A reading, published with its checks still open. A Vigslist translation.
“My true house” — and a wife's lament on the back. A temple litany on the obverse; a wife's lament on the reverse.
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.
texts. The obverse is the great temple litany — "my true house," city by city — which stands near Cohen, CLAM, p. 715 and inside the orbit of the balaĝ a abzu-ĝu₁₀, edited in English by Gabbay (HES 5, 2024); whether this fragment is a manuscript of that composition is an eyeball this desk has not made. The reverse is a bilingual personal lament that duplicates Maul's Eršahunga no. 124 (German edition, 1988), ll. 2′–5′ and beyond. The reading below is of this witness; no first-English claim is made for either face.
One fragment: BM.113934, from Ur (1919-10-11 series), Late Babylonian script, British Museum. "Fragment from left edge of clay tablet with sixteen and eighteen lines of inscription; explanatory list; bilingual; repaired." CDLI number on the live record: P429562. Photograph on the record.
The obverse is a roll of temples under one refrain — e₂-zi-ĝu₁₀, "my true house" — each line adding a city and its brickwork: Sippar, the Ebabbar; Tintir, which is Babylon; the Esaĝila; Borsippa; the Ezida; the Emaḫtila; Uruk; the Eanna. It is the voice of a goddess (or her lament-priest) naming the houses that are hers, one after another, down the map of Babylonia. The reverse changes both voice and genre: a bilingual lament in the first person — a wife speaks. "My husband turned his face to me. My only son — the enemy […] He plundered my property and brought it into his city. My precious treasure […]." War has taken the house the obverse was naming.
Transliteration exactly as the record serves it; bilingual pairs on the reverse are rendered once. Counts: 38 line-units — 0 whole, 14 part, 24 fragments, 0 invented.
1′. %es x […] (traces only)
2′. %es x […] (traces only)
3′. %es uru₂-a x […] x […] "In the city […]" (traces)
4′. %es e₂-zi-ĝ[u₁₀ …] "My true house […]"
5′. %es e₂-zi-ĝu₁₀ x […] "My true house […]"
6′. %es e₂-zi-ĝu₁₀ x […] x […] "My true house […]"
7′. %es e₂-zi-ĝu₁₀ še?#-eb?# zimbir?#{ki} […] "My true house — the brickwork of Sippar(?) […]"
8′. %es e₂-zi-ĝu₁₀ e₂-babbar#-ra?# […] "My true house — the Ebabbar […]"
9′. %es e₂-zi-ĝu₁₀ še#-eb# tin#-tir#{ki#} […] "My true house — the brickwork of Tintir (Babylon) […]"
10′. %es e₂-zi-ĝu₁₀ še-[eb e₂-s]aĝ-il₂-la […] "My true house — the brickwork of the Esaĝila […]"
11′. %es e₂-zi-ĝu₁₀ še-eb [ba]d₃-si-ab-ba[{ki} …] "My true house — the brickwork of Borsippa […]"
12′. %es e₂-zi-ĝu₁₀ še-eb e₂#-[z]i-da […] "My true house — the brickwork of the Ezida […]"
13′. %es e₂-zi-ĝu₁₀ e₂-m[a]h?-ti#-[la? …] "My true house — the Emaḫtila […]"
14′. %es e₂-zi-ĝu₁₀ i-t[e?-me-an-ki? …] "My true house — the Ite-me-anki(?) […]" (queried on the record)
15′. %es e₂-zi-ĝu₁₀ e₂-d[ara₃?-an-na? …] "My true house — the Dara-anna(?) […]" (queried on the record)
16′. %es e₂-zi-ĝu₁₀ še-eb [unug{ki}-ga?] "My true house — the brickwork of Uruk […]"
17′. %es e₂-zi-ĝu₁₀ eš₃? [e₂-an-na …] "My true house — the shrine Eanna […]"
18′. %es e₂#-zi-ĝu₁₀ […] "My true house […]"
19′. %es [e₂-z]i-ĝu₁₀ […] "My true house […]"
1′. %es x x x […] (traces only)
2′. %es eĝ₃ ši ka-naĝ-ĝa₂ nu-ĝal₂?#-la?# […] ($___$) na-piš-ti ma-a-tu₂ la x x […] "… the life of the land is not […]" (traces)
3′. (gloss line carried in 2′)
4′. %es dam-ĝu₁₀ i-bi-ĝu₁₀ mu-un-x […] ($___$) mu-ti ana pa-ni-ia i-na-a-ir "My husband — my eyes [were upon him] …" / the gloss: "my husband turned his face toward me"
5′. (gloss line carried in 4′)
6′. %es dumu dil-ĝu₁₀ kur₂-re ba-[…] ($___$) ma-ri e-da nak-ri iš-[…] "My only son — the enemy […]" / "my son, the only one — the enemy […]"
7′. (gloss line carried in 6′)
8′. %es mu-un-gur₁₁ ba-ab-ir uru₂-a-ni-še₃ […] ($___$) ma-ak-ku-ri iš-lul-ma ana IRI-šu₂ u₂-še-[…] "He plundered my property and brought it into his city"
9′. (gloss line carried in 8′)
10′. %es gi₁₆-sa-a kal-la-ĝu₁₀ tuš-a-ni-še₃ ba-[…] ($___$) su-kut-ta šu-qur-ti ana šub-ti-šu₂ im-mah?-ra-an-ni x […] "My precious treasure […] was received into his dwelling"
11′. (gloss line carried in 10′)
12′. %es dam-a-ni gi₁₆-sa-a-še₃ mu-un-da-[…] ($___$) aš₂-šat-su ana su-kut-ti iš-x-x […] "His wife […] to the treasure […]"
13′. (gloss line carried in 12′)
14′. %es du₅-mu-a-ni GIN₂?-ni-še₃ ba-an-ku₄ […] ($___$) ma-ri-šu ana x x x x uš-te-rib? […] "He brought his son into […]" (traces)
15′. (gloss line carried in 14′)
16′. %es me-e gig-ga x x ŠE?-am₃?# ($___$) ana-ku ma-x […] "The painful […]" / "I […]" (traces)
17′. (gloss line carried in 16′)
18′. %es ka?-naĝ?# […] ($___$) x […] "The land(?) […]" (traces)
19′. (gloss line carried in 18′)
Built 2026-10-22 from a fresh live eBL fetch.
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