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Dating texts

A reference page linking a name, group, or concept to the materials that discuss it.

Distinguishing narrated time, composition and surviving copy.

The protagonist does not date the story; the copy does not identify its first formulation
The protagonist does not date the story; the copy does not identify its first formulationIL Archive · original diagram · CC BYImage source

Text

Material, find context and script help date a witness. Composition may require linguistic analysis, transmission history and textual relationships. [1]

A story about an ancient king need not date to his lifetime. Sargon’s birth witness from NinevehNineveh and KuyunjikNineveh is an ancient Assyrian city near Mosul in northern Iraq; Kuyunjik is one of its archaeological moundsGlossary · Click to read the explanation illustrates the distinction, without allowing every detail of the tradition to be dated from one copy.

References and notes

  1. CDLI, P365306, K 03401 + Sm 2118: Sargon birth legend Artifact metadata: Nineveh, Neo-Assyrian period; witness date differs from Sargon’s lifetime. Return to the text ↑

Research history

Substantive changes are retained here. Minor copy edits remain in the internal operational log.

  1. Edition 2 · 11 October 2026 · editor:aladmin

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

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Cite this record

IL Archive, «Dating texts», Edition 2, https://ilarchive.com/en/entities/dating-texts