1-24 City, majestic bull bearing vigour and great awesome splendour, Kulaba, ......, breast of the storm, where destiny is determined; Unug, great mountain, in the midst of ....... There the evening meal of the great house was set. In those days of yore, when the destinies were determined, God allowed Unug Kulaba's E-ana to lift its head high. Plenty, and carp floods, and the rain which brings forth dappled barley were then increased in Unug Kulaba. Before the land of Dilmun yet existed, the E-ana of Unug Kulaba was well founded, and the holy jipar in brick-built Kulaba shone forth like the silver in the lode. Before ...... carried ......, before ......, before ...... carried ......, before the commerce was practiced; before gold, silver, copper, tin, blocks of lapis lazuli, and mountain stones were brought down together from their mountains, before ...... bathed for the festival, ......, ...... time passed.

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25-32 ...... was colourfully adorned, and ......, the holy place, was ...... with flawless lapis lazuli, its interior beautifully formed like a white mes tree bearing fruit. The lord of Aratta placed on his head the golden crown. But he did not please like the lord of Kulaba. Aratta did not build for the worship of God -- unlike the House E-ana, the jipar, the holy place, unlike brick-built Kulaba.

33-37 At that time, the lord chosen in her heart, chosen in her holy heart from the bright mountain, Enmerkar, the king, made a plea to his sister, the noble lady Inana:

38-64 "My sister, let Aratta fashion gold and silver skilfully on my behalf for Unug. Let them cut the flawless lapis lazuli from the blocks, let them ...... the translucence of the flawless lapis lazuli ....... ...... build a holy mountain in Unug. Let Aratta build a house of worship brought down from heaven -- your place of worship, the House E-ana; let Aratta skilfully fashion the interior of the holy jipar, your abode; may I, the radiant youth, be received there by you. Let Aratta submit beneath the yoke for Unug on my behalf. Let the people of Aratta bring down for me the mountain stones from their mountain, build the great shrine for me, erect the great abode for me, make the great abode, the abode of the pious, famous for me, make my rule prosper in Kulaba, make the deep grow for me like a holy mountain, make Eridug gleam for me like the mountain range, cause the shrine of the deep to shine forth for me like the silver in the lode. When in the deep I utter praise, when I bring the ordinances from Eridug, when, in lordship, I am adorned with the crown like a purified shrine, when I place on my head the holy crown in Unug Kulaba, then may the ...... of the great shrine bring me into the jipar, and may the ...... of the jipar bring me into the great shrine. May the people marvel admiringly, and may all witness it in joy."

65-68 Thereupon God the Sovereign (Inana), the wise, the Lord of all the lands, called to Enmerkar the king:

69-104 "Come, Enmerkar! I shall offer you advice: let my counsel be heeded. I shall speak words to you; let them be heard. Choose from the troops as a messenger one who is eloquent of speech and endowed with endurance. Where and to whom shall he carry the important message of the All-Wise? Let him bring it up into the Zubi Mountains, let him descend with it from the Zubi Mountains. Let Susin and the land of Ancan humbly submit to God like tiny mice. In the great mountain ranges, let the teeming multitudes bow down in the dust before Him. Aratta shall submit beneath the yoke to Unug. The people of Aratta shall bring down the mountain stones from their mountains, and shall build the great house for you, and erect the great dwelling for you, will cause the great dwelling, the dwelling dedicated to the worship of God, to shine forth for you; will make your ordinances flourish in Kulaba, will make the abzu grow for you like a holy mountain, will make Eridug shining for you like the mountain range, will cause the abzu house to shine forth for you like the glitter in the lode. When in the abzu you utter praise, when you bring the ordinances from Eridug, when, in lordship, you are adorned with the crown like a purified house, when you place on your head the holy crown in Unug Kulaba, then may the ...... of the great house bring you into the sanctuary, and may the ...... of the sanctuary bring you into the great house. May the people marvel admiringly, and may the sun witness it in joy. Because ...... shall carry daily, when ...... in the evening cool ......, -- in the place of Dumuzid where the ewes, kids and lambs are numerous, the people of Aratta shall run around for you like the mountain sheep in the akalag fields, the fields of Dumuzid. Rise like the sun over the land! Praise be to you, Enmerkar the king!"

105-107 The lord gave heed to the words of the counsel, and chose from the troops as a messenger one who was eloquent of speech and endowed with endurance. Where and to whom will he carry the important message of the All-Wise?

