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Sumerian · Book

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Every tablet in the corpus — sortable by date, title or period; filterable by theme and period. Find a name, follow a period, or explore a subject through the records it left behind.

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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

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Editorial Sumerian literature Sumerian royal Assyrian royal Assyrian archives

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Page 1 / 33

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianEditorial

Code of Ur-Nammu

Among the oldest surviving written law collections. It provides an early witness to royal justice and specified compensation, rather than a starting date for law itself.

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

E-IGI.NIM-pa'e 2

Commemorates E-iginim-pa'e of Adab's construction of the E-mah temple for the goddess Diĝir-mah, attesting royal building piety and the foundation-peg ritual at one of Sumer's lesser-documented city-states.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Laws of Lipit-Eštar (RIME 4.01.05.add10 (Laws of Lipit-Ishtar) composite)

Predates Hammurabi by roughly 150 years, recording Lipit-Eštar's mandate from An and Enlil to 'establish justice' — an early articulation of the Mesopotamian ideology that divine authority underwrites royal law-giving.

Law·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Lugal-ayamu 2001

Records Ur-Imma's temple construction for Damgalnuna at Adab under the administrator Lugal-ayaĝu, attesting early Ur III institutional religion: a slave-born temple builder rewarded with divine favour for his family's welfare.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Lugal-KISAL-si 1

Dedicatory inscription of Lugal-kisalesi attests a king ruling both Uruk and Ur simultaneously, documenting a rare dual kingship in the late Early Dynastic–Ur III transitional period.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Šaratigubisin 1add (CUSAS 17, 014)

Attests a royal child holding the office of temple administrator (šabra) at Keš, documenting how Ur III kings extended dynastic control over provincial sanctuaries through direct family appointments.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Sin-kašid 02

Royal building inscription of Sin-kašid attesting his dual titles — king of Uruk and of the Amnanum tribe — evidence that Amorite chieftains ruled major Sumerian cities in the Isin-Larsa period.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Sin-kašid 03

Attests Sin-kašid's dual title — king of Uruk and king of the Amnanum tribe — anchoring his otherwise poorly documented dynasty within both civic and tribal power structures of post-Ur III Babylonia.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Sin-kašid 04

Attests Sin-kašid's dual role as builder of Uruk's great Inana temple (the E-ana) and of his own palace, anchoring his reign within the tradition of legitimacy-through-temple-construction.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Tulili 1 (CUSAS 17, 003)

A dedicatory inscription to Inana naming an otherwise obscure Ur III ruler or official named Tulili — one of the few epigraphic traces anchoring this individual within the Sumerian royal tradition.

Religion & Myth·Writing & Literature

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Unattributed 04 (unpublished unassigned ?)

A fragmentary Ur III royal inscription (ETCSRI Q008910) in which a ruler names an object or structure as a prayer-formula addressed to a goddess — attesting the dedicatory naming convention that wove piety directly into monumental or votive language.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Ur-Enlil 1

Dedicates a votive bowl to Ninlil for the well-being of Ur-Enlil, ruler of Nippur — attesting a local ruler otherwise poorly documented in the Ur III administrative record.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Ur-Enlil 2

Dedicates a votive offering to Enlil at Nippur, attesting the ritual obligations by which Ur III rulers legitimised their authority through the great state sanctuary.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Ur-nigina 1

Attests a Ur III military governor's temple-building at Patibira for the goddess Ninšešeĝara — localising otherwise poorly documented Sumerian religious patronage below the royal tier.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Ur-Ninmarki 2 (FAOS 09/2, Ninmarki 2)

Votive dedication of a mace by the governor of Lagaš to Šul-šagana, child of the city-god Ninĝirsu — attesting the personal piety and divine patronage networks through which Ur III provincial rulers legitimised their authority.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Ur-zage 1

Dedicatory inscription naming Ur-zage as king of Kiš attests a Sumerian ruler otherwise poorly documented, adding a data point to the contested royal succession of the Ur III period.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

URU-KA-gina 13

A weight-stone inscription certifying a 15-shekel standard in Ninĝirsu's name: direct physical evidence that Iri-kagina enforced metrological authority through dedicated cultic weights at Ĝirsu.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

URU-KA-gina 14v

Names Bau as the divine authority who installed Iri-kagina (Urukagina) in office — corroborating the reformer king's ideological claim that his rule, and his celebrated social reforms, derived from divine mandate rather than conquest.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

URU-KA-gina 23add (FAOS 05/1, Ukg 23)

Names Iri-kagina (Uruinimgina) as king of Lagaš alongside a named wall-guard captain — corroborating the civic-military administration documented in his celebrated reform inscriptions.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

URU-KA-gina 25add (FAOS 05/1, Ukg 25)

Names Iri-kagina (Urukagina) as king of Lagaš alongside a named wall-guard captain, attesting the military-administrative personnel of the city during the reign famous for history's earliest recorded social reforms.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

URU-KA-gina 26add (FAOS 05/1, Ukg 26)

Names Iri-kagina (Urukagina) as king of Lagaš and records a wall-guard appointment — administrative evidence from the reign of the ruler whose reforms are the earliest known attempt to codify social justice.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

URU-KA-gina 27add (FAOS 05/1, Ukg 27)

Names the wall-guard captain Urdu under Iri-kagina (Urukagina) of Lagaš: a rare administrative snapshot of military garrison command in the city credited with history's earliest recorded social reforms.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

URU-KA-gina 28add (FAOS 05/1, Ukg 28)

Names a wall-guard captain under Iri-kagina (Urukagina) of Lagaš, adding a rare administrative title to the prosopography of the ruler whose reforms are the earliest social-justice legislation known.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

