Sumerian Hymns
from
Cuneiform Texts in the British Museum

The so-called “Sumerian Question” regarding the true linguistic nature of the ancient Non-Semitic Babylonian texts has stirred debate among Assyriologists for over twenty years. The new Sumerian material from the monuments that keeps coming to light requires, for the benefit of everyone who can view this discussion fairly, a thorough and unbiased analysis. Dr. Vanderburgh, in the following monograph, has supported the ideas presented in my “Materials for a Sumerian Lexicon” (J. C. Hinrichs’sche Buchhandlung, 1905-1907), which state that the so-called Sumerian was originally a Non-Semitic agglutinative language. Over many centuries of Semitic influence, it became heavily layered with Semitic features, primarily stemming from a gradual evolution of the earlier foreign sacred language of the priests. Therefore, it's not surprising that the theory claiming Sumerian was merely a Semitic cryptography has been proposed and strongly defended by a prominent scholar like Professor Halévy (MSL., pp. VIII, IX).

The study of the older Non-Semitic texts, especially the Sumerian hymns written in just one language, will definitely provide more insight into this unique language, as well as contribute valuable information to the understanding of the Babylonian religious system.

The texts of the hymns in Vol. XV. of the Brit. Mus. Cun. The texts aren't always in great condition and have many challenges, some of which, we hope, have been addressed in this work with at least some accuracy.

John Dyneley Prince

To the
Rev. Edward Judson, D. D.,
in appreciation of his friendship with the author
and his passion for Asian studies

Vol. XV of the “Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum, printed by order of the Trustees” was published in 1902. Plates 7-30 of this important volume contain hymns dedicated to Bêl, Nergal, Adad, Sin, Tammuz, Bau, and Ningirgilu. In addition to the translations provided in this work, the following have also been translated and commented on: J. Dyneley Prince, Jour. Amer. Or. Soc., xxviii, pp. 168-182, a hymn to Nergal (Pl. 14); and a hymn to Sin (also translated and explained in this thesis) by E. Guthrie Perry, in Hymnen und Gebete an Sin (Pl. 17). Currently in press are also translations by J. D. Prince, a hymn to Bau, Vol. XV. Pl. 22 in the Harper Memorial Volume (Chicago); and, by the same author, a hymn to Ningirgilu, Vol. XV. Pl. 23, in the Paul Haupt Collection set to be published in 1908.

All these hymns in Plates 7-30 are unique and unlike anything published before. They are in a single language, which shows they are very old and makes them much harder to translate. This Thesis offers a transliteration, translation, and commentary on four of the hymns that are especially challenging due to their single-language, Non-Semitic nature. We have no information about the history of the tablets in question, which are all in the Old Babylonian script. They must convey their own story.

The author of this thesis would like to express their gratitude for the assistance provided by Dr. John Dyneley Prince, Professor of Semitic Languages at Columbia University, in the preparation of this work.

New York, Oct. 1, 1907

F. A. Vanderburgh

The gods celebrated in the hymns discussed in the following Thesis are Bêl, Sin (Nannar), Adad (Ramman), and Tammuz, all deities from the ancient Babylonian pantheon. They represent different aspects of personality and power, viewed as part of nature and influencing human fate. These gods are referred to in the hymns as follows:

The characteristics and actions of these gods are drawn from a wide variety of sources, starting with royal inscriptions from the pre-dynastic periods and continuing through the inscriptions of the later Babylonian monarchs. In fact, the construction inscriptions of the Babylonians, the military inscriptions of the Assyrians, the legendary stories, the incantations, as well as the religious texts, especially the hymns, provide us with many descriptions—some lengthy and others brief—of all the Babylonian gods.

To help the student more clearly understand the four gods whose hymns are translated in this Thesis, I’m providing a brief description of each deity whose praises are expressed in the documents I’ve chosen to interpret.

Bêl was the oldest of all Babylonian gods and was a well-known deity throughout the historical rise and fall of several Babylonian states, during which no other god gained much recognition. When En-šag-kušanna, the lord of Kêngi, conquered the city of Kîš in northern Babylonia, he brought the spoils of his victory to Bêl. “To Bêl (En-lil), king of the lands, En-šag-kušanna, lord of Kêngi, presented the spoils of Kîš, wicked of heart.”[1] Urukagina, the king of Lagaš, built a temple to Ningirsu, the god of Girsu, but by honoring Ningirsu as the hero of Bêl, he was actually honoring Bêl. “For Ningirsu, the hero of Bêl, Urukagina, king of Širpurla, built his house.”[2] Eannatum, who was patesi of Lagaš and declared himself king of Kîš, refers to himself as the chosen of Bêl: “Eannatum, patesi of Širpurla, chosen of Bêl.”[3] Entemena, referred to in the Vase of Silver as “son of Enanatum,”[4] and who was likely Eannatum's nephew, begins his impressive Cone Inscription with these words: “Bêl, king of the lands, father of the gods.”[5] He also states in the same inscription that he derives his right to rule from Bêl: “Entemena, patesi of Širpurla, to whom Bêl has given a scepter.”[6] Entemena’s Cone also shares details about Mesilim, referring to him as “king of Kîš.”[7] In describing Mesilim's victory over the Gišbanites, a people likely located not far from Kîš, Entemena reveals that the victory was achieved by the command of Bêl: “By the command of Bêl, he (Mesilim) brought a scourge upon them (the Gišbanites); he buried the dead in a field of the land.”[8] For a map showing the supposed location of Gišban, see SSO. p. 158. Lugalzaggisi, a usurper from the north who made himself master of the world in all directions and established a throne at Erech, openly acknowledges the favor of Bêl in his 132-line inscription. “Bêl, king of the lands, granted kingship of the world to Lugalzaggisi, king of Erech.”[9] In this period before Sargon I., Šamaš seems to hold a distinct place in the religious realm but does not receive as much attention as Bêl. He is specifically mentioned in one inscription, namely the Stèle des Vautours, where he is referred to as “Šamaš, the king who dispenses splendor.”[10]

The dating of these early Babylonian rulers is still not precisely established. Their relative ages are primarily determined from paleographic evidence (see EBH. p. 8, for instance), along with attempts to fit together the events revealed by the inscriptions of these rulers into a coherent timeline. Consequently, the entire timeline is adjusted backward or forward or altered internally over time as new evidence emerges for or against the claims of Nabonidus (555-538 B.C.), who, upon finding the tablet of Narâm-Sin, asserted that he was looking at something no one had seen for thirty-two hundred years. Nabonidus states: “I dug to a depth of eighteen cubits, and the foundation of Narâm-Sin, the son of Sargon, which for thirty-two hundred years no king before me had discovered, Šamaš, the great Lord of E-barra, allowed me, even me, to see.”[11] Regarding the supposed connection of these kings to Narâm-Sin, rulers En-šag-kušanna, a king of the south, Urukagina of Lagaš, and Mesilim, a king of Kîš, are dated around 4500 B.C., while Eannatum, Enannatum, and Entemena, consecutive rulers at Lagaš, are placed around 4200 B.C. Lugalzaggisi of Erech is dated at 4000 B.C. It can be noted that Sargon I is dated at 3800 B.C. by adding 3200 to the reign of Nabonidus at 550 B.C. and also including Sargon I's reign of 50 years.

The center of Bêl’s worship was Nippur, a city situated between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, just south of Babylon, ideally located to receive respect from kings from both the north and south of Babylonia. It’s mentioned as early as the time of Entemena, who in one of his inscriptions states: “To Bêl of Nippur by Entemena it was presented.”[12] In the bilingual legend of Creation, Nippur appears to be recognized as a very ancient city. It’s listed first among three ancient cities of Babylonia: “Nippur was not created; E-kur was not built. Erech was not created; E-anna was not built. The abyss was not created; Eridu was not built.”[13] Nippur is clearly older than the worship of Bêl, and the concept of Bêl predates the first king we know of, En-šag-kušanna, who dates back to 4500 B.C.

At Nippur stood the great temple of Bêl, commonly known as E-kur, meaning "house of the mountain," a name that fittingly describes Bêl's shrine sitting atop the mountain-like ziggurrat. Sargon I referred to himself as the builder of Bêl’s temple at Nippur, and his son Narâm-Sin also claimed to be the builder of this temple. Sargon’s inscription, taken from a door-socket found at Nippur, reads: “Šargani-šar-âli, son of Itti-Bêl, the mighty king of Agade, builder of E-kur, temple of Bêl in Nippur.”[14] Narâm-Sin’s inscription, from a brick stamp discovered at Nippur, states: “Narâm-Sin, builder of the temple of Bêl.”[15] Both Sargon and his son did not claim to be the original builders of E-kur. They were merely restoring the temple, much like many other kings. Numerous kings, up until the last king of the last empire, took great pride in renovating temples. There must have been a temple at Nippur when En-šag-kušanna offered the spoils of Kîš to Bêl. Excavations at Nippur indicate that, while there are significant deposits of debris from Sargon and his son above the temple pavements, there is also a substantial layer of debris beneath these pavements, suggesting that the founding of E-kur dates back deep into the obscure times of pre-historic history. Sargon’s bricks were the first to carry a stamp that can be seen as dating them, but they were not the first bricks laid.

The ziggurrat that Ur-Gur, an early king of Ur, built is the first one we have clear records of. We know a bit about the pavement built by Sargon I and Narâm-Sin, but we don’t have any details about the buildings that might have been on this pavement. Ur-Gur leveled the ground and created a new platform that was 8 feet high and measured 100 by 170 feet, which included a ziggurrat with three levels. Some of the facings of his structure were made of fired brick, and they carried the inscription of Ur-Gur (see N. II, 124). The largest temple Nippur ever had was built by an Assyrian king, Ašurbânipal. This structure covered a larger area than any before it. The walls were not plain; they were decorated with square half-columns. The lower terrace was faced with baked brick, stamped with an inscription dedicating the ziggurrat to Bêl, the lord of the lands, by Ašurbânipal, the mighty king, the king of the four quarters of the earth, the builder of E-kur (see N. II, 126).

E-kur, the temple of Bêl at Nippur, as restored based on the findings of the University of Pennsylvania Exploration Fund, consists of two courts: an outer court and an inner court. In the inner court, there stands the ziggurrat, which rises into a tower with three or four levels that the most devoted pilgrims might be able to climb. At the top is an enclosed shrine that holds a statue of Bêl. Here, Bêl and his partner, Bêlit—since Babylonian gods have family relationships like humans—are believed to reside. In figurines, Bêl is depicted as an old man dressed in royal robes, usually holding a thunderbolt in his hand (see N. II, 128). Next to the ziggurrat is a temple designated for the priests. We can reasonably assume that the gathering of pilgrims primarily took place in the outer court (see EBL. 470).

Bêl initially started as a local god, but as the political territory centered around Nippur expanded, so did Bêl's worship. Other cities within the same political region as Nippur acknowledged Bêl as their lord. Bêl served as a kind of war god. Kings competed to gain his favor. The victorious king credited his success to Bêl and offered the spoils to him. The king from the south, whether from Lagaš, Erech, or Ur, and the king from the north, whether from Kîš or Agade, would always travel to Nippur to celebrate their victories. In this way, Bêl’s authority came to be recognized across all of Babylonia and eventually into Assyria. Ḥammurabi, king of Babylon around 2300 B.C., recognized Bêl as "lord of heaven and earth, who determines the destiny of the land,"[16] and Tiglath-pileser I (about 1100 B.C.), the first great Assyrian conqueror, referred to Bêl as "the father of the gods and Bêl of the lands,"[17] and described himself as "appointed to dominion over the country of Bêl."[18]

The Semitic adaptation of En-lil led to some changes in the idea of Bêl. Without mentioning Palestine, there were three versions of Bêl: the Sumerian Bêl, the Semitic Bêl, and the new Bêl or Marduk, who was actually a different god. The Babylonian Bêl, whether in the thoughts of the Sumerian, Babylonian, or Assyrian, always had his base in Nippur.

