All tablets.

Sumu-El 1

Attests Sumu-El's construction of a sacred storehouse for Inana at Ur, anchoring his reign within the tradition of royal temple-building that legitimised kingship across the Ur III and Isin-Larsa periods.

Sumu-El 2

Attests Sumu-El's construction of Nanaya's temple E-ituda at Ur, anchoring the goddess's early cultic presence in that city within the dynastic building program of an Old Babylonian king.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

Sumu-El 2002

Dedicatory inscription naming Sumu-El as king of Ur to the moon-god's consort Ningal: one of the surviving votive texts anchoring the reign of this understudied Isin-Larsa ruler.

Warad-Sin 11

Warad-Sin dedicates a temple to Inana at Zabalam and names Kudur-mabuk as his father, anchoring the Elamite-origin dynasty of Larsa within the traditional Sumerian gesture of piety-for-longevity.

Abi-sare 2005 / CDLI Seals 012800 (CDLI Seals 012800 (composite))

(1) ..., the scribe, child of Lu-Ninšubur, the temple administrator of Ningal, is the slave of Abi-sare.

Abi-sare 2006 / CDLI Seals 012801 (CDLI Seals 012801 (composite))

(1) Lugal-šuba, the scribe, child of Ur-dukuga, the slave of Abi-sare.

Writing & Literature

Abi-sare 3add

(1) For Nanna, his master, Abi-sare, the powerful man, king of Urim, built and restored the city wall of Iškun-Suen.

Gungunum 2

(1) For Utu, the offspring of Nanna, the heir of the E-kišnuĝal, who was born by Ningal, his master, En-ana-tuma, the zirru priestess, the en priestess of Nanna in Urim, child of Išme-Dagan, king of Sumer and Akkad, built his E-hili, built his holy storehouse, and dedicated it to him for the well-being of Gungunum, the powerful man, king of Urim, and for her (own) well-being.

Gungunum 3

(1) Gungunum, king of Larsa, king of Sumer and Akkad, the powerful heir of Samium, fashioned both the bricks and the walls of the great wall of Larsa, its name is “Utu is the vanquisher of the rebellious lands”, in a single year.

Gungunum 4

(1) Gungunum, king of Larsam, king of Sumer and Akkad.

Gungunum 5add

(i 1) When An and Enlil granted the rule over Sumer and Akkad and the leadership of the Amorite lands fully to Utu in Larsam, then Gungunum, powerful man, king of Larsam, farmer of Urim, avenger of the E-babbar, king of Sumer and Akkad, powerful heir of Samium, built the great city wall of Larsa, its name is “Utu is the vanquisher of the rebellious lands”. (ii 2) By my surpassing expertise I did drain the swamps of my city. I did make its bricks and complete the great city wall in a single year. I did make the Euphrates flow right through the middle of my city. (ii 10) In those days, during…

Sumu-El 2003 / CDLI Seals 012803 (CDLI Seals 012803 (composite))

(i 1) Sumu-El, the powerful man, king of Urim, king of Sumer and Akkad: Lu-Ninšubur, the scribe, child of Kudanum, is your servant.

Sumu-El 2007 / CDLI Seals 012045 (CDLI Seals 012045 (composite))

(1) Kug-Lugalbanda, šita-eša priest of Ningal, child of Nasilim, servant of Sumu-el.

Warad-Sin 30

(1) To Nanna, his lord, Warad-Sin, governor of Utu, child of Kudur-mabuk, father of the Amorite lands, dedicated this (eye-stone).

Warad-Sin 31

(1) Warad-Sin, king of Larsam, child of Kudur-mabuk.

Warad-Sin 32

(1) En-ane-du, en priestess of Nanna in Urim, child of Kudur-mabuk, sibling of Warad-Sin, king of Larsam.

Warad-Sin 33

(1) Rim-Sin, child of Warad-Sin, king of Larsam.

