The poem of Enlil and Sud has a simple narrative for its theme: the courtship of Sud, the goddess of Suruppag and daughter of Nisaba, goddess of Eres, by the powerful Enlil, god of Nibru, and their subsequent marriage. Sud becomes Enlil’s consort Ninlil. It is difficult to see this as anything other than a mythological explanation of a fact of religious history—the absorption of the local cult of Suruppag into the pantheon of Nibru. The independent cult of Sud seems to have died down after the Early Dynastic period. Because at an even earlier period a relation had been established between the cults of Eres and Suruppag, with their patron deities being represented as mother and daughter, Sud appears in the poem as a young, shy, unmarried girl living in her mother’s house. Sud’s birth and growth to womanhood are described.
This very straightforward narrative is articulated into five sections, of which the second and fourth (a repeated 13-line speech) report the reply of Sud’s mother to Enlil’s minister Nuska, and Nuska’s repetition of the reply to Enlil. Enlil, a bachelor in search of a wife, meets Sud in Eres ‘standing in the street’, and—here the story is given an amusing twist—takes her, whether flirtatiously or by genuine mistake, for a prostitute. She repudiates him, and responds to his repeated advances by turning on her heels and retreating into her mother’s house. He dispatches his minister Nuska to visit Sud’s mother, Nisaba (who also goes by the names Nanibgal and Nun-bar-Se-gunu), with an official proposal of marriage and a secret present for Sud. Nisaba is apparently appeased of the outrage implied by Enlil’s initial remarks to Sud, and accepts the proposal. Sud’s father Haia is not consulted. Nisaba calls Sud into the room to offer hand-washing and a drink to their visitor, when Nuska is able to slip her Enlil’s secret present. Then Nuska reports back to Enlil, who is delighted and immediately collects together lavish bridal gifts to shower on Sud’s mother: wild and domestic animals, foods and precious stones. Enlil’s sister Aruru (here also call Ninmah, Nintud, and perhaps En-Batibira) accompanies the gifts to EreS, and speaks in a sisterly way with Sud to prepare her for the wedding and to wish her well. After the marriage is consummated, Enlil ‘decrees the destiny’ of his new wife, who is henceforth to be called Ninlil. The poem ends by praising Enlil and Ninlil.
Manuscripts of this poem are mainly small fragments from Nibru, also Susa and elsewhere. In addition, the story survived into the first millennium BCE, and bilingual versions were found in Assyrian libraries at Nineveh and at Sultantepe (ancient Huzirina).
World History
