Lady ......! Returning heroic youth, Inana ....... At the shrine, in Nibru, in the E-dul-kug ...... by An, with the holy crown of An placed on her head, the most holy ba garment of An draped around her torso, and the holy sceptre of An placed in her hand -- seated on a seat in the assembly, rendering great judgments in the mountains, and reaching majestic decisions in all the lands!
Holy Inana gazes as she shines (?) down from heaven like a light. Together with her father Suen, the mistress issues commands to the E-kic-nu-jal of Urim. In her hands she holds prosperity for all the lands. The lady ....... Holy Inana .......
......, you are
endowed with beauty,
5 lines fragmentary
You are she who raises ...... in their prayers. You are she who displays shining cornelian from the mountains to be admired. Bringing shining lapis lazuli from the bright mountain in special baskets (?), you are she who, like fire, melts (?) gold from Harali. You are she who creates apples in their clusters (?). You are she who demands ....... You are she who creates the date spadices in their beauty.
(Inana speaks:) "When I was living in my dwelling place, when I was
living in An's dwelling, my lover Ucumgal-ana called upon me to be his wife. In Bad-tibira, from the E-muc-kalama, ......
for his crown."
6 lines fragmentary or unclear
...... his assembly, and brought ...... into her holy shrine for her brother
Ucumgal-ana.
(Inana speaks:) "...... stands ....... Dumuzid stands in beauty like an ildag tree. I will fill my
heart with joy. The one who makes food plentiful ...... on the bright mound
(?). My heart is filled with joy, ...... in heaven and earth. The house of
Arali ......."
3 lines fragmentary or unclear
the houses in the broad streets.
One blank line on the tablet
approx. 67
lines missing, fragmentary or unclear
Holy Inana, your august ......! ...... Inana be praised!
When I ...... as I travel by boat, when I ...... as I travel by boat, when I, the queen, journey to the abzu, when I enter the house of Enlil, I am indeed the queen who is pre-eminent in the mountains. When I stand before the face of Enlil, I am indeed the emanating light. When I stand in the mouth of the battle, I am indeed also the foremost one of all lands. When I stand in the thick of the battle, I am indeed also the very guts of battle, the heroic strength. When I walk about at the rear of the battle, I am indeed also the flood bearing ....... When I take my stand behind the battle, I am the woman who comes (?).
When I sit in the alehouse, I am a woman, and I am an exuberant young man. When I am present at a place of quarrelling, I am a woman, a perfect figure. When I sit by the gate of the tavern, I am a prostitute familiar with the penis; the friend of a man, the girlfriend of a woman.
I am milk of
the god. I am pre-eminent in the mountains. I am the milk of the god, of Dumuzid. I am pre-eminent in the mountains. The mountains in
my hands, the mountains at my feet, Elam in my hands; I
have a pointed dagger in my belt. The gods are small birds, and I am the
falcon. The Anuna gods butt each other, but I am the
wild cow. I am the grandiloquent daughter of Enlil. I
am the formidable one of my father Suen. I am the queen
created by Nudimmud. My eye ....... My eye .......
1 line fragmentary
unknown no. of lines missing
The life of the lord ....... The life of the king ....... Filling throat and heart ....... The city which is restored ....... The beauteous countenance ....... A foot placed on the earth ....... On its unblemished (?) lips .......
Let the dripping (?) waters ....... The ferry boat, a prayer, a prayer, ...... man .......
Imbued (?) with my awesomeness! Imbued (?) with my awesomeness! The life of the lord, imbued (?) with my awesomeness! The life of the king, imbued (?) with my awesomeness! Filling throat and heart, imbued (?) with my awesomeness! The marsh reeds of Kuara, imbued (?) with my awesomeness! The most beautiful marsh reeds, imbued (?) with my awesomeness! The city which is restored, imbued (?) with my awesomeness! The beauteous countenance, imbued (?) with my awesomeness! A foot placed on the earth, imbued (?) with my awesomeness! On its unblemished (?) lips, imbued (?) with my awesomeness!
Let the dripping (?) waters ....... The ferry boat, a prayer, a prayer, ...... man .......
We shall go! We shall go! We shall go in supplication! We shall go for the supplication of the lord! We shall go for the supplication of the king! Those of the supplication of the corner ...... at the corner. Those of the supplication of the side ...... at the side. Mother Inana of heaven ....... The Mistress .......
A cir-namcub to Inana.
(Sigla follow Sjöberg's 1977 edition: version A = mss. a, b and c (using the line numbering of b, the only non-fragmentary ms.), version B = ms. d (ll. 11-13, 27-29 and 31 of version A have some similarities to the surviving lines of version B).)
"Worthy of An, ......, ...... unsurpassed in ladyship, a throne ...... a man in the house, a throne ...... a woman in the shrine, a gold ornament ...... on the dress, a ...... pin ...... the nijlam garment.
"Let me ...... on your ...... -- Nanaya, its ...... is good. Let me (?) ...... on your breast -- Nanaya, its ...... flour is sweet. Let me put ...... on your navel -- Nanaya, ....... Come with me, my lady, come with me, come with me from the entrance to the shrine. May ...... for you. (ms. c adds 1 line: Come my beloved sister, let my heart rejoice.)
