Position in chronology
Lugal-zage-si 1
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSRI(i 1) To Enlil, king of all lands. (i 3) When to Lugal-zage-si, king of Uruk, king of the Land, išib priest of An, lumah priest of Nisaba, child of Bubu, ruler of Umma, lumah priest of Nisaba, the one looked upon favourably by An, king of all lands, chief governor of Enlil, the one given wisdom by Enki, nominee of Utu, chancellor of Suen, general of Utu, provider of Inana, the child born by Nisaba, nourished on rich milk by Ninhursaĝa, the man of Meš-saĝĝa-Unuga, the servant reared by Ningirim, the lady of Uruk, chief steward of the gods, Enlil, the king of all lands, gave the rule over the…
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions — scholar edition (Vienna).
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Why it matters
Lugal-zage-si's votive inscription to Enlil attests the first known claim by a Sumerian ruler to kingship over 'all lands' — a universal-sovereignty ideology that Sargon of Akkad would soon appropriate and militarily enforce.
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 Q001379.
Attribution
Image: CBS 06982a (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) — from Nippur (mod. Nuffar) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P222898). 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/Q001379/.
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