Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur — First Urban Catastrophe Narrative
קינה על חורבן אור
Author: Poète sumérien anonyme (c. 2000 av. J.-C.)
Date: c. 2000 av. J.-C.
Preservation: University of Pennsylvania Museum, Musée du Louvre
deposited on April 16, 2026 · History register · custodian, not owner
❧ Description
The Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur is a 436-line Sumerian poem mourning the fall of Ur. It is the oldest known ancestor of the literary genre of city laments — a genre that would culminate in Jeremiah's Lamentations (Eikhah) on the destruction of Jerusalem.
In history
Critical research
Dating
English
The Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur is a 436-line Sumerian poem mourning the fall of Ur. It is the oldest known ancestor of the literary genre of city laments — a genre that would culminate in Jeremiah's Lamentations (Eikhah) on the destruction of Jerusalem.