"Your hand is womanly, your foot is womanly. Your conversing with a man is womanly. Your looking at a man is womanly. (ms. c adds 4 lines: Your ...... a hand towards a man is womanly. Your ...... a foot is womanly. Your ...... forearm makes my heart rejoice. Your ...... a foot brings me pleasure.) As you rest against the wall, your patient heart pleases. As you bend over, your hips are particularly pleasing."
(mss. a and c add 2 lines: My resting against the wall is one lamb. My bending over is one and a half gij.) Do not dig a canal, let me be your canal. Do not plough a field, let me be your field. Farmer, do not search for a wet place, my precious sweet, let this be your wet place. ......, let this be your furrow. ......, let this be your desire! Caring for ......, I come ....... I come ...... with bread and wine."
"You come to me with bread and wine. Come, my beloved sister, let me ...... this heart. Nanaya, let me kiss you."
A balbale of Nanaya (ms. a has instead: Inana).
unknown no. of lines missing
"...... on your
navel. My sweet sister, ....... On your back ....... My sister, ...... hand. In
your vagina ...... the gardens. Nanaya, ....... In your
anus ...... the fields. My sister, ...... the acres. Come to me, my sister,
......."
unknown no. of lines missing
1 line
fragmentary
"Come, my beloved sister, ......."
4 lines fragmentary
"Sister, ......."
unknown no. of lines missing
When I go, when I go -- the mighty queen who ......, who ......; when I, the queen, go to the abzu, when I, Inana, go to the abzu, when I go to the abzu, the shrine, when I go to Eridug the good, when I go to E-engura, when I go to E-ana, the temple of Enlil, when I go to ......, when I go to where the great offering bowls stand in the open air, when I go to where the ...... pure ...... bowls, when I go to where ...... is honoured, when I go to where lord Enki is honoured, when I go to where Damgalnuna ...... is honoured, when I go to where Asarluhi ...... is honoured -- then I bring a dog with me, I bring a lion (?) with me, I bring boxwood with me, I bring halub wood with me. I, Inana, receive the little ......, when I travel there, when I travel there.
I go as one who brings forth water; I go as one who brings forth water. When I, the queen, go into the marshes, I go as the ...... of the marshes. When I go into the hub of the battle, I go as one who brings forth its brightest light (?). When I go into the van of the battle, I go as one who brings forth its brightest light (?). When I follow at the rear of the battle, I go for ...... the evil of the ....... When I enter the temple of Enlil, I go as its woman who triumphed over the mountains. I (?) utter hostile words against the foreign lands; I seat my husband before me. I utter a challenge in (?) the temples of the gods (?); I utter a challenge against Utu, against Nanna; I utter a challenge against Sud in its holy .......
The river, the
river, good as the vast river, the ......, good as the city -- there is nothing
as good as this! The river, the noble river, as the vast river, the river, the
Euphrates, as the vast river, the ...... of the Euphrates, as the vast river,
2 lines fragmentary
-- good as the ......, good as the city -- there is nothing as good as this!
Just as when Enki, the wild bull of Eridug, arrives; as when the mother of the E-mah, Damgalnuna, arrives; as when Asarluhi, the son of Eridug, arrives;
as when Enlil eats, as when he drinks, ...... good as
......, good as the city -- there is nothing as good as this!
(Inana speaks:) "...... this is in (?) my heart. To where ...... is honoured, ...... to where the just man honours him, its man prepares a flowered bed within the house."
In E-ana the linen-clad priests prepare an altar for him. Water is placed there for the lord; they address him. Bread is placed there; they address him. He is refreshed in the palace; they address him as follows: "Dumuzid, radiant in the temple (?) and on earth! Mother Inana, mother Inana, your mounds, your mounds (?)! Mother Inana, Inana of heaven, your garments, your garments, your black garment, your white garment!" (Inana (?) speaks:) "Oh my man who has come to the house: approach (?)!" (The priests (?) speak:) "Bring forward a chant, a melody of the heart! Bring forward their ......, as they seat the ......! Approach their place, where they are stationing, where they are stationing, where they are stationing, where they are stationing Enlil in the Ki-ur!"
(Inana speaks:) "Wild bull, face of the Land! I will give life to its man! I will fulfil all its needs (?)! I will make its man produce correct speech in the shrine, ...... correct speech in the interior hall of the palace."
(The priests (?) speak:) "Oh mistress, let your breasts be your fields! Inana, let your breasts be your fields, your wide fields which pour forth flax, your wide fields which pour forth grain! Make water flow from them! Provide it from them for the man! Make water flow and flow from them! Keep providing it from them for the man! ...... for the specified man, and I will give you this to drink."
A cir-namcub of Inana.
My father gave me the heavens and he gave me the earth. I am Inana! Which god compares with me?
Enlil gave me the heavens and he gave me the earth. I am Inana! He gave me lordship, and he gave me queenship. He gave me battles and he gave me fighting. He gave me the stormwind and he gave me the dust cloud. He placed the heavens on my head as a crown. He put the earth at my feet as sandals. He wrapped the holy ma garment around my body. He put the holy sceptre in my hand.
The gods are small birds, but I am the falcon. The Anuna mill about, but I am the good wild cow, I am the good wild cow of father Enlil, his good wild cow which walks in front.
When I enter the E-kur, the house of Enlil, the gate-keeper does not lift his hand against my breast; the minister does not tell me, "Rise!".
