Sumerian Liturgies and Psalms - Langdon

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Title: Sumerian Liturgies and Psalms
Author: Stephen Langdon
Release Date: April 10, 2010 [Ebook 31935]
Language: English
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK

SUMERIAN LITURGIES AND PSALMS***
Sumerian Liturgies and Psalms
By
Stephen Langdon
Professor of Assyriology
at Oxford University
Philadelphia
Published by The University Museum
1919
Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Lamentation of Ishme-Dagan Over Nippur. 13856 (No. 1) . 13
Liturgy of Ishme-Dagan. 11005 (No. 2) . . . . . . . . . . 35
Liturgical Hymn to Innini. 7847 (No. 3 and duplicate No. 4) 39
Psalm to Enlil Containing a Long Intercession by the
Mother Goddess. 15204 (No. 5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Lamentation on the Pillage of Lagash by the Elamites.
2154 (No. 6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Lamentation to Innini on the Sorrows of Erech. 13859
(Poebel No. 26) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Liturgical Hymn to Sin. 8097 (No. 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Lamentation on the Destruction of Ur. 7080 (No. 11) . . . 72
Liturgical Hymns of the Tammuz Cult. 3656 (Myhrman
No. 5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
A Liturgy to Enlil, Series e-lum gud-sun (Zimmern KL.
No. 11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Reverse of Tablet Virolleaud (The titular litany) . . . . . . 114
Early Form of the Series d.Babbar-gim-è-ta 11359
(Myhrman No. 8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Liturgy of the Cult of Kes (Nippur Fragments and Ash-
molean Prism.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Ashmolean Prism, Col. II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Third Tablet of the Series “The Exalted One Who Walketh”
(e-lum didara) (No. 13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Babylonian Cult Symbols. 6060 (No. 12) . . . . . . . . . . 149
Addendum On Obv. I 10 F. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Description Of Tablets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Index Of Tablets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Index To Vol. X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
iv Sumerian Liturgies and Psalms
Autographed Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Footnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
[233]
Introduction.
[Transcriber's Note: This e-book is Number 4 of Volume X of
a series, which had a single page numbering system throughout
the Volume. Thus, although this e-book is pages 233 through
351, it contains references to pages outside of this range in the
same Volume.]
With the publication of the texts included in this the last part
of volume X, Sumerian Liturgical and Epical Texts, the writer
arrives at a definite stage in the interpretation of the religious
material in the Nippur collection. Having been privileged
to examine the collection in Philadelphia as well as that in
Constantinople, I write with a sense of responsibility in giving to
the public a brief statement concerning what the temple library of
ancient Nippur really contained. Omitting the branches pertaining
to history, law, grammar and mathematics, the following résumé
is limited to those tablets which, because of their bearing upon the
history of religion, especially upon the origins of Hebrew religion,
have attracted the attention of the public on two continents to the
collections of the University Museum.
Undoubtedly the group of texts which have the most human
interest and greatest literary value is the epical group, designated
in Sumerian by the rubric zag-sal.1 This literary term was
employed by the Sumerian scribes to designate a composition
as didactic and theological. Religious texts of such kind are
generally composed in an easy and graceful style and, although
1
In addition to the examples of epical poems and hymns cited on pages 103-5
of this volume note the long mythological hymn to Innini, No. 3 and the hymn
to Enlil, No. 10 of this part. An unpublished hymn to Enlil, Ni. 9862, ends a-a
dEn-lil zag-sal, “O praise father Enlil.” For Ni. 13859, cited above p. 104, see
POEBEL{FNS, PBS. V No. 26.
Introduction. 3
somewhat influenced by liturgical mannerisms, may be readily

distinguished from the hymns and psalms sung in the temples
to musical accompaniment. The zagsal compositions2 are [234]
mythological and theological treatises concerning the deeds and
characters of the great gods. The most important didactic hymns
of the Nippur collection and in fact the most important religious
texts in early Sumerian literature are two six column tablets, one
(very incomplete) on the Creation and the Flood published by DR.
POEBEL, and one (all but complete) on Paradise and the Fall of
Man. Next in importance is a large six column tablet containing
a mythological and didactic hymn on the characteristics of the
virgin mother goddess.3 No. 25 in MYHRMAN'S{FNS Babylonian
Hymns and Prayers, No. 1. Here also the principal actors are
Enki, his messenger Isimu, and “Holy Innini” as in the better
preserved epic. Both are poems on the exaltation of Innini.
A long mythological hymn in four columns4 in JRAS. 1919.
on the cohabitation of the earth god Enlil and the mother goddess
Ninlil and an equally long but more literary hymn to the virgin
goddess Innini5 are good examples of this group of tablets in
the Nippur collection.6 One of the most interesting examples
of didactic composition is a hymn to the deified king Dungi of
2
So far as the term is properly applied. Being of didactic import it was
finally attached to grammatical texts in the phrase dNidaba zag-sal, “O praise
Nidaba,” i. e., praise the patroness of writing.
3
POEBEL{FNS, PBS. V No. 25; translated in the writer's Le Poème Sumérien
du Paradis, 220-257. Note also a similar epical poem to Innini partial duplicate
of POEBEL{FNS
4
Ni. 9205 published by BARTON{FNS, Miscellaneous Babylonian Inscrip-
tions, No. 4. This text is restored by a tablet of the late period published by
PINCHES{FNS
5
Ni. 7847, published in this part, No. 3 and partially translated on pages
260-264.
6
Undoubtedly Ni. 11327, a mythological hymn to Enki in four columns,
belongs to this class. It is published as No. 14 of this part. A similar zagsal to
Enki belongs to the Constantinople collection, see p. 45 of my Historical and
Religious Texts.
4 Sumerian Liturgies and Psalms
Ur. By accident both the Philadelphia and the Constantinople

collections possess copies of this remarkable poem and the
entire text has been reconstructed by the writer in a previous
publication.7 1 have already signaled the unique importance
of this extraordinary hymn to the god-man Dungi in which he
is described as the divinely born king who was sent by the
[235] gods to restore the lost paradise.8 The poem mentions the
flood which, according to the Epic of Paradise, terminated by
divine punishment the Utopian age. The same mythological
belief underlies the hymn to Dungi. Paradise had been lost and
this god-man was sent to restore the golden age. There is a
direct connection between this messianic hymn to Dungi and
the remarkable Epic of Paradise. All other known hymns to
deified kings are liturgical compositions and have the rubrics
which characterize them as songs sung in public services. But
the didactic hymn to Dungi has the rubric [dDungi] zag-sal, “O
praise Dungi.” It would be difficult to claim more conclusive
evidence than this for the correctness of our interpretation of
the group of zagsal literature and of the entire mythological and
theological exegesis propounded in the edition of the Epic of
Paradise, edited in part one of this volume.9 , Miscel. No. 4;
hymn to Ninurta as creator of canals, RADAU{FNS, BE. 29, No.
2, translated in BL., 7-11; hymn to Nidaba, RADAU{FNS, Miscel.
No. 6.
When our studies shall have reached the stage which renders
7
Historical and Religious Texts, pp. 14-18.
8
See PSBA. 1919, 34.
9
One of the most remarkable tablets in the Museum is Ni. 14005, a didactic
poem in 61 lines on the period of pre-culture and institution of Paradise by
the earth god and the water god in Dilmun. Published by BARTON{FNS,
Miscellaneous Babylonian Inscriptions, No. 8. The writer's exegesis of this
tablet will be found in Le Poème Sumérien du Paradis, 135-146. It is not called
a zag-sal probably because the writer considered the tablet too small to be
dignified by that rubric. Similar short mythological poems which really belong
to the zag-sal group are the following: hymn to Shamash, RADAU{FNS
Introduction. 5
appropriate the collection of these texts into a special corpus they

will receive their due valuation in the history of religion. That
they are of prime importance is universally accepted.
From the point of view of the history of religion I would assign
the liturgical texts to the second group in order of importance.
Surprisingly few fragments from the long canonical daily prayer
services have been found. In fact, about all of the perfected
liturgies such as we know the Sumerian temples to have possessed
belong to the cults of deified kings. In the entire religious [236]
literature of Nippur, not one approximately complete canonical
prayer service has survived. Only fragments bear witness to
their existence in the public song services of the great temples
in Nippur. A small tablet10 published in part two of this volume
carries a few lines of the titular or theological litany of a canonical
or musically completed prayer book as they finally emerged from
the liturgical schools throughout Sumer. Long liturgical services
were evolved in the temples at Nippur as we know from a few
fragments of large five column tablets.11 , Miscel. No. 13; both
canonical prayer books of the weeping mother class. For a
liturgy of the completed composite type in the Tammuz cult, see
RADAU{FNS, BE. 30, Nos. 1, 5, 6, 8, 9.
The completed composite liturgies or canonical breviaries as they
finally received form throughout Sumer in the Isin period were
made by selecting old songs of lament and praise and re-editing
them so as to develop theological ideas. Characteristic of these
final song services is the titular litany as the penultimate song
and a final song as an intercession. A considerable number of
such perfected services exist in the Berlin collection. These were
obtained apparently from Sippar.12 The writer has made special
efforts to reconstruct the Sumerian canonical series as they
existed in the age of Isin and the first Babylonian dynasty. On
10
Ni. 112; see pp. 172-178.
11
For example, MYHRMAN{FNS, No. 3; RADAU{FNS
12
See ZIMMERN{FNS, Sumerische Kultlieder, p. V, note 2.
the basis of tablets not excavated at Nippur but belonging partly

to the University Museum and partly to the Berlin collection
the writer restored the greater part of an Enlil liturgy in part
2, pp. 155-167.13 In the present and final part of this volume
another Enlil liturgy has been largely reconstructed on pages 290-
306.14 From these two partially reconstructed song services the
[237] reader will obtain an approximate idea of the elaborate liturgical
worship of the late Sumerian period. These were adopted by
the Babylonians and Assyrians as canonical and were employed
in interlinear editions by these Semitic peoples. Naturally the
liturgical remains of the Babylonian and Assyrian breviaries are
much more numerous and on the basis of these the writer was able
in previous volumes to identify and reconstruct a large number of
the Sumerian canonical musical services. But a large measure of
success has not yet attended his efforts to reconstruct the original
unilingual liturgies commonly written on one huge tablet of ten
columns. Obviously the priestly schools of the great religious
center at Nippur possessed these perfected prayer books but their
great size was fatal to their preservation. It must be admitted that
the Nippur collection has contributed almost nothing from the
great canonical Sumerian liturgies which surely existed there.
Much better is the state of preservation of the precanonical
liturgies, or long song services constructed by simply joining a
series of kišubs or songs of prostration. These kišub liturgies are
the basis of the more intricate canonical liturgies and in this aspect
the Nippur collection surpasses in value all others. Canonical
and perfected breviaries may be termed liturgical compositions
and the precanonical breviaries may be described as liturgical
compilations, if we employ “composition” and “compilation” in
their exact Latin sense. Since Sumerian song services of the
earlier type, that is liturgical compilations, are more extensively
represented in the Nippur temple library than in any other, this
13
The base text here is ZIMMERN{FNS, KL. No. 12.
14
The base of this text is ZIMMERN{FNS, KL. No. 11.
Introduction. 7
is an appropriate place to give an exact description of this form

of prayer service which preceded and prepared the way to the
greatest system of musical ritual in any ancient religion. If
we may judge from the literary remains of Nippur now in the [238]
University Museum, the priestly schools of temple music in that
famous city were extremely conservative about abandoning the
ancient liturgical compilations. These daily song services, all
of sorrowful sentiment and invariably emphasizing humility and
human suffering, are constructed by simply compiling into one
breviary a number of ancient songs, selected in such manner that
all are addressed to one deity. In this manner arose intricate choral
compilations of length suitable to a daily prayer, each addressed
to a great god. Hence we have in the temple libraries throughout
Sumer and Babylonia liturgies to each of the great gods. Even
in the less elaborate kišub compilations there is in many cases
revealed a tendency to recast and arrange the collection of songs
upon deeper principles. A tendency to include in all services a
song to the wrathful word of the gods and a song to the sorrowful
earth mother is seen even in the Nippurian breviaries of the
precanonical type. I need not dilate here upon the great influence
which these principles exercised upon the beliefs and formal
worship of Assyria and Babylonia, upon the late Jewish Church
and upon Christianity. The personified word of god and the
worship of the great mater dolorosa, or the virgin goddess, are
ancient Sumerian creations whose influence has been effective
in all lands.
As examples of the liturgical compilation texts the reader is
referred especially to the following tablets. On pages 290-292
the writer has described the important compiled liturgy found by
CHARLES VIROLLEAUD.15 It is an excellent example of a Nippurian
musical prayer service. It contained eleven kišubs, or prayers,
and they are recast in such manner that the whole set forth one
15
Now in the Nies Collection, Brooklyn, New York.
idea which progresses to the end. The liturgy has in fact almost
[239] reached the stage of a composition. And in these same pages the
reader will see how this service finally resulted in a canonical
liturgy, for the completed product has been recovered. On pages
309-310 will be found a fragment, part of an ancient liturgy to
Enlil of the compiled type. Here again we are able to produce at
least half of the great liturgy into which the old service issued.
In the preceding part of this volume, pages 184-187, is given the
first song of a similar liturgy addressed to the mother goddess.
Undoubtedly the most important liturgical tablet which per-
tains to the ordinary cults in the Nippur collection is discussed on
pages 279-285. The breviary, which probably belongs to the cult
of the moon-god, derives importance from its great length, its
theological ideas, especially the mention of the messengers which
attend the Logos or Word of Enlil, and its musical principles.
Here each song has an antiphon which is unusual in precanonical
prayer books of the ordinary cults.16 Students of the history of
liturgies will be also particularly interested in the unique breviary
compiled from eight songs of prostration, a lamentation for the
ancient city of Keš with theological references. This song service
was popular at Nippur, for remains of at least two copies have
been found in the collection. A translation is given on pages
311-323.
The oldest public prayer services consisted of only one psalm
or song. A good number of these ancient psalms are known from
other collections, especially from those of the British Museum.
In view of the conservative attitude of the liturgists at Nippur
it is indeed surprising that so few of the old temple songs have
survived as they were originally employed; ancient single song
[240] liturgies in this collection are rare. The following list contains all
the notable psalms of this kind. RADAU, Miscellaneous Sumerian
16
A similar liturgy is Ni. 19751, published by BARTON{FNS, Miscellaneous
Babylonian Inscriptions, No. 6.
Introduction. 9
Texts No. 317 is a lamentation of the mother goddess and her

appeal to Enlil on behalf of various cities which had been visited
by wars and other afflictions. RADAU, ibid., No. 16 has the
rubric ki-šu18 sìr-gal dEnlil, “A prayer of prostration, a great
song unto Enlil.” A psalm of the weeping mother goddess similar
in construction to RADAU No. 3 is edited on pages 260-264 of
this volume.19 No. 7 of this part, edited on pages 276-279, is
an excellent illustration of the methods employed in developing
the old single song psalms into compiled liturgies. Here we
have a short song service to the moon god constructed by putting
together two ancient psalms. The rubrics designate them as sagar
melodies,20 or choral songs, and adds that it is sung to the lyre.21
An especially fine psalm of a liturgical character was translated
on pages 115-117. It is likewise a lament to the sorrowful mother
goddess.
The student of Sumero-Babylonian religion will not fail to
comment upon one remarkable lacuna in the religious literature
of every Sumerian city which has been excavated. Prayers of the
private cults are almost entirely nonexistent. Later Babylonian
religion is rich in penitential psalms written in Sumerian for use
in private devotions. These are known by the rubric eršag#unga,
or prayers to appease the heart. Only one has been found in
the Nippur collection,22 and none at all have been recovered
elsewhere. Seals of Sumerians showing them in the act of saying [241]
their private prayers abound from the earliest period. Most of
these seals represent the worshipper saluting a deity with a kiss
thrown with the hand. The attitude was described as šu-illa,
17
Translated by RADAU{FNS on pages 436-440.
18
Abbreviation for ki-šub-gú-da = šêru, strophe, song of prostration.
19
No. 3 of the texts in part 4.
20
sa-gar = pitnu šaknu, choral music, v. ZIMMERN{FNS, ZA. 31, 112. See
also the writer's PBS. Vol. XII, p. 12.
21
nar-balag. The liturgists classified the old songs according to the instrument
employed in the accompaniment. See SBP. p. ix.
22
See page 118 in part 2.
or “Lifting of the Hand.” Semitic prayers of the lifting of the

hand abound in the religion of Babylonia and Assyria. Here they
are prayers employed in the incantation ritual. We know from
the great catalogue of Sumerian liturgical literature compiled by
the Assyrians that the Sumerians had a large number of prayers
of the lifting of the hand.23 In Sumerian religion these were
apparently purely private prayers unconnected with the rituals of
atonement. At any rate the Nippur collections in Constantinople
and Philadelphia contain a large number of incantation services
for the atonement of sinners and the afflicted. These resemble
and are the originals of the Assyrian incantation texts of the
type utukku limnuti, and contain no prayers either by priest
(kišub in later terminology is the rubric of priest's prayers in
incantations) or by penitent (šu-il-la's). The absence of prayers
of private devotion in the temple library of Nippur is absolutely
inexplicable. Does it mean that the Sumerians were so deficient
in providing for the religious cure of the individual? Their
emphasis of the social solidarity of religion is truly in remarkable
contrast to the religious individualism of the Semite. But the
Sumerian historical inscriptions often contain remarkable prayers
of individuals. The seals emphasize the act of private devotion.
The catalogue of their prayers states that they possessed a good
literature for private devotions. When one considers the evidence
which induces to assume that they possessed such a literature, its
total absence in every Sumerian collection is an enigma which
[242] the writer fails to explain.
In the introduction to part two of this volume24 the writer
has emphasized the peculiarly rich collection of tablets in this
collection pertaining to the cults of deified kings. In the present
part is published a most important tablet of that class. This
liturgy of the compiled type in six kišubs sung in the cult of
23
See IV Raw. 53, III 44-IV 28 restored from BL. 103 Reverse, a list of 47
šu-il-lá prayers to various deities.
24
Pages 106-109.
Introduction. 11
the god-man Ishme-Dagan, fourth king of the Isin dynasty, is

