A Sumerian Grammar and Chrestomathy

317 Pages·1911·14.076 MB·English

by  Langdon Stephen

A SUMERJAN GRAMMAR
AND
CHRESTOMATHY
\VITH A VOCABULARY
OF THE PRINCIPAL ROOTS IN SUMERIAN
AND A LIST
OF THE MOST JMPORTANT SYLLABIC AND VOWEL TRANSCRIPTIONS
BY
STEPHEN LANGDON, M. A., PH. D.
Shillito Reader oi Assyriology and
Comparative Semitic Philology, Oxford
PARIS
LIBRAIRIE PAUL GEUTHNER
68, Rue Mazarine, 68
Agents fol' AmcI'ica : G. E. STECHERT & Co, New York
1911
ABBREVIATIONS
Names oí Principal Sources etc.
AJSL. American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures.
AV.
Assyrische Lesestücke (third edition), by FRIEDRICHDELITZSCH.
ASKT. Akkadische und Sumerische Keilschrifttexte, by PAULHAUPT.
BA. Beitrage zur Assyriologie.
Bab. 01' Babyl. Babyloniaca.
BE. 01' BEP. Babylonian Expedition of the University of Pennsyl
vania.
Br. A Classified List of Sumerian Ideographs, by RUDOLFBRüNNow..
CT. Cuneiform Texts in the British Museum, copied by PINCHES,
KINGand THOMPSON.
Del., H.\V. Assyrisches Handworterbuch, by FR. DELITZSCH.
DP. Documents Pré-sargoniques, by ALLOTTEDELAFUYE.
Fossey. Contribution au Dictionnaire Sumérien-Assyrien, by CHAS.
FOSSEY.
Hilprecht Anniv. Hilprecht Anniversary Volume.
Hommel, Lesestücke. Sumerische Lesestücke, by FRITZ HOMMEL.
Hommel, Geographie. Geographie und Geschichte des Alten Orients,
by FRITZHOMMEL.
Hrozny, Ninib. Mythen von dem Gotte Ninrag, by FRIEDRICHHROZNY.
JA. Journal Asiatique.
JAOS. Journal of the American Oriental Society.
KB. Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek.
Lau. Old Babylonian Temple Records, by R. J. LAD.
VI ABBHEVIATlONS
Leander, Lehnworter, quoted in fui!'
Lehman, Samas-sum-ukín, quoted in full.
LIR. Letters and Inscriptions of Rammurabi, by L. W. KING.
Myhrman. Sumerian Administrative Documents, by DAVIDW. MYHR-
MAN.
Muss-Arnolt. Assyrisch- Englisch- Deutches Randworterbuch, by W.
Muss-ARNOLT.
MVAG. Mitteilungen der Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft.
Nik. Documents de la plus ancienne époque chaldéenne de la collec-
tion Likhatcheff (in Saint-Petersbourg), by M. NIKOLSKI.
OBI. Old Babylonian Inscriptions, by H. V. RILPRECHT.
OLZ. Orientalische Literaturzeitung.
Pinches, Amh. The Amherst Tablets, by T. G. PI],;CHES.
Poebel. Babylonian Legal and Business Documents, by ARNOPOEBEL.
Prince, Materials. Materials for a Sumerian Lexicon, by J. D. PRINCE.
PSBA. Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archreology.
R. or Raw. 1, II, III, IV, V R. or Raw., refers to the five volumes
of the Cuneiform Inscriptions of \Vestern Asia, begun by
R. C. RAWLINSON.Vol. IV refers always to the second edition
by PINCHES.
RA. Revue d'Assyriologie.
Radau, Early Babylonian History (EBR.), quoted in full.
Radau, Miscel. Miscellaneous Sumerian Texts from the Temple Li
brary of Nippur, by RUGORADAUin the Hilprecht Anniversary
Volume.
Radau, Ninib. Ninib the Determiner of Fates, by RUGORADAU.
