Lamentations over the Destruction of Ur 211
209 O Father Nanna, that city into ruins was made—the people moan, 210 On that day, the storm was removed from the land—the people moan, 211 Its people—though not potsherds—littered its sides. 212 In its walls, breaches were made—the people moan, 213 In its lofty city gates, which were accustomed to promenades, corpses were piled.
Lamentations 4:2
1 א (Alef) Alas! Gold has lost its luster; pure gold loses value. Jewels are scattered on every street corner. 2 ב (Bet) The precious sons of Zion were worth their weight in gold—Alas!—but now they are treated like broken clay pots, made by a potter. 3 ג (Gimel) Even the jackals nurse their young at their breast, but my people are cruel, like ostriches in the wilderness.
Notes and References
"... the Book of Lamentations was written in the 6th century BCE and the latest manuscript of the Sumerian Laments is from the 16th century BCE, a gap of about a millennium separates them. Subsequently, direct influence seems to be out of the question. An important element in the comparison between the Book of Lamentations and the Sumerian Lament tradition is therefore finding a way to bridge this gap in time. It is possible that Judeans were familiar with the Sumerian Laments even if they were written long before the destruction of Jerusalem ... Samet points out three textual metaphoric similarities between the Book of Lamentations and the Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur. The first concerns a reference to music when describing the effects of the devastation. In Lamentations 5:14, the old men are gone from the gate, the young men from their music. In the Ur Lament (356) ‘they are no longer playing for you the šem and ala drums that gladden the heart, nor the tigi.’ Secondly, ceramic pots are used metaphorically for dying people. In Lamentations 4:2, the precious children of Zion; once valued as gold – Alas, they are accounted as earthen pots, work of a potter’s hands! In the Ur Lament (211) ‘its people littered its sides like potsherds.’ The third example given is a more famous one, concerning the fox wandering through the ruins of the city. In Lamentations 5:17, because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate; foxes walk over it. In the Ur Lament (269) ‘in the rivers of my city, dust has gathered, foxholes are made therein’ ..."
Filarski, Wered Lamentations: A Comparison Between Mesopotamia and Judea (pp. 87-98) Jewish Bible Quarterly 45, No. 2, 2017