Position in chronology
Išme-Dagan 04
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSRI(1) En-ana-tuma, the beloved en priestess of Nanna in Urim, en priestess of Nanna in Urim, child of Išme-Dagan, king of Sumer and Akkad.
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions — scholar edition (Vienna).
Why it matters
Identifies En-ana-tuma as both en priestess of Nanna at Ur and daughter of Išme-Dagan, directly linking royal Isin dynastic authority to the prestigious lunar-cult office at its traditional Ur III heartland.
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 Q001948.
Attribution
Image: BM 090163 (British Museum, London, UK) — from Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P427807). 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/Q001948/.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.