Position in chronology
Enlil-bani 09
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) When I, Enlil-bani, the shepherd, who makes everything abundant for Nibru, the farmer of Urim’s plentiful barley, the en priest suitable for Unug, ceaseless provider of Eridug, the spouse chosen in the heart by Inana, established justice in Sumer and Akkad, then I built the eight palaces of the kings.
Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q001991/
Why it matters
Enlil-bani of Isin claims to have 'established justice in Sumer and Akkad' — the same reforming formula later codified by Hammurabi — linking his reign to a tradition of royal law-giving a century before Babylon's famous code.
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 Q001991.
Attribution
Image: MS 4585 (Schøyen Collection, Oslo, Norway) — from uncertain (mod. uncertain) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P253651). 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/Q001991/.
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