Literary tablet excavated in Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar), dated to the Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC) period and now kept in British Museum, London, UK
Image
© The Trustees of the British Museum
(CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0)
Transliteration
tablet
obverse
1. [...]-bi# sipa# zi# kalam#-ma#
en: Its supreme farmer, the true shepherd of the land
2. [...]-ga# zi-de3-esz tu-da#
en: Born faithfully on a good day
3. engar# GAN2 dagal-la he2-du7-am3
en: The farmer is the ornament in the vast field
4. szi#-im-da-DU nindaba gal-gal-da
en: And therefore he comes(?) with many nindaba offerings
5. gesz-la2-bi nu-mu-un-DU e2-kur za-gin3-sze3
en: (And therefore?) silence has not set into the sparkling Ekur
6. {d}en-lil2 a2-dam ku3 ki-a hur-ra-za
en: Enlil, when you designed the pure settlement in the ground
7. nibru{ki} iri x ni2-za szi-im-mi-du3-du3-a
en: And therefore had Nibru ..., built in(?) your own city
8. ki-ur3 kur ki sikil su-a bi-du10-ga
en: (And) sweetened the flesh (of) the Ki'ur complex, the mountain, the pure place
9. ub-da 4(asz)-ba murub4-ba dur-an-ki ki ba-e-ni-tag#-ga#
en: (And) planted Duranki in the midst (of?) the 4 corners
10. 1(u) sahar-bi zi kalam-ma zi# kur#-kur-ra-[...]
en: Its soil(?), the life of the land and the life of the (other) lands
with 10 line tag
11. [...]-bi# ku3# husz#-a# usz8# [...]-gin3#-[...]
en: Its brickwork (consisting) of reddish gold(?) on(?) a foundation of lapis lazuli
rest broken
reverse
beginning broken
1'. szita ku3# me# [...]
en: Prayed to him (with?) the holy šita prayer/ritual arrangement and the holy me
2'. 1(u) kur-gal {d}en#-[...]
en: (10) Great Mountain Enlil, without you
with 10 line tag
3'. iri{ki} nu-du3# [...]
en: Cities would not be built, settlements would not be founded
4'. tur3 nu-du3# amasz#-[...]
en: The cattlepen would not be built, its sheepfold would not be accumulated(?)
5'. lugal nu-il2#-e# en nu#-u3#-tu#
en: The king would not be exalted, the lord/en priest(ess) would not be born
6'. lu2-mah eresz-dingir masz2-a nu-mu-un-dab5#-be2#
en: The lumah priest and erešdigir priestess would not be chosen by extispicy
7'. erin2-e szagina ugula nu-tuku-tuku
en: Among the troops neither general nor sargeant would possess (command over them)
8'. i7-de3 a-esztub{ku6} u5-bi nu-du-un-du-un
en: In the river/canal, the carp flood would not excavate the higher land
9'. egir-bi ab su3-a si# li-bi2-ib-sa2 kun# nu-mu-x-x
en: Its end would not function properly in the deep(?) sea, (its) “tail would not undulate” (i.e., leave a wake)
10'. ab#-e# erim3 dugud ni2-ba nu-mu-un-u3-tu
en: The sea would not have given birth to heavy (laden) treasure houses(?) by itself
11'. [...] engur#-ra-ke4 gesz-gi-a nunuz nu-mu-ni-ib2-nu2-nu2
en: The fish of the deep water would not have laid eggs in the reedbed
12'. [1(u) ... an]-na#-ke4 ki dagal-la gud3 la-ba-ni-ib2-us2-e#?
en: The bird of heaven would not found a nest in the broad earth
with 10 line tag