The heavens are mine and the earth is mine: I am heroic! In Unug the E-ana is mine, in Zabalam the Giguna is mine, in Nibru the Dur-an-ki is mine, in Urim the E-Dilmun is mine, in Jirsu the Ecdam-kug is mine, in Adab the E-cara is mine, in Kic the Hursaj-kalama is mine, in Kisiga the Amac-kuga is mine, in Akcak the Anzagar is mine, in Umma the Ibgal is mine, in Agade the Ulmac is mine. Which god compares with me?
A ...... of Inana.
Lady whom Ningal has joyously made attractive with beauty, destruction has been given to you as to a dragon. Inana whom Ningal has joyously made attractive with beauty, destruction has been given to you as to a dragon.
Riding on the south wind, you are she who has received the divine powers from the abzu. You have seated King Ama-ucumgal-ana upon your holy dais. Inana, riding on the south wind, you are she who has received the divine powers from the abzu. You have seated King Ama-ucumgal-ana upon your holy dais.
Goddess, you have provided ...... to the hero and made your divine powers excel in heaven. Since your mother's womb, you have wielded the cita mace and the mitum mace. Inana, you have provided ...... to the hero and made your divine powers excel in heaven. Since Ningal's womb, you have wielded the cita mace and the mitum mace.
Towards the king who spends the night in the Land, as towards Utu as he approaches (?), everyone is well-disposed. When he rises at the mountains, the mountains rejoice with you. Towards Ama-ucumgal-ana who spends the night in the Land, as towards Utu as he approaches (?), everyone is well-disposed. When he rises at the mountains, the mountains rejoice with you.
My lady, he has been given as your husband -- rejoice with him! Enlil has given a mountain of greatness into your hands. Inana, he has been given as your husband -- rejoice with him! Enlil has given a mountain of greatness into your hands.
Mistress, you have given your strength to him who is king. Ama-ucumgal-ana brings forth radiance for you. Inana, you have given your strength to him who is king. Ama-ucumgal-ana brings forth radiance for you.
When he goes out to the rebel lands, to the distant mountains, he spends his time in the mêlée of battle. When Ama-ucumgal-ana goes out to the distant mountains, he spends his time in the mêlée of battle. He thickens good butter for you, as Utu rises from the fragrant cedar mountains! Ama-ucumgal-ana thickens good butter for you, as Utu rises from the fragrant cedar mountains!
Sa-gida.
Lady whom no one can withstand in battle, great daughter of Suen who rises in heaven and inspires terror, he who for you stands complete in his manhood rejoices in battle as at a festival, and for you he destroys the rebel lands and houses ....... For you Ama-ucumgal-ana, the mighty hero, kills everyone with his shining cita mace.
Inana, lady whom no one can withstand in battle, great daughter of Suen who rises in heaven and inspires terror, he who for you stands complete in his manhood rejoices in battle as at a festival, and for you he destroys the rebel lands and houses ....... For you Ama-ucumgal-ana, the mighty hero, kills everyone with his shining cita mace.
Lady, throughout heaven and earth who knows from you the intentions of your heart, those great matters? All heaven trembles (?) at your word, a double-twined thread which cannot be separated. Your father Enlil has given this to you. Ama-ucumgal-ana competes majestically for you in battle, cutting a swathe like a dragon.
Inana, lady, throughout heaven and earth who knows from you the intentions of your heart, those great matters? All heaven trembles (?) at your word, a double-twined thread which cannot be separated. Your father Enlil has given this to you. Ama-ucumgal-ana competes majestically for you in battle, cutting a swathe like a dragon.
My lady, Ama-ucumgal-ana trusts in you. He cloaks his body as if in your royal robe of office. Monthly at the crescent moon An recreates him for you like Suen. People praise king Ama-ucumgal-ana, the beloved of your heart, like Utu as he rises.
Inana, my lady, Ama-ucumgal-ana trusts in you. He cloaks his body as if in your royal robe of office. Monthly at the crescent moon An recreates him for you like Suen. With you, people praise king Ama-ucumgal-ana like Utu as he rises.
Sa-jara.
A tigi of Inana.
Great light, heavenly lioness, always speaking words of assent! Inana, great light, lioness of heaven, who always speaks words of assent! Ninegala! As you rise in the morning sky like a flame visible from afar, and at your bright appearance in the evening sky, the shepherd (i.e. the king) entrusts (?) the flocks of Sumer to you. Celestial sign, ...... glory of heaven! All the countries are building a house for you as for the risen sun; a shining (?) torch is assigned to you, the light of the Land.
Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let me tell of your grandeur!
When bright ...... had raised its head in the Land, and when you live ...... with ......, the young woman ...... the hero for you, she has grasped ...... for you. ...... has brought the numerous ...... to you. They raise ...... to your ......; kids ...... are ordered, and your Egal-edina, the place of calm, has been arranged for you. You are the good woman who spreads a sense of awe perceptibly throughout the Land.
Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let me tell of your grandeur!
