“The Royal Inscriptions of Ur: A Typology,”
HUCA 33, pp. 1-43.
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The present contribution deals with the definition of the nature and the classification of Sumerian texts from Ur.
After a summary on the state of art about the publication of those texts (§ 1), the author states the problem of dating, considering that the only way to establish a chronology is to define a systematic typology (as F.R. Kraus has already proposed).
The following § 2 is about the definition of 'royal inscription', retracing their very first attestations (both inside and outside Mesopotamia) and the presentation of the ideology at the base of the royal Sumerian lists.
Afterwards, § 3 turns to the building texts inscribed on monuments, basically on some specific supports: bricks, foundation deposits, pivot-stones and clay nails.
The following § 4 analyses the linguistic typology of the royal inscriptions, focusing on the role of the name of the dedicating king and to the form of the predicate used.
The last § 5 presents the most notable Sumerian royal inscriptions, dividing them into classes (standard inscriptions/building inscriptions; votive inscriptions; weight inscriptions/seal inscriptions), including also a glimpse on later copies.
[M. De Pietri – July 2019]