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
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Transliteration
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