35 articles
Adam and Eve cylinder seal
The Adam and Eve cylinder seal, also called the Temptation seal, is an Akkadian-style greenstone cylinder seal in the British Museum, carved around 2200–2100 BC.
Anubanini rock relief
The Anubanini rock relief, also read Anobanini, is a victory monument at Sar-e Pol-e Zahab in western Iran, made for Anubanini, king of Lullubum, around 2000 BCE.
Bala taxation
The bala, Sumerian for 'rotation', was the Ur III tax system in which southern Mesopotamian provinces paid rotating monthly dues of grain, livestock, and labor.
Bassetki Statue
The Bassetki Statue is a copper statue base bearing an Old Akkadian inscription of Naram-Sin of Agade, found at Bassetki, ancient Mardaman, in northern Iraq.
Birth Legend of Sargon of Akkad
The Birth Legend of Sargon of Akkad, also called the Legend of Sargon of Akkad, is an Akkadian pseudo-autobiography recounting Sargon's birth and rise to kingship.
Correspondence of the Kings of Ur
The Correspondence of the Kings of Ur is a collection of literary letters between the Ur III kings and their officials, the largest surviving corpus of Sumerian prose.
Curse of Agade
The Curse of Agade, also called The Cursing of Agade, is a Sumerian poem about King Naram-Suen of Akkad and the gods' destruction of his capital, Agade.
Cuthean Legend of Naram-Sin
The Cuthean Legend of Naram-Sin is an Akkadian literary text presenting itself as a stele by Naram-Sin of Akkad, describing his war against the Umma-mānda hordes.
Death of Gilgamesh
The Death of Gilgamesh is a Sumerian narrative poem about the death, funeral, and netherworld fate of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, one of five short Sumerian Gilgamesh poems.
Death of Ur-Namma
The Death of Ur-Namma is a Sumerian poem on the death in battle of Ur-Namma, first king of the third dynasty of Ur, and his journey to the netherworld.
Debate between Bird and Fish
The Debate between Bird and Fish is a Sumerian disputation poem, c. 2000 BCE, in which King Shulgi judges a rank contest and awards victory to Bird.
Debate between Sheep and Grain
The Debate between Sheep and Grain is a Sumerian disputation poem in which Sheep and Grain argue, with the god Enki ruling in Grain's favor.
Debate between Silver and Copper
The Debate between Silver and Copper is a Sumerian disputation poem, one of eight known debate poems, in which Silver and Copper claim superiority over each other.
Debate between the Hoe and the Plough
The Debate between the Hoe and the Plough is a Sumerian disputation poem in which the two farm tools argue and Enlil rules for the hoe.
Drehem archive
The Drehem archive, also known as the Puzrish-Dagan archive, is a corpus of over 15,000 Ur III administrative tablets, chiefly livestock records, from a center near Nippur used from about 2056 to 2026 BC.
Garshana archive
The Garšana archive is a group of over 1,400 Ur III cuneiform tablets, looted and of unknown location, recording the household of general Šu-Kabta and princess Simat-Ištaran.
Gudea Cylinders
The Gudea Cylinders, or Cylinders of Gudea, are two inscribed clay cylinders from Girsu, Lagash, narrating the building of Ningirsu's É-ninnu temple around 2120 BC.
Gutian language
Gutian, also called Gutean, is the unclassified language of the Gutians, a Zagros Mountains people known only from names in Sumerian and Akkadian records of the later third millennium BC.
Istanbul 2461
Istanbul 2461 is a small clay tablet from Nippur, Iraq, inscribed with a Sumerian love song to King Shu-Suen of Ur, often called the world's oldest known love poem.
King of Sumer and Akkad
King of Sumer and Akkad is a Mesopotamian royal title claiming lordship over Sumer and Akkad, first used regularly by the kings of the Third Dynasty of Ur.
Lament for Ur
The Lament for Ur, or Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur, is a Sumerian city lament mourning the fall of Ur to the Elamites in 2004 BCE.
Manishtushu Obelisk
The Manishtushu Obelisk is a four-sided inscribed stone monument of Akkadian king Manishtushu, recording his purchase of large tracts of land around Kish about 2270 BC.
Nippur tablet archive
The Nippur tablet archive is a body of Ur III administrative cuneiform tablets excavated at Nippur by the University of Pennsylvania between 1889 and 1900.
Šandabakku
Šandabakku, also spelled Sandabakku, was the title of the chief governor of Nippur, Babylonia's religious center, and the highest official under the king in Kassite Babylonia.
Sargonic royal inscriptions
Sargonic royal inscriptions, also called Old Akkadian royal inscriptions, are the inscriptions of the Akkadian dynasty from Sargon through Shu-turul, c. 2334–2154 BC, the first extensive use of Akkadian for royal display.
Self-praise of Shulgi (Shulgi D)
Self-praise of Shulgi (Shulgi D) is a Sumerian royal hymn in which Shulgi, second king of the Third Dynasty of Ur, praises himself as an ideal ruler.
Shakkanakku
Shakkanakku, also written shakkanaku, is an Akkadian title meaning military governor, borne from about 2300 BCE and held by the rulers of Mari for nearly three centuries.
Shulgi hymns
The Shulgi hymns, also called the Royal hymns of Shulgi, are over twenty Sumerian royal hymns praising Shulgi, second king of the Ur III dynasty.
Suhlamu
Suhlamu, also Sahlamu, is the fourth of seventeen early Assyrian kings named in the Assyrian King List, known only from that document, with no contemporary inscriptions recording him.
Sumerian Temple Hymns
The Sumerian Temple Hymns are a collection of 42 hymns praising the temples of major deities in 36 cities of ancient Mesopotamia, attributed to Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon of Akkade.