On the Earliest Sumerian Literary Tradition

Bendt Alster

Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Vol. 28, No. 2. (Apr., 1976), pp. 109-126.

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 ON THE EARLIEST SUMERIAN LITERARY TRADITIOK

B ENDT A LSTER
U NIVERSITY O F COPENHAGEN

The unexpected discovery in 1963 and 1965 at Tell Abii SalHbikh of a

large number of archaic Sumerian literary tablets was announced by R.
D. Biggs approximately 10 years ago.' These findings came as a great
surprise to all experts on Sumerian literature, since the prevailing opinion
had been that only exceptionally had literary compositions been recorded
in the Early Dynastic period.
Although the majority of the Sumerian literary corpus has been handed
down in copies from the early Old Babylonian period, it has generally
been recognized that at least some of the known compositions go back in
time at least to the Ur I11 period, which has been thought to be the most
creative period in Sumerian literature. In 1951, A. Falkenstein came to the
conclusion that the majority of the known literary compositions could not
have assumed their final shape before the Keo-Sumerian period, i.e.,
around 2100 B.C.2 Yet he was fully aware that the longest and most
important existing creations of the period, the cylinder inscriptions of
Gudea, cannot be regarded as the beginning of a literary tradition, but (lo
in fact presuppose a long literary activity, which, however, must have
been a non-written ones3He also noted that one of the few pre-Ur 111
literary compositions known at that time, the so-called Barton Cylinder
(Barton MBI l ) , which he dated to the Akkad dynasty, showed a number
of characteristics that recur in all later compositions, such as the grouping
in parallel lines and repetitions of entire section^.^ LVhile this in itself is

1. See R . D. Biggs, The AbG Salabikh Tablets, JCS 20 (1966) 73-88. Cf. also hl. Civil and
R. D. Biggs, Notes sur des textes sumkriens archaiques, RA 60 (1966) 1-16.
2. A. Falkenstein, Zur Chronologie der sumerischen Literatur, CRRA 2 (Paris, 1951) 2:
"hlit der Feststellung eines regen literarischen Schaffens in der neusumerischen Zeit gewirint
nun das LI'ort von der neusumerischen Renaissance iiber den Bereich der politischen
Xlachtentfaltung, der Staatsorganisation, der architektonischen Leistung und der bildenden
Kunst einen neuen wesentlichen Gehalt." - Future studies will probably lead to the
conclusion that in reality it is most questionable whether it is justifiable at all to speak of
,\lesopotamian hlstory, the use of the Sumerian language versus the Akkadian was probably
a question of academic education much more than ethnic barriers. A somewhat similar
situation could perhaps b e found in the early history of Indian literature, where Sanskrit
continued as a learned, academic, and poetic language after the simplified language, Prakrit,
had become the daily spoken language. According to some scholars, even the huge Sanskrit
epics, the hlahabharata and the Ramayana, did not come into being until after Sanskrit had
ceased to b e a living language, a situation ~vhichprobably would correspond to the
Su~rlerianpoems which came into being in the early Old Babylonian period
3. See A. Falkenstein, SAHG p. 12

4 SAHG p. 19.

110 BENDT ALSTER

hardly surprising, it is perhaps more interesting that he also observed a

more specific relationship in that the Cylinders of Gudea repeatedly
operate with a poetic formula which has a clear forerunner in the Barton
C ~ l i n d e rYet,
. ~ with reference to the same text, he came to the conclusion
that since it differs so much from the later known mythological
compositions that practically no connected sense could be gained from it,
considerable changes are likely to have occurred in the mythological
tradition in the Old Babylonian p e r i ~ d . ~
That the Old Babylonian literary tradition actually does reach back to
the Ur I11 period can be seen from the fact that a number of hymns
known from many Old Babylonian copies are addressed to, or ascribed
to, prominent Ur I11 rulers, Sulgi and Urnammu. However, there are also
Sumerian wisdom compositions, the disputation between the Bird and the
Fish (line 77), the disputation between the Tree and the Reed (lines 65
and 246), which mention King Sulgi, and one which mentions King Ibbisin
(the disputation between Winter and Summer, line 230). This would
suggest that these compositions have come into being through
performances in the courts of these kings.:
In view of this state of things, it remains remarkable that only extremely
few literary tablets are known from the Ur I11 period itself. A limited
number of such texts were found in Nippur by the sixth post-war Nippur
expedition. One of them, 6N-T 103+6N-T 781, contains the two first
hymns in the later well-known Collection of the Sumerian Temple
Hymns, now published by A. Sjoberg (TCS 3, Plates XXXVII-XXX\'III).
Of the still unpublished fragments, two are inscribed with the
composition "Curse of Agade," which is known from numerous Old
Babylonian copies. Another tablet (6N-T 638) contains a section of the
epic tale "Lugalbanda in Hurrumkurra," but differs considerably from
the Old Babylonian text. According to M. Civil (JCS 25 171 n. 3) at least
seven of these tablets are inscribed with a composition "The Fields of
Ninurta," which is also known from a number of Old Babylonian copies.
A small number of Ur I11 tablets from Nippur have now been published
in ISET 1211-18, but, with the exception of Ni 4176, which is a collection
of incantations among which one is duplicated by PBS 1/2 123, none of
these seem to be represented in the Old Babylonian corpus.
5. See A. Falkenstein, AnOr 30 183 with n. 5. H e there referred to Barton htBI 1 xiv (copy
"col. iv") 9 = xviii (copy "col. viii") 2: gal i-ga-mu-zu, to Sollberger Corpus Ean. 1 xviii 1 and
parallels: 6.an.na.tdm-me gal na-ga-mu-zu, and to "Lugalbanda and Enmerkar" 50 (see now
Cl. Wilck, Das Lugalbandaepos p. 96): lugal.bin.da gal in-zu gal in-ga-an-t6m-mu
"Lugalbanda who is as wise as active." In the cylinders of Gudea (cf. AnOr 30 183 n. 4), the
phrase reads: gal mu-zu gal i-ga-bim-mu. This very same phrase recurs in the myth "Inanna
and Bilulu" 49, with reference to Inanna: gal mu-un-zu gal in-ga-an-tbm-mu (cf. Th.
Jacobsen, JNES 12 174). An Early Dynastic forerunner from Abfi $alabikh can now be
found in the volume under discussion, No. 327, obv. ii 1: lugal.bin.da gal.zu.
6. CRRA 2 19.
7. Cf. previously J . van Dijk, La sagesse sumCro-accadienne pp. 36-37.
 SLTMERIAK LITERARY TRADITION 111

