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

Metadata / catalogue

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Text / annotations

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Chemical Data

Seal Chemistry

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Metadata history Transliteration history

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

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

Consult previous versions and their differences
Consult sign list of Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)
Consult word list of Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)

  • Artifact type: Tablet
  • Material: Clay
  • Measurements (mm):
  • Weight:
  • Artifact Preservation:
  • Condition Description:
  • Join Information:
  • Seal no.:
  • Seal information:
  • Artifact comments:

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

  • history: UET 6, 0121

    [Gadd1963] Gadd, Cyril J., and Aaron Shaffer. 1963, 1966.

  • 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.

  • Composite No.:
  • Museum No.: BM —
  • Accession No.:

  • Provenience: Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar)
  • Elevation:
  • Stratigraphic Level:
  • Excavation No: U —
  • Findspot Square:
  • Findspot Comments:

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

Consult this artifact as presented on the website of collections and projects:

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

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

General Notes: -
CDLI Notes: -

Cite this Artifact

“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: September 4, 2025).
@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-09-04]},
	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  - 2025/9/4/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000636, ex. 004 & 000638, ex. 006 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P346206
ER  -

Cite this Artifact

“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: September 4, 2025).
@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-09-04]},
	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  - 2025/9/4/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000636, ex. 004 & 000638, ex. 006 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P346206
ER  -
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