Position in chronology
SAA 03 007. Assurbanipal’s Hymn to Ištar of Nineveh (ABRT 1 07-08)
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) O palm tree, daughter of Nineveh, stag of the lands! (2) She is glorious, most glorious, the finest of the goddesses! Nineveh is set with bunbullu decorations, within which there is no [...]. (4) O praised Emašmaš, ...[...], in which dwells Ištar, the que[en of Nineveh]! (6) Like Aššur, she wears a beard and is clothed with brilliance [...]. The crown on her head g[leams] like the stars; the luminescent discs on her breasts shine like the sun! (9) O ziggurat, pride of Nineveh, which bears [awe-inspiring splendour]! (10) On the 16th of Tebet is her ..., she brightens Emašmaš: The lady of…
Source: Livingstone, A. 1989. Court Poetry and Literary Miscellanea. SAA 3. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa03/P334925/
Why it matters
Transliteration
⸢GIŠ*⸣.GIŠIMMAR bi-nat NINA.⸢KI⸣ [a].a-li KUR.KUR-⸢MEŠ*⸣ / šar-ḫat šu-ru*-ḫat el-let dIŠ.TAR-MEŠ [o] / NINA.KI bu-un-bu-ul-lu šá-kin ša ina ŠÀ-bi ⸢la⸣ [x x x] / É.MAŠ.MAŠ ša ta-na-da-a-ti ša qi-⸢ma⸣-[x x] / ša ina ŠÀ-bi-šú áš-ba-tú dIŠ.TAR šar-⸢ra⸣-[at NINA.KI] / a-ki AN.ŠÁR ziq-ni zaq-nat nam-ri-ri ḫal-⸢pat⸣ [x x x] / a-gu-u ina SAG.DU-šá a-ki kak-ka-bi ⸢na⸣-[ba-at] / ša-an-šá-na-a-ti ša…
Scholarly note
Neo-Assyrian court poetry or literary text, edited by Alasdair Livingstone (SAA 3, 1989). ORACC text P334925.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P334925). source
Translation excerpted from Livingstone, A. 1989. Court Poetry and Literary Miscellanea. SAA 3. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa03/P334925/.
Related tablets
Related sources
A window into the world's first total state. The Ur III administration tracked every animal, every worker, every shekel — for a population in the millions. The level of paperwork was not exceeded until the modern era.
The single most important literary discovery of the 19th century. It rewired the understanding of the Bible's literary context and proved that the Mesopotamian flood tradition is older. It is the oldest surviving epic poetry in human history.
The literary tradition is no longer anonymous from this point. Authorship — the idea that a specific human voice composes a specific work — enters the historical record with her.