Theme
Writing & Literature
The invention of writing itself, the slow drift from pictogram to cuneiform sign, the rise of literary form — and the first named author in human history, the priestess Enheduanna.
Related dossier
How to Read Cuneiform: What 102,246 Tablets Actually Say
Read the investigation
CDLI Lexical 000002, ex. 183
[1] [...] 1 [...] KAB 1 NAM2 DI 1 NAM2 NAM2 1 [...] 1 NAM2 PA RAD 1 AB ME 1 GAL N58.BAD 1 EN [...] 1 [...] 1 [...] 1 [...] 41, X [...]
Writing & Literature
CDLI Lexical 000002, ex. 184
Obverse [1] [...] envoy 1 chief of the milk [1] [...] 1 chief of the storehouse 1 chief of the cattle-pen 1 [chief of] UMUN2 1 chief of [...] 1 IM TUR [N] [...]
Writing & Literature
CDLI Lexical 000002, ex. 188
Obverse 1 NAMEŠDA (the chief official) 1 NAM2 KAB (leader of KAB?) 1 NAM2 DI (leader of DI) 1 NAM2 NAM2 (leader of leaders) 1 NAM2 URU? (leader of the city?) 1 PA ŠE NAM2 (leader of barley / grain overseer) 1 NAM2 RAD (leader of RAD) 1 AB ME 1 GAL X (chief of ...) 1 EN? [...] 1 X [...] 1 X [...] 1 [...] 1 [...] Reverse [N] 1(N14) EN 2(N57) [E2 ...]
Writing & LiteratureDaily Life
CDLI Lexical 000002, ex. 194
1 (entry): NAM2 DI (an official title) 1 (entry): NAM2 NAM2 (an official title) 1 (entry): NAM2 URU (official of the settlement?) [1 (entry)]: [...] NAM2 1 (entry): ŠE NAM2 (official of the barley?) 1 (entry): NAM2 RAD PA (an official title) 1 (entry): [...] 1 (entry): KINGAL (leader of the assembly) 1 (entry): GAL TE (chief TE-official) 1 (entry): SUKKAL (messenger) [...] 41+[n]: ... [...]
Writing & Literature
CDLI Lexical 000022, ex. 032
Obverse 1. [1] (entry): GIŠ ḪI GIŠ TUN3a — wooden (item) of the TUN3-implement(?) 2. [1] (entry): [GIŠ] ADa — [wooden] AD-object(?) 3. [1] (entry): [...] 4. 1 (entry): SI TAG GIŠ — horn(?)/SI-TAG wooden (item) 5. [1] (entry): [...] 6. [N] (entry): [...]
Writing & Literature
CDLI Lexical 000023, ex. 098
(Beginning destroyed) [1] [......] [1] DUG~b-vessel [with] an (unidentified) inscribed sign [1] DUG~b-vessel with NAGA~a inscribed(?) 1 DUG~b-vessel with an (unidentified) inscribed sign 1 [......] 1 GAN~c(?) [......] 1 GAN~c(?) [......] [N] [......] (rest destroyed)
Writing & Literature
CDLI Lexical 000026, ex. 055
Obverse(?) 1 [...] 1 URI 1 MUD3~a(?) 1 MUD3@g (gunû form of MUD3) 1 MIR~b 1 [...] 1 [...] Reverse(?) 1(N34) 2(N14) [...]: [...]
Writing & Literature
CDLI Lexical 000026, ex. 056
1, X 1, SZAKIR (churn) 1, [...] 1, [...] 1, [...] 1, [...] 1, [...] 1, ŠU2 GU 1, ŠU2 GU [...] 1, large TUN3-implement(?) 1, 2(N57) ŠU TUN3-implement(?) 1, 1(N57)? ŠU TUN3-implement(?) 1, AL(?) [...] 1, [...] 1(N34) 4(N01), [...]
Writing & Literature
Proto-Cuneiform Account Tablet (VAT 15211)
An early example of administrative writing from Uruk. Its fragmentary numerical entries and commodity signs document record-keeping during the formative period of writing.
Writing & LiteratureEconomy
Kish Tablet
An early witness to systematic administrative notation at Kish. Its signs and numerals can be catalogued, but that does not establish a full translation or prove that it is the world's first writing.
