Your appointed field is sweet. Ur-Namma, true farmer of the wide field — the dike, the irrigation channel, the place of abundance.
A balbale (lyric hymn) addressed to Enlil on behalf of Ur-Namma, founder of the Third Dynasty of Ur (r. c. 2112–2095 BCE). The six opening lines are lost. What survives — lines 7 through 23, with a few fragmentary closing lines — forms one of the most agrarian compositions in the entire Ur-Namma corpus. Where Ur-Namma E and F praise the E-kiš-nu-ĝal and the king's cosmic legitimation through Suen and Ashimbabbar, G comes down to earth: Enlil blesses Ur-Namma's fields. Ezina, the grain goddess, presents the mottled grain. The plough is set. The ox moves through the furrow. The irrigation canals wait to be opened.
The structural heart of the composition is a fourfold doubling: each image is first applied to "the king" and then immediately to "Ur-Namma" by name — the classic liturgical technique of royal identification. The king lays out the field; Ur-Namma lays out the field. The king brings Enlil's field to fulfillment; Ur-Namma brings it to fulfillment. The king is the true farmer of the wide field; Ur-Namma is the true farmer. The effect is both liturgical and political: the generic king figure is Ur-Namma, and Ur-Namma is the model king.
The balbale genre (balbal.e in Sumerian) designates lyric hymns often focused on a single divine or agricultural theme rather than the full royal praise catalog. This composition closes with the rubric "a balbale of Enlil" — one of the few surviving balbale texts addressed to Enlil rather than to Inanna or Nanna.
Lines 1–6 are lost. Lines 24–25 are lost. Lines 26–27 are heavily damaged. Translated from ETCSL c.2.4.1.7 (Sumerian transliteration, single manuscript). Translation independently derived from the Sumerian; reference translation t.2.4.1.7 was not consulted. Lacunae marked honestly.
[Lines 1–6 not preserved]
Enlil to Ur-Namma — he gave [his blessing...]
Ezina, the grain goddess —
may she present the mottled grain as a prime gift!
May Ur-Namma heap abundance upon the people!
Where the plough has set down sweet grain —
your appointed field is sweet.
The seed-plough, the plough of good grain —
the field shall speak well.
The plough of good grain — [in the land] — the field shall [speak well...]
The king, with the ox, the field laid out —
your appointed field is sweet.
Ur-Namma, with the field laid out —
your appointed field is sweet.
Your field that lies waiting — the ox has blessed it.
Your appointed field is sweet.
My king — in the field of Enlil,
may he bring it to fulfillment with arm and hand.
Ur-Namma — in the field of Enlil,
may he bring it to fulfillment with arm and hand.
Your standing furrow —
may the rain of heaven fill it straight.
The king, the true farmer of the wide field —
the dike, the irrigation channel, the place of [abundance...]
Ur-Namma, the true farmer of the wide field —
the dike, the irrigation channel, the place of [abundance...]
The dike, the irrigation channel —
like Utu rising, its face [shines...]
My king — sweet, sweet in abundance [...]
Ur-Namma — sweet, sweet in abundance [...]
[Lines 24–25 not preserved]
[...] returned to you [...]
— A balbale of Enlil.
Colophon
Ur-Namma G (ETCSL c.2.4.1.7). Sumerian royal hymn, Third Dynasty of Ur, c. 2112–2095 BCE. Genre: balbale (lyric hymn). 28 lines total; 20 lines surviving: lines 1–6 lost, lines 24–25 lost, lines 26–27 heavily damaged. Single manuscript: A w/n r. i–ii.
Structural note: The balbale genre (balbal.e) designates lyric hymns often focused on a single theme. This composition's theme is agricultural blessing — Enlil's field, the plough, the ox, the furrow, the irrigation canal. It is the only surviving balbale in the Ur-Namma corpus addressed to Enlil; the corpus's other balbale compositions typically address Nanna or Inanna. The fourfold doubling structure (lugal / ur-dNamma, repeated four times) is the primary liturgical feature, reinforcing the identification between the ideal king and the historical Ur-Namma.
