Position in chronology
Šulgi 15
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) For Ninĝirsu, the powerful warrior of Enlil, his master, Šulgi, the powerful man, king of Urim, king of Sumer and Akkad, built his tempel of Bagara.
Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions (ETCSRI), University of Vienna, edited by Gábor Zólyomi et al. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/Q001657/
Why it matters
Dedicatory inscription anchoring Šulgi's construction of the Bagara temple to Ninĝirsu at Lagash — evidence that the Ur III kings extended royal building patronage to cults beyond their capital at Ur.
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 Q001657.
Attribution
Image: Ashm 1922-0009 (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK) — from Girsu (mod. Tello) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P226923). 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/Q001657/.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.