Writing & Literature
CDLI Lexical 000002, ex. 176
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Uruk III (ca. 3200-3000 BC)) — CDLI Lexical 000002, ex. 176. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
CDLI Lexical 000002, ex. 182
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Uruk III (ca. 3200-3000 BC)) — CDLI Lexical 000002, ex. 182. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
CDLI Lexical 000002, ex. 191
[...] 1(N58).BAD (a title) EN of IB [...] Linen envoy (GADA-SUKKAL) Chief (official) of cream (GAL-GARA2) Textile (official) of cream (TUG2-GARA2) [...] Chief (official) of the GIŠGAL Chief (official) of the ZATU737×DI Temple administrator (SANGA) of the ZATU737×X Temple administrator (SANGA) of the ZATU737×X ZATU725(?) Spouse (DAM)(?)
Writing & LiteratureDaily Life
CDLI Lexical 000003, ex. 034
1 NAM2-official [...] 1 chief of the pigs 1 NAM2-official of the plow 1 chief [...] 1 chief of the SZAB 1 PA, NAM2-official [...] 1 AB-[...] 1 chief [...]
Writing & LiteratureDaily Life
SF 002
(obverse, column preserved at left; right half of the surface uninscribed) Sud(?)-kura-diri — "[The goddess] Sud(?)/the blessing surpasses the mountain-land" Elum-[an?]-dul — "The Honored One is a [protective] shade [(...)]" [...]-še-[...] (line broken) [...] (line lost) Elum-aga-zi — "The Honored One (of) the true crown" E-ša-andul-lal — "The house's interior is a sweet (honeyed) protective shade" Elum-šuda(?) — "The Honored One of blessing/prayer" Nin-AB-anzu — "The Lady ... Anzu(-bird)" (reverse uninscribed)
Writing & Literature
SF 025
(obverse, single preserved column) [...] ... (traces) Ur-Inanna Kulili Sidu A(?)-...-NE (name written with the compound sign SAG×HA; reading uncertain) Mes-abzu Ur-Nisaba Mes-pa Zulalum(?) Munus-[...] (name broken) Nu-... [...] (name broken) ... (traces; remainder lost)
Writing & Literature
Abzu-kidu 2
Dedicatory bowl inscription naming Abzu-kidug and her spouse: one of the sparse Early Dynastic records attesting elite women by name in Sumerian royal dedicatory practice, c. 2450 BCE.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
An(u)bu 3
Dedicatory inscription naming Nin-meta-bare, child of Anbu, as donor to the deity Asum — a rare personal-name attestation anchoring prosopography at an Early Dynastic Sumerian cult site c. 2450 BCE.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Anonymous Nippur 02 (FAOS 05/2, AnNip 02)
A votive dedication from Nippur naming a royal spouse, Aya-barag-ana — one of the rare Early Dynastic inscriptions to record a woman's active role in dedicating cult objects.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Anonymous Nippur 04 (FAOS 05/2, AnNip 04)
A votive dedication to Nintinuga, goddess of healing, from ~2450 BCE Nippur — attesting her cult and the practice of consecrated vessel offerings a century before Sargon unified Mesopotamia.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Anonymous Nippur 05 (FAOS 05/2, AnNip 05)
Dedicatory inscription naming Puzur-Mama, a merchant, before the healing goddess Nintinuga — early evidence that commercial figures, not only kings or priests, commissioned votive texts at Nippur around 2450 BCE.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Anonymous Nippur 06 (FAOS 05/2, AnNip 06)
A votive dedication to Ninlil by a ruler named Enlila, attesting the practice of offering consecrated vessels for the welfare of family members at Nippur a full century before the Akkadian Empire.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Anonymous Nippur 07 (FAOS 05/2, AnNip 07)
Votive dedication naming Saĝ-diĝir-tuku and Lugal-ennu preserves personal names and the practice of interceding for named individuals before the gods in Early Dynastic Nippur.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Anonymous Nippur 08 (FAOS 05/2, AnNip 08)
Dedicates a vessel to the goddess Ninlil on behalf of a named field surveyor's family — attesting private votive practice by a mid-level administrative official at Nippur during the Early Dynastic III period.
Religion & MythWriting & Literature
BuB 2, 07
1. Ur-sipa 2. Ur-meš (written Ur-me-ŠE3) 3. Nanše-bidu (Nanše-bi-du11) 4. Igi-susu (Igi-su4-su4) 5. Lu-tunanam (Lu2-tu-na-nam) 6. Ašni-ursag (Aš10-ni-ur-sag) 7. Ningirsu-lumu (Nin-gir2-su-lu2-mu) 8. fuller 9. governor (ensi) 10. šešgal ("big brother"), a temple or administrative rank 11. brewer
Writing & Literature
MAD 5, 091
1. Nunu, 2. Lugal-niglulua: 3. his tablet (ṭuppaśu?) 4. in Akuzum[...] 5. ... reed(?) ... (illegible sign) 6. in Lakuri. 7. Lamanam(?) / the bad one(?) 8. Kubigi(?) 9. Thus (says) 10. Amur-ilum 11. to [......]
