Sumerian·Book

Position in chronology

A praise poem of Sîn-iddinam (Sîn-iddinam A)

~1800 BCE·Old Babylonian

Written in modern English

Sîn-iddinam loaded his departing boat with flour, gold, and grain — offerings fit for the great lady — along with choice grain and lapis lazuli destined for the E-kur. He transported the cargo to the Quay of Life at Ur and carried it joyfully into Suen's majestic temple. Nanna was delighted with the king, and Ningal responded to him in ways the damaged text no longer preserves. The great gods, the Anuna, blessed him. He had brought to full perfection the abundant pure first-fruit offerings of the new year. One manuscript adds a line repeating that he transported the cargo to the Quay of Life at Ur.

A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.

Translation — scholar edition

ETCSL
High confidence
...... who worships ....... Sîn-iddinam ...... his departing boat. He provided flour, gold and grain, befitting the great lady. ...... all this choice (?) grain ...... the lapis lazuli E-kur. He transported this cargo to the Quay of Life, the quay of Urim. Joyously he brought it into the majestic house, the house of Suen. Nanna was delighted with the king, and Ningal ...... to him. Nanna was delighted with Sîn-iddinam, and Ningal ...... to him. The Anuna, the great gods, blessed him. He had brought to complete perfection the plenitude, the pure first-fruit offerings, the first-fruit offerings of the new year. (1 ms. adds 1 line: He had transported this cargo to the Quay of Life, the quay of Urim.)

Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).

Scholarly note

Composition c.2.6.6.1 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.2.6.6.1: A praise poem of Sîn-iddinam (Sîn-iddinam 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.2.6.6.1.

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