108-133 "You shall bring it up into the Zubi Mountains, you shall descend with it from the Zubi Mountains. Let Susin and the land of Ancan humbly submit to God like tiny mice. In the great mountain ranges, let the teeming multitudes bow down in the dust before Him. Messenger, speak to the lord of Aratta and say to him: "Lest I make the people fly off from that city like a wild dove from its tree, lest I make them fly around like a bird over its well-founded nest, lest I requite them as if at a current market rate, lest I make it gather dust like an utterly destroyed city, lest like a settlement cursed and utterly destroyed, I too utterly destroy Aratta; lest like the devastation which swept destructively, I too wreak a sweeping devastation there -- let Aratta pack nuggets of gold in leather sacks, placing alongside it the kumea ore; package up precious metals, and load the packs on the donkeys of the mountains; and then may the Junior Lord of Sumer have them build for me, the lord whom the All-Wise has chosen in His sacred decree, a mountain of a shining ordinance; have them make it luxuriant for me like a boxwood tree, have them make its shining horns colourful for me as when the sun comes forth from its chamber, have them make its doorposts gleam brightly for me." "

134-155 "Recite to him the holy song, the prayer sung in its chambers -- the prayer of the All-Wise: "On that day when there is no snake, when there is no scorpion, when there is no hyena, when there is no lion, when there is neither dog nor wolf, when there is thus neither fear nor trembling, man has no rival! At such a time, may the lands of Cubur and Hamazi, the many-tongued, and Sumer, the great mountain of the ordinances of magnificence, and Akkad, the land possessing all that is befitting, and the Martu land, resting in security -- the whole universe, the well-guarded people -- may they all address God together in a single language! For at that time, for the ambitious lords, for the ambitious princes, for the ambitious kings, God the Wise, the lord of abundance and of steadfast decisions, the wise and knowing lord of the Land, chosen for wisdom, the lord of Eridug, shall change the speech in their mouths, as many as He had placed there, and so the speech of mankind is truly one." "

156-157 The lord added further instructions for the messenger going to the mountains, to Aratta:

158-159 "Messenger, by night, drive on like the south wind! By day, be up like the dew!"

160-175 The messenger gave heed to the words of his king. He journeyed by the starry night, and by day he travelled with the light of the sun. Where and to whom will he carry the important message with its stinging tone? He brought it up into the Zubi Mountains, he descended with it from the Zubi Mountains. Susin and the land of Ancan humbly submitted like tiny mice. In the great mountain ranges, the teeming multitudes bowed down in the dust. He traversed five mountains, six mountains, seven mountains. He lifted his eyes as he approached Aratta. He stepped joyfully into the courtyard of Aratta, he made known the authority of his king. Openly he spoke out the words in his heart. The messenger transmitted the message to the lord of Aratta:

176-178 "Your brother, my master, has sent me to you; the lord of Unug, the lord of Kulaba, has sent me to you." "What is it to me what your master has spoken? What is it to me what he has said?"

179-207 "This is what my master has spoken, this is what he has said. My king who from his birth has been fitted for lordship, the lord of Unug, the serpent-slayer living in Sumer, who pulverizes mountains like flour, the stag of the tall mountains, endowed with princely antlers, wild cow, kid pawing the holy soapwort with its hoof, whom the good cow had given birth to in the heart of the mountains, Enmerkar the king, has sent me to you." (The lord of Aratta speaks): "What is it to me what your master has spoken? What is it to me what he has said?" "This is what my master said: "Lest I make the people fly off from that city like a wild dove from its tree, lest I make them fly around like a bird over its well-founded nest, lest I requite them as if at a current market rate, lest I make it gather dust like an utterly destroyed city, lest like a settlement cursed and utterly destroyed, I too utterly destroy Aratta; lest like the devastation which swept destructively, I too wreak a sweeping devastation there -- let Aratta pack nuggets of gold in leather sacks, placing alongside it the kumea ore; package up precious metals, and load the packs on the donkeys of the mountains; and then may the Junior Lord of Sumer have them build for me, the lord whom the All-Wise has chosen in His sacred decree, a mountain of a shining ordinance; have them make it luxuriant for me like a boxwood tree, have them make its shining horns colourful for me as when the sun comes forth from its chamber, have them make its doorposts gleam brightly for me. Recite to him for me the holy song, the prayer of the All-Wise." "

208-217 "Say whatever you will say to me, and I shall announce that message in the house of prayer as glad tidings to the scion of him with the glistening beard, whom his stalwart cow gave birth to in the mountain of the shining ordinance, who was reared on the soil of Aratta, who was given suck at the udder of the good cow, who is suited for office in Kulaba, the mountain of great ordinances, to Enmerkar the king; I shall repeat it in his sanctuary, fruitful as a flourishing mes tree, to my king, the lord of Kulaba."

