Position in chronology
Amar-Suena 12
Written in modern English
Amar-Suena, powerful king of Ur and king of the four quarters of the world, built a jail in Ur for the god Nanna. He named it 'Amar-Suena is the beloved of Nanna.'
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSRI(1) Amar-Suena, the powerful king, king of Urim, king of the four quarters, built for (Nanna) the jail in Urim. The name of this jail is "Amar-Suena is the beloved of Nanna".
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions — scholar edition (Vienna).
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Why it matters
Records Amar-Suena's construction of a royal jail at Ur — one of the earliest explicit textual attestations of a dedicated carceral institution in Mesopotamian history.
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 Q001795.
Attribution
Image: BM 120520 (British Museum, London, UK) — from uncertain (mod. Diqdiqqah) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P226846). 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/Q001795/.
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