The Eannatum Boulder

Mesopotamia, 2450BCE
The Eannatum Boulder, Mesopotamia
The Eannatum Boulder, zoomed in

The Eannatum Boulder is a Mesopotamian Limestone Sculpture created in 2450BCE. It lives at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. The image is used according to Educational Fair Use, and tagged Political Work and Cuneiform. SourceSee The Eannatum Boulder in the Kaleidoscope

[A polished boulder inscribed to Eannatum, describing the blessings and wisdom the gods had blessed him with.]

For Ningirsu,
Eanatum, the ruler of Lagash,
nominated by Enlil,
given strength by Ningirsu,
chosen by the heart of Nanshe,
fed wholesome milk by Ninhursaga,
called a good name by Inanna,
given wisdom by Enki,
beloved by Dumuzi-abzu,
trusted by Hendursag,
beloved friend of Lugalurub,
son of Akurgal, the ruler of Lagash,

for Ningirsu, {the city of} Girsu he restored.
The walls of the Holy City he built for him.
For Nanshe, the {city of} Nigin he built.

By Eanatum
Elam, the awesome mountain range,
was defeated,
and its tumuli {burial mounds} he heaped up.
The Standard of Uru, though by its ruler
it had been set up at the head (of it),
he defeated it,
and its tumuli he heaped up.
Umma he defeated, and its 20 tumuli
he heaped up.
To Ningirsu, his beloved field, the Gu'edena,
he returned.

Uruk he defeated.
Ur he defeated.
Kiutu he defeated.
Iriaz he destroyed,
and its ruler he killed.
Mishime he destroyed.
Arua he obliterated.

Before Eanatum,
the one nominated by Ningirsu,
all the lands trembled.

In the year that the king of Akshak rose up,
Eanatum, the one nominated by Ningirsu,
from the Antasura of Ningirsu
Zuzu, the king of Akshak,
all the way back to Akshak he smote,
and he obliterated it.

At that time, Eanatum,
Eanatum being his own name
while his Tidnu(?) name is Lumma,
for Ningirsu a new canal he dug,
and “Good Like Lumma” he named it.

Eanatum, a man subject to the word of Ningirsu,
because Eanatum, the ruler of Lagash,
by Inanna was loved,
together with the rulership of Lagash
the kingship of Kish she gave to him.

Before Eanatum, Elam trembled,
and the Elamite he sent back to his land.

Kish trembled before him.
The king of Akshak he sent back to his land.

Eanatum, the ruler of Lagash,
the subjugator of the many foreign lands of Ningirsu,
Elam, Subartu, and Uru
via the Carp Water (canal)
he defeated.

Kish, Akshak, and Mari
via the Antasura of Ningirsu
he defeated.

For Ningirsu
the Good Like Lumma (canal)
he placed alongside,
and he presented it to him.
Eanatum, given strength by Ningirsu,
the dam of the Good Like Lumma (canal)
with 3600 gur-measures (containing) 2 UL (each) of bitumen
he built.

Eanatum, a man subject to the word of Ningirsu,
whose (personal) god is Shul-MUSHxPA,
the palace Tirash he built for him.

He is the son of Akurgal, the ruler of Lagash,
and his grandfather was Ur-Nanshe,
the ruler of Lagash.


...


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Reed Enger, "The Eannatum Boulder," in Obelisk Art History, Published May 18, 2015; last modified May 26, 2021, http://www.arthistoryproject.com/timeline/the-ancient-world/mesopotamia/the-eannatum-boulder/.

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