Position in chronology
A balbale to Ninazu (Ninazu A)
Written in modern English
Ninazu is praised as shepherd of a city teeming with life, as a reed-worker shaping something — the manuscripts are damaged at the key points — and as herdsman over people gathered like sheep in a fold. He radiates the allure of the high hills. The hymn asks Nanna, the moon god, to rejoice over Ninazu, because a sacred emplacement has been established for him there. Ninazu is called mighty and deeply wise, begotten by Nanna himself. The text breaks off as the name Acimbabbar — another name for Nanna — begins a new line.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLO king, you are the ...... shepherd of the city which thrives like cattle! Ninazu, you are the ...... shepherd of the city which thrives like cattle! My lord Ninazu, you are the ...... shepherd of the city which thrives like cattle! You are the reed-worker of the ......, ...... like a shining mat! You are the herdsman of them that dwell like sheep in a sheepfold, you who exude the allure of the high hills, lord Ninazu! Lord Ninazu, may Nanna rejoice over you, because an emplacement for you has been created there. Powerful and of great intelligence, you were engendered by Nanna. May Acimbabbar…
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.4.17.1 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.4.17.1: A balbale to Ninazu (Ninazu A). 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.4.17.1.
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