Under Semitic influence, Bêl became the lord of the world. He was part of a hierarchy of three who ruled the universe: Anu, the lord of the heavens; Bêl, the lord of the earth; and Ea, the lord of the deep. The Sumerian name En-lil identified Bêl as the “lord of fullness.” The Semitic name Bêl emphasized his authority, and the name of his temple, E-kur, meaning “house of the mountain,” highlighted the extent of his dominion. The earth was imagined as a mountain resting on the abyss, and the temple with its ziggurat was built to rise like a mountain from the deep. The people could stand in the court of the temple at Nippur and say of the mountain-like structure:

When Babylon became the main city of all Babylonia, it made sense that its god would be seen as the highest. At this time, political power seemed to shift from the old Bêl to the new one, Marduk. Ḥammurabi, an early king of Babylon, mentions Bêl willingly giving his authority to Marduk. In the Assyrian Creation myth, this transfer is vividly portrayed. Overcoming the monster Tiâmat was originally Bêl's responsibility. However, Marduk, the young god of Eridu and son of Ea, was encouraged to take on the challenge. Once he defeated the monster, the gods celebrated. They competed to honor the victor. Finally, Bêl stepped forward to give him an honor as well. He bestowed on Marduk his own title, saying: “Father Bêl calls Marduk the lord of the world.” Marduk is thus sometimes referred to as the new Bêl, distinguishing him from En-lil, the old Bêl.

The concept of origins isn't really detailed in Babylonian literature. For example, the Babylonians didn't get as close to the idea of creation ex nihilo as the Hebrews did. Their creation story begins with chaos. The sky is filled with stars, some of which move in a predictable way. The moon follows a specific path across the sky. Then, the Babylonian bilingual account of Creation briefly mentions the creation of land and sea, as well as humans and animals. Overall, though, the deity that designed and established order seems to be largely absent. The bilingual account states:

Now, we know that Marduk replaced Bêl, and Bêl passed on his authority to Marduk. In giving up his rights, he must have also transferred his ability to create. If Marduk had the power to create during his rise to fame, Bêl must have had the same ability during his time of greatness, before Marduk took over. This leads us to believe that the early Babylonians viewed Bêl as the creator of animal and human life on earth.

The following hymn can be seen as capturing a legendary perspective of Bêl as the creator, while also including the concept of destruction:

Next, after Bêl, the moon god deserves attention due to the longevity of his worship and his significant influence in Babylonia. The moon god had two Sumerian names, two Assyrian names, and two major temples. The Sumerian name most frequently used for the moon god is Šis-ki, the specific meaning of which is not very clear in this context. If we interpret the two syllables Šis and ki as nouns, one represents the construct state and the other is in the genitive, making the name mean "brother of the land," or "protector of the land," or "helper of the land." The other Sumerian name is En-zu, meaning lord of wisdom, with the understanding of wisdom being closely linked to the physical characteristic of providing light. Thus, while Šis-ki expresses the physical connection of the moon to the earth, En-zu seems to highlight the intellectual connection of the moon god to earthly matters. The first Assyrian name for the moon god is Nannar. The origin of this name is still uncertain. It commonly appears in bilingual texts as the Assyrian equivalent of the Sumerian Šis-ki (see IV R. 9, 3-18). Jastrow suggests that the name Nannar originates from the reduplication of nar, meaning "light," with the first r being adjusted, so Nar + nar = Nannar (see RBA. p. 72). The other Assyrian name, which is more often associated with the moon god at Harran than at Ur, is Sin, denoted by EŠ, which is also used to mean "thirty" and refers to the moon god as the deity associated with the thirty-day month. As the worship of the moon god spread from Ur to Harran, the name Sin also moved into the Arabian peninsula and likely became a regional name in the wilderness. The Assyrian kings of the second empire seemed to favor calling the moon god Sin, while the Semitic Babylonians referred to him as Nannar.

Nannar had a temple in Ur called E-gišširgal and another in Harran known as E-ḥulḥul. Ur was the older of the two temple cities, possibly dating back to 4000 B.C. It had a role in southern Babylonia similar to what Nippur had in northern Babylonia, though it wasn't as ancient as Nippur. Ur served as the religious center in the south with Nannar as the state god, while Nippur was the religious center in the north with Bêl as the state god. When Ḥammurabi unified the southern and northern states, Babylon became the combined religious capital of both, which naturally led to the diminishing of the prominence of the god of Ur as well as that of Nippur. Harran, located on the Euphrates in northern Assyria, never held significant state power but was notable due to the important events that took place there along the route between the east and the west.

Nabonidus, the last Semitic Babylonian king (555-538 B.C.), was a passionate follower of the moon-god. He shares what Ašurbânipal did to the temple of the moon-god at Mugheir. When talking about that temple, he refers to it as the house of Sin, which Ašurbânipal, king of Assyria and son of Esarhaddon, built. Nabonidus himself rebuilt both temples of the moon-god, the temple of E-gišširgal at Ur and the temple of E-ḥulḥul at Harran, and he provides a description of the renovations for both. We also have two prayers from Nabonidus addressed to the moon-god, one at E-gišširgal and the other at E-ḥulḥul (see I R. 68, Col. I, 6 ff. and V R. 64, Col. I, 8 ff.).

The temple ruins of E-gišširgal have been thoroughly revealed. The temple is rectangular, with its four corners facing the four cardinal directions. The base platform is at the same level as the roofs of the surrounding houses, constructed of solid brick masonry and accessible by steps at one end. On the platform are two stages, also made of solid masonry, reached by steps at one end. On the second stage is a shrine dedicated to the moon-god. In artwork, he appears as an elderly man with a long beard, dressed in royal robes. He wears a hat, and there's always a thin crescent depicted in the scene (see Clercq, Vol. I, Plates X-XV). Both Loftus and Taylor have provided drawings of the temple of E-gišširgal (see TR. p. 127 and JRAS. XV, p. 260). However, the ruins of the moon-god's temple at Harran have not yet been excavated enough for the temple layout to be clearly established.

Theologically, Nannar was at the top of the second group of gods. The structure of the universe included the god Anu, the god Bêl, and the god Ea. The structure of heaven consisted of the god Nannar, the god Šamaš, and the god Ištar; specifically, the moon-god, the sun-god, and the star-god. Nannar was placed above Šamaš because Nannar was the god of the ruling city, while Šamaš was the city god of a dependent state. Even though the sun that Šamaš represents is stronger than the moon that Nannar represents, we might expect Šamaš to hold a higher position. The god of the city of Larsa was Šamaš. The god of the city of Ur was Nannar. When Larsa came under the control of Ur, the god of Larsa, Šamaš, was considered the child of the god of Ur, Nannar. The relationship of night to the calendar also indicated that Nannar had a higher rank than Šamaš. The day began at evening, not in the morning. The sun was also seen as the offspring of night, emerging from it in the morning. Kings, aware of this fact, often referred to Šamaš as the child of the god Sin. The rising of the moon at night to illuminate the darkness impressed the Babylonians with the moon's power. The moon's phases of waxing and waning left a similar impression on the Babylonian mind. The consistent changes of the moon and its influence on the tides also showed it to be a way to mark time. Lastly, the moon’s position among the stars gave it a regal presence.

Nannar’s national influence was similar to that of Bêl. Geographically, he represented southern Babylonia, while Bêl was the main deity of northern Babylonia. When Marduk became the patron god of Babylon, Bêl and Nannar retained their roles as patron gods, but under Marduk's authority. They didn’t lose their influence as supreme deities, each in their own domain—Bêl as the god of the earth and Nannar as the god of the moon. Bêl ruled the earth while Nannar, by his light, helped produce life on it. Bêl was the guiding force of life on earth, and Nannar was the creator of life, forming the child in the womb. Both were superhuman in power and wisdom. Thus Ḥammurabi: “My words are powerful. If someone ignores my words, may Bêl, the lord who decides destinies, whose command cannot be changed, who has expanded my rule, drive him out of his home. May Sin, the lord of heaven, my divine creator, whose sword shines among the gods, take away his crown and throne of power.”[23]

No god in the Babylonian mindset combined all the qualities of divinity. So, it wasn’t unusual for Babylonians to worship two gods like Bêl and Nannar, or even more. There was a tolerance for all gods; each was seen as operating within his own sphere, and these spheres didn’t necessarily conflict with each other. One god might be more significant than another based on the importance of the sphere where his influence was felt or the political power of the area under the special guidance of a particular god. Babylonian worship can’t be strictly labeled as polytheistic in a crude sense, nor had it evolved to the higher ideal of monotheism. It’s more accurately described as henotheistic worship, where there’s a pantheon of gods whose local and universal claims didn’t lead their followers to war against each other.

There is a truly excellent bilingual hymn dedicated to Nannar. The colophon states that it was copied by the chief scribe of Ašurbânipal from an older version. I believe it is an extension of the hymn to Nannar that this Thesis provides a transliteration, translation, and commentary for. For this reason, I now include the following translation:

This Ašurbânipal hymn is notable for its sophisticated concepts. In the first part of the hymn, it introduces the mythological idea of a bull’s head in the moon, with horns and a flowing hazel-colored beard, symbolizing strength and brilliance. The hymn then shifts into straightforward language, attributing a wide range of divine qualities to the god Nannar. He is recognized as the sovereign god, a self-created deity, a merciful god, the creator of all life, the sustainer of the world’s existence, the giver of gifts to humanity, and the builder of homes; he determines destinies, delivers judgment, provides water to people, and supplies them with plant-based food. He holds a unique and elevated status in both heaven and earth, above all other beings. The angels of heaven and spirits of earth bow before him, and at his command, the forces of nature carry out their incredible tasks.

The storm god is represented by the Sumerian symbol Im. In the El-Amarna tablets (1500 B.C.), the sign IMMU is read as Adad, a name related to the Syrian Hadad. Oppert believes Adad is the god's oldest name, and it seems to be a foreign equivalent of Im. The Assyrian name Ramman serves as a temporary name meaning "thunderer," which is probably just an epithet. The sign IMMU also has the value Mer, which is surely the original and true name of the god, also appearing as Immer. The central idea in the name revolves around wind, then rain, and finally thunder and lightning. The god isn't like Nannar, but rather a force, which is then personified and referred to as a person. Ḥammurabi places him in the second triad of gods, where he is the third member, with Sin being the first and Šamaš the second. Typically, Ištar occupies the third position in that triad. In that case, Ramman is outside of the triad and ranks seventh in importance among all the gods. The order is as follows: Anu, Bêl, Ea, Sin, Šamaš, Ištar, Adad (Ramman). As a Babylonian god, Ramman's name was common in literature during Ḥammurabi's time. He is called upon in Ḥammurabi's Code, alongside other gods, in his role as the storm god. So, it states: “If a man ignores my words, may Adad, the lord of abundance, the ruler of heaven and earth, my helper, withhold rain from the sky and floodwaters from the springs! May he ruin his land with drought and hunger! May he rage over his city and turn his land into a pile left by a whirlwind!”[24] With the kings of the Cassite dynasty, Ramman seems to have been favored. His name appears alongside Šamaš, and he is referred to as the divine lord of justice. In the Babylonian dynasty of kings, Nebuchadnezzar I addresses Ramman as the great lord of heaven, the master of the underground waters and rain, whose curse is invoked against anyone who ignores Nebuchadnezzar's decrees or defaces his monument.

Ramman is considered to be more genuinely an Assyrian god than a Babylonian one. He is nearly as cherished by the Assyrians as the god Ašur. However, historical records do not provide any early references to his name in Assyria. We know that he had a place of worship in Damascus, and his cult was popular in the plain of Jezreel. His name appears in Hebrew, mistakenly written as “Rimmon” after the text was vocalized Masoretically, which is identical to the Hebrew word for pomegranate. In Assyria, we can trace his history to some extent through inscriptions where his name is part of the compound names of kings. For example, we find his name in the name of the ancient Assyrian king Šamaš-Ramman, and an inscription from Tiglath-pileser I reveals that Šamaš-Ramman built a temple for the god Ramman. This provides historical evidence that the cult of Ramman predates this king, who reigned around 1820 B.C. We don’t know how much older it might be. Jastrow believes that the cult originated in Assyria.

Between the time of Šamaš-Ramman and Tiglath-pileser I, the worship of Ramman seems to have declined a bit, as the temple of Ramman in the city of Aššur appears to have remained unrepaired from the days of Šamaš-Ramman until Tiglath-pileser rebuilt it. Tiglath-pileser claims that the temple had been in decay for six hundred and forty years since its founding. Later, King Ašurdan completely demolished it. Sixty years after its total destruction, Tiglath-pileser reconstructed the temple. He states that at the start of his reign, the great gods Anu and Adad called for him to restore their sacred abode. "I made bricks and cleared the ground until I reached the flat terrace where the old temple used to stand. I established its foundation on solid rock and encased the entire structure with bricks like a fireplace, covering it with a layer of fifty bricks thick and building on that the foundations of the temple of Anu and Adad using large square stones. I constructed it from the ground up, larger and more magnificent than before, and also erected two great temple towers… fitting ornaments for their mighty divinities." [25] After Tiglath-pileser, there don't seem to be many mentions of temples for Ramman, but the god himself is frequently referenced in the inscriptions of the kings. Sargon II named one of the eastern gates of his temple “Ramman the producer of abundance.” Ašurbânipal lists thirteen gods he honors as the great gods, placing Ramman fifth on that list.

