Category Archives: Technology First’s of Sumer

The Song of the Hoe: translation

The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature

 

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in bluemixed-breed demigods in teal…)

(Ninhursag‘s creature creation = Enkidu)

 

In this composition, the word al ‘hoe’ is used as often as possible, as well as many nouns or verb forms beginning with — or merely containing — the syllable al (occasionally also ar).

 

1-7 Not only did the lord make the world appear in its correct form —

the lord who never changes the destinies which he determines:

 (Enlil, son & heir to Anunnaki King Anu, his father’s Earth Colony Commander, his decisions are final)

Enlil, who will make the human seed of the Land come forth

(3 mss. have instead: up) from the earth (2 other mss. have instead: chamber)

and not only did he hasten to separate heaven from earth, and hasten to separate earth from heaven,

but, in order to make it possible for humans to grow in ‘Where Flesh Came Forth’

(2 mss. have instead: ‘Where Flesh Grew’) [the name of a cosmic location],

3a - nippur ziggurat, Enlil's home on Earth  (Enlil‘s residence & Earth Colony Command Center in his city of Nippur)

he first suspended (2 mss. have instead: raised) the axis of the world at Dur-an-ki (“Bond Heaven and Earth”).

 

8-17 He did this with the help of the hoe (al) — and so daylight broke forth (aled).

By distributing (altare) the shares of duty he established daily tasks,

and for the hoe (al) and the carrying-basket wages were even established.

Then Enlil praised his hoe (al), his hoe (al) wrought in gold,

its top inlaid with lapis lazuli (blue-hued gem stone), his hoe (al) whose blade was tied on with a cord,

which was adorned with silver and gold, his hoe (al), the edge of whose point (?) was a plow of lapis lazuli,

whose blade was like a battering ram standing up to a great (gal) wall

(1 ms. has instead: born for a great (gal) person (?)).

The lord evaluated the hoe (al), determined its future destiny and placed a holy crown on its head …….

 

18-27 Here, in ‘Where Flesh Came Forth’ (1 ms. has instead: ‘Where Flesh Grew’)

[the name of a cosmic location], he set this very hoe (al) to work;

(1 other ms. has instead: in ‘Where Flesh Grew’ the unassailable (?),)

Workers - Ancient Man At Work Workers - Primative Workers In The Edin

he had it place the first model of mankind in the brick mold (aliens cloning workers, DNA technologies).

His Land started to break through the soil towards Enlil.

6f - Enlil & Enki drinking in Nippur  (Enlil & Enki served by earthling primitives, “modern man”)

He looked with favor at his black-headed people.

Now the Anuna gods stepped forward to him, and did (jal) obeisance to him.

They calmed Enlil with a prayer, for they wanted to demand (al-dug) the black-headed people (workers) from him.

2a - Anunnaki experiment to make workers4a - I have done it, the worker of the gods

       (Ninhursag, Enki, & Ningishzidda worked the DNA mixing of alien giants with upright walking primitives, SEE ADAPA TEXTS)

Ninmena (Ninhursag), the lady who had given birth to the ruler,

Farming - gods then man tilled the fields

(“modern man” fashioned by alien giants, to replace Anunnaki workers from their heavy burdens, Anunnaki leader Enlil demanded workers for Eden from Enki‘s group in the mines of SO Africa, creating problems between the Anunnaki)

who had given birth to the king, now set (aljaja) human reproduction going.

 

28-34 The leader of heaven and earth, lord Nunamnir (Enlil),

         named the important persons and valued (kal) persons.

He …… these persons, and recruited them to provide for the gods (in Eden).

Now Enki praised Enlil‘s hoe (al), and the maiden Nisaba (Enlil‘s mother-in-law) was made responsible

2 - Geshtinanna, daughter to Enki & Ninsun  (Nisaba, alien Anunnaki Master Scribe, Goddess of Grains, many of her records discovered)

for keeping records of the decisions.

And so people took (jal) the shining hoes (al), the holy hoes (al), into their hands.

3a - nippur ziggurat, Enlil's home on Earth  (mud brick-built mountain / temple / residence of Enlil & Ninlil, city of Nippur below)

 

35-42 The E-kur, the temple of Enlil, was founded by the hoe (al).

By day it was building (aldue) it, by night it caused the temple to grow (almumu).

