Two Additional Old Babylonian Sumerian Literary Letters from Nippur

Alexandra Kleinerman/Alhena Gadotti, Two Additional Old Babylonian Sumerian Literary Letters From Nippur 149

Alexandra Kleinerman and Alhena Gadotti

Two Additional Old Babylonian Sumerian LiteraryLetters From Nippur

Abstract: In this study we examine two previously unpublished Old Babylonian Sumerian literary letters from Nippur.We offer a general introduction to the corpus to which they belong, as well as a critical edition, translation, commentaryand photographs.1

1

This article presents the transliteration, translation andcommentary of two previously unpublished Old Babylo-nian Sumerian literary letters from Nippur, which belong tothe group of so-called Ancillary Nippur Letters (ANL).2 ANLincludes all Sumerian literary letters that do not belong tothe other known epistolary corpora, namely the Corre-spondence of the Kings of Ur (Michalowski 2011), the Cor-respondence of the Kings of Larsa (Brisch 2007), and theSumerian Epistolary Miscellany (SEpM; Kleinerman 2011).Unlike these other groups, ANL was not considered a fixedset in antiquity. Instead, it is a modern label used to refer totwelve literary letters which are attested on tablets exca-

1 This article is in memory of Prof. Bendt Alster, who was extremelygenerous in lending his expertise to several of our previous publi-cations. We are very sorry never to have had the chance to meet him.2 This article would not have been possible without the help and col-laboration of several colleagues. We would like to thank Profs. Kon-rad Volk and Andrew George, and Mr. Martin Schøyen for allowing usto publish the key manuscript for ANL 7 from the Schøyen Collection,Oslo, Norway, and for arranging for Dr. Kleinerman to work on thismanuscript at the collection in Oslo. Andrew George was especiallyhelpful in solving some of the main problems with the Schøyenmanuscript. We are deeply indebted to Prof. Antoine Cavigneaux,whose insight in the eleventh hour vastly improved our understand-ing of the two letters. Prof. Jerrold Cooper contributed greatly to help-ing us understand the nature of both letters. We wish to thankDr. Anne Goddeeris for the scans of HS 1522 (the manuscript of ANL 2housed in Jena) and KU Leuven, Ancient Near Eastern Studies, for theuse of the Portable Light Dome to make the scans (see Hameeuw/Willems 2011); Dr. Jonathan Taylor for the scan of UET 6/3, 563; andProf. Steve Tinney for the scans of the Nippur manuscripts at the Uni-versity Museum. Thanks also to Mr. John Hohm for photographingMS 2287 and to Laura Johnson-Kelley, conservator/photographer atthe Jonathan and Jeannette Rosen Ancient Near Eastern Studies Sem-inar, for preparing the photos for publication. We are grateful to Ms.Jana Matuszak for her collations of UET 6/3, 563 at the British Mu-seum. We have benefited additionally from the comments of Profs.Nicole Brisch, Karel Van Lerberghe and Walther Sallaberger. Finally,we would like to thank Prof. David I. Owen for his unwavering sup-port of our research.

vated at Nippur and are focused thematically on that city.3

All of the known OB Sumerian literary letters come fromthe context of the scribal school.

ANL 2 (Gudea-Enlil to Diłir-manåum) and ANL 7(Nabi-Enlil to lter-p\åa) are published here for the firsttime.4 ANL was originally numbered alphabetically bysender by Kleinerman (2011 xviii). It includes:

ANL 1 Gudea to his GodANL 2 Gudea-Enlil to Diłir-manåumANL 3 Iddatum to SumutaraANL 4 Igmil-Sîn to Nudimmud-sagaANL 5 Ku-Ninurta to a KingANL 6 Lu-Ninurta to Inana-andul-dugaANL 7 Nabi-Enlil to lter-p\åaANL 8 Nabi-Enlil to his colleaguesANL 9 Nabi-Enlil to Diłir-inim-sagaANL 10 Sał-lugalbi-zu to Nur-KabtaANL 11 […]-Kabta to Enlil-baniANL 12 X1 to Y1

In ANL 2, Gudea-Enlil, the archivist of Enlil, writes to hiscolleague, Diłir-manåum, about an incident that occurredduring a festival. Unfortunately, the letter is attested ononly one poorly preserved tablet. The general sense is thatan unnamed individual slipped, resulting in a cultic of-fense. The end of the letter implies that the offender maybe absolved of his sin by following protocol.

ANL 7 is a letter from Nabi-Enlil, son of Sał-Enlil, tolter-p\åa, king of Isin. As is typical of letter prayers, Nabi-Enlil laments his circumstances through analogy with un-fortunate animals.5 He is not specific as to the nature of hissuffering, but indicates that he is harassed by his peers. At

3 Kleinerman (2011, 42–43). Editions of ANL 1, 3, 4, 6, and 8–12 arepublished by Kleinerman (2011).4 After some delay, we were able to access and collate the extantmanuscripts for ANL 2 and 7. We await similar access to Ni 9780 (ANL 5).5 For similar imagery see SEpM 7 and SEpM 8.

