Sumerian Shakespeare
Site Map
Babylonian map of the universe.
The Great Fatted Bull: home page for Sumerian Shakespeare and The Great Fatted Bull.
Introduction: where Tablet #36 is introduced as the world's first political satire, the world's first comedy, and the world's first murder mystery.
Tablet #36: shows photographs and line-drawings of the tablet; also includes a link to the CDLI's hi-res photo of the tablet.
Translation: translation of the tablet, with minimum explanatory comment.
Annotations: line-by-line translation with notes that give the historical context of the story and explains its wordplay and hidden meanings.
The end of the story? for the Great Fatted Bull?
Fat Bull Misc Menu: Miscellaneous pages related to the Story of The Great Fatted Bull:
Transliteration: the Sumerian words and their English equivalents, with notes on the translation.
It also includes notes on decoding mahX, and Appendix A, which summarizes the ways the
meaning of the text is obscured. Dull reading for anyone but a Sumerologist.
Tablet #36 sign list: a list of all of the signs used on Tablet #36 and their definitions.
The Great Fatted Bull and the CDLI: the attempt by Robert Englund and the CDLI to discredit
the translation of The Great Fatted Bull.
Robert Englund's Error List: the numerous errors in Robert Englund's transliteration of
Tablet #36.
Sumerian Trick Signs: a description of the "trick signs" used on tablets to hide the secret
meaning of the texts.
A Masterpiece?: a discussion of the literary merits of Tablet #36.
Adventures in Cuneiform: my adventure/ordeal translating Tablet #36.
Sumerian images: photographs of Sumerian art and artifacts.
Sumerian images part II: more photographs of Sumerian art and artifacts.
Sumerian history: a brief introduction to Sumerian history.
The Royal Tombs of Ur: the treasures of the Royal Tombs of Ur; including:
Exploration of the tombs
Lyres and harps
Vessels of gold, silver, and stone
Jewelry lots of jewelry
Miscellaneous items from the tombs
Weapons spears, javelins, and battleaxes
Also included is a page on Sumerian Necklaces and a page on Pu-abi's Regalia.
What is the Standard of Ur?: the original purpose of the Standard of Ur.
Standard of Ur narratives: the complete narrative of events on the Standard of Ur:
Introduction to the Standard of Ur, the icon of Sumerian civilization, the royal standard
of a great king.
Standard of Ur narrative: War, shows us exactly how the king won his greatest battle.
Standard of Ur narrative: Peace, shows us how the king ruled his subjects after the war
was over.
Standard of Ur narrative: end panels, they are not just "fanciful scenes."
Eannatum: a brief history of Eannatum the Great.
Vulture Stele translation: translation of the inscriptions on the Vulture Stele of Eannatum.
War chariots reconstructed. The high-resolution photographic restoration of two war chariots depicted on the Standard of Ur. Also included is a section on chariot tactics.
War chariots deconstructed: What did a Sumerian war chariot really look like?
Model of a Sumerian war chariot: A scale model of a chariot on the Standard of Ur,
by Stefan Rosell.
Gudea translation: historical background on Gudea; translation of Gudean foundation cone.
Gudea tablet: photograph of a Gudean commemorative tablet.
The face of Gudea: where I identify a statue as being a realistic portrait of Gudea.
An unknown portrait of Gudea?: A portrait of Gudea not found in a museum.
Helvetica Light is an easy-to-read font, with tall and narrow letters, that works well on almost every site.
Site Map
Babylonian map of the universe.
The Great Fatted Bull: home page for Sumerian Shakespeare and The Great Fatted Bull.
Introduction: where Tablet #36 is introduced as the world's first political satire, the world's first comedy, and the world's first murder mystery.
Tablet #36: shows photographs and line-drawings of the tablet; also includes a link to the CDLI's hi-res photo of the tablet.
Translation: translation of the tablet, with minimum explanatory comment.
Annotations: line-by-line translation with notes that give the historical context of the story and explains its wordplay and hidden meanings.
The end of the story? for the Great Fatted Bull?
Fat Bull Misc Menu: Miscellaneous pages related to the Story of The Great Fatted Bull:
Transliteration: the Sumerian words and their English equivalents, with notes on the translation.
It also includes notes on decoding mahX, and Appendix A, which summarizes the ways the
meaning of the text is obscured. Dull reading for anyone but a Sumerologist.
Tablet #36 sign list: a list of all of the signs used on Tablet #36 and their definitions.
