THE JOURNEY OF NANNA TO NIPPUR
To the Sumerians of the third millennium B. C., Nippur was the spiritual center of their country. Its tutelary deity, Enlil, was the leading god of the Sumerian pantheon; his temple, Ekur, was the most important temple in Sumer. And so, the blessing of Enlil was a prime essential for the establishment of prosperity and abundance in the other important cities of Sumer, such as Eridu and Ur. To obtain this blessing, the tutelary deities of these cities were conceived as travelling to Nippur laden with gifts for its god and temple. Our myth 50 describes just such a journey from Ur to Nippur of the moon-god Nanna (also known as Sin and Ashgirbabbar), the tutelary deity of Ur. In this myth, as in the preceding Enlil-Ninlil composition, the cities such as Nippur and Ur seem to be fully built and rich in animal and plant life, although man seems to be still nonexistent.
Beginning with a description of the glory of Nippur, our poem continues a passage describing Nanna's decision to visit his father's city:
To go to his city, to stand before his father,
Ashgirbabbar set his mind:
"I, the hero, to my city I would go, before my father I would stand;
I, Sin, to my city I would go, before my father I would stand,
Before my father Enlil I would stand;
I, to my city I would go, before my mother Ninlil I would stand,
Before my father I would stand."
p. 48
And so he loads up his gufa with a rich assortment of trees, plants, and animals. On his journey from Ur to Nippur, Nanna and his boat make stop at five cities: Im (?), Larsa, Erech, and two cities whose names are illegible; in each of these Nanna is met and greeted by the respective tutelary deity. Finally he arrives at Nippur:
At the lapis lazuli quay, the quay of Enlil, Nanna-Sin drew up his boat, At the white quay, the quay of Enlil, Ashgirbabbar drew up his boat, On the . . . of the father, his begetter, he stationed himself,
To the gatekeeper of Enlil he says:
At the lapis lazuli quay, the quay of Enlil,
Nanna-Sin drew up his boat,
At the white quay, the quay of Enlil,
Ashgirbabbar drew up his boat,
On the . . . of the father, his begetter, he stationed himself,
To the gatekeeper of Enlil he says:
"Open the house, gatekeeper, open the house,
Open the house, O protecting genie, open the house,
Open the house, thou who makest the trees come forth, open the house,
O . . ., who makest the trees come forth, open the house,
Gatekeeper, open the house, O protecting genie, open the house."
The gatekeeper opens the door for Nanna:
Joyfully, the gatekeeper joyfully opened the door;
The protecting genie who makes the trees come forth, joyfully,
The gatekeeper joyfully opened the door;
He who makes the trees come forth, joyfully,
The gatekeeper joyfully opened the door;
With Sin, Enlil rejoiced.
The two gods feast; then Nanna addresses Enlil his father as follows:
"In the river give me overflow,
In the field give me much grain,
In the swampland give me grass and reeds,
In the forests give me . . . p. 49
In the plain give me . . .
In the palm-grove and vineyard give me honey and wine,
In the palace give me long life,
To Ur I shall go."
And Enlil accedes to his son's request:
He gave him, Enlil gave him,
To Ur he went.
In the river he gave him overflow,
In the field he gave him much grain,
In the swampland he gave him grass and reeds,
In the forests he gave him . . .,
In the plain he gave him . . . .
In the palm-grove and vineyard he gave him honey and wine,
In the palace he gave him long life.