DOI 10.1515/za-2013-0002 Zeitschrift für Assyriologie 2013; 103(2): 149–161

150 Alexandra Kleinerman/Alhena Gadotti, Two Additional Old Babylonian Sumerian Literary Letters From Nippur

the end of the letter, he requests that the king intervene tohelp him.

Nabi-Enlil is attested in three other literary letters,SEpM 21, ANL 8 and ANL 9. In SEpM 21 (Inim-Inana toEnlil-manåum), Nabi-Enlil is invoked among a group ofthe recipient’s scholarly predecessors. The context ofANL 8 is fragmentary, but it is tempting to see Nabi-Enlilas the same teacher known from ANL 9. In ANL 9, Nabi-Enlil, had left his school and was replaced by an incompe-tent instructor. This occurrence provides Nabi-Enlil withthe opportunity to explain what makes a proper school,using the one in Nippur as a model.

ANL 7 and 9 specify that Nabi-Enlil was the son ofone Sał-Enlil. Hallo (1972, 93), and Zettler (1984, 8–9)suggested that Sał-Enlil be identified with the last at-tested member of the Ur-Meme family, whose activitiesare well documented in texts from the Inana temple ofNippur during the Ur III period. In this case, Nabi-Enlilwould have lived at the end of the reign of Ibbi-Suen(Kleinerman 2011, 48). This identification is certainlypossible, and is not precluded by his letter to a muchlater king of Isin.6

ANL 2 is attested only on one manuscript found atNippur. The archaeological context is unknown. Con-versely, ANL 7 is relatively well attested. It is preservedon six manuscripts, four from Nippur, one from Ur, and

6 lter-p\åa ruled 1835–1832, Ibbi-Suen, 2028–2004, according to theMiddle Chronology. Within the context of Old Babylonian Sumerianliterature, we do not need to adhere to a strict chronology as thesedocuments are understood to belong to an invented tradition (Veld-huis 2004, 67).

one unprovenanced, which is currently housed in theSchøyen Collection in Oslo, Norway. Three of the Nippurmanuscripts (3N-T 454, 3N-T 901, 48 and 3N-T 919, 455)were excavated from House F. 3N-T 454 and 3N-T 901, 48are from locus 205, the school room, and 3N-T 919, 455from locus 191, thought to be a kitchen because of thepresence of two bread ovens (Stone 1989, 57 and Appen-dix II). 3N-T 454 is from an earlier level, level XI-3, whilethe other two are from a later level, level XI-2. 3N-T 454 islikely a generation older than the others (Stone 1989, 35chart 6). The chronological discrepancy may explainsome of the differences in the textual tradition between3N-T 454 and the other Nippur manuscripts, e.g. that itadds two lines (14a, 16a).

The single manuscript from Ur (UET 6/3, 563) is with-out context. It adheres roughly to the Nippur tradition, butreverses the order of lines 11 and 12. Likewise, the one un-provenanced tablet (X1) is fairly consistent with the othersbut offers an alternate version of line 9 and omits line 11.It also contains Akkadian glosses for lines 8 and 18. Thepresence of glosses is unexpected in this group, giventhat the Nippur scribes tend not to use them. This con-forms to the evidence of SEpM, where the rare glosses arefound only on non-Nippur texts, one from Ur and one fromUruk (Kleinerman 2011, 111f.).


ANL 2. Gudea-Enlil to Diłir-manåum(3.3.14)

Source

N1 = HS 1522 (TMH NF 3, 57, and collations in Wilcke 1976,42)Concordance with Kleinerman 2011 (xiv–xxv): N1 = N119

Fig. 1: HS 1522, obverse

Transliteration

1. [ m ] d i ł i r - m a - a n - å ú m a r i - a u m u å s a 6- g a d l a m m a l ú m u - u n - […] d i ł i r - r a - n i i n - n a - a n - ł a r -r a - a r ù - n a - a - d u 11

2. l ú - s u n 5- n a å u d u 3 u m u n 2 a k a i n i m b a l a - a - b i g i - n a3. i n i m s a 6- s a 6- g e k a - i n i m - m a - å è ł á l - l a k é å e - d a - n a d i d i - b i k a - à m4 . ł e å t u 2 d a g a l å à g u r 4! - t a è - a d i - d a b í - i b ! - d u 1 1 i g i - n i z a l a g 2- g a5 . s a ł k é å t u k u k i - g u b - b a - n i - å è u 4- g e g g e - g a - å è m ù å n u - t ú m - m u - a6 . l ú d i ł i r - d i ł i r t u k u - a i m - r i - a d a ł a l - l a - n a n a m z i - b i t a r - r a7. ù - n a - a - d è - t a 3


