For years, the Southwestern University library has proudly claimed a 4,000-year-old cuneiform tablet from Sumer as the oldest object in its collection.

But no one knew what was written on the tiny tablet – until now.

In 2013, a graduate student from Heidelberg University in Germany decided to translate the tablet as part of his Ph.D. research. Southwestern sent him high-resolution photos of the tablet to assist with the research.

The student, Changyu Liu, recently completed the translation project and shared his findings with Southwestern. He also published his findings in a journal titled Aula Orientals.

According to Liu, the tablet dates from the Third Dynasty of Ur (Ur III), a kingdom that existed in the area we now know as southern Iraq from 2112-2004 BC. Liu has specifically identified the tablet as dating from the reign of Shulgi, the second king of Ur III. He believes the tablet was inscribed in the 46th year of Shulgi’s reign, or 2049 BC. He has even been able to pinpoint the specific date − the 17th day of the fourth month of the 46th year of Shulgi’s reign.

The tablet comes from a village called Puzrish-Dagan, which was founded by Shulgi in the 39th year of his reign (2056 BC). Puzrish-Dagan was a redistribution center for animals (mainly livestock) and animal products.

Liu believes the Sumerian text on the tablet translates as follows:

“1 duck, 1 pigeon, 1 dove, 1 male piglet (in) the canebrake, (as) food for my queen; 1 duck, 1 pigeon, dead, (were) brought to the palace; (when) the 17th day of the month (having) passed, (they were) the withdrawals (of) Ur-Lugal-edina. Month 4, SH 46.”

“The tablet describes the withdrawal/expenditure of poultry and pork from Ur-Lugal-edina for the queen Shulgi-simti, who was the wife of King Shulgi,” Liu said. “Ur-Lugal-edina was probably a servant of the queen Shulgi-simti. This poultry and pork might then be offered to the temple or directly eaten by Queen Shulgi-simti or other members of the royal family.”

Although the cuneiform tablet Southwestern owns is not particularly rare (Liu says there are as many as 20,000 such tablets from Puzrish-Dagan in existence and 120,000 tablets dating from the entire Ur III dynasty), it is still important because it comes from the earliest known civilization in the modern world, the Sumerian civilization.

“One cannot underestimate its value,” Liu said. “It is a very significant element of Ur III material, and for the understanding of the history of the first human civilization. We know this tablet has existed for more than 4,000 years, which is a very invaluable heritage from our ancestors. It was during this period that humans went from a barbarous life into a civilized life.”

Liu said he found out about Southwestern’s tablet through an online cuneiform database based at UCLA. He said most of the tablets from Puzrish-Dagan were looted or illicitly excavated by local Iraqi people since the beginning of 20th century. One American in particular, Edgar James Banks, bought a large number of cuneiform tablets from local Iraqi people and sold them to various U.S. universities, libraries and private collectors.

Kathryn Stallard, director of Special Collections and Archives, is not sure how the tablet came into Southwestern’s possession. She suspects it might have been donated by either a former faculty member or a Methodist minister who acquired it on a trip to the holy land.

Before Liu’s research, the best guess Southwestern had as to the tablet’s origin came from David Tabb Stewart, a former religion professor who had some knowledge of the Sumerian civilization. Stewart guessed that the tablet dated from the 44th year of Sulgi, not the 46th year.

“Now that we have Liu’s research in hand, we can update our record,” Stallard said.