Position in chronology
A praise poem of Anam
Written in modern English
Anam is addressed directly as lord, perfect in his broad wisdom, the one who preserves Nibru and keeps the city from harm. He is praised as the sweet breeze of his city, father of the region of Unug, a judge revered for his verdicts, and a man who fears An and Inana. He cherishes E-ana and finds joy there, standing as en priest of Inana, heart's desire of the goddess, all-knowing and proud. He is powerful enough to batter the wrathful, blessed with good looks, and richly endowed — though several phrases throughout are too damaged to read, leaving the full list of his qualities incomplete.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLAnam, lord, ......, ......, perfect in your broad wisdom, ......, who preserves Nibru, who prevents the city from having ......! Sweet breeze (?) of his city, father of the region of Unug, judge who ...... in his verdicts, reverent ......, who fears An and Inana! Who cherishes E-ana, who is happy there ...... in friendly words! Mighty ......, heart's desire of Inana, who reveres the ...... of the Land, ...... with head high, en priest of Inana, ......, all-knowing! ......, who batters the wrathful, ......, endowed with good looks, ...... who is fearsome; watching ......, richly endowed with…
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
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Scholarly note
Composition c.2.7.1.1 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.2.7.1.1: A praise poem of Anam. 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.2.7.1.1.
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