unique in the published literature of Sumer. Its musical intricacy
and theological importance have been duly defined on pages
245-247. With the publication of these texts the important song
services of the cults of deified kings are exhausted. In addition
to the texts of this class translated or noted in part two, I call
attention to the very long text concerning Dungi, king of Ur,
published by BARTON, Miscellaneous Babylonian Inscriptions
No. 3. In that extremely long poem in six columns of about
360 lines25 there are no rubrics, which shows at once that it is
not a cult song service. Moreover, Dungi had not been deified
when the poem was written. It is really an historical poem to this
king whose deification had at any rate not yet been recognized
at Nippur. It belongs in reality to the same class of literature as
the historical poem on his father Ur-Engur, translated on pages
126-136.
The only Sumerian cult songs to deified kings not in the
Nippur collection have now been translated by the writer and
made accessible for wider study. One hymn to Ur-Engur which
proves that he had been canonized at his capitol in Ur will be
found in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Literature,
1918, 45-50. The twelfth song of a liturgy to Ishme-Dagan
published by ZIMMERN from the Berlin collection is translated
on pages 52-56 of the same article. Finally a long liturgy to [243]
Libit-Ishtar, son of Ishme-Dagan, likewise in Berlin, has been
translated there on pages 69-79.26 Since the Berlin texts probably
came from Sippar their existence in that cult is important. For
they prove not only the practice of cult worship of deified kings
in that city, but the domination of Isin over this north Semitic
city is thus documented for a period as late as Libit-Ishtar.
25
Less than half the tablet is preserved.
26
Note that this breviary of the cult of Libit-Ishtar terminates with two ancient
songs, one to Innini and one to Ninâ, both types of the mother goddess who
was always intimately connected with the god-men as their divine mother.
Nearly all the existing prayer services in the cults of the

deified kings of Ur and Isin are now published and translated.
The student will observe that they are all of the compiled type
but that there is in most cases much musical arrangement and
striving for combined effect. A few, and especially the Ishme-
Dagan liturgy published as No. 1 of this part, reveal theological
speculation and an effort to give the institution of god-man
worship its proper place in their religion. The hymns of these
cults comparatively so richly represented in this volume will be
among the most interesting groups of religious texts supplied by
the excavations at Nippur.27
OXFORD, July 9, 1919.
[245]
27
For a list of the abbreviations employed in this volume, see page 98 of Part
I.
Lamentation of Ishme-Dagan Over
Nippur. 13856 (No. 1)
The liturgical character of this tablet is unique among all the

numerous choral compositions of the Isin period. It is a large
two column tablet containing six long kišub melodies. Liturgies
of such kind, compiled by joining a series of kišubs, or melodies,
attended by prostrations, represent an advanced stage in the
evolution of these compositions in that the sections are not
mechanically joined together by selecting older melodies without
much regard for their connection, but as a whole they are
apparently original compositions so arranged that they develop
a motif from the beginning to the end of the liturgy. Choral
services composed of kišubs in the cults of deified kings have
been found28 in the Hilprecht Anniversary Volume, No. 1. The
liturgy to Libit-Ishtar in ZIMMERN{FNS, K L. 199 I—Rev. I 7, is
composed of a series of sa-(bar)-gid-da.
wherein the deeds and personality of the king are sung, his divine
claims are emphasized and his Messianic promises rehearsed.
But the liturgy here published resembles in literary style the
classical lamentations which always formed the chief temple
services of Sumer and Babylonia. It more especially resembles
the weeping mother liturgies, but here Ishme-Dagan appears in
the lines of the service in a rôle similar to that of the sorrowful
mother goddess of the ordinary liturgies, as he weeps for Nippur.
28
The twelfth kišub of a liturgy to Ishme-Dagan is published in
ZIMMERN'S{FNS Kultlieder, No. 200. A somewhat similar song service
of the cult of this king has been published in the writer's Sumerian Liturgical
Texts, 178-187. A portion of a series to Dungi was published by RADAU{FNS
“Her population like cattle of the fields within her have

perished. Helas my land I sigh.”
[246] So reads a line from the second melody.
Lines of similar character occur repeatedly in the laments of
the mother goddess as she weeps for her people in the standard
liturgies. In other words, the cult of the deified kings issues here
into its logical result. The god man created to live and die for
his people usurps the sphere of the earth mother herself. And
like her he is intimately associated with the fortunes of mankind,
of nature and all living creatures. The great gods and the hosts
of their attendants rule over man and the various phases of the
universe from afar. But the mother goddess is the incarnation of
fruitful nature, the mother of man whose joys and sorrows she
feels. So also in this remarkable liturgy the deified son of the
great gods lives among men, becomes their patron and divine
companion.
The tablet contained originally about fifty lines in each column,
or 200 in all. About one-third of the first column is gone. The
first melody contained at least fifty lines and ended somewhere
shortly after the first line of Col. II of the obverse. It began by
relating how Enlil had ordered the glory of Nippur, and then had
become angered against his city, sending upon it desolation at the
hands of an invader. When we take up the first lines of Obv. II we
are well into the second melody which represents Ishme-Dagan
mourning for fathers and mothers who had been separated from
their children; for brothers who had been scattered afar; for the
cruel reign of the savage conqueror who now rules where the
dark-headed people had formerly dwelled in peace.
At about the middle of Obv. II begins the third melody which
consists of 38 lines extending to Rev. I 19. In this section the
psalmist ponders upon the injustice of his city's fate, and looks for
[247] the time when her woes will cease, and Enlil will be reconciled.
The fourth section begins at line 24 of Rev. I and ended near
the bottom of this column which is now broken away. Here
15
Ishme-Dagan joins with the psalmists weeping for Nippur.

Section 5 began near the end of Rev. I, and ends at line 16 of
Rev. II. Here begins the phase of intercession to Enlil to repent
and revenge Nippur upon the foe. Section 6, beginning at Rev. II
17, probably continued to the end of the column and the tablet.
Here the liturgy promises the end of Nippur's sorrow. Enlil has
ordered the restoration of his city and has sent Ishme-Dagan, his
beloved shepherd, to bring joy unto the people.
After sections 2 and 3 follows the antiphon of one or two lines.
The ends of sections 1 and 4 are lost but we may suppose that
antiphons stood here also. Section 5 does not have an antiphon.
Since section 6 ended the liturgy it is not likely that an antiphon
stood there.
[Transcriber's Note: In the original book, throughout the
book, all of the transcriptions and translations were done in two
columns. The left column showed the transcription, and the
right the English translation; each line had the line number. In
this e-book, the transcription and translation of each line will be
shown in succeeding lines.]
OBVERSE. COL. I
(About eighteen lines broken away.)
1. ... túg ba-ra-pad-da
1.
2. d.A-nun-na-ge-ne na-ba-an-ri-gi-eš-ám
2. The Anunnaki he caused to take their seats.29
3. ub-šu-ukkin-na30 ki di-gal tar-ru

3. In the Assembly Hall, place where the great judgments are
decided,
29
na-ba- is for nam-ba, emphatic prefix. See PBS. X pt. 1 p. 76 n. 4. Cf.
na-ri-bi, verily she utters for thee, BE. 30, No. 2, 20.
30
On the philological meaning of this name, see VAB. IV 126, 55.
4. eš-bar-e si-di ba-ra-an-zu-uš31 -ám

4. Decisions to arrange he caused them to know.
5. dingir-bi-ne ki-dúr ba-ab- gar-ra32

5. These gods he caused to take up there their abode.
[248]
6. šug-lá#-bi im-šub-ba aga-bi im-ri-a

6. Their clean sacrificial food he gave, their crowns he clothed
upon them.
7. ki-lugal du-azag33 3in-sîg34 unù35 -gal-ba

7. In the king's place, the throne room, the 3insig of the vast
abode,
8. tin36 làl bal-bal-e mu-šú be-ib-tar-ra

8. The libation of wine and honey yearly he decreed.
9. Nibru-(ki) uru giš-gig-dagal-la-bi-šú

9. For Nippur the city whose shadow extends afar
10. uku-sag-gig-ga ní-im-ši-ib-te-en-na

10. The people, the dark headed, he caused to have reverence.
11. ki-dúr-ba gú-ni a-gim37 ba-ra-an-šub

11. But its habitations he cursed ...
31
For the suffixes eš, uš, denoting plural of the object, see Sum. Gr. p. 168.
32
On ki-dúr-gar cf. Gudea, Cyl. B 12, 19.
33
Usually written dù-azag, throne room. On the meaning of du in this word,
see AJSL. 33, 107. Written also dû-azag, in Ni. 11005 II 9.
34
Cf. Gudea, Cyl. A 25, 14, the kin-gi of the unu-gal.
35
Br. 7720. The sign TE is here gunufied. Cf. OBI. 127, Obv. 5.
36
Tin alone may mean “wine,” as in Gudea, Cyl. B, 5, 21; 6, 1. See also
NIKOLSKI{FNS, No. 264, duk-tin, a jar of wine.
37
a-gim = dimêtu, ban, SBH. 59, 25. a-gim #e-im-bal-e, The ban may he
elude, Ni. 11065 Rev. II 25. Unpublished. The line is not entirely clear; cf.
BRÜNNOW{FNS, No. 3275.
17
12. ab s+g-gan-dúg-ga-gim e-ne s+g-gan-ba-ra-an-dúg

12. Like scattered cows he scattered them.
13. uru šag-bi er-gíg s g- bi

13. The city's interior is filled with weeping,
14. en-na38 dam39 dingir ga-ša-an-bi li-bi nu-tar-ri40

14. While the consort, its divine queen, is not solicitous for her.
15. é-gu-la za-pa-ag ib-zu-a-bi

15. The great house which knew the cry of multitudes,
16. é-ri-a-súd-gim galu nu-un-tur-tur

16. Like a vast building in ruins men enter not.
17. Nibru-(ki) uru ki ligir-ligir-gal-gal-e-ne šu-im-ma-an-*A41 -

eš-ám
17. In Nippur, the city where great princes were prosperous,
18. a-na-áš ú-gu i-ni-in-de-eš42 , Inventaire 944; CLAY{FNS

Miscellen 28 V 71: má ú-gu-ba-an-de, “If a boat
float away,” ibid. IV 14. See also GRANT{FNS
AJSL. 33, 200-2.
18. Why have they fled?
[249]
19. uku sag-gig gú-sa-#i-a43

udu-gim be-ib-?44 -a
19. The people, the dark headed, all of them like sheep....
20. e(?)-en-šú KAK-RU45 er a-nir šag PA-*I-BAD-a

20. How long shall loud crying(?), weeping and wailing distress
(?) the heart?
21. en-šú bar46 be-íb- ... ùl

21. How long shall the soul be terrified?
22. šag nu-ub-ši-túg-e

22. And the heart repose not?
23. suùb suá-lá mu-un-tuk-a-ri47

23. To the drum and cymbals I sing.
38
For en-na in the sense of “while,” see PERY{FNS, Sin in LSS. page 41, 16.
39
The sign is imperfectly made on the tablet.
40
Cf. SBP. 328, 11.
41
*A is probably identical in usage with PEŠ, and the idea common to both is
“be many, extensive, abundant.” Note ZIMMERN{FNS, Kultlieder 19 Rev. has
*A where SBP. 12, 2 has PEŠ. šu-peš occurs in Gudea, Cyl. A 16, 23; 11, 9;
19, 9 and CT. 15, 7, 27.
42
On ugu-de = al ku, na'butu, to run away, see DELITZSCH{FNS, Glossar p.
43. Also ugu-bi-an-de-e, V R. 25a 17; ù-gù-dé, RA. 10, 78, 14; ú-gu ba-an-dé,
if he run away, VS. 13, 72 9 and 84, 11, with variant 73, 11 u-da-pa-ar =
udtappar, if he take himself away. ú-gu-ba-an-de-zu, when thou fleest, BE.
31, 28, 23. ú-gu-ba-de, GENOUILLAC{FNS
43
Sic! gú-sa-bi is expected; cf. RA. 11, 145, 31 gú-sa-bi = nap+ar-šu-nu.
44
Sign obliterated; the traces resemble SU.
45
Read perhaps dk-šub = nadû ša rigmi, to shout loudly. Cf. dúg sir-ra
šub-ba-a-zu = rigme zarbiš addiki, ASKT. 122, 12. Passim in astrological
texts.
46
The tablet has MAŠ. The Semitic would be adi mati kabattu iparrad.
47
ri is apparently an emphatic element identical in meaning with ám; cf. SBP.
10, 7-12. Note ri, variant of nam, SBH. 95, 23 = ZIMMERN{FNS, KL. 12 I 8.
19
24. ... gíg-ga a-a na....

24. ... sorrowfully(?)....
25. ... síg ... ne ba-dúr-ru-ne-eš

25. ... brick ... they dwell.
26. ... gar-ra-bi er-šú ba-ab-bi-ne

26. ... in tears they speak.
27. ... šub-ba tkr-ru-ba-ne

27. ... are made small.
28. ... sìr-ri-eš ba-ab-bi-ne

28. ... in misery they speak.
29. ... ki-dúr-bi 3ar-ra

29. ... whose habitations are desolated.
30. ... im-ši-sìr-sìr-e-ne-eš48

30. Unto ... they have hastened.
31. ... ne-ne-túg

31. ...?
32. ... ga(?)nu-zu-gim

32. ... like one that knows not.
33. ... sk#49

33. ... is in confusion.
48
Sic! Double plural. eš probably denotes the past tense, see Sum. Gr. § 224.
49
Sign BRÜNNOW{FNS, No. 11208.
(END OF COL. I.)

COL. II
(About fifteen lines broken away.)50
1. ... gál
1. ....
2. ... -e ba-ab-dúg-ám51
2. ....
3. ... ma-lal im-mé

3. ....
[250]
4. ... #ul-nu-zu-ne nig-dug be-ib-tar-ru-uš-ám

4. ... evil they know not, good they have decreed.
5. i-lu-gíg im-me
5. Bitter lament I52 utter.
6. nam-lù-g l-bi máš-anšu-gim šag-ba mi-ni-ib-tíl-la-aš

6. Her population like cattle of the fields within her have
perished.
7. a ka-na- m-mu im-me

7. Helas! my Land! I sigh.
8. ki-el kalag tul-tul-lá-bi-ne sùr53 , KL. 12 Rev. 17.

-ri- -eš mi-ni-ib- sal-la-áš
8. Maid and young man and their children cruelly have been
scattered far and wide.
50
The first melody or liturgical section probably ended somewhere in this lost
passage at the top of Col. II.
51
Text A-ÁŠ!
52
The subject is Ishme-Dagan.
53
The sign is a clearly made BR.{FNS No. 10275 but probably an error for
10234. For sùr-ri-eš see BA. V 633, 22; SBH. 56 Rev. 27; ZIMMERN{FNS
21
9. iš-a-bi im-me
9. Tearfully I sigh.
10. šeš-bi imi-dugud šèg-gà-gim di-e-be-ib-sud-ám54

10. Their brothers like a rain storm have fled afar.
11. er-šú nu- gul-55 e

11. I cease not to weep.
12. é-e áb amar-bi kud-du gim ní-bi-šù kr-gíg-ga56 im-gub

12. The household like a cow, whose calf has been separated
from her, stand by themselves with sorrowful
souls.
13. sîg-sîg57 ni- mal- mal

13. They have lapsed into the misery of silence.
14. balag-di58 lù-ad-dug-ga-ge59 PBS. X 137 n. 7.

-ne um-me-da-k-a-di-gim
14. Oh sing to the lyre! The wailers like a child nursing mother
who cries in woe
15. mu-bi er-ra mi-ni-ib-bal-bal-e-ne

15. because of them devised lamentation.
54
This compound verb di-e-sud here for the first time. di-e is probably
connected with de to flee. At the end AŠ is written for AN. Read a-áš and
construe šeš as a plural?
55
gul = kalû, restrain, is ordinarily construed with the infinitive alone; še-du
nu-uš-gul-e-en = dam ma ul ikalla, Lang. B.L. 80, 25; SBH. 133, 65; 66, 15,
etc.
56
Confirms SAI. 6507 = u33u, dumb, grief stricken.
57
Variant of s+g-s+g, etc. See Sum. Gr. p. 237 sig. 3. Also POEBEL{FNS, PBS.
V 26, 29.
58
On the liturgical use of balag-di, see BL. p. XXXVII.
59
Var. of ad-du-ge = bêl niss ti, IV R. 11a 23: ad-da-ge, ZIM.{FNS K.L. 12
II 3. See for discussion, LANG.{FNS
16. uru ù-mu-un-bi sag-ib-ta-an-d+m-ma

16. The city whose lord had been magnified,
17. igi-ni sá kûr-ra ib-ta-an-gar-ra ad-e-eš ba-an-ara-áš

17. In whose presence a hostile rule has been established, with
sighing they have caused to walk.
[251]
18. é-zid kur-kur-ra igi-šú ba-an-gín-na

18. As for the faithful temple, which in the lands excelled all,
19. uku sag-gig-gi uš-zi60 be-íb-tùb-ba

19. (Where) the people, the dark headed, reposed in security;
20. a-na ib-ag a-na im-#a-lam-ma-bi61

20. What has done it, what has destroyed it?
21. ù-mu-un-bi ib-ta-kàš sag-ki-a mu-un-du

21. Its lord is a fugitive, he hastens in flight.
22. ki-šub62 - gú- 2 kam

22. A melody with prostrations. Second section.
23. me-gal šag-bi63 ba-ra-an-è-a-áš gù-gíg-ga nu-mal64 -aš

23. The meaning of the great decrees they have glorified.
Sorrowful words they restrain not.
60
A new ideogram. Perhaps uššu kînu, “sure foundation.”
61
For suffixed ni, bi, ba in interrogative sentences note also a-na an-na-ab-
du#-ni, What can I add to thee? GENOUILLAC{FNS, Drehem, No. 1, 12, a-ba
ku-ul-la-ba, Who shall restrain? Ni. 4610 Rev. 1.
62
See BL. p. XLV, and PBS. X 151 note 1.
63
On the anticipative construct, see § 138 of the grammar.
64
nu-mal are uncertain. The tablet is worn at this point.
23
24. giš-gí-gál-bi-im65
24. This is its antiphon.
25. uru ù-mu-un-bi šag ba-da-an-dib-ba

25. The city whose lord is distressed,66
26. en-šú la-ba-ši-gur-ru su#67 , ASKT. 122, 12. DELITZSCH{FNS,

H. W. 44a. a+ulap has the derived meaning of
mercy, the answer to the “How long” refrain as
in this passage. See also SBP. 241 note 27 and
SCHRANK{FNS, LSS. III 1, 53.
-ám-bi nu- um- im me
26. Until when shall it not return (to its rest)? Until when shall
its “How long” not be spoken?
27. síg-bi a-na-šú g-r-ib-ta-an-gar

27. Why are its brick walls trodden underfoot?
28. tu(#u) za-pa-ág mà-mà-bi ab-ta ib-ta- an-dal

28. The doves screaming flew from their nests.
29. é ? zu síg nar-balag ág-zí-ba68

29. The temple ... the sweet voiced flute,
[252]
30. ... be-in-gí

30.
65
On the use of this term, see PBS. X 151 n. 1 and 182, 33.
66
Cf. BL. 110, 11.
67
Written Br. 3046, but the usual form is the gunu, Br. 3009. su#-ám-bi =
a+ulap-šu. POEBEL{FNS, PBS. V 152 IX 8: cf. also lines 9 and 10 ibid. In
later texts su#-a = a+ulap, HAUPT{FNS
68
Cf. nar-balag nig-dug-ga, POEBEL{FNS, PBS. V 25 IV 48. Our text has
the emesal form ag-zib.
31. Entirely destroyed.

