en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumer
2 corrections found
Early Dynastic III period, c. 23rd century BC
This date is too late. The Early Dynastic III period is conventionally dated to about 2600–2340 BCE, i.e. mainly the 26th to 24th centuries BCE, not the 23rd century BCE.
Full reasoning
The article dates Early Dynastic III to the 23rd century BC, but standard Mesopotamian chronologies place that period much earlier.
Authoritative chronology references date Early Dynastic III to about 2600–2340 BCE (or very similar ranges such as 2600–2350 BCE). That means the period falls mainly in the 26th–24th centuries BCE and only reaches its end around the mid-24th century BCE, not the 23rd century BCE.
So the phrase is off by roughly a century or more and misplaces the entire period too late.
2 sources
- Early Dynastic period | Archéologie | culture.gouv.fr
This period is traditionally divided into: Early Dynastic I (2900-2700 BCE) Early Dynastic II (2700-2600 BCE) Early Dynastic III (2600-2340 BCE).
- Art & Architecture Thesaurus Full Record Display (Getty Research)
Early Dynastic III ... Note: The third phase of the Early Dynastic period in Mesopotamia, from about 2600 to 2340 BCE.
following a period of proto-writing c. 4000 – c. 2500 BC
This date range is far too late at the end. Mesopotamian proto-cuneiform/proto-writing belongs to the late 4th millennium BCE, not to c. 2500 BCE.
Full reasoning
The article says the relevant Mesopotamian proto-writing period ran until c. 2500 BC. That is not consistent with standard chronologies of proto-cuneiform.
Specialist references place the invention of cuneiform around 3400–3300 BCE, and they date proto-cuneiform / Uruk III / Jemdet Nasr material to roughly 3200–3000 BCE (or about 3100–3000 BCE for specific tablets). By 2500 BCE, Mesopotamia already has fully developed cuneiform texts from the Early Dynastic period; that is no longer the proto-writing stage.
So while a start date in the late 4th millennium can fit, the claim that the proto-writing period extended down to c. 2500 BC is too late by several centuries.
3 sources
- ETCSL: Cuneiform writing
Cuneiform writing was most probably invented in Uruk in southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) about 3400 - 3300 BCE.
- A "New" Proto-Cuneiform Tablet - Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative
The script style dates this text to the archeological layer Uruk III, indicating that it was written during the Jemdet Nasr Period - about 3100-3000 B.C.
- The Proto-Cuneiform texts from Jemdet Nasr. I: Copies, transliterations and glossary - Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative
Related artifacts from Jemdet Nasr are listed as Uruk III (ca. 3200-3000 BC).