Position in chronology
A song of Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inana Z)
Written in modern English
The speaker declares that her own mother, Ningal, bore her for Dumuzid's sake alone. She calls for him to come to her so she can rejoice over him — several lines are too damaged to read here, and an unknown number of lines are lost entirely before the poem resumes. When it picks up, she is urging her bridegroom to embrace her and celebrate together in play; she calls him Ama-ušum and names him the friend of An, the lord who cheers her mood and gladdens her heart, asking that he be their sun god. She ends by saying she will go to him, speak with him, and address the lord of her heart directly.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLMy own mother gave birth to me for your sake, my Ningal gave birth to me for your sake. ......, my beloved heart will come. ......, my beloved heart will come there. May ...... come to me (?), and I will rejoice over him. May Dumuzid come to me (?), and I will rejoice over him. 1 line unclear Dumuzid ...... 1 line fragmentary unknown no. of lines missing 1 line fragmentary Let us embrace, my bridegroom! Come, let us rejoice in play! Let us embrace, my Ama-ucum! Come, let us rejoice in play! Friend of An, lord, my heart's desire, cheering the mood, gladdening the heart: may you be our sun god! I will go to the lord, I will talk with him, I will say to the lord of my heart:
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.4.08.26 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.4.08.26: A song of Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inana Z). 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.4.08.26.
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