Position in chronology
A hymn to Nanna (Nanna M)
Written in modern English
The hymn opens with an invocation of Nanna — also called Suen — as the great lord of heaven and ruler of Ur, a city that inspires awe like the open sea. The opening lines repeat, as a refrain, calling him far-seeing and addressing him directly. Born in the mountains and bursting forth in joy, he is an unstoppable force: a lion, a dragon, a mighty lord with a mouth like a dragon's. The name Nanna and the name Suen are used interchangeably throughout. The text breaks off mid-sentence somewhere in or near the jipar shrine.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSL...... in leadership, great lord of heaven ......! In the city which like the sea inspires awe! Far-seeing Suen, ruler of Urim! O Suen, ...... in leadership, great lord of heaven ......! In the city which like the sea inspires awe! Far-seeing Suen, ruler of Urim! Born in the mountains and coming forth in joy, he is an irresistible force, a lion, a dragon, a mighty lord -- Suen, mouth like a dragon's, ruler of Urim! Nanna, born in the mountains and coming forth in joy, is an irresistible force, a lion, a dragon, a mighty lord -- Suen, mouth like a dragon's, ruler of Urim! In the jipar (?)…
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.4.13.13 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.4.13.13: A hymn to Nanna (Nanna M). 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.4.13.13.
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