FC'hile these few instances are sufficient to prove that at least some
compositions known from the Old Babylonian period existed in
approximately the same form in pre-Old Babylonian times, there are hvo
Sumerian hymns, "Nin.me.'SBr.raMand "In.nin.'Si.gur,.ra," which are
ascribed to Enbeduanna, the daughter of Sargon, and thus, if the
attribution is genuine, go back to the time of the Akkad d y n a ~ t yNo .~
copies of these texts older than Old Babylonian times have as yet been
found, but in view of their in part unusual autobiographical contents, it
does not seem reasonable to consider them fictitious.
The discovery of the Sumerian literary tablets from Tell Abii $alabikh
has thrown unexpected new light on the oldest literary tradition. One of
the great surprises was the identification, by R . D Biggs in 1965, of an
early version of the wisdom composition "The Instructions of Suruppak,"
a didactic poem made up of proverbial material. An Old Babylonian
version of this composition is known from many duplicates. Furthermore,
a small fragment of an Early Dynastic version from Adab was identified
by M. Civil, and a fragment of a much later Akkadian translation had long
been known. In a recent edition and study of the history of the text,') I
have tried to show that, although considerable changes have taken place,
these can best be explained by the assumption of a continuous written
tradition which allows the scribes a certain freedom so long as they
remain in harmony with the poetic principles which were active when the
poem originally came into being, and these are likely to be oral in
character. LVhen seen in such a perspective, the development of the text
can be understood as a relatively transparent process, in the course of
which a poem which originally consisted of two contrasting "chapters,"
the first of them containing negative counsels, the second positive advice,
was expanded into a poem consisting of three "chapters." In the course of
this process, some entries were removed from their original position in the
first "chapter" and placed in a later position in order to form a contrast to
some elements already present there. New material was added, normally
in regularly balanced groups, and in a few cases some elements originally
present were omitted in the course of the tradition. It is remarkable that
the Early Dynastic version from Adab, which is not much later than the
Abii Saliibikh version, in general seems to represent an intermediary stage
between the two others,1° thus indicating that uniformity was reached

8. For an edition of "Nin.me.SBr.ra" see \V. Hallo and J. van Dijk, The Exaltation of
Inanna, YNER 3. "In.nin.SA.gur,.ra" will b e edited by A. Sjoberg. h'ote that \V. Hallo, On the
Antiquity of Sumerian Literature, JAOS 83 (1963) 167-76, has published a literary catalogue,
YBC 3 5 4 , which, judging from the orthography, dates from the Ur 111 period. It contains 42
titles of hymns, among which are some to the deified Sulgi.
9. B. Alster, The Instructions of Suruppak. Mesopotamia, Copenhagen Studies in
Assyriology 2. B. Alster, Studies in Sumerian Proverbs. Mesopotamia, Copenhagen Studies
in Assyriology 3.
10. B. Alster, Studies in Sumerian Proverbs pp. 76-81.
112 BENDT ALSTER

even in different cities at a very early stage of the history of written

literature.
While this text gives the impression that at least in some cases the
continuity in the literary tradition has been larger than might have been
expected, another text, the so-called Kesh Temple Hymn, which is known
from numerous Old Babylonian duplicates," and for which Early
Dynastic fragments from Abii $algbikh have been identified by R . D.
Biggs,12emphasizes the continuity more strongly. The majority of the Old
Babylonian version is taken up by a lengthy hymn to the temple spoken
by Enlil, and claimed to be recorded by Nisaba, the goddess of scribal
art. The archaic fragments are small and cover only some scattered
sections of the poem, but enough to show that the text was recorded
faithfully in basically the same form during a period of approximately
eight centuries, with very few omissions and interpolations.
Unfortunately most of the text is extremely difficult to understand, but it
seems to describe the temple in terms of a huge mountain, higher than all
others and reaching from the subterranean ocean to the top of the sky, but
seemingly also as a replica of the starry sphere, its "traits" (mu;) being
said to be suspended in the midst of the sky. It thus gives an early
illustration of one of the essential characteristics of many Sumerian
temple hymns, namely that the temple is said to have cosmic
dimensions. l3
As far as the antiquity of the history of the transmission goes, the
"Instructions of SuruppakWand the Kesh temple hymn still represent
unique cases, but there is no reason to assume that archaic fragments of
other Sumerian compositions known from the Old Babylonian period will
not one day be found. In this direction points an observation made
already in 1959 by Th. Jacobsen, who realized that Deimel Fara 2 SF 26 i
is a forerunner to OECT 1 13!4 Later W. G. Lambert provided another Old
Babylonian parallel to the same text,15 and M. Civil identified an Old