31.
32. é dû- na69

32. The temple violently....
33. é ní-nu-tuk-gim si-ga....

33. The temple like one without reverence....
34. ág-me-bi nu-azag-azag-ga

34. Its regulations unholy ones....
35. šu-lu#-bi kur-kur-ra nu-ub-da-su#70 -a-gim

35. Its cult of ablutions like those which had not been chosen
above those of all lands
36. šu-be-in-3al tu#-ni ib-ta-an-zig

36. He has demolished, its wealth he seized away.
37. ág-gíg-kr-ra a a-še-ra mu-un-di

37. In misery of soul how long shall I utter lament?
38. ta-še71 egir na- m-ga-lim72 dk-a la-ba-an-kalag

38. Why after the destruction has been done is it not respected?
39. ág-el-dk-a-gim #ur-ri73 zag-be-in-bi

39. As one who accomplishes pure things this one has uttered a
curse:—
40. síg-bi p -e a-na-aš ib-ta-an-è

40. “Why rise her brick-walls in effulgent glory?”
69
For dû-na = šalmiš, see RA. 11, 146, 33.
70
Written Br. 3046 = nas 3u.
71
For ta-šú. Cf. BA. V 679, 14.
72
Probably a variant of nam#alam, nam#ilim = ša+lu3tu.
73
The demonstrative pronoun #ur, kr
25
REVERSE, COL. I
1. gig-an-bil74 -ba šag-ba er be-in-[zí-em]
1. Night and day within her wailing is made.
2. á-še kúr ág-gíg be-ib-aga-a

2. Now the stranger has wrought insult.
3. ù-mu-un-bi im-#ul-ám šu-bi be-in-gí-ám75

3. Its lord like a storm wind their hands have removed(?)
4. uru-bi é-bi in-gul-gul-ám

4. Their city, their temple, he has destroyed.
5. ùr-bi in-sir-ra-ám šitim76 -e-ne in-ra-ám

5. Its foundation he laid waste, the skilled workmen he
transported.
[253]
6. dam dumu-bi šag-ba mi-ni-in-dìg-ga-ám

6. Wife and children within her he slew.
7. uru-bi uru-šub-ba im-ma-ni-in-tu-ra-ám

7. Their city a subjected city he caused to become.77
8. mu-un-ga-bi ní-e be-in-ne-ra-ám78

8. Its property he himself took as plunder.
74
mûši ù urra, IV R. 5a 65; CT. 16, 20, 68.
75
Text A-AŠ.
76
Sign AL. šitim, šidim = idinnu is usually written with the sign GIM,
POEBEL{FNS, PBS. V 117, 14 f. amelu "IM = idinnu, passim in Neo-
Babylonian contracts.
77
Literally, “caused to enter.”
78
munga with ra, to carry away property as booty, see SBH. No. 32 Rev.
21 and BL. No. 51. The comparison with line 11 suggests, however, another
interpretation, immer-e be-in-ne-ra-ám, “the storm-wind carried away.”
9. uru-gál-la-bi nu-gál-la mi-ni-in-tu-ra-ám79

9. Their city which was he has caused to become a city which is
not.
10. dim-ma-bi g-r ib-ta-an-kúr-ra-ám

10. Its works of art he placed a hostile foot upon.
11. túg-bi in-sk#80 -ám lil-e be-in-s+g-ám

11. Its garments81 he seized away, the winds tore them in shreds.
12. ú-kaš-a-bi ib-ta-an-kar-ra-ám

12. Its food and drink he pilfered.
13. ga-zu-bi ... mi-ni-ib-tíl-la-ám

13. Their infants(?) ... he caused to perish.
14. é-e kúr ág-rig82 ... be-ib-aga-a

14. The temple a stranger plundered.
15. a-še-ir-gíg im-me er be-ib-lu-lu

15. Bitter sighing I utter, tears I pour out.
16. balag-di galu i-lu ba-ab-bi-ám

16. Oh sing to the lyre, he that speaks the songs of wailing.
17. šag nu-zí-ba-bi mu-un-na-ni-ib-gí-gí

17. Their hearts which are not glad it will pacify.
18. ù-mu-un-bi me-bi ba-ra-an-è-a-áš83

18. The decrees of their lord they have glorified.
79
In lines 7 and 9 the verb tur is employed in the sense of “to cause an event
to enter,” to bring about the entrance of a condition or state of affairs.
80
Br. 11208.
81
The passage refers to the priests' robes and garments of the temple service.
See also SBP. 4, 9.
82
Variant of nam-rig-aga = šal lu.
83
See Obv. II 23.
27
19. á-bi nu-mu-un-tag-ga-ám li-bi nu-tar-ra-ám

19. He84 concerns himself not with their oracles; he cares not
for their future.
[254]
20. ... ki-šub-gú 3-kam-ma-ám

20. A melody with prostrations. Third section.
21. me-gal-gal-la-ni a-gim ba-ra-an- š

21. His great decrees thus he has ordered.
22. á-bi la-ba-an-tag-ga-ám li-bi nu-tar-ra-ám

22. He has concerned himself not with their oracles; he cared
not for their future.
23. ... giš-gí-gál-bi-im

24. mu-lu sìr-ra85 na- m-tar-gíg-ga-mu-uš86

24. He of melodious song the sorrowful fate weeps for.
25. me ib-ši-en87 -ne-en er im-ši-šeš-šéš-en

25. Sound of mourning he causes to arise; lamentation he utters.
26. á-še balag-di sìr-zu- ne

26. Now oh sing to the lyre! They that know the melodies
84
Enlil.
85
Rendered ša cir+i, BL. 95, 19. On this title for a psalmist, see BL. XXIV.
86
uš has evidently some meaning similar to the one given in the translation
but it has not yet been found in this sense in any other passage. We have here
the variant of iš, eš = bakû with vowel u. See Sum. Gr. 213 and 222.
87
DUL-DU. The sign DUL is erroneously written REC. 236. In the text
change si to ši.
27. *AR-dúr-ra-mu ma-ar ba-bi-ne-ám

27. My ... shall speak for me.
28. ì-dé-šú kuš-a im-ma-s g88 -ga-mu

28. Now I am filled with sighing.
29. galu89 -bi er-ra ma-an-mà-mà-ne-àm

29. Her population offer prayers to me.
30. á-še šag-zu90 -mu né-táb-táb-ba-mu

30. Now my intercession, my pleading(?),
31. á-še dúr-ra-bi ma-ar galu mu-da-an-zu-ám

31. Now mightily the population unite with me in making
known.
32. a-rá gig-ga šag-sir-ra-mu

32. Upon ways of pain my mercy91
33. k-a tkr-ra-mu er-ra ma-an-tuk-ám

33. Oh woe! my children weep for.
34. éš é-dk-a ki-dúr-a-ne-ne

34. In the house, the well builded temple, in their dwelling,
35. nar-e-eš ba-ab-gar-ra ní-tuk ba-ab-tur-ra-ám

35. Sound like one chanting is raised and praise is diminished.
[255]
36. galu erím-eka na- m-mu ib-tíl-la

36. The foe has caused my land to perish.
88
Br. 3739.
89
Here treated as plural.
90
The tablet has SU. For šag-zu synonym of teclitu, see IV R. 21b Rev. 5.
91
libbu rû3u; see ZIMMERN{FNS, KL. No. 8 I 3 and IV 28.
29
37. er-ra ma-pad92 (?)ma-an-mà-mà-ne-ám

37. They beseech....
38. šag ág-gíg-ga ib-s g-mu ad-bi-šú PI-gà93 -bi

dé-ib-šed-dé-ne-ám
38. My heart which is filled with misery by their wailing ... may
they calm.
39. er-bi ugû94 -mà mu-un-mà-mà-dam

39. Their weeping is made unto me.
40. E+SAL95 šag-izi-du ma-ar ma-[an-tuk-tuk-e-ne-ám]96

40. In the mother goddess' sanctuary prayer to me they offer.
41. d.Mu-ul-lil....
41. Enlil....
(About twelve lines broken away.)97
REVERSE II
1. ....
1. ....
2. ....
2. ....
3. ....
3. ....
92
The sign like many others on this tablet is imperfectly made. ma-pad? or
ma-šig? The meaning is obscure.
93
Text uncertain. Perhaps PI-SI-gà-bi.
94
Written A-KA. An unpublished Berlin syllabar gives A-KA (uga) = mu++u.
95
Br. 5515. For this sign with value maštaku, see DELITZSCH{FNS, H. W.,
sub voce and BA., V 620, 20. The Sumerian value is ama, Chicago Syllabar,
241 in AJSL. 33, 182.
96
Restored from an unpublished text in Constantinople, Ni. 721.
97
Section 4 ended somewhere in this break.
4. [ ... mu-ra-ab-]dúg mu- na-ab

4. ....
5. ... mg-ga-gim
5. ....
6. [ ... m]u-ra-ab-dúg mu-na-ab98

6.
7. ... aga- ... a- ... mu

7.
8. ... mu- ... na- ... ab

8.
9. [...]ma-a[r ... za]l-la

9.
10. ... íb-dk-e KA-mu-na- ab

10.
11. ... #ar-ra-ge-eš ... šag-izi-du

11.
12. ... arruš99 ma-ra-tuk-tuk100

12. Have mercy upon me.
[256]
13. šag-zu šag-s+g ib-ta-ba-e šag-la# ma-ra-an-gar-ra-me

(sic!)101
13. Thy heart whose portion has been affliction become for me a
glad heart.
98
Probably a refrain.
99
For the reading, see AJSL. 33, 182, 240.
100
See BL. 128, 21.
101
Read A-AN, i. e., ám.
31
14. sag-zuzi-zi-i102 giš-šub-ba-za ul-šú103 ma-ra-an-mà-mà

14. Thy head which is held aloof turn unto me to glorify thy
portion.
15. ág-kúr-ri za-ar104 i-ri-ib-aga-e šu-bi dé-ib-gí-gí105

15. The hostile deeds which he did unto thee be returned unto
his hand.
16. uru-ki-a šu-bar-ri nu-zu-a mur-ri106 dé-ib-s-g-gi

16. In the city which knew not forgiveness let there be given the
cry of multitudes.
17. ... ki-šub gú 5-kam-ma-ám

17. A melody of prostrations. Fifth section.
18. à-še ù-mu-un-zu gú-šub-ba kúr me-e-ši-in-ra-ám

18. Now thy lord anger upon the foe will direct.
19. arruš107 ma-ra-an-tuk-ám na-ám-zu in-tar-ra-ám

19. He will have mercy and will decree thy fate.
20. síg-zu a-še-ir ib-ta-an-è-a ib-si be-in-dúg-ga-ám

20. Unto thy brick walls where lamentation arose he will
command “it is enough.”
102
Cf. sag-bi zi-zi, ZIMMERN{FNS, K.L. 199 I 36.
103
Cf. LANG.{FNS Sumerian Liturgical Texts 154, 16.
104
AR is written ŠI+*U!
105
The second sign gí is only partially made by the scribe.
106
The analysis of the text and the meaning are difficult. Perhaps a should be
taken with the following sign a-*AR-ri, an unknown ideogram. mur-ri is here
taken for rigmu.
107
See line 12 above.
21. #ar-šág-gi-zu-ra108 ma-ra-ni-in-tu-ra-ám

21. Thy happy soul he will cause to return for me.
22. d.Nin-uraš maškim kalag-ga sag-zu be-in-tuk-ám109

22. Ninurash the valiant guardsman will sustain thy head.
23. dun-ú-a-ni ... giš-ib-ši-in-gub-ba-ám110

23. His pastor111 he will establish over (the city).
24. é-kur 3alag-3alag dk-dk-ù-dam á-mu-un112 ba-an-ag-ám

24. Ekur like (a temple) which has been tenderly built he will
make....
[257]
25. ág-dú-bi ki-bi be-in-gí-ám

25. Its beauty he will restore to its place.
26, 27. gi-gmn-na-bi113 ki-gí-gí-bi ud-gim kar-kar-bi114

26, 27. That its great dark chamber be restored to its place, that
it shine like day
28. su#115 -ba-la-túm-túm-mu in-na-an-dúg-ga-ám

28. Unceasingly he commands.
29. garza kúr-ri ib- sk#116 - ám

29. The ordinances the stranger has placed in confusion.
108
Sic! Demonstrative pronoun. See Sum. Gr. § 163.
109
Here we have the first occurrence of the original expression for kullu ša
rêši; cf. BR.{FNS 11244.
110
Cf. SBP. 330, 10.
111
The epithet refers to Išme-Dagan.
112
This word is obscure and unknown.
113
On gigunna, part of the stage tower, see VAB. IV 237 n. 2; BL. 38, 14.
114
Cf. SBP. 328, 5.
115
Written Br. 3046. See Br. 3035.
116
Br. 11208.
33
30. me117 ib-bir-a-bi ki-bi-šú in-gar-ra-ám

30. The ritual utensils which have been scattered he will restore
to their place.
31. šu-lu# erím118 -e šu-be-in-lá-a-ba

31. The rituals of hand-washing which the wicked caused to
lapse into disuse,119
32. azag-gi ... el-e- ... bi

32. To cause to be holy and pure
33. uru-azag nam-šub-da-ni in-na-an-dúg-ga-ám

33. In the holy city which has been consecrated he commands.
34. [d.] Iš-me-dDa-gan sib kenag-gà-ni-ir120

34. For Ishme-Dagan his beloved shepherd
35. ... bi(?) gú ul-šár-šár-ri-da

35. ... to cause rejoicing
36. in-na-an-dúg-ga-ám
36. ... he commands.
37. ... azag nam-tar-ri-da-ni

37. The holy ... whose fate has been decreed,
38. ... -ra-ám

38. ...
117
me = parcu, refers primarily to the rubrics of the rituals, the ritualistic
directions, but here the reference is clearly to the utensils employed in the
rituals.
118
NE-RU.
119
lal, lá-a = šu3ammumu, see SBP. 66, 20.
120
ir is uncertain. The sign may be either dk or ni.
39. ... DU-ra-ám

39. ...
(About twelve lines broken away, in case this section continued
to the end of the tablet.)
[258]
Liturgy of Ishme-Dagan. 11005 (No.
2)
COL. II.
...
...
3. d.En-lil lugal dingir-ri-e-ne-ge

3. Enlil king of the gods
4. sig igi-nim-ma nam-en-bi #a-ma-an-s-g

4. In the South and North121 may give lordship over them unto
me.
5. dúg-dúg-ga d.Nu-nam-nir-ra-ta
5. By the commands of Nunamnir,
6. ka-ta-è-a d.En-lil-lá-ta
6. By the utterance of Enlil,
7. An-ni enim-zid-démà-a-ar #a-ma-an-de

7. May Anu speak for me an order of confidence.
8. šibir-šibir šu-mu #e-ma-s-g

8. Scepters may he give unto my hand.
121
Literally, “Below and above.”
9. d.Uraša-e dû-azag-ga122 -ni-a sal-zid #a-ma-ni-dúg

9. May Uraša bestow upon me faithful care in his holy throne
room.
10. d.Nin-lil-li šag l g-l g-ga-ni123

10. Ninlil whose heart is pure,
11. bara-ma# ud-sud-du gú-KU-MAL124

11. She that in the far-famed chapel assures length of days,
12. giš-šub-ba-mà bal-bi šág-gi-da

12. She that renders good my portion exceedingly,
13. kuš125 -d.En-lil-lá ka-dug-gi-mà

13. She who unto Enlil spoke assuringly for me good words,
14. é-kur-ri ud-šu-uš sag-uš-mà

14. She who daily protects Ekur for me,126
[259]
15. ki-úr ki-gal-e127 nam šu-#a-ma-ni-tar

15. May render me my fate in Kenur the vast place.
122
Probably a variant of dù-azag. As the phrase is written dug-azag-ga might
mean “holy knees,” birku ellitu, but that is not probable. A parallel passage
occurs in the liturgy to Dungi, BE. 31, 12, 8, where my interpretation is to
be corrected. For dù, dm, rendered into Semitic by the loan-word dû, with the
sense “high altar, pedestal of a statue, altar or throne room” see AJSL. 32, 107.
123
Cf. Gudea, Cyl. B 13, 4.
124
This phrase should have a meaning similar to “speak words of peace,”
“assure, comfort.” The expression occurs also in Gudea, Cyl. A 7, 5, Ningirsu,
son of Enlil gú za-ra ma-ra-#un-gà-e, “will speak to thee words of peace.”
125
kuš, preposition = eli, is derived from kuš = zumru, “body,” literally “at the
body.”
126
In view of the parallel passages where kings are called the sag-uš of temples
and cities (i. e. the mukînu or mukîl rêš) it seems necessary to render é-kur-ri
as the object of sag-uš. See SAK. 197 below c 5; BE. 29 No. 1 IV 6; PBS. V
No. 73. A rendering, “She who raiseth me up daily in Ekur” is possible.
127
Cf. SBP. 52, 5; BL. p. 138.
Liturgy of Ishme-Dagan. 11005 (No. 2) 37
16. d.En-ki en-gal erida-(ki)-ga-ge

16. May Enki the great lord of Eridu
17. ganun zid-ma# sag-mà #a-ma-ni-in-uš(?)

17. Sustain(?) my head in the ritual chamber, the faithful, the
far-famed.
REVERSE I
5. ki-úr gal-la li-bi tar-ri-ge
5. Of the great Kenur its care....
6. d.En-lil-li á-bi #u-mu-da-na-ág

