The 10 Sons of Lugalbanda (?)

[hukkana]

I've been going through the An Anum again and at the very beginning of Tablet 5, you have a series of 10 Gods ending with the phrase "10 am3 dumu-[meš] [d.lugal-ban3-da]". The gods are as follows

TUR2 X SAL(ši-la)-kur
u4-nam-edin-na
ŠEŠ-AN-tur
numun-ab2-šar2-ra
udud-nam-gi6 (gi)-me-mu)
e-rib
nunuz-ab2-ba
en-menme-en-nun-si-na
[x]-te-nun-si-na
MES-GAR-X°x°-ra

Now I don't know the language, as you all know I'm at a bit of a disadvantage because of that, but I do know from experience that "dumu" means "son"/child. I've never seen any mention of a person other than Gilgamesh being called a son of Lugalbanda.

[us4-he2-gal2]

Hukannu:



Yes interesting, I love the godlists they really are an exceptional view into Mesopotamian theological thinking. Firstly, I refer to Litke and his 1998 book on the god list AN:Anum to gain more perspective. The entry you cite, which Lugalbanda and his family, fits with the general structure of this godlist as desribed by Litke on pg. 6:


"As each name appears in the list, it is followed by whatever alternate names that deity may have possessed. Usually, the name of the spouse of the god is given next; and after this, a list is given of any sons or daughters or servants the god may have had."



Further confirmation comes with Litke's note to line 4 which reads "...The list of "the 10 sons of Lugalbanda" begins with this line." In line 14 yes it reads: 10 am3 dumu.[meš] [lugal.bàn.da] - this is 10 and what seems to be the 3rd copula am 'is,are,was,were' .. in classic Sumerian grammar, the am would come at the end of the the clause so perhaps: 10 dumu.meš lugalbanda.a(k).am : 'Are the 10 sons of Lugalbanda'. But this godlist is fairly late, and so the notion of Sumerian grammar is not perfect or authentic. The question becomes whether the notion of Sumerian theology is authentic or whether all 10 sons of Lugalbanda are assigned retrospectively to Lugalbanda. I think the best bet at this point may be to consult the Realexikon Assyriogique and see if any of these sons is attested in older literature.

[sheshki]

I´m looking through RIA 7 and 9 at the moment.

RIA 7/118 Die kanonische Serie beginnt mit dem Götterpaar die Taf. V, nennt 10 Kinder und dienstbare Gottheiten.
tablet V mentions ten children of Lugalbanda and Ninsun and subservient divinities

RIA 9/502 ...letzterer folgt auch in der jungen Version (Litke 1998, v 1-22) auf Lugalbanda, N., ihre 10 Kinder und ihren
Hofstaat.
... Ninsun, her ten children and court.

So maybe the names you have here are the names of said divinities/court and the "10 am₃ dumu" part is mentioning the fact that there were 10 children, but without names.

[hukkana]

Oct 19, 2016 11:52:14 GMT -5 sheshki said:

I´m looking through RIA 7 and 9 at the moment.

RIA 7/118 Die kanonische Serie beginnt mit dem Götterpaar die Taf. V, nennt 10 Kinder und dienstbare Gottheiten.
tablet V mentions ten children of Lugalbanda and Ninsun and subservient divinities

RIA 9/502 ...letzterer folgt auch in der jungen Version (Litke 1998, v 1-22) auf Lugalbanda, N., ihre 10 Kinder und ihren
Hofstaat.
... Ninsun, her ten children and court.

So maybe the names you have here are the names of said divinities/court and the "10 am₃ dumu" part is mentioning the fact that there were 10 children, but without names.

I'd think not because right after mentioning the ten, after a series of ten names, it mentions Lugal-Hegal as the Vizier of Lugalbanda and Lugal-Anna as the Vizier of Ninsun.

[hukkana]

So anyone have any possible interpretation about what any of these names could mean ?