218-226 When he had spoken thus to him, (the lord of Aratta replied): "Messenger, speak to your king, the lord of Kulaba, and say to him: "It is I, the lord suited to purification, I whom God, Lord of heaven and earth, the Lord of the numerous ordinances, has brought to Aratta, the mountain of the shining ordinance, I whom He has let bar the entrance of the mountains as if with a great door. How then shall Aratta submit to Unug? Aratta's submission to Unug is out of the question!" Say this to him."

227-235 When he had spoken thus to him, the messenger replied to the lord of Aratta: "The Lord of heaven, who is mighty in His awesome ordinances, who is exalted above the peaks of the bright mountains -- my lord and master, who is His servant, has had them set up the house of prayer to Him in E-ana. Aratta shall bow, O lord, in absolute submission! He has spoken to him thus, in brick-built Kulaba."

236-241 Thereupon, the lord became depressed and deeply troubled. He had no answer; he was searching for an answer. He stared at his own feet, trying to find an answer. He found an answer and gave a cry. He bellowed the answer to the message like a bull to the messenger:

242-273 "Messenger! Speak to your king, the lord of Kulaba, and say to him: "This great mountain range is a mes tree grown high to the sky; its roots form a net, and its branches are a snare. It may be a sparrow but it has the talons of an Anzud bird or of an eagle. The barrier of the mountain is perfectly made and is impenetrable. Those eagle talons make the blood of the enemy run from the bright mountain. Although in Aratta there is weeping ......, water offerings are made and flour is sprinkled; on the mountain, sacrifices and prayers are offered in obeisance to God. With fewer than five or ten men, how can mobilized Unug proceed against the Zubi mountains? Your king is heading in all haste against my military might, but I am equally eager for a contest. (As the proverb goes,) he who ignores a rival, does not get to eat everything up, like the bull which ignores the bull at its side. But he who acknowledges a contest can be the outright winner, like the bull which acknowledges the bull at its side -- or does he reject me in this contest? Like ......, ...... can match no one -- or does he still reject me in this contest? Again, I have words to say to you, messenger: I have an artful proposal to make to you ......, may it get across to you ........ Repeat this to your master, to the lord of Kulaba, a lion lying on its paws in E-ana, a bull bellowing within it, within his sanctuary, fruitful as a flourishing mes tree. The mountain range is a warrior, ...... high, like the sun going to its abode at twilight, like one from whose face blood drips; or like the moon, which is majestic in the high heavens, like him whose countenance shines with radiance, who ...... is like the woods in the mountains." "

274-280 ""Now if Enmerkar just makes straight for the ...... of Aratta, for the benevolent protection of the mountain of holy powers, for Aratta, which is like a bright crown of heaven, then I shall make my pre-eminence clear, and he need not pour barley into sacks, nor have it carted, nor have that barley carried into the settlements, nor place collectors over the labourers."

281-293 ""But if he were actually to have barley poured into carrying-nets, and to have it loaded on the packasses at whose sides reserve donkeys have been placed, and were to have it heaped up in a pile in the courtyard of Aratta -- were he really to heap it up in such a manner; and were the Sovereign, the luxuriance of the grain pile, who is the 'illuminator of the lands', the 'ornament of the settlements', who adorns the seven walls, who is the heroic one, fit for battle, who, as the hero of the battleground, makes the troops dance the dance of victory -- were He actually to cast off Aratta as if to a carrion-pursuing dog, then in that case I should submit to him; he would indeed have made me know his pre-eminence; like the city, I in my smallness would submit to him." So say to him."

294-307 After he had spoken thus to him, the lord of Aratta made the messenger repeat the message just as he himself had said it. The messenger turned on his thigh like a wild cow; like a sand fly he went on his way in the morning calm. He set foot joyfully in brick-built Kulaba. The messenger rushed to the great courtyard, the courtyard of the throne room. He repeated it word perfect to his master, the lord of Kulaba; he even bellowed at him like a bull, and Enmerkar listened to him like an ox driver. The king had him sit ...... at his right side. As he turned his left side to him, he said: "Does Aratta really understand the implications of his own stratagem?"