8. mg ù - d é - a - d e n - l í l - l á d u b - s a r d u m u l ú - d i ł i r - r a b i s a ł - d u b - b a d e n - l í l - l á - k e 4 g i 4- m e - a - a å -z u n a - a b - b é - a

9. g a - r a - a b - d u 11- d u 11 k i - ú s l i b i r - r a l ú igi.du- m e - n e ì - r e 7- e å - a10. k i - g u b n a m - å à - t a m - m a - t a u r d u ì - s u 8- g e - e å n í - t e - a - n e - n e m u - u n - [ …]11. u 4- d a n e s a ł - b i - a l ú - d i å - e ł i r i 3- n i b a - d a - z é ! - e r12. k i m a - a n - z é - e r - b a s a 3 a r - r [a x x x] x x x i m - e 11- d è - n e l a - b a - n a - å ú m -[x(-x?)]13. i n i m é - g a l - l a s á 3 é - e n - n a - a b - b é n a m - l á - b i m u - n i - í b - d u 3 - ù - n e [ … ]14. [ l ] ú - ù l ú - r a n a m - á - t a 3 i n - a k- e n í ł - z i n í ł - g i - n a i n i m a b - b a l a15. [ x- t ] a ? - à m n a m - t i l å à b í - i n - s i - e å n a m - l ú - u l ù i n - a k- e å16. [ k i ? - ú ] s s u 3 u å g i - n a i n - t u k u - u å - à m m u n a m - n e -x - […]17. […]- å è e r e n 2- e r e n 2- d a - l á e n - n a l ú - ù [ …]18. […] ì - s u 8- g e - e n - d è - e [ n … ]19. […] x - m e - r a å u k á r a b a - [ …]20. […]- x m [ u - …](rest of obv. broken)

(beginning of rev. broken)1H. […] (traces) […]2H. […] x - a ù - b í - […]3H. i n i m a - r a - a b - b é - a - a å x […]4H. n i n - ł u 10 n i n l ú - ù - n e pi […] x r a x […]

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Fig. 2: HS 1522, reverse


5H. l ú è n t a r - r a n u - u n - t u k x […] x ne i n -[…]6H. i t i - e z e m s i z k u r 2 l u g a l - l a - k a m ? [ x ] x i g i - n a an b a - a b - l á - [ …]7H. m u - n i 3 é - n i - p à d å à - g a 3 u l - 3 u l - l u - d è n a m - b a - e - å ú m ? - m u ?8H. n a m - z u n u - e - ł a r b a r - r a - z u ? a n - n a - g i g- g a - a ł i r i 3- n i n a - a b - ł á - ł á9H. i g i d n i n - u r t a - k e 4 å u d u 3 3 a - r a - a b - å a 4- å a 4 ù ł á - e

~ u 4- d a - r í - å è å e å t a m - m a - z u 3 é - m e - e n

Translation

(1)Say to Diłir-manåum, progeny of a beautiful plan, whose god provided him with a protective spirit, which …. (7)Repeatit to (2)the humble one, who supplicates wisely, whose conversation is fine, (3)the eloquent one, who has the (proper) ex-pressions at hand, …, (4)the one of vast wisdom, from a capacious heart, … bright eyed, (5)attentive, who works unceas-ingly at his post until late in the day, (6)a very fortunate person who is truly blessed among his large family.(8)Thus says Gudea-Enlil, the scribe, son of Lu-diłira, archivist (of the temple) of Enlil, your colleague:(9)Let me tell you everything: ‘Our ancestors followed the old path’. (10)The servants should come forward from the postof the clerks and they themselves should … (11)But just now, during this first fruit offering, someone slipped. (12)At thatslippery place, dirt … they did not allow him to rise. (13)The word of the palace should reach him – that violation will beabsolved and … (14)One person should help another, communicating righteousness and truth. (15)They were each(?) sat-isfied with life and behaved humanely. (16)They have acquired a firm foundation for the cultic dais(?) … (17)… additionalworkers until someone … (18)… we are serving … (19)… to our … insult(?) …(end of obv. broken)

(beginning of rev. broken)(several lines unclear)(3H)Because he speaks to you …(4H)My lady, lady of the people, …(5H)… the one who has nobody to care about him.(6H)It is the festival month of the royal offering. …(7H)He should be called by his name! He should not succumb to being evil in (his) heart.(8H)You have not set your destiny. In your(?) body, which has become sick, he must not set his foot.(9H)Before Ninurta, he shall pray for you and I will be your trusted brother forever!

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Commentary

Obverse4. In the verbal chain b í - i b ! - d u 1 1 the second sign is cer-tainly an unwarranted gá. We cannot explain the repeti-tion of the expression d i d u g 4 in l. 3 and 4. For i g iz a l a g see Lipit-Iåtar A 78 in which the context makes itclear that the meaning of this expression is “to be alert”:

u r - s a ł i g i z a l a g- g a z ú k é å g i - n a - m e - e nBright eyed warrior, I make firm that which has been assembled.

