Chapter 05 · 2000 – 1600 BCE
Old Babylonian
Hammurabi, the Epic of Gilgamesh, mathematics.
~1800 BCE · Multiple manuscripts across collections; see ETCSL bibliography for witnesses
An elegy on the death of Nawirtum (Elegy 2)
In plain English
An evil day fell upon a young woman in her prime — a beautiful, well-favored girl. Something like a net closed over her, a fledgling that had barely left the nest. Her mother, a woman who had borne many children, was herself caught in a snare. Nawirtum — compared here to a fertile wild cow and to a gakkul vessel — never once said 'I am sick,' and so no one looked after her. Several lines follow, but the tablet is too damaged to read. What survives at the end places the scene in Nippur, the city shrouded in fog, before the surface breaks off entirely.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“An evil day ...... upon the maiden in her ....... Upon the fair woman, the well-favoured maiden, the evil eye ....... Upon the fledgling overstepping its nest, a net has ....... The fecund mother, the mother of children, is ...... by a snare. The yellow cow, the fertile (?) wild cow, ...... like a gakkul vessel. Nawirtum, the fertile (?) wild cow, ...... like a gakkul vessel. She who never said "I am sick" was not cared for. She who did not ...... did not ...... the divine place. Like their resting-place, their hurled ...... was not ....... Nibru is covered in fog (?); in the city .......…”
Source: ETCSL c.5.5.3: An elegy on the death of Nawirtum (Elegy 2). Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Robson, E. & Zólyomi, G. (eds.), The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=c.5.5.3
Read the full tablet entry~1800 BCE · Multiple manuscripts across collections; see ETCSL bibliography for witnesses
An ululumama to Nanna (Nanna J)
In plain English
Nanna is addressed as lord and glory of heaven, his appearance in the high skies blazing with radiance. He is king, glittering light, and crown of Ur — the great lion of holy An, firstborn of Enlil, seed of a bison, beloved of the gods. He inspires awe across the land, carrying the just crown and shining sceptre, sparkling over the high mountains, and filled with princely divine powers at the centre of Nippur. Seven lines are too damaged to read, and after a brief image of Nanna charging forward aggressively and never tiring, the surviving text breaks off entirely.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“Lord, glory of heaven, suited to ......, Nanna, whose appearance in the high heavens is adorned with radiance! King, glittering light, crown of Urim, Nanna, glittering light, crown of Urim! Great lion of holy An, first-born of Enlil, seed of a bison, beloved of the gods, great strength inspiring awe in the Land, with the just crown and the shining sceptre, sparkling over the high mountains, ...... of Enlil filled with princely divine powers, ...... in the centre of Nibru, highly skilled at examining ......, 7 lines fragmentary Butting ...... aggressively, ......, never tiring, ...... in…”
Source: ETCSL c.4.13.10: An ululumama to Nanna (Nanna J). Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Robson, E. & Zólyomi, G. (eds.), The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=c.4.13.10
Read the full tablet entry~1800 BCE · Multiple manuscripts across collections; see ETCSL bibliography for witnesses
An ululumama to Suen for Ibbi-Suen (Ibbi-Suen D)
In plain English
Suen is addressed as the great lord whose light lifts high across the vault of the sky — a powerful dragon descending from the high mountains to shed light on the people below. He is the crown and joy of the father who begot him, an impressive son of Ninlil, honored in the E-kur, and bright enough to be seen even at noon. Called father Nanna, he knows how to make the night a pleasure; several phrases are too damaged to read, but the hymn closes praising him as a prince whose glorious radiance fills the heavens the moment he appears.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“Great lord, light holding his head high in the vault of the sky, ...... brilliance, Suen, powerful dragon from the high mountains shedding light on the people, light of the remote heavens, crown ......, joy of the father who begot him! Impressive son born of Ninlil, respected in the E-kur, visible even at noontime, youthful Suen, ...... light of heaven, whose majestic radiance is visible even at noontime, light who illuminates the black-headed people, father Nanna, emerging from the remote (?) ......, understanding well how to make the night pleasant! Respected prince who, when he appears, is the glorious radiance of the heavens!”
