UET 6/2, 395 (Ningišzida)

1       Like(?) a flood, without … [..].

2       Lament for him, weep for […]

3       Set up a [lament(?)] for Ningišzida,

4       Lament for him, weep for … […]  

5       Before the shining scepter, the [crowned] king,

6       The merciless destroyer brought [you].

7       Oh Ningišzida! The crowned king,

8–9    The merciless destroyer brought you (to) where no one is spared,

10      (where) the great gods are sitting in silence,

11      The Anuna, the gods of the Land, the crowned kings, are spread with dust.

12–13An evil spirit, a gallû-demon, messenger of Erra, stands before him and speaks to him:

14      “You will go with us before the queen Ereškigal!

15      We are [sent(?)] to you from Irkal (= the netherworld).

16      … his gallû-demon …

17      He says to the g[allû-demon]: “Spare me, en[sure](?) my protection!

18      “My father … will open my […]! My mother will […]!”

19      Weep … […] his young ones … […]

20      His young men … his […] he answer[red…]

20a    … […]

21      He/she does not hear .. […]

22      He/she does not receive […]

23      … […] ..

rest broken (ca. 6 lines), including:

Le. Ed.     […] ……….

Le. Ed.     […] … Irkal, you will go with us.

Rev.

0'       … […]

1'       The ma[n …]

2'       Seated … […]

3'       They are meci[less …]

4'       They go up(?) […]

5'       He is eating(?) […]

6'       I was not sated … […]

7'       Like young men in the street … […] I did not see him, my mind(?) […]

8'       … for him like the circle of … […]

9'       (which) you have established as lovers(?). In your rage … […]

10'     You(f.) continuously (shed) tears from your(f.) eyes for him…

11'     She heard (it). His spouse is weeping for him.

12'     Ninsiskura bellows like a cow.

13'–15'        She opened her mouth and says, Ningiridu to his gallû-demon speaks:

15'–16'        “I shall provide silver corresponding to his body! I shall give a present! Find his life for me!

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17'     She answers the companion; his image pacifies her heart.

18'     She speaks to him a word of pacification:

19'     “Speak to her, pronounce your name to her!

Le. Ed.     “I have thus adjured you(f.) by earth and heaven,

Le. Ed.     “Ereškigal, queen of the netherworld, let us speak to you […]!”

19'a   Ereškigal will not belittle your …!”

20'     She did not hold back, she gave her son.

21'     She bellowed like a cow behind him.

22'     Ningišzida goes with his helper.

23'     She became red like red wool [through (her)] tears.

General: Though generally using mimation, the text tends to use CVC signs (/šar/, /mar/, šum/) which hint at a post-OB date. Note also the appearance of the syllabic values /ṣíl/ (l. 17) and /tik/ (l. r.22’).

There are good indications that UET 6/2, 395 is a (student’s) attempt to render a Sum. lament on the death of Ningišzida –– ETCSL 1.7.3 –– to Akk. The basic scene is almost identical: Ningišzida is kidnapped to the Netherworld and his sister is weeping for him, trying to find a way to help him.

Note esp. the following points which appear in the Sum. lament and have parallels in the Akk. text: the “evil demon” (ll. 20, 50 in ETCSL 1.7.3); the possibility that the representative of the realm of the dead will agree to accept something instead the life of Ningišzida (ll. 38–39); the mentioning of a holy/shining scepter and crown (ll. 66–68); The dust in which gods are sitting (l. 82, 84), and finally the tears – and wine– which seal the composition (ll. 76 and 89).

1: A similar opening, where Ningišzida and a devastating flood are compared, is found in a Sum. hymn to this god (ETCSL 4.19.3). See also ETCSL 4.19.2: 16–24.

17: Lit.: complete my shade (= protection).


r.8': Note the wrong case in kīma kippatu. – The verbal form tuštūlīma derives from elû, as conjugated in OAkk. and HED (cf. GAG § 103s–v).

r.10': Lambert 1990a, 292, translates the first verb as “you prolonged tears,” understanding the verb from šutabrû (bitrû Št), “to make last, permanent.” However, the plene writing with the sign e before eb and the short vowel ending the verb would be unusual for a third weak verb and may indicate a first weak verb. Therefore, perhaps the verb here should be derived from šutēburum, see CAD Š/III, 400: “to be hasty(?).”

r.15': The verb lu-šu-ur should probably be understood from ašārum A (Lambert 1990a, 294, derives it from našārum B, “pour out”). Lambert 1990a, 292 and 294, understands milītum as an image, but we follow AHw, 1575a in understanding milītum as “fullness,” and thus: “as full of,” “corresponding to,” the entire context dealing with Ningirida paying for her son to come back up from the netherworld. Another possibility is that the sign mi is to be understood as a direct speech indicator, attached to the previous word, and then read perhaps KÙ.BABBAR-am-mi li-da!-<at> la-ni-šu, see line r.19'a.

r.16': For the form kedrium, cf. i-na ke-ed-ri-im in Ištar Baghdad: 5.

r.17'. The beginning of the line was read: ip-pa-al-sa6-am by Lambert 1990a, 292 and 294, but although the sign RU is not perfect, the use of the sign sa6 here would be orthographically very unusual (but cf. Ištar Louvre i 53), and paleographically not without problems either. We follow Metzler 2002, 537 with n. 816, and Ludwig 2009, 243, and read ip-pa-al ru-am (apālum either referring to the speech of the goddess in lines r.19'ff., or in the meaning of payment, referring to the gift Ningirid gave the gallû demon). – The second part of the line was read by Lambert 1990a, 292, 294, as la šu-li-ma-ta, with a new word šul(l)imātu; but collation shows it is: la-šu li-ba-ša (la-šu standing here for *lanšu > laššu, or emend to la--šu).

r.18': In this line Ningirida either speaks to Ningišzida, or to the gallû demon who agreed to act on their behalf.

LE. With Lambert 1990a, 291, 293 we insert these two lines, written on the edge of the tablet, after line r.19' (note that in Lambert’s edition line r.19a is mistakenly marked as LE as well).

r.19'a: Since this is Ningirida’s speech to her son Ningišzida or to the gallû demon (see note to line r.18' above), li-da-at-ka, “your offspring” would be strange in this context (cf. also Black 2004, 215, n. 3). One expects that li-da-at-ka would mean “present”, or similarly.

r.23': We follow Black 2004, 215, n. 3, in understanding the phrase as referring to the Ningirida’s weeping (Lambert 1990a, 293, restores -[šu]), referring to Ningišzida). In addition, we follow AHw 1084, and Metzler 2002, 557–558 with n. 880, in understanding the verb in the N-stem and the noun dimātum in an adverbial sense (wither as an accusative or with the ending -iš). We follow Metzler 2002, 557–558 with n. 880 in understanding the image as referring to the eyes becoming red from the tears and crying. A mythological interpretation of the red eyes and the tears as referring to Ningišzida’s relation to red wine, was suggested by Lambert 1990a, 293 and 1990b, who connected our text to a mystical text from the first millennium.