Tummal inscription

The Tummal inscription, often also referred to as the Tummal Chronicle, is a Sumerian temple inscription from the 2nd millennium BC. It was made during the Isin First Dynasty (2017–1794 BC). It is a chronicle about the construction of the temples for Enlil and Ninlil in Nippur and Tummal (suburb of Nippur). She names the individual steps between building, changing and rebuilding the two temples and names the different rulers who have achieved this. The Tummal inscription was decisive for a reassessment of the Near Eastern chronology and led to a reorganization of the correlation between the dynasties of Uruk , Kiš and Ur and a new historical classification of some mythical kings, especially King Gilgamesh .

Discovery story

The first fragment of the Tummal inscription was found at the beginning of the 20th century. However, the first ten lines were missing, which is why the translator at the time, Arno Poebel, was only able to output an incomplete text that named Gilgamesh as the first ruler and thus provided a wrong picture of the chronology. It was not until 1955 that Samuel Kramer discovered the missing part, in two inscriptions in the collection of the museum of the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena.

The subsequent translation shed light on the succession of rulers and demonstrated the simultaneity of the rulers Gilgamesh and Agga as described in the myth of Gilgamesh and Agga .

Contents of the inscription

1. Enmebaraggesi , the king,
2. in this city (Nippur) built the house of Enlil .
3. Agga, the son of Enmebaraggesi,
4. made Tummal outstanding.
5. he brought Ninlil to Tummal
6. For the first time, Tummal was destroyed
7. Mesannepadda built the burshushua in the house of Enlil.
8. Meskiagmmna, the son of Mesannepadda,
9. made Tummal outstanding.
10. he brought Ninlil to Tummal (the first 10 lines were missing from the first translation)
11. Tummal was destroyed too second time.
12. Gilgamesh built the Numunburra at the house of Enlil.
13. Ur-Nungal / Ur-Lugal, the son of Gilgamesh,
14. made Tummal outstanding
15. he brought Ninlil to Tummal
16. Tummal was destroyed for the third time
17. Nanna built the "airy park" at Enlil's house.
18. Meskiag-Nanna, the son of Nanna,
19. made Tummal outstanding
20. he brought Ninlil to Tummal
21. Tummal was destroyed for the fourth time
22. Ur-Nammu built Ekur.
23. Shulgi , the son of Ur-Nammu,
24. made Tummal outstanding
25. he brought Ninlil to Tummal
26. Tummal was destroyed for the fifth time
27. In the year of Amar-Sin
28. until the reign of Ibbi-Sin , the king,
29. Enamgalanna as a protégé of the Inanna of Uruk
30. selected,
31. he brought Ninlil to Tummal
32. In the words of Lu-Inanna, the ashgab-gal of Enlil,
33. Ishbi-Erra built the Ekurraigigalla,
34. Enlil's warehouse

Individual evidence

1. ^ Dina Katz: Gilgamesh and Akka. STYX Publications, Groningen 1993, ISBN 90-72371-67-4 .
2. ^ Arno Poebel: Historical Texts (= University of Pennsylvania, University Museum. Publications of the Babylonian Section. Volume 4, number 1). University Museum, Philadelphia 1914, pp. 141 f. ( online ).
3. ^ Dina Katz: Gilgamesh and Akka. STYX Publications, Groningen 1993, ISBN 90-72371-67-4 .
4. ^ SN Kramer: The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1963.
5. ^ SN Kramer: The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1963.