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Sumerian · Book

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Sumerian · Book

The first cities. The first stories. Still here, written in clay.

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Every tablet in the corpus — sortable by date, title or period; filterable by theme and period. Find a name, follow a period, or explore a subject through the records it left behind.

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Religion & Myth Law Economy Astronomy & Mathematics Daily Life Writing & Literature

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Ubaid Uruk Period Early Dynastic Akkadian Empire Ur III · Neo-Sumerian Old Babylonian Old Assyrian Middle Babylonian Middle Assyrian Neo-Assyrian Neo-Babylonian Achaemenid Persian

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Editorial Sumerian literature Sumerian royal Assyrian royal Assyrian archives

74,829 of 102,257 tablets · 4 filters activeClear filters

40001–40050 of 74829

Page 801 / 1497

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianEditorial

Plimpton 322

Whatever its purpose, this single tablet shows that Babylonian mathematicians, working in base-60, had an arithmetic understanding of right triangles a millennium before Pythagoras was born.

Astronomy & Mathematics

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianOur engine

Akkadica 134/1 §2.9b

(obverse) 14 [...] 254 (4 sixties + 14?) [...] [...]-Suen(?) [...]-Suen(?) Erra-[...] [...] Yada'atum(?) [...] (Break) [...] 6 gur [...] 1 gur [...] Zakuri(?) [...] 6 gur [...] Zakuri(?)

Economy

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianOur engine

AOAT 440, 197-198 BM 97939

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.

Economy

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianOur engine

AOAT 440, 199-200 BM 97938

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).

Economy

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianOur engine

BiMes 19, 187, 244 9-02878

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.

Writing & Literature

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianOur engine

CDLI Literary 000343, ex. 056

(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)

Religion & Myth·Writing & Literature

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianOur engine

CDLI Literary 000365, ex. 048

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)

Religion & Myth·Daily Life

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianOur engine

CDLI Literary 000365, ex. 053

(Beginning broken) 1. "[... if today you are going to] enter [the mountains ...], 2. [...] youthful Utu should [know about it from us]. 3. [...] the decisions concerning [the mountains are Utu's business]; 4. the decisions concerning [the mountains] of felled cedar are youthful Utu's — Utu should know about it from us." 5. [Then] Gilgamesh took hold of a white kid; 6. he clasped [a brown] kid, a sacrificial offering, [to his breast]; 7. [in his hand] he held the holy staff before his nose, 8. as he spoke to [Utu of heaven]: 9. "[Utu, I am going to] enter [the mountains] — [be my] helper! 10. […

Religion & Myth·Daily Life

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianOur engine

CDLI Literary 000365, ex. 058

1. [...] he set [...] toward [...] 2. [By the life of] my own mother, divine [Nin]sun(?), and my [father], holy Lugal[banda]! 3. May I [become again(?)] as if slumbering in wonder(?) on the lap of my own mother Ninsun. 4. For a [second] time he indeed said it to him: 5. By the life of my own mother Ninsun and my [father(?)], holy Lugalbanda! 6. Whether he be a [hu]man, whether he be known(?), whether he be a god [...], 7. my steps that I have set toward the mountains I shall not set back toward the city! 8. The faithful slave, who would soothe(?), who makes life seem sweet, 9. answered his mas…

Religion & Myth·Daily Life

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianOur engine

CDLI Literary 000561, ex. 004

obverse (fragment, three lines preserved): [A cl]od that has been bathed in water — dust has come into my eyes. A dog, when it gnaws a corpse, its chest heaves up. The great dragon (ušumgal), having smitten heads (i.e. having slain) [...] (remainder broken)

Religion & Myth·Daily Life

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianOur engine

CDLI Literary 000578, ex. 002

Say to my [brothers]: this is what Ilaba-tah-lugalĝa says: The journey we are going on is long, and the true king, our king, [has pressed on(?)] ... journey [has been added] to journey. We will not be able to ask after our mother. May the day not set upon our neighborhood ... deceitfully(?). 1 sila of salt, 1 [sila of gazi-spice], 1 šagadu-garment — have a courier bring (them) back to me! Our journey is long. It is urgent!

Daily Life·Writing & Literature

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianOur engine

CDLI Literary 000584, ex. 003

Say to Lugal-ibila: this is what Inim-Inanna says: Do not neglect the Sumerian language! (lit. "do not let your neck fall away from Sumerian") For the second time I am sending someone to you concerning the correct (use of the) language. The youngster who sits before you — do not let him go out of the tablet-house (school)! And furthermore, let no one deceive you with lies. Should he say to you, "Let me go to his (i.e. my) father," until I and you have exchanged word about the agreed sign, [I will keep] sending a man to you. [...] (remainder broken)

Writing & Literature·Daily Life

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianOur engine

DWJ 2, 019-021

(obverse) To Sîn-magir speak: thus (says) Lugal-gubbani: May Enlil keep you in good health! May the scattered be gathered! The one who(?) had ceased(?) (work) for 2½ ... [broken] ... [illegible] ... (seal legend / closing lines) Lāqīpum(?), gudu-priest of Enlil, the king's contract-agent(?), son of Ninurta-nīšu, servant of Abī-ēšuḫ.

Plimpton 322

Akkadica 134/1 §2.9b

AOAT 440, 197-198 BM 97939

AOAT 440, 199-200 BM 97938

BiMes 19, 187, 244 9-02878

CDLI Literary 000343, ex. 056

CDLI Literary 000365, ex. 048

CDLI Literary 000365, ex. 053

CDLI Literary 000365, ex. 058

CDLI Literary 000561, ex. 004

CDLI Literary 000578, ex. 002

CDLI Literary 000584, ex. 003

DWJ 2, 019-021

A balbale of Inana (Inana A)

A balbale to Enki for Ishme-Dagan (Ishme-Dagan E)

A balbale to Enlil for Ur-Namma (Ur-Namma G)

A balbale to Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inana A)

A balbale to Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inana B)

A balbale to Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inana D)

A balbale to Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inana E1)

A balbale to Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inana F)

A balbale to Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inana G)

A balbale to Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inana O)

A balbale (?) to Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inana P)

A balbale to Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inanna C)

A balbale to Inana as Nanaya (Inana H)

A balbale to Nanna (Nanna A)

A balbale to Nanna (Nanna B)

A balbale to Nanna (Nanna C)

A balbale to Nanna (Nanna D)

A balbale to Nanshe (Nanshe B)

A balbale to Ninazu (Ninazu A)

A balbale to Ningishzida (Ningishzida A)

A balbale to Ningishzida (Ningishzida B)

A balbale to Ninurta (Ninurta F)

A balbale to Shara (Shara A)

A hymn of Inana for Ur-Ninurta (Ur-Ninurta A)

A hymn to Asarluhi (Asarluhi XA)

A hymn to Bau's Beneficent Protective Goddess (Bau A)

A hymn to Enki for Ishme-Dagan (Ishme-Dagan X)

A hymn to Enlil for Samsu-iluna (Samsu-iluna F)

A hymn to Enlil for Samsu-iluna (Samsu-iluna H)

A hymn to Haia for Rim-Sin (Rim-Sin B)

A hymn to Hendursanga (Hendursanga A)

A hymn to Inana for Hammu-rabi (Hammu-rabi F)

A hymn to Inana (Inana C)

A hymn to Inana (Inana F)

A hymn to Ishkur for Ur-Ninurta (Ur-Ninurta F )

A hymn to Kusu

A hymn to Marduk for Abi-Eshuh (Abi-Eshuh A)