5. u 4- g e g g e - g a - å è , literally “for the dark/blackday,” is otherwise unattested.

6. For d i ł i r t u k u see Ninisina A 57, Ningiåzida A 33,proverb UET 6/2, 295; in other words, one supported bymany gods is fortunate.

8. For the position of the archivist of the temple ofNanna in the Old Babylonian period see Charpin (1986,241). To our knowledge, the position of the archivist ofEnlil is thus far unattested.

9. The reading of igi.du is uncertain. Both the read-ings p a l i l and i g i å t u are attested in OB and equatedto afaredu. However, the term here must refer to “thosewho have gone before” in contrast to u 4- d a , “now,” in l.11.

10. On the title å à - t a m see Gallery (1980); Charpin(1986, 244f.). For the use of - t a for locative see Gragg(1973, 30f.).

11. The n e s a ł , or “first fruit,” offerings were part ofan annual celebration held at the completion of the har-vest, which is attested in several other OB literary texts, aswell as an Ur III administrative text from the Inana templeat Nippur (Michalowski 1989, 97; Zettler/Sallaberger 2011,


1. ZeileÜberhang

11). In Ur III, it is best attested as the most important festi-val of Åara at Umma (Sallaberger 1993, vol. I, 309).

12. k i m a - a n - z é - e r occurs in several dialogues(Sjöberg 1972b, 113) and SP 2+6 156 and SP 25.8, where it isused as a metaphor for palace intrigue. Here, however, itmust refer to the physical act of slipping mentioned in theprevious line. Thus, it may describe a cultic offense, as inthe Neo-Assyrian letter ABL 1212: 6, “one of them (the menwho carried the statue out of the temple) slipped” (issenina libbifunu ittaäalsi, CAD N/II 150).

13. For n a m - l á = e/i’iltum see AHw. 191. The lexicalattestation is late, but best fits the context as in OB docu-ments (see CAD E 52), for which see Janssen (1991), es-pecially in regards to cultic transgressions.

15. For å à s i , “to fill the heart,” i.e. “to be satisfied,”see Jaques (2006, 371 n. 789).

17. Translated into Akkadian, e r e n 2 e r e n 2- d a - l á isthe common expression sab tillatim, “auxiliary troops”(see CAD T 406 for OB references).

Reverse6H. In month names i t i e z e m is always followed by adivine name or deified king. The expression s i z k u r 2l u g a l is well attested in Ur III documentation for whichsee Sallaberger (1993, passim).

ANL 7. Nabi-Enlil to lter-p\åa

Sources

N1 = 3N-T454 = UM 55–21–329 = 13–27N2 = 3N-T901, 48 (SLFN 23) = 1–4, 10–12N3 = 3N-T919, 455 (SLFN 23) = 1–5, 8–12N4 = CBS 7857 (Ali 1964, pl. xliv (SL 44)) = 1–58

Ur1 = (UET 6/3, 563) = 7–13, 16–249

X1 = MS 2287 = 1–2710

Concordance with Kleinerman 2011N1 N103N2 N104N3 N106N4 N42Ur1 Ur16X1 X25

Transliteration 789

/ = indented line// = new line

1. l u g a l du t u - g i n 7 k a l a m - m a - n a è - a - r a ù - n a - a - d u 11N2 o.1 [ l u g a l ] du t u - g i n 7 k a l a m - m a - n a è - a - [ r a ] / ù - n a - d u11N3 o.1 l u [ g a l d ] u t u - g i n 7 k a l [ a m - ] / ù -[…]N4 bH.3–4 l u g a l du t u - g i n 7 [ ] // ù - […]X1 o.1 l u [ g a l du t u ] - g i n 7 k a l a m - m a - n [ a è - a - r a ù - n a - a - d u 11]

2. l u g a l s i p a g i - n a k a l a m k ú r - r a … l á t ú m - t ú m - m uN2 o.2 [ l u g a l s i p a ] g i - n a k a l a m k ú r - r a / [x] x l á t ú m - t ú m - m aN3 o.2 l [ u g a l …] x x x / x […] x x xN4 bH.5 l u g a l s i p a g i - n a [ …]X1 o.2 l u g a l s i p a g i - n a k a l a m [ k ú r - r a …]

7 N1–4 collated by A. Kleinerman November 2011.8 The obverse and reverse of Ur1 are mislabeled in UET 6/3. Collatedby Jana Matuszak Feburary 2012.9 Collated by A. Kleinerman November 2011 and Jana MatuszakApril 2013.

