Origin/Historian/Author: Sumerian, The Royal Inscriptions of Lagash (2400 BCE)
Source: The Sacred Books and Literature of the East, By Prof. Charles F. Horne, Ph.D.
The Sacred Books and Literature of the East Translations conducted by:
Morris Jastrow, Jr., LL.D., Rev. A.H. Sayce, LL.D., Robert W. Rogers, LL.D., George A. Barton, LL.D., Leonard W. King, F.S.A., Stephen Langdon, PH.D., Arno Poebel, PH.D., and other scholars.
Full Text Below
No. 1
COLUMN I
For the god Ningirsu
the warrior of the god Enlil,
Uru-Kagina,
the King
5 of Lagash,
his temple
has constructed.
His palace of Ti-ra-ash
he has constructed.
COLUMN II
The an-ta-shur-ra,
he has constructed.
The E-gish-me-ra
in order to be the E-ne-bi of the countries
5 he has constructed.
The house of fruits which produces abundance in the
country
he has constructed.
For the god Dun-shagana
his habitation of Akkil
COLUMN III
he has constructed.
For the god Gal-alimma
the temple of E-me-gal-ghush-an-ki
he has constructed.
5 The temple of the goddess Bau (3)
he has constructed.
For the god Enlil
the temple of E-adda, (4)
his im-sag-ga,
COLUMN IV
he has constructed.
The Bur-sag,
his temple which rises to the entrance of heaven,
he has constructed.
5 Of Uru-Kagina,
the King
of Lagash,
who the temple of E-ninnu
has constructed,
10 his god
COLUMN V
is the god Ninshagh. (5)
For the life of the King
during the long days to come
before the god Ningirsu
5 may he (Ninshagh) bow down his face!
No. 2
ON A BUTTRESS
For the god Ningirsu,
the warrior
of the god Enlil,
Uru-Kagina,
5 the King
of Lagash,
the Anta-Shurra,
the house of abundance of his country,
has constructed.
10 His palace of Ti-ra-ash
he has constructed.
[Lines 12 and 13 are destroyed.]
For the god Gal-alimma
[Lines 15-21 are destroyed.]
he has constructed.
For the god Nin-sar,
the bearer of the sword
25 of the god Ningirsu,
his temple
he has constructed.
For the god . . . -gir
the well-beloved . . .
30 of the god Ningirsu
his temple
he has constructed.
The Bur-sag,
his temple which rises to the entrance of heaven,
35 he has constructed.
For the god Enlil
the temple of E-adda, (6)
his im-sag-ga,
he has constructed.
40 For the god Ningirsu
the sanctuary
of E-melam-kurra (7)
he has constructed.
The temple wherein dwells the god Ningirsu
45 he has constructed.
Of Uru-Kagina,
who the temple
of the god Ningirsu . . .
[The inscription breaks off here, having never been finished.]
No. 3
ON A CYLINDER
COLUMN I
[The first lines are lost.]
Um-Kagina,
the King of Girsu-ki,
the Anta-shurra,
5 the house of abundance of his country,
his palace of Ti-ra-ash,
has constructed.
The temple of the goddess Bau
he has constructed.
……..
COLUMN II
[The first lines are lost.]
he has constructed.
For the god Dun-shagana
his habitation of Akkil
he has constructed.
5 For the god . . .
his tablet-like amulets (8)
and his temple he has made.
In the middle of this temple
for the god Za-za-uru,
10 for the god Im-ghud-en,
for the god Gim-nun-ta-en-a
temples he has built for them.
For the god Nin-sar
……..
COLUMN III
[The first lines are lost.]
For the god Enlil
the temple of E-adda, his im-sagga,
he has constructed.
For the goddess Nina,
5 her favorite river,
the canal Nina-ki-tum-a
he has excavated.
At the mouth of the canal, an edifice. . . .
[Fragments of four other columns remain.]
(3) Bau is probably the Baau of Phenician mythology, whose name was interpreted ” the night,” and who was supposed along with her husband Kolpia, ” the wind,” to have produced the first generation of men. The word has been compared with the Hebrew bohu, translated “void” in Genesis i. 2.
(4) “The temple of the father.”
(5) Or Nin-dun.
(6) “The temple of the father.”
(7) “The temple of the brilliance of the eastern mountain.”
(8) Possibly the small tablets of white or black stone buried under the foundations of the temples. These tablets were sometimes of metal; those, for example, discovered at Khorsabad. It seems that some consisted also of ivory and precious wood.