Position in chronology
Lugal-ayamu 2001
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSRI(1) At the time when Lugal-ayaĝu, the temple administrator of Iškur, ruled in Adab, Damgalnuna chose Ur-Imma in her holy heart and told him “Build my temple for me!”, and after Ur-Imma had gone to Damgalnuna to tell her of his intentions, Ur-Imma, the powerful house-born slave of Damgalnuna, the powerful servant of Imma, the powerful descendant of Lugal-niĝbarag-dug’s clan, excavated (her temple's) 6 kuš and 1 zapah deep foundation pit. He assigned a nueša priest, a cupbearer, male and female servants to the temple. (24) Because of these, Damgalnuna decided a good fate for Ur-Imma, and (when) he requested from her the well-being of his mother, the well-being of his spouse and child, and the well-being his brothers, (then) Damgalnuna stood by him in this.
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions — scholar edition (Vienna).
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Why it matters
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.
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 Q004253.
Attribution
Image: MS 2399 (Schøyen Collection, Oslo, Norway) — from Adab (mod. Bismaya) ? — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P251599). 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/Q004253/.
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