Position in chronology
A hymn to Nanna (Nanna E)
Written in modern English
Nanna rises in radiance from the sacred bathing chamber, emerging from the pure mountain of divine powers and the abzu shrine, carrying terrifying brilliance out of the marshes. He lifts his head in goodness and majesty and extends his arm to determine destinies. An has generously granted him kingship over heaven and earth; Enlil has perfected his great and noble status as son and lord. Several phrases throughout these lines are too damaged to read, and the passage breaks off as Enlil's role is still being described.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLPrincely son, you are radiant as you come forth from the sacred bathing chamber (?), ....... ...... the mountain of pure divine powers, the abzu shrine, ....... ...... the majestic foundation platform, ....... Bringing terrifying radiance from the marshes, you ...... a fearsome ....... Lifting your head in your goodness, greatness and majesty, majestically you extend your arm in order to determine destinies: great An has liberally bestowed on you your kingship over heaven and earth, and Enlil has perfected for you your great and noble filial status and lordship. Enlil has made majestic…
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.4.13.05 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.4.13.05: A hymn to Nanna (Nanna E). 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.4.13.05.
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