Writing & LiteratureDaily Life
RIME 2.01.02.11, ex. 03
1. To 2. [Enlil], 3. [Rimush], 4. king 5. of Kish, 6. wh[en] 7. Elam 8. and 9. Paraḫšum 10. he had conquered, 11. from the booty 12. of Elam 13. [dedicated (this)].
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
RIME 2.01.02.11, ex. 14
1. [T]o 2. [the god] Enlil, 3. [Rī]muš, 4. king 5. of Kiš, 6. [when] 7. [Elam] 8. and 9. [Paraḫ]šum 10. he had [conqu]ered, 11. [from] the booty [......] (the supplied transliteration ends here)
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
RIME 2.01.05.10, ex. 01
Obverse (copy of the original inscription) 1. Šar-kali-šarri, 2. the mighty, 3. king 4. of the subjects 5. of Enlil. Reverse (colophon) 6. Impression of a baked brick of ebony, 7. of *asarru palisūtim*, 8. which in the palace, the *asarru*, 9. of Naram-Sin, the king, 10. inside Agade, 11. Ag-še-numun-si-sa (Nabû-zēru-līšir), the scribe, saw.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
RIME 2.13.06.01, ex. 07
1. For the goddess Nanše, 2. the mighty lady, 3. lady of In-dubba, 4. Utu-ḫegal, 5. king of the four quarters, 6. the boundary of Lagaš, 7. (about which) the man of Ur 8. had raised a claim, 9. returned to her control.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
RIME 2.13.06.01, ex. 08
1. For Nanše, 2. lady of the city, 3. lady of Indubba: 4. Utu-ḫegal, 5. king of the four quarters, 6–9. returned into her hand the boundary territory of Lagaš, which the man of Ur had claimed (lit. 'had placed a word upon').
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
RIME 2.13.06.01, ex. 09
1. For Nanše, 2. the lofty lady, 3. the lady of the Indubba: 4. Utu-ḫegal, 5. king of the four quarters, 6. the boundary territory of Lagaš, 7. (about which) the man of Ur 8. had raised a claim, 9. he returned to her control.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
RIME 2.13.06.01, ex. add12
1. For Nanše, 2. the mighty lady, 3. lady of the boundary territory, 4. Utu-ḫegal, 5. king of the four quarters — 6. the boundary territory of Lagaš, 7. (over which) the man of Ur 8. had raised a claim, 9. he returned into her hand.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
RIME 2.13.06.01, ex. add13
1. For Nanše, 2. the august lady, 3. lady of the In-dub-ba — 4. Utu-hegal, 5. king of the four quarters [of the world]: 6. the boundary of Lagaš[,] 7. (over which) the man of Ur 8. had raised a claim, 9. he returned into her hand.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
RIME 2.13.06.01, ex. add14
1. For Nanše, 2. the mighty lady, 3. the lady of Indubba — 4. Utu-hegal, 5. king of the four quarters, 6. the boundary of Lagaš, 7. (about which) the man of Ur 8. had raised a claim, 9. returned (it) to her (Nanše's) hand.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
RIME 2.13.06.01, ex. add15
1. For Nanše, 2. the exalted lady, 3. lady of the Indubba — 4. Utu-ḫegal, 5. king of the four quarters, 6. the boundary territory of Lagaš, 7. (which) the man of Ur 8. had laid claim to, 9. he returned it into her hand.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Amar-Suena 10
Dedicatory curse clause invokes Nanna and Ningal against anyone who displaces the statue, preserving the standard Ur III formula for protecting royal monuments through divine sanction rather than human enforcement.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Amar-Suena 12
Records Amar-Suena's construction of a royal jail at Ur — one of the earliest explicit textual attestations of a dedicated carceral institution in Mesopotamian history.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Amar-Suena 15
Dedicatory inscription of Amar-Suena for Enki's Abzu temple at Eridu, attesting the third Ur III king's building programme and his claim to universal rule under Enlil's authority.
