====== Ur III Letters ======

===== Introduction =====

The vast majority of the letters from the Ur III period were //orders// from within the state-administration. They are therefore also referred to as //letter-orders//. These wiki-pages aim at confirming and updating the standard typology of Sumerian letters used since the publication of TCS 1, based on the explosion in the number of available primary documents (see in particular B. Lafont 1990) ([[http://cdli.ucla.edu/search/search_results.php?SearchMode=Text&requestFrom=Search&PrimaryPublication=&order=PrimaryPublication&Period=Ur+III&Genre=Letter|click here for a complete list of Ur III letters]]).

===== Basic Typology =====

The //[[addressee]]// of a Sumerian letter normally precedes the //message//. The //[[sender]]// is rarely mentioned. The standard blessing known from the Old Babylonian Akkadian letters, is not found in Sumerian letters. Almost all letters preserving the name of a //sender// lists the sender before the //addressee//, but this is likely due to the higher rank of the //sender// in all of these examples.

We can compare the Sumerian and the Akkadian introductory formula:

Sumerian PN-ra u<sub>3</sub>-na-a-du<sub>11</sub> corresponds to Akkadian ana PN qibî-ma

Sumerian na-ab-be<sub>2</sub>-a corresponds to Akkadian um-ma PN-ma

The formulaic sentence PN-ra u<sub>3</sub>-na-a-du<sub>11</sub> could be norminalized and used as a word for a physical letter itself (borrowed into Akkadian as unnedukkum). The //salutations// frequently found in Akkadian letters are never found following the //address// of a Sumerian letter, rather they may be found, in rare instances, within the //message// or as part of the //exhortation//.

The //[[message]]// is usually an order to transfer commodities from one person to another (using the verb sum “to give”), in fewer cases the message can refer to aspects of the bookkeeping (e.g., zi-ga “book out”), or even the legal system (e.g., …).

Many Sumerian letters end with a brief //[[exhortation]]// where the //sender// is urging that the //addressee// see to the matter of the letter quickly, or to avoid dispute. Such an //exhortation// might take the form “it is the order of the king” (inim lugal-la-ta), invoking a high authority.
Reference to the depositions of the letter may terminate the letter (e.g., dub-ba-ni šu ha-ba-ab-ti, “he shall receive his tablet”).

Only very few Sumerian letters are dated.

Letters were sealed on the envelope, however the sealing party is not necessarily identical with the sender.

In rare instances the order of the entries are inverted, and the address follows the message (see, e.g., [[http://cdli.ucla.edu/P106791|BiOr 26, 175 HSM 1800]]).

===== Sample Text =====

A normal Neo-Sumerian letter consists of the name of the recipient(s) (the sender is only rarely mentioned, he was presumably normally identified by his seal on the envelope: this is mostly lost), followed by the content of the letter. Neo-Sumerian letters often end with an exhortation.

Example ([[http://cdli.ucla.edu/P134662|TMH NF 1-2, 351]]):\\ 


| Obv. 1. | e<sub>2</sub>-a-ba-ni | To Ea-bani |
| 2. | u<sub>3</sub>-na-a-du<sub>11</sub> | speak:| 
| 3. | 1(diš) er<sub>3</sub>-ra-ga-ši-ir | "One Erra-gašir,|
| 4. | dumu nibru<sup>ki</sup>-kam | citizen of Nippur,|
| Rev. 1. | ur-sa<sub>6</sub>-ga | to Ur-saga|
| 2. | ha-mu-na-sum-mu |he shall give him"|

The envelope to this text is sealed (see also RIM E3/2.1.5.2007)\\ 

| Col. 1 1. |<sup>d</sup>i-bi<sub>2</sub>-<sup>d</sup>suen | Ibbi-Suen,|
| 2. | dingir kalam-ma | god of the land,|
| 3. | lugal kal-ga | strong king,|
| 4. | lugal uri<sub>5</sub><sup>ki</sup>-ma | king of Ur,|
| 5. |lugal an ub-da limmu<sub>2</sub>-ba | king of the four corners (of the universe)|
| Col. 2 1. |da-da | Dada,|
| 2. | ensi<sub>2</sub> | governor |
| 3. | nibru<sup>ki</sup> | of Nippur,|
| 4. | dumu ur-<sup>nab</sup>nisaba<sub>2</sub>* | son of Ur-Nisaba,|
| 5. | ensi<sub>2</sub> | governor|
| 6. | nibru<sup>ki</sup>-ka | of Nippur,|
| 7. | ARAD<sub>2</sub>-zu | (is) your slave.|

====Overview of corpus====

===== Internal links =====

"[[addressee]]":   sorted and commented list of all addressee's in Ur III letters

"[[sender]]":    sorted and commented list of all senders of Ur III letters

"[[message]]":    sorted and commented list of all messages in Ur III letters (ordered according to content, and verbal forms)

"[[exhortation]]":    sorted and commented list of all exhortations found in Ur III letters, with some comments about parallel expressions in Akkadian letters

(return to [[Text Typologies]])\\
(return to [[letters|Letters from Mesopotamia]])\\

===== External links =====

  * B. Lafont, “Nouvelles Lettres du Temps des Rois d’Ur” (RA 84, 1990) 165 – 169.

  * P. Michalowski, //Letters from Early Mesopotamia// (= MC 15, 1993).

  * G. Pettinato, “Aggiunte al Corpus de Lettere Administrative della Terza Dinastia di Ur (OrAnt 7, 1968) 165 – 179.

  * E. Sollberger, //The Business and Administrative Correspondence Under the Kings of Ur//, (= TCS 1; 1966).