            James Charles Kaelin, Jr. Webmaster & Digitizer EarthStation1 http://earthstation1.simplenet.com wandarer@earthlink.net

  (earthling mixed-breed shepherd, Ninurta, & Enlil handing earthlings the burden of the plow, our solar system in background)

In well-founded Nibru, the hero Ninurta entered into the presence of Enlil

in the inner chamber of the Tummal –the Tummal, the bread basket (?)

(1 ms. has instead: …… masterpiece (?)) of mother Ninlil

the innermost chamber of the Tummal, with regular food deliveries.

  (Bau & her nephew-spouse Ninurta, Enlil‘s son & heir)

Holy Ninisina (Bau / Gula) entered into the presence of Enlil with black kids and fruit offerings for the lord.

 

43-45 Next comes the Abzu, with the lions before it,

where the divine powers (alien technologies) may not be requested (al-dug): the hoe wielder (?) (altar), the good man,

5e - Enki & Adapa           2e - Eridu temple reconstruction

(1st “modern man” the “mold” to start the new species of advanced earthlings, Enki, the DNA Master;  Enki‘s house in Eridu)

lord Nudimmud (Enki) was building (aldue) the Abzu, Eridug having been chosen as the construction site (altar).

1a - Nintu with lab monkeys  2a - Kish ruins

  (Ninhursag‘s early failed attempts to fashion workers for the alien Anunnaki gods;  her city walls of Kish)

 

46-48 The mother of the gods, Ninhursaja (Ninhursag),

had the mighty (?) (altar) light of the lord live with her in Kec (Kish);

7d - Ninurta, Ur-Nammu builds temples for the gods (Enlil seated, below Ninurta leads mixed-breed king & workers to alien ziggurat construction site)

she had Cul-pa-eda (Ninurta), no less, help her with the construction work (altar).

2ca - Anu's temple, at least 3500B.C.  (Anu‘s, Inanna‘s, Ninsun‘s, etc. residence in Uruk)

 

49-51 The shrine E-ana (Anu‘s temple – residence in Uruk)

was cleaned up by means of the hoe (al) for the lady of E-ana, the good cow (immal) (2 mss. have instead: woman).

The hoe (al) deals with ruin mounds, the hoe (al) deals with weeds.

 

52-55 In the city of Zabalam (city loyal to Inanna), the hoe (al) is Inanna‘s workman (?).

She determined the destiny of the hoe (al), with its projecting lapis-lazuli beard (1 ms. has instead: tooth).

2a - Utu, Shamash, twin to InannaUtu Shamash

      (Utu, grandson to Enlil, the Space Port Commander in Sippur;  launch & landing zones cut into the mountains by Utu)

Utu was ready to help her with her building project (altar);

it is the renowned (?) building project (altar) of youthful Utu.

2c - Haia, Enlil, unknown god, & Nisaba

     (Nisaba, spouse to Haia, Ninlil‘s mother, Master Anunnaki Scribe, Goddess of Grains, hoe & plow)

 

56-58 The lady with broad (dajal) intelligence, Nisaba,

ordered the measuring of the E-ana for a construction project (altar),

and then designed her own E-hamun (in Uruk) for construction (altar).

 

59-70 The king who measured up the hoe (al) and who passes (zal) his time in its tracks,

Farming - plow & seed in Sumer  (planet Nibiru‘s cross symbol in the sky)

the hero Ninurta, has introduced working with the hoe (altar) into the rebel (bal) lands.

He subdues (aljaja) any city that does not obey its lord.

Towards heaven he roars (algigi) like a storm, earthwards he strikes (aljaja) like a dragon (ucumgal).

Cara (Shara, Inanna‘s son, Roman god Cupid) sat down on (1 ms. has instead: got onto) Enlil‘s knees,

and Enlil gave him what he had desired (al-dug):

he had mentioned the mace, the club, arrows and quiver, and the hoe (al)

(3 mss. have instead: he desired (al-dug) the mace, the club, arrows and quiver).

2b - Dumuzi the shepherd  (Dumuzi The Shepherd, Enki‘s & Ninsun‘s son, young Inanna‘s spouse)

Dumuzid (Dumuzi) is the one who makes the upper land fertile (allumlum).

Gibil (god of the fiery kilns, metal fashioner) made his hoe (al) raise its head towards the heavens —

he (Enki‘s son of metallurgy) caused the hoe (al), sacred indeed, to be refined with fire.

The Anuna (Anunnaki) were rejoicing (alhulhuledec).

 

71-82 The temple of Jectin-ana (Geshtinanna, Enki‘s daughter) resembled an aljarsur instrument,

the aljarsur of mother Jectin-ana (goddess of songs) that makes a pleasant sound.

