Ashurbanipal

by Elisif

Summary:

An Akkadian (Ancient Babylonian) translation of Percy Shelley's Ozymandias.

Awīlum ištu mātim labrim āmur - I met a man from an ancient land,

Iqbi, ḫalli abnim ibaššû - He said, there are two legs of stone,

Ammîša, ina bāṣim… i’arrurū - There, in the desert, they rot,

Mišil pānim ammîša inīal- šarrum! - Half a face there sleeps; a king!

Nekelmašu u balāṣ inīšu - His frown and the stare of his two eyes-

Kapšarrašu iḫkimšu, annītam īde- His sculptor understood him, I know this,

Lipittašu ana abnim balṭāt - His craft on stone yet lives,

Qātum ša umtaḫḫiṣ, libbam ša uštākil - The hand which beat, the heart which fed,

U ina gišgallim, annītum šaṭrā - And on a pedestal, this is written:

Šumī Ašurbanipal, Šar Šarrī! - My name is Ashurbanipal, King of Kings!

Epištāīya amrā, u šutāšišā! - Look upon my works and grieve!

Lā memmēni izzaz; innidi abtātim - Nothing stands; beside the ruins,

Ḫarbatum watartum enna rummât- The vast wasteland now is forsaken.

 

𒀀 𒂖𒄿𒌝𒅖𒌈𒈠𒁴 𒆷𒀊𒊑𒅎𒀀𒈬𒌨

𒅅 𒁉𒄩𒀠𒇷𒀊𒉌𒅎𒄿𒁀𒀸𒋗

𒄠𒈪𒊭𒄿𒈾𒁀𒋆𒄿𒅕𒊒𒊒

𒈪𒋛𒂖𒉺𒉌𒅎𒄠𒈪𒊭𒄿𒉌𒀠𒊬𒊒𒌝

𒉈𒆗𒈠𒋗𒌋𒁀 𒆷 𒀼𒄿𒉌𒋗

𒆏𒊬𒊏𒋗𒄴𒆠𒅎𒋗𒀭𒉌𒋬𒄿𒁲

𒇷𒉿𒁕𒋗𒀀𒈾𒀊 𒉌𒅎𒁄𒋬𒀜

𒅗𒌈𒌝 𒊭𒌋𒋭 𒄩𒅖𒇷𒅁 𒁀𒊭𒍚𒋬𒆠𒂖

𒌋𒄿𒈾𒄑𒃲𒇷𒅎𒀭𒉌 𒌈𒌝𒊭𒈠𒊏

𒋗𒈪𒀸𒋩𒆕𒀀𒊬𒊬𒊑

𒂊𒉿𒊭𒋾𒅀𒄠𒊏𒌋𒋗𒋬𒋛𒊭

𒆷𒈨𒅎𒈨𒉌𒅖𒍝𒀸𒂗𒉌𒁲𒀊𒋬𒁴

𒄩𒅕𒁀𒌈𒌝𒌋𒀀𒋻𒌈𒌝𒂗𒈾𒊒𒌝𒈠 𒀜

Notes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashurbanipal
I originally tried to maintain the rhyme scheme and meter of the original poem, but it ended up doing its own thing.
I ended up chopping off the last line- translating it wasn't working, and I felt the Akkadian version had more punch ending on the previous line.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 40 of Akkadian Translations