After the first watch of the night has passed, as like a shepherd you get up from the grass, you seize your battle-mace like a warrior, you fasten the guma cloth on your arms, and you bind on your indefatigable strength. Thus you appear brilliantly, together with An, in the city (probably Unug) . On earth, Inana, you emit awe-inspiring splendour from the holy dais. Your feet are placed on seven dogs, your seat is set upon a lion and a leopard. Cattle and sheep are brought to you for inspection. Lulal stands by your feet, bearing in battle the pitiless (?) udug weapon. Beside them the cultic attendants stand at your service, lined up for you beside the dogs. They have taken over the temple Gu-ena-ida, to provide for you.
Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let me tell of your grandeur!
The ...... dog
(?) has brought the sheep close to you; the powerful dog (?) has ...... a wild
bull ...... in its paws,
2 lines unclear
the lion, the warrior .......
Inana, in heaven you are lightning, on earth you move swiftly ...... against the foreign land that you are angry with, ....... When in your precinct and shrine the Ibgal you regulate the divine ordinances like the divine powers of An, when you regulate the heavenly ordinances like the divine powers of Enki and cause awe of you to reach up to the heavens, then your seat is on the ...... dais on the terrace by your Gate of Four Faces. Inana, you go into the interior of heaven like your father Suen; Ninegala, you appear like moonlight in your shrine the Ibgal, placing your foot on your ordinances, and dividing them among the ...... dogs (?).
Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let me tell of your grandeur!
When you hasten to where brambles and foul great thorns grow, when you stride along all the mountains, when you drink from puddles with the dogs, when you share the stall with the horses, when with the storm you reduce everything to a mere shadow, Inana, when you cause the rain to fall all day long, then your seat is in your E-kug-nuna at Eridug, on the dais where destinies are determined.
At the New Year, at the festival of Dumuzid, your spouse Ama-ucumgal-ana, lord Dumuzid, steps forward to you. ...... of weeping are brought to you, Inana, as offerings. The tubes of the underworld are opened for you, and memorial libations are poured down them for you. The en priests, the lumah priests and the nindijir priestesses, and the dead luzid and amalu, eat meals for you, to keep away the ghosts, and drink water for you, to keep away the ghosts. Your holy dais is set up beside them.
Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let me tell of your grandeur!
Inana, when you give judgement with An and Enlil; Ninegala, when you decide destinies on earth with Enki, when you shimmer (?), when you ...... to a mere shadow, when you come forth from the corner, when you come forth from the side, when you are to be seen on the horizon, Inana, when in your destructiveness you make storm-floods wash over everything, then the great en priests ......, then the igi-dua priestesses wear the tonsure for you, then your seat is on your Dais of Silence.
The young men fastened in neck-stocks ...... before you, the mother of the sick lays her child in your arms, the mother of the uprooted (?) ...... in your great hall. You cut the ...... of the weak, you release (?) ...... the weak.
Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let me tell of your grandeur!
When you act
as a shepherd with the herdsman, when ...... with the cowherd you throw the
halters on the cows, when you mix the butter, when you purify the milk, when
you find joy in the embrace of your spouse Dumuzid,
when you have pleasure in the embrace of your spouse Dumuzid, when you take your seat on the high dais in the great hall
in your Kura-igijal where judgment is passed, then the
people of the holy uzga stand there at your service.
1 line unclear
They cannot compete with you, Inana. As a prostitute
you go down to the tavern and, like (?) a ghost who slips in through the
window, you enter there.
Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let me tell of your grandeur!
When the servants let the flocks loose, and when cattle and sheep are returned to cow-pen and sheepfold, then, my lady, like the nameless poor, you wear only a single garment. The pearls of a prostitute are placed around your neck, and you are likely to snatch a man from the tavern. As you hasten to the embrace of your spouse Dumuzid, Inana, then the seven paranymphs share the bedchamber with you.
Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let me tell of your grandeur!
In the
evening, when the stars return together again and when Utu enters into his chamber, when in heaven, Inana, you diffuse awesomeness like fire, and when on earth, Ninegala, you screech like a falcon, then you ...... in play
and dancing.
1 line unclear
You go from moonlight to star, you go from star to moonlight.
Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let me tell of your grandeur!
13
lines missing or unclear
The slavegirl ...... her mistress. ...... her house and property. ...... her
child.
Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let me tell of your grandeur!
7 lines
unclear
...... you are the great goddess.
2 lines unclear
The levy of troops is brought into the broad square like a crouching dragon.
The young woman abandons the E-mah, destroying the
temple like my ....... The young man who has come to know your eminence makes a
gesture of obeisance.
Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let me tell of your grandeur!
5 lines
unclear
21 lines missing
1 line fragmentary
...... has presented (?) ...... to you there. Your position ....... If ......
beside the Egal-edina, then the evil demons and
demonesses oppose it.
Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let me tell of your grandeur!
1 line
fragmentary
Inana, you are an object of admiration, like a charming
young maiden. ...... has been opened for you. Mistress, your ...... priestess
hangs the cuba jewels on you. The great ......, responsible for the
ordinances,
1 line unclear
You enter house after house, you peer into lane after lane. Lady, when ......,
when your emblem is displayed, maiden, when you stand in ......, you are
covered in loveliness. Who ...... finds ...... in the sheepfold, ......, ......
prayer .......
Inana, you are the lady of all the divine powers, and no deity can compete with you. Here is your dwelling, Ninegala; let me tell of your grandeur!