URU-KA-gina 29add (FAOS 05/1, Ukg 29)

Names a city-wall guard captain under Iri-kagina (Urukagina) of Lagaš — administrative detail anchoring the ruler's security apparatus during the reform period that preceded Lugalzagesi's conquest.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

URU-KA-gina 30add (FAOS 05/1, Ukg 30)

Names a city-wall guard captain under Iri-kagina (Urukagina) of Lagaš, adding a rare prosopographic data point to the reign of the ruler credited with history's earliest recorded social reforms.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

URU-KA-gina 31add (FAOS 05/1, Ukg 31)

Names the captain of Lagaš's city-wall guard in Iri-kagina's fifth regnal year, supplying a rare dated administrative snapshot of urban military organisation in the Early Dynastic III period.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

URU-KA-gina 33add (FAOS 05/1, Ukg 33)

Names Iri-kagina (Urukagina) as king of Lagaš and assigns city-wall guards a pastoral role — a concrete fragment of the administrative vocabulary behind his celebrated reform edicts.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Uruna-badbi 2001

A votive inscription in which a temple scribe dedicates an offering vessel to Ninlil on behalf of multiple named individuals, attesting the personal piety and social networks of literate cult personnel in the Ur III temple economy.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

E-IGI.NIM-pa'e 1

(1) For Diĝir-mah, E-iginim-pa-e, ruler of Adab, ..., builder of the E-mah.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Erridu-pizir 1

(colophon 1, 1) The inscription on its socle. (colophon 2, 1) The inscription .... This statue ....

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Erridu-pizir 3

(colophon 1, 1) The inscription on its socle. (colophon 2, 1) The inscription on his shoulder. (colophon 3, 1) Tablet with 3 inscriptions (from) the statues of Erridu-pizir.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Geme-Bau 1 (Prima del'alfabeto 06)

(1) To Šul-šagana, her personal god, Geme-Bau, erešdiĝir priestess of Bau, dedicated this for her life.

Religion & Myth·Writing & Literature

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Giša-kidu 1

(1) When Šara became glorious, and Barag-irnun, spouse of Ĝiša-kidug, king of Umma, child of Ur-Luma, king of Umma, descendant of En-akale, king of Umma, daughter-in-law of Il, king of Umma, built a holy dais for Šara of the E-mah, then she presented Šara with this (object) for the E-mah for her well-being.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Hala-Adda 1

(1) Dada, the governor of Šuruppag, (and) Hala-adda, the governor of Šuruppag, his child, strenghtened the gate of Sud with walls.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Hala-Bau 1001

(1) To Šul-šagana, the beloved child of Ninĝirsu, her master, Ḫala-bau, the spouse of Lugal-irida, dedicated this (mace) for her well-being.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Hammu-rapi 14 (Akkadian)

(1) For Utu, lord of heaven and earth, his master. (3) Hammu-rapi, who was appointed by An, who makes himself heard by Enlil, the favourite of Utu, the beloved shepherd of Marduk, the powerful king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters, the king who renovated all the sanctuaries of the great gods, when Utu gave him the rule over Sumer and Akkad and entrusted their nose-rope into his hands, then for Utu, the lord who supports him, he built the E-babbar, his beloved temple in Larsam, (Utu’s) city of lordship.

Religion & Myth·Writing & Literature

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Hammu-rapi 16

(1) For Inana of Zabala, the lady whose fearsome radiance covers heaven and earth, his lady. (5) Hammu-rapi, who was appointed by An, who makes himself heard by Enlil, the favourite of Utu, the shepherd who makes Marduk's heart happy, the prince beloved by Inana, the powerful king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters, the king who renovated all the sanctuaries of the great gods, when Inana, who makes the omens favourable for him, gave him the rule over Sumer and Akkad and entrusted their nose-rope into his hands, then for his beloved Inana, he built the E-zi-kal…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Hammu-rapi 2004

(1) Utu, the great lord of heaven and earth! Keep your obedient prince, Hammu-rapi, alive!

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Hammu-rapi 23add

(1) Aya, lady of the Ebabbar! Keep your obedient prince, Hammu-rapi, alive!

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Idattu 1

(1) For Idattu, grandchild of Ebarat, child of Kindattu, Utu's shepherd, Inana's beloved, king of Anšan, king of the Šimaškians and Elam, Kiten-rakittapi, the grand vizier of Elam and chancellor, his servant, fashioned this (bowl).

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Kuda 1

(1) To Ningal, the divine lady of Urim, Kuda, the temple administrator of Inan, devotee of Utu, ....

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Lagaš II Unidentified 1002

(1) ... Bau, the kind woman, the šhild of An, the lady of Iri-kug, ....

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Lagaš II Unidentified 1003

(1) ... Inana, lady of the E-ana ....

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Lagaš II Unidentified 1004

(1) ... the proteštive spirit of Tarsirsir, Bau, his lady, ....

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Lagaš II Unidentified 1005

(1) ... Meslamta-ea, his master, ....

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Lagaš II Unidentified 1006

(1) Nanše, the mighty lady....

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Lagaš II Unidentified 1007

(1) ... Ninegala, his lady ....

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Lagaš II Unidentified 1008

(1) To Ninĝirsu, his master ... for the well-being ....

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Lagaš II Unidentified 1009

(1) ... Ninĝirsu, the powerful warrior of Enlil, ....

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~2100 BCE·Ur III · Neo-SumerianETCSRI

Lagaš II Unidentified 1010

(1) ... Ninĝirsu, the poweful warrior of Enlil, his master ....

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

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