Ancient Sumer and Iran: Gleanings from Sumerian Literature

Author(s): SAMUEL NOAH KRAMER

Source: Bulletin of the Asia Institute , 1987, New Series, Vol. 1, Inaugural Issue (1987),
pp. 9-16
Published by: Bulletin of the Asia Institute, a Non-Profit Corporation

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.com/stable/24048257

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 m
*11=

Ancient Sumer and Iran: Gleanings

from Sumerian Literature

SAMUEL NOAH KRAMER

Today's war between Iraq, the home of ancient tor

Sumer, and modern Iran provides a rare example o
of historical continuity that is virtually unbro- v
ken over the millennia, despite the change of O
names of lands and peoples, of towns and cities,
of gods and faiths, of kings and lords—what re- w
mains constant throughout is man's ambitious,
contentious drive for victory and conquest, for w
glory and prestige, for wealth and prosperity. Th
history of the bitter struggle for power and influ
ence between ancient Sumer and ancient Iran is stone-rich Aratta, the text introduces an un
known of course from numerous authentic archi- named en of Aratta who, according to the poet,
val and historical texts.1 But not a little can be was out of favor with Inanna, the tutelary duty
gleaned from such Sumerian literary documents of his city, probably because the temple he had
as epics, myth, hymns, and laments, despite the built for her in Aratta was not as beautiful and
fact that these were composed by poets rather impressive as that which Enmerkar, the en of Er
than archivists and chroniclers. This paper will ech-Kullab, had built for her in his city,
present a comprehensive, but by no means ex- Following these introductory passages, the
haustive, overview of the historical, geographi- main plot of the tale begins. Enmerkar, "son of
cal, and cultural information relating to ancient the sun-god Utu," unhappy with the aesthetic
Iran that can be derived from these Sumerian lit- bareness of Inanna's temple, the Eanna, and with
erary documents both directly and "between the its lack of artistic decoration and ornamentation,
lines." is convinced that this could be remedied only if
Epics. The most important and most signifi- the skilled craf
cant source of information for the earliest his- down the needed
tory of the struggle between Sumer and Iran con- and apply them
sists of four epic tales revolving about the shrines. But since
competition and rivalry between Erech-Kullab, a be willing to m
city-state in southern Sumer, and Aratta, a city Aratta to Erech
state in south-central Iran that may perhaps be of their own
identified with the ruins of Shahr-i-Sochte.2 To help. He therefo
be sure, these epic tales are written in an allu- the goddess Inann
sive, elusive style that is replete with hyperbole to become the e
and metaphor, and some of the episodes and in- to help him make Aratta submissive to Erech
cidents depicted in them are no doubt fanciful. Kullab and thus compel its people to adorn her
Nevertheless a careful reading of the text pro- temple, and even the Abzu temple to nearby Er
vides much that is significant for the early his- idu that was under its control. Inanna responds

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 kramer: Ancient Sumer and Iran