11. Many new duplicates have been identified slnce the publication of the edition by
Gene B. Gragg, in Ake LV. Sjoberg and E. Bergmann, The Collection of the Sumerian
Temple Hymns, TCS 3 155-88. For a number of valuable comments see now D. 0 . Edzard,
Zur sumerische Hymne auf das Heiligtum KeS, Or NS 43 (1974) 103-113,where in particular
the interpretation of the concluding lines is important.
12. R. D. Biggs, An Archaic Sumerian Version of the Kesh Temple Hymn from Tell Abn
Salabikh, ZA 61 (1971) 193-W7.
13. The opinion once held by the pan-Babylonists and still claimed by Mircea Eliade, that
the terrestrial temples are imitations of celestial archetypes, is not held in high esteem among
anthropologists, and is certainly an exaggeration. Nevertheless, in particular with regard to
the temples of Nippur, Eridu, and Kesh, there is no doubt that they are described as being of
cosmic significance. Cf. B. Landsberger, Monographs in History: Ancient Near East 1/2 5,
who ackno\vledges that kkur in h'ippur was the "cosmic world-mountain."
14. Th. Jacobsen, in E. I. Gordon, Sumerian Proverbs p. 530.
15. W . G. Lambert, Celibacy in the LVorld's Oldest Proverbs, BASOR 169 (1963) 63-64,
 SCMERIAK LITERARY TRADITION 113

Babylonian tablet, UM 29-15-174, which contains a section of the text in

normal orthography, syllabic orthography, and Akkadian translation.16
Another Old Babylonian duplicate was published as UET 6/2 197,1i and
further archaic sources are known by now (OIP 99 255). These examples
illustrate a line along which the study of the archaic sources could
possibly proceed, namely by identifying idioms, entire phrases, poetic
expressions, technical terms normally attached to specific genres, or even
larger patterns which recur in both archaic and later sources.
The beginning of such a study can now be made thanks to the
publication of the Aba $alabikh tablets by R. D. Biggs in OIP 99 (Chicago
1974). This volume contains, apart from a chapter on the structural
remains intended to provide an archaeological context, a detailed
introduction to the texts (pp. 19-112).Accurate information is given about
the excavation and first treatment of the tablets-something which is
mostly missing as far as tablets excavated in the early days of the history
of Assyriology are concerned. Most of the tablets were found untouched
by fire but baked immediately after their excavation. The work occupied
by cleaning the fragile tablets from salt and sand and piecing the joins
together must have demanded considerable patience and skill. The
identification of the site with cities named in the ancient literature is
discussed (pp. 23-24), but no decisive solution is offered. It is suggested
that chronologically the texts are contemporary with the Fara texts, which
are estimated to antedate Ur-nan'Se by one or two generations, and thus
may belong to a period around 2600 B.C.
The publication contains 515 texts, most of which are presented in
copies. The quality of the copies is outstanding. Some tablets are in
addition published in photographs, and a limited number only in
photographs without copies. LVhile obviously the quality of the original
photographs has been sufficiently good, the reproduction technique
employed has unfortunately made them appear less readable than needed
in order to make copying superfluous.
Apart from the literary sources (Nos. 112-397, and additional very small
fragments), the book contains lexical texts, lists of professions, names,
gods, and geographical names, some of which are transliterated on pp.
62-78, various fragments, exercise tablets, and administrative texts.
Of the literary texts, a complete transliteration is provided for an
archaic collection of za.mi-hymns, based on many sources (pp. 46-53),
and a partial transliteration of the archaic sources of "The Instructions of
Suruppakn (pp. 57-61).18 These examples suffice to illustrate the
insurmountable obstacles which prevent our understanding of the archaic

16. See hf. Civil and R. D. Biggs, RA 60 (1966) 5-7 and fig. 1.
17. Cf. A. Sjoberg, Or NS 37 (1968) 236, and B. Alster, Studies in Sumerian Proverbs p. 98
18. Now treated completely by B. Alster in the study mentioned in note 9.
114 BENDT ALSTER

texts: The signs are written in arbitrary order within each case, rare signs
with unknown readings are used, grammatical elements are often not
written at all, abbreviated writings occur, and at times signs well known
from later periods have readings not later ascribed to them. Therefore the
scientific interest in these texts does not rest so much on their existence as
an isolated phenomenon, as on the fact that their appearance has led to
the recognition of a larger corpus of hitherto overlooked and equally old
literary text sources from Fara previously edited by Deimel and Jestin. As
will appear from the list provided by Biggs, pp. 36-42, some of them are
duplicates to tablets from Abfi $a15bikh.19 It is the comparison of these
texts which, amazingly, were written in different cities at this very early
stage of the literary tradition, that may lead to successful results.20These
texts, which include both religious genres such as hymns and myths, and
non-religious texts such as proverb collections, are found together with
lexical texts which clearly serve a didactic purpose, so their existence is
probably due to a purely academic interest in literature and in scribal art.
There follow some comments on selected texts in the Abii $al%bikh
volume.
Nos. 112-254 belong to the genre which Biggs entitles UD.GAL.NUN
texts,21examples of which are also known from Fara. On p. 32, Biggs cites
some intelligible lines which mention the building of a temple and
libation of beer and wine. On this basis he suggests that the texts may
"have to do with temple rituals." A major question is of course what does
the frequently repeated UD.GAL.NUN mean. If one can accept his
reading of No. 142 xiv 11-12: u, 65-gal-nun al-dii "when(?) the great,
superb temple was built," with equal right one could read the signs
UD.GAL.NUN as u, gal nun "great, superb light." However, u,-gal could
also mean "great storm." It is most interesting that Biggs has observed the
variant dingir gal nun, in No. 129 x 4, for UD gal nun, in No. 142 xvi 7,
which might suggest that our texts describe gods visible as lights. In
addition to UD GAL NUN one often finds UD GAL UNU (e.g. No. 115
obv. vi 14 and 17), which unfortunately is not clear.
Apart from the duplications within the UD.GAL.NUN genre observed
by Biggs, I would point out that OIP 99 No. 163 is a duplicate to Deimel
Fara 2 SF 39 (with innumerable variants), and that OIP 99 No. 114 is a
duplicate to Deimel Fara 2 SF 37 and SF 38, the latter of which joins Jestin
NTSS 111+314, as pointed out by A. Westenholz. The conclusion of the
same text is duplicated by OIP 99 No. 248, and I would suggest that this
fragment joins OIP 99 No. 114.