Ramman's most valued role was granting blessings. The rains at the right levels were a gift for the land, filling the canals and nourishing the soil. Hammurabi calls Ramman the lord of abundance and his supporter. Tiglath-Pileser I prays for blessings of prosperity, as he does to Adad: “May Anu and Adad genuinely turn to me and accept graciously the raise of my hand, listen to my sincere prayers, grant me and my rule lots of rain, years of prosperity, and abundant harvests.”[26] Ashurbanipal describes the blessings he receives from this god: “Ramman unleashed his showers, and Ea opened his springs; the grain grew to five yards tall, and the ears were five-sixths of a yard long. The land produced abundantly, and the fruit trees yielded plentifully.”[27] The reference to Anu and Ea alongside Ramman is due to their ability to create water, with Ea symbolizing the depths of water and Anu representing the sky with its rain clouds.

The most obvious role of Ramman was that of destruction. In this role of judgment, he is linked with Šamaš. The connection is based on the fact that Ramman's lightning is like Šamaš's daylight; thus, as the god of lightning, Ramman holds the title birḳu. Lightning and heavy rain were, due to their destructive nature, terrifying forces, and when kings wanted to curse an enemy or their land, they turned to Ramman in their invocations, as seen with Ramman-Nirari I. regarding anyone who might try to erase the record of Ramman-Nirari's name: “May Ramman overwhelm him with a terrible storm, may flood, destruction, wind, rebellion, revolution, tempest, want and famine, drought and hunger be ever present in his land. May he descend upon his land like a flood. May he turn it into mounds and ruins. May Ramman strike his land with a devastating bolt.”[28]

Some Babylonian composer has highlighted the frightening aspect of Ramman's character in a bilingual hymn as follows:

There is a fascination with the life of Tammuz that isn't found when thinking about the other gods of Babylonia. He appears to be portrayed to us as if he were a real person.

Our first paragraph may describe him as a resident of one of the ancient cities in southern Babylonia. He lived in Eridu, situated on the banks of the Euphrates River. His official title is sun-god, and his job is to nurture the growth of plants. His father was Ea, the lord of Eridu, responsible for overseeing the waters of the river that the city was built on. Tammuz had a mother named Davkina, who was the mistress of the vine. He also had a sister named Belili, whose role was similar to Tammuz’s in caring for plant growth. Tammuz was engaged to the well-known and deceitful Ištar, the goddess of love, represented by the evening star; she ruled over the neighboring city of Erech, which is slightly to the northwest and across the Euphrates. Tammuz’s life in Eridu was romantic, but it ended in tragedy. There’s a short poem that paints a picture of his home. It describes a garden, a sacred space, filled with lush trees whose roots reached deep into the waters overseen by Ea. His bed was set beneath the rich vines that his mother tended. That was where Tammuz lived, and there was his shrine. His leafy home in his youth symbolized the realm where his power was to be exercised. His true home was in the sky, as the energy for plant growth comes from the warmth of the sun above. However, his connection to the heavens had been forgotten, except for memories found in legends. In the legend of Adapa, for example, there’s a hint of it. Tammuz and his friend Gišzida are seen ascending to heaven, where they are given roles as gatekeepers at Anu’s house; in heaven, they truly belong.

The story of Tammuz's descent into the underworld suggests that he died, but the accounts don't directly say how he died or what caused his death. We might imagine that his death happened in Eridu before the mourning rituals became a cult celebrated at the court of Sargon of Akkad, where a temple for Tammuz was built after northern Babylonia came to dominate southern Babylonia. The actual reason for his death was that he couldn't keep plant growth going steadily. The heat of the sun became too strong as summer progressed, overpowering Tammuz's influence on plant life. The intense summer heat made plants lose their vibrant color; then decay began to set in; gradually, the land started to look like it did before Tammuz had the power to revive the grass and the budding fruit of early spring. So, Tammuz was sent to the underworld. Poetically, his entry into the realm of the dead was linked to Ištar’s role in his life. She had many lovers and betrayed them all. Her betrayal of Tammuz was her failure to support him as a great mother in nurturing life on earth. If she had aided his efforts and helped the earth continue to produce, countering the deadly summer heat and the destructive southern winds, the gardens and orchards under Tammuz’s care would have thrived continuously, and Gilgameš would never have had to accuse Ištar.

Also, there had never been a song of mourning.

According to another story about Tammuz's fate, Ištar was overcome by sudden and intense passion, and in a moment of anger for not obeying her command, she struck him down, just like she crushed the allallu bird she adored:

Also, as she looked away from the lion:

The origin of the practice of mourning for Tammuz is an intriguing legend. When Ištar killed her lover, she hurried, like the setting evening star, to the underworld in search of waters to bring him back to life. She searched for a long time, traveling through all the parts of Hades. The story doesn’t provide details about her finding Tammuz, but instead, it presents a scene of his burial:

A scene of mourning for Tammuz is also presented, which can be seen as the original lament, with all other summer solstice weepings being anniversaries of this original one. His sister is there grieving:

And a large group of mourners sing sad songs accompanied by the flute and follow the guidance that Tammuz, even in death, seems to be providing right then and there:

Of course, the story isn’t finished and the cycle of events isn’t complete without the resurrection of Tammuz. In a Chaldaean intaglio, there’s an image of Tammuz rejuvenated on Ištar’s knees (see Clercq Vol. I, Plate IX, No. 83). Some versions of the story must include his return to the earth, and the full period of mourning must have occasionally been accompanied by a celebration in which the idea of resurrection was important.

Though the original mourning was an expression of sadness for Tammuz's death, the fully developed ceremony reflected several poignant ideas. It included sacrifices and offerings of wine. In Babylonia, the commemoration was held every year on the second day of the fourth month, known as the month of Tammuz. It wasn't just about mourning for the dead Tammuz, but also for the dead vegetation. The dying leaf had a mourner. The withered stalk had a sympathetic friend. A tear was shed for the withered blade of grass. A cry of sympathy arose for the barren tree, stripped of its golden leaves and delicious fruit. The ceremony expressed the sadness that overcame the people as the oppressive summer heat weighed down on them, reducing the water supply and extinguishing plant life, making human existence nearly unbearable due to the deprivation and heat. The time for mourning was also an opportunity to express personal sorrow that lies in almost every heart. The wail of anguish provided relief to souls burdened with their own unique griefs. The soul found solace in raising its voice to some form of elegy. It felt like lifting the burden of guilt off the chest. The ceremony also included moments of confession. However, it was performed with the awareness that the summer drought was only temporary, and that a period of happier times would follow, as the coming winter would give way to a new spring.

Tammuz was meant to leave the land when spring growth was finished and return the next year. He is seen as dead, but his death isn’t final. He guides the mourners on what to do as they gather around his bier. Some references suggest he is also like a lord in the depths of the earth, preparing the inner earth to produce new vegetation when spring arrives. Thus, the hymn to Tammuz in this Thesis refers to him as “the generator of the lower world.” His connection with his friend Gišzida further supports the idea of his resurrection. To energize his work, he still keeps his identity as the sun-god, and once again is given a place in heaven, as shown in the Adapa legend:

The story of Tammuz seems to have captured the imagination and sympathy of people everywhere. The Babylonians reportedly continued to mourn for Tammuz for a very long time. Similar tales to the Tammuz legend appeared around the same time in the histories of the Phoenicians, Hebrews, Greeks, and Egyptians, most of these stories sharing a common origin; even if they originated from different sources, they mainly combine into one narrative. It’s said that in the Phoenician town of Gebal, along the Mediterranean route from the east to the west, there’s an annual mourning for their sun-god, the beloved Aštoreth, who was killed by a cruel hand, just as spring's greenery is cut down by the hot winds of summer. The women, pulling their hair, marring their faces, and cutting their breasts, cried out to heaven: “O my brother!” This cry, carried across the sea via Cyprus, is said to have reached Greece, where it took form in the story of Adonis and Aphrodite. However, the Greek story may have its own roots. Adonis lost his life while hunting, pierced in the thigh by a wild boar's tusk. After his death, he gained favor with Persephone, who eventually relented to the pleas of the grieving Aphrodite, allowing Adonis to spend half the year with his heavenly mistress and the other half with his infernal one. The practice of annual mourning for a loved one among the Hebrews can be partially inferred from mentions in the Scriptures. Zechariah refers to the famous mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon, and Amos speaks of the custom of mourning for an only son. Ezekiel notes that the Lord brought him to Jehovah’s house “and behold, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz.” Jeremiah goes further, providing the refrain used in the lament: “Ah me! Ah my brother!” The parallel story in Egypt featured the god Osiris, who, representing goodness, was slain by an enemy and became the judge of the dead, though his spirit remained alive among men.

This piece is a song of praise to Bêl, who is directly addressed. His name, Mu-ul-lil, shows up in 14 of the 25 lines of the song, where he is specifically referred to as "father," a title that appears 8 times.

The god is addressed in the second person, as seen in line 16, where za-e, the second person personal pronoun, is used for him, and also in the second person pronominal form, za-da, found in lines 18 and 19, as well as in other less noticeable symbols of the second person singular.

The hymn includes many praise-filled descriptions of Bêl's divine nature and role. It emphasizes his fatherhood and lordship. He is portrayed as a just and all-knowing father. His dominion stretches not just over the land but also into the skies. He provides for all living creatures, acting as the organizer of cities and nations. He also oversees natural events in the atmosphere, being the terror of the heavens, the master of the gods, the source of fear for birds and fish, and the guide of storms (or stars).

The exact time when this hymn originated is uncertain. The shape of the signs provides some clues. What the early kings say about Bêl also sheds light on the topic. These signs are, of course, newer than the picture-writing of hieroglyphs and also more recent than the linear script used for stone. Since these signs are made in clay, they have a wedge shape. The design of the signs used here has changed somewhat since the era of hieroglyphs, but it hasn't yet evolved into the refined and symmetrical style created by the Assyrians. In short, the signs in this hymn are old Babylonian, nearly identical to those found in the inscriptions of Eannatum, Entemena, Gudea, and Ḥammurabi. However, there are some later and even New-Babylonian signs among them, which may suggest transcription after the original composition.

There is no mention of any city in the hymn, as there is in the hymn to Sin, but this hymn likely originated in Nippur, which was the major religious center of Babylonia in the pre-dynastic period, when kings credited their successes to Bêl and brought their spoils to Nippur, calling Bêl “the lord of the lands.”

ù-mu-un means "being lord," where ù translates to "lord" and mu-un translates to "being." ù-mu-un is a phonetic version of umun = bêlu, (Br. 9475). The term umun is sometimes represented ideographically by the sign GIGURÛ, the corner wedge (Br. 8659), which signifies "depress," "overpower," "be powerful," or "rule." umun can be shortened to u, mun, or un, giving GIGURÛ three meanings for "lord": u, un, and umun. umun, which is ES, has an EK value, ugun. In line 17, we will encounter another word for "lord"; namely, ga-šá-an.

ù: the sign IGI-DIBBU by itself means “lord.” It has a well-known Assyrian equivalent, labâru, which means “be old” (Br. 9464). Brummer explains the sign accurately as follows: IGI-DIBBU is a compound sign that combines ŠI, “eye,” with LU, “take away,” thus the meaning is “take away the eye,” “become old,” “elderly,” “lord” (SVA. 2-7).

mu-un, which shortens to mun, is related to me-en, meaning bašû, “to be,” as in za-e-me-en (Br. 10404). We will encounter the form mu-un as a verb prefix.

mu here is just a dialectical form of me (MSL., p. 240). mu as a Sumerian value is recognized by the sign-name MU. We will encounter MU in the name Mu-ul-lil, as well as a suffix and in other contexts. The MU in our text is from Old Babylonian. It is the MU of Ur-Gur and Gudea (see brick of Ur-Gur, No. 90009, CT. XXI, and Gudea’s Cylinder A, Col. XVIII, line 27, in Déc. 36).

un is clearly related to en, which is often shown by the sign ÊNU. We'll encounter the sign UN again with the value kalama. The UN in our text is a very old sign (see Cone of Eannatum, Col. I, CT. XXI, Tablet 30062).

na-àm-zu-ka consists of noun, na-àm-zu, and postposition ka.

na-àm-zu is an abstract noun made up of the abstract prefix na-àm and the root zu.

na-àm is equivalent to šîmtu, meaning “fortune” (Br. 1609 and HW. 654), and is a dialectical variation of nam (Br. 2103), which is a standard abstract prefix.

na is a Sumerian value representing the sign NANÛ. The value is just syllabic here. The sign originally meant “stone.” Our 25 NA appears in both ancient Babylonian tablets and in New-Babylonian inscriptions.