favorably to his plea and advises him to seek out But the en of Aratta is not at al
a hardy, eloquent emissary from his troops and Enmerkar's dire threats, and resp
command him to journey at full speed to deliver means will he have his city beco
her threatening words to Aratta, which he will to Erech-Kullab—it was the very
reach by first crossing the Zubi Mountains,4 then he claims, who had brought hi
Susa and Ansan, and finally the "Great Moun- closed its approaches "like a do
tains" between Ansan and Aratta. to guarantee his security. This assertion, too, has
Enmerkar follows Inanna's advice to the letter. some rather surprising historical implications for
He picks an emissary who crosses the Zubi both early Sumer and Iran. For if true, it would
Mountains and, after passing through Susa and lead to the conclusion that the en of the Sumer
Ansan, traverses the Great Mountains and ar- ian city Erech-Kullab was born in the Iranian
rives at Aratta. There he delivers to its en En- city Aratta, while the en of Aratta was born in
merkar's message, with its menacing threats that some Sumerian city, probably Erech-Kullab,
unless the Arattaeans pack up quantities of gold whose tutelary deity was Inanna.
and silver in leather bags, load them up on The defiance of the en of Aratta, however, did
mountain donkeys, bring them down to Erech- not disturb Enmerkar's emissary, who countered
Kullab, and proceed to build and decorate its by asserting that it was Enmerkar who had ac
shrines, he, Enmerkar, will "make his city roam tually brought Inanna to Erech-Kullab and made
about like a wild dove around its tree," "make it her Queen of the Eanna, and that she herself had
desolate like a cemetery," "destroy it utterly like told Enmerkar that Aratta's submission was cer
a place cursed by Enki." He concludes his mes- tain. This statement of the emissary, the truth of
sage by demanding an answer from the en of Ar- which the en of Aratta evidently did not doubt,
atta to bring back to his king Enmerkar, whom so distressed him that he decided to avoid any
he depicts in metaphorical, figurative phrases kind of military confrontation with Enmerkar
that are nevertheless of no little significance for and to propose instead a contest of wits. Of the
the early history of Sumer as well as Iran, thus three challenges that ensued, however, he won
(lines 209-17): only the second; depressed and discouraged, he
was about to yield to Enmerkar's dema
To the dedicated one who wears a lapis la- submit. But suddenly a viol
zuli beard, atta with water, and it no longer needed the
Born of a mighty cow in the mountain of the grain from Erech-Kulla
pure me, heaven convinced him that Inanna had by no
Raised on the soil of Aratta, means abandoned Aratta and revived his confi
Milk-fed at the breast of the faithful cow, dence in Inanna's great love for Aratt
Well qualified for the en-ship of Kullab, the specially chosen people. From here on, h
mountain of the great me, the text becomes rather fragmentary and unintel
To Enmerkar, the son of Utu, ligible, and it is not clear how the struggle be
I will speak these words, sweet words. tween the two en's came to end. But in view of
In the gipar that bears fruit like a fruit- the introductory passages cited earlier, it is not
bearing mes-tree,5 unreasonable to assume that Enmerkar was the
I will repeat them to my king, the en of Kul- victor,
lab. This is certainly true of the struggle between
the two en's that constitutes the
To judge from this passage, therefore, Enmerkar, of the four
who according to Sumerian historical tradition and Erech-
was the second ruler of the second dynasty after danna."
the Flood, the Dynasty of Eanna, was actually shorter than "
born and raised in Aratta and only later, in some is the en
obscure way, and by some unknown means, be- name Ensuhk
came the ruler of the Sumerian city Erech- by sending a
Kullab. insolent demand that Enmerkar submit and

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 K R a m E r: Ancient Sumer and Iran

