Evidence · Proto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of Uruk

Archaic Enlil is EN.KID, not EN.E2

Uruk III writes Enlil/Nippur as EN.KIDₐ (or EN.NUN), not EN.E2. In the archaic lexical lists EN KID appears in the Cities list and EN NUN in Officials, and no archaic list has EN E2. The {d}en-lil2 spelling the session 8 match relied on is from ED IIIa.

Supported0

What it means

Key questionWhat language, if any, do the proto-cuneiform texts record?

5 answers, none ahead yet

Openunchanged

Part of itDo the roughly 440 personal names in the archaic texts follow Sumerian, Semitic or some other naming pattern?

5 answers, none ahead yet

Openunchanged

Part of itDoes the name entry EN AN E2 on MS 3035 (P006268, obv. i 1.b09) contain the divine name Enlil, written as in Early Dynastic {d}en-lil2?

2 answers, none ahead yet

Openwas No evidence yet

Answer this evidence bears onYes, it is Enlil

Counts againstnone for, 1 against

Still possiblewas No evidence yet

What it implies

EN AN E2 should not be read as a theophoric Enlil name, so it drops out as a 'readable' archaic name.For: Does the name entry EN AN E2 on MS 3035 (P006268, obv. i 1.b09) contain the divine name Enlil, written as in Early Dynastic {d}en-lil2?
Matches of sign multisets against Early Dynastic spellings need to be screened for spellings that changed later; part of the 8.7% continuity rate could be like this, or the real rate could be undercounted.For: Do the roughly 440 personal names in the archaic texts follow Sumerian, Semitic or some other naming pattern?

Next steps 1

Check EN AN E2 = Enlil

Could decideFair odds~4 h

On: Does the name entry EN AN E2 on MS 3035 (P006268, obv. i 1.b09) contain the divine name Enlil, written as in Early Dynastic {d}en-lil2?

23score

Details

Compare EN AN E2 on MS 3035 with archaic EN.E2 attestations (lexical lists, Cities list) and Early Dynastic {d}en-lil2 spellings to judge whether it writes Enlil.

Ranked by how likely each is to move the key question, for the time it takes

Sources 2

Notes on KIDₐ

Englund 2011

SRC

Texts from the Late Uruk Period

Englund 1998

SRC

Cite it

Mysteries Department. (2026). Archaic Enlil is EN.KID, not EN.E2 [Evidence EVD0DG2Z3JVSSR4]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DG2Z3JVSSR4

@misc{mysteriesdept_evd0dg2z3jvssr4,
  title     = {Archaic Enlil is EN.KID, not EN.E2},
  author    = {{Mysteries Department}},
  year      = {2026},
  note      = {Evidence, catalog key EVD0DG2Z3JVSSR4},
  url       = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DG2Z3JVSSR4}
}