Position in chronology
En-anatum I 05
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSRI(i 1) For Inana, lady of all lands. (i 3) En-ana-tum, ruler of Lagaš, chosen by Nanše in the heart, chief governor of Ninĝirsu, called by a propitious name by Inana, the child born to Lugal-Uruba, child of Aya-kurgal, ruler of Lagaš, beloved brother of E-ana-tum, ruler of Lagaš, built the Ebgal for Inana, made the E-ana exceed all the mountains, decorated it with gold and silver, and made it worthy of her. (iii 6) May Šul-MUŠxPA, the personal god of En-ana-tum, who submits to the orders of Inana, pay obeisance to Inana in the Ebgal perpetually for the well-being of En-ana-tum, ruler of Lagaš! (v 1) May the rulers of the bright future be my friend!
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions — scholar edition (Vienna).
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 Q001090.
Attribution
Image: .
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/Q001090/.
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One of the earliest specimens of human writing. Not literature, not law — accounting. The need to keep track of grain in a temple bureaucracy is what pushed marks-on-clay into a system that could one day carry epics.
Marks the boundary between proto-writing and writing. We can see signs being used systematically — but not yet phonetically. The leap to recording speech itself comes a few centuries later.
The earliest historical document in human history.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.