CDLI Literary 000636, ex. 004 & 000638, ex. 006 (P346206)

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

Museum Collection(s)

British Museum, London, UK

Museum Number

BM —

Period

Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)

Provenience

Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar)

Artifact Type

Tablet

Material(s)

Clay

Genre / Subgenre(s)

Literary (ETCSL 4.08.05 Inanna and Dumuzi E (witness); ETCSL 4.08.07 Inanna and Dumuzi G ()

Language(s)

Sumerian

Measurements

-

Witness

Text

tablet
obverse
  beginning broken
1'. szesz#-[...]-en szesz#-[...]
 en: May you be our brother, may you be our brother
2'. SZESZ ka2 e2-gal-la x [...]
 en: May you be our brother/standard(?) of/at the gate of the palace
3'. u3-mu-un si ma2-gur8-me he2#-[...]
 en: May you be our lord of the prow of the barge
4'. nu-banda3 {gesz}gigir2-ra-me he2-me-en#
 en: May you be our captain of the chariot
5'. szusz3 {gesz}gigir2 sar-ra-me he2-me-en
 en: May you be our groom who runs (alongside?) the chariot
6'. ad-da iri# di ku5-ru-me he2-me-en
 en: May you be our city elder who decides cases
7'. mussa IM2 mussa IM2
 en: Son-in-law, ..., son-in-law, ...
8'. szesz!(MU) |SAL.MU.DI| ad-da-me he2-me-en
 en: Brother(!?), may you be the son-in-law(!?) of(?) our father
9'. mussa# gu2 zi-ga-me he2-me-en
 en: May you be our son-in-law whose neck is raised
10'. [...] nig2#-ze2-ba hu-mu#-x-x-x-[...]
 en: May my mother say good things with you(? i.e. converse)
11'. [...]-na#?-zu nam-ti# [...]
 en: Your having come is indeed life
12'. [...] x [...]
  rest broken
reverse
  beginning broken
1'. [...]-da#
 en: ...
2'. x [...]-me-er-gu10 ga2-e mu#-[un-ku7]-ku7#-da
 en: ..., my god(?)! He is the one that sweetens me(?)
3'. szu-ni# lal3-e [giri3]-ni# lal3-e ga2-e mu-un-ku7-ku7-da
 en: His hands (are) honey, his feet (are) honey that sweetens me(?)
4'. a2-szu-giri3-ni# lal3-e ku7-ku7-de3 ga2-e mu-un-ku7-ku7-da
 en: His limbs (are) sweet honey that sweetens me(?)
5'. hi{sar} sa6-sa6 x [...] hi{sar}-am3 x [...]
 en: The beautiful hiz plant ..., it is the hiz plant that he has watered
6'. x x x [...]
  rest broken

Text content

Genre(s) Literary (ETCSL 4.08.05 Inanna and Dumuzi E (witness); ETCSL 4.08.07 Inanna and Dumuzi G ()
Language(s) Sumerian

Chronology

Period Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)
Accounting Period

Composites

This artifact is a witness to the following composite(s):

Composite Composite Number Score
CDLI Literary 000636 (Inanna and Dumuzi E) composite (P478865) Q000636 View the score

Record

Permalink https://cdli.network/entity/P346206

Physical information

Artifact type Tablet
Dimensions
Weight
Material(s) Clay
Preservation

Provenance

Provenience Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar)
Written In
Excavation Number U —
Findspot
Stratigraphic Level
Elevation

Collections

Collection(s) British Museum, London, UK
Museum Number BM —
Accession Number

External resources

External Resource Identifiers
The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature transliterations (ETCSL transliterations) 4.8.5
The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature translations (ETCSL translations) 4.8.5
Ancient Records of Middle Eastern Polities (ARMEP) P346206

References

  • history: UET 6, 0121

    [Gadd1963UET6] Gadd, Cyril J., and Aaron Shaffer. 1963, 1966, 2005. Ur Excavations Texts Vol. VI.

  • history: Sumerian Love Songs, 177ff. & 165ff.

    [Sefati1998LoveSongs] Sefati, Yitschak. 1998. Love Songs in Sumerian Literature : Critical Edition of the Dumuzi₋Inanna Songs. Ramat Gan : Bar₋Ilan University Press.

  • citation: JNES 59 (pp. 23-30), 024

    [Tinney2000JNES59] Tinney, Stephen J. 2000. “Notes on Sumerian Sexual Lyric.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 59 (1): 23–30. https://www.jstor.org/stable/546210.

Revisions and credits

Created Creator Type Authors Project Reviewer Status Action
2024-09-15 at 13:34:37 Firth, Richard Artifact metadata, Other metadata Firth, Richard Firth, Richard Approved View
2024-09-06 at 15:10:00 Firth, Richard Artifact metadata, Other metadata Firth, Richard Firth, Richard Approved View
2023-06-15 at 20:34:30 Rattenborg, Rune Artifact metadata Rattenborg, Rune Geomapping Landscapes of Writing Rattenborg, Rune Approved View
2019-06-11 at 16:31:17 Englund, Robert K. Transliteration Englund, Robert K. CDLI Approved View
2019-05-29 at 21:01:58 Englund, Robert K. Transliteration Englund, Robert K. CDLI Approved View
2006-11-02 at 00:00:00 CDLI Artifact metadata Foxvog, Daniel A.; Guerra, Dylan; Peterson, Jeremiah; Veldhuis, Niek; Wolfe, Jared N. CDLI Approved View

Cite this Artifacts

“CDLI Literary 000636, Ex. 004 & 000638, Ex. 006 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). September 15, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P346206.
CDLI Literary 000636, ex. 004 & 000638, ex. 006 artifact entry (No. P346206). (2024, September 15). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P346206 (Original work published 2006)
CDLI Literary 000636, ex. 004 & 000638, ex. 006 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P346206 (Accessed: April 26, 2026).
@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-04-26]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {sep 15},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000636, ex. 004 & 000638, ex. 006 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P346206},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P346206},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/9/15/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P346206
LB  - CDLI:P346206
M1  - 2026/4/26/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000636, ex. 004 & 000638, ex. 006 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P346206
ER  -

Cite this Artifacts

“CDLI Literary 000636, Ex. 004 & 000638, Ex. 006 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). September 15, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P346206.
CDLI Literary 000636, ex. 004 & 000638, ex. 006 artifact entry (No. P346206). (2024, September 15). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P346206 (Original work published 2006)
CDLI Literary 000636, ex. 004 & 000638, ex. 006 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P346206 (Accessed: April 26, 2026).
@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-04-26]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {sep 15},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000636, ex. 004 & 000638, ex. 006 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P346206},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P346206},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/9/15/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P346206
LB  - CDLI:P346206
M1  - 2026/4/26/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000636, ex. 004 & 000638, ex. 006 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P346206
ER  -
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