In Music
Lament of the balaĝ drum (K 5040)
Sumerian Emesal lament with Akkadian translation, from Nineveh.
View at electronic Babylonian Library (eBL), LMU Munich · CDLI P395848 · Try the in-browser translator
| Designation | K.5040 |
|---|---|
| Museum no. | K.5040 |
| Collection | Kuyunjik |
| Language | Akkadian; Sumerian |
| Period | Neo-Assyrian |
| Provenience | Nineveh |
| Findspot | 36.3582, 43.1621 |
| CDLI no. | P395848 |
| Source | electronic Babylonian Library (eBL), LMU Munich — MIT (eBL Zenodo dataset); platform terms unverified |
| Lines | 36 (36 with machine English) |
Machine draft. English generated by model atf-en-best-v2 (montycrypto/atf-to-english) (version d871547f92875415dbbc7f4a37fd65e35f8ac97d) on 2026-10-05, line by line from the ATF. Not a scholarly translation.
The transliteration is not reproduced here because the source (electronic Babylonian Library (eBL), LMU Munich) is not marked as republishable; read it at the source link above.
| Line | English (machine draft) |
|---|---|
| obverse | |
| 1' | The hero is a lion that is a lion, whose fear cannot be overturned. |
| 2' | He was the lord of justice, he was the lord of justice in the cattlepen. |
| 3' | May the one who knows his heart, the one who knows his commands, speak to you |
| 4' | May my lord see the heart of your lord, and may he speak a prayer to you. |
| 5' | May the one who knows the midst of heaven, speak a word to you |
| 6' | May the eshelum priest, the lord of wisdom, speak a word to you |
| 7' | May the midst of heaven, which he has known, be praised for you |
| 8' | When you speak to the heart of Enlil, may he speak a word about it |
| 9' | May the supplications of the great mountain father, father Enlil, be heard! |
| 10' | May the wrath of the great hero speak a word to you |
| 11' | May the womb of Enlil, the one who knows how to smite you(?) |
| 12' | When you speak to the lord Ura, may your supplication be heard. |
| 13' | May the heart of the hero Zababa decree your destinies. |
| 14' | May the heart of the lord Dikuma say “Alas!!” |
| 15' | May the supplication of Nusku, your name, and your supplication be heard! |
| 16' | When you speak to the storm, the balag drum of lamentation and lamentation, how long will it last? |
| 17' | When you speak to the great hero of the young men |
| 18' | May the utterance of the lady of Nippur be spoken to you |
| 19' | May the holy lady, the great lady, speak a word to you |
| reverse | |
| 1 | May the great prince Nanna-Suen speak a word to you |
| 2 | When you speak to Mugigana, the lady of heaven |
| 3 | May the youth Utu, the ruler of the mountains, decree your destinies. |
| 4 | May the white lady uzianna speak a word to you |
| 5 | May the mother of the house of the city of Sagittarius speak a word to you |
| 6 | When you speak to the chief surveyor of An, the lady of Isin |
| 7 | May Nusku, the supreme strength of the ram of the Ekur, speak a word to you |
| 8 | May Kalkal, the chief doorman of the Ekur, speak a word to you |
| 9 | May the supreme nubanda priest of Enlil speak a word to you |
| 10 | May Ur-Suen, the herald of the shrine, decree your destinies! |
| 11 | Do not abandon your city, do not speak aloud, do not speak aloud |
| 12 | Do not abandon Nippur, do not abandon the Ekur, do not abandon it! |
| 13 | May you not abandon the Ki'ur temple, the Enamtila temple, and may you not speak aloud to you. |
| 14 | May you not abandon the Eumea temple, may your supplication be heard. |
| 15 | May you not abandon the Ea-mah temple, may your supplication be heard. |
| 16 | Do not abandon the E-me-uranna (temple), so that you speak with him (about it). |
| 17 | Do not abandon the E-ibbi-ugala (temple), do not abandon it! Do not abandon it! |