Sumerian·Book

Position in chronology

A balbale to Nanna (Nanna D)

~1800 BCE·Old Babylonian

Translation · reference

High confidence
They are as numerous, as numerous as the grasses which break through the earth. Nanna, in the ...... they are as numerous as the grasses which break through the earth. Their ...... are translucent lapis lazuli. Their ...... are the colour of the rising moon. The cows with their calves are numerous and are precious cuba stone. ...... built and ...... together. In their ...... he chooses ....... He who loves the cows herds them into the pen. ...... who loves the cows rounds up the cows. He has ...... his great cows for her, and their butter ....... Seven (1 ms. adds: small) churns resound with ...... and sweet butter for her. ...... their butter is holy butter, their milk is holy milk.

Source: ETCSL c.4.13.04: A balbale to Nanna (Nanna D). 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.4.13.04

Why it matters

Transliteration

Scholarly note

Composition c.4.13.04 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.4.13.04: A balbale to Nanna (Nanna D). 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.4.13.04.

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