Position in chronology
Letter from Iddin-Dagan to Sîn-illat about the troops
Translation · reference
High confidenceSpeak to Sîn-illat the general: this is what Iddin-Dagan, your lord, says: My expeditionary force is able to cross to both banks of the river, inspiring awe and creating a blockade. When you moved opposite Kakkulatum, the protective goddess and Dagan and ...... and Enlil, king of the Land, ...... the soldiers. My splendour covers the Land. And as for you, your heroism and strength ....... 1 line fragmentary Kingship (?) ....... The troops ....... ...... heavy (?) work (?). You (?) should ...... the recruits (?) of the ...... men who are mounting guard. They should check on your behalf ...... all those entering and leaving. My lord, ....... When you ...... by your treacherous ....... Do not cut back (?) your troops (1 ms. has instead: their troops ...... ). Come quickly! It is urgent!
Source: ETCSL c.3.2.02: Letter from Iddin-Dagan to Sîn-illat about the troops. Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Robson, E. & Zólyomi, G. (eds.), The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=c.3.2.02
Why it matters
Transliteration
Scholarly note
Composition c.3.2.02 in the ETCSL catalogue. Sumerian literary text reconstructed from multiple cuneiform manuscripts, the great majority Old Babylonian (c. 1900–1600 BCE). Translation reproduced from the ETCSL edition.
Attribution
Image: .
Translation excerpted from ETCSL c.3.2.02: Letter from Iddin-Dagan to Sîn-illat about the troops. Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Robson, E. & Zólyomi, G. (eds.), The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=c.3.2.02.
Related tablets
Related sources
The single most important literary discovery of the 19th century. It rewired the understanding of the Bible's literary context and proved that the Mesopotamian flood tradition is older. It is the oldest surviving epic poetry in human history.
The literary tradition is no longer anonymous from this point. Authorship — the idea that a specific human voice composes a specific work — enters the historical record with her.
The single most influential Mesopotamian king list — the model for every later attempt to chronicle the deep history of the region. It transmits the political theology of divinely granted kingship, an idea that would echo through Babylon, Assyria, and into the Hebrew Bible. The Weld-Blundell prism (WB 444) at the Ashmolean is the most complete surviving copy.