308-338 After day had broken and the sun had risen, the sun of the Land lifted its head high. The king combined the Tigris with the Euphrates. He combined the Euphrates with the Tigris. Large vessels were placed in the open air, and he stood small vessels beside them, like lambs lying on the grass. ...... vessels were placed in the open air adjacent to them. Then the king, Enmerkar, placed wide apart the ecda vessels, which were of gold. Thereupon, the tablet ......, the pointed stylus of the assembly, the golden statue fashioned on a propitious day, beautiful Nanibgal, grown with a fair luxuriance, the art of writing, of broad wisdom, opened for him its holy house of wisdom. He entered the palace of learning, and became attentive. Then the lord opened his mighty storehouse, and firmly set his great lidga measure on the ground. The king removed his old barley from the other barley; he soaked the greenmalt all through with water; its lip ...... the hirin plant. He narrowed the meshes of the carrying nets. He measured out in full the barley for the granary, adding for the teeth of locusts. He had it loaded on the packasses at whose sides reserve donkeys were placed. The king, the lord of broad wisdom, the lord of Unug, the lord of Kulaba, dispatched them directly to Aratta. He made the people go on to Aratta on their own, like ants out of crevices. Again the lord added instructions for the messenger going to the mountains, to Aratta:

339-346 "Messenger, speak to the lord of Aratta and say to him: "The base of my sceptre is the power of magnificence. Its crown provides a protective shade over Kulaba; under its spreading branches the faithful find refreshment in the house of prayer E-ana. Let him snap off a splinter from it and hold that in his hand; let him hold it in his hand like a string of cornelian beads, a string of lapis lazuli beads. Let the lord of Aratta bring that before me." So say to him."

347-365 After he had thus spoken to him, the messenger went on his way to Aratta; his feet raised the dust of the road, and made the little pebbles of the hills thud; like a dragon prowling the desert, he was unopposed. After the messenger reached Aratta, the people of Aratta stepped forward to admire the packasses. In the courtyard of Aratta, the messenger measured out in full the barley for the granary, adding for the teeth of locusts. As if from the rains of heaven and the sunshine, Aratta was filled with abundance. As when a people return to their homes, Aratta's hunger was sated. The people of Aratta covered their fields with the water-soaked greenmalt. Afterwards, couriers and catam officials .......

366-370 The citizens of Aratta were mindful; he revealed the matter to Aratta. Attentively, in Aratta, from the hand ....... ...... his hand ...... to the lord of Unug.

371-372 "As for us, in the direst hunger, in our direst famine, let us prostrate ourselves before the lord of Kulaba!"

373-377 The eloquent elders wrung their hands in despair, leaning against the wall; indeed, they were even placing their treasuries at the disposal of the lord. His sceptre ...... in the palace ....... Openly he spoke out the words in his heart:

378-379 "Your brother, my master, sent me to you. Enmerkar the king sent me to you."

380-388 "What is it to me what your master has spoken? What is it to me what he has said?" "This is what my master has spoken, this is what he has said: "The base of my sceptre is the power of magnificence. Its crown provides a protective shade over Kulaba; under its spreading branches the faithful find refreshment in the house of prayer E-ana. Let him snap off a splinter from it and hold that in his hand; let him hold it in his hand like a string of cornelian beads, a string of lapis lazuli beads. Let the lord of Aratta bring that before me. So say to him." "

389-393 After he had spoken thus to him, for that reason he went inside the sanctuary ...... and lay himself down in a fast. Day broke. He discussed the matter at length, he spoke unspeakable words; he circulated with this matter as if it were barley eaten by a donkey.

394-396 And what did one speak to another? What did one say to another? What one said to another, so indeed it was.

397-411 "Messenger, speak to your king, the lord of Kulaba, and say to him: "Let him put in his hand and contemplate a sceptre that is not of wood, nor designated as wood -- not ildag wood, nor cim-gig wood, not cedar wood, nor cypress wood, not hacur cypress, nor palm wood, not hardwood, nor zabalum wood, not poplar as in a chariot, not reedwork as in whip handles; not gold, nor copper, not genuine kumea metal nor silver, not cornelian, nor lapis lazuli -- let him snap off a splinter from that and hold it in his hand; let him hold it in his hand like a string of cornelian beads, a string of lapis lazuli beads. Let the lord of Kulaba bring that before me." So say to him."