Position in chronology
A prayer to Marduk (?) for Hammu-rabi (Hammu-rabi B)
Written in modern English
Lugalcubur is called upon to place the sacred crown of kingship on Hammu-rabi's head. Enki, lord of life, is asked to wrap Hammu-rabi's priestly headdress in awe and splendour within the E-unir — the temple of heaven-and-earth's plans — and to make the powers of kingship shine brilliantly for him, equipping him forever with the authority befitting a high priest. Enki should murmur life-giving incantations over Hammu-rabi, grant him a long destiny, and take as much delight in hearing Hammu-rabi's name spoken as in hearing his own. Let Enki reward him with wisdom and clear judgment, make his royal name unalterable, extend the years of his life, and give him lordship over every foreign land. The prayer closes with a direct address: 'O Hammu-rabi, my king.'
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLMay Lugalcubur place on your head the sacrosanct (?) crown of kingship! May Enki, the lord of life, ...... life, and in the E-unir, the house of the plans of heaven and earth which rides upon all the divine powers, may he cover your priestly headdress in awe and splendour! May he make the divine powers of kingship resplendent for you, and fit you up forever with the plans appropriate to the rank of en priest! May he gently recite for you live-giving incantations, bestowing in addition a long-lived destiny; may the uttering of your name delight Enki as much as the uttering of his own name! May he reward you with wisdom and intelligence! May your royal name be as something unchangeable! May father Enki prolong the years of your life, and may he grant you lordship over every one of the foreign lands. O Hammu-rabi, my king!
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.2.8.2.2 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.2.8.2.2: A prayer to Marduk (?) for Hammu-rabi (Hammu-rabi B). 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.2.8.2.2.
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.