Position in chronology
SAA 03 005. Nanaya Hymn of Assurbanipal (ABRT 1 09)
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Assurbanipal praises [the goddess ......] (2) who is revered and feared by the [great] gods [......] (3) Nanaya, the lady of the great gods [......] (4) Assurbanipal is your high priest [......] (5) Aššur, bless his kingship! [......] (6) As for his arms, bless them Nabû! [......] (7) Sin, keep safe his throne [......] (8) All the lands are praising Urkittu [......] (9) In the time of Assurbanipal [......] (10) In the days of the shepherd [......] (11) Nanaya, with her whole heart [......] (12) The kingship of Assurbanipal, [......] (13) In her sacred city, which [......] (14) she…
Source: Livingstone, A. 1989. Court Poetry and Literary Miscellanea. SAA 3. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa03/P334926/
Why it matters
Transliteration
ú-na-ʾa-ad mdaš-šur—⸢DÙ⸣—[A x x x x x] / ša pal-ḫu-ši gal-tu-ši ⸢DINGIR*-MEŠ*⸣ [x x x] / dna-na-a be-lit DINGIR-MEŠ GAL-MEŠ [x x x x] / mdaš-šur—DÙ—A LÚ.šá-an-gu-ú-ku-nu [x x x x] / daš-šur LUGAL-us-su ku-ru-ub [x x x x] / Á.2-MEŠ-šú dPA ku-ru-ub ⸢ki⸣ [x x x] / d30 GIŠ.GU.ZA-šú taq-qí-in ⸢x⸣+[x x x] / ⸢gab*⸣-bi* KUR.KUR ú-na-ʾu-u*-du dur-kit-[tú] / ina tir-ṣi-šú ša mdaš-šur—DÙ—[A x x] / ina…
Scholarly note
Neo-Assyrian court poetry or literary text, edited by Alasdair Livingstone (SAA 3, 1989). ORACC text P334926.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P334926). source
Translation excerpted from Livingstone, A. 1989. Court Poetry and Literary Miscellanea. SAA 3. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa03/P334926/.
Related tablets
Related sources
A window into the world's first total state. The Ur III administration tracked every animal, every worker, every shekel — for a population in the millions. The level of paperwork was not exceeded until the modern era.
The single most important literary discovery of the 19th century. It rewired the understanding of the Bible's literary context and proved that the Mesopotamian flood tradition is older. It is the oldest surviving epic poetry in human history.
The literary tradition is no longer anonymous from this point. Authorship — the idea that a specific human voice composes a specific work — enters the historical record with her.