Position in chronology
Amar-Suena 09
Written in modern English
From the earliest times, the Dubla-maḫ had never had a proper temple — only a reed hut serving as an offering-place. Amar-Suena, beloved of Nanna and proclaimed by Enlil in Nippur, steadfast supporter of Enlil's temple and king of Ur and the four quarters, changed that. He built a true temple for the Dubla-maḫ in honor of his master Nanna — a structure the whole land marveled at, described as Amar-Suena's place of judgment and a net from which no enemy of his could escape. He made it gleam, decorating it with gold, silver, and lapis lazuli. The inscription breaks off there.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSRI(1) Since the dawn of time no temple has been built for the Dubla-maḫ except for an offering-place, where a reed hut was erected, (but now) for Nanna, his beloved master, Amar-Suena, the beloved of Nanna, whose name was proclaimed by Enlil in Nibru, the steadfast supporter of Enlil's temple, the powerful man, king of Urim, king of the four quarters, built a temple for the Dubla-maḫ, the building marvelled at by the Land, his place of rendering judgements, his net, the one from which no enemy of Amar-Suena may escape. He made it shining, decorated it with gold, silver, and lapis lazuli. In…
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions — scholar edition (Vienna).
Scholarly note
Sumerian royal inscription, published in the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI) by Gábor Zólyomi and collaborators. Translation reproduced from the ETCSRI edition. ORACC text Q000984.
Attribution
Image: .
Translation excerpted from Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q000984/.
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One of the earliest specimens of human writing. Not literature, not law — accounting. The need to keep track of grain in a temple bureaucracy is what pushed marks-on-clay into a system that could one day carry epics.
Marks the boundary between proto-writing and writing. We can see signs being used systematically — but not yet phonetically. The leap to recording speech itself comes a few centuries later.
The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.