JCS 24, 093, 03

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)) — JCS 24, 093, 03. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Rim-Sin I y1 — Rim-Sin became king based on canonical year-name formula in the translit…

JCS 24, 093, 06

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)) — JCS 24, 093, 06. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Rim-Sin I y1 — Rim-Sin became king based on canonical year-name formula in the translit…

JCS 24, 093, 15

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)) — JCS 24, 093, 15. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Rim-Sin I y1 — Rim-Sin became king based on canonical year-name formula in the translit…

JCS 24, 093, 21

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Early Old Babylonian (ca. 2000-1900 BC)) — JCS 24, 093, 21. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Rim-Sin I y1 — Rim-Sin became king based on canonical year-name formula in the tr…

JCS 36, 170, UM 29-15-855

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)) — JCS 36, 170, UM 29-15-855. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Rim-Sin I y1 — Rim-Sin became king based on canonical year-name formula in th…

SA 175

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)) — SA 175. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format). [year-name] Dated to Rim-Sin I y1 — Rim-Sin became king based on canonical year-name formula in the transliteration.

~1808 BCE·Old BabylonianEditorial

Sumerian King List (Weld-Blundell Prism)

The single most influential Mesopotamian king list — the model for every later attempt to chronicle the deep history of the region. It transmits the political theology of divinely granted kingship, an idea that would echo through Babylon, Assyria, and into the Hebrew Bible. The Weld-Blundell prism (WB 444) at the Ashmolean is the most complete surviving copy.

~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

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(?)

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.

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).

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

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)

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)

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. […

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…

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)

Daily Life·Writing & Literature

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!

Writing & Literature·Daily Life

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)

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.

Daily Life·Economy

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

The brother speaks gently to his sister, Utu speaks gently to his sister, he speaks tenderly to holy Inana: "Young lady, the flax in the garden beds is full of loveliness, Inana, the flax in the garden beds is full of loveliness, like the barley in the furrows, overflowing with loveliness and delight. Sister (1 ms. has instead: Young lady), you took a fancy to a grand length of linen; Inana, you took a fancy to a grand length of linen. I will dig up the plants for you and give them to you. Young lady (1 ms. has instead: My sister), I will bring you flax from the garden beds. Inana, I will brin…

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

"My dearest, my dearest, my dearest, my darling, my darling, my honey of her own mother, my sappy vine, my honey-sweet, my honey-mouthed of her mother! "The gazing of your eyes is pleasant to me; come my beloved sister. The speaking of your mouth is pleasant to me, my honey-mouthed of her mother. The kissing of your lips is pleasant to me; come my beloved sister. "My sister, the beer of your barley is good, my honey-mouthed of her mother. The ale of your beer-bread is good; come my beloved sister. In the house, your luxuriance ......, my honey-mouthed of her mother. My sister, your luxuriance…

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

As I was strolling, as I was strolling, as I was strolling ...... the house, as I was strolling, he caught sight of my Inana. "What did the brother say to you and speak to you? He of the loving heart and most sweet charms offered you a gift, my holy Inana. As I looked in that direction, my beloved man met you, and he fell in love with you, and he delighted in you alone! The brother brought you into his house and had you lie down on a bed dripping with honey." When my sweet precious, my heart, had lain down too, each of them in turn kissing with the tongue, each in turn, then my brother of the…

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

The burgeoning one, he ...... with his own mother; the one with kindly eyes takes counsel with his father. You are our brother, you are our brother. You are our brother in charge of the palace gate, you are our captain of the barge, you are our commander of the chariot, you are our servant of the hunting chariot; you are our city father and judge, you are the son-in-law of five things, the son-in-law of ten things. Brother, you are the son-in-law of our father, you are our son-in-law supreme; our mother speaks favourably with you. Your coming here is life indeed, your entering the house is abu…

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

1 line fragmentary Your name ....... As I walk, as I walk, as I pass along the banks of the august river, as I roam along the banks of the Euphrates, as I stand ...... the lord, as I pass along the gaudy streets: May you be ...... a bending reed, may you be barley in the furrows, a beautiful ......, may you be Acnan, who beautifies ......, may you be a nursing mother of the womb, may you be your mother's ......, a vine, my (1 ms. has instead:) your beloved, your personal god's ......, acting grandly (1 ms. has instead:) humanely! May "There is enough, there is enough" be your blessing, and…

