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The song of the lettuce: a balbale to Inana (Dumuzid-Inana E) (Q000636)
Literary, Old Babylonian, Nippur · c. 1900 BCE–1600 BCE
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| Designation | The song of the lettuce: a balbale to Inana (Dumuzid-Inana E) |
|---|---|
| ID | Q000636 |
| Language | Sumerian |
| Period | Old Babylonian · c. 1900 BCE–1600 BCE |
| Genre | Literary |
| Find spot | Nippur |
| Coordinates | 32.1271, 45.2300 |
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 | ba-lam ba-lam-lam hi-iz{sar}-am₃ a ba-an-dug₄ | There was abundance, there was abundance; water was poured out. |
| {ŋiš}kiri₆ ŋi₆-edin-na gu₂ ŋar-ŋar-ra-na sag₉-ga ama-na-ŋu₁₀ hi-iz{sar} a ba-an-de₂ | In the orchards of the open country, where the necks of his mothers are good, he watered the lettuce. | |
| 3 | še ab-sin₂-ba hi-li-a sag₉-ŋu₁₀ hi-iz{sar}-am₃ a ba-an-dug₄ | The barley in its furrows, full of allure, was good, it was full of radiance. |
| 4 | {ŋiš}hašhur aŋ₂ saŋ-ŋa₂ gurun il₂-la-ŋu₁₀ hi-iz{sar}-am₃ a ba-an-dug₄ | He poured a libation of water from a well, a cup of pressed fruit, and a lettuce. |
| 5 | lu₂-lal₃-e lu₂-lal₃-e me-e mu-ku₇-ku₇-de₃-en | The honey, honey, I will sweeten it for you. |
| 6 | en-ŋu₁₀ lu₂-lal₃-e dim₃-me-er-ra sag₉-ga ama-na-ŋu₁₀ | Enbu, honey-bearer of the gods, good one, his mother, |
| 7 | šu-ni lal₃-e me-ri-ni lal₃-e ŋe₂₆-e mu-un-ku₇-ku₇-de₃-en | His hand is sweet, his feet are sweet, I want to eat sweet |
| 8 | a₂-šu-ŋiri₃-ni lal₃ ku₇-ku₇-dam ŋe₂₆-e mu-un-ku₇-ku₇-de₃-en | His limbs are sweet honey, I will sweeten them. |
| 9 | en₃-dur šu-niŋin₂ tukum ku₇-ku₇-ŋu₁₀ sag₉-ga ama-na-ŋu₁₀ | If sweet and good for her mother |
| 10 | haš₄ sag₉-sag₉ a₂ buluŋ₅ e-ru-ŋu₁₀ hi-iz{sar}-am₃ a ba-an-dug₄ | The good ḫašû-plant, the labor of the bulu-farmer, the erubu-plant and the lettuce were given as water. |
| 11 | bal-bal-e {d}inana-kam | It is a balbale of Inana |
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.