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Recently Deciphered 4,500-Year-Old Pillar Shows First Known Record of a Border Dispute
Smithsonian ^ | December 7, 2018 | Jason Daley

Posted on 12/17/2018 10:16:20 PM PST by SunkenCiv

...the pillar sat in British Museum for 150 years until Irving Finkel, a curator in the Middle East department, deciphered the Sumerian cuneiform writing on the cylinder this year. As it turns out, the object, now on view in an exhibit called "No Man's Land," was erected to establish a border between the warring city states of Lagash and Umma, located in present-day southern Iraq.

According to the museum, the two cities were disputing over a fertile area called Gu'edina or the 'Edge of the Plain.' Around 2400 B.C. Enmetena, king of Lagash, had the pillar erected to stake his claim to the territory. Rachel Campbell-Johnston at The Times reports it is likely the earliest written evidence of a border dispute and is also the first time the term "no man's land" is used.

A ceremonial mace head made for Gishakidu, king of Umma, and Enmetena's foe, is also on display, as well as the Ur Plaque, which illustrates the offerings both cultures made at a border shrine.

The marble pillar's "glistening surface," which "would have shone out brightly and assertively under the sun beating down on the plain," according to the museum, wasn't just a roadside sign marking Lagash's territory. It is a heavily inscribed object, telling the complete story of the war between the two cities over the land. It also includes what may be the earliest-known example of written word play. Whoever chiseled the pillar didn't just take pains to emphasize the name of the Lagash god Ningirsu, substituting some of the cuneiform marks in the name with the symbol for god, they also threw some shade on the rival god of Umma, writing the god's name in a messy, almost illegible script.

(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: cuneiform; edgeoftheplain; enmetena; epigraphyandlanguage; girsu; gishakidu; godsgravesglyphs; guedina; iraq; irvingfinkel; lagash; ningirsu; nomansland; sumeria; sumerian; sumerians; umma
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To: SunkenCiv

There’s been border disputes for as long as there have been human’s and neighbors.


21 posted on 12/18/2018 8:07:42 AM PST by Truthsearcher
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To: Haiku Guy; Red Badger
Wow, I'd been on a roll 'til I did that one...

22 posted on 12/18/2018 8:10:31 AM PST by SunkenCiv (and btw -- https://www.gofundme.com/for-rotator-cuff-repair-surgery)
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To: Red Badger
No, that was his professional name when he started manufacturing bedroom furnishings. His Nibiku Dresser was his first big seller, claimed he got the idea from some extraterrestrial.

23 posted on 12/18/2018 8:12:43 AM PST by SunkenCiv (and btw -- https://www.gofundme.com/for-rotator-cuff-repair-surgery)
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