Position in chronology
Unattributed Ur III 1030
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSRI(1') To ..., ..., king of Urim, king of the four quarters, dedicated this (vessel) for his well-being. (5') Whoever erases his inscription and writes his own name there, may Utu, king of Zimbir, put an end to his lineage!
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions — scholar edition (Vienna).
Spotted an error? Suggest a correction — confirmed corrections feed the engine's knowledge base.
Why it matters
A votive vessel dedication from an Ur III king of Ur invokes Utu as enforcer against inscription-erasers — attesting the legal-religious mechanisms kings used to protect their monumental legacy.
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 Q001899.
Attribution
Image: BM 114698 + BM 090903 (was BM 012031) (British Museum, London, UK) — from Sippar-Yahrurum (mod. Tell Abu Habbah) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P226711). 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/Q001899/.
Related tablets
Related sources
An early example of administrative writing from Uruk. Its fragmentary numerical entries and commodity signs document record-keeping during the formative period of writing.
An early witness to systematic administrative notation at Kish. Its signs and numerals can be catalogued, but that does not establish a full translation or prove that it is the world's first writing.
An early surviving historical monument that joins named rulers, a territorial dispute and religious oaths. It shows how a city-state turned victory into a lasting public claim, without establishing that this was the first recorded conflict.