"carry the work-basket" for him. If and when he could deliver Aratta from its troubles: he would
submits, continues the message, then he, En- dig an "Erech Canal," subdue the lands north,
suhkesdanna, is prepared to recognize him, En- south, east, and west, and make the Erechites
merkar, as a favorite of Inanna, second only to bring all their possessions to Aratta in boats,
himself. Overjoyed, Ensuhkesdanna supplies him with
Enmerkar's response is contemptuous and de- gold and silver for
fiant. Inverting the phraseology of Ensuhkesdan- to his undertakin
na's ultimatum, Enmerkar demands that it is he, Aratta, this mas
the en of Aratta, who should submit and "carry braggart who is k
the work-basket," and that if and when he does by name, in Eres
so he will be recognized by Enmerkar as a favor- Erech, after he
ite of Inanna, inferior only to himself. and sheepfolds of its
Enmerkar's arrogant response, which included Nidaba.
dire threats as well as the demand for submis- When Ensuhkesdanna hears of this catastro
sion, so shook Ensuhkesdanna's confidence that phy he yields at last to Enmerkar's demands an
he deemed it advisable to gather all the priestly sends a messenger to him with these submiss
personnel of the gipai and ask for their advice. words (lines 275-80):
The response of this assembly is of no little im
port for the political and social history of the An- It is you who are the beloved en of Inanna
cient Near East; it provides us with the rare ex- you alone are exalted,
ample of a council daring to rebuke a ruler for Inanna has truly chosen you for her holy
actions that it deemed ill-advised, overweening, you are her beloved,
and unjustifiably aggressive. Literally translated, Of [all the lands) below and above, you
following is the assembly's courageous retort as their great en, I come after you,
the poet conceived it in his imagination (lines From the moment of conception I was no
129-32):7 your rival, it is you who are the big
brother,
It is you who first to Erech, As for me, I cannot compare myself to you,
Sent a boastful message to Enmerkar, ever.
It is not Enmerkar who did it, it is you your
self who did it, While the two preceding epic tales leave the
It is your heart in its insolence that has led impression that the struggle betwe
you to this misdeed, you are well-known Erech-Kullab consisted merely of
as a trouble-maker. wits between the two en's, the remaining two re
veal that it involves a gory war and a bloody
Despite this sharp rebuke by his counsellors, siege. The first of these, "Lugalbanda, the Wan
Ensuhkesdanna remains adamant, exclaiming dering Hero,"8 begins with a detailed description
defiantly to the assembly (lines 133—34): of the vast army levied by Enmerkar for his cam
paign against Aratta. It was in the course of this
Though my city become a mound of ruins, campaign that Lugalbanda, one of Enmerkar's
and I its potsherd; most courageous and loyal generals, took sick,
I will not bow to the en of Erech, to the en but recovered with divine help, and w
of Kullab. about on the Iranian steppe somewhere in the
neighborhood of Sabum, living off its wild p
But just then a gleam of hope for the harassed and beasts.
Ensuhkesdanna comes from a most unexpected In the second of these tale
source. A masmas, a kind of magician and con- Enmerkar,"9 the poet depicts
jurer, with the Sumerian name Urgirnunna who Aratta and the bravery o
was from the city of Hamazi and had crossed pulsed the attacking Erechi
over to Aratta after Hamazi (probably situated spears hurled from the wa
nearby) had been destroyed, asserted that he merkar would no doubt hav

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 kramer: Ancient Sumer and Iran

had not his "sister," Inanna, come to his rescue ris, Marhasi, and Elam. In the othe
after receiving Enmerkar's plea for help delivered Inanna: The Organization of the Ear
to her by the brave Lugalbanda, who journeyed Cultural Processes,"13 the poet por
from one end of Ansan to the other, crossing sailing the seas in his boat, decreeing th
"five, six, seven" mountain ranges before arriv- lands and peoples. In the course of th
ing at Erech-Kullab, the home of the goddess. he blesses the lands Sumer, Meluhh
Thus it was that the siege was crowned with vie- and Martu, but depicts Elam and Mar
tory for the Erechites, who proceeded to carry off mer's perennial enemies who have su
the skilled craftsmen of Aratta together with its ous defeat at the hands of an unnam
precious metal and stone. So moved was the Sumer.
poet by the fall of Aratta that he concluded the Lamentation. Five lengthy lamen
tale with a four-line passage memorializing the wailing the destruction of Sumer a
impressive physical appearance of the city in following the fall of Ur and the captivit
these vivid words (lines 413-16): Sin have been recovered to date wholly or in
large part. One of these, "Lamentation over the
Aratta—its buttresses are greenish lapis la- Destruction of Nippur,"14 makes no mention of
zuli, any Iranian land or people. Two others, "Lamen
Its walls, its stunning brickwork, is a red- tation over the Destru
dish hue, "Lamentation over the Destruction of Erech,"16
Its clay, is "tin"-clay, refer only very briefly to the Su-people and the
Clay pinched off the "Mountain of Cyprus- Gutians as the victorious enemies of the cities of
Trees." Sumer. The fourth, "Lamentation over the De
struction of Ur,"17 has a six-line pa
In addition to the four epic tales revolving speaks of the hated
about the heroes Enmerkar and Lugalbanda, honoring Nanna
there are extant five more, in which the re- with the pickaxe, a
nowned Gilgames plays the major role. Only one But it is the fifth
of these, "Gilgames and the Land of the Liv- entation over the
ing,"10 contains anything significant for our Ur,"18 that is mos
theme. After delineating the appearance of seven and history of an
demon-like creatures connected in some way for the cataclysm
with Gilgames's crossing of seven mountains on cities suffered a
ffis way to the cedar mountain, the poet con- people, Elamites, a
eludes: consisting of over five hundred lines, contains
seven passages relevant to our them
They [the seven]—in heaven they shine (lines 31-37) bemo
bright, on earth they know the way, merians from Ur
In heaven they , homes by the conquerors, and has a remarkable
On earth they know the Aratta way, like depiction of the captivity of Ibbi-Sin
merchants they know "donkey-cross- brought in stocks to Elam via Sabu
ing."11 breast of the sea," and Ansan. The passage,
which is part of a long, detailed narration
From this brief statement it is not unreasonable bitter and fateful decisio
to surmise that there was regular and peaceful ities of the Sumerian pan
commercial intercourse between Sumer and Ar- and Ninhursag, to destro
atta, conducted by merchants who knew how to reads as follows:
circumvent the journey's risks and perils.
Myths. There are only two myths that are at That of the shrine of gre
all significant for our topic. One is the "Dilmun" offerings be chang
myth revolving about the water-god Enki,12 That its [Ur's] peopl
which pictures Dilmun as a land to which eight dwellings, that it
countries brought their wares, among them Tuk- ground,