The Great Fatted Bull and the CDLI: the attempt by Robert Englund and the CDLI to discredit
the translation of The Great Fatted Bull.
Robert Englund's Error List: the numerous errors in Robert Englund's transliteration of
Tablet #36.
Sumerian Trick Signs: a description of the "trick signs" used on tablets to hide the secret
meaning of the texts.
A Masterpiece?: a discussion of the literary merits of Tablet #36.
Adventures in Cuneiform: my adventure/ordeal translating Tablet #36.
Sumerian images: photographs of Sumerian art and artifacts.
Sumerian images part II: more photographs of Sumerian art and artifacts.
Sumerian history: a brief introduction to Sumerian history.
The Royal Tombs of Ur: the treasures of the Royal Tombs of Ur; including:
Exploration of the tombs
Lyres and harps
Vessels of gold, silver, and stone
Jewelry lots of jewelry
Miscellaneous items from the tombs
Weapons spears, javelins, and battleaxes
Also included is a page on Sumerian Necklaces and a page on Pu-abi's Regalia.
What is the Standard of Ur?: the original purpose of the Standard of Ur.
Standard of Ur narratives: the complete narrative of events on the Standard of Ur:
Introduction to the Standard of Ur, the icon of Sumerian civilization, the royal standard
of a great king.
Standard of Ur narrative: War, shows us exactly how the king won his greatest battle.
Standard of Ur narrative: Peace, shows us how the king ruled his subjects after the war
was over.
Standard of Ur narrative: end panels, they are not just "fanciful scenes."
Eannatum: a brief history of Eannatum the Great.
Vulture Stele translation: translation of the inscriptions on the Vulture Stele of Eannatum.
War chariots reconstructed. The high-resolution photographic restoration of two war chariots depicted on the Standard of Ur. Also included is a section on chariot tactics.
War chariots deconstructed: What did a Sumerian war chariot really look like?
Model of a Sumerian war chariot: A scale model of a chariot on the Standard of Ur,
by Stefan Rosell.
Gudea translation: historical background on Gudea; translation of Gudean foundation cone.
Gudea tablet: photograph of a Gudean commemorative tablet.
The face of Gudea: where I identify a statue as being a realistic portrait of Gudea.
An unknown portrait of Gudea?: A portrait of Gudea not found in a museum.
The face of Ur-Ningirsu: the identification of an Ur-Ningirsu statue in the Louvre Museum.
The face of Lugal-agrig-zi: the royal scribe, son of Gudea.
Ur-Ningirsu: he became the king after the death of his father Gudea.
Ur-Namma translation: historical background on Ur-Namma; translation of votive tablet.
The face of Ur-Namma: where I identify the "unknown Sumerian ruler", at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as Ur-Namma. I also identify another statue at the Met as being Ur-Namma,
rather than Shulgi, as labeled. A statue in the Baghdad Museum is identified as Ur-Namma.
The face of Ur-Namma, part II; deals with the issues raised by the Metropolitan Museum of Art
on the identification of the unknown ruler as Ur-Namma.
I am Ur-Namma: the life and death of Ur-Namma, as told in literature, and his resurrection.
Shulgi: the last great Sumerian king.
The face of Shulgi: identification of a Shulgi foundation figure showing his true appearance.
Sargon's Victory Stele: where I identify the defeated enemy and the captive king on Sargon's victory stele.
Sargon's other stele: where I identify the defeated enemy on Sargon's other victory stele that is displayed in the Louvre.
Helmet: the King of Kish: where I identify the kind of helmet with a knotted bun on the back as belonging exclusively to the King of Kish.
The Standard of Mari: the identification of many Mari artifacts as being Sumerian in origin
The Great Fatted Jackass: translation of the story of The Great Fatted Jackass, and a Transliteration
of the tablet.
The Princess Wife: the world’s first political satire – as told from a woman’s point of view.
An Introduction to The Princess Wife: you have never met anyone like her.
The Translation, without a lot of explanatory comment.
The Annotations tell what's really going on in this story.
Transliteration of Tablet 31,28. Not for the faint of heart.
Sign List shows the signs and their definitions.
Nu-nus: the main "trick sign" on the tablet. Very clever.
The Princess Wife, part II: This is the sequel to the story of The Princess Wife.
Introduction to the Princess Wife: It is the same woman in both stories, but the circumstances
have changed.
Translation of the Princess Wife sequel.
