A reading, published with its checks still open. A Vigslist translation.
A šuila to Enki — the god who cannot be gainsaid. The tablet's own gloss defines UŠUM as ediššīšu, “in his uniqueness” — flagged on the build, not claimed as a dragon.
Published as a reading. No first-translation claim is made for this piece. The checks that would settle such a claim are named in the notes below and are still open; the wording on this page claims nothing they have not settled.
German: Shibata, Šuʾila (HES 3, 2021), no. 5, pp. 102–105, with a copy (pl. 14, drawn by Gabbay). A German edition is an eyeball, not a bar — but no English rendering of this šuila was located, and the first-English label waits on the print-check wave's Shibata eyeball, exactly as A2's K.5104 waits on Lambert. DRAGON FLAG ON THE FACE: the word UŠUM stands at obv. 8′ — and this tablet glosses it itself. See "Doors and flags."**
Built 2026-10-22 from a fresh live eBL fetch (saved in ).
One joined pair: BM.113995 + BM.114172, from Ur (1919-10-11 series), Late Babylonian script, British Museum. An Emesal šuila (hand-lifting prayer) to Enki — the abzu is named at 10′, and the god addressed decrees fates and fashions all things. CDLI number on the live record: P429564. Photograph on the record.
What survives is the prayer's praise-section, in bilingual equations the tablet spells out word by word: the god is purity in heaven and earth; he decrees the fates and fashions everything that is; what issues from his mouth cannot be changed in heaven or on earth; he is the exalted one who is alone; his decisions are artful as the depths of the distant abzu; he looks on faithfully with shining eyes. The left edge of every line is gone — the praise stands in phrases, and the counts say so.
The record serves the Sumerian and its Akkadian in alternating lines joined by the record's own "&"; each bilingual equation is counted and rendered once, as in the house's BM.38703 practice. Counts: 8 bilingual units — 0 whole, 2 part, 6 fragments, 0 invented.
1′. ($___$) [… A]N-e# u# KI#-ti₃# & […] "[…] heaven and earth […]" (traces)
2′–3′. %sux [… mas-s]u₃ an ki-a & z[a₃-zu-ta …] ($___$) […] a?#/nap?#/un?# mas-su-u₂ AN-e u KI-ti₃ & ul-la-n[u-uk-ka …] "[…] purity in heaven and earth & […] from your side" / "purity, heaven and earth & from beside you […]"
4′–5′. %sux [… s]u/z]e₂ dab-ba ki mas-su₃ an ki-a & za₃-zu-ta x […] ($___$) […]-hi/gi?# mas-su-u₂ AN-e u KI-ti₃ & ul-la-nu-uk-ka x […] "[…] seized […] purity in heaven and earth & from your side […]"
6′–7′. %sux [… n]a-ag₃ tar-tar-re nig₂-nam mu-un-dim₂-ma?# ka-ta e₃-a-ni-še₃ a[n? ki?-a? la?-ba?-an?-da?-kur₂?-ra?] ($___$) [… m]u-šim ši-ma-a-ti ba-nu-u₂ mim-ma šum-šu₂ & ša₂ ṣi-it pi-i-šu₂ in[a? AN?-e? u? KI?-ti₃? la? ut?-tak?-ka?-ru?] "[…] who decrees the fates, who fashions everything whatever it is — what comes out of his mouth [cannot be changed in heaven or on earth]"
8′–9′. %sux […] x an ki-a ušu mah-am₃ & e-lum ni₂ i[l₂?-il₂?-i?] ($___$) […] AN#-e u KI-ti₃ ša₂ e-diš-ši-šu₂ ṣi-i-ri & kab-tu mut-[le-lu-u] "[…] in heaven and earth he is the exalted ušu — & the honoured one who lifts himself up" / the gloss: "who is lofty in his uniqueness, the honoured, exalted one"
10′–11′. %sux […] ka#-aš bar#-bar#-ra#-bi galam-ma-bi ša₃ a[bz]u-ke₄# & su₃-ud-gin₇ x […] ($___$) [… pu]-ru#-us-se-e {d}MIN ša₂ pu-ur-u[s?-se?-e?-š]u₂ & nak-lu k[i?-ma? qe₂?-reb? ap?-si?-i? ru?-u₂?-qu? …] "[…] his decision is artful in the abzu & […]" / "the decision of the god, whose decision is artful, as in the midst of the distant abzu […]"
12′–13′. %sux […] g]al i-bi₂ zu bar-ra-a-ni-ta n[a-ag₂?-lu₂?]-u₁₈#-l[u? …] ($___$) [… r]i/h]u-ki ša₂ ki-niš ina nap-lu-si-šu₂ […] "[…] who with his shining eyes, when he looks faithfully […]"
14′–15′. %sux […] nam# tar-tar-re-e-n[e …] ($___$) [… mu?-ši]m? ši-ma-a#-[ti …] "[…] who decrees the fates […]" (traces; the praise begins again)
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— Richard Vigslist, Founder, Nuvira Technologies
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