Position in chronology
A tigi to Nergal (Nergal C)
Written in modern English
Nergal is addressed as a lord whose terror fills both heaven and earth, radiant across the land, born by his father's will to rule as king. His dread presses down on all humanity, and even the Anuna — the greatest of the gods — huddle together, shrinking before his awesome brilliance. The hymn repeats this praise in full before adding that after Nergal's father begot him, Enlil personally granted him dominion over the mountain of the earth — and then the tablet breaks off.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLLord who inspires awe in heaven and on earth, who is resplendent in the Land, engendered for kingship by your father, your awesomeness weighs upon the black-headed. The Anuna, the great gods, cower together before your awesomeness and radiance. Nergal, lord who inspires awe in heaven and on earth, who is resplendent in the Land, engendered for kingship by your father, your awesomeness weighs upon the black-headed. The Anuna, the great gods, cower together before your awesomeness and radiance. Hero, after your father begot you, your father Enlil bestowed on you the mountain of the earth and…
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.4.15.3 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.4.15.3: A tigi to Nergal (Nergal C). 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.4.15.3.
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