." Preparation is the key.


    No doubt you have come up with some of your own excellent examples, and you should be proud of your work. How close we are to the people of ancient Sumeria in regards to common sense ideas and helpful suggestions! I was reading one translation the other day and it was part of a published peace of wisdom literature from the same time period. A father questioned his son: "Where did you go?" The son answers "No place". And what was the father's reply? "Then why are you late?" That could fit into the conversations of any family of today just as it did in those early days.

    I hope you enjoyed this test of your scribal abilities. Please give me your comments or suggestions if you have the time. Thanks.

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    Default Re: How to translate an ancient Sumerian Tablet. With examples.

    Speak and show your mind

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    Default Re: How to translate an ancient Sumerian Tablet. With examples.

    Good One - didn't see that.

    I just noticed - Beer makes the dresses smaller.

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