6. Of Enlil his oracle be proclaimed.
7. dúg-dúg-ga a-a d.En-lil-lá-šú

7. Unto the words of father Enlil—
8. d.Iš-me- d.Da-gan me-en gú-mu #e-in-ši-ri

8. Ishme-Dagan am I—verily my neck I will turn.
9. ka-ta-è-a lugal-mà-šú giš-túg-ni128 #e-im-ši-ag

9. To the utterance of my king may I lend my129 ears.
10. ki-en-gi-ra nig-si-sá #e-ni-in-gar

10. In Sumer justice may I institute.
11. Nibru-(ki) an-gim gú #e-im-mi-uš

11. Nippur may I exalt like heaven.
12. é-kur-ra me-bi #u-mu-un-mr-mr

12. Of Ekur its decrees I will deliver.
13. giš(?)-#ar(?) ù-a-ba li-be-[in-tar]

13. Of the plans(?) unto their care may I give heed.
128
Sic! third person.
129
Text “his.”
14. garza130 ki-ta šub-ba-bi ki-bi #e-[mu-un-gí]

14. The sacred relics which have fallen from their places may I
restore to their places.
15. d.En-lil-lá me 3al-3alag-[ni]

15. Of Enlil his precious decrees—
16. d.Iš-me-d.Da-gan me-en....

16. I am Ishme-Dagan—I will....
17. d.Nin-lil-lá....
17. Of Ninlil her ... I will....
[260]
130
Or read billudu. This passage proves that garza and billudu really do have
a meaning, sanctuary, cult object or something synonymous. See billudû in
VAB. IV Index. The meaning, sanctuary, has been suggested for the Semitic
parcu and this must be taken into consideration.
Liturgical Hymn to Innini. 7847
(No. 3 and duplicate No. 4)
COL. I
1. nin me-dug-ga131 babbar dalla-è-a
1. Oh lady of the good decrees, that risest splendidly like the
sun.
2. sai-zid me-lam gùr-ru kenag d.Uraša-a

2. Faithful woman, bearing a sheen of terrible splendor, beloved
of Urashâ,
3. nu-gig an-na nin(?) sìr-gal-gal-la

3. Heavenly virgin, queen(?)132 of the great songs,
4. aga-zi-dé ... nam-en-na tum-ma

4. Who puttest on a faithful crown, who hast been created fit for
rulership,
5. me-imin-bi šu-sá-dúg-ga
5. Whose hand attaineth the seven decrees,
6. nin-mu me-gal-gal-la sag-sìr-bi za-e me-en

6. My queen, of the great decrees their directress133 art thou.
131
Var. šar-ra.
132
Var. is certainly not nin.
133
For sag-sìr, see also ASKT. 96, 25; K. L., 199, 15; 199 Col. III 51; CT. 24,
15, 79.
7. me-mu134 -ila me šu-zu-šú mu-e-lal

7. The decrees thou bearest; the decrees thou holdest in thy hand.
8. me-mu135 -3in me gab-zu be-tab

8. The decrees thou directest; the decrees thou claspest to thy
breast(?)
9. ušumgal-gim kur-ra sub ba-e-s-g

9. Like a champion thou subduest the foreign lands.
10. dImmer-gim ki tù-gí-a136 d.Ašnan la-ba-ši-gál

10. Like the storm-god in the place of the ... curse the
grain-goddess thou leavest not.
11. a-ma-ru kur-bi-ta è-de

11. A whirlwind upon their lands thou sendest.
12. sag-kal-an-ki-a dingir-ri-bi137 me-en

12. Oh leader of heaven and earth their divinity thou art.
[261]
13. ne-ne-ne-ra kalam-ma a-an-mal

13. For them thou didst create the Land (of Sumer).
14. dingiri-ir138 me-s-g-gà139 nin-ur-ra-k-a140

14. That givest orders unto the gods(?), queen that guidest the
universe.
134
Var. mu-e.
135
Same as previous footnote.
136
Cf. Ni. 4581 Obv. 8 in PBS. X pt. 2, where it is connected with d.Immer.
Var. KA-gí-a!
137
Read *U for RI(?). mušen = bêlu, beltu, cf. PBS. V 15 Rev. 14. Render
“Their divine queen thou art”?
138
Var. ni. Sic!
139
Var. ma.
140
+ mimat kiššati.
41
15. enim-azag-an-na-ta enim dúg-dúg

15. That utterest command by the holy order of Anu.
16. garza-gal-gal-la gar zu a-ba mu- ... un- ... zu

16. The great decisions who (but thee) knoweth to teach?
17. kur-gul-gul ud-de-da ba-e-s-g

17. Thou that shatterest the mountains, by a spirit of wrath thou
art filled.
18. kenag d.En-lil-lá kalam-ma im-mi-ni-ri

18. Beloved of Enlil, thou hast founded the Land.
19. á-aga d.Nin-lil ba-gub-bi me-en

19. Thou art she that hast effected the mandate of Ninlil.
20. nin-mu za-pa-ág-zu-šú kur ni-gam-gam-e

20. My lady, at thy cry the lands quake.
21. ní-me-lam-ra141 -zu-da nam-lù-g l-lu

21. At the fear of thy splendor let mankind
22. nig-me-gar g-r-bi ù-mu-ri-gub

22. With shouting await thee.
23. me-te me-#uš142 -bi šu-ba-e-ri-ti

23. Fittingly they have received their terrible decrees from thee.
24. i-lu er-ra-zu gál-la-ra-ab-šéš(?)

24. Thy lamentations and mournings let them wail for thee.
25. é-a nir-gal-gal-la sil-ba mu-ri-du

25. Unto the temple the chief singers shall walk the streets for
thee(??).
141
Sic! Prepositions ra and da in the same phrase!
142
Text g-r!
26. igi-mé-ta gar ma-ra-ta-si-ig143

26. From before the face of battle they hasten unto thee.
27. nin-mu á-ní-za enim-enim-ni-dúg-e

27. My lady, of thy fury they speak.
28. ud-ul-ul-gim ni-dú-dú-ne

28. The spirit144 like an onrushing storm rushed over them.
[262]
29. ud ka-ra-ta uku im-da-ab-ra-ra

29. The spirit with a loud cry annihilated the people.
30. d.Immer-da tù-mu-da-an-gí-gí-in

30. By the storm god they were ... accursed.
31. im-#ul-im-#ul-da im-da-kuš-ù-ne

31. By the storm winds they were brought to woe.
32. g-r-za sil kuš-ù i-ni- si

32. Thy foot hastens restless in the street.
33. balag a-nir-da i-lu mu-un-da-ab-bi

33. Upon the lyre of weeping they utter lamentation.
34. nin-mu d.A-nun-na dingir-gal-gal-e-ne

34. Oh my lady, the Anunnaki, the great gods,
35. su-din-(#u)-dal-a-gim145 dul-dé mu-e-ši-ba-ra-aš

35. Like a flying sudin-bird from the crannies hasten unto thee.
143
Cf. mar-zen, gar-zen = +âšu, SBP. 116, 33; K.L., 15 II 12.
144
In liturgies usually translated by “the Word.”
145
Cf. SBP. 6, 16.
43
36. igi-g-r-a-za-la146 -ba-lag-gi-eš-a147

36. When before thy feet they run,
37. sag-ki g-r-a-za sag-nu-mu-un-ne-gà-gà148

37. Unto the presence of thy feet they attain not.
38. šag-kb-ba-za ba-a ni-te-en-[te-en]

38. Thine angry heart who shall pacify?
39. šag-#ul-la-za te-[en-te-en-na-ám]

39. Thine evilly disposed heart let become calm.
40. nin #ar-ni šág nin[... -ni- ...]

40. Oh lady, whose soul is magnanimous; oh lady [whose ... is
... ]
41. ib-ba nu-te-en-[te-en....]

41. Whose wrath is unpacified....
42. nin-kur-ra-dirig-ga....
42. Lady that stormeth over the mountains....
43. #ar149 -sag ki-za ba....

43. The mountains (?) thy place (?)....
44. ká-gal-a
44. The great gate....
[263]
COL. II
1. #alba150 -ba nu....
1. Its frost....
2. ki kušlu-úb....
2.
3. ka-sìr-la(?)151 ....
3.
4. nir-da-ni-bi152 ....
4. Their afflictions....
5. uru tuš dinig-di-bi mer-i-in-si-[si]

5. Their city, an arid habitation, the whirlwinds have filled.
6. 3al-šag-gan-bi ... -šú ma-ra-ab-mú-[mú]

6. Their ... workmen in ... supplicate thee.
7. uru-zagin-ra li-be-in-dúg-ga153
7. For the brilliant city they mourn in song.
146
For ra. Read za-la for lal-la?
147
Note the overhanging vowel a denoting a dependent phrase without a
relative introductory adverb, and see also Sum. Gr. page 163, examples cited
bé-in-da-ra-dú-a, etc.
148
The plural of this verb has been indicated by doubling the root, a case of
analogy, being influenced by the similar plural formation of nouns. See Sum.
Gr. § 124. An example of the same kind is sag-nu-mu-un-da-ab-gà-gà = ul
ì-ir-ru-šu, “they approached it not,” K. 8531, 6 in HROZNY{FNS, Ninrag, p. 8.
149
Text ub! Read ub sag-ki-za = tup3i pani-ki(??).
150
For the form, see PBS. V 102 IV 3.
151
If la be correct, then the reading is ka-sil-la.
152
Cf. nir-da-an, K. 45, 6, and nir-da, Gudea, Cyl. A 12, 26 with 18, 3 where
nig-erim = nir-da.
153
For i-lu-dúg = car +u.
45
8. a-a uku-za li-be-in-eš-a-a

8. The father thy creator sends forth cries of distress for it.154
9. ka-azag-zu dé-in-dúg-dúg g-r-za #e-ib-gí

9. May thy holy mouth speak the command and thy feet return.
10. š -ab-bi-ta #uš #e-ib-ta-an-zí-ni

10. From her midst mayest thou cast the cruel one.
11. sal-bi dam-a-ni-ta šág-ga-na-áš an155 -da- ab- bi

11. Let a woman with her husband speak kindly.
12. gíg-ù-na-la156 na-an-ba-ni-ib-gí-gí

12. During the nights forever let her return unto him.
13. nig-azag šag-ga-na nam-mu-da-an-bur-ri

13. That which is pure in her heart may she disclose.
14. ù-gul-zi-zi-i dumu-gal d.Zu-en-na-áš

14. Fervid intercession unto the great son, Sin,
15. nin dingir-ra dirig-ga157 a-ba ki-za ba-an-tum

15. Oh lady surpassing the gods who beside thee brings?
16. me-zi-de nin-gal nin-e-ne

16. Establisher of decrees, oh great lady, their lady,
17. uru-azag-ta è-a ama-uku-ni-ir dirig-ga158

17. Thou that risest from the holy city, thou that surpassest
his159 child-bearing mother,
[264]
18. gal-zu igi-gál nin kur-kur-ra

18. Intelligent and wise, oh queen of the lands,
19. zi-gál kalama-zu-a sìr-azag-zu ga-a-an-dúg

19. Oh breath of life of thy Land, I will recite thy holy songs.
20. dingir zi-me-a tum-ma ki-bi dúg- -ga-bi....

20. Divinity who has been made agreeable unto the fury of
battle, whose words unto their place....
21. šag-sud-du sal-zid l g-l g-ga me-zu ga-mu-ra-ab-dúg(?)

21. Thou of the unsearchable heart, who purgest faithfully, I
will relate thy decrees.
22. mi-ib-azag-gà #u-mu-e-ši-in-tu-ri

22. The holy mi-ib weapon verily thou causest to enter upon (the
foe).
23. en me-en en- ... -ul-an-na me-en

23. “A ruler am I, a ruler ... of heaven am I.160 ”
24. gi-ma-sá-ab ni-gùr-ru kešda-bi-dúg

24. The reed censer I bear and I arrange the ritual(?).
154
a-a = è-a = acû. CT. 15, 11, 7; K. L. 3b 28. Cf. also the N. Pr. d.Gišbar-a =
d.Gišbar-è. “The fire-god causes to come forth.”
155
So the text for šág-ga-áš na-an-da-ab-bi.
156
See above, line 36.
157
For the construction dirig with ra, see lù-ne-ir dirig = eli annim rabi,
POEBEL{FNS, PBS V 152 32.
158
See previous footnote.
159
Refers to Sin.
160
Here begins abruptly a passage spoken by the goddess herself. This is not
unusual in liturgical texts.
47
25. ki-s-g-ga be-in-gar mà-e nu-mu-un-ne -ti-li

25. At the parentalia I place it; and these things I cease not to do.
26. ud-de ba-nim ud-eš da(?)-bíl

26. By day I ... and daily renew
27. giš-gig ud-de ba-nim? -da im-mi-dù

27. By night and day I ... and in ... am clothed(?)161
28. KA-lál-mu šu-? a-ba-ab-tum

28. My ... of honey ... I bring.
29. ninda-mur-šág-šág-mu da-ta ba-e-de-gí

29. By my pious offerings of baked cakes thou wilt be pacified.
30. nam-mu d.En-lil lugal an-ki

30. Something Enlil lord of heaven and earth
31. an-ra enim-mu-na-ab an-e #a-ba-du#-e

31. To Anu spoke as a command and verily Heaven is opened.
32. a-da-lam an-ra enim-mu-na-ab an-e mu-e-tkb

32. Now unto Anu he has spoken the command and thou causest
Heaven to shudder.
33. nam-lugal-an-ni sal-e ba-ab-kár-ri-en

33. The royal power of Anu thou a woman hast seized.
....
....
[265]
161
The sign is dù, not dul.
Psalm to Enlil Containing a Long
Intercession by the Mother Goddess.
15204 (No. 5)
This liturgical psalm in one melody adds one more document of

this kind to the classical Sumerian corpus of old short musical
services on which the later complex liturgies were based.162
The title, árabu-(#u) árabu-(#u) múzu kúrra munmállašu záe
alménna, arranged in seven dactyls, does not appear in the
catalogue of old songs given in the Assyrian list, IV Raw. 53
Col. III. Since the greater part of the psalm consists in an
address of the mother goddess to Enlil on behalf of Nippur,
the composition is defined as an adoration of “my mother,”163
an epithet applied to Innini by the singers in most liturgies.
The psalm begins with twelve lines sung by the choir and
addressed to Enlil. They then in lines 13-15 introduce Innini
whom they represent in discourse before Enlil in lines 16-47.
This part of the song service contains refrains characteristic of
public worship. Theologically the text illustrates one of the
most profound principles of Sumerian religion, the sympathy
and concern of the virgin mother for mankind.164 The great daily
services of the standard prayer books represent her as a mater
dolorosa and she with Tammuz shares the vicissitudes of mortal
life. Our text is unique and noteworthy for one salient fact. It
illustrates the scenes so common on Babylonian seals, where the
162
For a discussion of these early Sumerian single song services, see the
writer's Babylonian Liturgies, pp. XXXVII ff.
163
See also line 13.
164
See Tammuz and Ishtar, p. 111.
49
mother goddess stands in intercession before the god, with one

or both hands raised in supplication and the left foot advanced as
though about to set it on the paved approach to the throne of the
deity. [266]
1. arâ-bu-(#u) arâ-bu-(#u) mu-zu kur-ra mu-un-ma-al-la-šú

1. Oh bird arabu, arabu,165 , SBH. 104, 35.
thou art he whose name is proclaimed in the world.
2. za-e al-me-en-na
3. d.Mu-ul-lil arâ-bu-(#u) mu-zu kur-ra mu-un-ma-al-al-la-šú

3. Oh Enlil, arabu-bird, thou art he whose name is proclaimed
in the world.
4. za-e al-me-en-na
5. d.Mu-ul-lil šag-sud-du e-ne-em zid- da

5. Enlil of unsearchable heart, of faithful word.
6. gú ki-ma-al166 e-ne-em di- di167

6. He that bends the neck, that speaks the word.
7. mu-zu kur-ra mu-un-ma-al-la-šú za-e al-me-en- na

7. Thou art he whose name is proclaimed in the world.
8. mu-zu kur-ra mu-un-ma-al-la-šú

8. At thy name which is proclaimed in the world,
165
The Sumerian arâ-bu (UD-DU-BU) is rendered into Semitic by the loan-
word arabû, called iccur m +u, bird of the storm, ZA. VI 244, 48. In CT. XII
7a 2 UD-DU (ara) = namru, fierce, raging, where the entry is followed by
UD-DU (ara) = ša UD-DU-bu (#u), hence in any case a bird of prey. Were it
not for the reference to this bird in the omen text, BOISSIER{FNS, DA 67, 18,
one might conclude that the bird is mythical. For the reading arabû, see also
REISNER{FNS
166
= 3ad du ša kišadi, see SBP. 110, 22, “bend the neck,” i. e., “grant favor.”
167
Cf. V Raw. 39a 33.
9. dúg-ga-zu kur-ra ám-da-ma-al-la-šú

9. At thy discourse which is proclaimed in the world,
10. ta#-a-zu kur-ra ám-da-ma-al-la-šú

10. At thy aid which is wrought in the world,
11. uru-me-a168 an ní-bi nam-dúb ki ní-bi nam- s+g

11. In my city heaven trembles of itself, earth quakes of itself.169
12. nibru-(ki)-a an ní-bi nam-dúb ki ní-bi nam- s+g

12. In Nippur the heaven trembles of itself, earth quakes of
itself.
13. ama mu-gíg-gi ama nu-bar-ra ama-mu ni-mi-ni-in-gí-gí

13. The mother virgin, the mother courtesan, my mother began
discourse.
14. d.[...]-e ga-ša-an urú-bar-ra-ra170

14. She the divine ..., queen of the villages,
[267]
15. ... ni-mi-ni-in-gí- ... gí

15. ... discoursed.
16. ... ku-a-zu- ... dé

16. When in ... thou dwellest,
17. ... -la ku-gar-ra171 -zu-dé

17. When in ... thou makest thy abode,
168
Cf. dagan-me-a = ina pu+ri-ni, RA. XI 144, 8.
169
Cf. SBP. 45, 13; 79, 13; 98, 44, etc.
170
For this method of forming the plural see Sumerian Grammar, § 124. For
uru-bar = kapru, see MEISSNER{FNS, SAI. 543. Note also umun urú-bar,
SBH. 22, 57 = 19, 56 and K. 69 Obv. 20. title of Nergal as lord of the city of
the dead.
171
Cf. Historical and Religious Texts, p. 34, 6.
51
18. [d.Nin-lil-da?]172 ga-ša-an keš-(ki)-a-ge

18. With Ninlil (?) queen of Keš
19. ... #en mu-e-da-ab-tar-ri

19. ... thou decreest.
...173
20. ... ge me-ri-mu-šú174 nu-GÁ-e
20. [As I was ...] my foot I lifted not.175
21. [a-a-mu lu-]lu-mu-ùr176 su-din-#u ab-ba-ge

