Position in chronology
A hymn to Nininsina (Nininsina D)
Written in modern English
Nininsina is addressed directly: she towers above all others, radiant with divine authority, the beloved daughter of An and child of Uraš, born to a great destiny from the very womb. She is her father's own counsellor, faithful steward of the E-kur temple, protector and sustainer of the black-headed people. She appears clothed in white robes, and her deeds surpass anything words can capture. Several phrases are too damaged to read, but the passage closes with An himself assigning her the highest divine powers.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLLady, surpassing with august divine powers, with head high, full of awesomeness, beloved daughter of great An! Nininsina, born of Urac, from the great womb ...... a great destiny, grandiloquent counsellor of her own father, good stewardess of E-kur! Beautiful ......, glory of the holy throne-dais, merciful, ...... of the black-headed! Holy Nininsina, making everything manifest! My lady, ...... in a white garment and cloak! The impressive course of your outstandingly great deeds, which surpass description, is praised. Your own father ...... holy An has assigned to you supreme divine powers…
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.4.22.4 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.4.22.4: A hymn to Nininsina (Nininsina D). 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.4.22.4.
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