19. Cf. also the information previously given b y Biggs, JCS 20 (1966) 78-81, and A.
IVestenholz, Old Sumerian and Old Akkadian Texts in Philadelphia, 1. Bibliotheca
Mesopotamica 1 11.
20. Cf., for instance, Biggs, JCS 20 80 n. 46.
21. Cf. previously Biggs, JCS W 81.
 SUMERIAN LITERARY TRADITION 115

Noticeable is the mention of liver omens in OIP 99 No. 114 v 13: ma's Su
mu-gid, with which compare iii 2: ma5 Su nun gid, iii 15: mais nun me gid,
and iv 11: TUK NA, ma? Su me gid, and Deimel Fara 2 SF 37 iii 10, iii 13,
vii 5, vii 13, vii 18: mi5 isu mu-gid. Unfortunately the context is obscure,
but this sort of sequence, where the same phrase is repeated at regular
intervals, suggests a type of enumeration where the same action is
performed with reference to various objects, as often in Sumerian texts.
Some of the UD.GAL.NUN texts definitely seem to contain sequence$
of hymns, thus Deimel Fara 2 SF 18 iii 20: dinanna zag.me, iv 12: (dinanna.
. . ) zag.me, iv 21: dinanna zag.me, vii 7: dinanna zag.me du&(?), which
thus may be hymns to Inanna, and Deimel Fara 2 SF 36, which seems to
be a hymn to Sud (cf. v 15: zag.me dug,, and vii 9-10: dsud zag.me d u a -
ga) .22
In what follows I quote a particularly interesting passage from the
UD.GAL.NUN texts. The sources are: A = Deimel Fara 2 SF 39 vii 5-18, B
= OIP 99 163 viii 12 - ix 4:
A 5 nBm mu-rig,(KAB+DU)
B 12 [nun-LAGAB]
A 6 UNU TUR UD GAL NUN
B 13 [ . . . T ] ~ TGAL
R
A 7 nBm nu-ur,
B 14 nun-LAGAB
A 8 nanna NANNA Bb MUN
B 15 [ . . . ] X U 1(?) Bb si UD
A 9 nBm mu-rig,
B 16 nun-LAGAB

A 11 nBm mu-ur,
B 18 nun-LAGAB
A 12 Bb si UD UD
B [ . . . nun-LAGAB]
A 13 dnisaba UDU NAGA
B 9 dnisaba UDU NAGA 'xl

22. zag.me as an archaic phonetic writing of zag.mi was first discovered by Biggs, JCS 20
80 with n. 48. In her review of my book, Dumuzi's Dream, in \YO 7 (1974) 178-284,
commenting on line 118, G. Farber-Fliigge writes: "Zur Lesung munus des Zeichens SAL s.
B Landsberger, Festschrift David 95 mit Anm. 1: Die Lesung 'mi entbehre nach
Landsberger jeder Grundlage." Yet, even disregarding the indisputable evidence of the
writing zag.me, proof for the reading mi can be obtained from such writings as a.mi for &mi
(cf. Romer Konigshymnen p. 80). In her own edition of "Inanna and Enki," she does not
hesitate to use the value mi for SAL.
116 BENDT ALSTER

A 14 nfim mu-ur,
B 10 rxl nun-LAGAB

A 15 dgi-bil fib si ES

B 6 d g i . S si~ [x]
~
rxl
A 16 nfim mu-rig,

B 7 [ . . . nlun-LAGAB

A 17 da'sginir.gid.nun

B 3 da'sgigud nir.gid
A 18 nfim nu-ur,

B 4 rxl nun-LAGAB

There can hardly be any doubt that this passage describes various gods
being invested each with their insignia, so that, typologically speaking, we
have a forerunner to the list of the me, the divine functions and emblems
of Inanna, and for instance Enuma El6 V 16. We note that in the Fara text,
we can understand the verbal phrase nfim mu-ur, (and nfim mu-rig,),
either as containing the verbal prefix nam-, or as containing a phonetic
writing of the well-known idiom me m u - ~ r , .The ~ ~ reading of A 10:
dinanna UD UD SIG AN, as u, ~ , . s i , . a n , , ~ ~ e n d e r iusan
n g "evening light,"
is a guess. If correct it would refer to Inanna as the evening star, a topic
well known from later hymns.
Some texts appear to have nearly identical conclusions. They are:

Deimel Fara 2 SF 18 vii:

nisaba EZENXAN

nisaba men lul

EZENXAN EZENXAN

mul.an

dinanna zag.me d u g ( ? )

Deimel Fara 2 SF 55 r. xii:

men LAK 654 lul tuku nisaba

nisaba EZENXAN

EZENXAN EZENXAN

mul.an-zu,(MI)

Deimel Fara 2 SF 56 r, x:

dnisaba zag.me

en tuku LAK 654 lul nisaba

nisaba EZENXAN

EZENXAN EZ[ENXAN]

mul. [an]-zu,(MI)

dnisaba [zag].m [el

23. Cf. "Nin.me.BBr.ra"8, W. Hallo and J , van Dijk, The Exaltation of Inanna, p. 14.
24. One may suggest the reading an, for EZENXAN considering that EZENXBAD is
bad, and E Z E N X K ~in, the text cited below, n. 44, is probably ku,.
 SLTXJERIANLITERARY TRADITION