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

"My sister, what have you been doing in the house? Little one, what have you been doing in the house?" "I was bathing, I was rubbing myself with soap. I was washing myself with water from the holy kettle, I was rubbing myself with the soap from the white stone bowl. I was anointing myself with good oil from the stone bowl, and dressing myself in the formal dress proper to Inana. That is how I was busying myself in the house. "I have put lots of kohl on my eyes, I have arranged ...... the nape of my neck. I have washed my dangling hair, I have tested my weapons that make his reign propitious.…

A diatribe against Engar-dug (Diatribe B)

Engar-dug, ......, fool, ......, child raised in ......, disgraced man, madman ...... leather, dropping ...... from a wall! Engar-dug, croaker (?) among singers, a man without good judgment, braggart, ......, a man ......! -- open (?) the house, I have a quarrel with you! In appearance a monkey, a rogue, a witness without shame, not accepting a verdict, a slippery place which respected men avoid, despising (?) the leader of the work-force, a man who does not ...... a festival, a pig spattered with mud, ......! Loving crosstalk and deceit, ......, having got stuck into a quarrel he ...... comin…

Daily Life

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

Lord, perfect in august wisdom and recognised for his mighty counsel, Haia, who holds the great tablets, who enriches wisdom with wisdom! Accountant of Hal-an-kug, having the final overview of the arts of Nisaba's house of wisdom; palace archivist of heaven and earth, who keeps count of every single assignment, who holds a holy reed-stylus and covers the great tablets of destiny with writing! Wise one, who prompts holy An with words and attention at the appropriate times; seal-holder of Father Enlil! He who brings forth the holy objects from the treasure-house of E-kur; ornament of the abzu sh…

A hymn to Ninkasi

Given birth by the flowing water ......, tenderly cared for by Ninhursaja! Ninkasi, given birth by the flowing water ......, tenderly cared for by Ninhursaja! Having founded your town upon wax, she completed its great walls for you. Ninkasi, having founded your town upon wax, she completed its great walls for you. Your father is Enki, the lord Nudimmud, and your mother is Ninti, the queen of the abzu. Ninkasi, your father is Enki, the lord Nudimmud, and your mother is Ninti, the queen of the abzu. It is you who handle the ...... and dough with a big shovel, mixing, in a pit, the beerbread with…

A hymn to Nungal

House, furious storm of heaven and earth, battering its enemies; prison, jail of the gods, august neck-stock of heaven and earth! Its interior is evening light, dusk spreading wide; its awesomeness is frightening. Raging sea which mounts high, no one knows where its rising waves flow. House, a pitfall waiting for the evil one; it makes the wicked tremble! House, a net whose fine meshes are skillfully woven, which gathers up people as its booty! House, which keeps an eye on the just and on evildoers; no one wicked can escape from its grasp. House, river of the ordeal which leaves the just ones…

Daily Life·Religion & Myth

A love song of Shu-Suen (Shu-Suen A)

It was she who gave birth to the holy one, gave birth to the holy one; the queen gave birth to the holy one, Abi-simti (i.e. Cu-Suen's mother) gave birth to the holy one, the queen gave birth to the holy one -- my cloth beam of the cloth of pleasure, my Abi-simti! My warp beam placed for weaving, my queen Kubatum (i.e. Cu-Suen's concubine)! My one suited to a mane of hair, a wonder to behold, my lord Cu-Suen, my one ...... in words, my son of Culgi -- because I uttered, because I uttered, the lord gave me a gift, because I uttered an exclamation of joy, the lord gave me a gift. The lord gave m…

Daily Life·Religion & Myth

A love song of Shu-Suen (Shu-Suen B)

Man of my heart, my beloved man, your allure is a sweet thing, as sweet as honey. Lad of my heart, my beloved man, your allure is a sweet thing, as sweet as honey. You have captivated me (?), of my own free will I will come to you. Man, let me flee with you -- into the bedroom. You have captivated me (?); of my own free will I shall come to you. Lad, let me flee with you -- into the bedroom. Man, let me do the sweetest things to you. My precious sweet, let me bring you honey. In the bedchamber dripping with honey let us enjoy over and over your allure, the sweet thing. Lad, let me do the sweet…