Key translation notes: dEzina₂ (also dAshnan) = the Sumerian goddess of grain, personification of the cereal harvest; balbale = a lyric hymn genre, generally shorter and more focused than the tigi or adab; ĝiš-apin = the wooden plough; ĝiš-numun = the seed-plough (used for seeding furrows after the initial plowing); ab-sin₂ = the furrow (the trench made by the plough); eg₂ = the dike or embankment; pa₅ = the irrigation channel; engar zid = "the true farmer," a royal epithet emphasizing the king's role as agricultural steward of the land on behalf of Enlil; gana₂ ĝar = "to lay out the field" (the first plowing of a new season); a₂ šu du₇ = "to bring to fulfillment with arm and hand" — the completion of the agricultural work; še gu-nu = mottled or speckled grain (a premium variety); saĝ-e-eš rig₇ = to present as a prime gift, to give at the head of the offering.
The closing lines (26–27) are too damaged to translate; only line 27's verb "returned to you" is legible. The composition ends with the genre rubric in line 28: balbal.e dEn-lil₂-la₂-kam — "a balbale of Enlil."
Translation independently derived from the Sumerian transliteration (ETCSL c.2.4.1.7). Reference translation t.2.4.1.7 was not consulted. A Good Works Translation. New Tianmu Anglican Church.
Translated by: Liberation Translator tulku (Run 53), 2026-03-22.
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Source Text
Ur-Namma G (ETCSL c.2.4.1.7) — Sumerian Transliteration
Transliteration from ETCSL composite text. Single manuscript: A w/n r. i–ii. Conventions: / \ = partially preserved sign; [ ] = lacuna; X = undeciphered sign; ? = uncertain reading.
[lines 1–6 not preserved]
- dEn-lil₂-le dur!-dNamma-ra /mu-[...]
- a-ectub dEzina₂ še gu-nu saĝ-e-eš he₂-/mu-rig₇\
- dur-dNamma uĝ₃-e nam-ḥe₂-a gu₂ ḥu-mu-u₈-di-ni-ib-mar-re
- ĝiš-apin še dug₃-ga bi₂-ĝar-/ra\ gana₂ ĝar-zu dug₃-ga-am₃
- ĝiš-numun še dug₃ ĝiš-apin gana₂ nam /bi₂-dug₃-ge
- ĝiš-apin še dug₃-ge ki? kur? X (X) gana₂ nam /bi₂-X X
- lugal gud-de₃ gana₂ ĝar-am₃-ma gana₂ /ĝar-zu dug₃-ga-am₃
- dur-dNamma gana₂ ĝar-am₃-ma /gana₂\ ĝar-zu dug₃-ga-am₃
- gana₂ ĝar-ra-za gud-de₃ ba-sag₉ gana₂ ĝar-za dug₃-ga-am₃
- lugal-ĝu₁₀ gana₂ dEn-lil₂-la₂-ka a₂ šu ḥa-ba-e-ni-du₇
- ur-dNamma gana₂ dEn-lil₂-la₂-ka a₂ /šu ḥa-ba-e-ni-du₇
- ab-sin₂ gub-ba-zu im an-na si /ḥe₂-em-ma-ni-in-sa₂
- lugal engar zid gana₂ daĝal-la eg₂ pa₅-re ki X [...]
- ur-dNamma engar zid gana₂ daĝal-la eg₂ pa₅-re /ki\ [...]
- eg₂ pa₅-re dUtu e₃-gin₇ igi-bi /mu-[...]
- /lugal-ĝu₁₀ sa-ra\ dug₃-dug₃-ge sa-ra-/zu?\ [...]
- [ur-dNamma sa-ra dug₃]-/dug₃-ge sa-ra-/zu?\ X [...]
[lines 24–25 not preserved]
- [...] SI /IN\ [...]
- X /mu-ra-an-gur X [...]
- /bal-bal-e dEn-lil₂-[la₂-kam]
Source Colophon
ETCSL c.2.4.1.7. Sumerian royal hymn, Third Dynasty of Ur. Single manuscript: A w/n r. i–ii. Transliteration from the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL), Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. Primary print editions: Flückiger-Hawker, Urnamma of Ur in Sumerian Literary Tradition (1999), pp. 290–296; Tinney 1999, pp. 37–38, 44.
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