First English translation. A Vigslist translation.
Seated on the Pure Dais — Eršahunga 77. Its refrain — “seated on the pure dais” — stands nine times.
First English translation. The edition of record is Stefan Maul, “Herzberuhigungsklagen” (1988), pp. 307–308 — Eršahunga 77 (German). No English translation of this text has been published before this page.
eršahunga pocket census (143 records) and THE SONGS collection on 2026-10-22: absent from both — genuinely new ground. Edition of record: Maul, ‘Herzberuhigungsklagen’ (1988), pp. 307–308, Ešh n77, copy Tf. 50 — German only, in scope, credited in full. What survives of this witness is a single refrain said ten times: the build below is exactly that, no more.**
Built 2026-10-22 from Wave A1's live eBL fetch (saved in ).
Part of one tablet: BM.99091, Kuyunjik collection, British Museum — "10 lines of inscription," Neo-Assyrian per the catalogue description (the record's script field says Neo-Babylonian; both printed). Genres: the record files it as "part of a text containing an incantation"; its edition makes it an eršahunga, a heart-stilling prayer. Photograph on the record. CDLI number on the record: P414394.
Ten lines, and the tablet spends nine of them on one phrase: seated on the pure dais. The first line gives the refrain its errand — "to the one seated on the pure dais, I will speak a lament, a heart-appeasing (prayer)" — and its Akkadian mate says it again in the empire's other language: "in the taqribtu-rite, let me speak a prayer to her." Then the refrain alone, line after line, the beginning of every line broken away in the same place, as if the tablet itself were rocking: seated on the pure dais; seated on the pure dais; seated on the pure dais. The goddess is never named on what survives — every line reaches for her by her seat, not her name. An eršahunga is sung to still a god's heart; this fragment is the sound of the singer not stopping.
Transliteration exactly as the record serves it; S = Emesal Sumerian. Counts: 10 line-units — 0 whole, 2 part, 8 fragments, 0 invented. The recurring restorations in brackets are the record's, from the refrain's own repetitions.
Dragon scan (standing order): no ušumgal, muš-serpent, mušḫuššu or bašmu stands on this witness.
1. [... bara₂ ku₃-ga tuš-a-ra ir₂-ra ša₃]-ne#-ša₄ ga-an-na-ab-du₁₁
"To the one seated on the pure dais, I will speak a lament, a heart-appeasing (prayer)." (Part — the line's head is restored from the refrain below; its tail, ga-an-na-ab-du₁₁, "I will speak to her," stands on the clay.)
2. [... ina taq-rib-t]i un-nin-ni lu-uq-bi-ši
"In the taqribtu-rite, let me speak a prayer to her." (Part — the Akkadian of the pair: unninnī, "my prayer," and luqbīši, "let me speak to her," stand.)
3–10. [... bar]a₂ ku₃-ga tuš-a-ra · [... bar]a₂ ku₃-ga tuš-a-ra · [... bara₂ k]u₃-ga tuš-a-ra · [... bara₂ k]u₃-ga tuš-a-ra · [... bara₂ k]u₃-ga tuš-a-ra · [... bara₂ k]u₃-ga tuš-a-ra · [... bara₂ k]u₃-ga tuš#-a#-ra#
"[...] seated on the pure dais." — said seven more times, each line broken at its head, the refrain's tail standing on every line. (Fragments — the repetitions are the text, not padding; an eršahunga refrain is written out, not abbreviated, on this tablet.)
No English door stands on this witness's record; Maul 1988 is German and is credited above as the edition of record. Release holds behind the triple-check and Richard's read. Branding on any future publication: a Vigslist translation.
Nuvira Technologies conducts this research with AI assistance, cross-verified against the primary sources to scholarly integrity standards. Uncertain readings are marked; broken lines are left broken.
— Richard Vigslist, Founder, Nuvira Technologies
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