The Stele of Ushumgal is an early Sumerian stone tablet, dating to the Early Dynastic I-II ( 2900-2700 BCE), and probably originating from Umma. It is currently located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.Balke, Thomas E.. "The Interplay of Material, Text, and Iconography in Some of the Oldest “Legal” Documents". Materiality of Writing in Early Mesopotamia, edited by Thomas E. Balke and Christina Tsouparopoulou, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2016, pp. 73-94
The stele is 22 cm high. It is partially deciphered, refers to an early transfer of land ownership. A large man is inscribed with a label, which can be read “Ušumgal, the pab-šeš priest of (the deity) Šara”. On the other side stands Shara-igizi-Abzu, the daughter of Ushumgal.Durgun, Pınar, "Enheduanna and Her World: Individual Women in Ancient Western Asia", pp. 279-286, 2024
The stele has been described as a type of "ancient Kudurru", a sort of stele known from the Kassites period in the 2nd millennium BCE.I. J. Gelb, P. Steinkeller, and R. M. Whiting Jr, "OIP 104. Earliest Land Tenure Systems in the Near East: Ancient Kudurrus", Oriental Institute Publications 104 Chicago: The Oriental Institute, 1989, 1991 ISBN 978-0-91-898656-6 Text Plates
The name "Akka" appears in the Stele of Ushumgal, as Ak gal-ukkin, "Ak gal-ukkin official". It has been suggested this could refer to Aga of Kish himself.
See also Blau Monuments Warka Vase
References
Further reading Wilcke, Claus, "Zur Ušumgal-Stele: ELTS 12", The Third Millennium. Brill, pp. 716-729, 2020
External links Complete transliteration of the inscriptions