The Abu Salabikh literary tablets (IAS), including the Kesh Temple Hymn and the Zame hymns

Not kept here. This copy isn't ours to show. See it where it's published.

Early Dynastic IIIa tablets of about 2600 BC excavated by the Oriental Institute in 1963 and 1965, published by Biggs as Inscriptions from Tell Abu Salabikh (1974) and supplemented in 1978 and 2009. They include the oldest copies of the Kesh Temple Hymn, readable through its Old Babylonian duplicate, the 70 Zame hymns, which have no duplicate and are translated only provisionally, and UD.GAL.NUN compositions that remain largely unread.

Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative, after Biggs 1971 and 1974. CDLI terms: transliteration freely reusable with attribution

Copies 2

Transcription on cdliCuneiform Digital Library Initiative, after Biggs 1971 and 1974 · cdli.earth · CDLI terms: transliteration freely reusable with attributionPrimary source: CDLI Literary 000751, ex. 011 (P010248): Kesh Temple Hymn witness from Abu Salabikh1 step from the original

Where it's published

Etcsl composite transliteration and translation (c.4.80.2)Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (after Gragg 1969 and Civil) · etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk · ETCSL, University of Oxford; copyright terms on the sitePrimary source: The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature: About the project2 steps from the original

Where it's published

Where it is kept

Iraq Museum, Baghdad · Museum

Sources 4

Cite it

Mysteries Department. (2026). The Abu Salabikh literary tablets (IAS), including the Kesh Temple Hymn and the Zame hymns [Artifact ART0DEDQRQ9Q3ZW]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ART0DEDQRQ9Q3ZW

@misc{mysteriesdept_art0dedqrq9q3zw,
  title     = {The Abu Salabikh literary tablets (IAS), including the Kesh Temple Hymn and the Zame hymns},
  author    = {{Mysteries Department}},
  year      = {2026},
  note      = {Artifact, catalog key ART0DEDQRQ9Q3ZW},
  url       = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ART0DEDQRQ9Q3ZW}
}