Position in chronology
Gudea 048
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSRI(1) For Ninĝirsu, the powerful warrior of Enlil, his master, Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, the builder of Ninĝirsu's E-ninnu, built his E-ĝidru, the temple of seven niches.
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions — scholar edition (Vienna).
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Why it matters
Gudea's dedication of the E-ĝidru, temple of seven niches, to Ninĝirsu attests the ruler of Lagaš's systematic programme of temple-building as the primary medium of royal legitimacy in the late third millennium.
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 Q000915.
Attribution
Image: NYPLC 429 (New York Public Library, New York, New York, USA) — from Girsu (mod. Tello) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P234324). 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/Q000915/.
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