Ninurta and the Turtle

Ninurta and the Turtle

An excerpt from "The Prince and The King"

Book 4 of the Novels of Ancient Sumeria by Jesse Hudson

Ninurta and the Turtle is an ancient tale that was written on clay tablets in cuneiform thousands of years ago in Sumeria. It tells the story of the tablet of destinies, a powerful relic possessed by the god Enlil which was stolen and lost in the ocean to be fought over by the god of the waters, Enki, and Enlil's son, the hero Ninurta. This is a modern retelling taken from book 4 of the Novels of Ancient Sumeria, The Prince and King, by Jesse Hudson

You can find a translation of the original text at the Oriental institute of Oxford

This is a modern retelling with substantial creative license taken.

In the following excerpt Ammon-shur and his son Balashi have just gone to the temple of Nanshe to dedicate an offering of silver in memory of their wife and mother who has recently passed away. The goddess Nanshe was known in ancient Sumeria for her compassion for the poor, the widows and the fatherless and much good was done in her name.

The High Priestess of Nanshe invited Ammon and Balashi to meet some of the children whom their donation would feed and clothe. Ammon agreed at once and followed the priestess past the vestibule where they had been conversing into the small temple complex beyond. Another priestess of Nanshe was supervising several children as they cared for a small vegetable garden. At the invitation of the High Priestess the children left off their labors and came to introduce themselves to their benefactors.

One young girl not more than four years old by the name of Lil pulled down on Ammon's hand to get him to sit down and then plopped herself in his lap and insisted that he tell her a story. He gave her the last of the olives he had saved in a napkin in his pocket from lunch and searched his memory, then chose a story inspired by her name.

"Little Lil, do you know of Enlil and Ninlil and their son the hero Ninurta?" Ammon asked.

"Yes," she said. "They are the Lord and Lady of the sky and Ninurta is the Lord of the fierce south Lil which means the wind."

"That's right," Ammon said. "Now Enlil was the Lord of the entire universe and he was able to set the destinies of men by the power of his breastplate which holds the magical tablet of destinies. The tablet is a powerful Me formed at the beginning of the world and by its power Enlil became the foremost of the gods."

Several of the other orphan children gathered around to hear Ammon's story. Ammon made them all sit down in a semicircle in front of him and then continued.

"Well, there was a proud and ambitious bird that flew over the broad earth each day in search of his meals. He swept down from the sky to capture whatever prey struck his fancy, whether meek rabbit or fierce monster, all of the beasts of the land trembled when they saw the shadow of Anzu pass overhead. Anzu made his perch on an unbelievably tall rocky cliff at the edge of the E-kur, the house of the mountain, which is where Enlil made his home. Because of his lofty perch and because he was feared by all of the animals which crawled or walked or ran across the earth Anzu supposed that he was a great Lord in his own right and that he should be held in esteem equal to that of Enlil, but unlike Enlil he did not have the power to declare destinies. One day Anzu stooped from on high and caught up a great elephant for his lunch."

"An elephant?" Lil gasped. "What kind of bird was Anzu?"

"Anzu was a mighty bird of prey of the type that men call Lady Hawks, do you know the kind, the ones that wear a necklace of brown feathers against their downy white breasts?" Ammon asked.