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3. l u g a l n a m - 3 é - t a u 4 ì - z a l - l e b u r u 14- g i n 7 3 i - l i g í d - d èN2 o.3 [ l u g a l n a m - 3 ] é - t a u 4 ì - z a l - l [ e ] / [ x- g i ] n 7 3 i - l i g í d - d èN3 o.3 l u g a l n a m - 3 é - t [ a … ] / [ b u ] r u 1 4- g i n 7 x […]N4 bH.6 l u g a l n a m - 3 é [ …] / b u r u 14- g i n 7 3 i - […]X1 o.3 l u g a l n a m - 3 é - t a u 4 ì - z a l - l e […]

4. å u l å à - n e - å a 4 s i - s á ù - n a - d [ è - t a 3 ]N2 o.4 [… å ] a 4 s i - s á ù - […] / […] x x x […]N3 o.4 å u l å à - n e - å a 4 s i - s [ á …] / ù - n a -[…]N4 bH.7 å u l å à - n e - å a 4 s [ i …]X1 o.4 å u l å à - n e - å a 4 s i - s á ù - n e - d [ è - t a 3 ]

5. m n a - b i - d e n - l í l d u b - s a r d u m u s a ł - [ d e n - l í l - l á - k e 4 ] u r d u 2- z u n a - [ a b - b é - a ]N3 o.5 m n a - b i - d e n - l í [ l d u b - s a r ] / l ú s a ł - [ d e n - l í l - l á - k e 4 ] / u r d u 2- […]N4 b’.8 n a - […]X1 o.5 m n a - b i - d e n - l í l d u b - s a r d u m u s a ł - [ d e n - l í l - l á - k e 4 ] / u r d u - z u [ n a - a b - b é - a ]

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Fig. 3: UET 6/3, 563 (Ur1)


6. u r - g i 7 g ú n u - b a - ł a r - r a - g i n 7 x x […]X1 o.6 u r - g i 7 g ú n u - b a - g a r - r a - g i n 7 x x- […]

7. g u 4 3 u - n u b a - e - d i 4- d i 4- l á - g i n 7 n a m - […] a b - d a b 5- d a b 5- a nUr1 o.1H [… ]- x - e nX1 o.7 g u 4 3 u - n u b a - e - d i 4- d i 4- l á - g i n 7 n a m - […] /a b - d a b 5- d a b 5- a n

8. a n å e ł i å g i b i l 2- l á d i m 4- m a - g i n 7 3 a - a b - k é å - d aN3 r.1H […]Ur1 o.2H […] x [x]X1 o.8 a n å e ł i å g i b i l 2- l á d i m 4- m a - g i n 7 3 a - a b - k é å - d a

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Fig. 4: MS 2287 (X1)


X1 gloss (oriented vertically on left edge):g i - b i - l áe-fe-äu-um

9. m u å e n g ù d x […] - b i b í - i b - ú s l u ł a […]- e nN3 r.2H m u å e n ú.ki […] / […]Ur1 o.3H m u å e n g ù d (ú. ki .sum.ga) x […] - b i ? b í - i b - ú s / l u ł a […]- e nX1 o.9 u d u ú n e - 3 a n u - g u 7- ù - a - g i n 7 s i z k u r 2 / l a - b a - a n - g u 4- pirig du- u å

10. k u 6 a - b a r - r a g u b - b a - g i n 7 z i - ł u 10 m i - n i - i b - í l - í lN2 r.1H […] x x […]N3 omitsUr1 o.4H k u 6- g i n 7 a - b a r - r a g u b - [ … - ł ] u 10 m i - n i - í b - í l - í lX1 o.10 k u 6 a - b a r - r a g u b - b a - g i n 7 z i - ł u 10 m i - n i - i b -x-x

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11. a - å à a - l a - b i - t a kin n u - ak- e ú - n u m u n l a - b a -x-xN2 r.2H […] - b i - t a kin n u - a[k- e ] / ú - n u m u n l a - b a -x - [ x ]N3 r.3H a - å à a - l [ a …] / ú - […]Ur1 o.6H a - å à a - l a - b i - t a k[in n u - a]k-e ú - [ n u m u n l a - b a ] - x-xX1 omits

12. ł i å k i r i 6 a å u - t a n u - d u 1 1- g a - g i n 7 g u r u n l a - b a - í l - e nN2 r.3H […] å u - t a n u - d u 1 1-x / g u r u n l a - b a - í l - [ x ]N3 r.4H x [ k i r i 6 ] a å u - [ …]Ur1 o.5H ł i å k i r i 6 a å u - t a n [ u - …] x-x - í l - e nX1 o.11 ł i å k i r i 6 a å u - t a n u - d u 1 1- g a - g i n 7 g u r u n l a - b a - í l - í l

13. i g i - l á i - g u 7- a b a - d a b 5- e n l ú i g i n u - m u - n i - i n - a kN1 o.1 i g i - l á i - g u 7- a b a - d a b 5- e n / l ú i g i n u - m u - å i - i [ n - … ]N2 r.4H [ i g i - l á i - g ] u 7- a b a - d a b 5- [ x ] / [ l ú i g i ] n u - m u - å i - i n - a [ k-x ? ]N3 r.5 ’ i g i - l á i - [ …]Ur1 o.7H i g i - l á i - g u 7- a b a - d [ a b 5 …]X1 o.12 i g i - l á i - g u 7- a b a - d a b 5- e n l ú i g i n u - m u - n i - i n - a k

