Position in chronology
A shir-shag-hula to Damgalnuna
Written in modern English
The great prince Enki, who spans heaven and earth, cherishes Damgalnuna. She is the bride of Enki, the one who determines fates for the good — a great wild cow, unmatched in beauty, supreme without end. Her husband Nudimmud, the great lord who perfects the borders of the Land, has been granted perceptiveness by An the king; he is a wise counsellor, a majestic leader who pleases Enlil's heart, whose divine powers no one can resist, who bears an auspicious name, whose understanding runs deep, and who holds knowledge of birth and creation. The text breaks off here, with an unknown number of lines lost.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLThe great prince Enki, ...... heaven and earth, ...... cherishes you. Bride of Enki who determines fates favourably, great wild cow, exceptional in appearance, pre-eminent forever! Your husband, the great lord Nudimmud who makes perfect the borders of the Land, the lord on whom An the king has bestowed perceptiveness; the wise adviser, the sage lord whose command is foremost, who is skilful in everything, the majestic leader who pleases (?) Enlil's heart; whose divine powers cannot be withstood, he of deep understanding, called by an auspicious name, reaching decisions ...... who is knowledgeable about giving birth, ......, unknown no. of lines missing
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.4.03.1 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.4.03.1: A shir-shag-hula to Damgalnuna. 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.4.03.1.
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.