The Lament for Nippur, or the Lament for Nibru, is a

Sumerian Sumerian or Sumerians may refer to: *Sumer, an ancient civilization **Sumerian language **Sumerian art **Sumerian architecture **Sumerian literature **Cuneiform script, used in Sumerian writing *Sumerian Records, an American record label based in ...

lament, also known by its

incipit The incipit () of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin and means "it beg ...

tur₃ me nun-e ("After the cattle pen..."). It is dated to the Old Babylonian Empire (). It is preserved in

Penn Museum The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology—commonly known as the Penn Museum—is an archaeology and anthropology museum at the University of Pennsylvania. It is located on Penn's campus in the University City neighb ...

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.

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The Lament is composed of 9 ''kirugu'' (sections, songs) and 8 ''gišgigal'' (antiphons) followed by 3 more ''kirugu''. Numbered by ''kirugu'', the lament is structured as follows: #storm of

Enlil Enlil, , "Lord f theWind" later known as Elil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Bab ...

; Enlil destroys Nippur #weeping goddess; Nippur addresses Enlil #storm of Enlil; Enlil destroys Nippur #weeping goddess; the poet addresses Nippur #storm of Enlil; Ishme-Dagan recreates Nippur #weeping goddess; the poet addresses Nippur #storm of Enlil; Ishme-Dagan recreates Nippur #storm of Enlil; Enlil recreates Nippur #storm of Enlil; Ishme-Dagan recreates Nippur #storm of Enlil; Enlil recreates Nippur #storm of Enlil; Ishme-Dagan recreates Nippur #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 The Lament for Ur, or Lamentation over the city of Ur is a Sumerian lament composed around the time of the fall of Ur to the Elamites and the end of the city's third dynasty (c. 2000 BC). Laments It contains one of five known Mesopotamian " ...

References

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19th-century BC literature 18th-century BC literature 17th-century BC literature Sumerian texts First Babylonian Empire

Nippur Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory': Vol. 1, Part 1. Accessed 15 Dec 2010. Akkadian language, Akkadian: '' ...

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