Position in chronology
A praise poem of Hammu-rabi (Hammu-rabi A)
Written in modern English
The text opens with Hammu-rabi acting as lord over his people, though the first several lines are too damaged to read. What survives in fragments mentions the black-headed people, the Euphrates, the Tigris, and the banks of the Irnina watercourse. A series of gods are named — Gibil, Enlil, Enki, Suen, Utu, Ishkur, Marduk, and Inana — each paired with qualities such as heroism, strength, and divine powers, though the connections between them are broken throughout. Further references to humanity, kingship, and 'the Great Mountain' appear in scattered damaged lines, and an unknown number of additional lines are lost entirely.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSL1 line damaged ...... acting as its lord ...... 7 lines damaged ...... the black-headed ....... ...... the Euphrates ....... ...... the Tigris ....... ...... on the banks of the Irnina watercourse ....... King Hammu-rabi ...... Gibil (the god of fire). Enlil ....... Enki ...... heroism. Suen ....... Utu the sorcerer ...... 1 line damaged ...... his favourite ....... Ickur ...... heroism. Marduk ...... strength (?). Inana ...... divine powers. ...... reverent ...... 1 line damaged unknown no. of lines missing 5 fragmentary lines unknown no. of lines missing 1 line damaged ...... humanity ....... 5 lines damaged ...... the Great Mountain ....... 1 line damaged ...... the divine powers of kingship ....... 1 line damaged ...... Enlil ....... 1 line damaged ...... acting as its lord (?). 3 lines damaged unknown no. of lines missing
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.2.8.2.1 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.2.8.2.1: A praise poem of Hammu-rabi (Hammu-rabi A). 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.2.8.2.1.
Related tablets
Related sources
The single most important literary discovery of the 19th century. It rewired the understanding of the Bible's literary context and proved that the Mesopotamian flood tradition is older. It is the oldest surviving epic poetry in human history.
The literary tradition is no longer anonymous from this point. Authorship — the idea that a specific human voice composes a specific work — enters the historical record with her.
The single most influential Mesopotamian king list — the model for every later attempt to chronicle the deep history of the region. It transmits the political theology of divinely granted kingship, an idea that would echo through Babylon, Assyria, and into the Hebrew Bible. The Weld-Blundell prism (WB 444) at the Ashmolean is the most complete surviving copy.