Position in chronology
A tigi to Ninurta for Shulgi (Shulgi T)
Written in modern English
The text praises Ninurta as a perfect warrior — a towering mec tree with a broad, gleaming canopy, a dragon with a terrifying face, a venomous snake turning its poison against rebel lands, a lion without equal. He is the great wall of Nibru, an adviser who wields the broad wisdom of heaven and earth, and a king whose divine powers no force can scatter. The hymn ties him to the sanctuary E-cumeca in the city of Nibru and invokes his partnership with the great prince Enki. Dozens of descriptive lines are broken beyond reading, leaving only these fragments of the god's epithets and his relationship to Shulgi's kingship.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLLord, perfect warrior, beloved by ....... Ninurta, mec tree with a broad shining canopy, ....... Weapon striding into battle, ...... foreign countries. A dragon with a terrifying face, venomous snake who ...... its venom against the rebel lands. ...... overpowering ......, foremost lion ....... Ninurta, who ...... with the great prince Enki. My king, in your city, shrine Nibru, ....... E-cumeca, where ...... for you. Lord, the kingship is perfect with you ....... Adviser, the dragon of the Land, ....... Ninurta, the great wall of Nibru, ....... My king, whose divine powers cannot be scattered, warrior ....... Forceful lion, ....... King with the broad wisdom of heaven and earth, ....... Exalted sceptre rising above the Land, ....... Ninurta, who ...... the enemy, .......
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.2.4.2.20 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.2.4.2.20: A tigi to Ninurta for Shulgi (Shulgi T). 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.2.4.2.20.
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