Position in chronology
An adab to Nanna for Ishme-Dagan (Ishme-Dagan M)
Written in modern English
What commands are given, they are faithfully carried out — Nanna stands among the great gods in the E-kur, beautiful and august, his seat unchallenged by any other deity. He measures out the months and marks the new moon, sets the year in order, and brings life to the multitudes. He keeps all lands in balance, drives water down the Tigris and the Euphrates, and fills the broad earth with fine grain and lush vegetation. Several lines are too damaged or fragmentary to read. What remains names Ishme-Dagan as the king in Nanna's favor, and closes with a reference to honors bestowed on father Nanna by An and Enlil.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSL1 line fragmentary ...... what he orders is faithfully executed, ...... endowed with beauty in the E-kur, ...... among the great gods, the great and august lord ...... in the heavens, ...... whose seat (?) no other god ......! August ......, lord whose abode is the mountains, father Nanna ......, ...... fixes the months and the new moon according to a cord (?), establishes the year ......, ...... life for the multitudes ......, ...... who puts all the lands in order, ...... who makes the Tigris and the Euphrates bring flowing water ......, ...... fine grain ......, ...... lush vegetation in the spacious land ......, 1 line fragmentary ...... lord Icme-Dagan ...... 1 line unclear august ...... bestowed upon father Nanna by An and Enlil ......
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.2.5.4.13 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.2.5.4.13: An adab to Nanna for Ishme-Dagan (Ishme-Dagan M). 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.2.5.4.13.
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