Never translated in any language before this page. A Vigslist translation.
A roll of heroes for the lord of the Netherworld. “Great wild bull, lord of the Netherworld” — a hero-roll for Nergal, never edited.
Never translated before — in any language. No edition and no translation of this text stands in print or on the records checked. The reading below is the first rendering of this text anywhere.
only a catalogue discussion. The composition is unidentified in print: a bilingual hero-litany whose obverse praises one god by epithet and whose reverse rolls the warrior gods of his circle. The god of the obverse is named by his circle on the reverse: Meslamtaea, the lord of Kutha, the lord of Emeslam — Nergal's names and Nergal's city.**
Built 2026-10-22 from a fresh live eBL fetch (saved in ). This tablet reached the desk through the Class A catalogue list; the catalogue row is identity only, every word below rests on the live record.
One joined fragment pair: BM.114005 + BM.114096, from Ur (the 1919-10-11 excavation series), Late Babylonian script, British Museum. CDLI number on the live record: P429566. Photograph on the record. The obverse is bilingual, Sumerian line over Akkadian gloss; the reverse drops the glosses and rolls names.
The obverse hammers one figure: the great wild bull, lord of the Netherworld; the mighty one whose arm slays; who slays with the mace; great hero of the long arm. Then the ruling, and the reverse changes key — a roll call of heroes, each line a name: the Hero, lord of the Netherworld; Meslamtaea, the god who comes out of Meslam; the great wild bull; the lord of Kutha; the lord of Emeslam; Libir-Hendursagga; the hero Šubula. Kutha and its temple Emeslam are Nergal's seat, Meslamtaea is Nergal's own name — the litany is a hero-roll for the lord of the dead and the gods who march with him.
Transliteration exactly as the record serves it; each bilingual pair is rendered once. Counts: 32 line-units — 0 whole, 13 part, 19 fragments, 0 invented. "Part" means the sense stands but an end of the line is lost or restored in the record's brackets.
1′. %es am# gal umun-irigal#-la# x x x […] ($___$) ri-i-mu ra-bu-u₂ {d}MIN ša₂ a-n[a? …] "Great wild bull, lord of the Netherworld […]"
3′. %es kala-ga mu-lu a₂ gi-ra-na […] ($___$) dan-nu ša₂ ta-du-ku […] "Mighty one, the man whose arm slays […]"
5′. %es ag₂-gi-ra-na gešpu a₂-g[i-ra …] ($___$) ša₂ ta-du-ku ina til-pa-[nu …] "… who slays with the mace […]"
7′. %es gešpu {giš}tukul-bi-ta a₂-gi#-[ra-na …] ($___$) ša₂ ina til-pa-nu qaq-q[i? …] "… who with the mace, on the battle[ground(?) …]"
9′. %es a₂ gid₂-da-ni-ta […] ($___$) ša₂ e-mu-qu i-[…] "… from his long arm, [whose] strength […]"
11′. %es ur-sag gal a₂ gid₂-d[a-ni-ta …] ($___$) qar-rad GAL-u₂ ša₂ e-[mu-qu …] "Great hero, from his long arm, [whose] strength […]"
13′. %es umun ur-sag gal-e […] ($___$) be-[lu₄ qa]r-ra-[du …] "The lord, the great hero […]"
15′. %es x x x […] (traces only)
1′. %es mu?#-lu?# […] (traces only)
2′. ($___$) i[na? …] (traces only)
3′. %es gi₆-a a# […] ($___$) hu-[…] "In the night […]"
4′. ($___$) hu-[…] (traces only)
5′. %es ur-sag u[mun-irigal-la …] "Hero, lord of the Netherwo[rld …]"
6′. %es {d}mes-la[m-ta-e₃-a …] "Meslamta[ea …]" — the god who comes forth from Meslam, Nergal's own name.
7′. %es [a]m-gal umun-[ir₉-ra …] "Great wild bull, lord of [the Netherworld …]"
8′. %es umun gu₂-du₈-a#[{ki} …] "Lord of Kutha […]" — Nergal's city.
9′. %es umun e₂-mes-l[am …] "Lord of Emes[lam …]" — Nergal's temple in Kutha.
10′. %es li#-bi#-ir [{d}hendur-sag-ga₂ …] "Libir, Hendursagga […]" — the god of the roads of the dead.
11′. %es ur-sag {d}[šu-bu-la₂ …] "Hero Š[ubula …]" — a lord of the netherworld.
12′. %es gu₄-zu aš […] "Your bull […]" (traces)
13′. ($___$) ša₂ x […] (traces only)
14′. %es gir₂?-min-na-bi […] "… the twin(?) […]" (reading queried on the record)
15′. %es ur-sag lu₂ x […] "Hero, the man […]" (traces)
16′. ($___$) qar-ra-[du …] "… the her[o …]" (traces)
17′. %es ur-sa[g …] "Her[o …]" (traces)
Nuvira Technologies conducts this research with AI assistance, cross-verified against the primary sources to scholarly integrity standards. Uncertain readings are marked; broken lines are left broken.
— Richard Vigslist, Founder, Nuvira Technologies
More antiquities research: Antiquities Research