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A balbale (?) to Inana (Dumuzid-Inana P)

Segment A

1-10. …… of my …… is holy. I am she who directs ……. …… genitals ……. …… is perfect for august status. Subduing ……, fixing my gaze ……, I am she who directs …….
3 lines fragmentary

11-21. …… my genitals ……, my …… which is seemly for a deity, …… of my buttocks, my brightly coloured ……, …… of my buttocks, my …… established by ……, my …… ordered by ……, my …… which befits the palace, my …… which passes the time ……, …… is racing. Dumuzid brings …….

22-27. I gazed over all the people, and chose Dumuzid as god of the Land. For Dumuzid, beloved by Enlil, I exalted his name and decreed his destiny. My mother cherishes him constantly, and my father speaks his praise.

28-35. I bathed and rubbed myself with soap for him, standing at the washing basin. For him I straightened my clothes as the garments of power, I reinforced for him the noble vestments. I put ……, I loosened ……
2 lines fragmentary
approx. 7 lines missing

Segment B

1-9. The queen ……. Outside (?) the city, the house (?) …… lapis lazuli ……. In my sanctuary, …… in prayer, in holy prayer, ……. I am Inana …… powerful garment. The gala singer …… in song, the musician performs a hymn. My bridegroom rejoices beside me, the {wild bull} {(1 ms. has instead:) lord} Dumuzid rejoices beside me.

10-17. …… a desire in laudatory words. The lady of all the lands ……, who raises up prayers in Nibru ……, who lowers prayers ……, the lady praises herself; the gala singer …… in song. Inana praises …… her genitals in song:

18-28. "These genitals, ……, like a horn, …… a great waggon, this moored Boat of Heaven …… of mine, clothed in beauty like the new crescent moon, this waste land abandoned in the desert ……, this field of ducks where my ducks sit, this high well-watered field of mine: my own genitals, the maiden's, a well-watered opened-up mound -- who will be their ploughman? My genitals, the lady's, the moist and well-watered ground -- who will put an ox there?"

29-30. "Lady, the king shall plough them for you; Dumuzid the king shall plough them for you."

31-34. "Plough in my genitals, man of my heart!" …… bathed her holy hips, …… holy ……, the holy basin
1 line fragmentary
approx. 3 lines missing

Segment C

1-11. Ninegala, the holy …….
5 lines fragmentary The holy embrace ……. Fresh fruits (?) and shoots ……. As she arises from the king's embrace, the flax rises up with her, the barley rises up with her. With her, the desert is filled with a glorious garden.

12-17. His wife dwelt happily with him in E-namtila, the king's house; Inana dwelt happily with him in E-namtila, Dumuzid's house. Rejoicing in his house, Inana pleads with the king:

18-27. "Make the milk yellow for me, my bridegroom, make the milk yellow for me, and I will drink the milk with you, my bridegroom! Wild bull Dumuzid, make the milk yellow for me, and I will drink the milk with you, my bridegroom! …… the goat's milk …… the fold; lord (?) of all things, fill my holy churns. Dumuzid, …… camel's milk. The milk of the camels ……. Their butter and milk are sweet, ……. Lord Dumuzid, …… I will drink the milk with you."

28-42. "My spouse, …… the pleasant building. Inana, I will place them at your disposal, I will place them there before you in your E-namtila, the amazing source of the Land's radiance, the house where the destiny of all the lands is decreed, where the living people are correctly guided. Ninegala, I will place them at your disposal, I will place them there before you in your E-namtila. Inana, I will place them at your disposal in E-namtila, the building which grants long life. I will place them there before you in your E-namtila.
3 lines missing
1 line fragmentary"

43-47. Inside (?) ……, E-namtila ……. Ningal faithfully ……: "I will give you life unto distant days, Dumuzid, the desire and love of Inana."

48-66. "Inana, I will place them at your disposal, I will place them there before you in your E-namtila, the house whose splendour covers the Land, the house in which the purification rites are most holy, the house with appropriately grand treasures." …… with his butter and cheese, …… will place at your disposal there …….
11 lines fragmentary …… of Inana.

Segment D

(unplaceable; possibly part of another composition)
unknown no. of lines missing

1-13.
beginnings of 13 fragmentary lines
unknown no. of lines missing



Revision history

28.i.1999: JAB, editor: adapting translation
30.ix.1999: GC, editor: proofreading
16.x.1999: GZ, editor: SGML tagging
14.xi.1999: ER, editor: proofreading SGML
13.xi.1999: ER, editor: web publication
01.vi.2003: GC/JE, editor/technical developer: XML/TEI conversion

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