4e - Enlil, parent in-laws Haia, Nisaba, & spouse Ninlil

              (Enlil                   Haia                        Nisaba               Ninlil           unidentified)

The lord [Enlil] bellowed at his hoe (al) like a bull.

As for the grave (irigal): the hoe (al) buries people,

but dead people are also brought up from the ground by the hoe (al)

[This may allude to Enkidu‘s ghost being put in contact with Gilgamec.].

With the hoe (al), the hero honored by An (Anu), the younger brother (the grandfather) of Nergal,

6aa - Gilgamesh two-thirds Divine  (giant Gilgamesh, son to Ninsun & Lugalbanda, 2/3rds divine, 5th king of Uruk)

the warrior Gilgamec is as powerful as a hunting net.

2 - Ninsun, mother to mixed-breed kings (Ninsun, daughter to Ninurta & Bau, mother to gods & many earthling mixed-breeds made kings)

The (1 ms. adds: sage) son of Ninsumun (Ninsun) is pre-eminent with oars (jisal)

[This may allude to Gilgamec rowing across the waters of death.].

With the hoe (al) he is the great barber (kindajal) of the watercourses.

In the chamber (1 ms. has instead: place) of the shrine, with the hoe (al) he is the minister (sukkal).

The wicked (huljal) …… are sons of the hoe (al); they are born in sleep from heaven.

 

83-93 In the sky there is the altirigu bird, the bird of the god.

On the earth there is the hoe (al): a dog in the reed-beds, a dragon (ucumgal) in the forest.

5b - Ninurta with his 50-headed mace weapon  (Ninurta‘s 50-headed mace, alien Anunnaki advanced technologies of weaponry)

On the battlefield, there is the dur-allub battle-axe.

By the city wall there is the battle-net (alluhab).

On the dining-table there is the bowl (maltum).

In the wagon shed, there is the sledge (mayaltum).

In the donkey stable there is the cupboard (argibil).

The hoe (al)! — the sound of the word is sweet: it also occurs (munjal)

on the hillsides: the tree of the hillsides is the allanum oak.

The fragrance of the hillsides is the arganum balm.

The precious stone of the hillsides is the algamec steatite.

 

94-106 The hoe (al) makes everything prosper, the hoe makes everything flourish.

The hoe (al) is good barley, the hoe (al) is a hunting net (1 ms. has instead: an overseer).

The hoe (al) is brick molds, the hoe (al) has made people exist (jal).

It is the hoe (al) that is the strength of young manhood.

The hoe (al) and the basket are the tools for building cities.

It builds (aldue) the right kind of house, it cultivates (aljaja) the right kind of fields.

It is you, hoe, that extend (dajal) the good agricultural land!

The hoe (al) subdues for its owner (lugal) any agricultural lands

that have been recalcitrant (bal) against their owner (lugal),

any agricultural lands that have not submitted to their owner (lugal).

It chops the heads off the vile esparto grasses, yanks them out at their roots, and tears at their stalks.

The hoe (al) also subdues (aljaja) the hirin weeds.

 

107-109 The hoe (al), the implement whose destiny was fixed by father Enlilthe renowned hoe (al)!

2e - Nisaba, unknowns, spouse Haia

               (Nisaba          2 gods unidentified       spouse Haia   daughter Ninlil)

Nisaba (Ninlil‘s mother, Haia‘s spouse, Enlil‘s mother-in-law) be praised!

The Debate Between the Hoe and the Plow: translation

The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature,

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in blue)

1-6 O the Hoe, the Hoe, the Hoe, tied together with thongs;

the Hoe, made from poplar, with a tooth of ash;

the Hoe, made from tamarisk, with a tooth of sea-thorn; the Hoe, double-toothed, four-toothed;

the Hoe, child of the poor, …… bereft even of a loin-cloth (?) — the Hoe started a quarrel …… with the Plow.

7a - when the gods did the work before man

           (when the alien Anunnaki gods did the work on Earth Colony)

7-19 The Hoe having engaged in a dispute with the Plow, the Hoe addressed the Plow:

“Plow, you draw furrows –what does your furrowing matter to me?

You break clods — what does your clod-breaking matter to me?

When water overflows you cannot dam it up.

2a - Nisaba, master scribe, grain goddess  (Nisaba, Enlil‘s mother-in-law, Goddess of Grain)

You cannot fill baskets with earth.