Source: ETCSL c.2.4.5.4: An ululumama to Suen for Ibbi-Suen (Ibbi-Suen D). Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Robson, E. & Zólyomi, G. (eds.), The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=c.2.4.5.4
Read the full tablet entry~1800 BCE · BM 097939 — British Museum, London, UK
AOAT 440, 197-198 BM 97939
In plain English
This is an expense sheet for a plowing operation. Eighteen plow-teams are on the books. The man who handles the breaking-plow gets 2 barig (about 120 liters) of barley as his allowance. The crew's food ration comes to 2 ban 4 sila (about 24 liters) of flour. The rear oxen of the teams get 3 ban 3 sila (about 33 liters) of barley as fodder, and another 1 ban 5 sila (about 15 liters) of barley goes to feed the goats.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“18 plow-teams (iniātum) — the registration (talpittu). 2 barig of barley: the holder of the harbu-plow. 2 ban 4 sila of flour: their food ration. 3 ban 3 sila of barley: fodder for the rear ox(en). 1 ban 5 sila of barley: for the goats.”
Source: engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-fable-5 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~1800 BCE · BM 097938 — British Museum, London, UK
AOAT 440, 199-200 BM 97938
In plain English
This is a payroll slip for farm work. Seventy-two liters of barley went to six men who broke up clods in the fields; eighty-four liters went to twelve men who gathered the clods; and twenty-four liters went to two men who piled up earth for the irrigation dike. Grand total paid out: 180 liters (three barig) of barley, booked as an expenditure. The arithmetic checks out — the individual payments add up exactly to the total.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“1 barig, 1 ban, 2 sila of barley: wages of 6 men, breakers [of clods]; 1 barig, 2 ban, 4 sila of barley: wages of 12 men, gatherer(s) of clods; 2 ban, 4 sila of barley: wages of 2 men who heaped up the dike. Total: 3 barig of barley, expended (zi-ga).”
Source: engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-fable-5 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~1800 BCE · HMA 9-02878 — Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
BiMes 19, 187, 244 9-02878
In plain English
This tablet is essentially a roster of names, each man identified by his father: Ipiq-[...], son of Ili-wedeku; Imgur-Enlil, son of Enlil-abum; Ipiq-šina, son of Ilum-abum; Sipipum, son of Imgurrum; and again Ipiq-šina, son of Ilum-abum — this time with his job title added: he is a diviner, a professional reader of omens. If the tablet once recorded the transaction these men witnessed, that part has not survived here; what remains is the list of the people who stood by it.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“Ipiq-[...], son of Ili-wedeku; Imgur-Enlil, son of Enlil-abum; Ipiq-šina, son of Ilum-abum; Sipipum, son of Imgurrum; Ipiq-šina, the diviner, son of Ilum-abum.”
Source: engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-fable-5 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~1800 BCE · N 1054 — University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
CDLI Literary 000343, ex. 056
In plain English
The readable lines are the rescue instructions from the myth of Inanna's descent: when the powers of the underworld try to buy you off with gifts — a river full of water, a field full of grain — refuse them, don't reach out your hand. Instead, demand the corpse hanging from the peg. Then one of you is to sprinkle the plant of life over it, and the other the water of life, to bring the goddess back from the dead. The first and last lines of the fragment are too damaged to read, and the rest of the tablet is lost.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“(obverse, fragmentary) 1. [...] ... [...] 2. [When they] offer [(the river with its water)] to you, do not accept it! 3. [When they] offer [(the field with its grain)] to you, do not accept it! 4. "[Give us the corpse] hanging from the peg," say to her! 5. [One of you sprinkle the plant of] life, one [the water of life], over [her] ... 6. [...] ... [...] (remainder broken)”
Source: engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-fable-5 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry~1800 BCE · IM 058542 — National Museum of Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq
CDLI Literary 000365, ex. 048
In plain English
Utu, let me tell you something — listen to me; let me greet you properly, and pay attention. In my city people are dying, and it breaks the heart. People just vanish, and it makes me sick inside. I leaned over the city wall and saw the corpses drifting in the river, so many the water could barely carry them. And I know it: the same thing will happen to me — that is how it goes. No one is tall enough to reach heaven. The tablet breaks off here; the opening line, addressing a 'young man, free-born son,' and the ends of most lines are lost to damage.
AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.
“Young man, free-born son, ... [in] the mountain, what [...]? Utu, let me speak a word to you — give [your] ear to my word! Let me greet you — may you pay heed to it! In my city a man dies, and the heart is stricken; a man perishes, and [my] heart [is heavy]. I craned my neck over the city wall: corpses floating on the water ... [made the river] overflow [...]. And I too ... [...] — shall it be so for me? [Thus] it shall be. The tallest man ... [cannot stretch to heaven ...] (remainder broken)”
Source: engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-fable-5 · medium confidence
Read the full tablet entry