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 021

“(1) For Inana, the lady of all lands, his lady, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, 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/Q000899/

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

Gudea 022

“(1) For Inana, the lady of all lands, his lady, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, built her 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/Q001482/

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

Gudea 023

“(1) To Inana, the lady of all lands, his lady, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, dedicated this (vessel) 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/Q001483/

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

Gudea 024

Records Gudea of Lagaš's construction of a temple to Mešlamta-ea in Ĝirsu, adding one data point to the corpus of pre-Ur III royal building inscriptions that map Sumerian cultic geography.

“(1) For Mešlamta-ea, his master, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, built his 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/Q000900/

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

Gudea 025

Gudea's dedication of the E-sirara temple to Nanše at Niĝin attests the governor of Lagaš's active patronage of a goddess whose portfolio explicitly included boundary-setting and social justice, linking civic piety to legal order in the Ur III period.

“(1) For Nanše, the mighty lady, the lady of boundaries, his lady, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, made an eternal thing appear: he built and restored her E-sirara, the mountain rising from among the houses, in her beloved city, Niĝin.”

Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q000901/

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

Gudea 026

Records Gudea of Lagaš's restoration of Nanše's temple E-sirara at Niĝin, adding a dateable monument to the corpus of pre-Ur-III Lagašite royal piety toward the boundary-goddess.

“(1) For Nanše, the mighty lady, the lady of the boundaries, his lady, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, made an eternal thing appear: he built and restored her E-sirara, the mountain rising from among the houses, for her in her beloved city, Niĝin.”

Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q000902/

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

Gudea 027

“(1) For Nanše, the mighty lady, the lady of the boundaries, his lady, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, made an eternal thing appear: he built and restored her E-sirara, the mountain rising from among the houses, in her beloved city, Niĝin, (and) restored her lofty city wall.”

Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q001484/

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

Gudea 028

“(1) For Nanše, the mighty lady, his lady, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, built her 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/Q001485/

Read the full tablet entry