Position in chronology
An ululumama to Suen for Ibbi-Suen (Ibbi-Suen D)
Written in modern English
Suen is addressed as the great lord whose light lifts high across the vault of the sky — a powerful dragon descending from the high mountains to shed light on the people below. He is the crown and joy of the father who begot him, an impressive son of Ninlil, honored in the E-kur, and bright enough to be seen even at noon. Called father Nanna, he knows how to make the night a pleasure; several phrases are too damaged to read, but the hymn closes praising him as a prince whose glorious radiance fills the heavens the moment he appears.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLGreat lord, light holding his head high in the vault of the sky, ...... brilliance, Suen, powerful dragon from the high mountains shedding light on the people, light of the remote heavens, crown ......, joy of the father who begot him! Impressive son born of Ninlil, respected in the E-kur, visible even at noontime, youthful Suen, ...... light of heaven, whose majestic radiance is visible even at noontime, light who illuminates the black-headed people, father Nanna, emerging from the remote (?) ......, understanding well how to make the night pleasant! Respected prince who, when he appears, is the glorious radiance of the heavens!
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
Scholarly note
Composition c.2.4.5.4 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.2.4.5.4: An ululumama to Suen for Ibbi-Suen (Ibbi-Suen 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.2.4.5.4.
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