Jestin NTSS 82 r. 18-21:

men tuk LAK 654
nisaba EZENXAN-zu,(AZU)
EZENXAN EZENXAN
mul.an 'xl
OIP 99 123 r. ii:
EZENXAN
giR(?). . .
mul.an-zu,(MI)
OIP 99 153 r.
. . . nisaba
nisaba rxl
ES EZENXAN
EZENXAX EZENXAN
"x gi
[ . . . ] LAGAB
Jestin NTSS 168 (+Jestin TSS 269 r., p. 97), cf. OIP 99 p. 42:
men ub ru
men tuku nisaba LAK 654 lul
nisaba zu,(AZU) EZENXAN
EZENXAN ECZENXAN]
traces of last line
Although we cannot translate these concluding lines word by word, we
can observe two constant features of interest, the mention of the goddess
Nisaba, and of stars (mul.an).With this we may compare the mention of
stars both in the conclusion of the archaic and of the Old Babylonian
version of "The Instructions of S u r ~ ~ ~ a kNormally
."~5 we are used to
thinking of Nisaba as the grain goddess, for good reasons, but the ideas
involved here find a clear expression in the doxology of an unpublished
hymn to Nusku, CBS 8548: [munus] zi mul.an-da ku5-u dnisaba zag.mi
"praise be to Nisaba, good woman who consults the stars of heaven!" This
is not a unique statement, for the doxology of one of the major pieces of
Sumerian literature, the myth "lugal-e," is to be reconstructed
according1y: [munus] zi mul. an-da SB ku5-u [dnisa]ba zag.mi. 26 In what
follou,s I quote the remaining passages from Sumerian texts where similar
ideas may be involved.
In the conclusion of "Lugal-e," lines 694-695,27we read:
nlunus mul.an nun-e abzu-ta gal-le-eIS-IS&sig-ga

innin ~ . G E S T U ~ . ~ N I S AISa-ge
B A gi5

dug,

2.5. Cf. B. Alster, Studies in Sumerian Proverbs p. 104.

26. Sources: N 3309, BE 29 10 r. 4, BE 29 13 r. 17-18.
27. Sources: BE 29 13:6-7, SRT 21 r. iv 15-16, h 33,)s.
118 BENDT ALSTER

Woman, "heaven-star," whom the Lord (=Enki) has made

appear brilliantly from the AbzqZs

queen, conceived in(?) "Nisaba's House of Wisdom."

Here Nisaba is described as a star rising from the subterranean ocean,

Abzu. Similarly, in the collection of the Sumerian Temple Hymns, line
529, her house is described as if it were the starry sphere: i, mul.(mul.)ani,
za.gin dar-a kur-kur-ra ';u mu-un-bad, "House, heaven-star, spreading the
hands on all mountains." In the conclusion of the same text she is said to
be the determiner of the cosmic dimensions, lines 538-541":
dub za.gin-ta ad gi,-gi,-gi,

kur-kur-ra ad.5a4gi-ga-gi

munus zi naga ku-ga gi.du-e tu-da

an-ni, k G ra-ra ki 65 ra-ra

Continually she consults the lapis lazuli tablet,

continually she shouts to the mountains,

the good woman, holy lye plant, borne by a growing reed,

measures off heaven, throws the measuring cord on earth.30

28. The point is here the establishment of a world order where the stars emerge every
evening from the subterranean ocean of Enki. In my opinion Enki's role as the giver of the
cosmic measures (me) goes closely together with the concept that light arises from his ocean.
Therefore, when it is said in the Collection of the Sumerian Temple Hymns 16 that Enki's
Ziggurat is the "place where (he) calls upon the Sun," and in "Enki and the \Vorld Order"
(which in my opinion is a very distant forerunner to the Journey of the Argonauts) 76 that
Enki obtains the control over the "fixing of the terms at the place where the Sun rises," this is
not just words, but key-points with regard to the understanding of Sumerian mythology.
LVithout entering a detailed discussion of very complicated phenomena, I would mention
that a somewhat similar concept of cosmos can b e decoded in the Rigveda, according to an
outstanding study by F. B. J . Kuiper, The Ancient Aryan Verbal Contest, Indo-Iranian
Journal 4/4 (1960) 217-81. He writes (pp. 225-26): 'Usas is born from the darkness of the
nether world . . . This is not contradicted by the passages which state Usas to come from the
sky . . . or to b e the daughter of Heaven. . . The most fundamental misunderstandings about
Vedic mythology have arisen from the fact that the mythical identity of the nocturnal sky
with the nether world has scarcely ever been clearly stated . . . The nether world (that is, the
subterranean waters and the nocturnal sky) is Varuna's realm and here is the seat of Rta,
which is 'hidden where they unharness the horses of the Sun' (RS. V. 62.1). Now LT$as,the
kinswoman of Varuna (I. 123,5), is born from Qta . . . and is said to awake from Rta's abode."
\V. von Soden, ZA 64 (1975) 35-37, denies that evidence is sufficient for comparing Rta with
me, referring to H. Luders' study Varuna (I-II), where Liiders obstinately insists on
translating Rta as "Wahrheit," since in later Sanskrit it has this meaning and it was translated
by aletheia by the Greeks. However, as far as the use of the word in the Vedas is concerned,
few scholars would agree to Luders opinion today. It was rejected in the most competent
manner by the late Prof. Kaj Barr, in a paper read to the Danish Academy of Science in
March 1961. This paper has unfortunately remained unpublished, but a brief summary was
given in Kgl. Videnskabernes Selskabs Oversigt 1960-61 58.
29. A. Sjoberg, TCS 3 48.
30. Nisaba's function is here similar to that of Thoth, the Egyptian scribe of the gods, cf.
E. A. Wallis Budae, The Gods of the Egyptians 1 400-415.
 SUXIERIAN LITERARY TRADITION 119

