Position in chronology
Enlil-bani 04
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSRI(1) For Ninisina, his lady, Enlil-bani, the shepherd, who makes everything abundant for Nibru, the farmer of Urim’s plentiful barley, who purifies all divine powers of Eridug, the beloved en-priest of Unug, the powerful king, king of Isin, king of Sumer and Akkad, the spouse choosen in the heart by Inana, built the E-urĝira.
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions — scholar edition (Vienna).
Why it matters
Enlil-bani of Isin (r. c. 1860–1837 BCE) records his construction of the E-urĝira temple for Ninisina, anchoring his legitimacy in the goddess's patronage of Isin and his priestly role at Uruk.
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 Q001986.
Attribution
Image: IMJ 74.049.0249 (The Israel Museum, Jerusalem) — from Isin (mod. Bahriyat) ? — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P430002). 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/Q001986/.
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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.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.