Position in chronology
A shir-namshub to Nanna for Ur-Namma (Ur-Namma E)
Written in modern English
Everyone who passes out through its gate is like a flood no one can stop. The shrine of Ur is a mountain of abundance inside and a hill of plenty outside, and no one can fathom the inner depths of the E-kish-nugal, that artfully built holy mountain. Its place of wonder involves cedar — the surface is unclear at that point — and its very name fills the land with joy. Its lord is called the beautiful lord, son of Ninsun, ornament of all the lands. Ur's great divine power is the gods' own shackle on the land. Its gate is the blue sky charged with awe, and only when that gate opens does Utu rise and light the world from the horizon. Its platform is where the gods determine fates and just verdicts are made — and for all of this, the tablet says, its name deserves to be praised.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLThose who leave through your gate are an uncontrollable flood. Shrine Urim, your interior is a mountain of abundance, your exterior a hill of plenty. No one can learn the interior of the E-kic-nujal, the artfully fashioned mountain. Your place of marvel is ...... of cedar, your name makes the Land rejoice. Your lord is the one called as the beautiful lord, the child of Nin-sun, the ornament of all the lands. Urim, your great divine power is the gods's shackle on the Land. Your name be praised indeed! Your gate is the blue sky imbued with fearsomeness; only when it is open does Utu illuminate from the horizon. Your platform is where the fates are determined by the gods; you make just decisions. Your name be praised indeed!
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.2.4.1.5 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.2.4.1.5: A shir-namshub to Nanna for Ur-Namma (Ur-Namma E). 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.2.4.1.5.
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