Position in chronology
Nanshe and the birds (Nanshe C)
Translation · reference
High confidenceThe pelican (?) came forth from the holy reed-beds. It came forth from the holy reed-beds. The wise pelican (?) spent the day high in the skies. The pelican (?) cried out in the sky: its singing was sweet and its voice was pleasing. My lady ...... her pelican (?) with beauty. The mistress mother Nance ...... her pelican (?) with beauty. "I am the mistress! How can my pelican (?) ......? How can I ......? I am Nance! How can my pelican (?) ...... holy? How can ......?" She herself ...... upon the water like a large pelican (?). Stepping onto earth from heaven, she ...... in the water like a…
Source: ETCSL c.4.14.3: Nanshe and the birds (Nanshe 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.4.14.3
Why it matters
Transliteration
Scholarly note
Composition c.4.14.3 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.4.14.3: Nanshe and the birds (Nanshe 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.4.14.3.
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