Amar-Suena and Enki's Temple (Amar-Suena A): translation

SEGMENT A

(The sequence of Segment A (UET 8 33 + U 5307) and Segments B-E (UET 8 32, UET 6/3 487) is far from certain; they may well belong to separate compositions. However, C follows B and E follows D.)

^1-8...... protective deity ....... Amar-Suena ...... his heart. He who ...... the temple with an axe ....... Amar-Suena ...... the abzu shrine. ...... built with gold, and decorated with lapis lazuli. He applied himself to building the temple; king Amar-Suena applied himself to building the temple. The people turned against the king, and the foreign countries .......

^9-25In the first year the temple remained in ruins, and he did not restore it. Amar-Suena ...... the divine powers of kingship. In the second year it remained in ruins, and he did not restore it. Amar-Suena ...... his royal garments for mourning clothes. In the third year it remained in ruins, and he did not restore it. Amar-Suena could not interpret (?) the temple's ominous sign among (?) the birch trees. In the fourth year it remained in ruins, and he did not restore it. Although he had been advised (?) by a sage, he could not realise the plans of the temple. In the fifth year it remained in ruins, and he did not restore it. The abzu shrine has been ...... by force. In the sixth year it remained in ruins, and he did not restore it. He was searching for the divine plan of the temple, but could not find it. In the seventh year it remained in ruins, and he did not restore it. Enki spoke to him about the temple, the temple that did not exist. In the eighth year, he applied himself to building the temple. By the ninth year, king Amar-Suena built the E-uduna of the wise lord (?) like .......

^26-32Then the lord, the great lord Enki, destroyed (?) the site of his own temple.
2 lines fragmentary
Father Enki ...... Eridug ....... ...... his minister ......
1 line fragmentary
unknown no. of lines missing

SEGMENT B

(= UET 8 32 obverse)

^1-41 line fragmentary
The guardian (?) of the spacious land ....... As Enki lifted his gaze ....... Having left the temple ...... in the abzu.

^5-9At that time mankind was not ....... Far-reaching wisdom, wise words were not .......
1 line unclear
To grieve and to do evil was good (?). Amar-Suena ...... to build the temple of Enlil.
unknown no. of lines missing

SEGMENT C

(= UET 8 32 reverse)

^1-6Lord ....... When he performed extispicy regarding the building of Enki's temple, the omen did not mention anything about the building of the temple, so he did not start it. To establish a lasting fame for himself, the king ......; to establish a lasting fame for himself, Amar-Suena ....... ...... the temple of Enki .......
unknown no. of lines missing

SEGMENT D

(= UET 6/3 487 obverse; this fragment might belong to the same tablet as UET 8 32, in which case it would preserve the beginning and the end of the tablet)

^1-2Lord, wise prince ......
1 line fragmentary
unknown no. of lines missing

SEGMENT E

(= UET 6/3 487 reverse)

^1-2He who ....... King Amar-Suena has not been assigned a fate from (?) it.

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Revision history

18.v.2000 : GZ : adapting translation
28.ix.2000 : JAB : proofreading
03.x.2000 : GC : tagging
26.x.2000 : ER : proofreading SGML
26.x.2000 : ER : converting to HTML 4.0
7.ix.2001 : ER : header and footer reformatted; substantive content of file not changed