àm (ES) is also only syllabic here. The symbol has the EK value ag and is used ideographically.

zu: the symbol for zu has only one meaning, which is quite rare in Sumerian. zu means “know” or “be wise,” and it can be compared to nîmeḳu, meaning “wisdom” (Br. 136), but the author chose to express it as na-àm-zu, meaning “the fortune of wisdom.”

ka, sign-name KÂGU, is a suffix that indicates possession. The sign KÂGU (discussed below) is often used this way, but it has several meanings and is used to convey many ideas; ka as a suffix is a dialectal form of ge(KIT).

še-ir-ma-al is ES for the EK nir-gal, with š changing to n and m to g (MSL. p. XI). It is translated into Assyrian as etellu. še-ir-ma-al consists of two parts: the stem še-ir and the suffix ma-al. Specifically, še-ir means “lord,” and še-ir-ma-al means “lordship.”

še-ir: e and i generally sound different, but they merge, just like the two u’s come together in mu-un, forming mun, and as the two a’s merge in na-àm, creating nam. Clearly, the weaker sound is taken over by the stronger one, so še-ir becomes šêr, meaning “ruler”, which could be indicated by NISIGÙ (JA., 1905, p. 113, also Br. 4306).

še is possibly a Semitic term derived from šê’u, meaning “grain.” The original symbol is an illustration of a grain head, like wheat or oats. The name of the symbol is Û-UM. The symbol appears in line 20 as an ideogram.

ir is also the Semitic value of the sign GAḲ-GUNÙ. We will see the sign used as a verb meaning kamû, “bind”.

ma-al, phonetically written as mal, is a suffix that adds to šêr the concept of “having”; therefore, še-ir-ma-al translates to “having rule.”

ma: we will find MAMÛ mostly used as a noun, but it can also appear as a verbal prefix or as a phonetic complement.

al: the sign has just one value, al, which is mostly used in a syllabic way. The name of the sign is ALLU.

nì-te-na: nì-te is the main word with na as a suffix.

nì-te: nì and te are connected as object and related verb, meaning “fear a fear.” The connection between nì and te is evident because the sign for nì, known as IMMU, can also represent tu (see Br. 8355), making the object and verb tu-te, “fear a fear” (see Fossey in JA., 1905, p. 128). nì-te can also mean “self,” just as nì can represent not just “fear” but also what causes fear, such as Rammânu, “the storm-god,” and then mistakenly associate with ramânu, “self.”

nì: the sign IMMU is one of the main signs that originally denoted “the quarter of the heavens.” It is used to represent “storm” and many concepts related to storms.

te: TÊMMÊNU originally meant “orientation”, then “to approach aggressively”; hence nì-te meant “approach of storm”.

na is an uncertain suffix, but the context indicates that it means “your,” so nì-te-na means “yourself” (see na above).

^dimmer: the symbol AN here represents dimmer. In the significant bilingual penitential Psalm, K. 2811 (IV R. plate 10), instead of just the symbol AN, we see the spelling dim-me-er (see lines 3, 7 and others). If this were an EK composition, the symbol AN could be dingir, di-in-gir, but in the terms ù-mu-un and še-ir-ma-al that we’ve previously encountered, we find evidence that this is an ES composition, so AN here should be interpreted as dimmer.

Mu-ul-lil: Bêl is referred to by only one name in this hymn; that is, Mul-lil. In the two tablets, 29644 and 29623, that follow this one, Bêl is called En-lil (refer to the colophons). The term Mu-ul-lil breaks down into two parts: Mu-ul, which shortens to Mul, and lil.

Mu-ul: Mul is ES; En is EK. Both Mul and En mean “lord,” so either Mul-lil or En-lil means “lord of fullness.” It's likely that mul (wul) is related to en (el).

mu (as a value is discussed in line 1).

ul: the symbol consists of GÊŠPU and GUṬṬU. The value ul is Semitic. Later in this text, we will encounter this symbol with the value rù, which means “perfect.”

lil: the name of the sign is KÎTU. lil in magical texts means “demon,” referring to a spirit that can be either good or bad. Initially, the sign represented “structure,” which led to its postpositional use with the value ge. šâru, meaning “wind,” with the value lil is a secondary meaning of the sign.

ù-mu-un na-àm-zu-ka (occurring in line 1, was discussed there). The fragments after -ka don’t provide a clear indication of what the signs were before they were erased. After ^dimmer Mu-ul-lil, it’s possible that the entire second line was exactly like the first.

she-is-my-nature (explained in __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

a-a likely stands for ad-da, with ad meaning "protector." It's uncertain exactly why a-a is used instead of ad-da. The explanation might be connected to the relationship between "water," "seed," and "father." a-a also appears to be a softened version of ad-da. a means "seed" or more fundamentally "water." The symbol is an ideographic representation of dripping water.

^dimmer Mu-ul-lil (explained in __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

ù-mu-un-e breaks down into the word ù-mu-un and the extending vowel e, which might have a demonstrative meaning (see e later on).

ù-mu-un doesn't appear elsewhere in this hymn as ù-mu-un-e, but ù-mu-un shows up nine times.

kur-kur-ra is the plural form of the noun kur, along with the postposition ra.

kur-kur: In Sumerian, the usual way to indicate plurals in nouns is by repeating the root (see ASK. p. 140), while a repeated root in a verb signifies an intensified or causative form. There are five other instances of root doubling in the hymn: di-di, line 7, ma-ma, line 8, ir-ir, line 13, má-má, line 20; and da-da, line 23.

kur: the sign KÛRU in the old linear form depicted "mountain tops." The value kur has three common Assyrian equivalents: šadû, meaning "mountain"; irṣitu, meaning "earth"; and mâtu, meaning "land," all of which are closely related.

ra is a common postposition meaning “to.” Sometimes, ra acts just as a prolongation vowel, with the r also doubling the final consonant of the preceding word. In this case, ra is referred to as a phonetic complement, and it helps define the value of the sign right before it. For example, when the sign KÙRU is followed by RARÛ, it cannot be read as gin or mad. Additionally, ra can also indicate the genitive (Br. 6367).

a-a ^dimmer Mu-ul-lil ù-mu-un (explained in lines __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__, __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_1__ and __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_2__).

dug-ga: dug is the value of KÂGU to be used here, as is immediately indicated by the phonetic complement ga.

dug: a very common meaning of dug is ḳibîtu, “command” (Br. 532).

ga is just the prolonged vowel a with the final g from the previous stem.

zi-da: zi followed by da suggests it should be pronounced zid, with da acting as a phonetic addition. However, a final consonant in the first syllable isn't always required. The name of the temple of Nabu at Borsippa is pronounced as È-zi-da or È-zida, not È-zid-da.

zi here means imnu, “right”. It can also mean napištu (see below, line 25).

siba equals rê’û (Br. 5688). The symbol is made up of PA and LU and means “staff-bearer,” since PA signifies “staff” and LU means “hold” or “seize.” The use of the symbol is almost entirely limited to the idea of a shepherd of animals and then, figuratively, to that of a governor of people.

sag: the symbol with the value sag, known as SANGU or SAGGU, is the standard sign used to indicate “head,” which is expressed in Assyrian either as rêšu or ḳaḳḳadu (see Br. 3522 and 3513). This sign appears in many combinations.

gig-ga: gig is the value of MI suggested by the sound addition ga.

gig: the sign consists of the corner wedge U and the sign TATTAB, and it means “darkness.” The sign really signifies “falling into depression.” gi might be a dialect variation of mi.

ga = phonetic complement, sag gig-ga refers to a race of men, likely the Babylonians, the people specifically ruled by Bêl. The term is certainly not derogatory. It just indicates that the Babylonians had darker skin. On the other hand, “blackheaded” might be meant to describe the human race living on earth, as opposed to the bright celestial beings (see CDAL. 878). Cyrus, in his Broken Cylinder, seems to use this phrase to refer to the Babylonians. He says: nišê ṣal-mat ḳaḳḳadi šá ú-šá-ak-ši-du ḳa-ta-a-šu. “The blackheaded people whom he caused his hands to conquer” (V R. 35, 13).

i-de, the phonetic spelling of ide, is represented in the EK dialect by the sign IGÛ, which has the value igi. In Assyrian, this means înu, “eye” (Br. 4004, 4003, and 9273). ide is ES for the EK igi. We find the sign IGÛ in the colophon where it appears with ÂU, “water”, making a-ide mean “water of the eye”.

i is represented by GIṬṬÛ (“five”). The value i, however, is entirely syllabic here. Notice there’s a slight difference between the Babylonian GIṬṬÛ and the Assyrian GIṬṬÛ. In Assyrian, GIṬṬÛ has two wedges followed by three. In Babylonian, it has three followed by two, and in its linear form, the sign consists of three horizontal lines followed by two (see AL. p. 125, No. 105).

de represented by IZÛ and valued at bil means “fire.” The sign in its hieroglyphic form probably depicts the act of building a fire by rubbing an instrument against a piece of wood. Therefore, the sign is properly made up of AM and GIŠ, with AM representing something that has a head and GIŠ meaning “wood.” The sign in our text is from the old Babylonian period and can be found in Gudea 29 (Cylinder B, Col. IV, line 13, in Déc. Plate 34). It’s possible that i-de could be interpreted as if i were an abstract prefix and de referred to the light of the eye, thus i-de means “eye.”

gaba is the common term for irtu, which means “breast” (Br. 4477). The sign GABBU is a double MU-sign that signifies “fulness.” From this concept of “fulness,” we can easily infer the idea of “open” (Br. 4490). Therefore, ide gaba means “open-eyed.” The two MU’s appear completely separate in the Babylonian version of the sign, unlike in the Assyrian version (see TC. p. 18). Our GABBU is not as old as the GABBU of the Stèleo des Vauturs, but it is similar to Gudea’s GABBU (see Cylinder A, Cob XXI, line 25, in Déc. Plate 34). i-de gaba is roughly equivalent to “omniscient.”

nì-te-na can be interpreted as in line 1, "yourself," or we might say "only."

ama: the meaning of AMMU with the value ama is rîmu, “bull”. AMMU can mean “lord”, bêlu (Br. 4543). In the sign AMMU, we have the hieroglyphs for the bull’s head and the mountain combined. In the oldest Babylonian form, lines are used instead of wedges. In Assyrian, the sign is simplified to two horizontal wedges placed before the sign DÛGU. AMMU represents “the bull of the mountains”. In line 9 we will have the sign GUṬṬU which represents “the bull not of the mountains,” i.e., “the domestic bull” or “the ox.” The sign is the same in form as AMMU, except that the small inside wedges representing the mountains are missing.

erim-na: erim is considered the correct value instead of laḥ, due to the following na which acts as a phonetic complement, with m and n being closely related because of their similar ambiguous nasal qualities.

erim has a meaning that fits the context. erim must be the equivalent of the Assyrian ṣâbu, which, like the Hebrew ṣābā, carries the idea of “service.” Expressions like the following highlight the concept of “service”: erim-bal-ku-a, “slave working at the water wheel” (OBTR. Plate 91, Obv.). erim-bal-gub-ba, “slave who carries a hatchet” (OBTR. Plate 17, Obv.). A common meaning for erim is “warrior,” but this refers to a soldier rather than a general. From the idea of a “soldier of the enemy,” we arrive at the notion of “enemy,” which appears to be the meaning here.

na, while serving phonetically, is also a pronoun suffix here.

di-di can equal kašâdu (Br. 9529 and 9563). The judgment implied by di-di may therefore be one executed on an enemy. 30 di-di is more than just pronouncing a sentence. It involves carrying out the punishment.

di might be a term taken from the Assyrian dânu, meaning “to judge,” but this is not certain since such a connection suggests Semitic influence, which likely wouldn't have been significant if this hymn was composed in a very early timeframe.

ù-nê-la equals noun ù-nê = emûḳu, “power” and phonetic complement la.

