CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 047 (P346550)

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 2.02.03 Lament for Sumer and Ur (witness))

Language(s)

Sumerian

Measurements

-

Witness

Text

tablet
obverse
  beginning broken
1'. [...] x x [...]
 en: ...
2'. [...] x ti [...]
 en: ...
3'. [...] x IM# [...]
 en: ...
4'. [...]
 en: ...
5'. [...]-bi# {u2}[...]
 en: Its stolen(?) rushes ... carried (away)(?) the rushes ...
6'. [...]-un#-du8#-du8 [...]
 en: ... piled up and spread .... out ... in the manner of sheaves
7'. [...] x# la2#? x a#? [...]
 en: ... a corpse was in the Euphrates ...
8'. [...]-ta# ba#-da-gur [...]
 en: ... turned away from ... and was not saying “my spouse”
9'. [...]-ta# ba-da-gur dumu#?-[...]
 en: ... turned away from ... and was not saying “my son”
10'. [...]-a#-ni mu-un-szub e2#-[...]
 en: The one of the true temple/productive estate(?) abandoned his temple and was not saying “my temple”
11'. [...]-ta# giri3# kur2# ba#-ra#-an#-[...]
 en: The rich person took a different path away from his possessions
  rest broken
reverse
  beginning broken
1'. [...] x [...]
 en: ...
2'. [...] ki# ur-sag#? [...]
 en: ... the hero ...
3'. [...] ag2#?-ga2-ni giri3# [...]
 en: ... took a different path away from his beloved ...
4'. [...]{ki}-gu10 im-me#-a [...]
 en: The one that is saying(?) ... my city(?)
5'. [...] iri#{ki} ni2-ba# lu-a# szu# [...]
 en: Kazallu, the city that teemed by itself, was confused
6'. [...] ki#-tusz ki ag2-ga2-ni# [...]
 en: Numušda took a different path away from his city, his beloved dwelling
7'. [...] {d#}nam#-at munus# sa6 a#-[...]
 en: His wife Namrat, the beautiful woman, was weeping bitterly
8'. [...]-sug4#-ga i-im-gal2 a# [...]
 en: Emptiness was in the river, ... could not irrigate
9'. [...]-ki#-ke4 nam ba-an-ku5# [...]
 en: Like a river cursed by Enki, its intake was blocked
10'. [...] nu-un-gal2 [...]
 en: ... did not have(?) grain in the field, the people did not eat
11'. [...]-gin7#? ba-ur5?-ur5? [...]
 en: The watered orchards were baked like an oven, the plain was dispersed.
  rest broken

Text content

Genre(s) Literary (ETCSL 2.02.03 Lament for Sumer and Ur (witness))
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 000380 (Lament for Sumer and Ur) composite (P469682) Q000380 View the score

Record

LOD URI https://cdli.network/entity/P346550

Physical information

Artifact type Tablet
Dimensions
Weight
Material(s) Clay
Preservation

Provenance

Provenience Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar)
Written In
Archive
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) 2.2.3
The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature translations (ETCSL translations) 2.2.3
Ancient Records of Middle Eastern Polities (ARMEP) P346550

References

  • history: UET 6, 0512

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

  • history: LSU, p.33 LL

    [Michalowski1989LamentationSumer] Michalowski, Piotr. 1989. The Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur. Vol. 1. Mesopotamian Civilizations. Winona Lake, Ind : Eisenbrauns.

Revisions and credits

Created Creator Type Authors Project Reviewer Status Action
2024-07-19 at 13:59:15 Firth, Richard Artifact metadata, Other metadata Firth, Richard Firth, Richard Approved View
2024-07-12 at 18:14:13 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 10:42:46 Englund, Robert K. Transliteration Englund, Robert K. CDLI Approved View
2019-06-01 at 14:34:09 Englund, Robert K. Transliteration Peterson, Jeremiah 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 Artifact

“CDLI Literary 000380, Ex. 047 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). July 19, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P346550.
CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 047 artifact entry (No. P346550). (2024, July 19). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P346550 (Original work published 2006)
CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 047 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P346550 (Accessed: April 29, 2026).
@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-04-29]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {jul 19},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000380, ex. 047 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P346550},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P346550},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/7/19/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P346550
LB  - CDLI:P346550
M1  - 2026/4/29/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 047 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P346550
ER  -

Cite this Artifact

“CDLI Literary 000380, Ex. 047 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). July 19, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P346550.
CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 047 artifact entry (No. P346550). (2024, July 19). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P346550 (Original work published 2006)
CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 047 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P346550 (Accessed: April 29, 2026).
@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-04-29]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {jul 19},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000380, ex. 047 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P346550},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P346550},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/7/19/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P346550
LB  - CDLI:P346550
M1  - 2026/4/29/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 047 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P346550
ER  -
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