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 kramer: Ancient Sumer and Iran

That the Su-people and the Elamites, the Enlil who decrees the fates—this is what h
enemies, inhabit their dwellings, did:
That its shepherd, fear-stricken in the pal- Enlil brought down Elam
ace, be seized by the foe, mountain,
That Ibbi-Sin be brought to Elam in stocks, He made Nanse, t
From Mt. Zabu19 on the breast of the sea, to dwell in a stran
the boundary of Ansan, He put Ninmar to the flames in the shrine
That like a sparrow which has fled its Guabba,
"house," he return not to his city. Its silver and lapis lazuli is carried off in big
boats,
The second passage (lines 72-78) describes the The queen—her possessions destroyed com
wrathful Enlil bringing down the all-destroying pletely—the holy Ninmar,
Gutians from their mountain, thus: Cuts off . . . on that day,
Turned over Lagas to the hand of Elam.
Enlil, the shepherd of the blackheads, this is
what he did ^be ^tb Passa£e (lines 254-67) depicts the de
Enlil, in order to destroy the righteous struction of Ur and Kisiga by the E
houses, to decimate the righteous, Halma-people, and the Tidnumites
To set an evil eye on the sons of the righ
teous the noble hi Ur, no one took charge of food, no one
On that day Enlil brought down the Gutians took charge of water,
from the mountain-land, Who had been in char8e of food' we
[They] whose coming is the Flood of Enlil from the food, does not return,
that none can withstand, Who had been in char8e of water> we
Filled the steppe like [ ? ] the great winds of from the water, does not return
the steppe Below, the Elamites are in charge, slaughter
Laid waste to whatever flourished in the follows in their wake,
steppe, none could walk about there. Above, the Halma-people, the men of t
mountains, took captives,
■ j m iA/- .ni * • a. The Tidnumites fastened daily the mace to
The third passage (lines 146-49) contains the their loins
surprising historical information that the Gu- , . ' ... . , , .
il . j , n . i i ■ i Below, the Elamites like those who bring
tians actually settled and flourished in the twin , , , j-i_r-.ii- m
Htv KeS-AHalv forth woe' brandlshl?] tbeir weapons[?],
Above, like chaff scattered by the wind, th
steppe . . .,
On Kes, built so eagerly on the high steppe, Ur, the big wild ox that used to step forth
a devastating hand was placed, confidently [in combat], has become pros
Adab, the city stretched out along the river, träte
was uprooted, Enlil, he who decrees the fates, this is what
The snake of the mountain made his bed be d-d.
there, it was made into an inimical place, For a second time he brQUght down the
The Gutians multiplied offspring there, Elamites, the men of the mountain from
brought forth seed there. the mountain<
The house, the foremost, having been . . .,
The theme of the fourth passage (lines 166-75) To destroy utterly Kisiga . . .,
is the pillaging by the Elamites of the various Three days and three nights passed not, the
districts that comprised the state of Lagas: city was crushed by the pickaxe.