14. d i 4- d i 4- l á - ł u 10 ú a z u - z u a d i l i - a - b i b a - d a - a n - t eN1 o.2 d i 4- d i 4- l á - ł u 10 ú a }}- a ≠≠ z u - z u a / d i l i - b i b a - d a - x-xUr1 o.8H d i 4- d i 4- l á [… ] a / d i l i x […]X1 o.13 d i 4- d i 4- l á - ł u 10 ú a z u - z u a d i l i - a - b i b a - d a - a n - t e

14a.N1 o.3 u r d u 2 s i s á - n i - t a ri- x-x / l ú - z u - a l a - b a -x - [ x ? ]

15. l ú - z u - a - ł u 10 i g i - n i m u - d a - a n - k a r a - n a n u -x- b é - eN1 o.4 l ú - z u - a - ł u 10 i g i - n i m u - d a - a n - k a r / a - n a n u - x - [ … ]Ur1 o.9H x x […]X1 o.14 l ú - z u - a - ł u 10 i [ g i - n ] i [ m u ] - d a - a n - k a r / a - n [ a n ] u - u m - í b - b é - e

16. å e å - ł u 10 i g i [ … ] i g i 3 ú l x- í l - l a - a nN1 o.5 å e å - ł u 10 i g i x [ … ] / x i g i x [ … ]Ur1 r.1H […]X1 o.15 x x x x (x?) mu [ x ] i g i 3 ú l x- í l - l a - a n

16aN1 o.6 x x [ ]/ [ ]

17. z a r a 3 a - n i r […]N1 o.7 z a r a 3 a - n i [ r ] / x x x [ ]Ur1 r.2H z a r [ a 3 ] (sag.pa.[lagab]) a - n i r […] /a x […]X1 o.16 z a r a 3 a - n i r - r a å u x b i ? x […] / x - å è i m - [ …]

18. 3 u r - 3 u r - r a u 3 - u 3 å i k a i m - m a - a b - 3 u r g u 7- g u 7- t a b a - t a - r a - g e - e nN1 o.8 3 u r - 3 u r -[…]Ur1 r.3H 3 u r - [ 3 u r - r a u 3 ] - u 3 å i k a i m - m [ a - a b - 3 u r ] / g u 7- g u 7- t a x - […]X1 o.17 3 u r - 3 u r - r a u 3 - u 3 å i k a i m - m a - a b - r a - 3 u r / g u 7- g u 7- t a b a - t a - r a - [ u g 7 ]- g e - e n

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X1 gloss (oriented horizontally on left edge):up-lum e- ki -tum na-bu kal-ma-tum

19. d u - l u m - e u z u - ni- g i n 7 b a - ri- ri a k a - b i n u - m u - d a - í l - l eN1 o.9 x […]Ur1 r.4H d u - l u m - e u z u - ni- g i n 7 b a - ri- ri / a k a - b i n u - m u - e - d a - í l - l e ?X1 o.18 d u 6- l u m - e u z u - ni- g i n 7 b a - e - ri- r[ i? ] / a k a - b i n u - m u - d a - í l

20. å u s ù - g a l ú n u - m u - d a - k í ł - e ł e å t u 2 d e 5- d e 5 n u - t u k uN1 r.1 [ å u ] s ù - t a l ú n u - m [ u - d a - ] / k í ł - e ł e å t u 2 d [ e 5-…]Ur1 r.5H å u s ù - t a l ú n u - m u - d a - k í ł - ł á / ł e å t u 2 d e 5- d e 5 n u - t u k uX1 o.19 å u s ù - t a l ú n u - m u - d a - k í ł - e / ł e å t u 2 d e 5- [ d e 5 n u ] - t u k u

21. l u g a l - ł u 10 a - g a - ł u 10 ł i r i 3 z u k u m - eN1 r.2 l u g a l - ł u 10 a - g a - ł u 10 ł i r i 3 ! [ … ]Ur r.6H l u g a l - ł u 10 a - g a - ł u 10 ł i r i 3 z u k u m 2- eX1 o.20 l u g a l - ł u 10 a - g a - ł u 10 ł i r i 3 z u k u m 2 ! - e

22. l ú - l u l - l a n u - m e - e nN1 r.3 l ú - l u l - l a […]Ur1 r.6 Hl ú - l u l - l a n u - m e - e nX1 r.1 l ú - l u l - l a n u - [ m e - e n ]

23. t u k u m - b i l u g a l - ł u 10 a n - n a - k a mN1 r.4 t u k u m - b i l u g a l - ł á […]Ur1 r.7H [ t u k u m ] - b i l u g a l - ł á a n - n a - k a mX1 r.2 t u k u m - b i l u g a l - ł u 10 a - n a - k [ a m ]

