Position in chronology
A hymn to Martu (Martu B)
Written in modern English
A hymn in praise of Martu opens with a string of epithets, most of which are lost to damage. What survives describes him as a peerless dragon who watches over divine powers, bears an august name in heaven and earth, was fathered by the great god An and raised on An's holy knees, and was born of Uraš. Enlil, the Great Mountain, cherished him and granted him a favorable destiny. He stands proud among the great gods; his words cannot be undone and his counsel is beyond compare. At that point the surface is too damaged to read, and at least twenty-six further lines are entirely missing.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSL...... watching over ......, gathering together ...... the divine powers, ...... peerless dragon, ...... named in heaven and earth with an august name, ......, engendered by great An and brought up on his holy knees, ......, born by Urac, 1 line unclear cherished and granted a favourable destiny by the Great Mountain Enlil, ......, not wearying of ...... its beauty. Proud one among the great gods, ...... hearts, ...... pure ......, shining purification rites, his conduct ....... His words ...... cannot be undone (?), his intelligence and counsel ......, ...... distant ......, ...... leader ...... at least 26 lines missing
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.4.12.2 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.4.12.2: A hymn to Martu (Martu B). 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.4.12.2.
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