Bridegroom, dear to my heart,
Goodly is your beauty, honeysweet,
Lion, dear to my heart,
Goodly is your beauty, honeysweet.
You have captivated me, let me stand tremblingly before you.
Bridegroom, I would be taken by you to the bedchamber,
You have captivated me, let me stand tremblingly before you.
Lion, I would be taken by you to the bedchamber.
Bridegroom, let me caress you,
My precious caress is more savory than honey,
In the bedchamber, honey-filled,
Let me enjoy your goodly beauty,
Lion, let me caress you,
My precious caress is more savory than honey.
Bridegroom, you have taken your pleasure of me,
Tell my mother, she will give you delicacies,
My father, he will give you gifts.
Your spirit, I know where to cheer your spirit,
Bridegroom, sleep in our house until dawn,
Your heart, I know where to gladden your heart,
Lion, sleep in our house until dawn.
You, because you love me,
Give me pray of your caresses,
My lord god, my lord protector,
My Shu-Sin, who gladdens Enlil’s heart,
Give my pray of your caresses.
Your place goodly as honey, pray lay your hand on it,
Bring your hand over like a gishban-garment,
Cup your hand over it like a gishban-sikin-garment
It is a balbale-song of Inanna.
The Love Song of Shu-Sin is from Samuel Noah Kramer’s work History Begins at Sumer, p.p. 246-247
Shu-Sin reigned as king in the city of Ur from 1972-1964 BCE according to what is known in scholarly circles as the `short chronology’ but, according to the `long chronology’ used by some scholars, reigned 2037-2029 BCE. The poem, therefore, is dated according to either 1965 BCE or 2030 BCE but is most often assigned a general date of composition at around 2000 BCE. Shu-Sin was the younger son of Shulgi of Ur (reigned 2029-1982 BCE) who was the last great king of the Ur III Period (2047-1750 BCE).
According to the historian Stephen Bertman, besides this poem, “Shu-Sin was also the male lead in a series of erotic poems in Akkadian written in dialogue form similar to the later biblical Song of Songs” (105). Long before the biblical narratives were set down, then, the Mesopotamians were writing the `first drafts’ of some of the most influential works in world history.
The archaeological work done in Mesopotamia in the 19th century CE completely changed the way history, and the world, could be understood. Once upon a time, the ancient past stopped with the Bible and the version of history presented in the biblical narratives. Following the discovery of Mesopotamia’s ancient past, history was enlarged, deepened, and humanity’s story became much more complex and interesting. The literature of ancient Mesopotamia provided the first forms of world literature, the first expressions of human emotion and experience and, among them, the experience of romantic love and passion through the world’s oldest love poem.