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Letter from Ibbi-Suen to Išbi-Erra about his bad conduct

Sumerian literature (ETCSL) · 3 - Literary letters and letter-prayers · 18 sections

1. 1

   {d}iš-bi-er3-ra-ra ⌈u3⌉-na-a-dug4

   Say to Išbi-Erra: this is what your lord (?), Ibbi-Suen, says:

2. 2

   {d}i-bi2-{d}suen ⌈?-? na-ab⌉-be2-a

3. 3

   en-na {d}en-lil2 ⌈?⌉-ĝu10 me-še3 i-im-ĝen-ne-en

   As long as Enlil was my lord (?), what course were you following? And is this how you alter your word? Today Enlil detests me, he detests his son , and is handing Urim over to the enemy. Its central part (?) is gone, the enemy has risen up, and all the lands are thrown into disarray. But on the day when Enlil turns again towards his son Suen, you and your word will be marked out!

4. 4

   za-e ur5-gin7 ka i3-bal-e

5. 5

   ud-da {d}en-lil2-le ĝa2-a-ra ḫul ba-an-gig

6. 6

   dumu-ni {d}suen-na-ra ḫul ba-an-gig

7. 7

   urim2{ki} lu2-kur2-ra bi2-in-šum2-mu

8. 8

   ki šag4-ba nu-me-a lu2-kur2 im-zig3-ge kur-kur im-suḫ3-suḫ3

9. 9

   ud {d}en-lil2-le dumu-ni {d}suen-na-ra im-me-gur

10. 10

    za-e inim-zu ĝiškim im-ma-an-tuku

11. 11

    20 gun2 kug-babbar še sa10-e-de3 ⌈šu⌉ ba-e-ti

    You have received 20 talents of silver to purchase grain. You purchase it at the price of one shekel of silver per 2 gur of grain, but in dealing with me, you fix the price at one shekel of silver per 1 gur of grain!

12. 12

    2 še gur-ta-am3 kug-babbar 1 giĝ4-e bi2-in-⌈sa10-sa10-e⌉

13. 13

    ĝa2-a-ra 1 še gur-ta-am3 za-e mu-un-gen6

14. 14

    puzur4-{d}nu-muš-da šagina bad3 igi-ḫur-saĝ-ĝa2

    How could you allow Puzur-Numušda, the commander of the fortress Igi-ḫursaĝa, to let the hostile Martu penetrate into my Land? Until now (?) he has not (?) sent to you word (?) about engaging in battle. There are puny men in the Land! Why has he not (?) faced the Martu?

15. 15

    mar-tu lu2-kur2-ra šag4 kalam-ma-ĝu10-še3 a-gin7 im-da-an-kur9-re-en

16. 16

    en-na {ĝiš}tukul sag3-ge-de3 nam-mu-e-ši-in-gi

17. 17

    lu2 saĝ-du nu-tuku kalam-ma i3-ĝal2-la

18. 18

    a-gin7 mar-tu-e an-ta nam-mu-ši-in-gi

The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL), Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. Copyright holders: Jeremy Black, Graham Cunningham, Jarle Ebeling, Esther Flückiger-Hawker, Eleanor Robson, Jon Taylor and Gábor Zólyomi. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. Source.