Read Chronology Themes Tablets Engine About

Read
Chronology
Themes
Tablets
Engine
About

Sumerian · Book

Reading the tablets…

A curated narrative reconstruction of humanity's first great civilization, sourced from the tablets themselves. Open scholarship, beautifully accessible.

The site

About the project The engine Dossiers FAQ Methodology Sources & licensing Provenance & ethics Contact & support

Legal

Independent scholarship · No academic affiliation · No institutional funding · Tablet imagery attributed per item via CDLI, ETCSL, ORACC, Wikimedia, and public museum collections.

Home
All tablets

The corpus

All tablets.

Every tablet in the corpus — sortable by date, title or period; filterable by theme and period. Use the controls below or change the URL parameters directly.

Sort

Oldest first Newest first Title (A–Z)By period

Theme

Religion & Myth Law Economy Astronomy & Mathematics Daily Life Writing & Literature

Period

Ubaid Uruk Period Early Dynastic Akkadian Empire Ur III · Neo-Sumerian Old Babylonian Old Assyrian Middle Babylonian Middle Assyrian Neo-Assyrian Neo-Babylonian Achaemenid Persian

Source

Editorial Sumerian literature Sumerian royal Assyrian royal Assyrian archives

9,782 of 102,257 tablets · 4 filters activeClear filters

1701–1750 of 9782

Page 35 / 196

~1800 BCE·Old Babylonian

ETCSL

The Sargon legend

To ...... the sanctuary like a cargo-ship; to...... its great furnaces; to see that its canals ...... waters of joy, to see that the hoes till the arable tracts and that ...... the fields; to turn the house of Kic, which was like a haunted town, into a living settlement again -- its king, shepherd Ur-Zababa, rose like Utu over the house of Kic. An and Enlil, however, authoritatively (?) decided (?) by their holy command to alter his term of reigning and to remove the prosperity of the palace. Then Sargon -- his city was the city of ......, his father was La'ibum, his mother ......., Sargon ...…

Religion & Myth

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianETCSL

The shumunda grass

The abba instructed, the abba instructed: When the rain rained, when walls were demolished, when it rained potsherds and fireballs, when one person confronted another defiantly, when there was copulation -- he also copulated, when there was kissing -- he also kissed. When the rain said: "I will rain," when the wall said: "I will rain (scribal error for 'demolish' ?)", when the flood said: "I will sweep everything away" -- Heaven impregnated (?), Earth gave birth, she gave birth also to the cumunda grass. Earth gave birth, Heaven impregnated (?), she gave birth also to the cumunda grass. His…

Religion & Myth

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianETCSL

The song of the hoe

Not only did the lord make the world appear in its correct form -- the lord who never changes the destinies which he determines: Enlil, who will make the human seed of the Land come forth (3 mss. have instead: up) from the earth (2 other mss. have instead: chamber) -- and not only did he hasten to separate heaven from earth, and hasten to separate earth from heaven, but, in order to make it possible for humans to grow in 'Where Flesh Came Forth' (2 mss. have instead: 'Where Flesh Grew') [the name of a cosmic location], he first suspended (2 mss. have instead: raised) the axis of the world at D…

Religion & Myth

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianETCSL

The song of the lettuce: a balbale to Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inana E): composite text

He has sprouted, he has burgeoned, he is well-watered lettuce, my shaded garden of the desert, richly flourishing, his mother's favourite (1 ms. has instead:) he is well-watered lettuce; my grain lovely in beauty in its furrows, he is well-watered lettuce; my first-class fruitful apple tree, he is well-watered lettuce. The honey man, the honey man will make me sweet; my lord, the honey man of a goddess, his mother's favourite, whose hands are honey, whose feet are honey, will make me sweet, whose limbs are honey-sweet, will make me sweet. Navel! My altogether immediately sweet, my favourite of…

Religion & Myth

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianETCSL

The song of the ploughing oxen

ellu mallu! Go, oxen, go, put your necks under the yoke! Go, ...... oxen, go, put your necks under the yoke! I am ...... of the country. I am ...... of Enlil. I am ...... of the Land. ellu mallu! 6 lines fragmentary or missing And now, may the mother ...... with me; and now, may Nance ...... with me. May she put bread in my leather bag, may she pour water into my waterskin. May she stand by for me ....... May she say to me, "Farmer, eat the bread!", may she say to me, "Farmer, drink the water!" ellu mallu! In the temple he lay down to dream with Nance. He said good night (?) to Nance. He had…

Religion & Myth

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianETCSL

The Sumerian king list

After the kingship descended from heaven, the kingship was in Eridug. In Eridug, Alulim became king; he ruled for 28800 years. Alaljar ruled for 36000 years. 2 kings; they ruled for 64800 years. Then Eridug fell and the kingship was taken to Bad-tibira. In Bad-tibira, En-men-lu-ana ruled for 43200 years. En-men-gal-ana ruled for 28800 years. Dumuzid, the shepherd, ruled for 36000 years. 3 kings; they ruled for 108000 years. Then Bad-tibira fell (?) and the kingship was taken to Larag. In Larag, En-sipad-zid-ana ruled for 28800 years. 1 king; he ruled for 28800 years. Then Larag fell (?) and…

