Position in chronology
Šu-Suen 27
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSRI(1') ..., Šu-Suen, the beloved of Enlil, the king whom Enlil chose with the love of his heart, ....
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions — scholar edition (Vienna).
Why it matters
A fragmentary royal inscription of Šu-Suen attesting the standard Ur III ideological formula linking kingship to Enlil's personal favour — evidence of how the dynasty legitimised rule through divine election language.
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 Q001824.
Attribution
Image: UM 31-43-252 (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) — from Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P227141). source
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/Q001824/.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.