On that day the word—who knows its The sixth passage (lines 393-411) provides us
meaning—attacked like a storm, with an explicit example of what must have fre
The word of Enlil that destroys to the right, quently happened when a Sumerian city was be
that "knows" the left, sieged and reduced to despair by famine—the

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 kramer: Ancient Sumer and Iran

people threw away their weapons, opened up the your breast, Oh storm return to your
gates, and let the enemy, in this case the Elam- house,
ites, trample over them and crush them. Or as The storm that had afflicted Sumer—may it
the poet put it: afflict the inimical lands,
The storm that had afflicted th
Famine filled the city like water, there was ^ th
no respite from it, May 2t affllct the lan
Famine bends low their faces, it swells their enem
sinews ^*ay a"kct the land Gutium, may it afflict
Its people were filled with thirst, . . the enemy lands,
Its king gasped for breath in his fear-struck ^ay 11 a the land Ans
palace tbe enemy lands'
Its people threw down the weapons, hurled On Ansan
the weapons to the ground, lf by evi1 W1*ds' , ,
Raised their hands to their necks, wept, May fam'ne that brinSs ?°thin§ bu' harm
Took counsel among themselves, speak out dwe11 there' may 11 bend low their faces"
eloquently: , . . , , . .
"Woe is us, what can w
j jj oriented Isbi-Irra hymn recently published by J.
Until when will we perish in the mouth of [• van Dl'k'2° the Sumerian hymn
catastrophe' little tbat 1S S18nidcant for our theme: Ur
Ur-inside it is death, outside it is death, Kammu, for example, boasts in one of his self
Inside it we die of famine, laudatory hymns that he delivered Ur from the
Outside it we are killed by the weapons of bltter hands °*the ?utians, the men of the
the Flam ites mountains," and made them utter cries of dis
Ur has been carried off by the enemy ... let «ess'2' whlle Lthe §reat ^ claims f °
us not die " numerous hymns that he scattered the seed
thev acted in unison of the Gutians llke Srain [scattered) on
They loosened the bolts of its gates, its doors Sround."^The above-mentioned Isbi-Irra
stood open)?] on other hand, is of considerable import for
The Elamites'trampled over it like onrush- Sumero-Iranian history-it provides some geo
ing high waters graphical information relating to Basime, Arawa,
Ur is shattered by the weapons like a pot, Zabsali and Marhasi, and sheds new light on the
Its refugees cannot run fast, they are pressed bi»er three-sided struggle between Kmdattu
to the sides of the walls, tbe man°f ^ Ibbl"Sm' ^ u^u I
Like fish writhing in thirst, their life is car- Isbi-Irra his traitorous general, that brought to
ried off an e Third Dynasty of Ur.
Miscellaneous Texts. There are a number of
literary texts that cannot be readily subsumed
But finally Enlil relented and took pity on Ur; under any of the categories listed above, and sev
the city was rebuilt with his blessing, and Nan- era] 0f these are quite informative for the history
na's temple was restored to its former glory. Qf both Sumer and Iran. The most important of
Moved by this joyous event, the poet pronounced these is the iong_known historiographie docu
a prayerful curse against Sumer s enemies and ment which relates how Utuhegal, a king of Er
especially against Ansan (lines 490-99). ech, was instrumental in freeing Sumer from the
Gutian yoke,23 the event that paved the way for
Oh bitter storm, Oh storm, raise your breast, the Sumerian renaissance under the kings of the
Oh storm, return to your city, Third Dynasty of Ur. Beginning with a bitter
Oh city-destroying storm, Oh storm, raise denunciation of the Gutians, "the snake and
your breast, Oh storm, return to your city, scorpion of the mountains, who raised his arms
Oh house-destroying storm, Oh storm, raise against the gods, who carried off the kingship of

