Sumerian Warning to the West

Tread softly on my grave
You men of Western Lands,
Do not defile my temples
With searching, unclean hands,
Do not disturb Sumerian nobles
And irk my Goddess of the moon
Buried beneath the ashes
Of my great land
Which met its end too soon.

I was a great King once,
My name was Ur-Nammu,
Before my word
The ancients trembled,
My friends I raised,
My enemies I slew.

Sumerian Lands lie buried
Beneath the sands of time,
Like all civilizations
Must in this world decline.

Tread softly on my grave
You men of Western Lands,
For some day other men
From other places will dig
Where your civilization stands.

Alfred Charasz
Copyright 1999 Alfred Charasz