Position in chronology
SAA 20 014. Text Similar to No. 13
Translation · reference
High confidence(beginning broken away) (2') “[.....],” an erš[ahunga-psalm to DN]. (3') “Let me pray to [the ... wild bull of heaven and earth],” an erš[ahunga-psalm to Ea]. (4') “[......], have mercy on me,” an erša[hunga-psalm to DN]. (5') You sing, “[......] heart” (6') “[......],” a lamentation. “O Lord, my city [...,” an eršemma-lamentation]. (7') “Let me sing yo[ur praises to him],” an eršahu[nga-psalm to DN]. (rest broken away)
Source: Parpola, S. 2017. Assyrian Royal Rituals and Cultic Texts. SAA 20. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa20/P336792/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[x x x x x x x x x x] x [x x x x x x] / [x x x x x x x x] x šà? ÉR.⸢ŠÀ⸣.[ḪUN.GÁ ana dx] / [x x am.an.ki].⸢ra⸣ a.ra.zu ga ÉR.⸢ŠÀ⸣.[ḪUN.GÁ ana dÉ.A] / [x x x x x] ⸢arḫuš⸣ tuku.ma.ab ÉR.⸢ŠÀ⸣.[ḪUN.GÁ ana dx] / [x x x x x x].šab ŠÌR-[mur? 0?] / [x x x x x x].dè ÈR umun úru.mu in.x [x x x x x] / [x x x x.a].⸢zu⸣ šìr.re.eš ga ÉR.ŠÀ.⸢ḪUN⸣.[GÁ ana dx]
Scholarly note
Neo-Assyrian royal ritual or cultic text, edited by Simo Parpola (SAA 20, 2017). ORACC text P336792.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336792). source
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/P336792/.
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.