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 kramer: Ancient Sumer and Iran

the Subaraeans, and the Su-people. The poet then

Sumer to a foreign land, who filled Sumer with
enmity, who tore away the wife from him whogoes on to depict the Subaraeans and the Su
people as follows:
had a wife, who tore away the child from him
who had a child"—it continues with a vivid and
detailed description of Utuhegal's expedition Subir, the heavy dust-cloud that knows not
against the Gutian king Tirigan, who was de fear,
feated in battle, taken prisoner, and brought fet Whose land is undiminished, there are no
tered and blinded before Utuhegal, who "set his ruins [?] in it.
foot upon his neck." The Su-people who know not the hierodule
Another relevant and informative document is and the divine concubine,
the historiographie poem known as "The Curse Whose troops are multitudinous as grass,
of Agade."24 According to the author of this com whose seed is widespread,
position, Naram-Sin, the fourth king of the Dy Who, living in tents, know not the place of
nasty of Akkad, had pillaged and desecrated En the gods,
id's temple, the Ekur of Nippur. To avenge this Who like wild beasts . . . know not libations
vile sacriligious act, Enlil brought down the Gu and sacrifices,
tians from their mountains, a people that To whom evil Fate, and the demon of dis
"brooked no control," that was quite intelligent ease and sickness dare not approach,
but was subject to beastly moods, and moreover Whose ... eat that which is forbidden, [yet]
was simian-like in appearance. The Gutian the host is in good health.
hordes covered the ground of Sumer like locusts,
so that all communication whether by land or From the fact that the poet portrays the Subar
sea came to an end. Moreover, the fields and or aeans and Su-people differently and separately, it
chards of Sumer produced no growth, and this re seems not unreasonable to conclude that they
sulted in a catastrophic famine that brought were not identical.31
death and unceasing wailing and lamenting in
the land.
Five other miscellaneous texts that are of
Notes
some relevance are: (1) the long-known Lugalan
1. Cf. esp. D. O. Edzard, Zweite Zwischenzeit ba
nemundu dedicatory inscription that mentions
the defeat of the ensi's of Elam and Marhasi,byloniens
and (Wiesbaden, 1957); E. Carter and M. W.
Stolper,
the siezing of Gutium/25 (2) a liturgical compo Elam: Surveys of Political History and Ar
chaeology (Berkeley, 1984); W. W. Hallo, "Gutium," in
sition lamenting the death of a number of deities
Ebeling and Meissner, Reallexikon der Assyriologie
and deified kings which provides the important
und Vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 3, pp. 708-20.
information that Ibbi-Sin died in Ansan;26 (3) a
2. Cf. F. Vallat, "Joint Seminar on Development of
liturgical composition concerned with theComplex
god Societies of South-West Iran," (June 24—29,
dess Ninisinna in which Elam is mentioned as
1985), 36ff.
the source of kohl, her eye-ointment;27 (4) a 3.
LuCf. Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary (hereafter
dingirra composition which portrays the ideal
PSD), 10, for bibliographical details. The composition
Sumerian mother metaphorically as preciousiscar
there entitled "Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta,"
nelian and Marhasi-topaz;28 (5) a Sumerian
but note that en has various meanings of which "lord"
is only one (cf. The Assyrian Dictionary of the Orien
proverb29 which may help to account for Aratta's
tal Institute of the University of Chicago (hereafter
fame and fortune, thus: "Nobles wise, people
obedient, that is Aratta's blessing." CAD], sub enu).
4. For the problems involved in the identification of
Finally there is a prayerful letter of Sinidin
these mountains, cf. S. Cohen, "Enmerkar and the
nam, king of Larsa, to the sun-god Utu that may
Lord of Aratta" (edition, translation, and commen
help to resolve the Su-Subir controversy, that tary),
is, Ph. D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1973, p.
whether or not the Su-people and the Subaraeans49.
are identical.30 In this letter Sindinnam implores 5. For the gipar see CAD, sub giparru, and for the
the god to deliver his city from its troubles, and
mes-tree, see ibid., sub mêsu.
especially from the onslaughts of the Elamites,
6. Cf. PSD, x, for bibliographical details.

