Read Chronology Themes Tablets Engine About

Menu

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

Privacy policy Terms of use llms.txt Sitemap

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.

Search

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

25 of 102,257 tablets · 4 filters activeClear filters

1–25 of 25

~2800 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

MS 1952/37

(obverse, single column; sign-groups without numerals — an archaic text of uncertain genre, rendered sign by sign) 1. Fish ... TU ("born"?) 2. NAM2 NAM2 (a doubled title/category sign) 3. NAM2(?) — dagger (GIR2) 4. Delivered(?) (DU) — AN — water (A) 5. Yoke(?) (ŠUDUN) — RI 6. Yoke(?) (ŠUDUN) — dagger (GIR2) 7. ... — water (A) — NI 8. Fire(?) (NE) — day (U4) — RA 9. NI — RA 10. ŠE3 — BU 11. Day (U4) — builder/mason (ŠIDIM) — foot(?) (GIR3, damaged) 12. To carry(?) (IL) — left(-hand)(?) (GUB3) — ... 13. ... — (an archaic sign of unidentified value) — dog(?) (UR) — NI — to sit(?) (DUR2) 14. Mixed…

Religion & Myth·Daily Life

~2550 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

CDLI Literary 006205, ex. 010

Obverse 1. [...] she-goat, LAK20 [...] 2. [...] has no place 3. [...] ... the place of flax(?) [...] LUM — he/it has not 4. [...] Šubur [...] MAR — he/it has not 5. [... ...] ... 6. no ghee(?) 7. |LAGAB×(AŠ@c×AŠ.AŠ@c×AŠ)| — not 8. fish-roe — not 9. LI TAR [...] 10. ... [...] 11. KU [... ...] (The remainder of the surface is broken away; the reverse carries no legible writing.)

Religion & Myth·Daily Life

~2550 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

CUSAS 32, 002

Incantation formula: [… snake?] of the night, the Abzu […] Venom comes forth — its substance is apportioned in the mouth. The mouth, its inner chamber, is made to attain (its aim). The snake coils; the great serpent (ušumgal) coils. The speckled field … (two unread compound signs) … [ … ] … … … The snake stretches out its mouth against me; with their tongues they fill me with fine threads. The snake, its mouth outstretched, … (unread) … let it not … (Colophon) The temple administrator (sanga) Ur-gibil, the scribe, [wrote (this)].

Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

DP 064

1 male sheep — (for) Nindara; 1 sheep — (for) Ninmush-bar(?); 1 sheep — (for) Ninmar; [when] Nindara('s statue) [was] led/brought [into] her [new] house, Baranamtara, wife of Lugalanda, ruler of Lagash, had (it) allotted (as offering); sheep consumed (in offering). (Under) Enku, the fattener. Total: 2.

Economy·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

DP 285

10 tar-loaves, 1 gu-gur10-loaf, 3 gu-ubi-loaves, 3 gab-carrying-loads of salt, 2 gurdub-vessels of aged agargara-fish, fish (in) a dusu-basket, festival malt — consumed, (for) the festival of Nanše. The junior gala-singer (and) the gudu-priest Adun'a — brought (it); total: 1.

Economy·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

DP 287

[x] tar-fish, 8(gešʼ2) (480) ubi-fish — (for) Lugal-ša, weighed out (and) brought forth for the offering table. 20 tar-fish, 7(gešʼ2) (420) ubi-fish, 60 kimu-fish — (as) first-fruit offering (nesaĝ): it is fish of the dusu-basket (creel). En-iggal, the inspector (nubanda). Month: "Festival of malt-consumption" of (the goddess) Nanše. The ebar-house of Bilgames (Gilgameš) — built (it) — delivered. Year 2.

Economy·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

Nik 1, 150

1 sheep, bar-nigin2 (portion/category) — (for) Ningirsu. 1 sheep, bar-nigin2 — (for) Baba. At the malt-eating festival of Ningirsu: Sasage — allotted (it) (lit. "struck the wood"). Sheep consumed. Ur-du6, the chief herdsman (šuš3) — total: 1.

Economy·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

RIME 1.09.04.14, ex. 08

(First copy) [... For the goddess Inanna, Enannatum,] ruler of Lagash, fashioned KIB-objects for her, (and) for the Eanna he declared (dedicated) them to her. (Second copy, duplicate) [... the ruler] of Lagash fashioned KIB-objects for her, (and) for the Eanna he declared (dedicated) them to her.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

RIME 1.12.06.02, ex. add04

(Obverse) ... the prayer gathered in the heart which was spoken to him, which came to him — Giššakidu, the beloved shepherd, the beloved friend of Ištaran, the mighty ruler of Enlil, the king called by name by Inanna, constructed that (boundary) levee. (Reverse uninscribed/eroded)

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

RIME 1.14.14.01, ex. 05

[When En]lil [truly] called him, and joined for him the en-ship together with the kingship, in Uruk he exercises the en-ship, in Ur he exercises the kingship — Lugal-ki[gine]-du[du], with great [joy ...] (remainder broken)

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

RIME 1.14.14.01, ex. 09

For Enlil, king of all the lands, Lugal-kigine-[dudu] — when Enlil spoke truly to him (i.e., truly summoned him), and joined for him the en-ship [together with] the kingship — in [Uruk] [the en-ship (he exercised)]; [for his life] [he] dedicated (this vessel) [to him].

