Sumerian Β· ETCSL t.1.1.3
Enki and the World Order
How the god of fresh water arranged the lands
Old Babylonian copies, c. 1800 BCE; composition older
A long Sumerian self-praise hymn in which Enki β god of fresh water, wisdom, and craft β tours the world he is shaping, assigning each region its function and each lesser deity its office. Below is a paraphrased reading drawn from the standard scholarly editions.
From the tablet
12 lines Β· cuneiform on the left, English on the right
- 1.πβπ¨βπβπ βπ
en-e me an-ki niΔinβ-na-keβ nam tar-re-deβ
/ph/ene me anki ninginnake nam tarrede
The lord, in order to decree the fates of all the divine powers of heaven and earth,
- 2.πβπβπ βπβπβπ
den-ki dumu-saΔ an-na-keβ nam dugβ tar-re-deβ
/ph/denki dumusang annake nam dug tarrede
Enki, the firstborn son of An, in order to decree good fates,
- 3.πβπβπ βπ²βπ
den-ki en gal-gal-la-keβ inim dugβ dugβ-ga gal-bi diri-ga
/ph/denki en galgallake inim dug dugga galbi diriga
Enki, lord of all the great lords, whose sweet utterance towers above every other,
- 4.ππβπ
iβ-idigna iβ-buranun-bi saΔ ilβ-bi mu-un-da-an-ilβ
/ph/iidigna iburanunbi sang ilbi muundaanil
He lifted up the heads of the Tigris and the Euphrates together,
- 5.π³βππβπ
kur-ra αΈ«eβ-Δalβ mi-ni-in-Δar iβ-bi a dugβ-ga im-mi-in-deβ
/ph/kurra khengal miniinngar ibi a dugga immiinde
He set abundance upon the land and poured sweet water into the rivers,
- 6.π
ambar-ra kuβ buruβ -muΕ‘en αΈ«eβ-bi mu-un-padβ
/ph/ambarra ku burumushen khebi muunpad
In the marshes he named the abundance of fish and waterfowl,
- 7.β
edin-na uβ-Ε‘im-e αΈ«i-li mu-un-tumβ
/ph/edinna ushime khili muuntum
He brought beauty to the grasses and shrubs of the steppe,
- 8.πβπβπ βπ²βπ³βπ¬
tukum-bi den-ki en gal kur-kur-ra-keβ za-e za-pa-aΔβ-zu mu-padβ
/ph/tukumbi denki en gal kurkurrake zae zapaangzu mupad
If Enki, great lord of all lands, has called your name aloud,
- 9.π½βπβπ
luβ-uluβ saΔ-Δiβ-ga ka-ni in-Δa-Δaβ
/ph/luulu sangngiga kani innganga
He sets words in the mouth of the black-headed people,
- 10.π βπβπ¨
ki-en-gi kalam-ma me αΈ«a-ma-tumβ-mu
/ph/kiengi kalamma me khamatummu
He brings the divine powers down to Sumer, the homeland,
- 11.π
eridugki uriβki larsamki nibruki unugki
/ph/eridugki uriki larsamki nibruki unugki
Eridu, Ur, Larsa, Nippur, Uruk,
- 12.π
iri-bi Ε‘eΔ-bi αΈ«eβ-ni-Ε‘eΔβ a-zal-le Ε‘eΔβ-Δaβ
/ph/iribi shengbi khenisheng azalle shengnga
These cities he watered with the brightness of flowing streams.
Tap a line to focus on it and see the signs that make it up. A guided learn-cuneiform mode is coming next.
Signs in this tablet
The core cuneiform signs you'll see recur throughout this text. Each glyph is a real Unicode character from the Cuneiform block.
Commentary
The composition belongs to a Sumerian genre of 'organizing the cosmos' hymns. Rather than narrate a single event, it walks through the world function by function β irrigation, herding, weaving, kingship β and credits Enki with the design of each.
An (sky) and Enlil (air, kingship) precede Enki in the pantheon, but Enki is the practical engineer who turns their decrees into working systems.
The recurring phrase 'the black-headed people' (saΔ-Δiβ-ga) is the standard Sumerian self-designation. It refers to hair color and means, simply, 'us.'
Transliterations here follow standard Sumerological convention; English is paraphrased by this site's editors. For the full scholarly translation see ETCSL t.1.1.3.
Sources
- ETCSL β Enki and the world order (t.1.1.3) β
- Kramer, S.N. & Maier, J. β Myths of Enki, the Crafty God (1989)
- BottΓ©ro, J. β Mesopotamia: Writing, Reasoning, and the Gods (1992)