ù: IGI-DIBBU might be confused with ḤUL. It's written a bit carelessly here. ù, as we've seen in line 1, can mean “lord” in the sense of being “elderly.” ù might also mean “mountain”; if that's the case, it would refer to an “ancient mountain.” However, in this context, ù must be an abstract prefix (MSL. p. XVII). For instance, ù is used as a prefix with tu, with ù-tu meaning “offspring” (Br. 9470).

nê: PIRIḲḲU transitions from the old Babylonian version that we have in our text and undergoes significant changes. The version in our text is quite close to the oldest known form. Even in Ḥammurabi's time, it starts to resemble the Assyrian PIRIḲḲU (see CḤ. XLIV. 24. Plate LXXXI). PIRIḲḲU, with the value gir, which is EK for the ES ner, is the standard symbol for “foot” (Br. 9192). When it signifies “power,” it typically holds the value nê (Br. 9184).

la: LALÛ here is essentially the same as the old linear representation found in ancient Sumerian writing, also described by Delitzsch (see AL. p. 122, No. 31). la means “fullness,” similar to the Assyrian lalû, but its usage in our text is purely phonetic. We would actually expect ra here. Note that in line 10, we have ra where we would expect la, and in line 12, we have da-ma-al-la where the la is regular, just as ra is regular in kur-kur-ra of line 3.

ma-ma: MAMÛ in its original form is an ancient symbol representing the earth, so “earth” or “the land” is a typical meaning for ma and is similar to the Assyrian mâtu, which likely comes from Sumerian ma, meaning “land,” and da, meaning “strong” = DADDU (see line 1 for further comment).

ama, which in line 7 was translated as “lord,” must mean “bull” here, since the word nà-a restricts us to this meaning. nà-a means 31 “pasture.” nà-a could be understood as an adjective that describes the bull’s behavior, like lying down quietly. We see nà-a again in line 14. a is just phonetic in this context (see line 3).

nà: the sign for the value nà doesn’t have a specific sign-name. In almost this form, the sign can be easily found in Gudea's text (see Cylinder B, Col. XVI, line 19, in Déc. 35). The form in our text is very close to the original linear form and is quite different from the Assyrian version. The usual meaning of nà is provided by the Assyrian rabâṣu, which means “lie down,” and is related to the Hebrew rābăṣ.

gù, the value here for GUṬṬU, is usually represented in Assyrian as alpu “ox.” The sign depicts the head of a bull with horns. Traditionally, the sign has three variations: the old Babylonian linear form, the old Babylonian wedge-form, and the Assyrian wedge-form. The old Babylonian linear and wedge-forms are identical, except that wedges appear in the latter where there are simple straight lines in the former. The Assyrian form consists of two horizontal wedges, one upright wedge, and two small corner wedges (AL. p. 128, No. 164). The distinction between GUṬṬU and AMMU is important (see note on line 7).

ne-sig: ne-sig-ga means kamû, “bind” (Br. 4626). The meaning “bind” is appropriate here.

ne is a common uncertain verbal prefix (see MSL. p. XXIX).

sig = PA, likely with the value sig, may equal kamû (Br. 5575). Therefore, ne-sig is a verb, with ne as the prefix and sig as the stem.

gan-nu: the value gan is shown by the following nu.

gan with complementary nu is shown here by an ancient form of the sign that is quite different from the Assyrian version. The meaning here should be understood as daḥâdu, “plenty,” related to alidu (IV R. 9, 24a).

ki: the KIKÛ in our text is New-Babylonian (see the Cyrus Cylinder, I R. 35, line 4). The early linear form is clearly shown by the wedge shape of Ḥammurabi (CḤ. Col. I, line 10, plate I). An attempt to depict the earth was likely made in the archaic linear form. It's important to note that space is conventionally represented by parallel horizontal lines within a rectangle, oriented to the four cardinal directions.

^dimmer Mu-ul-lil (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__ for notes).

nin in the sense of bêlu, “lord”, provides a good context.

ḳar-ra equals the noun ḳar and the postposition ra; ḳar means “plenty” (see MSL. 123). The text, however, may be dam-ḳar-ra.

Note that ra can be used as a postposition for the genitive and also as a phonetic complement (see on line 3).

ki (see on __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

damal-ra means adjective plus postposition.

damal, ES for the EK dagal, meaning rapšu, “extensive” (Br. 5452). The sign name is AMÛ. The sign consists of two signs, one inside the other: PISANNU, “house”, as the outer sign, and ANÛ, “high”, as the inner sign, which conveys the meaning “large space”, “extensive”.

ù-mu-un (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__ for more info).

mu-ud-na can mean “creator” or “begetter,” just like muḥ-na corresponds to the Assyrian a-lid (IV R. 9, 32a). mu-ud is a phonetic representation of the word mud, which is represented by the sign MUŠÊN-DUGÛ, ḤU plus ḤI (Br. 2273). The word mud is equivalent to the Assyrian banû (Br. 2274).

dú: here we need to rely on the meaning to choose a form that can be read as either KAK or NI. KAK, with the value du equivalent to banû (Br. 5248), fits well with the surrounding context. In their original forms, KAK, NI, and IR are similar but completely different symbols. In the ancient linear style, KAK is a triangle with one angle pointing to the right. NI is a triangle with one angle pointing to the right and an upright line going through it. IR is also a triangle with one angle pointing to the right and two upright lines going through it.

sag-ma-al is made up of the noun sag plus the suffix ma-al. It could represent sag-ga just like sag-mal can represent sag-ga (Br. 3595). sag means “head” (as in line 5). ma-al: if ma-al is seen as a suffix (as in line 1), it represents the sign PISANNU, which means šakânu, “establish”, or bašû, “exist”, and is ES for the EK gal.

ki (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

ù-mu-un (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__ for note).

zal: NI means “oil.” The Babylonian KAK, NI, and IR should be distinguished from the Assyrian. In Assyrian, the horizontal wedges are parallel and do not come to a point on the right.

laḥ-na: zal laḥ-na means “his shining oil”, and it suggests that Bêl provides food to support future generations. His oil is like nourishment for many generations. 33 zal-laḥ is similar to the phrase “finest oil” found in Assyrian inscriptions.

laḥ: the signs ḤISSU and ṢÂBU come closest to each other in the value laḥ. Both signs have this value with the meaning “brightness”.

na is a suffix used for the third person; at times, it can be for the second person (see line 1).

ga: our symbol here is the ancient Babylonian GÛ which, with its usual value ga, means šizbu, “milk.” The old linear form represents the nipple of the breast. ga is often used as a phonetic complement (see line 4).

nunuz-ám means “is numerous.” nunuz: NUNUZ in this form is, as Delitzsch notes (HW. p. 525b), New Babylonian. In Assyrian, it consists of ṢAB and ḤI, and in New Babylonian, of ṢAB and ŠE. Here, it corresponds to the Assyrian lîpu, German “Nachkomme.”

ám: A.AN, equal to ám, is a widely recognized verbal suffix used like the verb “to be”; for example, dingir-ra ám means “is a god” and gal-la ám means “is great” (see SVA. p. 56).

da-ma-al-la is made up of the adjective da-ma-al and the phonetic complement la. da-ma-al is the phonetic representation in ES of the sign AMÛ, which means rapšu (see line 10).

silim-ma-a-ni means “his decree.” So, silim-ma-a consists of a noun, a phonetic complement, and a vowel extension. silim: we’ve encountered the sign SARARÛ (in line 7), where it was assigned the value di; however, in this case, the phonetic complement indicates the use of the value silim, leading us to the meaning “decree,” although “salutation” is a more fundamental meaning represented by the Semitic value silim (from šulmu). This sign is evidently New-Babylonian.

ni is one of the common suffixes used to indicate the third person. Note that Bêl is referred to in the third person in this line, but we will see him addressed in the second person again in line 16.

eri is ES for the EK uru. This value is supported by the name of the city of Eridu = Eri-ṭu, (see MSL. p. 105). The name of the sign is ALU. Our sign is Old Babylonian and is not very different from the hieroglyphic form that is supposed to represent a city (see AL. p. 121, No. 21). It differs significantly from the New-Babylonian ALU, which is quite similar to the Assyrian.

ir-ir is an intensive form of the verb and can be causative. Bêl is believed to have helped kings, especially in taking cities. ir might mean “bind,” represented by kamû, but kamû is more often shown by IR as DIBBU or LALLU. kamû can also be represented by PA (see line 9). While ir is considered to have a Semitic value, it's used syllabically in this hymn, and that's the only meaning of the sign that has been preserved (see line 1 and also dù in line 11 for further comment).

dù: the sign that carries this value has two origins, one represented by the value dul, which means “cover” (Br. 9582). The other is represented by the value dù, meaning “dwelling-place”, expressed in Assyrian as šubtu (Br. 9588). dù essentially means “designated space”.

nà-a-ni means “his sleeping place”. nà-a specifies more clearly that it refers to “a sleeping place”, “a permanent place of rest”. Here we have dù nà-a; above we have ama nà-a (line 9).

à: IDU and DADDU come from the same symbol, which is an image of a hand and forearm, with the fingers pointing to the left. The value id is believed to be of Semitic origin, stemming from the root found in Assyrian as idu, meaning “hand.” The sign IDU also signifies “side,” “wing,” “horn,” and “power.” Therefore, I interpret it as “powerful” in this context, qualifying dù nà-a-ni. The sign in our text is from Old Babylonian; however, it seems to be a version that is transitioning towards the Assyrian form. TA is also connected to ID and DA and is used like DA sometimes is, as a postposition.

àm-e, made up of the prefix àm and the stem e. àm: we’ve seen the sign used phonetically (line 1). Here, it is clearly an abstract prefix (MSL. p. XVII) that qualifies the following e. The sign is from Old Babylonian and commonly appears in ancient inscriptions. It is a composite sign. The enclosure includes the sign IZÛ, which is also a composite. IZÛ, as mentioned earlier (line 6), means “fire.” So, àm is primarily the “fire of love,” leading to the usual meaning of “love.”

e: it's clear that e can equal ḳabû, “speak” (Br. 5843 and HW. 578a). So, àm-e must mean “speech”. The sign is old Babylonian, as can be seen, for example, by looking at Ḥammurabi. It's called ÊGÛ. The New-Babylonian form is closer to the old Babylonian than the Assyrian one is. This indicates that Assyrian signs are generally further from the archaic forms than New-Babylonian signs are. The sign ÂU represented “water”, while the sign ÊGÛ represented “water ditch” or “canal”. How e comes to mean ḳabû might be explained by its connection to the value i of KÂGU, which equals amâtu, “word”.

gal-la: gal, meaning “great,” is usually followed by the phonetic complement la.

kur (view on __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

^dimmer Babbar-ê-ta translates to an ideogram for “the sun,” plus the verb ê meaning “coming out,” plus the postposition “from.” ^dimmer Babbar is the standard ideogram for ^ilu Šamaš, referring to “the sun” as well as to “the god Šamaš.” Babbar is a term in ḤISSU that means “to be white.”

ê: = two signs, UD and DU, which have the same value, meaning aṣû, “come out” or “go out”. The sign UD is a depiction of the sun and symbolizes the rising sun; therefore, it means “come forth.”

ta is a postposition meaning "from" in this context, but it can also mean "in" or "into." TA in our text is from ancient Babylonian and resembles the linear form found in early tablets. A nearly identical form can also be found in Ḥammurabi. However, overall, old Babylonian, Assyrian, and New-Babylonian differ significantly from each other. TA is closely related to DA and ID (see on line 14).

^dimmer Babbar-šu-šù translates to the ideogram for “the sun”, plus šu = “going in”, plus the postposition “to”.

šu equals erêbu, “enter in.” Ideographically, ŠU means “bent over” or “depressed.”

šù is a value of KU, used as a postposition, meaning “unto.” The sign has a rectangular shape and carries multiple values, and therefore many meanings, starting with the concept of “enclosure.” The governing influence of šù here connects back to kur in the middle of the line, just as the governing influence of ta connects back to kur at the beginning of the line.

