Position in chronology
Šulgi 20
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSRI(1) For Inana, his lady, Šulgi, the powerful man, king of Urim, king of Sumer and Akkad, built the E-dur-anki.
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions — scholar edition (Vienna).
Why it matters
Attests Šulgi's construction of the E-dur-anki, anchoring his building program at Ur to the goddess Inana and the ideological fusion of military power with divine patronage in the Ur III state.
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 Q000971.
Attribution
Image: KM 63.6.064 (Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA) — from Nippur (mod. Nuffar) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P247518). 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/Q000971/.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.