Position in chronology
A praise poem of Shulgi (Shulgi C)
Written in modern English
Shulgi speaks in his own voice: he is king, wild bull, lion with jaws thrown wide open. He is a great storm unleashed from the sky, casting its brilliance across the land — fine breeding stock with a brindled coat, son of a breed-bull, born from a cow and nursed on butter and milk, raised in the pen like a calf from a thick-necked white cow. Clothed in a royal robe — the exact description is damaged — and holding out a sceptre, he declares himself fit for a purpose the text no longer preserves. He is also the good shepherd who delights in justice, the whip and rod that punishes every evil.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSLI am the king, a wild bull of acknowledged strength, a lion with wide-open jaws! I am Culgi, a wild bull of acknowledged strength, a lion with wide-open jaws! I am a great storm let loose from heaven, sending its splendour far and wide! I am good stock, with brindled body, engendered by a breed-bull! I am a king born from a cow, resting amid butter and milk! I am the calf of a thick-necked white cow, reared in the cow-pen! Dressed in a ...... royal robe and holding out a sceptre, I am perfect for ....... I am also the good shepherd who takes joy in justice, the scourge and stick of all evil!…
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
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Scholarly note
Composition c.2.4.2.03 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.2.4.2.03: A praise poem of Shulgi (Shulgi 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.2.4.2.03.
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