Position in chronology
A shir-gida to Nininsina (Nininsina A)
Written in modern English
Nininsina sits enthroned on an exalted dais, radiant and awe-inspiring. She gathers up the divine powers and announces the sacred rites, working with intricate skill. She takes the august divine powers in her hands, fastens the ornamental incrustations to the great garment, and speaks words of blessing. She tests the surgical lancet and sharpens the scalpel, perfecting the divine powers of medicine — then hands them over to her son, the kindly Damu, king of Jirsi. Several lines are too damaged to read, but the surviving text focuses on Nininsina's mastery of both sacred rite and healing craft.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSL...... who has taken her seat on an exalted dais, ......, imbued with awesomeness, an amazing sight, ...... Nininsina, joyously fresh, ......, gathering up the divine powers, she announces the rites. ...... Nininsina ...... with intricate skill. ......, ministering with intricate skill, she gathers up the divine powers; Nininsina, ministering with intricate skill, she gathers up the divine powers. She takes in her hands the august divine powers. She attaches the incrustations to the great garment, while speaking favourable words. She tests the surgical lancet; Nininsina sharpens the scalpel. She has made perfect the divine powers of medicine, and hands them over to her son, the king of Jirsi, the kindly Damu:
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.4.22.1 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.4.22.1: A shir-gida to Nininsina (Nininsina 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.4.22.1.
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