Sumerian·Book

Position in chronology

An elegy on the death of Nannaya (Elegy 1)

~1800 BCE·Old Babylonian

Translation · reference

High confidence
A father sent a message to his son, to a far-off place; at that time the son, having gone to a distant place, was far away. The city-dwelling father was stricken with illness. He, precious brilliance found in a distant mountain (?), was stricken with illness. He, attractive in ......, a man who made words pleasing, was stricken with illness. He who had a tall figure, and altogether was powerful, was stricken with illness. He, wise in divine plans and an ornament of the assembly, was stricken with illness. He who was a man of truth, god-fearing, was stricken with illness. He, not eating, was…

Source: ETCSL c.5.5.2: An elegy on the death of Nannaya (Elegy 1). 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.5.5.2

Why it matters

Transliteration

Scholarly note

Composition c.5.5.2 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.5.5.2: An elegy on the death of Nannaya (Elegy 1). 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.5.5.2.

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