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How grain came to Sumer (Q000358)
Literary, Old Babylonian, Susa · c. 1900 BCE–1600 BCE
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| Designation | How grain came to Sumer |
|---|---|
| ID | Q000358 |
| Language | Sumerian |
| Period | Old Babylonian · c. 1900 BCE–1600 BCE |
| Genre | Literary |
| Find spot | Susa |
| Coordinates | 32.1895, 48.2569 |
Transliteration (ATF)
From Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC default); per-file JSON license fields say: This data is released under the CC0 license (133618)
Machine draft. The right-hand column is machine English from ixmon/atf-to-english (atf-en-t5base-F, 2026-10-17), generated line by line from the transliteration. It is unreviewed and is not a scholarly translation.
| Line | ATF | Machine English (draft) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | uŋ₃-e udu-gin₇ u₂ ka-ba mu-ni-ib-gu₇ | The cattle eat grass in their mouths like sheep. |
| 2 | ud re-a {d}ezina₂ še gu nu-zu | At that time, Ezina did not know how to speak. |
| 3 | an-ne₂ an-šag₄-ta im-da-an-ed₃-de₃ | An brings it out from the horizon |
| 4 | {d}en-lil₂-le a₂ tarah-gin₇ hur-saŋ galam X-da ed₃-de₃ igi mi-ni-ib-il₂-il₂-i | Enlil has looked at the ... mountain range like a rising wind. |
| 5 | igi-ni sig-še₃ mu-un-il₂ a-ab-ba sug₄-ga-am₃ | He raised his eyes to the south, it is a swamp. |
| 6 | igi-nim-še₃ mu-un-il₂ kur šim {ŋiš}erin-na-kam | he raised up before him, it is the mountain of the scent of cedar |
| 7 | {d}en-lil₂-le še in-dub kur-re ba-an-šum₂ | Enlil heaped up heaps of grain, he brought it to the netherworld. |
| 8 | he₂-ŋal₂ kalam-ma-ke₄ in-X kur in-nu-ha X im-ma-an-šum₂ | May he carry off the land, he ... the mountains in fear |
| 9 | hur-saŋ ŋal₂ da₁₃-da₁₃ igi ba-ni-in-tab-tab | He looked at the ‘mountain’ that was torn out. |
| 10 | {ŋiš}saŋ-kul-bi an ki X x | Its sakulbi ritual: heaven and earth |
| 11 | {ŋiš}suhubₓ(|ŠU.EŠ.DI|)-bi x X x | its suhub plant |
| 12 | AN x MA X GAR x im-mi-in-x | ... ... |
| 13 | ud-ba {d}nin-a-zu X KA x | At that time Ninazu |
| 14 | šeš-a-ni {d}nin-ma-da-ra gu₃ mu-na-de₂-e | His hand spoke to Ninmada |
| 15 | kur-še₃ ga-e-re₇-en-de₃-en x | Let us go to the netherworld |
| 16 | kur še gu mu₂-mu₂ X x | The land ... |
| 17 | id₂ hal-hal a ki-ta |DU.DU| X AM MA X X X | The ditches ... the ground |
| 18 | še kur-ba ga-am₃-ta-ab-ed₃-en-de₃-en | We want to bring you the barley of the mountain |
| 19 | in-nu-ha ki-en-gi X x X x | The innuḫa of Sumer [......] |
| 20 | ki-en-gi še nu-zu še gi-bi₂-x | Sumer knows no barley, the barley ... |
| 21 | {d}nin-ma-da šudu₃ an-na-ke₄ mu-na-ni-ib-gi₄-gi₄ | Ninmada answered her with the sheep of heaven: |
| 22 | niŋ₂ a-a-me nu-mu-un-dug₄-ga x | Our father did not agree ... |
| 23 | niŋ₂ {d}en-lil₂-le nu-mu-un-dug₄-ga x | The aura of Enlil was not pleasant |
| 24 | a-na-gin₇-nam kur-še₃ i₃-sub₂-be₂-en-de₃-en | How can we submerge ourselves into the netherworld? |
| 25 | še kur-ba a-na-gin₇-nam im-ta-ab-ed₃-de₃-en-de₃-en | What is the beer of that mountain like? We go around. |
| 26 | in-nu-ha ki-en-gi a-na-gin₇-nam im-ma-ni-ib-kur₉-en-de₃-en | Innuḫa of Sumer, how can we change it? |
| 27 | ki-en-gi še nu-zu a-na-gin₇-nam im-bi₂-ib-zu-zu-un-de₃-en | In Sumer, where one does not know barley, how do you know it? |
| 28 | ŋen-na {d}utu an-na ga-ba-ni-re₇-en-de₃-en | Let us go to Utu in heaven |
| 29 | lu₂ ba-nu₂-a lu₂ ba-nu₂-a u₃-sa₂ ku-ku-nam | The one who lies down, lying down, ... |
| 30 | ur-saŋ dumu {d}nin-gal lu₂ ba-nu₂-a u₃-sa₂ ku-ku-nam | Ursa, the son of Ningal, a man who lies down - he is sleepless. |
| 31 | {d}utu {ŋiš}ig 70-am₃ šu mu-na-an-zig₃ | Šamaš raised his hand to the door of the seventy gates. |
| 32 | {d}utu {ŋiš}banšur AŠ KI | Šamaš, a table |
Sources & licences
- Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC default); per-file JSON license fields say: This data is released under the CC0 license (133618) · ORACC project editions, https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ ; cite the individual project (see texts.extra_json.project)
Cite the original edition and translator. Page generated by Unread Atlas from the public corpus export of 2026-10-18.