Tuesday, August 11, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Royal Inscriptions
Royal building and dedication inscriptions from Sumer's city-state rulers, beginning with Gudea of Lagaš's account of rebuilding Ninĝirsu's temple.
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Texts
Gudea — Statues and Shorter InscriptionsThe complete surviving inscriptions of Gudea of Lagash outside the great Cylinders — twenty-five inscribed statues, cylinder fragments, and over a hundred dedications on bricks, cones, mace heads, vessels, and seals, in the ETCSRI scholarly translation.Ibbi-Suen and the Remaining Ur III InscriptionsThe royal inscriptions of Ibbi-Suen, fifth and last king of the Third Dynasty of Ur, together with the ETCSRI corpus's unattributed Ur III royal inscriptions and its texts naming minor contemporary officials of the period, 148 compositions in all.Nammahni, Ur-Bau, and the Other Rulers of Lagaš II — Royal InscriptionsThe 118 Lagaš II royal inscriptions of Ur-Bau, Ur-Ningirsu I and II, Pirig-me, Ur-GAR, Nammahni, and other named and unattributed rulers, in the ETCSRI scholarly translation, completing the library's Lagaš II shelf alongside the two Gudea volumes.Other Early Dynastic Royal Inscriptions — The Kings of Kish, Ur, Uruk, and UmmaThe 172 surviving Early Dynastic royal inscriptions of Kish, Ur, Uruk, Umma, and a dozen smaller city-states, most of them a sentence or two long on a bowl, mace head, bead, or seal, in the ETCSRI scholarly translation.The Akkadian Empire and the Gutian Interlude — Royal InscriptionsThe Sumerian-language royal inscriptions of the Akkadian kings Sargon, Rimuš, Man-ištušu, Naram-Suen, and Šar-kali-šarri, the Gutian ruler Erridu-pizir, Utu-hegal of Uruk who ended Gutian rule, and the period's minor local governors, from ETCSRI.The Cylinders of Gudea — The Building of Ninĝirsu's TempleGudea of Lagash's twin clay cylinders, the longest and most complete literary composition to survive from ancient Sumer, describing in the god Ninĝirsu's own words how his temple E-ninnu was built and consecrated.The Early Dynastic Inscriptions of Lagaš — Ur-Nanše to URU-KA-ginaThe complete transliterated corpus of Early Dynastic royal inscriptions of the First Dynasty of Lagaš, from Ur-Nanše to URU-KA-gina, plus two related inscriptions of LUM-ma of Adab, in ETCSRI's own English translation (171 texts).The Kings of Isin, Larsa, Uruk, and Babylon — Royal InscriptionsETCSRI's published translations of the royal inscriptions of the kings of Isin, Larsa, Uruk, and Babylon from the fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur to Hammu-rapi's unification of Mesopotamia, 94 compositions in all.The Royal Inscriptions of Amar-SuenaThe complete surviving royal inscriptions of Amar-Suena, third king of the Third Dynasty of Ur and son of Šulgi — eighty-four building, votive, and seal inscriptions on brick, stone, clay, and metal, in the ETCSRI scholarly translation.The Royal Inscriptions of Šu-SuenThe complete surviving royal inscriptions of Šu-Suen, fourth king of the Third Dynasty of Ur and builder of the wall against the Amorites — one hundred and ninety-three building, votive, and seal inscriptions on clay, stone, and metal, in the ETCSRI scholarly translation.The Royal Inscriptions of ŠulgiThe complete corpus of Šulgi of Ur's two hundred and twenty royal inscriptions and servant seals, on tablets, bricks, cones, vessels, and stone, in the ETCSRI scholarly translation.The Royal Inscriptions of Ur-NammaThe complete surviving royal inscriptions of Ur-Namma, founder of the Third Dynasty of Ur and builder of the great ziggurat of Ur — fifty-three building, votive, and seal inscriptions on brick, stone, clay, and metal, in the ETCSRI scholarly translation.