Position in chronology
An adab of Ninurta for Ur-Ninurta (Ur-Ninurta C)
Written in modern English
Ninurta is hailed as a terror-inspiring dragon, a rising hurricane, a matchless warrior powerful enough that no foreign land escapes him. Fitted for heroism from before birth, he treats both settled cities and open wilderness as enemy territory. As he passes, heaven and earth tremble from east to west, as if a ferocious lion were moving through them. When he turns to crush a rebel land, he drives forward by day and rears up by night until that land is left flat on the ground — and if he merely lifts his gaze, even the great mountain ranges shake.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLHero, terror-inspiring dragon of exceptional fearsome terror, powerful Ninurta! Rising hurricane, ......, mighty possessor of august strength, who lets no foreign land escape! Fitted for heroism from the womb, unrivalled! barsud. You who treat as hostile the cities as well as the unsettled areas, the rebel lands -- Ninurta, as you pass by, like a terrifying fierce lion (?) you make heaven and earth tremble from east to west. When in judgment, like a hero possessing great strength, you batter a rebel land, by day you thrust, by night you rear up, and you leave the rebel land lying prone. If you merely lift your gaze, you make the great hills tremble (?) together.
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.2.5.6.3 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.2.5.6.3: An adab of Ninurta for Ur-Ninurta (Ur-Ninurta 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.2.5.6.3.
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