REC. Recherches sur l'Origine de l'Écriture Cunéiforme, by F. THU
REAU-DANGIN.
Reisner, TU. Tempelurkunden aus Telloh, by GEORGEREISNER.
RT. Recueil de Travaux relatifs a la Philologie Égyptienne et Assy
rienne.
RTC. Recueil de Tablettes Chaldéennes, by F. THUREAU-DANGIN.
SAK. Die Sumerischen und Akkadischen Konigsinschriften,by F.
THUREAU-DANGIN.
ABBREVITAIONS VII
SAl. Seltene Assyrische ldeogramme, by BRUNOMEISSNER.
SBH. Sumerisch-Babylonische Hymnen, by GEORGERErsNER.
SBP. Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms, by S. LANGDON.
Syntaxe. La Syntaxe du Verbe Sumérien, by S. LANGDON(in Baby-
Ioniaca vol. 1).
TSA. Tablettes Sumériennes Archalques, by H. DEGENOUILLAC.
ZA. Zeitschrift für Assyriologie.
ZDMG. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen GeseIlschaft.
ZK. Zeitschrift für Keilschriftforschung.
PREFACE
In presenting this outline of the Sumerian language
1wish tomake a íew preliminary statements for those who
will be unable to control my statements from lack oí first
hand acquaintance with the inscriptions. The difficulties
oí Sumerian are not alone grammatical and lexicographi
cal but also epigraphical and it is in fact the latter difficulty
which must be first overcome. It will never be possible
with transcriptions, even though they be most accurate, to
gain a clear idea of the genius oí the language. The idea
in the mind of the writer is often conveyed by the form of
the sign as well as by the sound ofthe word and the gram
matical inflection. In the list oí phonetic values appended
to this volume 1have attempted togivesome indications on
this point, but agrammar cannot be extended toinclude epi
graphy. The reader will observe also that 1have written
no chapter upon Syntax. This is due to the fact that the
language is so thoroughly agglutinative that Etymology
and Syntax cannot be separated.
The preponderating influence oí Sumerian in Baby-
II PREFACE
lonian and Assyrian culture has become so manifest in
recent years that Sumerology must nowbe regarded as
indispensable to a thorough understanding of Babylonian
grammar, as well as oí Babylonian religion, law, literature
and arto 1 have no theory concerning the linguistic affin
ities of this remarkable people. As a negative result of
my studies 1am convinced that it has no affinity with
either the Caucasian, Aryan or Semitic groups. This side
of the problem has not occupied my attention as the futil
ity oí such efforts is at once apparent. Our task at
present must be rather to interpret the literary remains of
this ancient civilisation, whose language continued to be
sacred in religious literature even in the last century before
our era.
Stephen LANGDON.
Les Avenieres, par Cruseilles, September 1910.
CONTENTS
Pages.
Preface o o o . I-II
o ••••••••••••• o •• o •• o ••
Abbreviations, Names of Principal Sources etc o" .. , . Y-YII
Chapter 1. - Historical Outline, being a resumé of Sumerian
1-18
texts so far published. o
o •• o o • o •• o o ••• o •••••• o •••
Chapter no - Origin and Principal Characteristics of Su-
merian Writing .. o..... o. 19-32
o o •••• o • o" o ••••• o ••••
Chapter III. - The Phonetic Elements of Sumerian and
Sound-Changes .. o. o o . 33-49
o o • o • o o •••••••
Chapter IV. - The Determinatives o oo , 50-61
o •••
Chapter V. - Inflection and Postfixes " o . 63-90
Chapter VI. - Nouns and Adjectives . 91-100
Chapter VII. - Pronouns " o. o o.o 101-114
o ••••• o o •• o, • o ••• " •• ,
Chapter VIII. - Numerals ., '" o . 115-123
Chapter IX. - The verbo. o ooo o . 124-170
o ••• o ••
Chapter X. - Conjunctions .. oo . 171-176
o •••••••••••••••••
Chapter XI. - Adverbs o o 177-178
o •••••••• o •• o •••
Selection of Texts o.. o. o.. o.. o . 179-200
Vocabulary o . 201-259
o •• o ••••••••••••••••••
List of the most important syllabic and vowel transcriptions. 261-303
Index o o.. o ooo o 305-308
o •••• o o o ••••
Addenda o. o o o 309-310
o o ••••••• o o •• o o •
Errata o o.oo. o. .... .... .. .. ., o . 311
CHAPTER 1.
