Position in chronology
An elegy on the death of Nannaya (Elegy 1)
Written in modern English
A father sent word to his son, who was far away in a distant place. Back in the city, the father had fallen ill — he who shone like something precious found in a far mountain, who spoke beautifully and carried himself with a tall, powerful frame. He was wise in matters of the gods, an ornament of the assembly, a truthful and god-fearing man. He had stopped eating. The text breaks off here.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLA 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…
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
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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
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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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