21. To my father, my benefactor, as a sudin-bird of the sea,177
22. me-ri-mu-šú nu-GA-e

22. My foot I lifted not.
23. d.Mu-ul-lil-]-e šag-sud-da

23. [To Enlil of] unsearchable heart,
24. [ù-mu-un e-ne]-em zi-da

24. [Lord] of faithful word,
25. [gú ki-ma-al e-]ne-em di-di

25. That bends the neck, that speaks the word,
172
For Ninlil as queen of Keš, see also ZIMMERN{FNS, KL. 23 3; SBP. 23 note
17. At Keš she was identified with the unmarried and earlier deity Ninharsag.
173
The line drawn across the tablet intersects the address of Innini and, if not
for some unknown musical purpose, must be regarded as an error.
174
For the construction, see Sumerian Grammar, § 91.
175
GA = našû, variant of ga (ILA) = našû. The figure of lifting the foot and
raising the hand (line 30) to Enlil refers to the attitude of adoration assumed
by the mother goddess as she stands before one of the gods and intercedes for
mankind. She is frequently depicted on seals in this attitude; see for example
WARD{FNS, Seal Cylinders of Western Asia, 303a, 304, 308, etc.
176
The suffixed pronoun mu with affixed preposition ra.
177
Innini is compared to the sudin-bird in SBP. 6, 16 also.
26. ... ge me-ri-mu-šú nu-GA-e

26. [As I was ...] my foot I lifted not.
27. [d.Mu-ul-lil ?]-e me-ri-mu-šú ù178 -GA-e

27. [But unto Enlil] I would lift my foot.
28. ... -ra ga-ám-ši-rá

28. Unto ... verily I will go;
29. [me-ri]-mu-šú ga-mu-ni-ib-GA

29. My foot I will lift.
30. [a-a-mu]lu-lu-mu-ùr ga-ám-ši-rá

30. To my father, my benefactor, verily I will go;
31. me-ri-mu-šú ga-mu-ni-ib-GA

31. My foot I will lift.
32. d.Mu-ul-lil-ra šu-mu-šú ga-mu-ni-ib-GA

32. Unto Enlil my hand I will raise;
33. me-ri-mu-šú ga-mu-ni-ib-GA

33. my foot I will lift.
[268]
34. me-e d.Mu-ul-lil-ra um-ma dé-til

35. ... mu179 -mu-na-da- ab- dúg
34. I unto Enlil will say, “May the mother live.”
36. a-a-mu lu-lu-mu-ùr ab-ba dé-til

37. ... mu-mu-na-da-ab- dúg
36. Unto my father, my benefactor, I will say, “May the father
live.”
178
For the optative use of this vowel, see Sumerian Grammar, § 217.
179
Dialectic for du = da = ga (by vowel harmony). Note the form ga-mu-
ra-ab-šid with variant da-mu-ra-ab-šid, Sumerian Liturgical Texts, 155, 30
(variant unpublished). See also Sumerian Grammar, § 50.
53
38. gù-gù gù-si-di mu-mu-na-ám-mar

38. Words which set aright all things I will say.
39. urú-me-a ama dumu dé-im-me

40. ... dumu ama dé-im-me
39. In my city may the mother hail her son, may the son hail his
mother.180
41. nibru-(ki)-a ama dumu-dé-im-me

41. In Nippur may the mother hail her son,
42. ... dumu ama dé-im-me

42. may the son hail his mother.
43. ùz181 -e síl-bi #e-im-ši-ib-še-gi-en

43. To ewe and her lamb may he be propitious.
44. e-ne-em d.Mu-ul-lil-lá UZ-dé182 , Kultlieder, 123 III 9, where

it is followed by dé.
máš-bi
45. ... #e-en-ši-ib-še-gi-en
44. May the word of Enlil be propitious to the she-goat and her
kid.
46. d.Mu-ul-lil-ra uru-ni še-ib nibru-(ki)

46. For Enlil, his city, brick-walled
47. ki-bi ga-mu-na-ab-gí

47. Nippur, unto its place I will restore.”
180
For the idea, see also SBP. 292, 25-29.
181
For ŠURIM with value uz=la ru, see THOMPSON{FNS, Reports 103, 11
and supply u-uz in CT. 12, 26a 22.
182
The sign for enzu certainly has a phonetic value ending in d; note NIKOLSKI
NO. 262{FNS, where the sign is followed by da and ZIMMERN{FNS
48. ní-na-teg ní-na-teg ama-mu ní-na teg

48. She offers devotion, she offers devotion, my mother offers
devotion.
Lamentation on the Pillage of

Lagash by the Elamites. 2154 (No.
6)
This neatly written but seriously damaged single column tablet
carried when complete about fifty-five lines. In style the liturgical
[269] lamentation has a striking resemblance to the lamentation on
the invasion of Sumer by the people of Gutium, published in the
author's Sumerian Liturgical Texts, 120-124. The same refrain,
“How long? oh my destroyed city and my destroyed temple,
sadly I wail,” distinguishes both compositions.183 Other lines
are common to both threnodies. The contents are similar to
the lamentation on Lagash published in Cuneiform Texts of the
British Museum, Vol. XV 22, of which ZIMMERN has published
a variant VAT. 617 Rev. II 10-42, in his Sumerische Kultleider.
A translation of the British Museum text will be found in the
author's Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms, p. 284, an edition
which can now be improved.
1. a-a[...]
1. Father [
183
See lines 3, 23, 31 and 44 below and lines 5, 14, 21, 27 and 34 of the
parallel text in the volume cited above.
55
2. ? dingir[...]
2. ...
3. a uru-gul-la é-[gul-la-mu gíg-ga-bi im-mi]

3. How long? oh my destroyed city, my destroyed temple, sadly
I wail.184
4. ud-ba enim ud-dam bi-[...]

4. At that time the word like a storm ...
5. enim d.En-lil-lá [...]

5. The word of Enlil ...
6. d.En-lil galu nam-tar [...]

6. Enlil who the fate of ... determined.
7. d.En-lil-li nim-[...]
7. Enlil ...
8. d.Mà-mà185 dumugu [...]

8. Mama the princely son ...
9. d.Nin-mar-(ki)-ra-ge gú[...]
9. Ninmar ...
10. azag d g-zagin gišmá-gal-gal-la bal-[...]

10. The holy one who lapis lazuli in great ships ...
11. nin nig-ga-šù igi-[...]-ti-la a azag pi-el ...

11. The queen ... humiliates ...
[270]
12. nin-e KA.? gim NE-a im-da-ra?

12. The queen ...
13. ki lagaš-(ki) nim-ki šu-ni-a im-ma-ši-in-gí

13. The land of Lagash he abandoned unto the hand of Elam.
14. ud-bi-a nin-e ... ud-da-ni sá-nam-ga186 -mu-ni-ib-dúg

14. At that time his wrathful word verily attained the queen.
15. d.Ba-ú galu-sukal-lu-gim ud-da-ni sá- nam-ga-mu-ni-ib-dúg

15. His wrathful word attained unto the divine Bau even as a
messenger.
16. me-li-e-a ud-dé šu-ni-a im-ma-ši-in-gí

16. Woe is me, the spirit of wrath into her hand he entrusted.
17. ud uru gul-gul-e šu-ni-a im-ma-ši-in-gí

17. The spirit of wrath that destroys the city into her hand he
entrusted.
18. ud é gul-gul-e šu-ni-a im-ma-ši-in-gí

18. The spirit of wrath that destroys the temple into her hand he
entrusted.
184
This refrain occurs also in Sumerian Liturgical Texts, 121, 5; 122, 14,
17; 123, 21, 27, 34, where it characterizes a lamentation for various cities of
Sumer destroyed by an invasion from Gutium. The translation given above is
preferable to the interpretation accepted in my previous volume.
185
Title of Sin in CT. 25, 42, 5. Note also that dumugu is a title of Sin, II Raw.
48, 33, and CT. 24, 30, 5.
186
For namga as an emphatic adverb, see Journal of the Society of Oriental
Research, I 20, Metropolitan Syllabar, Obv. I 12-15. Variant nanga, Sumerian
Liturgical Texts, 188, 1, 4 and 5.
57
19. [uru?] d.Dumu-zi-abzu-ge-ta ki nir-ša-ki-ba-ge im187 -ma

ba-an-teg188
19. In the city(?) of Tammuz of the sea, the place of wailing ...
terror it caused.
20. ... nir-šag-(ki) uru nam-šibir-ka ni-3ar-3ar-ge izi-ba-ab-dúg

20. The city ... nirsag, city of ... with fire it consumed.
21. ... uru(?)-ni Nin -(ki)-a kur-ri ba-ab-gar189

21. ... of her city Nin it seized away to the mountains.
22. [Si]rar190 -(ki) ki-dúr kenag-gà-ni #ul-gál-e ba-ab-šub

22. Sirar her beloved habitation an evil one has overthrown.
23. [a uru]-gul-la é-gul-la-mu gíg-ga-bi191 im-me

23. How long? my destroyed city, my destroyed temple, sadly I
wail.
24. [gè-pàr]192 azag nam-en-na-ba šu-ba-e-lá-lal

24. Of the holy “Dark Chamber” the priestly rites are suspended.
[271]
25. [en]-bi gè-pàr-ta ba-da-an-3ar ki-erim-e ba-ab-KA(du)193

25. Its high priest from the “Dark Chamber” has been taken and
unto the land of the foe has gone.
187
The scribe has written im twice.
188
Cf. SBP. 4, 6.
189
gar is employed as a variant of kar, see Sum. Gr. 223. For gar in this sense,
note gar = ša+ tu, nas +u in the syllabars. See also SBP. 198, 14 and note 15.
The same sense of gar will be found in Gudea, Cyl. A 6, 16; 7, 14; St. B 9, 16;
Cyl. A 12, 25.
190
The third sign of this ideogram is clearly UNU not NINA on the tablet. For
the ideogram see SBP. 284, 6.
191
For the adverbial force of bi see Sum. Gr. § 72.
192
Restored from Sumerian Liturgical Texts, 123 31, and below line 45.
193
KA with value du = al ku occurs here for the first time. Variant has du (line
33). This text supplies two more signs and makes possible a better translation.
26. ... KU-si-na d.Nannar-ka da-dugud ba-ši-in-du

26.
27. ... gan kaskal-gid d.Nannar-ka tùr-dugud ...

27.
28. ... 3ar-ra-gim íb-ri ba-ra- ...

28.
29. ... gim íb-ri ba-an-de i-im-gul-gul-lu-ne194

29. ... they destroyed.
30. ... azag-ga-bi im-zí-ir-zí-ri195 -e-ne ... -e-ne

30. Of the ... its holy ... they shattered and ...
31. [a uru-gul]-la é-gul-la-mu gíg-ga-bi im-me

31. How long? oh my destroyed city and my destroyed temple,
sadly I wail.
32. [gè-pàr] azag nam-en-na-ba šu-ba-e-lá-lal

33. [en]-bi gè-pàr-ta ba-da-an-3ar ki-erim-e ba- ab- du

34. ... gid-da-bi[...]a-nir ba-an-da-di

34.
35. ... -bi nu gud-du sag me-te-a-áš li-be-íb-gál

35.
194
Cf. Babylonian Liturgies, No. 78, 3.
195
Cf. PBS. XII No. 6 Obv. 11.
59
36. ... KA íb-bi ba-ra-an-kád196

36.
37. ... a ... a-ri-a-e ba-da-ab-lal

37. ... has bound with him(?)
38. ... ka lù-erím-e ba-an-?

38. The ... of the ... the foe has ...
39. ... -da(?)-ab-ag

39.
40. é ... -sug-ga ba-an-dk

40.
[272]
41. ki ... LU a-ri tùr-dugud-gim ba-gul

41. ... like a ruined cattle stall has been destroyed.
42. dingir Nin [...] mà [...] g-r kúr ba-ra-an-ku

42. As for the goddess Nin ... her ... the foe has set his foot.197
43. d.Nin-lí-ga-ge im ... na er-ni-šéš-šéš

43. Ninliga ... weeps bitterly.
44. a uru-gul-la é-gul-la-mu gíg-ga-bi im-me

sadly I wail.
45. gè-pàr-azag nam-en-na-ba198 šu-ba-e-lá-[lal]

196
Identification uncertain.
197
The line is parallel to PBS. X 122, 13.
198
nam-en-na = enûtu, priesthood.
46. en-bi gè-pàr-ta ba-[da-an-3ar ki-erim-e ba-ab-KA(du)]

47. d.Nin-a-zu-ge ...

47. Ninazu199 ...
48. d.Nin-#ar-sag ...

48. Ninharsag ...
49. tu-(#u)-gim ...

49. Like a dove ...
50. a uru-gul-la é-gul-la-mu gíg-ga-bi im-me

sadly I wail.
...
...200
199
A title of Nergal.
200
About four lines are broken away to the end of the tablet.
61
Lamentation to Innini on the

Sorrows of Erech. 13859 (Poebel
No. 26)
This well preserved single column tablet is published by POEBEL
in PBS. V 26. The composition reflects the standard theological
ideas found in the canonical psalms and liturgies. The mother
goddess Innini is represented as a divine mother wailing for the
misery of her city and her people. The calamity consists in the [273]
pillage of the city and its holy places by a foreign invader, who is
repeatedly compared to an ox. Like the ordinary psalms of public
service the singers abruptly introduce the goddess speaking in
the first person as in lines 16; 18-20; 33-4. But the lamentation
does not have refrains and at the end the style approaches nearly
that of a prayer. The tablet also bears no liturgical note at the
end. For these reasons and because of the general impression
which the lines leave with the present interpreter, he classifies
this text as the product of a scholastic liturgist of the Ur or Isin
period whose work was not incorporated into the corpus of the
official breviary.
OBVERSE
1. zabar aga-[zu?] im-gkr-gkr-ri
1. Oh pure one thy(?) crown overawes.
2. til-igi-da201 -zu ... im-bi-bi-ri

2. Thy proceeding arrow scatters the....
201
igi-da occurs also in the title of Sin, igi-da-gál, ZIMMERN{FNS, KL., No.
1 Obv. I 3 and 6. The most natural interpretation is to regard da as a variant of
du, hence “to go before.”
3. zíd202 -gu-šig su#ur-sk-lal (#a)-da ... -kùr....

3. Meal of the ... bean to the beared skate-fish thou givest to eat.
4. eg #a s-g eg-eg #a sm-lum-ma-gim im-bul-[...]—

4. She that gives fish to the stream, in the streams fish (as
numerous) as dates she causes to dart about.
5. gud-dam ra e-sir unug-(ki)-ga-ge šár-ám mu-na-ab(?)- ... uš

5. Rushing like an ox in the street of Erech like a multitude(?)
he followed203
6. šár-ra giš-KU-A204 mu-na-an-dúr-ru-ne-eš

6. Multitudinously in the habitations they dwelled.
[274]
7. šattam-a-ni lugal gab-gál205 ki-gub-bu-ne ba-ra-è

7. Her precentor,206 the defender king, whither they go, went up.
8. ugnim-e igi-im- ma- an- s-g

8. The hosts of peoples she beholds.
9. nar-e li-du-a šu-i-ni-in-gí mb207 šu-na be-in-šub

9. The singer refuses to chant and from his hand has thrown the
drum.
202
Written túg. gu-šig is a kind of plant, on a tablet of the Tello Collection in
Constantinople, MIO. 7086. For the meal of the gu-šig see also CT. X 20, II
33 and REISNER{FNS, Templeurkunden, 128 Col. III.
203
Restored from line 14. Here begins the rehearsal of the woes of Erech.
204
Cf. also CT. 15, 19 Rev. 2 where a place word is also expected.
205
Cf. Gudea, St. B 9, 27.
206
Semitic šattamma a title employed in later times apparently in a secular
sense. Originally it has a sacred meaning and probably denoted a musical
director who was also a priest. The application of a priestly title to the king is
in accord with his royal prerogatives.
207
The sign is Br. 8899.
63
10. ni208 -nag-a-zu ni-nag-a-zu

10. Thou drinkest not; thou drinkest not.
11. a209 nu-e-nag amaš-zu um-mi-ni-nag

11. Water thou drinkest not, but thy sheepfolds drink.
12. ni-nag-a-zu ni-nag-a-zu

12. Thou drinkest not; thou drinkest not.
13. kaš nu-e-nag ùš210 -zu um-mu-ni-nag

13. Beer thou drinkest not, but thy protégés drink.
14. gud-dam e211 e-sir unug-(ki)-ga-ge šár-ám ma-ra-mi-ù-uš

14. Like an ox going forth in the streets of Erech like a
multitude(?) he pursues thee.
15. šar-ra-ám giš-KU-A ma-ra-dúr-ru-ne-eš

15. In multitudes they have taken up their abodes in the
habitations.
16. mèn212 a-na-ag-en sal-e mà-a ma-an-dúg-ga sal-un-ne213

mèn-ne-en
16. As for me what shall I do? I who have bestowed care. A
sacred devotee I am.
17. gud-dam e ib-tag-ra be-in-ra ni-zu214 e-ne-ib-uš

17. Coming forth like an ox, hastening in destructive fury he
came; even thee thyself he pursued.
208
For ni = nu, see SBP. 138, 22, ni-kuš-ù = nu-kuš-ù; SBH. 70, 3 = 131, 48.
Read li?
209
Text GAR!
210
BAD = kidinu, has the value uš; cf. uš-sa = kuddinu, Br. 5061.
211
e is here interpreted as a phonetic variant of UD-DU. Cf. also e-dam in
SBP. 118, 39.
212
This is the first example of this form employed as subject.
213
The text is difficult. UN is certain but the sign SAL is not clear on the tablet.
214
Text SU.
18. šar-úr á nam-ur-sag-gà-mu šu-nu-um-ma-ti

18. The šar-ur weapon, arm of my heroic power I have taken
not in my hand.
[275]
19. é #allab-mà a-gil-zu215 -bi dal-la mi-ni-gí216

