Position in chronology
Amar-Suena and Enki's Temple (Amar-Suena A)
Written in modern English
A protective deity and Amar-Suena are mentioned in heavily damaged opening lines, along with a temple struck with an axe and an abzu shrine. What survives more clearly describes the temple built with gold and decorated with lapis lazuli, and records that Amar-Suena threw himself into its construction. His own people turned against him, and foreign lands — the rest of that line is lost. In the first year the temple lay in ruins and he did not rebuild it; in the second year it still lay in ruins and he still did not rebuild it. Amar-Suena then grasped the divine powers of kingship, and the text breaks off as he set aside his royal garments for something the damaged surface no longer preserves.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSL...... protective deity ....... Amar-Suena ...... his heart. He who ...... the temple with an axe ....... Amar-Suena ...... the abzu shrine. ...... built with gold, and decorated with lapis lazuli. He applied himself to building the temple; king Amar-Suena applied himself to building the temple. The people turned against the king, and the foreign countries ....... In the first year the temple remained in ruins, and he did not restore it. Amar-Suena ...... the divine powers of kingship. In the second year it remained in ruins, and he did not restore it. Amar-Suena ...... his royal garments for…
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.2.4.3.1 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.2.4.3.1: Amar-Suena and Enki's Temple (Amar-Suena A). 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.2.4.3.1.
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