You cannot spread out clay to make bricks.

You cannot lay foundations or build a house.

You cannot strengthen an old wall’s base.

You cannot put a roof on a good man’s house.

Plow, you cannot straighten the town squares.

7c - gods teach mankind to plow

  (in the beginning, giant alien gods from Nibiru had to do the work of men during early settlement period)

Plow, you draw furrows — what does your furrowing matter to me?

You make clods — what does your clod-making matter to me?”

20-33 The Plow addressed the Hoe: “I am the Plow, fashioned by great strength,

http://earthstation1.simplenet.com

(Enlil finally hands the plow over to earthlings to endure their workloads forced upon modern man, farming, sheep-herding, etc.)

assembled by great hands, the mighty registrar of father Enlil.

I am mankind’s faithful farmer.

To perform my festival in the fields in the harvest month,

the king slaughters cattle and sacrifices sheep, and he pours beer into a bowl.

The king offers the …… libation.

The ub and ala drums resound.

(1 ms. adds 1 line:1 line fragmentary)

7b - farming in Enlil's Edin  (alien giants taught mankind to farm for the gods)

The king takes hold of my handles, and harnesses my oxen to the yoke.

All the great high-ranking persons walk at my side.

All the lands gaze at me in great admiration.

The people watch me in joy.

Farming - gods then man tilled the fields

      (earthlings take on the burdensome yoke of hard labor, working for the alien giant gods)

34-40 “The furrow tilled by me adorns the plain.

Before the stalks erected by me in the fields, the teeming herds of Cakkan kneel down.

In performing my labor amid the ripened barley, (1 ms. adds 2 lines: I vie with the mighty scythe (?).

After the reaped …… and the grain have been gathered,) the shepherd’s churn is improved.

3a - Inanna & Dumuzi

                   (Inanna             spouse Dumuzi “The Shepherd”, later taught Abel to tend sheep for the alien gods)

With my sheaves spread over the meadows the sheep of Dumuzid (Dumuzi) are improved.

41-51 “My threshing-floors punctuating the plain are yellow hillocks radiating beauty.

I pile up stacks and mounds for Enlil.

I amass emmer and wheat for him.

I fill the storehouses of mankind with barley.

The orphans, the widows and the destitute take their reed baskets and glean my scattered ears.

People come to drag away my straw, piled up in the fields.

The teeming herds of Cakkan thrive.

52-56 “Hoe, digging miserably, weeding miserably with your teeth; Hoe, burrowing in the mud;

Hoe, putting its head in the mud of the fields, spending your days with the brick-molds in mud

with nobody cleaning you, digging wells, digging ditches, digging ……!

57-62 “Wood of the poor man’s hand, not fit for the hands of high-ranking persons,

the hand of a man’s slave is the only adornment of your head.

You deliver deep insults to me.

You compare yourself to me.

When I go out to the plain, everyone looks on but (2 mss. add 1 line: the Hoe does not …… the Plow, and)

insultingly you call me “Plow, the digger of furrows”.”

63-66 Then the Hoe addressed the Plow:

“Plow, what does my being small matter to me, what does my being exalted matter to me,

what does my being powerful matter to me? — at Enlil‘s place I take precedence over you,

2e - Enlil's home in Nippur3a - Enlil's Ekur-House in Nippur (E-kur, Enlil’s residence in Nippur)

in Enlil‘s temple (residence & Anunnaki Command Central) I stand ahead of you.

67-75 “I build embankments, I dig ditches.

I fill all the meadows with water.

When I make water pour into all the reed-beds, my small baskets carry it away.

When a canal is cut, or when a ditch is cut, when water rushes out at the swelling of a mighty river,

creating lagoons on all sides (?), I, the Hoe, dam it in.

Neither south nor north wind can separate it.

76-79 “The fowler gathers eggs.

The fisherman catches fish.

People empty bird-traps.

Thus the abundance I create spreads over all the lands.

80-90 “After the water has been diverted from the meadows

and the work on the wet areas is taken in hand,

Plow, I come down to the fields before you.

I initiate the opening up of the field for you.

I clear the recesses of the embankment for you.

I remove the weeds in the field for you.

I heap up the stumps and the roots in the field for you.

But when you work the field, there is a procession (?):

your oxen are six, your people four — you yourself are the eleventh …….

…… the preparatory work in the field.

And you want to compare yourself with me?

91-103 “When you come out to the field after me, your single furrow brings you pleasure.

