Position in chronology
A praise poem of Shulgi (Shulgi O)
Written in modern English
Ur is praised as a city that lives up to its sacred name — a raging storm of Sumer, a battleground, yet firmly established. It is the origin of human seed, the place that consolidates the foundations of the land, a source of abundance — and firmly established. It stands as the lofty dais of An, a pure and holy place that provides first-fruit offerings for An, dripping with syrup and wine — and firmly established. Du-ur is celebrated as Enlil's own place, its interior holding the assigned divine powers, its destiny decreed by father Enlil himself — a great dais, firmly established. The praise then turns to Eridu, described as a shrine expert in decreeing — and here the tablet breaks off.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLCity worthy of the divine powers, according to its name: shrine Urim, raging storm of Sumer, battleground -- and well established! Origin of human seed, consolidating the foundations of the Land, abundance -- and well established! Lofty dais of An, pure place, holy place, provider of first-fruit offerings for An to refresh himself, dripping with syrup and wine -- and well established! Du-ur, celebrated place of Enlil, in whose interior are the assigned divine powers, place whose destiny was decreed by father Enlil, great dais -- and well established! Eridug, shrine expert in decreeing the…
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.2.4.2.15 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.2.4.2.15: A praise poem of Shulgi (Shulgi O). 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.2.4.2.15.
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