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O man of the bolt, man of the pure lock,
Thy queen Ninlil is coming;
If she asks thee about me,
Tell her not where I am."
Ninlil approached the man of the gate:
"O man of the gate, man of the lock,
O man of the bolt, man of the pure lock,
Enlil, thy king, where is he going?"
Enlil answers her for the man of the gate:
"Enlil, the king of all the lands, has commanded me":/$/|
Four lines follow containing the substance of this command but their meaning is obscure. Then comes
the following dialogue between Ninlil and Enlil, the latter impersonating the "man of the gate":
|$Ninlil: "True, Enlil is thy king, but I am thy queen."
Enlil: "If now thou art my queen, let my hand touch thy . . ."
Ninlil: "The 'water' of thy king, the bright 'water' is in my heart,
The 'water' of Nanna, the bright 'water' is in my heart."
Enlil: "The 'water' of my king, let it go toward heaven, let it go toward earth,
Let my 'water,' like the 'water' of my king, go toward earth." {p. 46}
Enlil, as the man of the gate, lay down in the
He kissed her, be cohabited with her,
Having kissed her, having cohabited with her,
The "water" of . . . Meslamtaea he caused to flow over (her) heart./$/|
The poem then continues with the begetting of the nether world deity Ninazu; this time it is the "man of
the river of the nether world, the man-devouring river" whom Enlil impersonates. In all other respects,
the passage is a repetition of that describing the begetting of Meslamtaea; thus:
|$Enlil walked, Ninlil followed,
Nunamnir walked, the maid followed,
Enlil says to the man of the river of the nether world, the man-devouring river:
"O man of the river of the nether world, the man-devouring river,
Thy queen Ninlil is coming;
If she asks thee about me,
Tell her not where I am."
Ninlil approached the man of the river of the nether world, the man-devouring river:
"O man of the river of the nether world, the man-devouring river,
Enlil, thy king, where is he going?"
Enlil answers her for the man of the river of the nether world, the man-devouring river:
"Enlil, the king of all the lands, has commanded me."/$/|
The substance of the command is unintelligible. Follows the dialogue between Ninlil and Enlil, the latter
impersonating the "man of the river of the nether world, the man-devouring river":
|$Ninlil: "True, Enlil is thy king, but I am thy queen."
Enlil: "If now thou art my queen, let my hand touch thy . . ."
Ninlil: "The 'water' of thy king, the bright 'water' is in my heart,
The 'water' of Nanna, the bright 'water' is in my heart."
Enlil: "The 'water' of my king, let it go toward heaven, let it go toward earth,
Let my 'water,' like the 'water' of my king, go toward earth."
Enlil, as the man of the river of the nether world, the man-devouring river, lay down in the . . . .
He kissed her, he cohabited with her, {p. 47}
Having kissed her, having cohabited with her,
The "water" of Ninazu, the king of . . ., he caused to flow over (her) heart./$/|
The poem then continues with the begetting of the third underworld deity whose name is illegible; this
time it is the "man of the boat" whom Enlil impersonates. Our myth then comes to a close with a brief
hymnal passage in which Enlil is exalted as the lord of abundance and the king whose decrees are
unalterable.
THE JOURNEY OF NANNA TO NIPPUR
To the Sumerians of the third millennium B. C., Nippur was the spiritual center of their country. Its
tutelary deity, Enlil, was the leading god of the Sumerian pantheon; his temple, Ekur, was the most
important temple in Sumer. And so, the blessing of Enlil was a prime essential for the establishment of
prosperity and abundance in the other important cities of Sumer, such as Eridu and Ur. To obtain this
blessing, the tutelary deities of these cities were conceived as travelling to Nippur laden with gifts for its
god and temple. Our myth{xr. 50} describes just such a journey from Ur to Nippur of the moon-god
Nanna (also known as Sin and Ashgirbabbar), the tutelary deity of Ur. In this myth, as in the preceding
Enlil-Ninlil composition, the cities such as Nippur and Ur seem to be fully built and rich in animal and
plant life, although man seems to be still nonexistent.
Beginning with a description of the glory of Nippur, our poem continues a passage describing Nanna's
decision to visit his father's city:
|$To go to his city, to stand before his father,
Ashgirbabbar set his mind:
"I, the hero, to my city I would go, before my father I would stand;
I, Sin, to my city I would go, before my father I would stand,
Before my father Enlil I would stand;
I, to my city I would go, before my mother Ninlil I would stand,
Before my father I would stand."/$/|
{p. 48}
And so he loads up his gufa with a rich assortment of trees, plants, and animals. On his journey from Ur
to Nippur, Nanna and his boat make stop at five cities: Im (?), Larsa, Erech, and two cities whose names
are illegible; in each of these Nanna is met and greeted by the respective tutelary deity. Finally he
arrives at Nippur:
At the lapis lazuli quay, the quay of Enlil, Nanna-Sin drew up his boat, At the white quay, the quay of
Enlil, Ashgirbabbar drew up his boat, On the . . . of the father, his begetter, he stationed himself,
To the gatekeeper of Enlil he says:
|$At the lapis lazuli quay, the quay of Enlil,
Nanna-Sin drew up his boat,
At the white quay, the quay of Enlil,
Ashgirbabbar drew up his boat,
On the . . . of the father, his begetter, he stationed himself,
To the gatekeeper of Enlil he says:
"Open the house, gatekeeper, open the house,
Open the house, O protecting genie, open the house,
Open the house, thou who makest the trees come forth, open the house,
O . . ., who makest the trees come forth, open the house,
Gatekeeper, open the house, O protecting genie, open the house."/$/|
The gatekeeper opens the door for Nanna:
|$Joyfully, the gatekeeper joyfully opened the door;
The protecting genie who makes the trees come forth, joyfully,
The gatekeeper joyfully opened the door;
He who makes the trees come forth, joyfully,
The gatekeeper joyfully opened the door;
With Sin, Enlil rejoiced./$/|
The two gods feast; then Nanna addresses Enlil his father as follows:
|$"In the river give me overflow,
In the field give me much grain,
In the swampland give me grass and reeds,
In the forests give me . . . {p. 49}
In the plain give me . . .
In the palm-grove and vineyard give me honey and wine,
In the palace give me long life,
To Ur I shall go."/$/|
And Enlil accedes to his son's request:
|$He gave him, Enlil gave him,
To Ur he went.
In the river he gave him overflow,
In the field he gave him much grain,
In the swampland he gave him grass and reeds,
In the forests he gave him . . .,
In the plain he gave him . . . .
In the palm-grove and vineyard he gave him honey and wine,
In the palace he gave him long life./$/|
EMESH AND ENTEN: ENLIL CHOOSES THE FARMER-GOD
This myth{xr. 51} is the closest extant Sumerian parallel to the Biblical Cain-Abel story, although it
ends with a reconciliation rather than a murder. It consists of over three hundred lines, only about half of
which are complete; because of the numerous breaks, the meaning of the text is therefore often difficult
to penetrate. Tentatively the contents of the poem may be reconstructed as follows:
Enlil, the air-god, has set his mind to bring forth trees and grain and to establish abundance and
prosperity in the land. For this purpose two cultural beings, the brothers Emesh and Enten, are created,
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