19. Of my temple in Hallab its treasures he has hidden far away.
20. giš-dal é-an-na pa-ba mi-ni-in-kud

20. Of the tallu217 of Eanna its PA he broke off.
21. gud-dam sil-šú im-ma-na-ra-è

21. Like an ox he came up against thee on the highways.
22. gud-dam e e-sir unu-(ki)-ga-ge šár-ra mu-ni-in-gaz

22. Like an ox going forth in the streets of Erech he slaughtered
multitudes(?).
23. šár-ra giš-KU-A-a-na mu-ni-in-d+g

23. Multitudes in their habitations he caused to die.
24. giš-ig ká-gal-la im-ma-an-gmr-gmr

24. The doors of the city gate he shattered.
25. a-tu#218 -na-ka ... im-ma-an-è

25. Her defender he caused to go forth,
215
Phonetic variant of gil-sa = sukuttu. The prefix a is difficult and probably
the noun augment, see Sum. Gr. § 148. The vowel a seems to possess another
sense in SBP. 284, 1.
216
gí = pi+û, confine, RA. 9, 77 I, 10; note also é-a-ám gí = ina bîti pi+û, K.
41 Col. II 12.
217
Part of the door; see VAB. IV Index.
218
Variant of á-ta# = rêcu. The final ka is for the emphatic ge in the status
obliquus (ga). This emphatic particle is here attached to the object which is
not a construct formation, but the choice of ka for ge is probably influenced
by the principle of employing the oblique case of the construct when the noun
in question is in the accusative; see Sum. Gr. § 135. “Defender” refers to
Tammuz.
65
26. šu-PEŠ219 dumu šu-PEŠ d.Innini-ge

26. The fisherman, the son fisherman of Innini.
27. šen-urudu mu-na-an-bar-ri-ia-dúg220

27. The copper vessels he scattered.
28. gud-dam ra ... im-ma-an-ra-a#

28. Hastening like an ox he has wrought demolition.
29. gud-dam e er-im-ma-an-šub221 sîg-sîg-ni-mà-mal222

29. Coming forth like an ox tears he has caused to fall and
misery he caused to be.
[276]
d.
30. Innini zig223 -mu
sum-ma-ab
30. Oh Innini, grant me favor.
31. gud kur-ra ga-mu-ra-ab-sum tùr-zu ga-mu-ra-ah-lu224

31. Oxen of the mountains I will give thee; thy stables I will
enrich for thee.
219
The same title in PBS. V 2 Obv. II 23, dDumu-zi šu-PEŠ. POEBEL{FNS
interpreted this as a variant of šu-#a = ba'iru, fisherman, and his suggestion is
probably correct. We have, however, to consider the possibility of a confusion
with kam = ukkušu, the afflicted, SAI. 5082.
220
The rise of the semi-vowel i between the vowels a-a occurs under similar
circumstances in igi-#e-ni-ib-ila-ia-dúg, RADAU{FNS, Miscellaneous Texts,
No. 4, 5. See also Sum. Gr. § 38, 2. The form above arose from bar-ri-a-a-dúg.
The prefixed element dúg falls under § 153 of the Grammar. bar = sap +u is a
variant par, to spread out, scatter.
221
šub, to let fall, hence tab ku, to pour out. Heretofore this meaning of šub
was known only from the forms al-šù-šù-be = ittanatbak, SBH. No. 62, 15,
and forms cited by MEISSNER{FNS, SAI. 8345. See also šu from šub, ibid.,
8334 and al-šù-šù-be, MVAG, 1913 pt. 2 p. 49, 16.
222
The same passage occurs in Ni. 13856 II 13. sîg-sîg = ša3ummatu, variant
of s+g-s+g.
223
zig is probably phonetic for šeg = mag ru, see Sum. Gr. 258, zig7.
224
lu from lum = dašû, dišû, passim.
32. udu ... kur-ra ... ga-mu-ra-ab-sum amaš-zu ga-mu-ra-ab-lu

32. Sheep of the mountains I will give thee; thy sheepfolds I
will enrich for thee.
33. azag d.Innini-ge mu-na-ni-íb-gí-gí225

33. Holy Innini replied:—
34. a-šag #allab-(ki)-a dúr-gar be-e-gar-ra e-ku226 ni-nad-ba

34. “In the plains of Hallab thou shalt make thy abode where the
people repose.”
35. ama-ba227 ... g-r(?) ... #a-ra-ab-túg-e balag-al228 #u-mu-ra-

ab-bi
35. May their hosts attend(?) thee and proclaim to thee on lyre
and harp(?)
36. d.Innini nam-ur-sag-[zu]229 ga-ám-dúg

36. Oh Innini, I will rehearse thy valor.
37. zag-sal-zu ... dug-ga-ám

37. It is good to sing thy praise.
225
Cf. also PBS. V 25 I 15; II 13 mu-na-ni-ib-gí-gí.
226
eku from uku by dissimilation of vowels. See also REISNER{FNS, SBH. 77,
17.
227
For ama = ummatu, umman tu, see Sum. Gr. 202, ama2 and
WEIDNER{FNS, Handbuch der Babylonischen Astronomie, p. 86, 4.
228
See, for the musical instrument AL, Sumerian Liturgical Texts, Index, p.
221.
229
Text omits zu, which is not on the tablet.
Liturgical Hymn to Sin. 8097 (No. 7) 67
Liturgical Hymn to Sin. 8097 (No. 7)

This liturgical composition consists of two melodies each
designated by the rubric sagarram, “It is a sagar.” The entire
service is sung to the tigû, a kind of flute. In the first melody of
fifteen lines the choir chant the glory of the moon god and his
city Ur. The second melody of twenty-four lines is apparently
an address of the earth god Enlil to his son the moon god. This
melody must remain obscure as long as the recurring liturgical
phrase áb-mu-ba-ši-in-dib is unexplained. [277]
....
....
5. [...]-ni éš uri-ki mu-šú ba-an-sá

5. His city(?) the abode of Ur as a name he named.
6. en ud-sud-du-ge uru-ni-ta
6. As lord unto eternal days in his city,
7. d.Zu-en-e kidur230 ba-ni-in-gar

7. The god Sin he231 caused to abide.
8. uri-ki uru šag-gi-pad-da-na

8. In Ur the city which his heart has chosen
9. è gud-gim ub-im-me
9. The temple like a strong bull calls unto the regions(?)232
230
Written KU-KI Cf. also CT. 16, 44, 80 KU-KI-gar-ra-bi = ina aš bi-šu.
231
Enlil.
232
A reading ár-im-me, “it is glorified,” suggests itself. Cf. SBH. 93, 1.
10. lugal-mu ... sá-rin-na-ni233

10. Of my king, may his net(?)
11. ki-ma# ki-kal-kal #e-en-na-nam-ma-ám

11. Be upon tomb and ruins.
12. d.Zu-en-e uru kenag-gà-ni

12. Of Sin, may his beloved city,
13. eš uri-(ki) me-azag-azag-ga....

13. The dwelling-place Ur, with holy decrees a city....
14. lugal-mu bara....

14. Of my king may his chapel....
15. [...]-e nin [...] gar-ra....

15. ....
16. sa- [gar-] ra- ám234

16. It is a sagar melody.
17. e235 d.Nannar [ áb -] zu me-a mu-'u-lu en d.Áš-ìm-ür

17. Hail! Nannar, of the flocks(?) thou art ruler, lord Ašimur.
19. uru igi-ila éš šag [-gál ul- ] ti236 , “Personal Names of the
Form fu ul,” p. 50. Note also ul-ti-a = + bcatum,
PBS. V ibid. l. 12. The hymn to Sin, SBP. 296,
contains in line 14 the same phrase.
-a-ni-mà
19. In my city of the lifting of the eyes, the home of his own
abode, which is his fulness of luxury,
233
Cf. TSA. 31 Obv. II.
234
See PBS. Vol. XII 12.
235
Cf. SBP. 295, 17.
236
ul-ti = +ubucu, “the lusty man,” POEBEL{FNS, PBS. V 136 V 13, with
which compare n. pra. *ubbucu, *ubbuctu, in HOLMA{FNS
20. šuruppak-gim [nam-#ar-]-gud-e237 gál-la-bi

20. Whose design is like Šuruppak,
21. ...-e.... áb-mu-ba-ši-in-dib

21. ....I have caused him to be a shepherd(?)
22. [e dumu] e.En-lil-lá kalama me-a mu-'u-lu en d.Áš-ìm-ür

22. [Hail! son] of Enlil, in the Land he is ruler, lord Ašimur.
[278]
24. [uru igi-] ila éš-šag-gál ul-[ti]-a-ni-mà

24. Into my city of the lifting of the eyes, the home of his own
abode, which is his fulness of luxury,
25. [šuruppak]-gim nam-#ar-gud-[e] gál-la-bi

25. Whose design is like Šuruppak,
REVERSE
1. [... áb-mu-ba-] ši-in-dib
1. [...] I have caused him to be a shepherd(?)
2. [dumu-sag d.En-lil-lá kalama me-a] mu-'u-lu en d.Áš-ìm-ür

2. [First son of Enlil, in the Land he is] ruler, lord Ašimur,
4. [ud-]-dug-ga [ki-gar-ra mu-šú ga]-sá-a

4. [“He that institutes battle” ] as a name I name.
5. d.Áš-ìm-[ür šag]-gi-pad-da-mu
5. Ašimur the ... whom my heart has chosen,
6. é-mud-[kur-ra-mu]238 copied the sign wrongly.

áb-mu-ba-ši-in-dib
6. In Emudkurramu I caused to be a shepherd(?).
237
Text not entirely certain. If correctly read the signs *AR-GUD = kabattu
must be read in SBP. 48, 45 after the variant SBH. 3, 10.
238
Restored from line 10. The only previous occurrence of this name is in
SMITH'S{FNS Miscellaneous Texts, 11, 1 which has RI not MU. The end of the
name is broken in BL. No, 27. Perhaps SMITH{FNS
7. dumu-sag d.En-lil-lá kalama me-a mu-'u-lu

7. First son of Enlil, in the Land he is ruler.
8. ud-dug-ga239 -ki-gar-ra mu-[šú] ga-sá-a

8. “He that institutes battle” as a name I name.
9. d.Áš-ìm-ür me-en ki [šag]-gi-pad-da-mu

9. Ašimur thou art; where my heart has chosen,
10. é-mud-kur-ra-mu áb-[mu-ba]-ši-in- dib

10. In Emudkurramu I have caused thee to be a shepherd(?).
11-12. lugal tùr-azag-ga áb-zu me-a mu-'u-lu šul-pa

munsub-nun-na
11-12. Lord of the clean sheepfolds, ruler of the flocks is he, the
glorious(?) hero, far famed shepherd.
13. šag-túm-ma bara ša mu-un-dk eš-e uri-(ki)-mu-[šú]

13. In the meadow a sanctuary I have built; in the abode of my
city Ur,
[279]
14. é-šág-nam-sar kur Dilmun-na nam

14. In the temple Šagnamsar240 which is in the mount of
Dilmun,
15. é-gi-azag-bi-a áb mu-ba-ši-in-dib

15. In the temple of the holy stylus a shepherd I caused him to
be(?)
239
Pronounced udugga = caltu.
240
The name as transliterated means mudammi3 musarrê, “Temple of the
benefactor of writing.” In line 15 its holy reed is mentioned, a mythical stylus
symbolic of the god of wisdom, Enki, according to SAK. 6 h.
16. dumu-sag d.En-lil-lá kalama me-a mu-'u-lu šul-pa munsub

nun-na
16. First son of Enlil, in the Land he is ruler, glorious(?) hero,
far famed shepherd.
18. šag-túm-ma bara ša-mu-un-dk éš-e uri-ki-mu-šú

18. In the meadow a sanctuary I built; in the abode of my city
Ur,
19. é-šá-nam-sar kur Dilmun-na nam

19. In the temple Šagnamsar which is in the mount of Dilmun,
20. é-gi-azag-bi-a áb-mu-ba-ši-in-dib

20. In the temple of the holy stylus a shepherd I have caused
him to be(?)
21. sa-gar- ra- ám

21. It is a sagar melody.
22. nar-balag241 d.Zu-en-na

22. Song on the flute to Sin.
241
nar-balag = tigû, a kind of flute. Here the word indicates that in the musical
accompaniment this instrument was employed. It probably denotes a specific
kind of melody. Three other musical instruments have given their names to
classes of melodies, the eršemma, balag and me-zí, see SBP. page IX, and BL.
page XXXVIII.
Lamentation on the Destruction of

Ur. 7080 (No. 11)
The fragment Ni. 7080 carries the right half of one of the largest
literary tablets in the Museum. Broken evenly at the center
from top to bottom the right half of this tablet preserves part
of Col. III and all of Cols. IV, V of the obverse. The reverse
correspondingly contains Cols. I, II and half of Col. III. Like
so many similar liturgical compositions of the period of Ur this
lamentation is divided into a series of kišubs or songs, here of
[280] unusually great length. The third song ends at Obv. III 38;
its first line stood in Obv. II, which has been lost. The fourth
song began at Obv. III 42 and ends at Obv. IV 23, containing
thirty-four lines. The fifth song begins at Obv. IV 27 and ends at
Obv. V 7, containing forty-seven lines. In the following pages
will be found a translation of twenty-three lines of the end of the
fourth song which describes the wrathful word of the gods Anu
and Enlil. The fifth song, a remarkable ode to the wrathful word
of Enlil, has been translated so far as the text permits.
The sixth song begins at Obv. V 11, and probably terminated
in the broken passage at the top of Rev. I. Its length was also
unusual, having at least forty-five lines. This song was edited
on a small tablet Ni. 4584 on which the beginning and the end
of the section are preserved. It has been published as No. 10
in Sumerian Liturgical Texts, Vol. X of the Publications of the
Babylonian Section. Only a few lines at the commencement of
this song have been translated here. From this point onward the
language of the liturgy presents such difficulty that the writer has
been unable to offer a translation.
Lamentation on the Destruction of Ur. 7080 (No. 11) 73
Section seven probably ended at the top of Rev. II and refers

throughout to the mother goddess who weeps over the ruins
of Ur. The eighth song probably began at the top of Rev. II
and ended perhaps at the top of Rev. III. It is another doleful
ode to the weeping mother and many of its lines are clear and
translatable. The entire song is marked by sorrowful refrains:
me-li-e-a uru-mu nu-me-a, Oh woe is me, my city is no more.242
a-uru-mu im-me, How long? oh my city I cry.243 me-li-e-a
uru-ta è-a-mèn, Oh woe is me, from the city I depart.244 dingir
ga-ša-an-gal-mèn é-ta è-a-mèn, Great divine queen am I, from [281]
the temple I depart.245 er-gig ni-šéš-šéš, She weeps bitterly.246
Only the ends of lines of a large part of the ninth song are
preserved in Rev. III. The tenth song probably occupied most
of the space in Rev. IV. Speculation concerning the number of
songs in the entire liturgy is limited to the number of about 11-13.
The liturgy was, therefore, extremely long, attaining to a content
of about 500 lines. We know from the single tablet variant of
the sixth song that another edition of this series existed in which
small tablets carried each a single kišub. A similar condition
of editorial redaction is revealed by ZIMMERN, KL. 200, a small
tablet which contains the twelfth song of a liturgy to the deified
king of Isin, Išme-Dagan.
The historical event referred to in this liturgy is undoubtedly
the destruction of Ur in the time of Ibi-Sin, last of the kings of the
Ur dynasty. This calamity left many traces in the temple songs
of Sumer, and the Sumerian prayer books of Nippur contain
other lamentations on the fall of Ur, written perhaps during the
Isin period. The writer has already published a single column
tablet which rehearses the same catastrophe, mentioning Ibi-Sin
242
Rev. II 22.
243
Rev. II 19.
244
Rev. II 29.
245
Rev. II 30.
246
Rev. II 37:41. Cf. er-gig mu-un-šéš-šéš, ZIMMERN{FNS, KL. 25 II 2 f.
himself and naming the Elamites as his captors.247

OBVERSE IV
1. an-ni e-ne-em-bi ba-ra-mu-un-gur
1. Anu may prevent his word.
2. d.Mu-ul-lil-e ni248 -šág #e-ám-bi

2. Enlil may order kindness.
3. ... šag-mu ba-ra-be-in-šed-di

3. And may my heart be at peace from sorrow.
[282]
4. [...-]su-ud arad-na sag ki-ba-da-ab-gál-la

4.
5. [ ]-nae-ne-em-súr-ragur-da-bi
5. [ ] the angry word be prevented.
6. [ ] ba-da-an-dúr-ru-ne-eš-a
6.
7. ùr-#e-im-ma-gid-gid-da #e-im-ma-lal-lá
7. The foundations it has annihilated, and reduced to the misery
of silence.
8. an-ra a-i-ne-mà me-e #e-im-ma-na-dúg

8. Unto Anu I will cry my “how long?”
9. d.Mu-ul-lil-ra ní-mu šag-ne-du #e-im-ma-ag

9. Unto Enlil I myself will pray.
10. uru-mu nam-ma-gul-lu #e-im-me-ne-dúg

10. “My city has been destroyed” will I tell them.
247
See Historical and Religious Texts 5-8.
248
nig to ni.
11. Uri-(ki) nam-ma-gul-lu #e-im-me-ne-dúg

11. “Ur has been destroyed” will I tell them.
12. uku-bi nam-ma-bir(?)-e #e-im-me-ne-dúg249

12. “Its people have been scattered” will I tell them.
13. an-ni e-ne-em-bi ba-ra-mu-un-gur

13. May Anu prevent his word.
14. d.Mu-ul-lil-e ni-šág #e-ám- bi

14. May Enlil order kindness.
15. šag-mu ba-ra-be-in-šed-di

15. And may my heart be at peace from sorrow.
16. uru-mu gul-gul-lu-ba-da-bi #e-im-ma-an-?-eš

16. My city which has been destroyed may they ...
17. Uri-(ki) gul-gul-lu-ba-da-bi #e-im-ma-an-?-eš

17. Ur which has been destroyed may they ...
18. uku-bi dìg gi-bil-šu ág-bi #a-ba-an-kar-ri-eš

18. Of its slain people may they decree a new dispensation.250
19. me-e nig-dúg-mu mu-ne-sum-ma-gim251

19. I will offer my meditations unto them.
20. me-e uru-mu-da #e-en-bi mu-un-da-lal-eš

20. I (will say to them): “In my city they have despised the
splendor.”
21. Uri-(ki) mu-durun-da #e-en-bi mu-(un)-da-lal-e-eš

21. “In Ur the city of homes they have despised the splendor.”
22. an-ni [dúg-ga-ni #ur] nu-kúr-ru-dam

22. Anu whose words in this manner change not.
[283]
d.
23. Mu-ul-lil-e eGim-bi è-a-ni ... e-dam
23. Enlil the going forth of whose word....
24. ki-šub-gú 4-kam-ma-ám

24. It is the fourth song.
25. uru-ni ba-da-gul-ám me-ni ba-da-kúr-am

25. Her city has been destroyed, her ordinances have been
changed.
26. giš-gí- gál-bi- im

27. d. En-lil-li ud-de gù-ba-an-de

27. Enlil utters the spirit of wrath
28. uku-e še-ám-šá

28. and the people wail.
29. ud #e-gál-la kalaCa-da ba-da-an-3ar

29. The spirit of wrath prosperity from the Land has destroyed
30. uku-e še-ám-šá

30. and the people wail.
31. ud dug Ki-en-gi-da ba-da-an-3ar uku-e še-ám-šá

31. The spirit of wrath peace from Sumer has taken and the
people wail.
249
Lines 50-54 on Col. III may be restored from lines 8-12.
250
Literally, “decree again their oracle.”
251
gim, emphatic suffix.
32. ud #ul-gál-e á-ba-da-an-ág uku-e še-ám-šá

32. He has sent the evil spirit of wrath and the people wail.
33. 3in-gal-ud-da ud-da-gub-ba šu-na im-ma-an-s-g

33. The “Messenger of Wrath,” the “Assisting Spirit” into its
hand he entrusted.252 , Choix, II 53, 4. On
uddugub as a title of kings see BE. 31, 22 n. 9.
34. ud kalam-tíl-tíl-e gù-ba-an-de uku-e še-ám-šá

34. He has uttered the spirit of wrath which exterminates the
Land and the people wail.
35. d.En-lil-li d.Gi-bil á-ta#-a ki-mu-na-ni-in-[ ]

35. Enlil has sent Gibil as its helper.
36. ud-gal an-na-ge gù-ba-an-de uku-e še-ám-šá

36. The great spirit of Heaven has been uttered and the people
wail.
37. ud-gal-e253 an-ta gù-ni-ib-im-me uku-e še-ám-šá

37. The mighty spirit on high he commanded forth and the
people wail.
[284]
38. ud kalam tíl-tíl-e azag ki ...

38. The spirit that annihilates the Land ...
39. im-#ul-e a-ma#-è-a-gim ...

39. The evil storm like a mounting inundation ...
252
We meet here for the first time with two avenging angels or genii who
attend the Word in its execution of the wrath of god. 2ingaludda is mentioned
as one of four evil spirits ilu limmu in CT. 25, 22, 44. He is mentioned with
the Zû bird and the demon šêdu as appearing in dream omens, BOISSIER{FNS,
DA. 207, 34. See also BOISSIER{FNS
253
The ud-gal is regarded as plural = ûmu rabûti and identified with the evil
spirits of incantations, CT. 16, 22, 266 and 276. In the Epic of Creation the
“great spirit of wrath” is one of the demons attendant upon Tiamat.
40. giš-dúr254 uru-ge sag-gaz ni-ag ...