Religion & MythWriting & Literature
Amar-Suena 16
Records Amar-Suena's foundation of the first ĝipar (high-priestess residence) at Karzida, attesting the Ur III crown's active role in extending Nanna's cult into previously unserved cult centres.
Religion & MythWriting & Literature
Amar-Suena 18
Preserves a royal titulary of Amar-Suena — 'king of Urim, king of the four quarters' — attesting the ideological claim to universal sovereignty that defined Ur III kingship at its height.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Amar-Suena 2009
A private votive dedication by a scribe's wife to the goddess Lamma, it attests the personal piety of literate households under Amar-Suena and the role of women as independent dedicants in Ur III religious life.
Religion & MythWriting & Literature
Amar-Suena 21
Dedicatory inscription naming Taddin-Eštar as a royal child of Amar-Suena, adding a personal name to the otherwise sparse prosopography of the Ur III royal family.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
RIME 3/2.01.01.24, ex. 35a-b
Exemplar a: 1. Ur-Namma, 2. king of Ur, 3. king of Sumer and Akkad, 4. the one who 5. built the temple of Enlil. Exemplar b: 1. Ur-Namma, 2. king of Ur, 3. king of Sumer and Akkad, 4. the one who 5. built the temple of Enlil.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
E-IGI.NIM-pa'e 2
Commemorates E-iginim-pa'e of Adab's construction of the E-mah temple for the goddess Diĝir-mah, attesting royal building piety and the foundation-peg ritual at one of Sumer's lesser-documented city-states.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Lugal-ayamu 2001
Records Ur-Imma's temple construction for Damgalnuna at Adab under the administrator Lugal-ayaĝu, attesting early Ur III institutional religion: a slave-born temple builder rewarded with divine favour for his family's welfare.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Lugal-KISAL-si 1
Dedicatory inscription of Lugal-kisalesi attests a king ruling both Uruk and Ur simultaneously, documenting a rare dual kingship in the late Early Dynastic–Ur III transitional period.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Šaratigubisin 1add (CUSAS 17, 014)
Attests a royal child holding the office of temple administrator (šabra) at Keš, documenting how Ur III kings extended dynastic control over provincial sanctuaries through direct family appointments.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Šamši-Adad I 02
Claims the Emašmaš temple in Nineveh as a restoration of a structure built by Maništušu of Agade, asserting Assyrian dynastic continuity across seven generations of post-Akkadian history.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Šamši-Adad I 11
Attests Šamši-Adad I's self-presentation as temple-builder of Aššur, anchoring his reign within the city-god's cult at the moment Assyria first emerged as a territorial kingdom.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
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.
Religion & MythWriting & Literature
Enlil-bani 02
Attests Enlil-bani's construction of Isin's great city wall ca. 1925 BCE, with its dedicatory name preserving the ideological formula that equated a king's name with the physical permanence of urban fortification.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Enlil-bani 03
Attests Enlil-bani's rebuilding of Isin's city wall c. 1925 BCE, anchoring both his public works programme and his claim to divine legitimacy through Inana's spousal election and Enlil's favour.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Enlil-bani 04
Enlil-bani of Isin (r. c. 1860–1837 BCE) records his construction of the E-urĝira temple for Ninisina, anchoring his legitimacy in the goddess's patronage of Isin and his priestly role at Uruk.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Enlil-bani 07
Attests Enlil-bani's construction of the E-dimgal-ana temple for the goddess Sud at Isin, anchoring his reign (~1860–1837 BCE) within the Sumerian tradition of legitimating kingship through divine patronage.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Enlil-bani 09
Enlil-bani of Isin claims to have 'established justice in Sumer and Akkad' — the same reforming formula later codified by Hammurabi — linking his reign to a tradition of royal law-giving a century before Babylon's famous code.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Išme-Dagan 01
Royal self-presentation of Išme-Dagan I of Isin, accumulating cultic titles across Nippur, Ur, Eridu, and Uruk to legitimise rule over a fragmented post-Ur III landscape.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Išme-Dagan 02
Royal titulary of Išme-Dagan I of Isin, attesting his claim to en-priesthood of Uruk and spousal relationship with Inana — ideological strategies by which Isin kings legitimised succession to the fallen Ur III empire.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Išme-Dagan 03
