Position in chronology
A song of Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inana D1)
Written in modern English
The sacred emblems of E-temen-ni-guru, the ordered household of Eridug, the radiance of Suen's temple, and the raised banners of the E-ana have all been presented as gifts to the house. The good house floats like a cloud, and its very name is a sign of good fortune. He who excels at the rites of queenship has lined with straw the flower-adorned couch inlaid with lapis lazuli — the couch that Gibil purified for you in the Iri-gal shrine — and in the house he has consecrated for you with his sweet reeds, he is performing the purification rites. On the night of the new moon — the appointed day, the day the couch will be inspected, the day the lord will make love — grant life to the lord, and give him the staff and the crook.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLThe ...... of E-temen-ni-guru, the organisation of the house of Eridug, the radiance of the house of Suen, and the erected banners of the E-ana were all given as gifts to the house. My good house floats like a cloud; its name too is a favourable omen. He who excels at the ceremonies of queenship has lined with his straw the flowered couch, inlaid with lapis lazuli, which Gibil has purified for you in the Iri-gal shrine and, in the house which he has sanctified for you with his sweet reeds, he is performing the purification rites for you. On the day of the moon's disappearance, the day appointed (?), the day when the couch will be inspected, the day when the lord will make love, grant life to the lord and give the staff and the crook to the lord!
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.4.08.30 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.4.08.30: A song of Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inana D1). 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.4.08.30.
Related tablets
Related sources
A window into the world's first total state. The Ur III administration tracked every animal, every worker, every shekel — for a population in the millions. The level of paperwork was not exceeded until the modern era.
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.