When you put your head to work and get entangled in roots and thorns, your tooth breaks.

Once your tooth is fixed, you cannot hold onto your tooth.

Your farmer calls you “This Plow is done for”.

Carpenters have to be hired again for you, people …… for you.

A whole workshop of artisans surrounds you.

The fullers depilate a …… fleece for you.

They stretch it over the wringer for you.

They toil at the straps for you — then they place the foul hide on your head.

104-108 “Your work is slight but your behavior is grand.

My time of duty is twelve months, but your effective time is four months

and your time of absence is eight months — you are gone for twice as long as you are present.

5c - Enki & shipping

109-116 “Upon your boat (?) you make a hut.

When you are put on board and your “hands” rip out the beams,

your “face” has to be pulled from the water like a wine-jar.

After I have made a pile of logs (?) my smoke dries you out in the house.

What happens to your seeding-funnel if it once falls?

Anyone who drops you smashes it, making it a completely destroyed tool.

117-121 “I am the Hoe and I live in the city.

No one is more honored than I am.

I am a servant following his master.

I am one who builds a house for his master.

I am one who broadens the cattle-stalls, who expands the sheepfolds.

122-126 “I spread out clay and make bricks.

I lay foundations and build a house.

I strengthen an old wall’s base.

I put a roof on a good man’s house.

I am the Hoe, I straighten the town-squares.

127-131 “When I have gone through the city and built its sturdy walls,

have made the temples of the great gods splendid

and embellished them with brown, yellow and decorative (?) clay,

2c - Nippur  (mud brick-built mountains / residences of the giant alien gods)

I build in the city of the palace where the inspectors and overseers live.

132-138 “When the weakened clay has been built up and the fragile (?) clay buttressed,

they refresh themselves when the time is cool in houses I have built.

When they rest on their sides by a fire which a hoe has stirred up,

you do not come to the joyous celebration (?).

They feed the laborer, give him drink and pay him his wages:

thus I have enabled him to support his wife and children.

139-141 “I make a kiln for the boatman and heat pitch for him.

By fashioning magur and magilum boats for him, I enable the boatman to support his wife and children.

142-150 “I plant a garden for the householder.

When the garden has been encircled, surrounded by mud walls

and the agreements reached, people again take up a hoe.

When a well has been dug, a water lift constructed and a water-hoist hung, I straighten the plots.

I am the one who puts water in the plots.

After I have made the apple-tree grow, it is I who bring forth its fruits.

These fruits adorn the temples of the great gods:

thus I enable the gardener to support his wife and children.

151-158 “After I have worked on the watercourse and the sluices, put the path in order

and built a tower there on its banks, those who spend the day in the fields,

and the field-workers who match them by night, go up into that tower.

These people revive themselves there just as in their well-built city.

The water-skins I made they use to pour water.

I put life into their hearts again.

159-162 “Insultingly you call me “Plow, the digger of ditches”.

But when I have dug out the fresh water for the plain and dry land where no water is,

those who have thirst refresh themselves at my well-head.

163-173 “What then does one person say to another?

What does one tell another in detail?:

“The shepherd adorns the plain with his ewes and lambs.

After the heavens had been turned upside down, after bitter lament had been imposed on Sumer,

after, as houses were overwhelmed by the rivers and Enlil frowned in anger upon the land,

  (Enlil, son & heir to King Anu, leader of the Anunnaki giants in Heaven & on Earth)

Enlil had flooded the harvest, after Enlil had acted mightily thus,

Enlil did not abandon us — the single-toothed Hoe was struck against the dry earth.

174-178A ”For us you raise winter like the harvest-time.

We take away the hand of summer and winter.

Hoe, the binder, ties the sheaves.

Binding bird-traps, it ties the reed-baskets.

The solitary laborer and the destitute are supported. (2 mss. add 1 line: They glean the scattered ears.)

179-185 Then the Storm spoke: “The mortar lies still while the pestle pounds.

People fight with grinding stones.

The sieve disputes with the strainer.

What have you done to the one who is angry?

Why are you scornful of Ezina (grain goddess Nisaba or daughter Ninlil)?

Why do you swap names (?) over the ripened grain

(1 ms. has instead: Why, Plow, is the ripened grain in your seeding-funnel)?”

186-193 Enlil addressed the Hoe: “Hoe, do not start getting so mightily angry!

Do not be so mightily scornful! Is not Nisaba the Hoe’s inspector?