Names En-ana-tuma as both zirru and en priestess of Nanna at Ur, documenting the rare overlap of two distinct priestly offices in a single woman under Išme-Dagan's reign.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Išme-Dagan 04
Identifies En-ana-tuma as both en priestess of Nanna at Ur and daughter of Išme-Dagan, directly linking royal Isin dynastic authority to the prestigious lunar-cult office at its traditional Ur III heartland.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Erišum I 03
Documents Erišum I's temple construction at Aššur and its ritual furnishings — bronze duck weights and beer vats — giving the earliest detailed record of cultic equipment in an Assyrian royal building inscription.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Erišum I 06
Attests Erišum I's construction of Aššur's temple in the god's own city, anchoring the earliest stratum of Assyrian royal piety and the vice-regent (iššiak Aššur) titulature that defined Old Assyrian kingship.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Erišum I 10
Erišum I consecrates the Aššur temple 'Wild Bull' by mixing ghee and honey into the mortar — one of the earliest Assyrian royal building inscriptions, and evidence that the ritual deposit of clay cones as dynastic markers was already standard practice c. 1900 BCE.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythAminu 2002
(1) Muqaddimum, servant of Aminu.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythAzuzu 2001 / Man-ištušu 2002
(1) Man-ištūšu, the king of the world. Azuzu, his servant, dedicated (this spear) to the god Beʾal-SI.SI.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythErišum I 01
(1) [...] ... Erišum (I), overseer of (the god) Aššur, [son of Ilu-šūma], overseer of (the god) Aššur; Ilu-šūma (was) the son of Šalim-aḫum, [overseer of (the god) Aššur]; (and) Šalim-aḫum (was) the son of Puzur-Aššur (I), [overseer of (the god) Aššur]. (4) Erišum (I), vice-regent of Aššur: I [built] the holy [Step] Gate, (and) the chapel [for] my lord. I built a [high] throne (and) adorned the front of it with a precious stone (ḫušāru). I installed (its) doors. (8b) With (the god) Aššur, my lord, standing by me, I reserved land for (the god) Aššur, my lord, from the Sheep Gate to the…
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythErišum I 02
(1) Eriš[um (I)], vice-regent of the god Aššur, son of Ilu-šūma, vice-regent of the god Aššur. (7) He built the temple (and) all of the temple area for the god Aššur, his lord, for his life, and the life of his city. (15) When I started the work, (when) my city was under my command, I made silver, gold, copper, tin, barley, and wool, as well as the payment of bran and straw, exempt from taxes. (26) I mixed ghee and honey into (the mortar of) every wall and (then) laid one layer of bricks. With the god Aššur, my lord, standing by me, I cleared houses from the Sheep Gate to the People’s Gate.…
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythErišum I 04
(1) Erišum (I), vice-regent of the god Aššur, son of Ilu-šūma, vice-regent of the god Aššur. (7) For the god Aššur, his lord, for his life, and the life of his city, he built the entire temple area of the temple of the god Aššur and the holy Step Gate, (as well as) the chapel of (the god) Aššur.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythErišum I 05
(1) Erišum (I), vice-regent of the god Aššur, son of Ilu-šūma, vice-regent of (the god) Aššur. (7) For his life and the life of his city, he built all of the temple area for (the god) Aššur, his lord. He installed (its) doors.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythErišum I 07
(1) Erišum (I), vice-regent of (the god) Aššur, son of Ilu-šūma, vice-regent of the god Aššur. (7) For (the god) Aššur, his lord, for his life, and the life of his city, he built the temple area of (the god) Aššur.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythErišum I 08
(1) Erišum (I), vice-regent of (the god) Aššur, son of Ilu-šūma, vice-regent of (the god) Aššur. (7) It was Erišum (I), vice-regent of the god Aššur, who built [(...)] for [his] life.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythErišum I 09
(1) Erišum (I), vice-regent of the god A[ššur], son of Ilu-[šūma], vice-regent of the god Aššur. (7) For his life, he built all of the temple area for the god Aššur, his lord.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Šamši-Adad IV 1
Documents Šamšī-Adad IV's restoration of the Assyrian Ištar temple at Aššur, anchoring the reign's chronology to a specific eponymy date and establishing the dynastic continuity he claimed from Tiglath-pileser I.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
BE 04, 238
1. Ṭāb-ašāb-Marduk, son of Ina-Esagil-zēri, the [vizier]; 2. Arad-Na[n]â, son of Saga-iq-Iškur (Adad), the gover[nor] (šakin ṭē[mi]); 3. [......]-zēri, son of Arad-Ea, the [provincial] governor (bēl [pīḫati]); 4. [......], son of Nam[ri]; 5. [......] ūnâ[ti] ...... (rest not given in the transliteration)
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
BM 090715