40. The shepherd of the city it slew ...
41. an-na ùr-ba? mu-un-nigin ...

41. Of heaven its foundation it ...
42. ud-da igi-ba-ne mu-un-ne-ne ...

42.
43. bàr-bàr-ri ne-gig-edin-na tùr(?) ...

43.
44. an-ne-bar-ám ne-gùr-gùr ...

44.
45. an-ne é UD-UD è ...

45.
46. kalam-ma l g-l g-ga ...

46.
(Lines 47-55 mostly illegible.)
Col. V.
(Lines 1-6 mostly illegible.)
7. Uri-(ki)-ma túg-gim ba-e-gul ... gim ba-e-búr
7. Ur like a garment thou hast destroyed, like a ... thou hast
scattered.
8. ki-šub-gú 5-kam-ma-ám
8. It is the fifth song.
9. ud ug(?)-ám al-[ ]uku-e še-am-šá

9. The spirit of wrath like a lion ... and the people lament.
254
See PBS. X 161, 13.
10. giš- gí- gál -bi- im

11. ud-ba ud uru-da ba-da-an-gar uru-bi ...

11. At that time the spirit of wrath upon the city was wrought
and the city....255
12. a-a d.Nannar uru dim-dkl-dkl-da ba-da-an-[ ]uku-e

še-ám-šá
12. Father Nannar upon the city of master workmen ... and the
people wail.
13. ud-ba ud kalama-ta ba-da-an-kár uku-e še-ám-šá

13. At that time the spirit of wrath descended upon the Land and
the people wail.
[285]
14. uku-bi šika-kud-da [nu-me-a bar-ba ba-e-si]

14. Her people without water jars sit without her in desolation
15. bád-ba gú [?256 ]-nin [kaskala im-ma-an-gar-gar uku-e

še-ám-šá]
15. Within her ... in the ways are placed and the people wail.
16. ká-gal-ma# g-r-gál-la-[ba àd-a im-ma-] an [BAD]

16. The great city gate and the highways with the dead are
choked up.
17. duk?-tun-sìr-gim dk-a-ba [sag-bal-e] ba-ab- gar

17. Like a leather vessel all of her the usurper cast asunder(?)
18. [ ] e-sir g-r-gál-la-ba àd im-ma-an-gar-gar

18. In her ... streets and roads corpses he heaped up(?)
255
The traces on Ni. 7080 are against the restoration še-am-šá. Lines 11-19
are restored from PBS. X No. 10.
256
g-r? Variant gú-nin!
Liturgical Hymns of the Tammuz

Cult. 3656 (Myhrman No. 5)
The obverse of this fine single column tablet contained a hymn
in thirty-eight lines to the departed Tammuz. It represents the
people wailing for the lord of life who now sleeps in the lower
world. Thirteen lines have been completely broken away from the
top. The reverse carried a long liturgical song of the cult of this
god in which the mother goddess is represented wailing for her
ravished lover. Songs of the weeping mother are common enough
in these wailings for Tammuz, but all other known examples of
this motif represent the major unmarried type of mother goddess
Innini-Ishtar wandering on earth, crying for her departed son.
The hymn on our tablet reveals in a wholly unexpected manner
the close relation between the mother goddess Gula of Isin and
Innini. It was known that both sprang from a common source, a
prehistoric unmarried goddess, but one had hardly supposed that
[286] the liturgists went so far as to introduce the married goddess of
Isin in the rôle of the virgin mother Innini. The great mother
divinity of Isin, although attached in a loose way to a male
consort Ninurta, in that city retained, nevertheless, much of her
ancient unattached character. In the standard liturgies she is
almost invariably the type of Weeping mother, whereas Innini
is this type in the Tammuz liturgies. Since Gula of Isin was
the ordinary liturgical type we find the influence of the ordinary
liturgies effective in the composition of the Tammuz hymn. It
explains the extraordinary phenomenon of the introduction of a
long passage (Rev. 3-10) from one of the wailing liturgies. And
the short litany refrain lines 11-20 is obviously an imitation of
numberless similar passages of the ordinary liturgies in which
81
the goddess wails for various temples; here only for Nippur and
Isin, since the composition was written for the services at Nippur
in the period of the Isin dynasty. In a most gratifying manner
our tablet shows how the lamentations of the mother goddess in
the canonical prayer books express sorrows for certain concrete
misfortunes and certain defined temples and cities and find
their general expression in the lamentations for Tammuz, the
representative of all human vicissitudes. This edition has been
made from my own copy. The tablet was first published by
MYHRMAN, PBS. Vol. I No. 5, and by RADAU, BE. 30 No. 2. To
these copies I have been able to make only slight additions.
HYMNS OF THE TAMMUZ CULT
1. KU-? [ ]
1.
2. kalag giš [ ]
2. Oh strong one [ ]
3. me-ri kuš-ù-[zu257 ]
3. Thy weary foot [ ]
[287]
4. á-lirum-šu258 -[kuš-ù-zu
... ]
4. Thy weary arms—breast—hands [ ]
5. a-zu259 -guruš a-zu [ ]

5. Oh strong healer, oh ... healer [ ]
6. kalag d.Da-mu-mu [ ]
6. Oh strong one, my Damu [ ]
7. mu-mu ù-mu-un mu-zi-da [ ]

7. Oh child, lord Gišzida [ ]
257
Cf. RA. 12, 37, 1.
258
So from my copy and CT. IV 4b 12 = Babyloniaca, III 17.
259
For this title of Tammuz, see Tammuz and Ishtar, 34.
8. a-zu a dam ... ni-kuš-ù-a-zu

8. Oh healer, how long husband ... wilt thou be weary?
9. a-zu a mu-mu ... ni-kuš-ù-a-zu

9. Oh healer, how long son ... wilt thou be weary?
10. i-dé (?) ... mu-ru ? [na?] zu-dé

10. When before ... thou sittest,
11. kalag da-ga-ám-ma260 -ni ... zu-dé

11. Oh strong one, when into his assembly thou ...
12. a-rib261 šu-si me-ri ... a-bal-mà na-nam

12. Alas he whose fingers and feet [are bound], my irrigator262
is he.
13. šag-zu-šú la-a#-[la-a#-]#u-a-zu

13. Because of thee she wanders far for thee.
14. kalag d.Da-mu-mu a-bal-mà na-nam

14. My sturdy Damu, my irrigator is he.
15. ama-zu mu-lu er-ri nu-kuš-ù

15. Thy mother she of lamentation rests not.
260
Probably for dagan = pu+ru, RA. 11, 144, 8. See also dakan, divine abode,
DELITZSCH{FNS, Glossar, 132.
261
Cf. SB P. 304, 13.
262
Title of Tammuz as spirit of the waters, see Tammuz and Ishtar, pp. 6 and
44. a-bal = t bik mê, pourer of water, irrigator, is the original idea of this
ideogram. For the title galu-a-bal in this sense, see CT. 13, 42, 7 ff. Ak-ki galu
abal, the gardener who cared for Sargon. See also THUREAU-DANGIN{FNS,
Lettres et Contrats, No. 174, 6-8, galu a-bal, a kind of laborer. The later usage
of the word as libator of water for the souls of the dead, Semitic nä3 mê is a
strictly conventional development, see Babyloniaca, VI 208.
83
16. ama ga-ša-an tin-dib-ba túb-bi-šú nu-durun

16. The mother, queen who gives life to the afflicted, tarries not
to repose.
17. ù-šub-ba-za ù-zi-ga-za sìr-ri-šú na-ri-bi

17. In thy perdition, in thy seizure, in melodious sighing she
speaks of thee.
18. kalag a-rin-na-za ù(?) a-tar-ra-za sìr-ri-šú na-ri-bi

18. Oh hero, in thy contumely, in thy removal, in melodious
sighing she speaks of thee.
[288]
19. ama-ugu-mu GAR-LUL-LUL-na-mu sìr-ri-šú nu-uš

ma-gub-bi
19. My child-bearing mother, my lamenter(?) with melodious
sighing behold she stands
20. kalag idim-[ma me-]en galu-kur-al

20. Oh sturdy one, prostrate thou art, a man of the land of
wailing(?)263
21. en ... me-en galu-kur-dim264

21. Oh lord, ... thou art, a man of the land of lament.
22. unu-[dagal-mu] kur-idim-ma-mu

22. In my vast chamber, in my land of misery,
23. en me-en a-ra-li ki-sag kirud-da-mu

23. A lord am I. In Aralu, place where I am cast away,
24. kalag me-en kur-ri-sud-du-šú im-ma-ab-du me-en

24. A laborer am I. Unto the faraway land I go.
263
al as synonym of DE (in line 21) is probably a variant of ilu = nagû.
264
Sign DE.
25. ud-me-e-na265 ni- ? ?

25. Daily(?) he [sorrows?]266
REVERSE
1. š -ab-er-ri267 kuš-ù-a-mu ma-a-a nad-da-[mu]
1. I weary with heart woe, where shall I rest?
2. balag-di š -ab-er-ri kuš-ù-a-mu ma-a-a nad-da-[mu]

2. Oh sing to the lyre; I weary with heart woe, where shall I rest?
3. ama uru-sag ga-ša-an tin-dib-ba mèn

3. Mother of the chief city,268 queen who gives life to the dead
am I.
4. sag-mu-an-na ga-ša-an Ì-si-in-(ki)-na mèn

4. First born daughter of heaven,269 queen of Isin am I.
5. mu-mu é-a ga-ša-an-mu270 d.Gu-nu-ra

5. Daughter of the temple, Queen Gunura.
6. tum-lu-azag ama é-š b-ba mèn

6. Holy tumlu mother of Ešabba am I.
[289]
7. d.En-á-nun271 ama gù-an-ni-si mèn

7. Enanun mother of lamentation am I.
265
This line is connected with the classical interlude ma-a-bi ud-me-na-gim
etc. discussed in SBP. 185 n. 10 and BL. XLIX.
266
Below the double line the figure 38, i.e. 38 lines on the obverse. Thirteen
lines have been broken from the top.
267
Cf. ZIMMERN{FNS, K.L., 25 II 42.
268
I. e. Isin.
269
On this title see BL. 143.
270
Probably an error. Omitted in translation.
271
On this line, see the commentary in Sumerian Liturgical Texts 173 note 3.
85
8. ga-ša-an nigín-mar-ra ki-azag-ga mèn

8. Queen of Niginmarra,272 the holy place, am I.
9. ga-ša-an áš-te273 ... ga-ša-an La-ra-ak-(ki) mèn

9. Queen of Ašte,274 queen of Larak.
10. ama é-a d.Ašnan d.Azag-sud mèn

10. Mother of the temple, Ašnan the divine lustrator275 am I.
11. š -ab-er-ri a-še-ir-ri ma-a kuš-ù-mu

11. Weeping and sighing where shall I find rest?
12. er é-kur-ra-ge ma-a kuš-ù-mu

12. Weeping for Ekur, where shall I repose?
13. er kenur-ra-ge ma-a kuš-ù-mu

13. Weeping for Kenur, where shall I repose?
14. er dù-azag-ga-ge ma-a kuš-ù-mu

14. Weeping for Duazagga, where shall I repose?
15. er é-d+m-ma276 -ge ma-a kuš-ù-mu

15. Weeping for the “House of the King,” where shall I repose?
16. er uru-sag-gà-ge ma-a kuš-ù-mu

16. Weeping for the chief city, where shall I repose?
272
Temple in Isin-Šuruppak. Šuruppak must have been a quarter of the
later and more famous Isin. Note that this temple is assigned to Šuruppak
in POEBEL{FNS, PBS. V 157, 7. The liturgies, however, constantly place
Niginmar at Isin.
273
I see traces of a sign after te.
274
Temple in Larak, a quarter of Isin. See SBP. 160 n. 7.
275
azag-sug title of the deities of lustration Ašnan, Nidaba and Gibil.
276
Rendered bit šarru, V Raw. 16, 52, probably a royal chapel or room in Ekur
especially provided for the king. See also SBP. 292, 14; KL. 25 I 11.
17. er tir-azag-ga277 -ge ma-a kuš-ù-mu

17. Weeping for the sacred forest, where shall I repose?
18. er Ì-si-in-(ki)-na-ge ma-a kuš-ù-mu

18. Weeping for Isin, where shall I repose?
19. er é-gal-ma#-a-ge ma-a kuš-ù-mu

19. Weeping for Egalmah, where shall I repose?
20. er La-ra-ak-(ki)-a-ge ma-a kuš-ù-[mu ma-a na]-d-da-bi

20. Weeping for Larak, where shall I repose, where shall he rest?
21. š -ab dam-e-mu ša-ab [tu-mu-]278 mu

21. The ravished one my husband, the ravished one, my son,
22. [...] ki-el-la š b mu-ud-na-mu

22. [In ... ] the clean place, the ravished one my spouse,
[290]
23. mu-mu-tkr mu-[mu ... ]

23. The little son, the ... son [...]
24. ga-ša-an [...]

24.
25. š -ab [...]

25.
26. AN-NE [...]

26.
27. sukkal [...]

27. 279
277
Probably name of a sacred park at Isin. It contained a chapel, é-tir-azag-ga,
KL. 25 I 12.
278
For the restoration, cf. RA. 12, 34, 9.
279
The edge has the figure 48 which indicates the number of lines on the
reverse and left edge.
87
L. E. a-šab-ba-ni a-ba-bar-ra-ni
L. E. How long his ravishing? how long his absence?280
A Liturgy to Enlil, Series e-lum
gud-sun (Zimmern KL. No. 11)

The history of the text of this long and intricate Enlil liturgy
elucidates in unusual manner the evolution of Sumerian prayer
books until they attained canonical and permanent form. The
earliest text of this liturgy is partially preserved on the Tablet
Virolleaud published in the Revue d'Assyriologie, Vol. XVI. The
fragment was brought to Europe in 1909 by the assyriologist
CHARLES VIROLLEAUD, having been purchased by him during his
excavations in Persia. It is light brown and varies from the center
to the edge by two inches to one inch in thickness. The fragment
is from the upper left corner of a large three(?) column tablet.
About half of the first melody is preserved on the obverse. The
reverse preserves the last two melodies. From their rubrics we
learn that the entire series contained eleven sections. This tablet
has the rubric ki-šub-gú after each strophe. The titular litany281
occupies as usual the next to the last place but only the opening
lines giving the motif and a few titles are given. The redactor
indicates the remaining titles by a rubric “(Recite the title) of
280
See also the same idea in SBP. 312, 12 and KL. 25 II 41.
281
Concerning the titular litanies, see PBS. X 156, 173, etc.
[291] a god until they are finished.” The rubric is in Semitic which
shows that the redaction was done by Semitic scholars.
The series as it finally issued from the hands of the liturgists
in the Isin period was written upon a huge five(?) column
tablet, the lower half of which has been published by ZIMMERN,
Altsumerische Kultlieder, No. 11. Each column contained about
fifty lines. There are no giš-gí-gal or antiphons after the melodies,
ten of which I have been able to restore. By borrowing from old
songs and other liturgies the redactors have greatly increased the
length of this service. At least ten songs have been lost on Cols.
III, IV of the obverse and I, II of the reverse.
The late Assyrian redaction is mentioned in the catalogue
of prayer books IV Raw. 53 I 13 and in BL. No. 103 Obv.
13. SBH. No. 21, edited in SBP. 112-119, is tablet one of
the late Babylonian School282 and contains the first four songs,
duplicates of the first four on K.L. 11. SBH. No. 25, edited
in SBP. 120-123,283 carries on the obverse two songs (e-lum
di-da-ra and me-e ur-ri men) found on Col. III of K.L. No.
11, Rev., or the two last melodies before the titular litany. A
fragment published by MEEK in BA. X pt. 1, No. 11, contains
the end of e-lum di-da-ra and all of me-e ur-ri men. SBH. 25 and
MEEK No. 11 belong to the series e-lum di-da-ra, entered in the
Assyrian catalogue, IV Raw. 53a 8, and form tablet one of that
service.
The titular litany of the e-lum gud-sun series is identical
(except for some variants) with the famous titular litany of the
mother goddess series mu-ten NU-NUNUZ gim-ma, tablet five,
edited in SBP. 149-167. Portions of the titular litany of the Enlil
series have been edited in PBS. X 155-167, see pages 163-4. The
[292] titular litany of ní-ma-al gù-de-de occurs at the end of tablet
two of that series, SBP. 24-9 = BL. 72-3. Not every series has
a theological litany of this kind, which ordinarily comes before
282
Erroneously designated the fourth tablet of ame baranara in SBP.
283
Erroneously assigned to ame baranara in SBP.
89
the er-šem-ma, or intercessional song at the end. The song to the

