Position in chronology
A balbale to Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inana G)
Written in modern English
The young man consults with his mother; the one with gentle eyes takes counsel with his father. He is addressed as brother — brother at the palace gate, captain of the barge, commander of the chariot, driver of the hunting chariot, city father and judge, son-in-law many times over. Their mother speaks well of him; he is the supreme son-in-law of their father. His arrival is life itself, his stepping into the house is abundance, and lying beside him is the greatest joy. 'Come to bed with me,' she says, 'and let us take our pleasure together.'
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLThe burgeoning one, he ...... with his own mother; the one with kindly eyes takes counsel with his father. You are our brother, you are our brother. You are our brother in charge of the palace gate, you are our captain of the barge, you are our commander of the chariot, you are our servant of the hunting chariot; you are our city father and judge, you are the son-in-law of five things, the son-in-law of ten things. Brother, you are the son-in-law of our father, you are our son-in-law supreme; our mother speaks favourably with you. Your coming here is life indeed, your entering the house is abundance; lying at your side is my utmost joy. My sweet, let us delight ourselves on the bed.
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.4.08.07 in the ETCSL catalogue. Sumerian literary text reconstructed from multiple cuneiform manuscripts, the great majority Old Babylonian (c. 1900–1600 BCE). Translation reproduced from the ETCSL edition.
Attribution
Image: .
Translation excerpted from ETCSL c.4.08.07: A balbale to Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inana G). Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Robson, E. & Zólyomi, G. (eds.), The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=c.4.08.07.
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