Inana, you are the lady of the great divine powers. Your mother
Ningal ...... great attributes. Your father Suen ...... great holy cows. Your brother, the youth Utu ....... Your spouse Ama-ucumgal-ana, the shepherd, lord Dumuzid, ....... Your beloved minister (?) Nincubur ....... Your beloved sister-in-law Jectin-ana .......
3 lines fragmentary or missing
The great-hearted mistress, the impetuous lady, proud among the Anuna gods and pre-eminent in all lands, the great daughter of Suen, exalted among the Great Princes (a name of the Igigi gods) , the magnificent lady who gathers up the divine powers of heaven and earth and rivals great An, is mightiest among the great gods -- she makes their verdicts final. The Anuna gods crawl before her august word whose course she does not let An know; he dares not proceed against her command. She ../changes her own action, and no one knows how it will occur. She makes perfect the great divine powers, she holds a shepherd's crook, and she is their magnificent pre-eminent one. She is a huge shackle clamping down upon the gods of the Land. Her great awesomeness covers the great mountain and levels the roads.
At her loud cries, the gods of the Land become scared. Her roaring makes the Anuna gods tremble like a solitary reed. At her rumbling, they hide all together. Without Inana great An makes no decisions, and Enlil determines no destinies. Who opposes the mistress who raises her head and is supreme over the mountains? Wherever she ......, cities become ruin mounds and haunted places, and shrines become waste land. When her wrath makes people tremble, the burning sensation and the distress she causes are like an ulu demon ensnaring a man.
She stirs confusion and chaos against those who are disobedient to her, speeding carnage and inciting the devastating flood, clothed in terrifying radiance. It is her game to speed conflict and battle, untiring, strapping on her sandals. Clothed (?) in a furious storm, a whirlwind, she ...... the garment of ladyship. When she touches ...... there is despair, a south wind which has covered ....... Inana sits on harnessed (?) lions, she cuts to pieces him who shows no respect. A leopard of the hills, entering (?) the roads, raging (?), ......, the mistress is a great bull trusting in its strength; no one dare turn against her. ......, the foremost among the Great Princes, a pitfall for the disobedient, a trap for the evil, a ...... for the hostile, wherever she casts her venom .......
Her wrath is ......, a devastating flood which no one can withstand. A great watercourse, ......, she abases those whom she despises. The mistress, a hurin bird who lets no one escape, ......, Inana, a falcon preying on the gods, Inana rips to pieces the spacious cattle-pens. The fields of the city which Inana has looked at in anger ....... The furrows of the field which the mistress ...... grass. An opposes her, ....... Setting on fire, in the high plain the mistress ....... Inana ....... The mistress ...... fighting, ......, conflict .......
...... she performs a song. This song ...... its established plan, weeping, the food and milk of death. Whoever eats ...... Inana's food and milk of death will not last. Gall will give a burning pain to those she gives it to eat, ...... in their mouth ....... In her joyful heart she performs the song of death on the plain. She performs the song of her heart. She washes their weapons with blood and gore, ....... Axes smash heads, spears penetrate and maces are covered in blood. Their evil mouths ...... the warriors ....... On their first offerings she pours blood, filling them with blood.
On the wide and silent plain, darkening the bright daylight, she turns midday into darkness. People look upon each other in anger, they look for combat. Their shouting disturbs the plain, it weighs on the pasture and the waste land. Her howling is like Ickur's and makes the flesh of all the lands tremble. No one can oppose her murderous battle -- who rivals her? No one can look at her fierce fighting, the carnage, the ....... Engulfing (?) water, raging, sweeping over the earth, she leaves nothing behind. The mistress, a breaking plough opening hard ground, ....... The braggarts do not lift their necks, ....... Her great heart performs her bidding, the mistress who alone fashions (?) ....... Exalted in the assembly, she occupies the seat of honour, ...... to the right and left.
Humbling huge
mountains as if they were piles of litter, she immobilises ....... She brings
about the destruction of the mountain lands from east to west. Inana ...... wall ...... gulgul stones, she obtains victory.
She ...... the kalaga stone ...... as if it were an earthenware bowl,
she makes it like sheep's fat. The proud mistress holds a dagger in her hand, a
radiance which covers the Land; her suspended net piles up fish in the deep,
....... As if she were a clever fowler no bird escapes the mesh of her
suspended net. The place she has pulverised ......., ...... the divine plans of
heaven and earth. The intention of her word does not ...... to An. The context of her confusing advice in the great gods' assembly
is not known.
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The mistress, a leopard among the Anuna gods, full of pride, has been given authority. Not having ...... struggle ......, Inana ....... She ...... the adolescent girl in her chamber, receiving her, ...... heart ...... charms. She evilly ...... the woman she rejects. In the entire (?) country she ....... She lets her run around in the street ....... ...... of a house the wife sees her child.
When she had removed the great punishment from her body, she invoked blessings upon it; she caused it to be named the pilipili. She broke the spear and as if she were a man ...... gave her a weapon. When she had ...... punishment, it is not ....... She ...... the door of the house of wisdom, she makes known its interior. Those who do not respect her suspended net do not escape ...... when she suspends the meshes of her net. The man she has called by name she does not hold in esteem. Having approached the woman, she breaks the weapon and gives her a spear. The male jicgisajkec, the nisub and the female jicgi ritual officiants, after having ...... punishment, moaning ....... The ecstatic, the transformed pilipili, the kurjara and the sajursaj ....... Lament and song ....... They exhaust themselves with weeping and grief, they ...... laments.
