CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 049 (P346552)

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

Lineart Photo

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'. [...] lu2# i3 nu#?-[...]
 en: People who did not know butter were churning its butter
2'. [...] lu2# gar9#? nu#?-[...]
 en: People who did not know cream were ... its cream
3'. [...]-ra# {dug#}szakir3#-[...]
 en: In the cattle pen the churning churn was not bellowing nobly
4'. [...] dugud#-bi i3-ra#?-[...]
 en: The heavy coals that had been lit(?), their smoke ceased
5'. [...] x unu2 gal {d}nanna#-[...]
 en: ... the great dining hall of Nanna ...
6'. [{d}]suen#?-e a-a-ni {d}en-lil2-ra# [...]
 en: Suen wept to his father Enlil
7'. [...] ugu#!?-gu10 iri#-gu10 a-na-x x [...]
 en: My birth father, my city was ... for him(?), why did you turn away from me?
8'. [...] uri2{ki}-gu10 a#-na#-x [...]
 en: Enlil, my Ur was ... for him(!?), why did you turn away from me?
9'. [e2]-kisz#-nu#-gal2#?-gu10 a#-na-x x [...]
 en: My Ekišnugal temple was ... for him(?), why did you turn away from me?
10'. [...] nesag#?-ga2 a-a ugu-gu10#?-[...]
 en: The nesag offering ships of my(?) birth father no longer brought the nesag offering for him
11'. nindaba#-bi {d#}en-lil2 nibru#[{ki}-sze3 ...]
 en: ... could not bring its nindaba offerings to Enlil (of/at) Nibru for him
12'. en iri bar-ra# en iri sza3!-ga [...]
 en: The wind(s) carried off the en priest(ess) of the outer city and the en priest(ess) of the inner city
13'. uri2#{ki} iri# {gesz#}al#-e ri#-[...]
 en: Ur, like a city struck by a pickax, has been broken up into ruin heaps
14'. x-ur2 ki? ni2 dub2#?-bu#? [...]
 en: The Ki'ur? shrine, the place of relaxation of Enlil, has been made into a windblown shrine
  rest broken
reverse
  beginning broken
  blank space

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/P346552

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) P346552

References

  • history: UET 6, 0514

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

  • history: LSU, p.33 NN

    [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 10:47:26 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 Artifact

“CDLI Literary 000380, Ex. 049 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). July 19, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P346552.
CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 049 artifact entry (No. P346552). (2024, July 19). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P346552 (Original work published 2006)
CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 049 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P346552 (Accessed: May 18, 2026).
@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-05-18]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {jul 19},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000380, ex. 049 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P346552},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P346552},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/7/19/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P346552
LB  - CDLI:P346552
M1  - 2026/5/18/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 049 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P346552
ER  -

Cite this Artifact

“CDLI Literary 000380, Ex. 049 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). July 19, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P346552.
CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 049 artifact entry (No. P346552). (2024, July 19). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P346552 (Original work published 2006)
CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 049 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P346552 (Accessed: May 18, 2026).
@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-05-18]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {jul 19},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000380, ex. 049 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P346552},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P346552},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/7/19/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P346552
LB  - CDLI:P346552
M1  - 2026/5/18/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000380, ex. 049 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P346552
ER  -
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