The lapis lazuli tablet, seemingly being a symbol of the sky, is

mentioned for the first time in a pre-Old Babylonian hymn to Nisaba, 6N-
T 788: dub za.gin-a-da IS8 8 r n - d a - k 6 - ~ 0 "who
, consults the lapis lazuli
tablet."
In Gudea's Cylinder A iv 26, the tablet on which the star of the new
Eninnu is pointed out (cf, vi 1-2), is called dub mul.an, "tablet, heaven-
star." It is said (iv 26-v 1):
dub mul.an dug-ga im-mi-gal
ad im-da,-gi,-gi,
She placed the tablet "heaven-star" on her knees
and consulted it.
Similar terms are used in the hymn to Nisaba published by W. Hallo,
Actes d e la XVIIe Rencontre Assyriologique (ed. A. Finet, Bruxelles,
1970), pp. 116-36, lines 29-3131:
6 GESTU,."NISABA-~~, gal nam-mi-in-tag,

dub za.gin du,,-na nam-mi-in-gar

dub mul.an ku-ta IS8 im-ma-k6-u

He opened "Nisaba's House of Wisdom,"

he placed the lapis lazuli tablet on his knees,
and consulted the pure tablet "heaven-star."
Here one would probably have to visualize the lapis lazuli tablet as a
star chart, used as a horoscope. Noticeable is the introduction to the same
hymn, where it is said: nin mul.an-gim dar-a dub za.gin ISu dus, "Queen,
shining like the heaven-star, holding the lapis lazuli tablet in her hand." In
"NanISe Hymn," line 98, in connection with the judgment which takes
place on New Year's Day, it is said that Nisaba "places the very precious
tablet on (her) knees" (dub kal-kal du,,-ba nam-mi-in-gar).
The "House of Nisaba's Wisdom" (6 GESTU,.~NISABA)is mentioned
in line 695 of "Lugal-e" (quoted above), and is called "the great house of
heaven" in "Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta" 322-23. By entering it
Enmerkar invents a plan which he carries out in the following section of
the poem. According to the hymn of Enlilbani (A. Kapp, ZA 51 76-87),
line 53, the king is blessed with being capable of finding justice from the
lapis lazuli tablet in that house (dub za.gin 6 GESTU2.dNISABA-ka-ni).In
Gudea's Cylinder A xvii 15, it is mentioned as the place from which the
plan of the new temple is revealedG3"n "Sulgi Hymn B" 307-310 we read
that a star will be born in honor of king S ~ l ~and i ,that
~ his
~ fame (nig.d6-

31. Dupl. ISET 1 198 Xi 9942, identified by XI. Civil.

:32. In Gudea, Cylinder A xvii 15-16, I would read dnisaba-ke, ~..GESTU,.<~NISABA>-
ke, gal 111~-na-tag,.In xvii 12 I would restore: ensi, [giS dug,]-ga dnin.gir.su-ka-kam.
X3. This explains the existence of a h y ~ n nto the celestial Sulgi (5ul.gi an-na), in TCS :3 line

132, and of the entry mu1 d5ul.gi, "the star of Sulgi," in hlSL 11 133 viii 41. Also according to

120 BENDT ALSTER

a) has been manifested in Nippur, in "the House of Nisaba's Wisdom, in

the star of my song" ( 6 GESTU,.~NISABAmu1 6n.d~-ga-ka).The same
house is mentioned in connection with vaja, a god of scribal art, in a
hymn to Rimsin, UET 6 101 3, and in a fragment of a lamentation, ISET 2
137, Ni. 4205:9.
Leaving Nisaba and the ideas possibly associated with her at this early
stage, we turn to a difficult passage in the UD.GAL.NUN texts, which is
to be transliterated here, Deimel Fara 2 SF 37 xii 1-8 and xiii 1-4 (= A),
Jestin NTSS 117-314 r. ii 2-10 and iii 1-4 (= B), and OIP 99 248 r. 7 , 6 , 8 (1
C):

A 2 kur ki UD-kam,
B 3-4 nam x UD-kam,
A 3 kur an UD-kam,
B 5 kur an [ . . . ] rxl rxl UD-kam,
A 4 kur UAR UD-kam,
B ...
A 5 kur igi UAR UD-kam,
B 7 kur igi UAR UD-kam,

A 6 kur urudu UD-kam,

B 8 kur urudu UD-kam,

A 8 a nimgir UD-kam,
B 10 a [ . . . ] A UD-kam,

A 1 sipa UD-[kam,]
B 1-2 sipa UD-kam,
C 7 sipa U D - ~ ~ ~ , ( S A R X D I S )
A 2 udul UD-[kam,]
B 3 udul UD-kam,
C 6 udul PA U D - ~ ~ ~ , ( S A R X D I S )

the hymn C T 36 33-34, AmauSumgalanna was born as a star every month in a cycle

corresponding to the phases of the moon, cf. S, N. Kramer, Iraq 36 (1974) 98 n. 32. This latter

text is certainly to b e compared with "The Hymn of the Hoe" 81-82: bul.gil u,.na-a dumu

gi5.al-me-e5 u,.si.du&-ga-ta an-ta d.tu-me-eS "the evil, on the day when the moon

disappears, become children of the hoe, on the day when the moon reappears(?) they are

born on (lit. from) the sky."