Weeping daily your heart does not ....... 'Alas' ...... heart ...... knows no relaxation. Beloved lady of holy An, your ...... in weeping ....... In heaven ....... On your breast ....... You alone are majestic, you have renown, heaven and earth ...... not ....... You rival An and Enlil, you occupy their seat of honour. You are pre-eminent in the cult places, you are magnificent in your course.
Acnan ...... august dais ....... Ickur who roars from the sky ....... His thick clouds ....... When ...... the great divine powers of heaven and earth, Inana, your victory is terrifying ....... The Anuna gods bow down in prostration, they abase themselves. You ride on seven great beasts as you come forth from heaven. Great An feared your precinct and was frightened of your dwelling-place. He let you take a seat in the dwelling-place of great An and then feared you no more, saying: "I will hand over to you the august royal rites and the great divine rites."
The great gods kissed the earth and prostrated themselves. The high mountain land, the land of cornelian and lapis lazuli, bowed down before you, but Ebih did not bow down before you and did not greet you. Shattering it in your anger, as desired, you smashed it like a storm. Lady, pre-eminent through the power of An and Enlil, ....... Without you no destiny at all is determined, no clever counsel is granted favour.
To run, to
escape, to quiet and to pacify are yours, Inana. To
rove around, to rush, to rise up, to fall down and to ...... a companion are
yours, Inana. To open up roads and paths, a place of
peace for the journey, a companion for the weak, are yours, Inana. To keep paths and ways in good order, to shatter earth and
to make it firm are yours, Inana. To destroy, to build
up, to tear out and to settle are yours, Inana. To turn
a man into a woman and a woman into a man are yours, Inana. Desirability and arousal, goods and property are yours,
Inana. Gain, profit, great wealth and greater wealth
are yours, Inana. Gaining wealth and having success in
wealth, financial loss and reduced wealth are yours, Inana. Observation (1 ms. has instead: Everything), choice, offering,
inspection and approval are yours, Inana. Assigning
virility, dignity, guardian angels, protective deities and cult centres are
yours, Inana.
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...... mercy
and pity are yours, Inana. ...... are yours, Inana. To cause the ...... heart to tremble, ...... illnesses
are yours, Inana. To have a wife, ......, to love
...... are yours, Inana. To rejoice, to control (?),
...... are yours, Inana. Neglect and care, raising and
bowing down are yours, Inana. To build a house, to
create a woman's chamber, to possess implements, to kiss a child's lips are
yours, Inana. To run, to race, to desire and to succeed
are yours, Inana. To interchange the brute and the
strong and the weak and the powerless is yours, Inana.
To interchange the heights and valleys and the ...... and the plains (?) is
yours, Inana. To give the crown, the throne and the
royal sceptre is yours, Inana.
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To diminish, to make great, to make low, to make broad, to ...... and to give a lavish supply are yours, Inana. To bestow the divine and royal rites, to carry out the appropriate instructions, slander, untruthful words, abuse, to speak inimically and to overstate are yours, Inana.
The false or true response, the sneer, to commit violence, to extend derision, to speak with hostility, to cause smiling and to be humbled or important, misfortune, hardship, grief, to make happy, to clarify and to darken, agitation, terror, fear, splendour and great awesomeness in radiance, triumph, pursuit, imbasur illness, sleeplessness and restlessness, submission, gift, ...... and howling, strife, chaos, opposition, fighting and carnage, ......, to know everything, to strengthen for the distant future a nest built ......, to instill fear in the ...... desert like a ...... poisonous snake, to subdue the hostile enemy, ...... and to hate ...... are yours, Inana.
To ......
the lots ......, to gather the dispersed people and restore them to their
homes, to receive ......, to ...... are yours, Inana.
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...... the runners, when you open your mouth, ...... turns into ....... At your glance a deaf man does not ...... to one who can hear. At your angry glare what is bright darkens; you turn midday into darkness. When the time had come you destroyed the place you had in your thoughts, you made the place tremble. Nothing can be compared to your purposes (?); who can oppose your great deeds? You are the lady of heaven and earth! Inana, in (?) the palace the unbribable judge, among the numerous people ...... decisions. The invocation of your name fills the mountains, An (?) cannot compete with your .......
Your
understanding ...... all the gods ....... You alone are magnificent. You are
the great cow among the gods of heaven and earth, as many as there are. When
you raise your eyes they pay heed to you, they wait for your word. The Anuna gods stand praying in the place where you dwell. Great
awesomeness, glory ....... May your praise not cease! Where is your name not
magnificent?
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Your song is grief, lament ....... Your ...... cannot be changed, your anger is crushing. Your creation cannot be ......, An has not diminished your ...... orders. Woman, with the help of An and Enlil you (?) have granted ...... as a gift in the assembly. Unison ...... An and Enlil ......, giving the Land into your hand. An does not answer the word you have uttered to him.
Once you have said 'So be it', great An does not ...... for him. Your 'So be it' is a 'So be it' of destruction, to destroy ....... Once you have said your ...... in the assembly, An and Enlil will not disperse it. Once you have made a decision ......, it cannot be changed in heaven and earth. Once you have specified approval of a place, it experiences no destruction. Once you have specified destruction for a place, it experiences no approval.