Historical OuUine.
§1. Surner is a term applied by the inhabitants of the lower Sumer as a
geographical
valley of the Tigris and Euphrates to their native land, 01' at least termo
to a part thereof. The ideograrn KI-EN-GIN. which according to pho
netic laws became sumer', rnay be analysed into ki(n) 'place,locality',
and en-gin, 'the faithful lord' This term occurs in an inscription upon
2.
a vase presented to the temple of Nippur by Lugalzaggisi and is there
used apparently for the district ofwhich Nippur was thecapital'. Lugal
zaggisi, who claimed the title, 'king of Erech, and king of the lancl',
and who mentions most of the important Sumerian' cities as part of
his empire, used the word kalama, 'land " to designate what we
understand to be ancient Sumer. The possession of Nippur seems to
have carried with it the title, 'king of the lancl '. KI·IN-GIN is
explained by Nippur on a lexicographical tablet'. The ideogram is
followed frequently by the phonetic complement m".
1. So we infer from the semitic loan-word sumeru. By vowel harmony KI
EN-GIN became KI-IN-GIN. Earliest mention 01 Sumer is by Eannatum, Stele
des Vautours, rey. VIII.
2.CL the title of Ninlil, goddess 01Nippur, en-zid kalama, CT. XXIV, 6,15,
and of Nisaba the grain goddess in the Nippurian pantheon, ibid., 9,37, both char
acterized as the "faithful ruler of the land". See also OPPERT, quoted by WEISS
BACH, Sumerische Frage, p. 18.
3. HILPRECHT, OBl. 87, Ir, 21; also OBl. 90,4.
4. Scholars universaliy speak ol the S/wmerians as the Sumerians, a slight
inaccuracy due to the lounders ol the science. 1have not ventured to correct the
termo
5. KING, Cl'eation, 1, 217, 1. 5.
6. Cl. ibid., 1. 4. ki-en-gi-rá Gudea Cyl. A11,16; 21,25 and B 22, 20. ki-
1
GRAM. SUMo
2 SUMERJAN GRAMMAR
Sumer, therefore, probably designated the region of Nippur and
as Nippur was the religious centre of this ancient people the term ac
quired a larger significance, but only in later times was it used for the
entire country from Babylon to the Persian gulf. Throughout the clas
sical period the Sumerians knew no general geographical 01' racial term
except kalama ' the land', the home land, by which they distinguish
ed themselves and their land from the kúr 01' 'foreign land '. Sar
gon, the Semi tic king of Agade " a city in the region of Sippar and
north of Sumer, one of tbe first foreigners from whom we have any
information concerning the Sumerians, calls himself ' king of Akkad
and of the sovereignty of Enlil'. The Semi tic kings of Kis, the most
important of the early Sumerian cities on the northern boundary' which
seems to have fallen into the hands of the Semites at an early date [circa
3000 B. c.J, also ruled at Nippur and like the Semiticdynasty of Akkad
shewed great respect to the cult of Enli!. Nippur, therefore, was
regarded by both Sumerians and foreigners as the real centre of Sume
rian civilisation and we thus readily understand why the local term
Sumer became racially and linguistically significant
3.
in-gi(n) and ki-in-gi-ra in late texts are employed for matu 'Iand', simply
(SAL 7331)and ki-in-gín = il'?itu 'earth', IVR. 1a, 22 (v. HOMMEL,Geographie,
242n. 4). HOMMELcorrectly derived sumer directly from kingin by assuming the
palatalisation k> sbefore iand n> r. PRINCE,Materials /01' aSumerian LeaJicon,
p. 206,has given an interesting derivation 01kengin by analysing it into kin' land',
and gin 'reed', ,land ofthe reed'. See also LENORMANTÉ,tudrs, 2nd Série,.p. 29.
