CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 048 (P346551)

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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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 2.02.03 Lament for Sumer and Ur (witness))

Language(s)

Sumerian

Measurements

-

Witness

tablet
obverse
  beginning broken
column 1'
  beginning broken
1'. {gesz#?}[...]
 en: Its throne was covered over from the front(?), she(?) could(?) (only) sit in the dust (instead)
2'. ab2# mah-[...]-x-ku5#?
 en: They seized the great(?) cows at/by(?) their ... horns, ... cut their horns off
3'. gu4# du7-du7-x [...]
 en: ... smote goring bulls with the weapon like (they were) grazing sheep
4'. {gesz}geszimmar uruda kal-ga#? [...]-ga2#
 en: The date palm (of? like?) strong copper, the arm of heroism
5'. {u2}numun2-gin7 ba-an-bur12# [...]-ba#? mi-ni-ib-bala
 en: ... tore it out like a rush, it was cut like a rush, it was turned sideways(?) in its roots
6'. sag# sahar-ra ba#?-ni#?-ib2#?-[...]-an-tuku
 en: Its top was lodged (in the ground), it did not have a person to raise it
7'. {gesz}ze2-na#?-bi# gu2# ba#?-[...]
 en: ... trimmed its midribs and set its top on fire
8'. [...]-an#-na# [...]
 en: ... its spadix with ripe dates, ... the well
reverse
column 1
1. [...] mu2-a gesz ki ba-e-la2#-[...]
 en: The gizi reeds that grew in the holy ... (and the) trees(?) were bowed to the ground(?)
2. [...]-ni-in-gar-gar-re-esz-a kur-ra i3#-[...]
 en: The great tribute that ... deposited there was carried away into(?) the mountain
3. [...]-e-szub bad3-si-bi ba-e-gul#
 en: In the temple, its {geš}bur ormanment(?) fell, its parapet was destroyed
4. [...]-da#? gab2-bu-ba gu2-da# la2-a-ba
 en: Its ... embracing on its right and left
5. [...] x gaz2-a-gin7 igi-bi-ta ba-e-szu2
 en: Like smitten heroes, they were covered from the front
6. [...] igi# pirig-ga2 ni2 gur3-gur3-ru-bi
 en: Its great storm(-demon)?, with an open mouth and the face of an awe-bearing pirig creature
7. [...] |SUD.NUN.TU|# ba-e-szub-bu-ri ki-erim2 ba-ab-de6
 en: The enemy territory brought away(?) the one felled with a saman rope like a caught wild bull
8. [... {d}]nanna# tir szim {gesz}erin-na!-gin7 ir-si-im-bi ba-gul
 en: The scent of the dwelling of holy Nanna, which was like a juniper forest, was brought to an end
9. [... u6]-di#-bi i3-du10-ga-ri u6-di-bi ba-gul
 en: (And?) the awe of the temple, which had been good(?)--the awe was (now) destroyed
10. [...] i#-im-si-a {d}usan#? [...]
 en: The one that filled(?) the lands like sunlight(?) was (re)built(?) like the evening(?) in(?) heaven (instead?)
  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 2.02.03 Lament for Sumer and Ur (witness))
  • Language(s): Sumerian

  • history: UET 6, 0513

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

  • history: LSU, p.33 MM

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

  • 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
2024-07-19 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 10:45:23 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

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 000380 (Lament for Sumer and Ur) composite (P469682) View the score

General Notes: -
CDLI Notes: -

Cite this Artifacts

“CDLI Literary 000380, Ex. 048 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). July 19, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P346551.
CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 048 artifact entry (No. P346551). (2024, July 19). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P346551 (Original work published 2006)
CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 048 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P346551 (Accessed: March 10, 2026).
@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-03-10]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {jul 19},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000380, ex. 048 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P346551},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P346551},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/7/19/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P346551
LB  - CDLI:P346551
M1  - 2026/3/10/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 048 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P346551
ER  -

Cite this Artifacts

“CDLI Literary 000380, Ex. 048 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). July 19, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P346551.
CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 048 artifact entry (No. P346551). (2024, July 19). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P346551 (Original work published 2006)
CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 048 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P346551 (Accessed: March 10, 2026).
@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-03-10]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {jul 19},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000380, ex. 048 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P346551},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P346551},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/7/19/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P346551
LB  - CDLI:P346551
M1  - 2026/3/10/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 048 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P346551
ER  -
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