CDLI Literary 000559, ex. 008 (P346595)

Literary letter and letter-prayer 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 > Literary letter and letter-prayer (ETCSL 3.01.19 Letter from Puzur-numushda to Ibbi-Sin (witness) Letter)

Language(s)

Sumerian

Measurements

-

Witness

tablet
obverse
1. [...]-bi2#-{d#}suen# lugal#?-[...]
 en: When you speak to Ibbi-Sîn, my king
2. [...] puzur4?-{d}szul-gi# [...]
3. na#-ab#?-be2#?-[...]
 en: This is what Puzur-Shulgi, governor of Kazallu, says
4. {lu2#}kin2#?-gi4-a isz#-bi#-[...]-ke4 ugu#?-[...]
5. [...]-ni x-x-gar#-ma
 en: Before me, the messenger of Išbi-Erra before me devoted his attention to me
6. [{d?}]isz#-bi#-er3#-ra# lugal#-gu10# ugu#-zu#-sze3!
7. kin2#?-gi4#-a im#-mi#-in#-gi4#
 en: (Saying) Išbi-Erra has sent a message towards you
8. [{d?}]isz#-bi-er3-ra#? lugal#-gu10# na#-ab#-be2-[a]
 en: This is what Puzur-Shulgi, governor of Kazallu, says
9. {d#}en#-lil2# lugal#-gu10# nam#?-sipa#? kalam#!?-[...] x [...] x ba-an-szum2
 en: Enlil, my king, has expounded upon(?) the shepherdship of the land
10. [...] {i7?}[...]
 en: The shores of the Tigris, Euphrates, the Abgal canal
11. u3 [... {d}]en-lil2#-[...]
 en: And the banks of the Me-Enlila canal
12. iri?-x [...] (|SU.LU.SZE3|%|SU.LU.SZE3|)#-[...]
 en: Their cities, their gods, and their armies
13. ma#-da# [...]-ma#?-zi2#{ki} gaba#? [...]-ab [...]
 en: (From?) the land of Hamazi (to?) the shore(?) of the sea of Magan
14. igi# {d#}nin#-{+i3}isin2{+si-na}-sze3#? [...]-ku4#-de3#
 en: To bring (all these places) before Ninisina
15. i3-si#-in-na nam-ga2-nun# {d}en-lil2 ga2-ga2#-de3
 en: In order to establish the status of storehouse (of) Enlil in Isin
16. mu-szu tuku-tuku-de3
 en: In order to make it acquire its name
17. nam-ra-ka-ne-[...] irix(GISZGAL)-irix(GISZGAL)-ba dur2-dur2-de3
 en: In order to settle their captives in its cities
18. {d}en-lil2-le# [...]-an#-du11#
 en: Enlil has spoken to me
19. [...]-na#?-asz#?-am3 [...] mu#-da-ab-ak#
 en: Why should it be refused?
20. [...] {d#?}en#?-lil2#? lugal#-gu10# {d}da-gan MU-ga2 in#-pa3#?
 en: I have invoked the name of Enlil, my king, and Dagan, my personal god(!?)
reverse
1. [ka]-zal-lu{ki} szu-ga2 x he2-bi2-sa2
 en: Kazallu shall be reached by(!?) my hand
2. iri# ma-da {d#}en#-lil2#-le ma#?-an-du11-ga-am3
 en: Enlil has ordered the cities of that land for me
3. sza3 i3-si-in-na-ka za3#-gu#-la!-ne-ne ga-bi2#?-ne#?-du3-du3
 en: I shall have their shrines/places of honor built inside Isin
4. esz3#-esz3-a-ne-ne-a [...]-x-NIGIN2
 en: I shall ... their ešeš festivals
5. alan#?-gu10 szu!-nir-gu10 x [...]-mah
6. eresz#?-dingir#-gu10-ne ge6-par4#-ra#?-[...]-ne ga-bi2#-[...]-dur2
 en: I shall make my statues and emblems and my en(?), lumah, and erešdigir priestesses dwell in their cloisters
7. [...] e2#-[...]-ra
 en: Before Enlil inside the Ekur temple
8. [...] e2#-[...]-gal2#-ta#?
 en: Before Nanna inside the Ekišnugal temple
9. [...]-bi# he2-x-[...]-du11#?
 en: My children shall perform their siskur rites
10. u3#? [...] x [...]
 en: And you, he who is your (current) aid
11. ma#-da#-ni#-ta# ga#-am3-[...]
 en: I shall stand him apart from his land
12. i3#-si#-in#-na-ka#! bad3-bi ga#-[...]
 en: I shall build the wall of Isin
13. i3-di-il-pa-szu-nu mu-szu ga-bi2-NAM-[...]
 en: I shall name(!?) it Idil-pašunu
14. bi2#-in-du11-ga-gin7#-nam
 en: It was as he said
15. i3#-si#-in#-[...]-an#?-du3
 en: He built the wall of Isin
16. i3-di-il-pa#-[...] mu#-sze3 ba-am3-sze21
 en: He named it Idil-pašunu
17. nibru{ki#} ba#-an#-dab5# en#-nu#-ga2-ni ba#-[...]
 en: He captured Nibru, he set up his guard
18. [...]-du11#-ga#-ni saga nibru{ki} ba#-[...]
 en: And then he captured Nigdugani, the saga official of Nibru
19. [...]{ki} nam-ra-a#?-asz! im-ma-x-[...]
 en: He plundered Hamazi
  (traces?)

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:

  • history: UET 6, 0558

    [Gadd1963] Gadd, Cyril J., and Aaron Shaffer. 1963, 1966.

  • history: CKU, 23

    [Michalowski2011CKU] Michalowski, Piotr. 2011. The Correspondence of the Kings of Ur : An Epistolary History of an Ancient Mesopotamian Kingdom. Vol. 15. 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
2024-07-08 at 08:00:06 Firth, Richard Artifact, Other Entity Firth, Richard Firth, Richard approved View
2024-07-08 at 07:53:26 Firth, Richard Artifact, Other Entity Firth, Richard Firth, Richard approved View
2023-06-15 at 20:34:30 Rattenborg, Rune Artifact Rattenborg, Rune Geomapping Landscapes of Writing Rattenborg, Rune approved View
2019-06-01 at 14:34:08 Englund, Robert K. Atf Englund, Robert K. CDLI approved View
2019-05-29 at 21:01:58 Englund, Robert K. Atf Englund, Robert K. CDLI approved View
2006-11-02 at 00:00:00 CDLI Artifact 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 000559 (Letter from Puzur-numushda to Ibbi-Sin) composite (P473757) View the score

General Notes: -
CDLI Notes: -
Cite this Artifact
“CDLI Literary 000559, Ex. 008 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). July 8, 2024. https://cdli.ucla.edu/P346595.
CDLI Literary 000559, ex. 008 artifact entry (No. P346595). (2024, July 8). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.ucla.edu/P346595 (Original work published 2006)
CDLI Literary 000559, ex. 008 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.ucla.edu/P346595 (Accessed: March 14, 2025).
@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-03-14]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {jul 8},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000559, ex. 008 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.ucla.edu/P346595},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.ucla.edu/P346595},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/7/8/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P346595
LB  - CDLI:P346595
M1  - 2025/3/14/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000559, ex. 008 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.ucla.edu/P346595
ER  -
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