Position in chronology
SAA 20 013. Lamentations to Aššur on Account of Enemy Attack (Geers J 62)
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Lamentations and eršahunga-psalms of Aššur. Enemy attack. Cop[ied] for reference. (2) On the first day, you set up a ritual arrangement for Anu, [Enlil, Ea] (and) Sîn. (3) “Wise lord, planner,” a lamentation. “You should not desert me,” [......], an eršemma-lamentation. “O Lord, may your angry heart relent to me,” an e[ršahung]a to Anu. (5) “For how long, O Lord, how long have you delayed the vengeance?,” an e[ršahunga-psalm] to Enlil. “O Lord, may your heart, though kindled with fire, [spare] your city for my sake,” an e[ršahung]a-psalm to Enlil. “Let me pray to the Lord for the house,”…
Source: Parpola, S. 2017. Assyrian Royal Rituals and Cultic Texts. SAA 20. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa20/P357092/
Why it matters
Transliteration
ÉR-MEŠ ù ÉR.ŠÀ.ḪUN.GÁ-MEŠ šá daš-šur ZI KÚR a-na IGI.LAL ⸢ZI⸣ / i-na UD-um maḫ-ra-a a-na da-num ⸢d⸣[EN.LÍL] ⸢dÉ.A⸣ dEN.ZU KEŠDA tar-kás / en zu sá.mar ÉR nam.mu.un.šub.⸢bé⸣.[en] ÉR.ŠÈM.MA / umun šà mir.ra.a.⸢zu⸣ ḫa.ma.⸢ra⸣.ḫun.gá ⸢ÉR⸣.[ŠÀ.ḪUN].⸢GÁ⸣ ana da-num / me.na.šè umun.e me.na.šè šu.gi ba.an.ši.tum ⸢ÉR⸣.[ŠÀ.ḪUN].⸢GÁ⸣ ana dEN.LÍL / umun šà.zu ám izi íl.la.gin₇ e.ri.zu ḫa.ma.x [x x]…
Scholarly note
Neo-Assyrian royal ritual or cultic text, edited by Simo Parpola (SAA 20, 2017). ORACC text P357092.
Attribution
Image: Adapted from Simo Parpola, Assyrian Royal Rituals and Cultic Texts (State Archives of Assyria, 20), 2017. Adapted by Jamie Novotny and lemmatised by Mikko Luukko, 2017, as part of the research programme of the Alexander von Humboldt Chair in the Ancient History of the Near and Middle East at LMU Munich (Karen Radner, Humboldt Professorship 2015). The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/saao/P357092/..
Translation excerpted from Parpola, S. 2017. Assyrian Royal Rituals and Cultic Texts. SAA 20. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa20/P357092/.
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.