Your divinity shines in the pure heavens like Nanna or Utu. Your torch lights up the corners of heaven, turning darkness into light. ...... with fire. Your ...... refining ...... walks like Utu in front of you. No one can lay a hand on your precious divine powers; all your divine powers ....... You exercise full ladyship over heaven and earth; you hold everything in your hand. Mistress, you are magnificent, no one can walk before you. You dwell with great An in the holy resting-place. Which god is like you in gathering together ...... in heaven and earth? You are magnificent, your name is praised, you alone are magnificent!
I am En-hedu-ana, the high priestess of the moon god. ......; I am
the ...... of Nanna.
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Advice ......, grief, bitterness ......, 'alas' ....... My lady, ...... mercy ...... compassion ...... I am yours! This will always be so! May your heart be soothed towards me! May your understanding ...... compassion. May ...... in front of you, may it be my offering. Your divinity is resplendent in the Land! My body has experienced your great punishment. Lament, bitterness, sleeplessness, distress, separation ......, mercy, compassion, care, lenience and homage are yours, and to cause flooding, to open hard ground and to turn darkness into light.
My lady, let me proclaim your magnificence in all lands, and your glory! Let me praise your ways and greatness! Who rivals you in divinity? Who can compare with your divine rites? May great An, whom you love, say for you "It is enough!". May the great gods calm your mood. May the lapis lazuli dais, fit for ladyship, ....... May your magnificent dwelling place say to you: "Be seated". May your pure bed say to you: "Relax". Your ......, where Utu rises, .......
They proclaim your magnificence; you are the lady ....... An and Enlil have determined a great destiny for you throughout the entire universe. They have bestowed upon you ladyship in the gu-ena. Being fitted for ladyship, you determine the destiny of noble ladies. Mistress, you are magnificent, you are great! Inana, you are magnificent, you are great! My lady, your magnificence is resplendent. May your heart be restored for my sake!
Your great deeds are unparallelled, your magnificence is praised! Young woman, Inana, your praise is sweet!
Lady of all the divine powers, resplendent light, righteous woman clothed in radiance, beloved of An and Urac! Mistress of heaven, with the great pectoral jewels, who loves the good headdress befitting the office of en priestess, who has seized all seven of its divine powers! My lady, you are the guardian of the great divine powers! You have taken up the divine powers, you have hung the divine powers from your hand. You have gathered up the divine powers, you have clasped the divine powers to your breast. Like a dragon you have deposited venom on the foreign lands. When like Ickur you roar at the earth, no vegetation can stand up to you. As a flood descending upon (?) those foreign lands, powerful one of heaven and earth, you are their Inana.
Raining blazing fire down upon the Land, endowed with divine powers by An, lady who rides upon a beast, whose words are spoken at the holy command of An! The great rites are yours: who can fathom them? Destroyer of the foreign lands, you confer strength on the storm. Beloved of Enlil, you have made awesome terror weigh upon the Land. You stand at the service of An's commands.
At your battle-cry, my lady, the foreign lands bow low. When humanity comes before you in awed silence at the terrifying radiance and tempest, you grasp the most terrible of all the divine powers. Because of you, the threshold of tears is opened, and people walk along the path of the house of great lamentations. In the van of battle, all is struck down before you. With your strength, my lady, teeth can crush flint. You charge forward like a charging storm. You roar with the roaring storm, you continually thunder with Ickur. You spread exhaustion with the stormwinds, while your own feet remain tireless. With the lamenting balaj drum a lament is struck up.
My lady, the great Anuna gods fly from you to the ruin mounds like scudding bats. They dare not stand before your terrible gaze. They dare not confront your terrible countenance. Who can cool your raging heart? Your malevolent anger is too great to cool. Lady, can your mood be soothed? Lady, can your heart be gladdened? Eldest daughter of Suen, your rage cannot be cooled!
Lady supreme over the foreign lands, who can take anything from your province? Once you have extended your province over the hills (2 mss. have instead: If you frown at the mountains), vegetation there is ruined. Their great gateways (1 ms. has instead: palaces) are set afire. Blood is poured into their rivers because of you, and their people must drink it (2 mss. have instead: could not drink). They must lead their troops captive before you, all together. They must scatter their élite regiments for you, all together. They must stand their able-bodied young men at your service, all together. Tempests have filled the dancing-places of their cities. They drive their young men before you as prisoners. Your holy command has been spoken over the city which has not declared "The foreign lands are yours!", wherever they have not declared "It is your own father's!"; and it is brought back under your feet. Responsible care is removed from its sheepfolds. Its woman no longer speaks affectionately with her husband; at dead of night she no longer takes counsel with him, and she no longer reveals to him the pure thoughts of her heart. Impetuous wild cow, great daughter of Suen, lady greater than An, who can take anything from your province?
Great queen of queens, issue of a holy womb for righteous divine powers, greater than your own mother, wise and sage, lady of all the foreign lands, life-force of the teeming people: I will recite your holy song! True goddess fit for divine powers, your splendid utterances are magnificent. Deep-hearted, good woman with a radiant heart, I will enumerate your divine powers (2 mss. have instead: good divine powers) (1 ms. has instead: holy divine powers) for you!