2b - Enlil, spouse Haia, Nisaba, & Ninlil

              (Enlil,    parent in-laws Haia & Nisaba, spouse Ninlil,     unidentified)

Is not Nisaba its overseer?

The scribe will register your work, he will register your work.

Hoe, whether he enters five or ten gij in your account,

Hoe — or, Hoe, whether he enters one-third or one-half mana in your account,

Hoe, like a maid-servant, always ready, you will fulfill your task.”

194-196 The Hoe having engaged in a dispute with the Plow,

the Hoe triumphed over the Plow —  praise be to Nisaba!

2c - Haia, Enlil, unknown god, & Nisaba

                 (Haia                  Enlil           unidentified god     Nisaba, Master Scribe & Goddess of Grains)

The Elixir of Life, Quotes From Texts

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in bluemixed-breed demigods in teal…)

 

        “’Fetch him the bread of eternal life and let him eat!’

        They fetched him the bread of eternal life, but he would not eat.

         They fetched him the water of eternal life, but he would not drink.

         They fetched him a garment, and he put it on himself.

         They fetched him oil, and he anointed himself.

         An watched him and laughed at him.

            ‘Come Adapa, why didn’t you eat?

          Why didn’t you drink?”

          Didn’t you want to be immortal?

          Alas for downtrodden people!’

            ‘But Enki my lord told me:

        ‘You mustn’t eat! You mustn’t drink!’`…

          ‘Take him and send him back to his earth’ ….”

 

Then Gilgamesh raised a punting pole and drew the boat to shore.

Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:

Gilgamesh, you came here exhausted and worn out.

What can I give you so you can return to your land?

I will disclose to you a thing that is hidden, Gilgamesh, a… I will tell you.

There is a plant… like a boxthorn, whose thorns will prick your hand like a rose.

          If your hands reach that plant you will become a young man again.”…

       

        “He took the plant, though it pricked his hand, …

         Gilgamesh spoke to Urshanabi, the ferryman, saying:

         “Urshanabi, this plant is a plant against decay(!) by which a man can attain his survival(!).

I will bring it to Uruk-Haven, and have an old man eat the plant to test it.

The plant’s name is ‘The Old Man Becomes a Young Man.’

         Then I will eat it and return to the condition of my youth.”

 

         “Gilgamesh went down and was bathing in the water.

        A snake smelled the fragrance of the plant, silently came up and carried off the plant.

        While going back it sloughed off its casing.’

        At that point Gilgamesh sat down, weeping, …”

          drinking-ninkasi-seal Drinking scene. Bas-relief on a stele from Ugarit (Ras Shamra), Syria (drinking with god)

Elixer of Life

Ceremonial drinking scene on a seal found in the “Great Death Pit” in the Royal Cemetery at Ur. In the top register, left, a man and a woman use straws to drink a liquid, probably beer, from a large jar on a stand between them. On the same level, right, sits a figure, likely female (goddess), raising a cup before a standing figure, possibly a servant. In the lower register, a woman plays a bull-headed lyre, in front of which two dwarves dance. On the far right, three women clap while dancing(?). On the far left, two women, perhaps with musical instruments, stand in front of a man with a staff. Lapis lazuli. Dated ca. 2550-2400 B.C.E.
Drawing © S. Beaulieu, after Aruz 2002: 109 #60c.

Literary and Religious Speech

Unknown web source

LIKE A CITY WITH SUPREME POWER MY CITY IS URUK,

THE CITY OF THE KING. BUT YOU,

WHO GREW UP IN MY CITY AND MY LAND,

HAVE PLUNDERED THE TEMPLE OF MY LORD,

HAVE DESPOILED THE PROPERTY OF MY LADY. –

MAY THE FORMER DAYS OF CONFLICT PASS ON,

AND MAY THE NOW DISTANT DAYS OF PEACE BE ESTABLISHED. –

CONFER AND ANSWER THAT HE MAY BE SET FREE,

BECAUSE TO ME YOU ARE A FOOL. –

MS in Neo Sumerian and Old Babylonian on clay, Uruk, Babylonia, 1700-1500 BC, 1 tablet, 20,0×6,4×2,2 cm, 63 double lines in a minute expert cuneiform script.

Binding: Barking, Essex, 1998, blue quarter morocco gilt folding case by Aquarius.

Commentary: The text is bilingual, first line in artificial Sumerian, quite unlike the real Sumerian of the 3rd millennium, immediately followed by a line with the Old Babylonian translation. The text is hitherto unknown.