The beautiful expression of this line appears multiple times in Sumerian and Babylonian literature. As early as Lugalziggisi, it shows up in royal writings. Lugalziggisi describes his kingdom as stretching “from the rising sun to the setting sun.” Babbar-ê-ta (UD.UD.DU.TA) Babbar-šu-šù (UD.ŠU.KU) (OBI. No. 87, Col. II, 12 and 13). And Esarhaddon in Cylinder A states that “From the rising sun to the setting sun he marched without a rival.” ul-tu ṣi-it ^ilu Šam-ši a-di e-rib ^ilu Šam-ši it-tal-lak-u-ma ma-ḥi-ra la i-šu-u (I R. 45, Col. I, 7 and 8).

kur-ra (see at __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

ù-mu-un (see at __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

nu-um-ti appears again in the next line and clearly corresponds to balâṭu, meaning “life”.

nu-um seems to be an abstracting prefix similar to nam, as in nam-ti-la = balâṭu (Br. 1697). However, nu-um-ti might be a phonetic representation of nim, also spelled num, which means elîtu, “height” (Br. 1982 and 9011). From this perspective, nu-um-ti could mean “the peak of life,” just as nam-ti translates to “the fortune of life”; therefore, it reflects “life in general.” Alternatively, it could be argued that num is actually a variant of nam, since a is known to sometimes change into u; for example, ga becomes gu (MSL. p. X).

ti equals balâṭu, “life”, and has its fuller form in tin, also equal to balâṭu “live”.

za-e equals atta, “you” (Br. 11762, also ASK. p. 139).

ab-da-me-en means “you yourself are.” This form consists of a verbal prefix, infix, and verb, as follows: ab, which is an indefinite prefix, can be used for the second person (MSL. p. XXV). ÊŠU is an ancient Babylonian symbol that visually represents “enclosed space,” hence the meaning of “enclosure.” It means, with the value éš, “house,” and, with the value ab, “sea.” da is similar to à (ID) (line 14), ideographically shown by the image of a hand and forearm (line 4). It means “side” and also “strength.” It can sometimes serve as a reflexive verbal infix (MSL. p. XXIV). me-en is equivalent to bašû (Br. 10404). me also equals bašû (Br. 10361), and the longer me-a equals bašû (Br. 10459). Thus, en is not an essential part of the word meaning “be.” me-en has no connection to ma-e, which is the personal pronoun for the first person. men can actually be used for the second person and even the third person as well. The defining pronoun za-e here requires us to interpret me-en in the second person.

^dimmer Mu-ul-lil (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__ for note).

kur-kur-ra (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__ for note).

ga-šá-an, like ù-mu-un (line 1), stands for bêlu, meaning “lord”, and is a phonetic version of gašan typically represented by GÊŠPU-GUNÛ (Br. 6989 and MSL. p. 129). Here, ga is just a syllable (refer to lines 4 and 12 for more discussion). ŠÁ is an ancient symbol; in this context, it’s from the Old Babylonian era and closely resembles the linear version. The sign is frequently found in Assyrian, carrying the syllabic value šá, particularly used in place of NITÛ(ša), which often functions as a relative pronoun.

nu-um-ti (see at __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

nin-zu means “lord of wisdom.” nin is equivalent to bêlu (Br. 10985; see line 10). Refer to zu (see line 1).

ab-da should obviously be ab-da-me-en (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

e-lum equals kabtu (Br. 5888) and seems to represent elim, which also equals kabtu (Br. 8885). lum is clearly a syllable in this context, but the sign, which is Old Babylonian here, suggests plant growth, consisting of wavy lines.

nì means puluḥtu, "fear", in this context (see on line 1).

an-na: an which equals šamê, “heavens”, represents a value of ANÛ confirmed by the phonetic complement na. The ANÛ sign in our text is from the Old Babylonian period and resembles the original ideogram for the star, with wedges replacing straight lines. In our Hymn to Adad (CT. XV, Tablet 29631), you can clearly see the shift from the Babylonian ANÛ to the Assyrian ANÛ all on one page, although wedges are used instead of straight lines. The original form exists, the Assyrian form is present, and there are plenty of intermediate forms to illustrate the evolution of the Babylonian star into the Assyrian ANÛ. The NANÛ in our text can be found exactly in the Brick of Ur-Gur (CT. XXI, Tablet 90000, plate 8). In Nebuchadrezzar I. (CT. IX, Tablet 92987), the internal horizontals have vanished, but the sign has not completely transformed into the Assyrian NANÛ.

a-kad: this term a-kad might come from the Assyrian ekdu. It's more accurate to see a as a vocalic abstract prefix and consider kad as the root. There are three symbols that convey this meaning of kad (Br. 1364, 1365, and 2700). The symbol GADU refers to kitû, which means “clothing material” (Br. 2704 and WH. 361; see also MSL. p. 114). The context suggests that some notion of power is implied in the word a-kad. It may refer to royal power, potentially symbolized by a garment, especially a royal robe.

za-da clearly represents za-e-da and translates to “you yourself” or “you indeed” (see line 16).

šá in Sumerian might correspond to the Assyrian lû, meaning “truly” (Br. 7047). šá, as just a syllable, appears above (see line 17).

mu-e-da-mal is a verb. mu is an unspecified verbal prefix. Whether it indicates the first, second, or third person depends on the context. Here, however, the za-da in the context shows mu to be second person (see on line 1). e here is a verbal infix that reinforces meaning (see MSL. p. XXIV, also lines 3 and 14). da is also a verbal infix (see line 16). mal equals bašû, “to be,” (Br. 2238).

u means bêlu, “lord”, and is a very common symbol for “lord” (see ù-mu-un, line 1). en also means bêlu, “lord”, but it’s clear that the text is unclear at this point (see line 16, on en).

dimmer-ri-ne means “gods.” ri is a phonetic complement; ne is a purely phonetic plural ending used for both nouns and verbs (see SVA. p. 69).

za-da šá mu-e-da-mal (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

a-a ^dimmer Mu-ul-lil (see on lines __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__ and __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_1__).

mu-lu is a phonetic representation of mulu (Br. 6398). mulu is ES; EK would be gulu (Br. 6395). mu-lu often refers to the Assyrian relative pronoun ša (Br. 6406).

gu: GÛ is a composite sign made up of NI and BE, meaning "full of death." From this derivation, GÛ can also be interpreted as "destruction" (MSL. p. 156). GÛ has an Assyrian equivalent gû that means "plant" or "vegetation" (Br. 11138 and HW. p. 582). When GÛ is considered to mean "vegetation," it focuses only on the fragile aspect of the object. The sign has limited values. Here, it is clearly old Babylonian, resembling the linear form.

má-má-me-en here means aṣû, “go out”, referring to plants and trees (Br. 4303). The more commonly used term for aṣû is ê (UD.DU) (see on line 15).

má: the name of the sign is NISIGÛ (see note on še-ir, line 1). The sign is Old Babylonian here. me-en (see on line 16).

še: the symbol is ancient Babylonian here. Its most common Assyrian equivalent is šê’u, meaning “grain” (see line 1). If we interpret Û-UM to mean “production”, while understanding GÛ as “destruction”, we would have a nice antithetical parallel: “O father Bêl, who brings forth destruction and who brings forth production.” Such an interpretation would accurately reflect the thought process, since Bêl is the god of the atmosphere, the lord of the clouds, and the master of rain-storms, which can either result in growth on earth or cause ruin. However, the translation I have selected may be more suitable.

me-lam-zu: by combining ME and LAM, we get the Assyrian melammu, meaning “glory”. me: MIMÛ with the value išib 39 means ellu, “bright” (see line 16 for further comment). lam: one of the values of IZÛ seems to equal išâtu, “flame”, but the usual value of IZÛ for išâtu is bil (see line 6, de), thus me-lam literally means “bright flame”. zu, apart from being an ideogram for idû, “know”, is the common second person singular pronominal suffix (see on zu, line 1), as seen in this passage.

gúr-ra makes sense, even though the signs look like KU and RA, giving šù-ra, a double postposition. However, the text is incomplete. gúr-ra is equivalent to kabtu (Br. 10183), which means the phrase reads “before thy great glory.” gúr: KIL also has the value gurun equivalent to ebnu, meaning “fruit” (Br. 10179). ra (see on line 3).

ḥa: KÙA is the typical Sumerian symbol combined with a verb to create a requesting meaning, as seen here. The sign displayed is in old Babylonian and resembles the picture of "a fish" (see on line 22). This original pictorial representation is one of the rare examples where curved lines are more prominent.

mu-ni-ib-( )-ne-ne: oddly enough, the verb seems to be missing in this sentence. The omission might be a scribal error. mu is a third-person verbal prefix here (see on line 18). ni-ib is a verbal infix (see MSL. p. XXXIII). Infixes are generally personal and indeterminate. They incorporate the object in pronominal form, whether direct or indirect, between the verbal prefixes representing the subject and the verb. ni-ib essentially means “before it.” The translation leaves out ni-ib for the sake of flow. ni (see on line 13). ib relates to ni as a postposition relates to a pronoun. The sign for ib is Old Babylonian; it is actually composite and means “side.” ne-ne is a third-person personal pronoun (see ASK. p. 139). ne is syllabic here (see de, line 6, regarding its ideographic value; also lam, line 21).

ḥu-e means iṣṣuru, which translates to “bird.” ḥu: the simple ḥu is used in other contexts for iṣṣûru. The sign MUŠÊNNU here is from old Babylonian times. The older version is thought to represent a bird in flight. mušên, another interpretation of MUŠÊNNU, also means “bird.” The e is not essential to the word; it serves only as a prolongation vowel, likely indicating the definite article (see lines 3 and 14).

an-na (see at __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

ḥa-e equals nûnu, “fish.” ḥa alone equals nûnu (see on line 21). e serves the same purpose as in ḥu-e.

ṭú-ra means apsû, “sea”. ṭú by itself also means apsû (Br. 10217). ra can be understood as a marker of the genitive (see on line 3).

šà-nì means “in the midst of fear”. šà: ŠÂGU, with the 40 value šà, equivalent to libbu or kirbu, is one of the few Sumerian prepositions. It comes before its object as a noun in the construct state, nì (see on line 18).

ma-ni-ib-si is made up of a prefix, infix, and verb. ma isn't a very common verbal prefix. Its meaning is unclear, but it indicates the third person (see MSL. p. XXIV). ni-ib refers to the second person here (see on line 21). si: the most common meaning of si is malû, which means “fill”. This sign is Babylonian and can be found in either the Code of Ḥammurabi or the Cyrus Cylinder.

a-a ^dimmer Mu-ul-lil-li (see on line 2). li is just a phonetic addition. We could assign it an ideographic value and link it with da-da to mean “abundant in strength”. The usual meaning of LILÛ is rašû, “abound”. However, with the value gub, it signifies ellu, “bright”. The sign is from old Babylonian, but it looks quite different from the old linear form.

da-da means "strength" (see on __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

maḥ has three common Assyrian equivalents, ma’adu, “many”, rabû, “great” and ṣîru, “high”. maḥ here equals rabû. There is still another Assyrian equivalent, maḥḥu which must be a loanword in Semitic.

mu-e-gin, used as a prefix, infix, and verb, means "he really goes." mu-e (see on line 18). gin corresponds to the value of the sign ARAGUBBÛ (see ê, line 15).

sag-e-zi means “head” (line 5) plus a vowel for extending the sound (line 3) and “of life” (line 4). ZÎTU is equivalent to napištu, as well as imnu and kînu.

si-ba-e breaks down into siba and e. si-ba is the same as siba (line 5), except here the word is presented syllabically instead of ideographically. e is a vowel extension (as in line 3).

e-nab is naturally considered with e as a vocalic prefix and nab as the root. e as an abstract prefix is certainly possible (MSL. p. XVII). nab: instead of NABBU, it might be represented as ANA-ÊŠŠÊKU with the last part left out; in that case, the value should be mul, which is the same as kakkabâni, meaning “stars”, and the phrase then reads: “shepherd of the stars”. e might equal mû meaning “water” (see line 14), and nab might equal šamû, meaning “heaven”; this gives us the reading: “shepherd of the water of heaven”.

u-mun (__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

ka: KÂGU here is a noun with the value ka equal to pû, “mouth” (Br. 538). The sign originally represented the head, and its first meaning was gu equal to ḳibû. The sign is old Babylonian (see on lines 1 and 4).

na-àm-gá is a noun. na-àm is an abstract prefix (line 1). gá means šakânu, "to cause to be," (Br. 5421). The symbol is PISANNU. We have phonetically represented the symbol as ma-al (line 11) used as a suffix. Here, gá is not a suffix; it’s the root.

iz-ba is a verb. iz is an uncertain prefix, indicating the second person based on context. ba means pitû, “open.” The sign is from old Babylonian. The ancient version of the sign meant “divide.”

eri (see on __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

ga (see line 12). ga can be used as an adjective meaning “productive,” one of the derived ideas of ga as “milk.”

mu-e-gin (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

gín equals ḳanû, “reed”. The sign is sometimes followed by the phonetic complement na. The sign is from old Babylonian.

si means “fulness” (see on __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

ti-šù means “to life.” ti (see line 16); however, the sign here actually resembles BALA, which mainly means “breaking into.” Then we have the derived meaning palû, “weapon,” then “insignia of royal authority,” and therefore “rule,” “government.” If we read bal instead of ti, then Bêl is “a full reed to royalty,” which doesn’t make much sense. šù (see line 15).

me-a is the same as me-en (see on line 16). a is phonetic (see on line 9).

a-a ^dimmer Mu-ul-lil (see lines __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__ and __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_1__). sag (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_2__).

zi is the same as napištu like ti (see line 16, also 23). nê-la (see on line 8).