(Beginning destroyed) 1. mighty [king], 2. king of the four quarters, 3. the Ekišnugal, 4. the ancient house 5. which from distant days 6. had been built (and) had fallen into ruin, 7. he built for him; 8. to its place 9. he restored (it); 10. its foundation
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
BM 137412
(Beginning destroyed) 1. [king of the] four [quarters], 2. the Ekišnugal, 3. [the] old [temple], 4. which from [di]stant [days] 5. [had been] built (and) had fallen into ruin, 6. he built for him. 7. To its (former) place 8. he restored it; 9. its foundations 10. he re-established.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Šamši-Adad IV 3
Dedicates a restored shrine to Ištar and threatens divine destruction of any future king who neglects it — an early Assyrian formula binding successors to temple maintenance under penalty of dynastic annihilation.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythArik-din-ili 1
(1) Arik-dīn-ili, strong king, king of Assyria, the one who built the temple of the god Šamaš — the exalted shrine — for posterity, son of Enlil-nārārī, king of Assyria, son of Aššur-uballiṭ (I), (who was) also king of Assyria. (14) When I planned to build that temple so that the harvest of my land might prosper, at the sanctuary of the god Šamaš, the high place where the decisions of the land had been previously made, but now it was becoming a mound of dirt and around it the “shrines” of the people, which they had taken and settled in, I destroyed (that sanctuary). I laid its foundation(s)…
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythArik-din-ili 2
(1) Arik-dīn-ili, legitimate ruler, strong king, king of Assyria, builder of the temple of the god Šamaš — the exalted shrine. (5) (As for) whoever erases my inscribed name or removes my inscription, may the god Šamaš, my lord, overthrow his kingship and afflict his land with famine.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythArik-din-ili 3
(1) [Arik-dīn-ili, vice-regent of the god Aššur], son of [En]lil-[nārārī, vice-regent of] the god Aššur, [son of] Aššur-[uballiṭ (I)], (who was) also vice-regent of the god Aššur. (7) [For his life and the well]-being of his city: [...] ... [... from] its [foundations to] its [crenellations]. (12b) When [... becomes dilapidated and] old
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythArik-din-ili 4
(1) [Ar]ik-dīn-[ili, vice-regent of the god Aššur], son of Enlil-nārārī, vice-regent [of the god Aššur], son of Aššur-uballiṭ (I), [(who was) also vice-regent of the god Aššur]. (4) [...] ... [... b]uilt fr]om [its] foundation[s to its crenellations]. (6b) [...] my [...]
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythArik-din-ili 5
(1) [Ar]ik-dīn-i[li, vice-regent of the god Aššur, son of E]nlil-nārārī, [vice-regent of the god Aššur, son of Ašš]ur-uball[iṭ (I), (who was) also vice-regent of the god Aššur]. (4) [...], it had become dila[pidated and ...]
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythArik-din-ili 6
(1) [Ar]ik-dīn-[ili, vice-regent of the god A]ššur, [son of Enlil-nārārī, vice-regent of] the god Aššur, [son of Aššur-uballiṭ (I), (who was) also vice-regent of the god Aššur].
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythArik-din-ili 7
(1) Palace of Arik-dīn-ili, king of Assyria, son of Enlil-nārārī, king of Assyria, son of Aššur-uballiṭ (I), king of Assyria.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Adad-narari I 01
Lists the cities and peoples — Kassites, Gutians, Lullumê, Šubareans — subjugated by Adad-nārārī I, documenting Assyria's territorial expansion toward the Euphrates and into Mitanni's former heartland around 1300 BCE.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Adad-narari I 06
A building inscription of Adad-nārārī I dedicating a standard to Ištar and invoking Aššur's favour for any future ruler who restores the monument — an early attestation of the Assyrian royal restoration formula that would persist for centuries.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Adad-narari I 1001
Attests Adad-nārārī I's campaign into the Lullumê highlands, placing Assyrian military reach into the Zagros within the generation that transformed Assyria from a vassal into an imperial power.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Adad-narari I 25
Labels booty taken from Naḫur, placing the city within Adad-nārārī I's documented conquests and anchoring his western campaigns in the archaeological record of early Middle Assyrian expansion.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Adad-narari I 31
Stamps Adad-nārārī I's ownership of a labūnu-house forecourt: one of the earliest Assyrian royal building inscriptions asserting the "king of the world" titulary that would define imperial rhetoric for centuries.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Adad-narari I 35
Records Adad-nārārī I's renovation of the processional avenue at Aššur's temple, anchoring the physical expansion of Assyrian royal piety to a specific monarch at the dawn of the Middle Assyrian kingdom.
