cities-in-iraq

"City founded by An! O house of Lugalbanda! [...] City founded by An! O house of Inana in Zabalam, city founded by An!"

"There is perfection in the presence of the lady. Lagac thrives in abundance in the presence of Nance. She chose the cennu in her holy heart and seated Ur-Nance, the beloved lord of Lagac, on the throne. She gave the lofty sceptre to the shepherd. She adorned Gudea with all her precious divine powers. The shepherd chosen by her in her holy heart, Gudea, the ruler of Lagac, placed the lyre Cow-of-Abundance among the tigi drums and placed the holy balaj drum at its side. While sacred songs and harmonious songs were performed before her, the kintur instrument praised the temple. The chief musician played the ibex horn for her: the song 'The house has been granted powers from the abzu, the sacred song of the house of about the princely powers was performed."

"Nibru, the city where the divine powers are presented to the gods."

"August Nibru! No deity excels like your lord and lady! They are powerful princes; they are brilliantly revealed deities. No deity excels like Enlil or Ninlil! They are powerful princes; they are lords who can decide destinies. In your midst they have given divine powers to king Enki. Nibru, your holy songs are exceptionally precious, surpassing all praise! I, Icme-Dagan, have placed them in everyone's mouths for all time."

"May your city experience prosperity under you! In Urim may you raise your head high, unique lord, luminous lord, into the distant future! Nanna, may your city experience prosperity under you! In Urim may you raise your head high, unique lord, luminous lord, into the distant future!"

"King, glittering light, crown of Urim, Nanna, glittering light, crown of Urim!"

"In the city which like the sea inspires awe! Far-seeing Suen, ruler of Urim! O Suen, in leadership, great lord of heaven! In the city which like the sea inspires awe! Far-seeing Suen, ruler of Urim!"

"Say to Icbi-Erra: this is what your lord, Ibbi-Suen, says: As long as Enlil was my lord, what course were you following? And is this how you alter your word? Today Enlil detests me, he detests his son Suen (the principal deity of Urim), and is handing Urim over to the enemy. Its central part is gone, the enemy has risen up, and all the lands are thrown into disarray. But on the day when Enlil turns again towards his son Suen, you and your word will be marked out!"

"See, the assembly where the gods are and Sumer itself have been dispersed! Father Enlil, whose words prevail, said: "Until the enemy has been expelled from Urim, Icbi-Erra, the man from Mari, will tear out Urim's foundations. He will indeed measure out Sumer like grain." He has spoken just so."

"Urim, your , rivalling heaven and earth, whose great prince you are, [...] which dispenses the divine powers and makes the foundations and the plans firm both in the south and in the uplands, will surely escape from the grasp."

"As long as my lord is alive, he will exercise kingship over Urim."

"ln my city I dug a canal of abundance and named it the Kec-kug canal; in Urim, I dug a canal of abundance and named it the Kec-kug canal. I named it the Pabi-luh canal, a lasting name worthy to be praised. The watercourse of my city is full of fish, and the air above it is full of birds. The watercourse of Urim is full of fish, and the air above it is full of birds. In my city honey-plants are planted, and the carp grow fat. In Urim honey-plants are planted, and the carp grow fat. The gizi reed of my city is so sweet that the cows eat them. The gizi reed of Urim is so sweet that the cows eat them."

"O shrine Urim! Within, through their intricate craftsmanship, the Enki and deities have perfected the divine powers with their righteousness, and the Anuna gods stand there in service. O Urim, shrine of the mountains! O shrine Urim, shrine of the mountains! O Urim, city founded by An!"

"Say to Utu my lord: [...] this is what Sîn-iddinam, king of Larsa, your servant, says: Distress has been caused in your city Larsa, which you have chosen in your heart. The broad squares where days have been passed in merriment have been reduced to silence. Your commendable troops who were assembled have been annihilated like reeds from a reed fence splitting apart. Your young men have been harvested like barley at the due time; they have been picked and have been plucked like ripened fruit. The people have been smashed like terracotta figurines; they have perished all together. An evil storm took away the little ones from the laps of their mothers. [...] I serve the great gods daily with prayers, and my fervent entreaties are sublime. O youthful Utu, for that reason look favourably upon your city Larsa! Say "Alas!" for your city! Say "Alas for the sanctuary!"! Extend sympathetic compassion to Larsa! [...] So that may escape the clutches of death. May its seed be great! May sing your praises!"

"Enmerkar son of Utu prepared an expedition against Aratta, the mountain of the holy divine powers. He was going to set off to destroy the rebel land; the lord began a mobilization of his city. The herald made the horn signal sound in all the lands. Now levied Unug took the field with the wise king, indeed levied Kulaba followed Enmerkar. Unug's levy was a flood, Kulaba's levy was a clouded sky. As they covered the ground like heavy fog, the dense dust whirled up by them reached up to heaven. As if to rooks on the best seed, rising up, he called to the people. Each one gave his fellow the sign."

"Many followed Gudam on the streets of Unug. They sat armed before him. [...] He lopped off the crossbeams of E-ana as if they were branches. Gudam went out into the street. Gudam crushed many on the streets of Unug, and killed many with his mace. He hacked down the door of the city gate."

"Kulaba, city which reaches from heaven to earth; Unug, whose fame like the rainbow reaches up to the sky, a multicoloured sheen, as the new moon standing in the heavens. Built in magnificence with all the great powers, lustrous mount founded on a favourable day, like moonlight coming up over the land, like bright sunlight radiating over the land."

"[S]he made Icme-Dagan, the son of Enlil, the en priest of Unug, into their guardian -- this is what Inana, the lady of heaven and earth, did; and the great An declared his consent."

"No city was made to be so well-built as the city of Unug."

"Once upon a time my princely sister holy Inana summoned me in her holy heart from the bright mountains, had me enter brick-built Kulaba. Where there was a marsh then in Unug, it was full of water. Where there was any dry land, Euphrates poplars grew there. Where there were reed thickets, old reeds and young reeds grew there. Divine Enki who is king in tore up for me the old reeds, drained off the water completely. For fifty years I built, for fifty years I was successful. Then the Martu people, who know no agriculture, arose in all and . But the wall of Unug extended out across the desert like a bird net. Yet now, here in this place, my attractiveness to her has dwindled. My troops are bound to me as a cow is bound to its calf; but like a son who, hating his mother, leaves his city, my princely sister holy Inana has run away from me back to brick-built Kulaba. If she loves her city and hates me, why does she bind the city to me? If she hates the city and yet loves me, why does she bind me to the city? If the mistress removes herself from me to her holy chamber, and abandons me like an Anzud chick, then may she at least bring me home to brick-built Kulaba: on that day my spear shall be laid aside. On that day she may shatter my shield. Speak thus to my princely sister, holy Inana."