Ashurbanipal’s collection of Sumerian and Babylonian proverbs formed part of the famous Library of Ashurbanipal (7th century BCE) established at Nineveh for the express purpose of preserving the knowledge of the past for future generations. They are thought to have influenced the works included in the biblical Book of Proverbs, among other later wisdom texts.
Xenio alado ou apkallu, garda e protector contra os demos das estancias privadas do rei asirio Asurnasirpal II en Nimrud (s IX a.C)
A view from the ziggarut of Uruk, Iraq. The sandstorm made everything appear yellow. Photo taken in April 2011.
Copyright © 2012 Kulvinder Singh Matharu. All Rights Reserved
In this unpublished tablet, held by the British Museum, we find the copper merchant Ea-Naṣir and his associate Ilushu-illassu writing to a couple of men to reassure them. Although the situation is missing some context, there are some real gems in the context of the famous letter to Ea-Naṣir.
…
Say to Shumun-libshi and the Zabardabbû: [1]
Ea-Naṣir and Ilushu-illassu say:
As for the situation with Mr. “Shorty” and Erissum-matim, who came here, don’t be scared.
I made them enter the temple of the Sun-God and take an oath. They said, “We didn’t come about these matters; we came for our businesses.”
I said, “I will write to them” — but they didn’t believe me!
He said, “I had a quarrel with Mr. Shumun-libshi.” He said, “[…] to his partner. I took, and you did not […] You didn’t give to me.”
Within 3 days, I’ll come to the city of Larsa.
Also, I spoke with Erissum-matim and said, “What is your sign?” [2]
I said to the kettle-maker (?), “Go with Ilum-gamil the Zabardabbû, and take the shortfall for me, and put it in the city of Enimma.”
Also, don’t neglect your […].
Also, I have given the ingots that we talked about to the men.
P.S. Don’t be critical! Get the […] from them! Don’t worry! We’ll come to you. [3]
sup y’all, new ea-nasir lore just dropped
wait so does “Ea-Naṣ︎ir” mean it’s been pronounced nashir all this time? where is that coming from?! (I’m only basing this on Sanskrit romanisation using ṣ︎ as a soft sh so I’ve no idea of the context here but)
In Akkadian transliteration, “ṣ” means a “ts” sound. So his name is pronounced “E-a-nat-SEAR.” (It comes from the verb naṣāru, “to guard, to watch over,” so it means “The god Ea watches over [him].”)
After over a century of research, historians continue to be perplexed when it comes to understanding the Sumerian King List, an ancient list of Sumerian kings, including several from the realms of mythology.
I saw this exercise completed in Latin (found here) and decided to try it in Sumerian! Note that some items have multiple vocabulary words; I’ve tried to go with the most basic/most common.*
A — su “body”
1 mush(me) “face” // 2 ka(g) “mouth” // 3 sun “chin” // 4 gu “neck” // 5 murgu “shoulders” // 6-7 a “arm” // 8-9 ashkud “elbow, forearm” // 10 aur “armpit” // 11 shagsud “back (of torso)” // 12 gaba “chest” // 13 endur “navel, umbilical cord” // 14 shag “belly, gut” // 15 kibid “butt” // 16 ib “waist, hip” or sabad “loins, midsection” // 17-18 paphal “leg, thigh” // 19 dub “knee” // 20 ningus “shin”
B — shu “hand”
21 kishibla “wrist” // 23 umbin “nail” // 24-28 shusi “finger” // 29 tibir “palm”
C — sang “head”
30 dilib or siki “hair” // 31 kinamesira “temples” // 32 sangki “forehead” // 34 ngeshtug “ear” // 35 te “cheek” // 36 kiri “nose” // 37 paang “nostril(s)” // 38 meze “jaw” // 39-40 sun “beard” // 41 eme “tongue” // 42 zu “tooth” // 43 nundum “lip”
D — igi “eye”: 44 sigigi or ugurigi “eyebrow”
E — ngiri “foot”
49 zi-in-gi “ankle”** // 50 masila “heel” // 53-55 ngirisi “toe” // 56 umbin “toenail”
F — su “guts, entrails” or ngish “organs”
57 ugu “skull”* // 58 gumur “spine” // 59-61 ngeli or meli “throat, windpipe” // 62 sa “muscle” // 63 mur “lungs” // 64 sha(g) “heart” // 65 ur “liver” // 66 tun “stomach” // 67 shaningin “intestines” // 68-69 sa “vein, artery” // 70 ellang “kidney” // 72 ellamkush “bladder”
*I don’t know of a word for: back of hand; specific fingers, including the thumb; sideburns or mustache; eyelash, eyelid, iris or pupil; arch (ugurngiri?) or ball of foot; brain; pancreas. If you do, please let me know and I’ll update this post!
**I’ve kept the dashes in zi-in-gi to make clear that the “n” and “g” are pronounced separately, as /zin.gi/ rather than /zi.ŋi/. Elsewhere, parentheses indicate the word can be pronounced either way, e.g. ka or kag “mouth”.