Religion & MythWriting & Literature
Adad-narari I 39
Marks Adad-nārārī I's construction of a quay wall at the palace canal: physical evidence of royal infrastructure investment at Aššur in the early Middle Assyrian period.
Writing & Literature
Adad-narari I 40
Marks Adad-nārārī I as builder of Aššur's Tigris quay wall, anchoring his public-works program in the archaeological and epigraphic record of early Middle Assyrian urban infrastructure.
Writing & Literature
Adad-narari I 44
A palace inscription of Adad-nārārī I asserting the title 'king of the world' — early epigraphic evidence of Assyrian kings adopting the universal-sovereignty rhetoric previously claimed by Babylonian and Akkadian rulers.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Aššur-bel-kala 01
Attests Aššur-bel-kala's campaign against the land Ḫimme, preserving early Assyrian royal rhetoric of total destruction — flaying, mass deportation, corpse-mounds — that would define the empire's self-presentation for centuries.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Aššur-bel-kala 08
Attests Aššur-bēl-kala's titulature and genealogy — anchoring his reign within the Tiglath-pileser I dynasty — though heavy damage leaves his specific deeds and the presiding eponym unrecoverable.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Aššur-bel-kala 09
Records Aššur-bel-kala crossing the Euphrates twice in one year on goatskin rafts to pursue Aramean and Sutean groups near Mount Lebanon — early evidence of Assyrian military pressure on these semi-nomadic peoples.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Adad-nerari II 7
Attests the royal titulary of Adad-nārārī II — 'king of the world, king of Assyria' — and anchors his lineage through Aššur-dān II to Tiglath-pileser II, fixing the dynastic continuity of the early Neo-Assyrian restoration.
Writing & Literature
Adad-nerari II 8
Standard titulary of Adad-nārārī II anchoring his legitimacy through two generations of royal descent, attesting the formulaic language by which Assyrian kings asserted dynastic continuity around 900 BCE.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Ashurnasirpal II 060
One of the surviving royal inscriptions of Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883–859 BCE), preserved in the RIAo corpus as a witness to the formulaic and historical record of early Neo-Assyrian kingship.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Ashurnasirpal II 061
One of the surviving royal inscriptions of Ashurnasirpal II, whose annals collectively document the territorial expansion and brutal suppression campaigns that defined early Neo-Assyrian imperial statecraft.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Adad-nerari III 13
Records Adad-nārārī III completing a palace left unfinished by his father Šamšī-Adad V, attesting the dynastic continuity rhetoric Assyrian kings used to legitimise building projects inherited across reigns.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Adad-nerari III 14
Documents Adad-nērārī III's reconstruction of Nabû's Nineveh temple, anchoring the god's growing cult prominence in the Assyrian heartland to a datable early eighth-century royal patron.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Adad-nerari III 15
Adad-nerari III's royal titulary chains three successive kings as Enlil's appointees and Aššur's vice-regents, attesting the dynastic legitimation formula the Assyrians used to anchor living rule in divine mandate.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Adad-nerari III 16
Royal titulary of Adad-nārārī III anchors his legitimacy in two generations of conquest kings, Šamšī-Adad V and Shalmaneser III, illustrating how Assyrian rulers constructed dynastic authority through inscribed genealogy.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Ashurbanipal 001
Documents Ashurbanipal's forced resettlement of conquered populations into Egypt and the Levantine town of Qirbit — a concrete case of Assyrian demographic engineering as an instrument of imperial control.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Ashurbanipal 002
Lists nine deities who legitimise Ashurbanipal's rule, each sponsoring a different royal quality — a snapshot of the theological machinery the Neo-Assyrian court used to underwrite imperial authority.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Ashurbanipal 003
Claims divine sanction for Ashurbanipal's literacy — the gods granted him 'a broad mind' to master the scribal arts — embedding scholarly kingship ideology at the heart of Assyrian royal self-presentation.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Ashurbanipal 004
Claims divine sanction not just for Ashurbanipal's military power but for his scribal learning — one of the clearest royal assertions that literacy itself was a gift of the gods and a mark of legitimate kingship.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythRINBE 1, Nebuchadnezzar II nn, ex. nn
[Nebuchadnezzar,] [king of Ba]bylon, [the one who provides for] Esagil [and Ezi]da, [foremost] heir [of Nab]opol[assar,] [king of Babylon, am I.]
