Gilg. OB Nippur
Transliteration
Hover or tap a word for its lemma and meaning.
| Obv. | |
| 1 | ib-ri ni-iq-te-ri-ib qí-iš-ti-iš |
| 2 | šu-n[a-tu]m qì-it-ru-ba a-ru-uh ta-ha-zu-um |
| 3 | nam-⌈ri⌉-ri ša i-lim ta-na-ṭa-a-al |
| 4 | Hu-wa-wa ša i-ta-na-an-da-ru ka-ab-ta-at-ka |
| 5 | at-ta ta-at-ta-ak-ki-ip-ma ki-ma le-i-im tu-ša-ab-ra-aq-šu |
| 6 | re-⌈ši⌉-šu tu-ša-ap-pa-al i-na da-an-nu-ti-ka |
| 7 | pu-ur-šu-mu-um ša ta-mu-ru-ú il-ka we-ru |
| 8 | ba-⌈ni⌉ qá-qá-di-ka dLugal-bàn-da |
| 9 | ib-ri a-ta-mar re-bu-ta-am |
| 10 | e-et-qè-et e-li ša-la-aš-ti-in šu-na-ti-ia |
| 11 | ap-pa-al-sà-am-ma dAnzâm(IM.DUGUD)mušen-am i-na ša-ma-i |
| 12 | ⌈it-bé⌉-ma ⌈ki⌉-ma er-pe-tim i-ša-ú el-ni |
| 13 | ⌈pu!?-lu!?⌉-úh-tum-ma šu-un-nu-ú pa-nu-ú-ša |
| 14 | pi-⌈ša dGirrum(GÌRA)⌉ na-pi-ís-sa mu-tu[m] |
| 15 | eṭ-lu[m-ma?] ša-ni bi-ni-ta-a[m] |
| 16 | [x x x x] x-⌈ši?-ma?⌉ iz-za-az i-na mu-ši-ti-ia |
| 17 | [x x x x] x ka-⌈ap⌉-pi-ša iṣ-ṣa-ba-at i-di |
| 18 | [x x x x] x-ma it-ta-di-i-ši [i-na ma-ah]-ri-ia |
| 19 | [.........] x-⌈gi⌉ e-li-ša |
| (Several lines missing) | |
| Rev. | |
| 1´ | i[t-bé-ma ki-m]a [e]r-p[e-ti]m ⌈i⌉-š[a-ú] el-ni |
| 2´ | [x x-t]um-ma ⌈šu⌉-nu-ú pa-nu-ú-šu° |
| 3´ | ⌈pi-ša⌉ d⌈Girrum(GÌRA)⌉ na-pi-ís-sa mu-tum |
| 4´ | ša!(TA)-lum-ma-sà ta-pa-la-ha-⌈am⌉ at!-ta! |
| 5´ | ⌈e⌉-TE-en ši-ip-ša! ú-še-te-bé-ka a-na-ku |
| 6´ | ⌈eṭ⌉-lum ša ta-mu-ru dŠamaš(UTU) da-an-nu |
Translation
obv.
1 “My friend, we have come close to the forest,
2 (what was foretold in) dreams is near at hand, battle is swift (upon us).
3 Do you (already) see the radiant auras of the god,
4 of Ḫuwawa, whom your mind does ever fear?
5 You will lock horns and batter him like a bull,
6 you will force his head down with your strength.
7 The old man you saw is your mighty god,
8 the one who begot you, Lugalbanda.”
9 “My friend, I have seen a fourth,
10 it surpasses my (other) three dreams!
11 I watched an Anzû-bird in the sky,
12 up it rose and soared above us back and forth like a cloud.
13 It was a terror, its face was very strange,
14 its speech was fire, its breath was death.
15 [There was a] man, strange of form,
16 [he...] and was standing there in my night (i. e., dream).
17 [He...] its wings, he took hold of my arm,
18 [...] ... and he cast it down [before] me.
19 [...] ... upon it.”
Several lines missing.
rev.
0′ “[You watched an Anzû-bird in the sky,]
1′ up [it rose] and soared above us like a cloud.
2′ It was a terror, its face was very strange,
3′ its speech was fire, its breath was death.
4′ While you fear its awesome splendour,
5′ I shall ... its foot, I shall enable you to arise!
6′ The man you saw was mighty Šamaš.”
Commentary
General: Unless noted, the transliteration and translation follow George 2003. Minor divergences in translation are not commented upon.
3: The plene writing ta-na-ṭa-a-al probably indicates a question: the auras are already seen at some distance from the forest. But cf. also the plene writing ta-mu-ru-ú l. 7, which is only very rarely attested in Old Babylonian but has parallels in Old Assyrian (Hecker 1968, 72§ 47c 135 § 79g).
5: Cf. Streck 1999, 63 no. 17 for the image of the bull.
12: Cf. Streck 1999, 63 no. 18 for the image of the cloud, the form išaʾʾu and the interpretation of the present tense as designating a plural situation in the past. George 2003, 246 argues that the “division of the poetic line into units indicates that the simile occurs before the caesura and so belongs in the first clause not the second.” However, metric structures of Old Babylonian poetry are difficult to assess, and since the simile yields a more coherent sense if understood as part of the second rather than of the first clause, the line is translated here as in Streck 1999, 63 no. 18.
13: For other possible restorations cf. George 2003, 246.
Michael P. Streck and Nathan Wasserman, Sources of Early Akkadian Literature (SEAL), seal.huji.ac.il. No commercial use is allowed. Published under CC BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives). Reproduced unmodified. Cite as SEAL no. 1530; view on seal.huji.ac.il.