Position in chronology
Gudea 026
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) For Nanše, the mighty lady, the lady of the boundaries, his lady, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, made an eternal thing appear: he built and restored her E-sirara, the mountain rising from among the houses, for her in her beloved city, Niĝin.
Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q000902/
Why it matters
Records Gudea of Lagaš's restoration of Nanše's temple E-sirara at Niĝin, adding a dateable monument to the corpus of pre-Ur-III Lagašite royal piety toward the boundary-goddess.
Transliteration
Scholarly note
Sumerian royal inscription, published in the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI) by Gábor Zólyomi and collaborators. Translation reproduced from the ETCSRI edition. ORACC text Q000902.
Attribution
Image: HMA 9-01831 (Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA) — from Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P232552). source
Translation excerpted from Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q000902/.
Related tablets
Related sources
The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.
The oldest surviving law code in human history. The principle that the state — not the wronged family — defines and enforces justice begins here.
Not the first law code, but the most complete and the most famous. Inscribed on a black diorite stele over two meters tall, displayed in a public place — law made visible, law made monumental.