A reading, published with its checks still open. A Vigslist translation.
“Authority — he is exalted” — a bilingual hymn to Utu (LKU 25). Son of Ningal, lord of the Ebabbar, lord of Babylon; its transliteration rests on Gabbay's unpublished folio, credited on the face.
Published as a reading. No first-translation claim is made for this piece. The checks that would settle such a claim are named in the notes below and are still open; the wording on this page claims nothing they have not settled.
Utu/Šamaš from Uruk: a litany of the sun god's titles — authority, exalted one — son of Ningal, lord of the Ebabbar, lord of Babylon, standing on his pedestal on the great day. The tablet's identification is unsettled on its own record (below), and its transliteration rests on a scholar's unpublished folio, credited below. Built as a witness reading; the claim waits on the doors named on the face.
One fragment: VAT.14499, Neo-Babylonian script, Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin — from Uruk. Twenty-six lines on the obverse; the reverse is blank. CDLI number on the live record: P414167. No photograph on the record.
The obverse is a title litany. Each Sumerian line ends on the same refrain — nir-ĝal₂ mah-am₃, "authority — he is exalted" — and each Akkadian interlinear answers it: etelli ṣīri, "exalted prince." Down the litany the god accumulates his names: son of Ningal, lord of the incantation (so the Akkadian gloss; the Sumerian says lord of the decision), lord of the Ebabbar, lord of Babylon. Then the litany breaks off into scattered praise lines — born on the great day, standing on the pedestal, standing in the great place — and the rest is broken away.
Transliteration exactly as the record serves it; the bilingual pairs are counted and rendered once. Counts: 17 line-units — 0 whole, 9 part, 8 fragments, 0 invented.
1. %sux [... an ki-a] nir-ĝal₂ mah#-am₃ ($___$) [... AN]-e# u KI-ti₃ e-tel-li ṣi#-i-ri "[… in heaven and earth] — authority, he is exalted" / "[…] of heaven and earth, exalted prince"
2. %sux [... {d}utu?] nir-ĝal₂ <(mah-am₃)> ($___$) [...] {d#}ša₂-maš <(... e-tel-li ṣi-i-ri)> "[… Utu?] — authority (he is exalted)" / "[…] Šamaš (… exalted prince)"
3. %sux [... dumu {d}ni]n-gal nir-ĝal₂ <(mah-am₃)> ($___$) [... ma-ri] {d}MIN <(... e-tel-li ṣi-i-ri)> "[… son of Ni]ngal — authority (he is exalted)" / "[… son] of the same (goddess) (… exalted prince)"
4. %sux [... sum₄? mu₂? za?-gin₃?-na?] nir-ĝal₂ <(mah-am₃)> ($___$) [... ša₂? ziq?-nu? el?-l]e?-tu₂? zaq#-nu <(... e-tel-li ṣi-i-ri)> "[… lapis-bearded?] — authority (he is exalted)" / "[… whose] beard [is shining], luxuriant (… exalted prince)" (both readings uncertain, as the record marks them)
5. %sux [(...) en/umun eš/ka-(aš)-bar (...)] nir-ĝal₂ <(mah-am₃)> & %sb be-el šip-tu₂ "[(…) lord of the decision (…)] — authority (he is exalted)" — the Babylonian gloss reads "lord of the incantation"; the two glosses differ, and both are printed
6. %sux [(...) en/umun/am-(e) e₂-babbar-(ru₃/ra) nir]-ĝal₂ <(mah-am₃)> & %sb be-el E₂ MIN "[(…) lord of the Ebabbar] — authority (he is exalted)" — gloss: "lord of that house"
7. %sux [(...) en/umun kan₄/tin-diĝir/tir-(ra){ki} nir]-ĝal₂ <(mah-am₃)> & %sb be-el ba-bi-li₃ "[(…) lord of Babylon] — authority (he is exalted)" — gloss: "lord of Babylon"
8. %sux [...]-MIN?/a?#-me-en ($___$) [...] x at-ta "[…] you are […]" (traces around two words)
9. %sux [... u₄ gal-la a-r]i-a# ki#-gal#-la# gub-ba "[… on the great day, bor]n, standing on the pedestal" (parallel: BM.54311)
10. ($___$) [... u₄-mu ra-bu-u₂] ša₂ ina ta-na-da-a-ta "[… my great day(?)] which is in praises" (parallel: BM.54311)
11. ($___$) ($___$) [ina aš₂]-ri ra-bi-i iz-za-az-za "[…] stands [in] the great [pla]ce" (parallel: BM.54311)
12. %sux [...] e₂?#/ĝa₂?#-e₂?/ĝa₂?#-ba# i₃-zu ($___$) [...] x-li-ti i-ta[b?]-šu mu-du-u₂ (traces only; the words do not join)
13. %sux [... b]i? nun-e ar₂-re-eš-am₃ ($___$) [... ru?-be₂?]-e ta-na-da-a-ta "[…] the prince — in praises" / "[…] in praises"
14. %sux [... zil₂?-la?/la₂?]-am₃ ($___$) [...] bu-un-nu-u₂ "[…] is pleasing […]" / "[…] is made beautiful" (traces of a pair)
15. %sux [...]-ta?# eš diri-ga ($___$) [...] be-lu-ti "[…] exceeds […]" / "[…] lordship" (traces of a pair)
16. ($___$) ($___$) [... š]u-tu-ru "[…] surpassing" (one word stands)
17. [...] x [(x)] (traces only; the obverse ends)
Built 2026-10-22 from a fresh live eBL fetch.
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