Lamentation on the Destruction of Ur. 7080 (No. 11)

The fragment Ni. 7080 carries the right half of one of the largest literary tablets in the Museum. Broken evenly at the center from top to bottom the right half of this tablet preserves part of Col. III and all of Cols. IV, V of the obverse. The reverse correspondingly contains Cols. I, II and half of Col. III. Like so many similar liturgical compositions of the period of Ur this lamentation is divided into a series of kišubs or songs, here of unusually great length. The third song ends at Obv. III 38; [pg 280] its first line stood in Obv. II, which has been lost. The fourth song began at Obv. III 42 and ends at Obv. IV 23, containing thirty-four lines. The fifth song begins at Obv. IV 27 and ends at Obv. V 7, containing forty-seven lines. In the following pages will be found a translation of twenty-three lines of the end of the fourth song which describes the wrathful word of the gods Anu and Enlil. The fifth song, a remarkable ode to the wrathful word of Enlil, has been translated so far as the text permits.

The sixth song begins at Obv. V 11, and probably terminated in the broken passage at the top of Rev. I. Its length was also unusual, having at least forty-five lines. This song was edited on a small tablet Ni. 4584 on which the beginning and the end of the section are preserved. It has been published as No. 10 in Sumerian Liturgical Texts, Vol. X of the Publications of the Babylonian Section. Only a few lines at the commencement of this song have been translated here. From this point onward the language of the liturgy presents such difficulty that the writer has been unable to offer a translation.

Section seven probably ended at the top of Rev. II and refers throughout to the mother goddess who weeps over the ruins of Ur. The eighth song probably began at the top of Rev. II and ended perhaps at the top of Rev. III. It is another doleful ode to the weeping mother and many of its lines are clear and translatable. The entire song is marked by sorrowful refrains: me-li-e-a uru-mu nu-me-a, Oh woe is me, my city is no more.[242] a-uru-mu im-me, How long? oh my city I cry.[243] me-li-e-a uru-ta è-a-mèn, Oh woe is me, from the city I depart.[244] dingir ga-ša-an-gal-mèn é-ta è-a-mèn, Great divine queen am I, [pg 281] from the temple I depart.[245] er-gig ni-šéš-šéš, She weeps bitterly.[246]