24. n a m - t a r n u - z u - a - ł u 10 n a m - b a - ú å - d è - e nN1 r.5 n a m - z i n u - z u - ł u 10 n a m - b a - […] / (traces)Ur1 r.8H [… ]- ł u 10 n a m - b a - ú å - d è - e nX1 r.3 n a m - t a r n u - z u - a - ł u 10 n a m - b a - [ ú å - d è - e ] n

25. a - g i n 7 k i - l u l - l a n a m - b a - r a - b a l a - eN1 r.6 a - g i n 7 k i - l u l - [ l a ] n a m - b a - r a - [ …]Ur1 r.9H [… n a ] m - b a - r a - b a l a - eX1 r.4 a - g i n 7 k i - l u l - l a n a m - b a - r a - b [ a l a - e ]

26. d i 4- d i 4- l á u r d u 2 l u g a l - ł á é - g a l b í - è l a - l a - b i n u - u n - g i 4N1 r.7 d i 4- d i 4- l á u r d u 2 l u g a l - ł á é - g [ a l ] / b í - è l a - l a - b i n u - u n - g i 4Ur1 r.10H [… ] é - g a l - l á ? / […] x - èX1 r.5 d i 4- d i 4- l á u r d u l u g a l - ł á é - g a l b [ í - … ] / l a - l a - b i n u - [ u n - g i 4 ]

27. l u g a l d e n - l í l - g i n 7 d u 11- g a n u - k ú r - r u å à 3 a - r a - b a - d e 6N1 r.8 l u g a l d e n - l í l d u 11- g a n u - k ú r - r u / å à 3 a - r a - b a - d e 6!X1 r.6 l u g a l d e n - l í l - g i n 7 d u 11- g a - e n u - k ú r - r [ u ] / å à 3 a - m a - å [ u b …]

28. d i - t e - e r - p i 4- å a s a ł - k a l ł u r u å - e - n e z i - ł u 10 3 a - m a - [ t a r ]N1 r.9 d i - t e - e r - p i 4- å a s a ł - k a l / ł u r u å ! - e - n e z i - ł u 10 3 a - m a - b a - [ t a r ]X1 r.7 m i - t e - e r - p i 4- å u s a ł - k a l ł u r u å - e - [ n e … ] / z i - ł u 10 3 a - m [ a - a b - t a r ]

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Translation

(1)Say to the king who rises in his land like Utu, (2)repeat it to the king, true shepherd of the homeland and the foreignland, the one who makes … suitable, (3)the king who spends the day amid abundance, so that allure can be brought forthlike a harvest, (4)the youth who sets petitions in order, (5)thus says Nabi-Enlil, the scribe, the son of Sał-Enlil, your ser-vant:(6)… like a dog who did not submit. (7)I am seized …, like a weak ox covered by the yoke. (8)I am indeed constrained, like adonkey approached by a brand. (9)I …, like a bird … the nest.11 (10)My life was lifted from me, like a fish gets upright at thewater’s edge. (11)No longer is work done happily in the field, seeds are not …. (12)Like an orchard, which no hand watered,I do not bear fruit. (13) I am overwhelmed by consuming glances, but (for my part) I do not look at anybody. (14) Mychildren, who are accustomed to both food and water, come (for dinner) but get only water.12 (15)The one who knows mehides his face from me; what is he not saying? (16) … my brother … I am not looked upon favorably. (17)… wailing and la-ment … (18)I scratch (with) a sherd on account of scabies and insects; I am eaten to death(?). (19)Hardship grew like fat inmeat, but I am unable to bear what it does. (20)The mind of the person, whose empty hand has nothing to do, does nothold itself together.(21) My king, I am trampled on.(22)I am not a liar! (23)If my king agrees (that I am not a liar) (24)I should not end my unheardof fate, (25)not be poured out like waste water. (26)The children, servants of my king, have left the palace; he is not satis-fied by them.(27)May the king, like Enlil, whose command is unchangeable, make a decision for you. (28)May lter-p\åa, first among thewarriors, bless me!

Commentary 1011

5. The restoration of the name of Nabi-Enlil’s father isbased on the letter ANL 9 (Kleinerman 2011, 194).

7. For usage of the verbal reduplication in this way seefor example Jagersma (2010, 321 exs. 43. 46).

8. The reading and meaning of g i b i l 2 (sú.ás) is se-cured by the presence of the phonetic writing and Akka-dian glosses in X1 (g i - b i - l á , e-fe-äu-um). The equationof ł i å g i b i l 2 with effe’u is attested in Hh VI 49ff. andDiri III 2ff. (cf. CAD E, 374).

9. The eclectic line follows the Nippur and Ur tradi-tions. l u ł a (pa.gá) is otherwise attested only lexically(e.g. OB Diri Nippur 366, 367, MSL 15, 24). The term isunderstood as the Akkadian fillatu, “slander,” implyingthat the protagonist is being falsely accused.