En-hedu-ana the en priestess, entered my holy jipar in your service. I carried the ritual basket, and intoned the song of joy. But funeral offerings were (1 ms. has instead my ritual meal was) brought, as if I had never lived there. I approached the light, but the light was scorching hot to me. I approached that shade, but I was covered with a storm. My honeyed mouth became venomous. My ability to soothe moods vanished.
Suen, tell An about Lugal-ane and my fate! May An undo it for me! As soon as you tell An about it, An will release me. The woman will take the destiny away from Lugal-ane; foreign lands and flood lie at her feet. The woman too is exalted, and can make cities tremble. Step forward, so that she will cool her heart for me.
I, En-hedu-ana, will recite a prayer to you. To you, holy Inana, I shall give free vent to my tears like sweet beer! I shall say to her "Your decision!" (some mss. have instead: "Greetings!") Do not be anxious about Acimbabbar. In connection with the purification rites of holy An, Lugal-ane has altered everything of his, and has stripped An of the E-ana. He has not stood in awe of the greatest deity. He has turned that temple, whose attractions were inexhaustible, whose beauty was endless, into a destroyed temple. While he entered before me as if he was a partner, really he approached out of envy.
My good divine wild cow, drive out the man, capture the man! In the place of divine encouragement, what is my standing now? May An extradite the land which is a malevolent rebel against your Nanna! May An smash that city! May Enlil curse it! May its plaintive child not be placated by his mother! Lady, with the laments begun, may your ship of lamentation be abandoned in hostile territory. Must I die because of my holy songs? My Nanna has paid no heed to me (1 ms. has instead: has not decided my case). He has destroyed me utterly in renegade territory. Acimbabbar has certainly not pronounced a verdict on me. What is it to me if he has pronounced it? What is it to me if he has not pronounced it? He stood there in triumph and drove me out of the temple. He made me fly like a swallow from the window; I have exhausted my life-strength. He made me walk through the thorn bushes of the mountains. He stripped me of the rightful crown (1 ms. has instead: garment) of the en priestess. He gave me a knife and dagger, saying to me "These are appropriate ornaments for you".
Most precious lady, beloved by An, your holy heart is great; may it be assuaged on my behalf! Beloved spouse of Ucumgal-ana, you are the great lady of the horizon and zenith of the heavens. The Anuna have submitted to you. From birth you were the junior queen: how supreme you are now over the Anuna, the great gods! The Anuna kiss the ground with their lips before you. But my own trial is not yet concluded, although a hostile verdict encloses me as if it were my own verdict. I did not reach out my hands to the (1 ms. has instead: my) flowered bed. I did not reveal the pronouncements of Ningal to anybody. My lady beloved of An, may your heart be calmed towards me, the brilliant en priestess of Nanna!
It must be known! It must be known! Nanna has not yet spoken out! He has said, "He is yours!" Be it known that you are lofty as the heavens! Be it known that you are broad as the earth! Be it known that you destroy the rebel lands! Be it known that you roar at the foreign lands! Be it known that you crush heads! Be it known that you devour corpses like a dog! Be it known that your gaze is terrible! Be it known that you lift your terrible gaze! Be it known that you have flashing eyes! Be it known that you are unshakeable and unyielding! Be it known that you always stand triumphant! That Nanna has not yet spoken out, and that he has said "He is yours!" has made you greater, my lady; you have become the greatest! My lady beloved by An, I shall tell of all your rages (1 ms. has instead: daises)! I have heaped up the coals in the censer, and prepared the purification rites. The Ecdam-kug shrine awaits you. Might your heart not be appeased towards me?
Since it was full, too full for me, great exalted lady, I have recited this song for you. May a singer repeat to you at noon that which was recited to you at dead of night: "Because of your captive spouse, because of your captive child, your rage is increased, your heart unassuaged."
The powerful lady, respected in the gathering of rulers, has accepted her offerings from her. Inana's holy heart has been assuaged. The light was sweet for her, delight extended over her, she was full of fairest beauty. Like the light of the rising moon, she exuded delight. Nanna came out to gaze at her properly, and her mother Ningal blessed her. The door posts greeted her. Everyone's speech to the mistress is exalted. Praise be to the destroyer of foreign lands, endowed with divine powers by An, to my lady enveloped in beauty, to Inana!
Great fierce storm, ...... radiance! Inana, emitting fearsomeness and radiance in battle! (1 ms. adds: Inana, playing (?) in battle! Inana, emitting fearsomeness and radiance in battle! ) Where Enlil has commanded it, you make a lion's body and lion's muscles rise up. ...... in the south and in the uplands ...... like grass. Like Ickur ....... Like their proud mighty heroes, you ...... (1 ms. has instead: may they ...... for you) their noses (?) to the ground. May the great (1 ms. has instead: proud) warrior of kings and queens restore for you the shrine Kec. May he make them ...... their noses (?) to the ground for you.
My lady, you turn your gaze from the abzu (?). An has commanded you ....... You are gifted with divine powers like An the king, and like Enlil you are established in a place of honour. You determine majestic verdicts in the assembly; like a light from heaven within the assembly, you lead (?) the righteous and seize the wicked (1 ms. has instead: ...... the evil). You lead (?) (1 ms. has instead: lead forth) the righteous in the palace for Utu. You restore the ....... You ...... the people for the king, and ....... Enlil gave you your fierce face and your serious brow.
A balbale of Inana.