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Records of the Past, 2nd series, Vol. I

By A. H. Sayce

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Inscriptions of Uru-Kagina

No. 1. 1—COLUMN I

1. For the god Nin-girsu
2. the warrior of the god Ellilla,
3. Uru-Kagina,
4. the king
5. of Shirpurla-ki,
6. his temple
7. has constructed.
8. His palace of Ti-ra-ash
9. he has constructed.

COLUMN II

1. The an-ta-shur-ra
2. he has constructed.
3. The E-gish-me-ra
4. in order to [be] the E-ne-bi of the countries
5. he has constructed.
6. The house of fruits which produces abundance (?) in the country
7. he has constructed.
8. For the god Dun-shagâna
9. his habitation of Akkil

COLUMN III

1. he has constructed.
2. For the god Gal-alimma
3. the temple of E-me-gal-ghush-an-ki
4. he has constructed.

5. The temple of the goddess Bau 1
6. he has constructed.
7. For the god Ellilla
8. the temple of E-adda, 2
9. his im-sag-ga,

COLUMN IV

1. he has constructed.
2. The Bur(?)-sag,
3. his temple which rises to the entrance of heaven (?),
4. he has constructed.
5. Of Uru-Kagina,
6. the king
7. of Shirpurla-ki,
8. who the temple of E-ninnû
9. has constructed,
10. his god

COLUMN V

1. is the god Nin-shagh. 3
2. For the life of the king
3. during the long days to come
4. before the god Nin-girsu
5. may he (Nin-shagh) bow down his face!

_________

No. 2—On a Buttress

1. [For the god Nin-girsu],
2. [the] warrior
3. [of the god El]lilla,
4. [Uru-]Ka[g]ina,
5. [the] king
6. [of Shirpur]la-ki,

7. [the Anta]-Shurra,
8. [the house] of abundance of his country,
9. [has] constructed.
10. His [palace] of Ti-[ra-ash]
11. [he] has constructed.

Lines 12 and 13 are destroyed.

14. [For the god] Gal-alimma

Lines 15–21 are destroyed.

22. [he has] constructed.
23. [For the god] Nin-sar,
24. the bearer [of the sword?]
25. [of the god] Nin-girsu,
26. his temple
27. he has constructed.
28. [For the god …] gir (?)
29. the well-beloved
30. [of the god] Nin-girsu
31. his temple
32. he has constructed.
33. The Bur(?)-sag,
34. his temple which rises to the entrance of heaven (?),
35. he has constructed.
36. For the god Ellilla
37. the temple of E-adda?, 1
38. his im-sag-ga,
39. he has constructed.
40. For the god Nin-girsu
41. the sanctuary (?)
42. of E-melam-kurra 2
43. he has constructed.
44. The temple wherein dwells (?) the god Nin-girsu
45. he has constructed.
46. Of Uru-Kagina,

47. who the temple
48. of the god Nin-girsu …

The inscription breaks of here, having never been finished.

_________

No. 3.—On a Cylinder 1

COLUMN I

The first lines are lost.

1. Uru-Kagina,
2. the king
3. Of Girsu-ki,
4. the Anta-shurra,
5. the house of abundance of his country,
6. his palace of Ti-ra-ash,
7. has constructed.
8. The temple of the goddess Bau
9. [he has] constructed.

Lacuna.

COLUMN II

The first lines are lost.

1. he has [constructed].
2. For the god [Dun-sha]ga[na]
3. his habitation of [Akkil]
4. he has [constructed].
5. For the god …
6. his tablet-like amulets (?) 2
7. (and) his temple he has made.
8. In the middle (of this temple)
9. for the god Za-za-uru,
10. for the god Im-ghud-ên,
11. for the god Gim-nun-ta-ên-a

12. temples he has built for them.

13. For the god Nin-sar

Lacuna.

COLUMN III

The first lines are lost.

1. [For the god Ellil]la
2. [the temple of E-]adda, his [im-]sagga,
3. he has constructed.
4. For the goddess Ninâ,
5. her favourite river,
6. the canal Ninâ-ki-tum-a
7. he has excavated (?).
8. At the mouth (of the canal), an edifice…

Fragments of four other columns remain.

Footnotes
68:1 From a squeeze in the Louvre. Translated by Dr. Oppert in a Communication to the Académie des Inscriptions, 29th February 1884.

69:1 [Bau is probably the Baau of Phœnician 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 Gen. i. 2.—Ed.]

69:2 ["The temple of the father."—Ed.]

69:3 Or Nin-dun.

70:1 ["The temple of the father."—Ed.]

70:2 ["The temple of the brilliance of the (eastern) mountain."—Ed.]

71:1 Découvertes, pl. 32.

71:2 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; see W.A.I., i. 49, col. 4, 12.