A reading, published with its checks still open. A Vigslist translation.
Until When Is It Not Calmed? — an Emesal goddess roll-call. A roll-call of goddesses; the cleanest record of its wave — copy only.
Published as a reading. No first-translation claim is made for this piece. The checks that would settle such a claim are named in the notes below and are still open; the wording on this page claims nothing they have not settled.
A2's list: copy only (CT 58, pl. 43 no. 37), no edition, no discussion, zero uncurated references. The composition is an Emesal lament built on one question — "until when is it not calmed?" — asked over the lady's wrath, and its reverse is a roll-call of goddess names, among them Dumuzi-abzu. The composition-level door is Cohen's CLAM contents, as with every Emesal piece on this desk; the witness reading stands on its own either way.**
Built 2026-10-22 from Wave A1's live eBL fetch (saved in ).
Part of one tablet: BM.87520, Sippar collection, British Museum, Old Babylonian script, two columns of inscription. Genres on the record: Literature → Lamentations. CDLI number on the record: P274232. The text is Emesal Sumerian (S below). No photograph on the record.
The obverse is a goddess angry at her own house, and the singer's one question, asked until it becomes the rhythm of the piece: Lady of the house, your wrath — until when is it not calmed? Then the tablet turns, and the reverse answers wrath with names — the cult's roll-call of the lady in her forms: the princess Lama, the mother Gašan-ninmar, the princess Dumuzi-abzu, the balaĝ-drum's goddess, the princess Da-gal. A lament that ends by naming her, form after form, is doing the stilling work the question asks for.
Transliteration exactly as the record serves it; S = Emesal Sumerian. Counts: 31 line-units — 0 whole, 9 part, 22 fragments, 0 invented (obverse 22, reverse 9).
Dragon scan (standing order): no ušumgal, muš-serpent, mušḫuššu or bašmu stands on this witness. Dumuzi-abzu is named on the reverse (line 5′) — a goddess of the marshes in Dumuzi's circle, flagged here by name as the roll-call's most notable entry; the name carries abzu, the deep waters, not a serpent word.
1′–3′. [x (x)] x u₃ [...] · [ga-š]a-an e₂ x x [...] · ($___$) en₃-še₃ nu-te-en x [...]
Traces, then the question's tail: "Lady of the house [...] — until when is it not calmed?" (Fragments — te-en, "to be calmed/extinguished," is the refrain word.)
4′. ga!(TA)-ša-an e₂-e# ib₂-ba-za mir-e# [x x x]
"Lady — your wrath against the house, in anger [...]" (Part.)
5′. u₃ ib₂-ba-za u₃ su#-mu-ug-ga-za en₃-še₃ n[u-te?-en?]
"And your wrath, and your darkening — until when are they not calmed?" (Part.)
6′. a gu₃!?(SAG) gi₆-a mu-e#-ni-de₂-de₂-a-zu en₃-še₃# [(...)]
"[...] the cry you pour out in the night — until when [...]" (Fragment — the verb de₂, "to pour," stands; the line's head is the record's query.)
7′. [g]a-ša-an ib₂-ba-ni sag-še₃ dul-dul-ni ku-ku-r[u (x)]
"The lady — she covers her wrath down over (her) head [...]" (Part, flagged — dul, "to cover," stands.)
8′. gu₂ ki ma-al-ma-al i₃-su₈-su₈-g[e!?-eš]
"They set neck to ground, again and again." (Part — the record's own note gives the standard-orthography parallel: gu₂ ki mar-mar-ra i₃-su₈-su₈-ge-eš.)
9′–10′. mu-lu al-tuš gu₂# ki i₃-ma-a[l?] · al-tuš x.a bulug-bulug-ge-[x]
"The man who sits — sets his neck to the ground"; "sitting [...] they divide [...]" (Fragments.)
11′–22′. [x x x] ma-an-gi₄ ur₅ nu-mu-un-te-en-n[a?] · [x x x]-e & šu ba#-an-m[ar?] · [x x x]-e?# & šu ba-an-ma[r?] · [x x x x] u₈?# ni du [x] · [x x x (x)] ni du x · [x x x x]-ke₄# er₂-re# a-gin₇ ba-ni-[x] · [x x x x gu₃?] mu-un-de₂ gu₃ gig x [x] · [x x x x x] x bu#-uš mu-lu nam-mu-x [(x)] · [x x x x] x lu₂ nam-mu-un-x [(x)] · [x x x x x] lu₂ nam-mu-un-x [(x)] · [x x x x x] x lu₂ nam-mu-un-[x (x)] · [x x x x x] x x [x x x (x)]
The lament's wreckage — "he answered me; thus it is not calmed," a hand set down twice, weeping "like water," a bitter cry poured out, and the closing run of "the man shall not [...]" lines. (Fragments.)
1′–2′. [x x x] ga#-ša#-an# [...] · u₃#-ma ki mar x x [...]
"Lady [...]" — traces. (Fragments.)
3′. egi₂ {d}lama# e₂ ša₃?#-b[a?-še₃ ...]
"Princess Lama — to the midst of the house [...]" (Part.)
4′. ama ga-ša-an-ni₉-ma[r{ki} ...]
"Mother Gašan-ninmar [...]" (Part.)
5′. egi₂ {d}dumu-zi-abz[u ...]
"Princess Dumuzi-abzu [...]" (Part — the name stands whole; see the dragon scan note.)
6′. balag {d}sag-šu-nu-b[a ...]
"The balaĝ-drum of (the goddess) Sag-šu-nu-ba[...] [...]" (Fragment — a divine name in the drum's genitive; the name itself is broken.)
7′. egi₂ {d}da gal x [...]
"Princess Da-gal [...]" (Part.)
8′–9′. li#-bi-ir {d}ig-x [...] · x mu# an# ur# ni?# [...]
"Libir (the old one) [...]" and traces close the tablet. (Fragments.)
Door on the face as stated in the header (Cohen CLAM contents for the composition). 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
More antiquities research: Antiquities Research