Position in chronology
Enlil-bani 03
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Enlil-bani, the shepherd, who makes everything abundant for Nibru, the powerful king, king of Isin, king of Sumer and Akkad, the spouse chosen in the heart by Inana, the beloved of Enlil and Ninisina, renovated the dilapidated wall of Isin.
Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q001985/
Why it matters
Attests Enlil-bani's rebuilding of Isin's city wall c. 1925 BCE, anchoring both his public works programme and his claim to divine legitimacy through Inana's spousal election and Enlil's favour.
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 Q001985.
Attribution
Image: HMA 9-01791 (Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P247891). 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/Q001985/.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.