Following the tradition of the lexical and explanatory texts based on highly speculative and often very abstruse etymologies — a tradition recognizable in other compositions in the present corpus such as the Explanation of Temple Names in Babylon, the Götteradressbuch of Ashur, Tintir, and the Nippur Compendium — this list focuses on the cult centers of Nippur, one of the foremost religious cities of Babylonia.
Organized with the typical two sub-columns, the ceremonial Sumerian names of Nippur's temples are each listed with one, or more frequently multiple, Akkadian explanations. Predictably, the catalogue starts with the most important temple of the city, the Ekur of Enlil, patron god of Nippur, before continuing with the sacred buildings of Ninlil, Ninurta, Nusku, Ištar, and Gula.
The composition is known to us by a single and fragmented source from Late Babylonian Sippar which transmits the initial section- the only surviving part of this list.
Further Reading
Giulia Lentini
Giulia Lentini, 'Nippur Temple List', Babylonian Topographical Texts online (BTTo), BTTo, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2024 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/btto/Nippur/NippurTempleList/]