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

RIME 1.14.14.01, ex. 15

For Enlil, king of all the lands — for Lugal-kigine-dudu: when Enlil truly summoned him (called to him with a faithful voice), and the lordship (en-ship) together with the kingship he combined for him — in Uruk the lordship he exercises, and in Ur the kingship he exercises. Lugal-kigi[ne-dudu ...] (the text breaks off here; the remainder of the dedication is lost on this exemplar)

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

RIME 1.14.20.01, ex. 04

(beginning lost) [...] may he (Enlil) look upon me [favorably]; the good fate (which the gods have decreed for me) — may they never alter it for me. May I forever be the foremost shepherd, standing at the head. Forever may [I be so]. For his life, to Enlil, his beloved king, he dedicated [this vessel].

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

RIME 1.14.20.01, ex. 10

(Beginning lost) [... lumaḫ-priest of the goddess] Nisaba, fed wholesome milk by Ninhursag, man of (the god) Mes-sanga-unug, attendant raised [by] Ningirim, the mistress of Uruk, chief steward of the gods — when Enlil, king of all the lands, (to) Lugalzagesi [gave the kingship of the Land ... (text breaks off)]

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

RIME 1.14.20.01, ex. 13

(vessel fragment; beginnings of all lines lost) [...] of [...], the exalted [...], for the [...]s, [when] Enlil, king of all the lands, to Lugalzagesi the [king]ship of the Land had [gi]ven, [and the eyes(?)] of the Land [he had directed toward him] ...

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

RIME 1.14.20.01, ex. 34

(Break) [... (Enlil, king of all the lands,) ...] the eyes of the land he directed toward him, all the foreign lands at his feet he placed, and from sunrise (the east) [to sunset (the west) he made them submit to him ...] (Break) ... [the s]ea(?) [...] king(?) [...] (Break)

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

RIME 1.14.20.01, ex. 42

[nom]inated by name by the god Utu, chief minister of the god Suen — (before whom) the throne-holders of Sumer (and) the rulers of all the lands at Uru[k submitted to his princely authority] — ... [(the god Enlil,)] king of all the lands, to An, his beloved father, [may he speak his prayer(?)] [...] (remainder broken)

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

RIME 1.14.20.01, ex. 43

(Break) [... looked] upon [truly] by [An], king of all the lands; chief ruler for [the god] Enlil; given wisdom by [the god] En[ki]; (Break) he raised [the head of Ur heavenward] (lit. "he raised up"); Larsa, the beloved city of Utu, he made rise in jubilation — he [...] (text breaks off)

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

RIME 1.14.20.01, ex. 44

(Fragment of a longer titulary and dedication; preserved portion:) grand ruler (ensi) of [the god En]lil, given [wisdom by the god Enki], [... the nation, in joy,] made merry under him, the sovereigns (lit. 'thrones') of Sumer (and) the rulers of all the lands at Uruk [bowed down] to the divine powers of prince[ship] [...] (remainder lost)

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

RIME 1.14.20.01, ex. 47

(beginning broken) [... beloved of the god Utu(?)] ... [...] with rejoicing [made merry] under him, [Umma], verily raised [its] horn [aloft]. (gap — intervening text lost) May the Land upon a fair place look, under me! The good fate which [they (An and Enlil)] have de[termined for me ...] (remainder broken)

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

RIME 1.14.20.01, ex. 49

(beginning broken) [... he] set [it (all the lands at his feet)], from [the] rising of the sun (the east) to the setting of the sun (the west), he made (them) subject to him. At that time, [from the] Sea (the [Lower] Sea), from the [lower(?)] ..., Umma, the city [...], [of the god] Šara [...] (remainder broken)

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

RIME 1.14.20.01, ex. 53

(beginning broken) [For Enlil, king of all the] lands(?), [Lugal]zagesi, king of Uruk, king of the Land [(kalam)], [išib-priest] of An, [...] (Break) at (his) feet [he laid the foreign lands(?)], he directed straight [the eyes of the Land toward him(?)], [from] the rising of the sun [...], [to] the setting of the sun [...], [En-... (Enlil? / lord ...)] (remainder broken)

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

RIME 1.14.20.01, ex. 70

[... (cared for by the goddess Nin)]girima, mistress of Uruk, chief steward for the [god]s, [... En]lil ... [...] Larsa, the beloved city of Utu, [raised a cry of] jubilation.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

RIME 1.15.add036.01, ex. 01

(Beginning broken) [...] [...] ... (trace) [...]-... (trace) [...] ... (trace) [...] ... (trace) ... [...] 70 (units of) barley [...] from the ...-goods, delivered [...] 2 shekels of silver, 2 (gur) 2 barig of barley, received (by the lid₂-ga measure), [n] + 10 [...] ...-goods [...] (Remainder broken)

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2400 BCE·Early DynasticOur engine

TMH 05, 065

67½ nindan, the long side (length), the short side (width): (so that the area is) 1 iku of field. (Result:) 1 nindan, 5 cubits, 2 šu-du-a (spans), 3 fingers and ⅓ finger. Il-il (?).

Astronomy & Mathematics