Position in chronology
A tigi to Enlil for Ur-Namma (Ur-Namma B)
Written in modern English
Enlil, the Great Mountain and king of heaven and earth, surveyed all of humanity and chose Ur-Namma as his shepherd — singling him out from the multitude to rule on Enlil's behalf. He clothed Ur-Namma in fierce, terrifying splendor. Then Enlil, his mind clear and intent, decided that the plans for the brick-built E-kur should be laid out and that the temple should blaze like sunlight in all its glory. He commanded Ur-Namma to build the E-kur up high — and here the surviving text breaks off mid-sentence.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLExalted Enlil, ...... fame ......, lord who ...... his great princedom, Nunamnir, king of heaven and earth ......, looked around among the people. The Great Mountain, Enlil, chose Ur-Namma the good shepherd from the multitude of people: "Let him be the shepherd of Nunamnir!" He made him emanate (?) fierce awesomeness. The divine plans of brick-built E-kur were drawn up. The Great Mountain, Enlil, made up his mind, filled with pure and useful thoughts, to make them shine like the sun in the E-kur, his august shrine. He instructed the shepherd Ur-Namma to make the E-kur rise high; the king made…
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.2.4.1.2 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.2.4.1.2: A tigi to Enlil for Ur-Namma (Ur-Namma B). 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.2.4.1.2.
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