Notes on the Translation explains why this tablet could not be deciphered for more than 100 years.
Transliteration of the sequel explains the "trick signs" that are used on the tablet.
Princess Wife the whole story, Translation: combined parts I and II of The Princess Wife.
Princess Wife the whole story, Annotations: the complete story of The Princess Wife.
Mesopotamian Prostitutes: the world's oldest profession.
Munus-kin, the sign of a Sumerian prostitute
Six Known Sumerian Prostitutes (plus footnotes)
The Babylonian Woman, a statue found in Diqdiqqeh
The Babylonian Wife, another statue of the Babylonian Woman
Babylonian Prostitutes in history, art, and literature
In Bed, Babylonians in bed. What's really going on?
Temple Prostitutes, "Sacred Prostitution" in Babylon.
In Flagrante Delicto, a comic cylinder seal
Sumerian lukurs: is a lukur a priestess or a concubine?
Princess Ku-Baba: the first Cinderella and world's first reigning female monarch.
A Sumerian princess: identification of a statue portraying an unknown Sumerian princess.
Sumerian queens: the identification of Sumerian queens in the temples of Mari.
An Unknown Sumerian Queen: A female Sumerian ruler.
Another Unknown Sumerian Queen: Identification of a statue in the Louvre as a portrait of a
Sumerian queen.
Pu-abi, the Queen?: Was Pu-abi queen or just a noblewoman? Also includes Footnotes.
Who were the Sumerians?: an exploration for the origins of the Sumerian people.
Great Sumerian kings: brief biographies of kings not covered on other pages of the website.
Sumerian Shepherd Kings: The guardians and protectors of their flocks, the people.
The Kings of Uruk: The original shepherd kings. They began Sumerian civilization.
War: Umma and Lagash. The Sumerian version of the "Hundred Years War."
Enmetena: An important but often overlooked Sumerian king.
Urukagina: The reformist king, a champion of the people.
Lugalzagesi: A great king, much maligned.
Lugalzagesi Translation: It tells his side of the story.
The Man of Umma: Lugalzagesi's plundering of Lagash.
Urukagina "Liberty" cones: They detail his social reforms.
Enmetena, not Urukagina: An important Sumerian tablet belonging to Enmetena
but mistakenly ascribed to Urukagina.
Enmetena tablet: The first mention of the Sumerian word for "freedom."
Enmetena vase: An inscribed silver vase, with a translation.
Enannatum tablet: The father of Enmetena. A brief description of his battle against Umma. Akurgal, Enmetena's grandfather, also fought against Umma.
Ur-Nanshe Translation: Fragmentary description of another battle against Umma –
by Enmetena's great-grandfather.
The divine right to rule: the date cluster as a symbol of royalty and the divine right to rule
in ancient Mesopotamia
The battles of Ishqi-Mari: the battles fought by the Akkadian king of Mari as shown
on his cylinder seals.
The Egyptians?! why do the Sumerians show up on two ancient Egyptian artifacts at the dawn of history?
The Gebel el-Arak Knife: the symbology of the famous Egyptian knife.
Hierakonpolis Tomb 100 Painting: a narration the the events portrayed on the mural.
Idiot: A rebuttal of Andrea Sinclair's drunken tirade against Sumerian Shakespeare.
Another Standard of Ur? from Bulgaria?
The Mystery Plaque is it a treasure or a fraud?
A Stolen Artifact? was it looted by tomb robbers?
Copied from the Standard of Ur is it real or fake?
The invention of writing: the invention and evolution of Sumerian writing.
Sumerian scribes invented writing, literature, and recorded history.
The Scribe who wrote Tablet #36. The scribal life.
Scribal Social Rankings on their cylinder seals.
Is Tablet #36 Early Old Babylonian?
The Loring Tablet: a cuneiform letter to Loring, who inspired SumerianShakespeare.
Links: to other Sumerian websites.
FAQs, copyrights, etc: Frequently asked questions about SumerianShakespeare.
Contact: questions, comments, etc.
Akkadian seals: Akkadian seal impressions showing the kind of skirts worn by the enemies on the Standard of Ur.
Mace or vase?: the mis-identification of an artifact in the British Museum.
Mesopotamian clothing, "cross dressing," as it relates to the Standard of Ur and the Standard of Mari.
Inanna: the goddess of lust and war.
Detail of the map seen at the top of the page. Babylon is shown as the point at the center
of the universe.
