Position in chronology
A prayer for Hammu-rabi (Hammu-rabi D)
Written in modern English
Several lines are damaged at the opening. The surviving text shows the gods being addressed with a command to give Hammu-rabi the sceptre, to exalt the name of Babylon as a city of lordship, and to make him pre-eminent in the world. Asarluhi is then invoked to fix a great destiny for Hammu-rabi. An, Enlil, and Enki act together with him, and once they have reached their decision, all the great gods go joyfully to Marduk. Marduk then speaks to them, declaring that they have chosen this tireless shepherd to exercise lordship over the Land, and calls on the assembled gods to proclaim his destiny with their holy mouths — though several phrases throughout are lost where the tablets are broken.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSL1 line damaged ...... the reverent one, who takes care ......, 1 line damaged (The gods are addressed:) "Give him the sceptre ......! ...... the name of Babylon, the city of lordship! Make the king pre-eminent in the world ......!" O Asarluhi, ...... destiny for my Hammu-rabi! An, Enlil and Enki ...... with him. When they had decided ......, all the great gods together ...... joyfully to Marduk. (Marduk speaks to the great gods:) "You have ...... the shepherd of your hearts to exercise the lordship in the Land. Determine his destiny grandly, ...... with your holy mouths. Appoint ...... your word ...... for him, the indefatigable shepherd."
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.2.8.2.4 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.2.8.2.4: A prayer for Hammu-rabi (Hammu-rabi 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.2.8.2.4.
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