šú is equal to ḳâtu, which means “hand.” The sign also has a value of kád, clearly derived from the Semitic ḳâtu.

ti (see on line 24). If we interpret the sign as TIL, then Bêl means “the power of life”. If we interpret it as BALA, then Bêl means “the power of royalty,” possibly indicating that royal authority is granted by Bêl.

ba-ni-ib-ag is a verb, ba is an uncertain verbal prefix, but it's often used for the second person (MSL. p. XXVI). ni-ib (see on line 21). ag means epêšu, “make”. The sign is from Old Babylonian.

šú-gil is equivalent to napḥaru, meaning “what is gathered,” “total,” or “complete.” šú serves as a prefix for the causative stem (refer to line 25). gil corresponds to paḥâru, which means “to collect.”

nišĭa: the symbols for the numbers twenty and five are the same as in Assyrian, niš is the Sumerian number for “twenty”. ĭa is the Sumerian number for “five”.

mu-bi im: mu-bi means “his name”, with each line of the Hymn being viewed as a name of Bêl. In our translation, we can say “its lines”. im, the same symbol as nì (line 1). im can also mean ṭîṭu, “clay”, or duppu, “tablet”.

êr is a value coming from two symbols, A and ŠI, combined. The most typical meaning of this value is bikîtu, “lamentation” or “song” (see i-de, line 6).

lim-ma: the phonetic complement ma shows that the preceding value should end with m. Dr. Lau sees this as the sign lib(m) = kûru, “woe”, (Br. 7271); therefore, êr-lim-ma would refer to a penitential psalm.

This beautiful and fascinating hymn starts with a vivid and grand title for the god whose full face often illuminated the worshipper night after night. His fatherly nature and radiant glory are expressed in reverent and passionate language. The name of his city and temple is mentioned. His ability to bring light to the world is recognized. His special relationship of “son to Bêl” is declared. His appearance in the sky as the full moon is depicted from various perspectives. This is the renowned Nannar, residing in the temple of E-gišširgal in the ancient city of Ur. The sacred ship, which became a distinctive symbol in Babylonian worship, represented several important ideas linked to Nannar’s journey through the night sky or throughout the month. Nannar may have originally been a water god. His control over the waters is vividly described.

mà-gur is a crescent-shaped boat. Sin is a figure sitting in the half circle of the moon, sailing through the heavens like a grand ship. mà: the sign MÙ originally depicted the rudder of the ship. The sign on our tablet is New-Babylonian and can be found in the inscriptions of Nebuchadrezzar II. It’s a blend between the old pictorial and the standard Assyrian MÙ. gur: the sign ḤAR likely refers to the body of the ship as “an enclosure,” or more specifically to “the crescent shape” of the ship, since ḤAR means “circular enclosure.” The ḤAR in our text resembles the linear form seen in the Stèle des Vautours.

azag means ellu, “shining”, (Br. 9890). The symbol also represents ku with the meaning ellu. azag, “shining”, refers to the moon, which looks like a ship.

an-na (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

še-ir-ma-al nì-te-na (see Hymn to Bêl, line 1). The concepts behind these two terms appear in the first line of the Ašurbânipal Hymn to Sin, K. 2861, (IV R. 9). še-ir-ma-al is especially represented as ner-gal (š-n and m-g) and nì-te-na as aš-ni maḥ-àm; e-diš-ši-šu ṣi-i-ru.

a-a (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

^dimmer Šis-^ki is the most common Sumerian name for the god Sin, meaning "brother of the land." Sin was likely viewed as "the helper of earth." ^dimmer (see Hymn to Bêl, line 2). Šis equals aḥu, "brother," (Br. 6437). ŠIŠ sometimes has the value uru, especially when it means naṣâru, "keep." The ŠIŠ in our hymn is New-Babylonian, but it is not essentially different from the ŠIŠ of Gudea. ki (see Hymn to Bêl, line 9).

ù-mu-un-e (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

Šis-unu-^ki-ma means “of the brother’s place of residence”. Šis means “brother”. unu is equivalent to šubtu, “dwelling”, (Br. 4792). ma, possibly, can be interpreted as a sign of possession, being a dialect form of ga, which is a variant of ge, one of the meanings of KIT (see MSL. pp. XI and XVI). We might need to read this word as Uru-um-^ki-ma, considering the other meaning of ŠIŠ and also interpreting um instead of unu. In OBI texts, it seems that UNU is closely connected to UM as well as to AB.

a-a ^dimmer Šis-^ki ù-mu-un-e (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

È-ner-nu-gál isn't the typical spelling. The more common version is È-giš-šir-gal. Our È(BIT)-ner(NER)-nu(NU)-gál(Instagram), which also appears in Ḥammurabi (for instance, in CḤ. Col. II, line 21, Plate II), is a dialect variation of È(BIT)-giš(IZ)-šir(ŠIR)-gal(GAL). The spelling È(BIT)-giš(IZ)-šir(ŠIR)-gal(GAL) is found in the Ašurbânipal Hymn. In the inscription on the Clay Cylinder of Nabonidus discovered at Ur (Col. I, line 30), the spelling is È(BIT)-giš(IZ)-šir(ŠIR)-gal(GAL), but the margin shows the spelling È(BIT)-giš(IZ)-nu(NU)-gál(IG). È represents bîtu, meaning “house” (Br. 6238). ner clearly stands for kiš. These two terms, ner and kiš, were indicated by the same sign in old Babylonian: PIRIḲḲU. From the sign PIRIḲḲU, a different sign developed in Assyrian that primarily represents kiš, signifying kiššatu. Therefore, the sign here should have the value kiš, or in old Babylonian giš, which is also one of the meanings of GISSU, used as a determiner before the name of a light. nu represents šir, which equals nûru, “light”. IṢ.ŠIR is a common ideogram for “light”. The switch between NU and SIRU isn’t easy to clarify. The occurrence of NU instead of SIRU in the temple’s name during Ḥammurabi’s time suggests that the spelling with NU is more primitive than with SIRU. Perhaps NU has a value of šir. Brünnow acknowledges that NU in the temple's name sometimes replaces SIRU (see Br. 2005 and 1657). There is a distinction between IḲU and GALLU. IḲU equals bašû, while GALLU equals rabû. The gal (ES mal) of IḲU must be different from the gal of GALLU.

a-a ^dimmer Šis-^ki ù-mu-un (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

^dimmer Áš-suḥ-ud: one of the references Brünnow provides, in which the name of this god appears, is in Incantation K. 3255 (IV R.² 2, 21), where it states, in both Sumerian and the sidebar reading of the Assyrian, that Sin is the lord of the god Namraṣit. ^dimmer En-zu-na en ^dimmer Áš-suḥ-ud ra-ge = ^ilu Sin be-el Nam-ra-ṣi-it. Áš-suḥ-ud means “the only foundation of light.” Áš has a very common Assyrian equivalent edu, meaning “one.” suḥ equals išdu, meaning “foundation” (Br. 4811). ud equals urru, meaning “light” (see Br. 7798).

^dimmer This-^ki (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

ṭu-mu: ṬU.MU is a syllabic and dialectical version of DUMU (Br. 4069 and 11917). When DUMU represents mâru, meaning “son,” it is believed to hold the value du (Br. 4081). ṭu-mu clearly stands for dumu, and du is an abbreviated form of dumu. ṭu: this sign can be identified as old Babylonian, appearing in this form in the Code of Ḥammurabi (see also AL. p. 135, No. 328).

sag (see Hymn to Bêl, line 5). ṭu-mu sag must be equivalent to expressions like “firstborn son” or “only begotten son.”

^dingir En-lil-lá: in line 7, we will have ^dimmer Mu-ul-lil-ra and in line 18, ^dimmer Mu-ul-lil-li. ^dingir might be preferred over ^dimmer because the sign serves as a determinative to an EK form. En-lil-lá includes the god’s name, En-lil (see Mu-ul-lil in Hymn to Bêl, line 2).

síg-ga-zu-ne is a ḥal-clause equivalent to ina malîka, “in your fullness”. síg: the sign associated with this value is composite. One part includes SI, which primarily means “fill”. The other part is A, signifying “water”. Together, SI.A means “full of water” or “fulness”. The sign, referred to as DIRIGU, has two values that end with g; namely, dirig linked to the sign-name and síg, which is most likely equivalent to malû (Br. 3722). ga is a phonetic complement (see Hymn to Bêl, line 4). zu is a definite suffix of the second person (see Hymn to Bêl, line 21). ne is a postposition equivalent to ina (see Br. 4602, also de in Hymn to Bêl, line 6).

i-de (see Hymn to Bêl, line 6). i-de is a preposition used as a noun in the construct state, meaning maḥru or pânu and equivalent to ina maḥar or ina pân.

a-a-zu is the noun a-a with the suffix zu. a-a (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__). zu (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_1__).

^dimmer Mu-ul-lil-ra is the name of the god ^dimmer Mu-ul-lil, along with the phonetic complement ra. ^dimmer Mu-ul-lil (see Hymn to Bêl, line 2). ra (see Hymn to Bêl, line 3). It may be more accurate to consider lil-ra as a shortened version of lil-lá-ra. lil often takes the phonetic complement lá, which is a value of the sign LALLU, while ra functions as a natural postposition.

še-ir-ma-al-la-zu-ne is a ḥal-clause that means “in your authority”. še-ir-ma-al (see Hymn to Bêl, line 1). zu-ne (see line 6).

a-a ^dimmer Šis-^ki (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

šē-ir-ma-al-la-zu-ne (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

gaba is equivalent to irtu, meaning “breast” (Br. 4470). We have used gaba as an adjective that is equal to pitû (see Hymn to Bêl, line 6).

zi-ga-zu-ne is a ḥal-clause meaning "in your lifting up." zi translates to našû, "lift up" (Br. 2325). We have seen zi equated with kênu, "right," and napištu, "life" (see Hymn to Bêl, lines 4 and 25). ga serves as a phonetic complement. zi might also be zig (see Br. 2303 and Hymn to Bêl, line 4). zu-ne (see line 6). In gaba zi-ga-zu-ne, we might visualize the full moon suddenly rising in the night sky from the horizon.

mà-gur (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

an-šàg-ga: ŠÂGU is typically considered a preposition and comes before its object. Here, it appears to come after its object, an (see Hymn to Bêl, line 18). šàg-ga is the combination of LIB and GA. šàg: ŠÂGU, which is the same as libbu, can have one of three meanings; specifically, šà when there isn’t a following phonetic complement, šàg when followed by the phonetic complement ga, and šàb when followed by the phonetic complement ba (see Br. 7980 and Hymn to Bêl, line 22). ga (see Hymn to Bêl, line 4).

yes (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

še-ir-ma-al-la-zu-ne (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

a-a ^dimmer Šis-^ki (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

za-e (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

éš (see Hymn to Bêl, line 16). éš is clearly a Sumerian value, as its connection to the sign-name ÊŠU demonstrates. éš is the more complete version of è (BIT). From éš, a Semitic loanword ešu meaning “house” has developed.

azag-šù means “to the shining”, azag (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__). šù (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_1__).

paBelow is a short piece of text (5 words or fewer). Modernize it into contemporary English if there's enough context, but do not add or omit any information. Do not add commentary, and do not modify any placeholders. If you see placeholders of the form __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_x__, you must keep them exactly as-is so they can be replaced with links.d)-a-zu-ne is a ḥal-clause made up of a preposition with an infinitive that takes a suffix, like ina tamîka, “in your speaking”, meaning “when you speak”. pad is a verb that means tamû, “speak”. pad also means zakâru, “to name”. pa, the shortened form of pad, is clearly intended here and is sometimes represented by the Assyrian nabû. a is the vowel of prolongation indicating the pa, not the pad-value. zu-ne (see line 6).

a-a ^dimmer Šis-^ki (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

mà-dim is made up of the noun mà and the postposition dim. mà (see on line 1). mà-gur means the moon, while mà means a regular ship. dim is equivalent to kîma, meaning “like.” The sign-name is DIMMU. dim is ES. The EK form of the value is gim.

