Position in chronology
En-metena 03
Translation · reference
High confidence(i 1) For Inana and Lugal-emuš, En-metena, ruler of Lagaš, built the E-muš, their beloved temple, and embellished it with inscribed clay nails. (i 9) The personal god of En-metena, the builder of the E-muš, is Šul-MUŠxPA. (ii 4) At that time En-metena, ruler of Lagaš, and Lugal-kiĝeneš-dudu, ruler of Unug, established brotherhood.
Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q001092/
Why it matters
Records En-metena of Lagaš's pact of 'brotherhood' with Lugal-kiĝeneš-dudu of Uruk, one of the earliest attested inter-city alliances in Sumerian history, embedded in a temple-building dedication to Inana ca. 2450 BCE.
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 Q001092.
Attribution
Image: BM 121208 (British Museum, London, UK) — from Girsu (mod. Tello) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P222550). 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/Q001092/.
Related tablets
Related sources
The earliest historical document in human history.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.
The oldest surviving law code in human history. The principle that the state — not the wronged family — defines and enforces justice begins here.
Not the first law code, but the most complete and the most famous. Inscribed on a black diorite stele over two meters tall, displayed in a public place — law made visible, law made monumental.