Position in chronology
An adab to Enki for Ishme-Dagan (Ishme-Dagan D)
Written in modern English
Enki is addressed as a great lord whose judgments are both clever and powerful — the supreme dragon who fixes fates and sits enthroned over countless divine powers in brilliant splendor. He is guardian of the gods and respected heir of holy An. Two lines survive only in fragments. The fates he sets are unalterable; he is called the junior Enlil and distributes divine powers among the great Anuna gods, establishing their holy dwelling places as their proud lord. His greatness is beyond approach — the rest of that line is damaged — and he presides over the pure abzu, the mountain built from princely divine powers: the sacred city of Eridu, a shrine spreading across vast marshes thick with snakes.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLGreat lord, prominent (?) among the gods, your judgments are clever and powerful! Father Enki, respected one, supreme dragon, who determines the fates firmly, who has taken his seat upon the numerous divine powers in colourful brilliance (?), great prince, the guardian of the gods, ...... of holy An! 2 lines fragmentary The fates you determine are firm; you are the junior Enlil. You (?) distribute the divine powers for the Anuna, the great gods. You establish for them a habitation, a holy dwelling place; you are their proud lord. Your greatness is unapproachable ....... You (?) ...... in a pure place the abzu, the mountain built with princely divine powers; ...... Eridug, the shrine, which extends over huge marshes, marshes of snakes.
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.2.5.4.04 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.2.5.4.04: An adab to Enki for Ishme-Dagan (Ishme-Dagan D). 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.2.5.4.04.
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