êgâ is a combination of a, gè, and a from the symbols A, MI, and A, and means “tide” or “high water.” a means “water,” and MI with the value gè means “black,” while the second A is clearly just for phonetics. So, êgâ means “black water,” like the water that appears during a “flood” or “high tide.”

síg-ga-zu-ne (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

síg-ga-zu-ne (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

za-e (see line 10). It's noticeable that síg-ga-zu-ne appears three times in this line and ten times in the section from lines 6-18. This repetition likely adds a rhetorical impact, especially when delivered orally, and, along with the consistent rhythm in the clauses, gives the passage a poetic quality.

sigue así (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

bi-šag-a-zu-ne is a ḥal-clause meaning “in your gracious speech.” bi corresponds to ḳibû, “speak,” (Br. 5124). Starting from the sense of “speak,” the sign KŠU takes on a demonstrative meaning and is typically used as a suffix with a third person singular. We will also observe that it sometimes refers to šikaru “strong drink.” šag: the sign representing this value is infrequently utilized. It can be identified as GIŠIMMAR (see AL. p. 130, No. 206, also Br. 7286). šag is the primary value, equivalent to damâḳu or damḳu, “gracious.” a: this value is usually followed by the phonetic complement ga, but here it is followed by a (see Hymn to Bêl, line 9). zu-ne (see line 6).

bi-šag-a (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

rù-ti-a-zu-ne is a ḥal-clause equivalent to “in your generative life.” rù: we have already encountered UL as a part of Mu-ul-lil (see Hymn to Bêl, line 2). UL here likely corresponds to rù and means kalâlu, “perfect.” The symbol represents a goring bull; as we move away from its initial meaning, other interpretations, such as “exultation,” “perfection,” etc., emerge. Nannar is “the perfecter of life.” ti (see Hymn to Bêl, line 16). a (see Hymn to Bêl, line 9). zu-ne (see line 6).

za-e (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

síg-ga-zu-ne (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

a-a ^dimmer Šis-^ki (see at __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

Lid might come from a Semitic word in Assyrian, littu, meaning “progeny.” The two horizontal lines in the symbol imply the concept of “pairing,” which leads to the idea of “progeny” (thus, Prince, MSL., p. 223).

Damal (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

lid-ne-ra means “to that offspring.” ne means annû, a demonstrative pronoun meaning “this.” ne is related to de, which is also related to da and ta used as postpositions (see de and da in Hymn to Bêl, lines 6 and 4). ra is a postposition meaning “unto” (see Hymn to Bêl, line 3).

sal-dug-ga-zu-ne is a ḥal-clause: “in your speaking.” sal is a prefix with an abstract meaning. It’s similar to the Assyrian zinništu, meaning “feminine.” It relates to ku in the phrases Eme-sal and Eme-ku, where ku corresponds to bêlu, meaning “lord.” As a prefix, sal broadens the fundamental idea of the stem it’s attached to, making it an abstract prefix (see Br. 10930, 10949, and 10955). dug-ga (see Hymn to Bêl, line 4). zu-ne (see line 6).

a-a-zu (see on __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

ide equals pânu, “face”, (Br. 9281). The sign IGÛ can be read either ide, which is ES, or ige, which is EK.

ḥùl-la is the noun ḥùl plus the phonetic addition la. ḥùl means ḥadû, which translates to “joy” (Br. 10884). The symbol representing this value should not be confused with another symbol that also represents ḥul but means “evil”, represented by limuttu (Br. 9503).

mu-e-ši-in-maš is a verb made up of the verbal prefix mu, verbal infixes e and ši-in, and the root maš. mu (see Hymn to Bêl, lines 1 and 18). e (see Hymn to Bêl, line 18). ši-in: an objective verbal infix naturally has its person determined by the object it refers to. In this case, that object seems to be ide ḥùl-la, “the joyful face” of the moon. maš: the sign has two names, BÂRU and MŠU, and two main values related to these names, bar and maš. bar and maš are cognate forms. b changes to m (MSL. p. X); r changes to š (MSL. p. XII). The sign has two main meanings, “side” and “cut”. The meaning of “side” is represented by bar (see MSL. p. 234), while the meaning of “cut”, from which we get the idea of “distinguish”, is generally represented by the value maš (Br. 1735).

sal-zi is made up of the abstract prefix sal and the noun zi. sal (see on line 15). zi (see on line 8).

ma-ra means "to the land". ma (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__). ra (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_1__).

ni-in-gú: ni can be a verbal prefix, and in a verbal infix, or ni-in can be a verbal infix with the verbal prefix omitted, with gú being the verbal root. ni, when considered as a prefix, typically relates to a-a-zu. ni may carry a demonstrative meaning, similar to šuatu, like ne. in as an infix pertains to ma-ra. gú, a shorter form of gug, corresponds either to ḳìbû, meaning “speak,” or apâlu, meaning “answer.” gú and gug have dialect forms du and dug, with the g changing to d, which ES favors. The sign is presumably a variation of the sign SANGU (see AL. p. 121, No. 14, and p. 124, No. 87). Its primary meaning was “opening,” and the main value is ka, equivalent to pû, meaning “mouth.” The values ka and gú derive from the sign-name KÂGU (see Hymn to Bêl, lines 1 and 4). With the value ì, the sign signifies “word.”

e (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

i-i: i is the main value of GIṬṬÛ. The symbol with its five parallel lines or wedges represents the five fingers of the hand and is a symbol of power. From the concept of "power," we derive the notion of "exaltation" (see Hymn to Bêl, line 6).

lugal-ra is made up of the root lugal and the postposition ra. The sign is a combination of elements GAL and LU, which mean "great" and "man." lugal is equivalent to šarru (Br. 4266). We will have the element LU with the ES value mulu. ra (see Hymn to Bêl, lines 3 and 8). We might expect la here.

û-de-eš is made up of the root û, the phonetic complement de, and the adverbial ending eš. û stands for ûmu, meaning "day" (Br. 7797), and is a condensed form of ud. Here, de is phonetic. The typical phonetic complement of ud is da (refer to Br. 7774). eš (see Br. 10001). The adverbial ending eš probably comes from the Semitic adverbial ending -iš, which is thought to have evolved from the Assyrian third-person suffix šu. Agglutinative languages typically don't have specific adverbial endings.

mu-un-ê is made up of the verbal prefix mu-un and the verbal root ê. mu-un is pronounced like mun, which is just a nasalized version of mu (see MSL. p. XXVIII, and Hymn to Bêl, line 1). For ê (see Hymn to Bêl, line 15).

^dimmer Mu-ul-lil-li (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

mu-du-ru: There's a sign MUDRU (Br. 10776) that might be connected to PA. We can deduce a link between MUDRU and PA because both signs share a common value of sig. We also know that MU.DU.RU sometimes represents PA (Br. 1275). Now, since MU.DU.RU can represent PA, it must have some meaning in common with PA. The most common meaning of PA is ḥaṭṭu, “sceptre,” which makes sense in this context. mu (see Hymn to Bêl, line 1). du (see Hymn to Bêl, line 15).

û-sud-du consists of the noun û, the adjective sud, and the phonetic complement du. û (see line 17). sud translates to rûḳu, meaning “distant” (Br. 7603). du (see gin, line 23), serves as the phonetic complement here.

šú-za combines the noun šú with the suffix za. šú (see Hymn to Bêl, line 25). za is a suffix used for the second person singular masculine (Br. 11722). We have identified za-e as equivalent to “thou” (Hymn to Bêl, line 16). zu is found to be the more common suffix for the second person (see on line 6). za is a dialectical variation of zu.

ma-ra (see at __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

ni-in-rù is made up of the prefix ni, the infix in, and the verbal root rù. ni-in (see on line 16). rù (see on line 14).

This-is-a-^ki-thing (see on __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

mà-gur (see at __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

azag-ga is an adjective azag, with the phonetic addition ga. azag (see on line 1). ga (see Hymn to Bêl, line 4).

pa(d)-a-zu-ne (see at __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

^dimmer Nu-dim-mud-e: this is a compound ideogram representing the god Ea. ^dimmer acts as a determinative before the name of a god (see Hymn to Bêl, line 2). Nu-dim-mud corresponds to the Assyrian E-a (Br. 2016). The standard Sumerian ideogram is EN.KI. The e in Nu-dim-mud-e serves as a vowel of prolongation (see Hymn to Bêl, line 3).

sal-dug-ga-zu-ne (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

padazune (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

a equals mû, “water” (Br. 11347). “Water” is a main meaning of the sign ÂU, which originally consisted of two short perpendicular lines that represented “falling water” (see Hymn to Bêl, line 3).

im-si consists of the indeterminate verbal prefix im and the verbal root si. im (Br. p. 545). si (Hymn to Bêl, line 22).

a im-si (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

ìd means nâru, “river.” Sometimes ìd is shortened to i (Br. 11647). The value of ìd comes from the combination of two signs A “water” and ṬÚ (Br. 10217). Additionally, ṬÚ, which has the value ṭú, means apsû, “sea.” The ṬÚ sign is more specifically made up of ḤAL “run” inside of KIL “enclosure.” So ḤAL + KIL = running, “flowing within an enclosure,” which translates to “sea.” While ìd primarily means “water of the sea,” it is also commonly used as a determinative before river names. We find the name of the Euphrates in the next line. Perhaps the name of the Tigris is mentioned in some of the lines as well. The standard Sumerian ideogram for the Tigris is ḥal-ḥal, an intensified version of ḥal, which means “running” or “rushing.” Therefore, the Tigris is aptly named “the rushing river.” The Babylonian Diglat became Tigra in the hands of the Persians.

azag-gi means ellu, “shining” (Br. 9901). azag (see line 19). gi is a phonetic addition, likely selected for vowel harmony with the next ìd (?). As an ideogram, GI represents “reed” (see Hymn to Bêl, line 24, gín).

ìd ud-kib-nun-na-ge refers to the river of Sippar. For ìd, see on line 25. ud-kib-nun consists of ud “sun” + kib “flourish, generate”, and nun “great”. The sign KIB suggests the idea of “double” and thus, of course, “generate, beget” (MSL. p. 203). Nun is equivalent to rabû “great” (Br. 2628), while na must be the phonetic complement and ge the nota genitivi as used in the next Hymn. The form ud-kib-nun then seems to mean “the great (nun) generative force (kib) of the sun” (ud); a name applied to Sippar that has long been known as the center of the worship of the sun-god Šamaš (RBA., pp. 69, 117). Ìd-ud-kib-nun-na-ge thus simply means “the river (ìd) of (ge) Sippar”, specifically the Euphrates, 54 which was usually referred to in Sumerian as Bura-nunu “the great stream” (MSL. p. 7, C).

a im-si (see on __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

id (see on __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

nu, a standard Sumerian negative adverb, equivalent to the Assyrian la.

e-bi is made up of the noun e and the suffix bi. e represents mû, which means “water” (Br. 5844). We have also seen e used to mean ḳabû, which stands for “speech” (Hymn to Bêl, line 14). bi is a suffix for the third person singular (see Br. 5135). bi derives its demonstrative quality from the concept of “speak,” which appears to be the primary meaning in the ancient Babylonian linear hieroglyph.

láḥ-e consists of the root láḥ and the vowel extension e. láḥ means misû “wash” (Br. 6167). It refers to the act of washing hands and feet. The term conveys the idea of “wash” because of its association with a “servant” who does the washing, but it may have originally meant “servant” before it took on the meaning of “wash.” It often has the phonetic additions ḥa or ḥi. Literally, the phrase reads: “the river whose water does not wash.”

a im-si (see on __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

^dimmer Šis-^ki-kam refers to the god-name ^dimmer Šis-^ki plus kam = KAMMU without a doubt (see CT. XV, Colophon of Tablet 29623, plate 12). kam is a well-known determinative used after ordinal numerals. It likely functions in this way as a genitive particle, but as a genitive sign, it can be used after words other than numerals; in fact, it's used this way in Gudea. It is clearly a longer form of the postposition ka; being ka plus am (see SVA. p. 60).

The sign looks like MÀ, but maybe the copyist made an error. maḥ (see Hymn to Bêl, line 23).

sug equals ṣuṣû, “marsh.” The symbol is the enclosure sign KIL with the “water” sign ÂU inside the “enclosure” sign.

ban-da: the signs are DUMU and DADDU. DUMU has several meanings, the main ones being dumu, tur, and ban. dumu means mâru, “son.” We've encountered the value dumu or its dialectal equivalent ṭumu, shown by ṬU and MU (see on line 5). tur means ṣiḥru, “small,” and is typically followed by the phonetic complement ra. lan-da also means ṣiḥru “little” (Br. 4133).

a im-si (see at __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

^dimmer This-^ki-cam (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

êr-lim-ma (see __A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__).

^dimmer En-zu "lord of wisdom" is another name for Sin in Sumerian. We've already mentioned one name above, which is ^dimmer Šis-^ki. ^dimmer En-zu is clearly in a genitive relationship to the earlier part of the line, even though the nota genitivi is missing. In a different hymn to Bêl (CT. XV, Tablet 29644, plate 12), the genitive relationship is indicated by the postposition kam. The phrase is: êr-lim-ma ^dingir En-lil-lá-kam.