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 kramer: Ancient Sumer and Iran

à Elam,
7. Note that my translation differs from Berlin's; for et la chute de la ville d'Ur," fCS 30 ( 19
details cf. Kramer, "Commerce and Trade: Gleanings
189-208.
21.13.
from Sumerian Literature," Iraq 39 (1977), p. 61, n. Cf. A. Falkenstein, "Fluch über Akkade," ZANF
8. Cf. PSD, xvi, sub "Lugalbanda Epic 1," for23biblio
(1965), p. 46, n. 12, for bibliographical details and
graphical details. For the reasons for my entitling
helpful
the comment.
tale as "Lugalbanda: The Wandering Hero," cf.22. KraCf. J. Klein, Three Sulgi Hymns (Ramat-Gan,
mer, "Sumerian Epic Literature," in the International
1981), 116, comment to line 346.
Colloquium on La Poesia Epica e la sua Formazione 23. For a preliminary translation of the document,
(Rome: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, 1970),cf. p. Kramer,
827, The Sumerians (Chicago, 1963), 325-26.
n. 9. For the text and translation of the relevant 24.pas
Cf. f. S. Cooper, The Curse of Agade, (Balti
sage, cf. Sol Cohen's dissertation (see n. 4, above),
more, 46 1983), for a valuable edition of this document.
47. 25. For a detailed sketch of its contents, cf. The Su
9. Cf. PSD, xvi, sub "Lugalbanda Epic 2," for merians,
biblio50-52.
graphical details. 26. For bibliographical details, cf. Edzard, Zweite
10. Cf. PSD, xii, sub "Gilgames and HuwawaZwischenzeit
A and babyloniens, 51, and note that it was
B," for bibliographical details. Thorkild Jacobsen who was the first to translate the
relevant
11. For bibliographical details relating to these lines, passage and realize its historical significance.
cf. Kramer, "Commerce and Trade," p. 6, n. 19. 27. Cf. Kramer, "Commerce and Trade, " 65, for bib
12. Cf. PSD, x, sub "Enki and Ninursang," for bib
liographical details and a translation of the passage.
liographical details. 28. Cf. Kramer, History Begins at Sumer, 3d ed.
(Baltimore, 1981), 331-35, for a translation of the doc
13. Cf. PSD, xv, sub "Enki and the World Order,"
for bibliographical details. ument and bibliographical details.
29. Cf. E. I. Gordon, "A New Look at the Wisdom
14. Cf. PSD, xviii, sub "Nippur Lament," for biblio
graphical details. of Sumer and Akkad," BiOr 17.3/4 (1960), 131, sub
15. Cf. PSD, xi, sub "Eridu Lament," for biblio10c.

graphical details. 30. For bibliographical details, cf. Vallat, "Develop

16. Cf. M. Green, "The Uruk Lament," JAOS ment 104of Complex Societies," 28.
(1984), 253-79, for a valuable edition of this docu 31. For the text and translation of this passage, cf.
ment. O. Gurney and S. N. Kramer, Sumerian Literary Texts
17. Cf. PSD, xv, sub "Lamentation over Ur," in the for
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Editions of Cu
bibliographical details. neiform Texts, no. 5 (Oxford, 1976), 5. In the valuable
18. Cf. PSD, xv, sub "Lamentation over Sumer editionUr,"
of this letter published by W. W. Hallo, "The
Royal Correspondence of Larsa: II, The Appeal to
for bibliographical details; for a useful preliminary
Utu," in Zikir sumin: Assyriological Studies Pre
translation based on my manuscript, cf. J. B. Pritchard,
ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to sented
the toOldF. R. Kraus on the Occasion of his Seven
Testament, 3d ed. (Princeton, 1969), 611-19.tieth Birthday, ed. G. Van Driel et al. (Leiden, 1982),
19. For the location of Zabum/Sabum, cf. 95-109, Su is rendered by "Subarian," without com
last Val
lat, "Development of Complex Societies," 32-34. ment.

20. Cf J. J. van Dijk, "Isbi'erra, Kindattu, L'homme

16

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