Tuesday, November 3, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org

Ishme-Dagan E — A Balbale to Enki for Išme-Dagan

✦ ─── ⟐ ─── ✦

Patient-hearted, who rides upon all the divine powers —
Enki, great bull of Eridug.

(Note: This text survives in four heavily damaged segments. Segments B and C preserve only scattered signs. What follows represents the legible content; extensively damaged passages are marked [...].)

[Segment A]

[...] in the holy heart [...] [...].
Whose word is mighty, who [...] decisions —
foremost of the gods, who knows all things [...].

Enki, counsellor of holy An, adviser of the Great Mountain [...].
Foremost of the gods, who knows all things [...].
Enki, counsellor of holy An, adviser of the Great Mountain [...].

Whose statements cannot be countermanded;
whose ways are suffused with fearsomeness.
Patient-hearted, who rides upon all the divine powers, like Enlil [...].

Nudimmud [...] the holy dais [...].
Lord imbued with fearsomeness, born of An and Uraš, eldest brother [...].
King whose ways are recognized by Enlil, caretaker of [...].

Surpassing [...], firstborn child of holy An,
whose divine powers hands cannot approach [...].
Junior Enlil of trustworthy utterances [...].
Nudimmud, lord who determines the fates, who strengthens the Land [...].
Enki, great bull of Eridug [...].

Surpassing, brighter than the Anuna [...].
[...] [...].
[...] [...].

[Segment B] (heavily damaged — only scattered signs preserved)

[...] [...].
[...] Išme-Dagan [...].
[...] [...].
[...] the house (?) of Enlil [...].
[...] Enlil [...] his statements [...].
[...] counsellor of holy An [...].
[...] [...].

[Segment C] (heavily damaged — only scattered signs preserved)

Nudimmud [...].
Lord of Eridug [...].
Išme-Dagan [...].
Son of Enlil [...].
[...] gives you instructions [...].
Wise [...].
Who holds divine plans [...].
Your holy knowledge [...].
Great [...].
[...] [...].

Source Colophon

[Segment D]

[...] excellent divine powers [...].
[...] [...].
[...] liquor and emmer beer [...].
At the royal offering-place let him salute you with full hands;
let him speak the prayer to you [...].

May Išme-Dagan, son of Enlil,
be granted life — may the days of his vigour be long!
Father Enki, may Išme-Dagan, son of Enlil,
be granted life — may the days of his vigour be long!

(Its ĝišgiĝal.)

A balbale of Enki.

Colophon

Translated from Sumerian (ETCSL c.2.5.4.05) by the Good Works Library, 2026. ETCSL English translation (t.2.5.4.05) consulted as reference; all English independently derived from the Sumerian transliteration. Text heavily damaged throughout. Segments A lines 1–4, 17–19 substantially lacunose. Segments B and C almost entirely damaged; content reduced to scattered legible signs. Segment D lines 1–5 fragmentary. Lines 6–7 the most complete in the composition. Scribal credit: liberation-translator, 2026-03-21.

© 2026 Tianmu Anglican Church. This English translation is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0: you may share and adapt it for non-commercial use with credit to the Good Works Library, tianmu.org. The source text keeps its own terms. For other uses, see Rights and Reuse.

Source Text

Sumerian Transliteration (ETCSL c.2.5.4.05)

Segment A

  1. [line missing]
  2. [...] /cag4 kug-ga\ X [...]
  3. /inim sig10-sig10-ge inim-ma-ni u18-ru ec-bar-e X [...]
  4. X X palil dijir-re-e-ne nij2-nam-ma gal-/zu\ [...]
  5. [X X] den-ki cag4 kuc2 an kug-ga ad gi4-gi4 kur /gal\ [...]
  6. [...] palil dijir-re-e-ne nij2-nam-ma gal-/zu\ [...]
  7. [X X] den-ki cag4 kuc2 an kug-ga ad gi4-gi4 /kur\ [gal ...]
  8. [sa2] pad3-de3 dug4-ga-ni nu-kam3-me a-ra2-a-ni ni2 [...]
  9. cag4 su3-ud-jal2 me car2-ra u5-a /den?-lil2-gin7 [...]
  10. dnu-dim2-mud barag kug si-par3-si-par3 AN [...]
  11. en ni2 guru3 an urac-e tud-da pap gal [...]
  12. lugal a-ra2 zu den-lil2-la2 saj en3 tar [...]
  13. [...] zag dib dumu-saj an kug-ga me-ni /cu\ nu-/tej3-[ja2 ...]
  14. [den]-lil2 ban3-da dug4-ga zid-da jic-hur-e X [...]
  15. dnu-dim2-mud en nam tar-tar-re kalam /ge-[en ...]
  16. den-ki gud gal eridugki-ga il2 [...] X X
  17. X buluj3 dirig da-nun-ke4-[ne] [...]
  18. X NU DUB UN /KA?\ [...]
  19. [...] u8?-gin7 [...]

Segment B

  1. [...] X jal2-la [...]
  2. [dic-me]-[d]/da-gan\ [...]
  3. [...] X UD HA [...]
  4. [...] /NE\ e2? den-/lil2\ [...]
  5. [...] den-lil2-la2-ra /KA\ [...] dug4-ga-/ni?\ [...]
  6. [...] cag4 kuc2 an kug-/ga\ [...]
  7. [...] X ZI TA /DU?\

Segment C

  1. dnu-dim2-[mud] [...]
  2. en eridugki [...]
  3. dic-me-d[da-gan] [...]
  4. dumu den-lil2-[la2] [...]
  5. a2?-zu mu-da-[...-aj2 ...]
  6. igi-jal2 pad3 [...]
  7. jic-hur tuku [...]
  8. kug-zu nij2-/nam-[ma ...]
  9. /kij2?\ mah [...]
  10. X X [...]

Segment D

  1. [...] me /dirig\ [...]
  2. [...] AGA? TUM LI [...]
  3. [...] X kurun2 &kac;ulucin3 X [...]
  4. [KI]./LUGAL.GUB-a cu si ha-/ra-[...-sa2 ...] giri17 cu ha-ra-[...-jal2]
  5. [...] /sizkur2-ra ma--ni-ib2-be2 X [...]
  6. [dic-me]-dda-gan dumu den-lil2-la2-ke4 /nam-[til3-la-na ud zig3-ga] /ud\ ha-ba-ni-ib2-su3-[ud X]
  7. a-a den-ki dic-me-dda-gan dumu den-lil2-la2-[ke4] nam-til3-la-na ud zig3-ga [ud ha-ba-ni-ib2-su3-ud X]
  8. jic-gi4-jal2-bi-im
  9. bal-bal-e den-ki-ka-[kam]

Source: Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL c.2.5.4.05), Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. Accessed 2026-03-21.

Other hymns of Ishme-Dagan in the Good Works Library: Ishme-Dagan A — A Praise Poem of Ishme-Dagan · Ishme-Dagan B — An Adab to Bau for Ishme-Dagan · Ishme-Dagan C — A Hymn to Nibru and Išme-Dagan · Ishme-Dagan D — An Adab to Enki for Išme-Dagan