Position in chronology
Utu-hegal 1
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) The leader of Urim laid claim to the border territory of Lagaš, (but) Utu-heĝal, king of the four quarters, returned it under the authority of Nanše, the mighty lady, the lady of boundaries.
Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q000876/
Why it matters
Attests Utu-hegal's assertion of divine authority — Nanše as 'lady of boundaries' — to resolve a border dispute between Ur and Lagaš, placing territorial law under goddess-sanctioned jurisdiction rather than military conquest alone.
Transliteration
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 Q000876.
Attribution
Image: LB 0971 (de Liagre Böhl Collection, Netherlands Institute for the Near East, Leiden, Holland) — from Girsu (mod. Tello) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P216763). 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/Q000876/.
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