mostlydeadlanguages:

pandemite:

mostlydeadlanguages:

mostlydeadlanguages:

This first lullaby is a loose translation, in order to fit a modern musical meter.  It can be sung to “Nettleton” (Come Thou Fount) or Joyful, Joyful (Ode to Joy) — I recommend singing lines 1-8, then repeating 1-6 and finishing with 9-10.  A closer translation of the same text is at the end, followed by a different, longer incantation to help a crying baby sleep.

Little one, who dwelled in darkness,
       now you’ve come and seen the sun.
Why the crying?  Why the worries?
       What has made your peace undone?

You have roused the household spirits;
       you have scared the guardian-gods.
“Who has roused me?  Who has scared me?”
       “Little baby woke you up!”

May you settle into slumber,
       sweet as plum-wine, deep as love.

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Per a request (and by the way, I love getting requests!), here is the Akkadian transliteration of the first lullaby, taken from Walter Farber’s “Magic at the Cradle: Babylonian and Assyrian Lullabies” (1990, Anthropos).

ṣeẖrum wāšib bīt ekletim
lū tattaṣâm tātamar nūr šamšim
ammīn tabakki ammīn tuggag
ullikīa ammīn lā tabki

ili bītim tedki kusarikkum iggeltêm
mannum idkīanni mannum ugallitanni
ṣeẖrum idkīka ṣeẖrum ugallitka

kīma šātû karānim kīma mār sābītim
limqutaššum šittum

As a reminder, ṣ is “ts”, š is “sh”, and ẖ is “kh” (like “loch”).  Lines over the vowels just mean that the vowel is held longer.

https://soundcloud.com/thatgirlgrace-1/babylonian-lullaby

So I felt compelled to sing this ancient lullaby…

Someone sang it!!!!  (And what a lovely voice she has, too!)