Position in chronology
A song of Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inana C1)
Written in modern English
The opening lines are too damaged to read clearly, but Ninegala — Inana — is being addressed: her wedding ushers are lords, and among them stand a fowler and a fisherman from the reed-beds. Then Inana speaks: she will send word to the shepherd, demanding his finest butter and milk; to her farmer, demanding wine and other provisions the damaged text won't quite yield; to the fowler whose nets are spread across the land, demanding fine birds; and to the fisherman whose nets are already set in the reed-beds, demanding fat carp.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
ETCSL2 lines fragmentary Ninegala, your wedding ushers are lords! ...... like someone cracking eggs ....... Inana, your ushers are lords! ...... is first, ...... is second, 1 line fragmentary the fowler ......, and the fisherman from the depths of the reed-beds. "I will send a messenger to the shepherd: let him treat me to the best butter and the best milk! I will send a messenger to my farmer: let him treat me to ...... and wine! I, the lady, will send a messenger to the fowler, whose bird-nets are spread out: let him treat me to fine birds! I, Inana, will send a messenger to the fisherman too whose nets are set up in the reed-beds: let him treat me to fat carp!"
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — scholar edition (Oxford, Black/Cunningham/Robson/Zólyomi).
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Scholarly note
Composition c.4.08.29 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.4.08.29: A song of Inana and Dumuzid (Dumuzid-Inana C1). 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.4.08.29.
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