Lament for the Destruction of Ur
A 436-line Sumerian lament composed after the fall of Ur III to the Elamites and Amorites (c. 2004 BCE) — one of five great 'city laments' and among the most moving texts of ancient Mesopotamia.
About the Poem
The Lament for the Destruction of Ur (Ur-erim-ma / Urim er-šem-ma) is a 436-line Sumerian composition in eleven kirugus (strophic divisions). It mourns the violent destruction of Ur, the capital of the Third Dynasty of Ur (Ur III), overrun by the Elamites and the Martu (Amorites) around 2004 BCE — a catastrophe that ended one of the most sophisticated bureaucratic civilizations in history.
The poem belongs to a recognized Sumerian literary genre: the city lament (others commemorate Nippur, Eridu, Lagash, and Nippur/Agade). Its theological core is not simply grief but theodicy: the city was destroyed because An and Enlil decreed it, and the moon-goddess Ningal tried in vain to intercede.
The text was preserved in the Nippur scribal curriculum and is known from dozens of Old Babylonian school tablets.
Opening — The Divine Decree (Kirugu 1, lines 1–22)
Sumerian Transliteration (ETCSL 2.2.2)
an-né ki sikil-la pad₃-da ĝeštug2 dugud šu um-ma-da-an-ti dnanna-ra nam tar-re si bí-ib-sá₂-e iri zalag-ga-bi ur2-ba su-ub bí-ib-ak e₂-gal ib₂-ba-ke₄ pad3-da-ĝu10-u3…
English (S. N. Kramer, from ANET, 1955 — public domain in Kramer’s paraphrase)
After An had frowned upon all the lands, After Enlil had set his face upon an angry heart Against the land and decreed its destruction, After Ninmah had turned away her face From the Ekishnugal, her temple, After the fate-decreeing gods turned from the city in their council, After Anu and Enlil had decided Sumer’s ill fate, The heart was not appeased, could not be appeased…
Ningal’s Plea to the Divine Assembly (lines 70–90)
One of the most poignant passages in ancient literature: a goddess begging the heavenly council to spare her city, and being refused.
English (Thorkild Jacobsen, The Harps That Once…, 1987 — cited for sense only; Jacobsen’s translation is copyrighted)
The passage runs roughly:
“I verily am your great cow, let me cry out to you! Let not Ur be destroyed! Let not its people be killed! … Let not the Ekishnugal be overwhelmed!”
But An did not change the word … Enlil did not soothe his heart toward her. The verdict, the word of the divine assembly could not be altered.
The Storm of Destruction (Kirugu 5, lines 181–199)
Sumerian (selected lines)
iri-ĝu10 šeg3 ma-ra-an-gi4-gi4 gu3 ḫul bí-in-gub ki-sikil urim2ki nam-bi tar-re me3-a bí-in-gub mu kur-ra-ke₄ dnin-gal-e ni₂ mi-ni-ib-ĝál a-gin7 ud zal-la lul-la ḫul-ĝál-la…
English (ETCSL 2.2.2 — open access scholarly translation)
In my city like a storm came roaring. Against my city it set its mind. The city lament rises to heaven. Who has ever seen a city being destroyed? Who has ever seen a city being destroyed and the lament being heard? Ningal, its great lady, weeps bitterly for her city. How long will you keep looking at me? … The day decreed for me is an evil day!
The Destruction Described (Kirugu 7, lines 272–285, abridged)
English (ETCSL)
Its walls were breached; the people groan. In its lofty gates where they used to promenade, dead bodies were lying about. In its boulevards where the feasts were celebrated, scattered they lay. In all its streets where they used to promenade, dead bodies were lying about. In its places where the festivities of the land took place, the people lay in heaps. The blood of the land filled the holes as if it were bronze being smelted. Corpses like fat placed in the sun melted away of themselves.
Closing — Hope of Restoration (Kirugu 11, final lines)
English (ETCSL / Kramer paraphrase)
O Nanna, thy city which has been destroyed — return to it! O lord Nanna, though thy city has been besieged — return to it! Like an innocent cow let thy city seek thee out! … May Ur be restored in joy!
Sources & Citations
- Sumerian text & translation: ETCSL 2.2.2 — “The lament for the destruction of Ur” — composite text by Jeremy Black et al. (Oxford, 1998–2006).
- Samuel Noah Kramer’s translation (PD): “Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur,” in James B. Pritchard (ed.), Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (ANET), 1st ed. (Princeton, 1950), pp. 455–463 — Kramer’s translation widely available.
- Thorkild Jacobsen (copyrighted): The Harps That Once…: Sumerian Poetry in Translation (Yale, 1987), pp. 447–474 — the most literary modern translation.
- Scholarly commentary: Raphael Kutscher, Oh Angry Sea (a-ab-ba ḫu-luḫ-ḫa): The History of a Sumerian Congregational Lament (Yale, 1975).
- Wikipedia: Lament for the destruction of Ur