34. Collated from photograph.

 SL'XlERIAN LITERARY T R A D I T I O N

A 4 dam.rgar1 KU UD-kam,
B 6 dam KU SU UD-kam,
The collection of temple hymns from Abii Sal~bikh has been
reconstructed on the basis of Nos. 257-77, on pp. 46-56 in the volume
under discussion. Although some expressions are intelligible and the
majority of the gods mentioned are known, the style is so laconic that very
little information can be obtained from them. It is noticeable that the
archaic version, in contrast to the Old Babylonian one, starts with a hymn
to Enlil instead of Enki, who is not directly mentioned in the archaic
collection. The first hymn I would read and translate as follows:
1. uru an-da mu
2. an-da gu-18
3. dingir nibru.ki
4. dur.an.ki
5. den.lil kur.gal
6. den.lil en nu:
7. nam.nir
8. en dug,-ga

9, nu-gi,-gi,

10. LAK 809 nu-LAK 809

11, den.lil a.nun

12. ki mu-gar-gar
13. dingir gal gal
14. zag.me mu-dug,
1. City, grown together with heaven,,
2. embracing heaven,
3. god of Nippur,
4. "Bond of heaven and earth,"
5. Enlil, "great mountain,"
6. Enlil, lord
7. Nunamnir,
8. whose command
9. is irrevocable
10. whose . . . cannot be . . .
11. Enlil who placed the Anunna gods
12. below earth,
13. the great gods
14. spoke his praise.
If it is justifiable to translate "who placed the Anunna gods below
earth" (lines 11-12), there is probably a connection with ideas contained in
122 BENDT ALSTER

other early sources. A small Ur I11 literary text, NBC 11108,35describes

the world before the separation of heaven and earth. At that time An, the
god of heaven, was "lord" (en), information which could also have been
obtained from another early text, Sollberger Corpus Ukg. 15 iii and
the "Anunna gods did not walk around" (NBC 11108:12: [ . . . ] a.nun-[ke4-
n]e 'nu'-um-di-di). No light existed.37This stage corresponds to the reign
of Ouranos in Hesiod's Theogony. In our sources it was changed by the
separation of heaven and earth, which, according to the Barton Cylinder,
happened when the first stroke of lightning occurred in Nippur. A later
text, the "Hymn to the Hoe" (UET 6 26 and dupls.), tells that it happened
when Enlil hit Dur.an.ki with his hoe, but I would suggest precisely that
this hoe of Enlil is a symbol of lightning. At any rate the lightning in this
context reminds one of lightning as the attribute of Zeus, and Dur.an.ki,
meaning "the bond of heaven and earth," reminds one of the Greek
Omphalos in Delphi.38It is hinted at in an Early Dynastic hymn, UM 29-
+
16-273 N 99 iv 7,39as "the twisted rope to which heaven is secured" (dur
sur an 18-gim).When seen in this context, it is possible that our text hints at
the time when Enlil, by separating heaving and earth, established
Dur.an.ki as the navel of the world, and divided the gods in two groups,
the gods of the upper world (these are later called the Igigi-gods), and the
gods of the lower world, who are the Anunna gods. It is well known that
the Anunna gods acted as judges in the nether world, but, admittedly, one
must count on the possibility that some Anunna gods belong to the upper
world, such as those mentioned in "Labar and AISnan" 2, where we
probably have to read: u4an-nk an da.nun-naim-tu-dk-e's-a-ba"on the day
when the celestial Anunna gods were born by Heaven."40

35. Courtesy of J. van Dijk, who will publish the text in AOAT 25 125ff.
36. Cf. J. van Dijk, AcOr 28 (1965) 40.
37. Therefore J. van Dijk's translation of NBC 11108:l: an en-ne an mu-za[lag] ki mu-gi, . .
"An, (&ant) Bd, faisait resplen[dir] le ciel, la Terre etait dans l'obscurite," and of Ckg. 15 i
3: ki-e gal,.IjUB-na dalla ba-mu-aka-e, "Que la terre fasse resplendir son sein(?)," are not
convincing. In both cases the point is rather the opposite, that there was no light at all.
38. I would further suggest that in Sumerian mythology the wagon of Ninurta is a symbol
of thunder, as is the wagon of Thor in Nordic mythology. This is hinted at in "The Hymn to
the Hoe" 59, where it is said about Ninurta: lugal gi5.al Sed-da us-e u, zal-e, "king, who
counts the hoes, who flashes in their track."
39. A. Westenholz, Old Sumerian and Old Akkadian Texts in Philadelphia 1 No. 4 p. 124.
40. A. Falkenstein's explanation of the Anunna gods, in his lengthy study AS 16 127-40,
that they are a designation of the entire pantheon, has generally been accepted, but is at any
rate unjustified. The Anunna and Igigi gods are different groups of gods, as are the Asura
and Deva gods in Indian mythology, and the Asa and Vana gods in Nordic mythology. The
important point is that the Anunna gods, as are the Titans of Hesiod, are the children of
Heaven (An, cf. Ouranos). The question whether Hesiod's concept of the Titans has been
influenced by Oriental sources is outside the scope of this study, but the Hurrian-Hittite
myth of Kumarbi seems to provide a link. Of the major Sumerian gods it is certainly Enki
who is the leader of the Anunna gods. Accordingly he is said to be the oldest son of Heaven
(dumu.sag an ku-ga, cf. A. Sjoberg, HSAO 215).
 SC'MERIAN LITERARY TRADITION 123

An example of a quite different genre from Abii Salabikh is No. 282,

which seems to be a historical text, part of it being a discussion between a
person by name of UD.NUN.MUD, probably a ruler, and his "friend"
UM.EN (iv 9). In col. iii UM.EN is speaking:
1. [UM].EN
2. inim mu-gi,
3. 16 iii nu-me-a
4. 16 10 nu-me-a
5. 16 dili-da
6. kur-kur-rk
7. gi NUN-gim
8. sag mu-rsiil 'xl
1. UM.EN

2, answered:

