Position in chronology
A hymn to Enki for Ishme-Dagan (Ishme-Dagan X)
Written in modern English
Among the gods, Enki is the cleverest decision-maker, the most prominent from the southern lowlands to the uplands. Staff in hand, he determines the fates of the Anuna gods as they come before him; holding all the divine powers, he stands apart and alone above them all. A great lord over living things — though part of that line is damaged — he is proclaimed as their god, the one whose words make justice flourish and whose authority strengthens the divine powers of heaven and earth. He examines the ordinances and carries them out correctly, and so is proclaimed their great prince. The hymn then turns to the creation of humanity, though the passage breaks off before the line is complete.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLLord who among the gods makes the clever decisions, most prominent among them from the south to the uplands; who holding a staff in his hand determines their destinies as the Anuna gods come to him; who possessing all the divine powers is alone surpassing; a great lord, who ...... the living things; who alone is proclaimed as their god -- you are their ....... You, whose utterances make justice flourish, strengthen the divine powers of heaven and earth. You, who examine the ordinances and carry them out correctly, are proclaimed as their great prince. Lord, who has made the seed of mankind…
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.2.5.4.24 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.2.5.4.24: A hymn to Enki for Ishme-Dagan (Ishme-Dagan X). 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.2.5.4.24.
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