Lament for Nippur


The Lament for Nippur, or the Lament for Nibru, is a Sumerian lament, also known by its incipit tur3 me nun-e. It is dated to the Old Babylonian Empire. It is preserved in Penn Museum on tablet CBS13856.
It is one of five known Mesopotamian "city laments"—dirges for ruined cities in the voice of the city's tutelary goddess.

Text

The Lament is composed of 9 kirugu and 8 gišgigal followed by 3 more kirugu.
Numbered by kirugu, the lament is structured as follows:
  1. storm of Enlil; Enlil destroys Nippur
  2. weeping goddess; Nippur addresses Enlil
  3. storm of Enlil; Enlil destroys Nippur
  4. weeping goddess; the poet addresses Nippur
  5. storm of Enlil; Ishme-Dagan recreates Nippur
  6. weeping goddess; the poet addresses Nippur
  7. storm of Enlil; Ishme-Dagan recreates Nippur
  8. storm of Enlil; Enlil recreates Nippur
  9. storm of Enlil; Ishme-Dagan recreates Nippur
  10. storm of Enlil; Enlil recreates Nippur
  11. storm of Enlil; Ishme-Dagan recreates Nippur
  12. storm of Enlil; Enlil recreates Nippur
It includes passages in the emesal, a sociolect used by high-status women, showing the importance of women's voices in city laments; emesal is also found in the Lament for Ur.