Chapter 03 · 2334 – 2154 BCE

Akkadian Empire

Sargon brings rival city-states under imperial rule.

Illustration: A temple priestess and scribes working in an Akkadian-period courtyard
A temple courtyard at Ur, around 2300 BCE.

~2130 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Gudea 013

“(1) For Ĝatumdug, the mother of Lagaš, ..., his mother who bore him, built her temple in Ĝirsu.”

Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q001479/

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~2130 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Gudea 014

“(1) For Ḫendursaĝ, his master, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, built his temple.”

Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q001480/

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~2130 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Gudea 015

“(1) For Ḫendursaĝ, his master, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, ....”

Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q001481/

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~2130 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Gudea 016

Gudea's dedication of the E-mehušgal-anki temple to Igalim, son of the city-god Ninĝirsu, documents the religious building program through which Lagaš's rulers asserted divine favour and civic identity in the late third millennium.

“(1) For Igalim, the beloved child of Ninĝirsu, his master, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, built his E-mehušgal-anki.”

Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q000894/

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~2130 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Gudea 017

“(1) To Igalim, the beloved child of Ninĝirsu, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, dedicated this (mace) for his well-being.”

Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q000895/

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~2130 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Gudea 018

Attests Gudea's construction of an Inana temple at Ĝirsu, adding one entry to the catalogue of Lagašite royal building programs that defined Neo-Sumerian piety and statecraft before the Ur III unification.

“(1) For Inana, the lady of all lands, his lady, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, devotee of Ĝatumdug, built her temple in Ĝirsu.”

Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q000896/

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~2130 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Gudea 019

Attests Gudea of Lagaš's construction of a temple to Inana at Ĝirsu, adding one data point to the corpus of his building activity in the late 3rd millennium.

“(1) For Inana, the lady of all lands, his lady, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, built her temple in Ĝirsu.”

Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q000897/

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~2130 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Gudea 020

“(1) For Inana, the lady of all lands, his lady, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, devotee of Ĝatumdug, built her E-ana in Ĝirsu.”

Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q000898/

Read the full tablet entry