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythRINBE 1, Nebuchadnezzar II nn, ex. nn
[Nebuchadnezzar (Nabû-kudurrī-u]ṣur), king of Babylon, [provider of] [Esagil] and Ezida, [foremost] heir [of Nabopolassar (Nabû-apla-uṣur)], king of Babylon.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythRINBE 2, Neriglissar 03, ex. 03
(obverse? — only line-ends preserved) [...] ... his mouth (i.e., his [command/utterance]) [...] I stretched (beams) across [... O ...], resplendent lord, the god, light of the gods, his fathers [... his] exalted [command(?)] which cannot be altered, [...] may I be sated with its/his [...] [...] may I attain [...] ... [... wherever(?)] the sun rises
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythRINBE 2, Neriglissar 03, ex. 04
(obverse, fragmentary) In [...] (which) no (former king) had [erected(?) ...] (but) me, the humble, [submissive one ...] I fashioned, and eight [mušḫuššu-dragons of copper ...] which upon the wicked and [the enemy spray venom of death ...] with a plating of si[lver ...] in the gate(s) of [...] on the platform(s) (kisû) [...] (remainder broken)
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythRINBE 2, Neriglissar 03, ex. 05
(beginning broken) [...] ... lordship(?) ... [...] [... of a] former [king(?)] ... he cast/fashioned in silver [...] [...] shining ..., with ornament and awe-inspiring radiance I clothed it. [...] the Euphrates, the river of abundance, which from its creation [... flowed] straight past Esagil — its massive waters, [... in the days(?)] of a former king, its waters from the border of Esagil [...] had receded (too far) for the drawing of water. [...] I sought out its ancient site, and [...] its waters as of old [... to the bor]der of Esagil I directed [straight]. The [...] which a former king had…
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythRINBE 2, Neriglissar 03, ex. 07
Neriglissar, king of Babylon [(...)], the renovator of Esagil and E[zida], the one who does good [deeds], whom, in order to exercise his kingship, [...] the great gods established [...] their [counsel(?) ...]; [whom(?)] Marduk, foremost of the gods, the one who de[crees destinies(?) ...], [... with(?)] dominion over (all) the lands [...], [... the shep]herdship of the black-[headed people ...], [...] true/faithful [...], [...] ... [...], [... m]ighty(?) [...], [...] ... [...]. (The remainder of the tablet is broken.)
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythRINBE 2, Neriglissar 03, ex. 08
(obverse, all lines broken at the right edge) [Ne]riglissar, king of Babylon, [...] [the one who reno]vates(?) Esagil and [Ezida ...] with [...] like the (original) appurtenances [...] I set up [...]. The Dais of Destinies, which is inside [...], upon which at the New Year (zammukku), the beginning [of the year], during the akītu-festival, (at) the setting-out of the Enlil of the g[ods, Marduk], Nabû, the true heir, processes t[o ...] Šuanna [...], (on) the 5th day (and) the 11th day, in going and retu[rning ...] (remainder of this exemplar broken)
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
BM 091441
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — BM 091441. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
BRM 4, 48
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — BRM 4, 48. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
CDLJ 2007/1 §3.49
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — CDLJ 2007/1 §3.49. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
CDLJ 2007/1 §3.50
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — CDLJ 2007/1 §3.50. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
CUSAS 15, 043
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — CUSAS 15, 043. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
RIMB 3.nn
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Achaemenid (547-331 BC)) — RIMB 3.nn. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
BM 090731
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Achaemenid (547-331 BC)) — BM 090731. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
BM 118362
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Achaemenid (547-331 BC)) — BM 118362. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
CBS 10948
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Achaemenid (547-331 BC) ?) — CBS 10948. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
CULC 321
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Achaemenid (547-331 BC)) — CULC 321. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
CULC 323
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Achaemenid (547-331 BC)) — CULC 323. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
CULC 324
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Achaemenid (547-331 BC)) — CULC 324. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
CULC 379
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Achaemenid (547-331 BC)) — CULC 379. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
CULC 382
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Achaemenid (547-331 BC)) — CULC 382. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
CULC 383
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Achaemenid (547-331 BC)) — CULC 383. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
CULC 384
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Achaemenid (547-331 BC)) — CULC 384. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
CULC 385
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Achaemenid (547-331 BC)) — CULC 385. This record has no stored scholarly English translation; the existence of published translations has not been checked; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature