First Quote Added
April 10, 2026
Latest Quote Added
"The Hymn to Nikkal is the oldest musical score that has yet been unearthed."
"The combination of rhythm and melody of the final cadence of the Hymn to Nikkal is compatible with the overall most frequent combined rhythm and accent cadence in Book 5 of the Rig Veda—the book of the Atri family."
"The Hymn to Nikkal was something that was performed and copied, perhaps many times. One could almost say that archaeologists unearthed here the top song of the Bronze Age hit parade."
"A man who does not value his god is thrown out in the desert; his body is not buried and his heir does not provide his ghost with drinking water through a libation pipe."
"Father, let me have the Bull of Heaven To kill Gilgamesh and his city. For if you do not grant me the Bull of Heaven, I will pull down the Gates of Hell itself, Crush the doorposts and flatten the door, And I will let the dead leave And let the dead roam the earth And they shall eat the living. The dead will overwhelm all the living!"
"Unable to stand up, unable to sit down, he laments. Unable to eat, unable to drink, he laments. Held fast by the door-bolt of Namtar, he is unable to rise."
"Cakkan, king of the mountain, embosses the king's emblems and puts his implements in order. He twists a giant rope against the great peaks of the rebel land."
"Beloved by his mother, he to whom Ninjirida gave birth from her luxurious body, who drank the good milk at her holy breast, who sucked in lion's spittle, who grew up in the abzu! August icib priest who holds the holy ecda vessels, checker of tablets, who secures justice!"
"Hero, lord of field and meadow, lion of the distant mountains! Ninjiczida, who brings together giant snakes and dragons! Great wild bull who, in the murderous battle, is a flood!"
"King, wild bull with tall limbs, who directs speech aright, and who hates wickedness! Mighty power, whom no one dare stop when he spreads confusion! Mighty Ninjiczida, whom no one dare stop when he spreads confusion!"
"The troops are constantly at your service. Shepherd, you understand how to keep a check on the black-headed. The sheep and lambs come to seek you out, and you understand how to wield the sceptre over the goats and kids, into the distant future. Ninjiczida, you understand how to wield the sceptre, into the distant future."
"You bring calming of the heart."
"The king who is the lord of broad understanding (i.e. Enki) has determined a good destiny for you on your elevated throne-dais; the god who loves justice (probably Utu) has spoken these favourable words: "Foremost one, leader of the assembly, [...] king endowed with awesomeness, sun of the masses, advancing in front of them! Who can rival you in the highest heaven? What can equal you?" Hero who, after surveying the battle, goes up to the high mountains! Ninjiczida, who, after surveying the battle, goes up to the high mountains! King, you who carry out commands in the great underworld, you who carry out the underworld's business! Any youth who has a personal god is at your disposal, there where your commands are issued. O king, honeyed mouth of the gods! Praise be to Enki. Ninjiczida, son of ! Praise be to father Enki."
"The man whose knees are paralysed has not prayed devoutly to Nintud."
"The shepherd, the expert of the Land (𒌦), the wise one of the countries, Ictaran, who decides lawsuits justly, who lives in the Land."
"[T]he child speaks to the mother who bore him in the great city with black looks and in anger, then the king who hates violence, Hendursaja, will treat such a person like water in a filthy place, and will reject that child for her sake as grain is rejected by acid soil."
"He who extends his staff of office, the one respected within the abzu, the lord who has no opposition in the terraced tower of Nance's house, the king, lord Hendursaja, promulgates the decrees of Nance's house. They are heavy smoke settling on the ground; the commands of the house are thick clouds covering the sky as if they were joined together with the needle of matrimony, yet the king, lord Hendursaja, tears them apart. He can discriminate between the just and the wicked, and he can bring justice to the orphan as well as to the widow."
"At new year, on the day of rites, the lady libates water on the holy. [...] On the day when the bowls of rations are inspected, Nance also inspects the servants during the appointments. [...] The king who always cares for the faithful servants, Haia, the man in charge of registration, registers on a tablet him who is said to be a faithful servant of his lady but deletes from the tablet her who is said not to be the maidservant of her lady."
"[T]he king who loves justice, Hendursaja."
"He who confirms or contradicts what is uttered, who enters Nance's house from outside, and does not leave it, the caretaker of Nance's house, the child born to Utu, lord Hendursaja. [...] The king discriminates between the good and the evil deeds, Hendursaja discriminates between the good and the evil deeds."
"[T]he queen of heaven and earth, the provider of food, the stewardess of Enlil, the sweet breast satisfying all lands, the bringer of abundance, who can diagnose the intentions of the virulent ' demon and who checks people's bones; who examines the sinews of life and the sinews of death, comforting those joints; who knows every sick spot where there is affliction, torment or distress -- the kindly physician, the exorcist to the sick, who looks after the hearts of humans."
"May Nintinuga look after me during my life, and when I die may she provide me with clear water in the nether world."
"I prostrate myself for the sake of Gula, my lady, but in my own eyes I don't have a place to stand."