3. Although there are not five men,

4. although there are not ten men,
6. the foreign countries shake their heads
7. like a . . . reed
5. in fear of one man.
It is tempting to suggest that gi NUN-gim sag mu-rsil renders gi dili-
gim sag mu-sig. - In col. iv, UD.NUN.MUD answers:
3. UD.NUN.MUD
4. 16 SI NE
5. a1 nam-mu-n6-6%
6. UD.NUN.MUD
7. UM.EN-1x1

8, inim mu-gi

9. ku.li-mu UM.EN
10. ni.rzul . . .
3. UD.NUN.MUD, d o not demand
4. t h e . . . men!
6. UD.NUN.MUD answered UM.EN:
9. My friend UM.EN,
10. you, yourself . . .
Later in the text the talk is about going to a specific country (v 4-5: . . .
kur dagal / nam-ma-gin). UD.NUN.MUD gives an answer to another
person (vi 7-8). The deity Nin.ur4, in the archaic texts connected with
Urnrna,,l is mentioned (vii 3), and a promise to build a temple is uttered: k
ku za.gin-zu ga-du (vii ll-12).42Later it seems that various groups of

41. Cf. Biggs, JCS 20 80 n. 49.

42. For the writing nin,(McS).ab.ki, see Sollberger Corpus Ent. 28 iii 29: sanga
nin,(~OS).ab.ki-kam(normally read Zabalam).
 SUMERIAN LITERARY TRADITION

g ~ ( ~ ~ ~ + mu-dug,
a S ) 4
9
ne m u - ~ ~ - s u ~ , ( M u N ~ u B )

dumu 7 AS mu-tu

7 ti-kam, SUR(?)

ama dumu-da

: mu-da-dib

a
When . . . had intercourse with f i n a n

and kissed her,

she gave birth to seven children.

For seven months . . .

the mother

was pregnant with the children.

It is hardly possible to make connected sense out of the continuation of

the text, but the children of ASnan are likely to have played a major role.
Interestingly the Barton Cylinder, col, ii (copy xi) 5-10 contains a similar
passage where, just after the separation of heaven and earth, seven
children are borns0:
nin.ga1 den.lil

dnin.?jur.sag-ra

gi'j mu-ni-dug,

ne mu-ni-sub,

a ma's(?) imin

".
sa mu-x-ru51

With the eldest sister of Enlil,

with Ninhursaga,

he(?)52had intercourse.

49. For the sign SAL+G'IS see B. Alster, The Instructions of Suruppak p. 118.
50. Cf. J. van Dijk, AcOr 23 36-38.
51. Is the sign x not simply the infix -na-ni- written with a ligature?
52. J . van Dijk, AcOr 28 38, takes it for granted that it is Enlil who has intercourse with
Ninhursaga, but is this absolutely certain? The continuation of the Barton Cylinder, ii 13,
mentions a personification of the "Huge River" (id.mah), who is also mentioned in another
early text, the Istanbul fragment published in photograph by S. N . Kramer, From the
Tablets of Sumer p. 106 fig. 6a (cf. also p. DO), col. i 6. This text tells a story about Gkur, the
son of Enlil, who was kept back in the nether world, but the fox proposes a plan by means of
which he must be expected to have been rescued (cf. iv 13: ka,.a). The fox plays a very
similar role in the later myth of Enki and Ninbursaga. This proves that the idea of the fox as a
very clever animal goes back in time to the beginning of literature. For a later expression of
this idea see the proverb cited in Harper, ABL 555 r. 3-6 (cf. W. G. Lambert, BWL 281): etlu
Sd si-bat nd-Si iS.-bat-u-niina Mri it-tu-bu Sd si-bat Se-li-bi iS.-bat-u-niu-se-zib,"The man who
seized the tail of a lion sank in the river. He who seized the tail of a fox escaped." The
implication is here that the clever person (symbolized by the fox) prevails over the strong
one. Cf. the German proverb "Was der Lowe nicht kann, das kann der Fuchs," and the
Greek an he leonte me eksiketai ten aldpeken prosapson, "if the hide of a lion doesn't d o it,
take the hide of a fox" (cf. Paul Martin, Studien auf dem Gebiete des griechischen
Sprichwortes, Plauen i.V. 1889, p. 21). The closer study of the Barton cylinder is outside the
126 BENDT ALSTER

She became pregnant with seven twins(?).53

OIP 99 no. 329 seems to be a hymn which describes the prosperity of
Sumer. In vi 6-8 we read:

en kul.aba

men-gim sag il

h6.ghl kalam

ki dar rxl

The Lord were Kulaba

like a crown on his head.

Prosperity broke through

the earth in Sumer.

The expression "wore like a crown on his head" occurs also in the Abii
Salabikh version of the Kesh Hymn: k& men-gim / sag m ~ - g h l . ~ ~
At the present time one might say that disappointingly little of the
literary sources from Abii Salsbikh is intelligible, but many problems will
undoubtedly be clarified in the future, and the publication of these
sources may justly be said to be a real pioneer work.

scope of this study, but note that in v (copy xiv) 11, gir.malj is a phonetic writing for
gir,.mah, the huge oven of the gods. Cf. also B. Alster, The Instructions of Suruppak p. 107.
53. For ma's cf. perbap: Gudea's Cylinder B xi 11: dumu ma's imin dba.U-me"the seven
twin(?) daughters of Ba-U."
54. See Biggs, ZA 61 200:7.
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On the Earliest Sumerian Literary Tradition
Bendt Alster
Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Vol. 28, No. 2. (Apr., 1976), pp. 109-126.
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[Footnotes]

1
The Ab# #al#b#kh Tablets. A Preliminary Survey
Robert D. Biggs
Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Vol. 20, No. 2. (1966), pp. 73-88.
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