Religion & Myth

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianETCSL

The tale of Gudam

Gudam ...... the city. unknown no. of lines missing Gudam ....... Gudam ....... Inana ....... Gudam ...... within Unug ....... He ...... the storehouse ....... Gudam ...... the beer, ...... the wine, ...... the bronze vessels, ...... the bronze vessels ....... unknown no. of lines missing They filled the bronze vessels to the brim. He made the tilimda vessels shine like the holy barge, ...... fine chickpea flour, bearded carp ....... ......, he ...... fish like dates. Many followed Gudam on the streets of Unug. They sat armed before him. Her = Inana's (?) singer ...... came out to ...... the f…

Religion & Myth

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianETCSL

The temple hymns

O E-unir (House which is a ziqqurat), grown together with heaven and earth, foundation of heaven and earth, great banqueting hall of Eridug! Abzu, shrine erected for its prince, E-dul-kug (House which is the holy mound) where pure food is eaten, watered by the prince's pure canal, mountain, pure place cleansed with the potash plant, abzu, your tigi drums belong to the divine powers. Your great ...... wall is in good repair. Light does not enter your meeting-place where the god dwells, the great assembly-room, the assembly-room, the beautiful place. Your tightly constructed house is sacred and…

Religion & Myth

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianETCSL

Three ox-drivers from Adab

There were three friends, citizens of Adab, who fell into a dispute with each other, and sought justice. They deliberated the matter with many words, and went before the king. "Our king! We are ox-drivers. The ox belongs to one man, the cow belongs to one man, and the waggon belongs to one man. We became thirsty and had no water. We said to the owner of the ox, "If you were to fetch some water, then we could drink!". And he said, "What if my ox is devoured by a lion? I will not leave my ox!". We said to the owner of the cow, "If you were to fetch some water, then we could drink!". And he…

Religion & Myth

~1800 BCE·Old BabylonianETCSL

Ur-Namma the canal-digger (Ur-Namma D)

Who will dig it? Who will dig it? Who will dig the Asilal-kug canal? Who will dig the Pabi-luh canal? ...... Ur-Namma will dig it. ...... will dig it. ......, ...... Acimbabbar you are on your ...... because of Enlil. The watercourse of ...... is full of fish, and the air above is full of birds. The fresh water of ...... is full of fish, the air above is full of birds. ...... honey-plants are planted, and the carp grow fat. ...... honey-plants are planted, and the carp grow fat. The gizi reed of ...... is so sweet that the fish eat them. The gizi reed of ...... is so sweet that the fish eat th…

The Sargon legend

The shumunda grass

The song of the hoe

The song of the lettuce: a balbale to Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inana E): composite text

The song of the ploughing oxen

The Sumerian king list

The tale of Gudam

The temple hymns

Three ox-drivers from Adab

Ur-Namma the canal-digger (Ur-Namma D)

4R 35, 8

AAICAB 1/1, pl. 058, 1924-0519

AfO 29/30, 024, CBS 04610

AfO 29/30, 024, CBS 04836

AfO 29/30, 024, CBS 04864

AfO 29/30, 024, CBS 04869

AfO 29/30, 025, CBS 06481

AfO 29/30, 025, CBS 06499

AfO 29/30, 026, CBS 07034

AfO 29/30, 027, CBS 07871

AfO 29/30, 027, CBS 07872

AfO 29/30, 027, CBS 07970

AfO 29/30, 028, CBS 10507

AfO 29/30, 028, CBS 10784

AfO 29/30, 030, CBS 14215

AfO 29/30, 033, N 5063

AfO 29/30, 033, UM 29-16-469

AfO 29/30, 033, UM 29-16-656

AfO 29/30, 034, N 5399

AfO 29/30, 034, N 5527

AfO 29/30, 034, N 5746

AfO 29/30, 034, N 5923

AfO 29/30, 035, N 5933

AfO 29/30, 035, N 5958 + N 6078

AfO 29/30, 037, UM 55-21-043

AfO 29/30, 038, UM 55-21-044

AfO 29/30, 038, UM 55-21-054

AfO 29/30, 038, UM 55-21-055

AfO 29/30, 039, UM 55-21-066

AfO 29/30, 041, A 30170

AfO 29/30, 042, A 30182

Akkadica 117 015 O.118

Akkadica 117 015 O.119

Anonymous 382665

AUCT 5, 181

AUCT 5, 186

AUCT 5, 187

AUCT 5, 190

AUCT 5, 193

AUCT 5, 196