The first part of the line in X1 is paralleled by an bilin-gual incantation preserving a royal ritual (CT 44, 27; vanDijk 1967, 259–61) in which the king sacrifices a substitutesheep, described as follows:

u d u ú n e - 3 a i m - m i - i n - g u 7- aa n e - 3 a i m - m i - i n - n a ł - aLike a sheep, which has eaten grass in peace,which has drunk water in peace.

10 X1: I no longer … like a sheep who doesn’t eat grass at peace.11 N1 adds: … from his just servant, I do not … the acquaintance.

The second verbal chain in X1 is problematic; the signs areclear but the meanings of g u 4 do not fit the present con-text. Also difficult are the last three signs of the indentedline, whose relationship to the rest of the line is at presentimpossible to determine.

10. For parallel imagery see e.g. Enki’s Journey to Nip-pur 79 and Ur Lament 228.

11. a - l a is well attested in the sense of “happiness”(PSD A/I, 99). Most likely the ablative suffix - t a is usedadverbially (Jagersma 2010, 191). However, this would beredundant as the adverb is already expressed by the suffix- b i .

12. Similar imagery is found in Enlil A 123 andSEpM 7:21. X1 preserves a slightly different tradition byspecifying that Nabi-Enlil does not bear sprouts (ł i å

g i b i l ) and fruit (g u r u n ). For ł i å g i b i l outside of thelexical tradition see SEpM 7:22.

13. Whereas Nabi-Enlil is looked upon disrespectfully,he keeps to himself. N103 clearly does not have l á (in-stead it appears to be two stacked horizontals, althoughthe bottom horizontal extends out further). The reason thescribe cannot write the l á sign correctly here but does soin the following line is unclear; it may reflect his familiar-ity with the term d i 4- d i 4- l á as opposed to the more un-common noun i g i l á .

16. The translation is based on context.18. For ah

˘read u3 see Cavigneaux/Krebernik

(1998–2001, 509) and Cavigneaux/al-Rawi (2002, 43).


We understand 3 u r - 3 u r - r a as a variant of 3 u r -d a - l à l = ek-ke-tum (OB list of diseases 118 = MSL 9, 79), areading that is secured by the presence of the gloss in X1.u 3 - u 3 is glossed by uplum, kalmatum, and nabum, allforms of insects or lice. For the verb 3 u r, “to scratch,” Ak-kadian ekeku, see Gudea Cyl. A v 10 (Edzard 1997, 72).

We assume the verbal root here is g e n , as a verbr a . g does not fit the context. However, the prefix se-quence - t a - r a - is problematic; we would expect one orthe other but not both. The student may not have knownwhich was correct, and so gave both options. Alter-natively, this may be a mistake for b a - r a - t a - in whichcase we would translate, “because of the biting I do nothold still.”

19. Although Nabi-Enlil can bear the physical pain ofthe bugs, he cannot bear the emotional torment he isunder.

23. For a n - n a - k a m “(if) it is a ‘yes’ for him,” seeCivil (1994, 182).

24. The two manuscripts preserving the beginning ofthis line contain different traditions. N1 has n a m - z i ,“truthfulness,” and adds additional signs after the break.X1 has n a m - t a r, which best fits the context.

25. The expression k i - l u l - l a , “place of evil,” isfairly well attested in Sumerian literature (e.g. GENUET 6/1, 58 rev. 14, Lugalbanda I Seg. A 165, Ur-Namma A58).

27. The presence of lter-p\åa is perhaps surprising con-sidering that he only ruled three years according to the Su-merian King List. There are no extant royal inscriptionsbearing his name nor any hymn dedicated to his person,and only a few administrative documents attesting to hisreign (e.g. CBS 14225, YOS 14, 325 and 326).

ReferencesAlster, B. (1997): Proverbs of Ancient Sumer. Bethesda, Md.Attinger, P. (1993): Eléments de linguistique sumérienne. OBO Son-

derband. Fribourg and GöttingenBrisch, N. (2007): Tradition and the Poetics of Innovation. AOAT 339.

MünsterCavigneaux, A./F. al-Rawi (2002): Liturgies exorcistiques agraires

(Textes de Tell Haddad IX), ZA 92, 1–59Cavigneaux, A./M. Krebernik (1998–2001): dNin-U2, RlA 9, 509Charpin, D. (1986): Le Clergé d’Ur au Siècle d’Hammurabi. Geneva/

ParisCivil, M. (1994): The Farmer’s Instructions. AuOr. Suppl. 5. BarcelonaCivil, M. (2004): The Series Diri = (w)atru. MSL 15. RomeDijk, J. van (1967): VAT 8382. Ein zweisprachiges Königsritual, Hei-

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Two Additional Old Babylonian Sumerian Literary Letters from Nippur

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Transcript of Two Additional Old Babylonian Sumerian Literary Letters from Nippur