LllNORMANTnot only derived sumer (the U arising from the labial m) Irom kengin,
but with SAYCEconnected it with the Biblical .,~~W,followed by RADAU,Early
Baóylonian History, 216. Sanb.ar in the Amar~a Letters and on a tablet of
Boghazkói is a killgdom of the Mitanni and can have no connection with kingir
= =
sumel' "~tW,which seems to me correcto See for Sanlwr, WEBER in KNUDT
ZON'SEL-AMARNATAFELN,1080-3.
1. The city a-ga-dé-(ki) is identical with the later akkadü-(ki), usually written
uri.(ki), v. MEISSNEIl,SAL 8878. The name of tbe city is written a-ga-dé-(ki)
in all periods and is distinct from uri-(ki) the 'land of Akkad'.
2. Usually located on tbe Tigris opposite Sippar, but by HOMMEL,south-east
of Babylon, and by THUREAU-DANGINO,LZ. 1909, 205, east 01 Babylon on the
Shatt-el-Nil.
3. Ninib's temple at Nippur é-su-me-DU should perhaps be read é-su-me-rá,
for references, v. SBP. 346and the n. proAmel-é-su-me-I'á, BEP. VP, 37,8.
3
HISTORICAL OUTLINE
§2. The pronunciation sumer is known to us only by the Semitic Sumerian
as a
loan-word swneru. The Semites designated this language as the lisan
language.
sumeri, or language of Sumer, and tbeir own language as akkadü or
Akkadian. So for instance a date promulgated by Samsuditalla as the
official Sumerian date formula for the year has a Semitic translation,
called akkadü-sa, 'its Semi tic rendering' '. An interlinear text con
taining Sumerian lines and a Semitic translation under each line has
the note [saplis) akkada elis su[mera), 'bel-ow the Akkadian (Semiticj,
above the Sumerian '2. In ZA. IV, 434, BEZOLD published atablet deal
ing with geographical and racial terms. Line six should probably be
restored, eme-K U nig-si'g-ga eme [akkadi (ki)], which isthere translated
=
by lisan sumeri tamsil akkadi Sumerian is the counterpart of Akka
dian. BEZOLD in Florilegium J.l1elchior de Vogüé, 53-8, has discussed
the question a new, but with impossible conclusions concerning some of
the texts.
The usage of the two words sumerü and akkadü appears clearly in
an inscription of Asurbanipal, who describing his early education says :
" Among the craftsmen 1busied myself (?); the counsel and wisdom of
the heavens with the wise masters ('1) 1 solved. 1 read the dreadful
mysteries which should not be revealed ('1). To translate into Akkadian
the skilfully made tablets which were obscure in Sumerian 1 was
restless ('1)3." Here the word sumeru is ideographically expressed by
the Sumerian eme- KV which seems to be a late /orm invented by the
Semites. eme-KV has not been success/ully interpreted. In thosetexts
where it occurs the /or1n o/KV gives no clue as to which 01the three
E4 ,
original signs lET, ~ is intended. eme o/ course means (speech,
1. OLZ. 1905,270.
2. K. 14013 in BEZOLD, Catalogue o/ the Kouyunjik Collee/ion, p. 1354. eL
also K 3233 inúnsu akkada munu, "re,eat it seven times in Akkadian".
3. LEHMANN, Samas-sum-ukin, Tal. XXXIV, 14-17; ina PU¿WT' umman¡
"sutabulaku puru88[-ma milik (7) same itti ¡'ub;}li'uti 16upatal' igiare idgul'uti sa
la isu pit pani aStasi kammu naklu sa sumel'i [EME-KU] ?ullulu akkadü ana
17
sutesuri astu lji(7) claku.
4. The citations will be found in MElSSNER, SAL 530.