“word,” which occurs in all series, is partially preserved on Obv.
III and begins a-ma-ru na-nam. The indispensable song to the
weeping mother comes just before the titular litany. This little
nine-line melody me-e ur-ri-mèn me-e kàs-mèn must have been
a national religious song. It was copied into another Enlil song
service as we have seen. The same song introduces tablet four of
an Innini series of which we have only the end of tablet three, K.
2759, in BL. 93 f.
Finally the reader will note that the first song e-lum gud-sun
of this series has been copied into one of the tablets of ame
baranara, SBH. No. 22 = SBP. 126 f. A fragment of some
unknown series, K. 8603 = BL. 14 also employs this song in the
body of its text.
1. e-lum gud-sun mu-zu kur-kur-šú284
1. Exalted one, bull that overwhelms, thy name is on the lands.
2. ù-mu-un-e285 kur-kur-ra gud-sun

2. Lord of the lands, bull that overwhelms, thy name, etc.286
3. ù-mu-un dúg-ga-zi-da gud-sun

3. Lord of the faithful word, bull that overwhelms, etc.
4. d.Mu-ul-lil a-a ka-na-ág287 -gà ... gud-sun

4. Enlil, father of the Land, bull that overwhelms, etc.
5. sib sag-gíg-ga gud-sun

5. Shepherd of the dark-headed people, bull that overwhelms,
etc.
6. i-dé-du# ni-te-na gud-sun

6. Thou of self-created vision, bull that overwhelms, etc.
[293]
7. am G,R288 -na
sá-sá gud-sun
7. Wild bull who directs his hosts, bull that overwhelms, etc.
8. ù-lul-la ku-ku289 gud-sun mu-zu kur-kur-šú

8. Thou that sleepest the sleep of perversity, bull that
overwhelms, thy name is on the lands.
9. mu-zu kur-ra mu-ma-al-la-šú an ní-bi nam-dúb

9. When thy name is laid upon the lands the heavens tremble of
themselves,
10. ki ní-bi nam-s+g

10. and the earth quakes of itself.
11. d.Mu-ul-lil e-ne-em-zu kur-ra-ám ma-ma-al-la-šú

11. Oh Enlil, when thy word is laid upon the lands,
12. dúg-ga-zu kur-ra-ám ma-ma-al-la-šú

12. When thy command is laid upon the lands,
13. da#-a-zu kur-ra-ám ma-ma-al-la-šú

13. When thy command290 is laid upon the lands,
14. an ní dúb s+g291 ki ní-bi nam-s+g

14. The heavens tremble of themselves, the earth of itself
quakes,
284
The text of lines 1-25 is taken from Tablet Virolleaud, now Collection Nies.
No 1315.
285
SBP. 112 and 126 have umun, et passim.
286
SBH. 42 has an inserted line between II. 1-2. See SBP. 112.
287
Vars. nag.
288
Uncertain. Apparently REC. 225. Elsewhere in this passage always bAB
which has been read erin-na = umm ni-šu, BL. 111, 16.
289
See Yale Vocabulary 135.
290
On this passage see PBS. X 170, 13 and Ni. 15204, 8 of this volume.
291
Sic! Error for ní-bi-dúb.
91
15. ama [nu]292 -gíg-gi ama nu-bar-ra dumu-ni mi-ni-in-gí-gí

15. The harlot mother, the hierodule mother slays her son,
16. ... ga-ša-an uru bar-ra-ra dumu-ni mi-ni-in-gí-gí

16. ... queen of the city, outside the city slays her son.
17. ... dumu-ni mi-ni-in-gí-gí

17. ... slays her son.
18. e-lum ... e-ne-em-zu-šú ... kur-ri ni-in-gí-gí

18. Oh exalted ... at thy word ... the foreign land thou reducest
to the misery of silence.
19. d.Mu-ul-lil mu-lu? A ...

19. Enlil lord of ...293
20. kur-ri ni-in-gí-[gí]

20. the foreign land thou reducest to the misery of silence
21. e-lum za-e e-ne-em-zu an-e um-ma-[dúg]

21. Oh exalted one, as for thee, thy word in heaven speak
22. an-e ib-[...]

22. and heaven shall ...
23. d.Mu-ul-lil za-e e-ne-em-zu ki-e um-[ma-dúg]

23. Enlil, as for thee, thy word on earth speak
[294]
24. ki nu-um-[ ]
24. and earth shall not....
292
Omitted by the scribe. Line restored from Ni. 15204, 11.
293
With line 19 the variant SBH. 42 lower fragment begins.
25. dim-me-ir a-tú-a294 um-ma-dúg....

25. God of libation speak [and heaven shall ... and earth shall
not....]
26. d.am an-ki am uru zí-ba-ge um-ma-dúg [....]

26. Divine wild ox of heaven and earth, wild ox of the good
city295 speak, etc.
27. ama é-ma#-a296 d.[Dam-gal-nun-na-ge]

27. Mother of the house of the famous one, Damgalnunna,
28. um-ma-dug [....]

28. speak, etc.
29. d.Asar-lù-dug-e [dumu uru zí-ba-ge]

29. Marduk, son of the good city297
30. um-ma-dúg [....]

30. speak, etc.
31. d.ìd ama uru zí-ba-ge um-[ma dug....]

31. River goddess, mother of the good city speak, etc.
32. d.A-?298 -e ga-ša-[an ab-su-ra-ka-di299 um-ma-dug....]

32. Zarpanit queen of ... speak, etc.
294
Var. adds ra.
295
The god Ea of Eridu is meant.
296
Cf. Col. II 19. On this variant for dumu-ma#, see note in Sumerian
Liturgical Texts 163.
297
Restored from Col. II 20.
298
We expect the sign EDIN (= r-) but the traces are clearly not those of EDIN.
299
Col. II 23 ab-su-di. Here begins KL. No. 11, I, which joins directly on to
Tablet Virolleaud.
93
33. [sukkal-zid mu-dug-ga]-sá-a-ra um-ma300

33. Faithful messenger, called by a good name, speak, etc.
34. [ud-dé du(l)- du(l)-]dúg šu-ám mi-ib-gál
34. [The spirit] reduces [all things] to tribute.301
35. te-e-ám ama-gan-ra dumu-ni zí-em-mà-na-ad(!)-du302
35. How long shall the child-bearing mother reject her son?
36. te-e-ám ama-gan-ra ga-ša-an urú303 bar-ra-ra dumu-ni
zí-em-mà-na-ad(!)-du
36. How long shall the child-bearing mother, queen of the city,
cast aside her son?304 [295]
37. te-e-ám ama-gan-ra ga-ša-an sun-na-ra305 dumu-ni zí-em-

mà-na-ad-du
37. How long shall the child-bearing mother, the wild-cow
queen, reject her son?
300
This refrain is read ù-um etc. on the late variant, SBH. No. 21, Obv. lower
fragment.
301
Cf. SBP. 40, 33. Restoration uncertain. This line does not appear in SBH.
42 = SBP. 112 which has here insertions for Tašmetu and Nan .
302
For -na-ta?. The suffixed conjugation is frequently employed in
interrogations; me-na gí-gí-mu, “When shall one restore it?,” BE. 30, 12,
2. a-ba ku-ul-la-ba, “Who shall restrain?,” Ni. 4610, r. 1. a-na an-na-ab-ta#-
ni, “What shall I add to thee?,” GENOUILLAC{FNS, Drehem, 1, 12. Variant
SBP. 114, 32 zag-na ab-zí-em-e.
303
Var. SBH. 43, 35 ur-ra-ge.
304
Parallel passages do not mention the “queen of the city” but only the
ordinary mother who rejects her children, SBH. 131, 58-61; BL. 74, 10. The
phrase refers obviously to the mother goddess. “Her son” must be interpreted
figuratively in the sense that the mother goddess is the protector of all human
creatures.
305
This title gašan-sun or nin-sun, really means beltu rimtu, “the wild-cow
queen,” and characterizes the ancient mother goddess as patroness of cattle.
The title usually refers to the married type Gula or Bau, as in SBP. 284,
19, and note that Ninsun, mother of Gilgamish, is frequently called ri-mat,
POEBEL{FNS, OLZ, 1914, 4. The title also applies to the virgin type Innini in
KL. 123 r. II 7.
38. a urú-a mu-lu im-me-a-ra306 dumu-ni zí-em-mà-na-ad-du

38. How long in the city shall he of wailing reject his son?
39. a ki-dagar-ra-ám Nippur-ám ib éš-ga-a-ra307

39. How long in the wide land, in Nippur, in the region of the
vast abode?
40. a-gal-gal šel-su-su mulu ta-zu mu-un-zu308

40. Flood that drowns the harvests, who comprehends thy form?
41. e-lum a-gal-gal šel-su-su mulu ta-zu mu-un-zu

41. Exalted, flood that drowns the harvests who comprehends
thy form?
42. d.mu-ul-lil ù-mu-un kur-kur-ra

42. Enlil lord of the lands, who etc.
OBVERSE II
1. ù-mu-un dúg-ga-zi-da309
1. Lord of the faithful word, who etc.
306
mu-lu imme also BE. 30, 9 I 2 = bêl 3ûli(?), “Man of wailing.” The late
version replaces this line by [te-e-ám] da-ga-a-ta dumu-ni, “How long shall
the wife of the strong man reject her son?”, SBP. 114, 37. dag ta = dam-gumu,
SBH. 131, 60.
307
Probably a title of Ekur. ešgalla title of the temple in Kullab, KL. 3 II
20. The late version rejects this line since its local reference was not suited to
general use.
308
Here this line begins an Enlil melody within the body of a series. Originally
a-gal-gal šel-su-su was a Nergal melody and a series based upon it is
catalogued in IV R. 53a 33 of which K. 69 is the first tablet. See also
BÖLLENRÜCHER{FNS, Nergal, No. 6.
309
The late redaction of this melody revises this litany with the new liturgical
movement ursaggal—elimma placed before alternate lines. When this scheme
is employed all feminine deities are omitted. See SBP. 114. Note 5 p. 115 ibid.
is to be suppressed.
95
2. d.mu-ul-lil a-a ka-nag-ga

2. Enlil father of the Land, who etc.
3. sib sag-gíg-ga
3. Shepherd of the dark-headed people, who etc.
4. i-dé-du# ní-te-na
4. Thou of self-created vision, who etc.
[296]
5. am erin-na sá-sá
5. Hero who directs his hosts, who etc.
6. ù-lul-a dúr-dúr
6. Thou that sleepest the sleep of perversity, who etc.
7. šag gi-k gi-k š -ab túg-e túg-e

7. Oh heart be reconciled, be reconciled, oh heart repose, repose.
8. šag an-na gi-k gi-k

8. Oh heart of Anu be reconciled, be reconciled.
9. šag d.mu-ul-lil gi-k gi-k

9. Oh heart of Enlil be reconciled, etc.
10. šag ur-sag-gal gi-k gi-k310

10. Oh heart of the great hero, be reconciled, etc.
11. ní-ma-al-e zid al-ma-al311 [li-]e312 nap-tan-na aš-ša-ka-nu

11. Kneaded bread for the feast I set,
310
Lines 7-10 conjecturally restored from Sumerian Liturgical Texts 165, 8-11.
311
Lines 11-17 restored from SBP. 116, 16 ff.
312
Meaning and restoration uncertain.
12. ní-ma-al-e ní-ma-al-e

12. Kneaded bread, kneaded bread,
13. ní-ma-al-e zid al-ma-al

13. Kneaded bread for the feast I set,
14. [kur-gal d.en-lil-]da šu-en-ne ba-túg

14. By the Great Mountain, Enlil, it has been blessed.
15. [a-a d.mu-ul-lil] šu-en-ne ba-túg

15. By Father Enlil it has been blessed.
16. [kur-gal d.en-lil-]šu-en-ne ba-túg

16. The Great Mountain Enlil has blessed.
17. [a-a d.mu-ul-lil] šu-en-ne ba-túg

17. The Father Enlil has blessed.313
18. ù-mu-un am urú-zí-ib-(ki) šu-en-ne-ba-túg

18. Lord, hero of the sacred city, has shown grace.
19. ama-é-ma#314 -a d.dam-gal-nun-na

19. Mother of the house of the famous one, Damgalnunna, has
shown grace.
20. d.asar-lù-dug dumu urú zí-ib-(ki)

20. Asarludug, son of the sacred city, has shown grace.
21. mu-ud-na-an-ni d.apin315 -nun-na-an-ki

21. His wife Zarpanit has shown grace.
[297]
22. d.ìd ama urú zi-ib-(ki)

22. River goddess, mother of the sacred city, has shown grace.
313
First line on ZIMMERN{FNS, No. 11 Col. II.
314
See note on line 27 above.
315
Usually pà = ekû, canal, is used in this title of Zarpanit. She is originally a
patroness of irrigation and ultimately identical with Nin .
97
23. d.a-r--e ga-ša-an ab-su-di316

23. Zarpanit queen of ..., etc.
24. sukkal-zid mu-dug-ga-sá-a šu-ba-e-en

24. Faithful messenger, called by a good name, has shown grace.
25. ní-ma-al-e zí-ib ni-ma-al-la-ta

25. The kneaded bread which has been well made,
26. zí-ib ni-ma-al-la-ta ní-ma-al-e zí-ib-bi dé-kùr-e317

26. Which has been well made, the kneaded bread may he eat
graciously,
27. d.mu-ul-lil-li zí-ib-bi-kùr zí-ib-bi dé-kùr-e

27. May Enlil graciously eat; yea graciously eat.
28. ki an-dúr-ru-na-šú uku318 -e gar-ma-an-zí-en

28. Where Anu sits may the people hasten.
29. [d.A-nun-na319 -]ki-an-dúr-ru-na-šú uku-e gar ma-an-zí-en

29. [The Anunnaki.] Where Anu sits let the people hasten.
30. é-e ám-ba-al ne-sag-ma#320 é-e am-ba-al

30. To the temple he enters, the mighty priest of sacrifices to the
temple enters.
316
ab-su = ab-zu, sea? Cf. ab-zu-bil-la, the shining ocean, KL. 1 Rev. I 19 f.
317
SBP. 116, 27 dé-en-kùr-e.
318
Var. u-mi-a, SBP. 116, 33.
319
Line 29 is false and to be corrected after the late text SBP. p. 118, 35 f.
which has two lines. Read ki an dúr-ru-na-šú dA-nun-na [gar-ma-an-zí-en],
where Anu sits let the Anunnaki hasten.
320
Cf. SBH. 44, 37.
31. a-tú-tú ma-mu šu-lu#-ge a-tú-tú ma-mu

31. A libation he offers, the priest of hand washing a libation
offers.
32. é-e ud-š -ab-šú e-dam ud-šuš-šú e-dam

32. To the temple at mid-day go up! at sun-set go up.
33. ud-da ne-sag-e šu-si-sá e-dam

33. Daily to direct the sacrifices go up!
34. ud-da ù-gul-ma-ma šu-si-sá e-dam

34. Daily to direct the prayers go up!
35. ud-da an dìm-me-ir mu-zu an-ni zu-zu-dam

35. Daily Anu merciful god321 on high proclaim.
36. d.am-an-ki am urú-zi-ib-(ki) an-ni zu-zu-dam

36. The hero of heaven and earth, hero of the sacred city on high
proclaim.
37. d.en-lil mà-gùn322 d.en-lil gùn-uku-e gar-ma-an-zi-en

37. To Enlil let all the land, to Enlil let all the people hasten.
[298]
38. an-ni a-ma-an-tú an-gù(?) an-ni a-ma-an-tú š -ab

ám-ma-ab-túg-e
38. Unto heaven verily I will libate water, unto the canopy of
heaven, unto heaven verily I will libate water.
The heart I will appease.
39. im-ma-an-a-tú a ám-ma-ab-túg-e

39. I will pour out a libation, the father I will appease.
321
ilu ra'imu.
322
nap+ar m ti, cf. IV R. 23b 15.
99
40. d.am-an-ki am urú-zí-ib-(ki) ám-ma-ab-túg-e323

40. The hero of heaven and earth, the hero of the sacred city I
will appease.
COL. III
(Here began a melody of which ten lines at least are lost.)
11. é-....[ta (=KL. 11 Obv. III 1)]
11.
12. unugal(?)-da....[ta ]
12.
13. dù-sag-áš324 -ta [ ]

13.
14. é-bi-tkr-ta d.[ ]

14.
15. éš è-bàr-ta [ ]
15.
16. éš é-an-na-[ta ]
16.
17. še-ib [ ]
17.
323
It is not certain that this melody ended here. Possibly all the titles in lines
19-27 followed here with the refrain am-ma-ab-túg-e. At any rate the traces
of a last line on SBH. 44 are those of the last line of this melody. There
is not space enough on SBH. 44 after line 37 for more than the lines 31-40
supplied above for we must make some allowance for the interlinear Semitic
translations in the break on SBH. 44.
324
šubat pirišti. This sanctuary at Nippur is mentioned in BE. 29 No. 5 Obv.
11; dù-sag in KL. 64 II 4 and III 6.
18-22 ...
18-22 ...
23. é [ ]
23.
24. dù(?) [ ]
24.
25. ...
25.
26. [mu-un-]túg-gà-ta [ ]
26. He has been pacified [ ]
27. mu-un-túg-gà-ta [ ]
28. mu-un-túg-gà-ta [ ]
29. mu-un-túg-gà-ta šag d.[ ]

29. He has been pacified, the heart of ... [has been pacified]
30. mu-un-túg-gà-ta kur-gal d.m[u-ul-lil mu-un-túg-gà-ta]

30. He has been pacified, the great mountain [Enlil has been
pacified]
[299]
31. edin-na ? -a erida (ki)-ta

31. In the ... plain of Eridu....325
32. a-ma-ru na-nam kur al-gul-gul

32. A tempest it is shattering the mountain.
325
End of the sixth melody.
101
33. ù-mu-un-e e-ne-em-mà-ni a-ma-[ru na-nam]

33. The word of the lord is a tempest.
34. š b-bi e-lum-e a-ma-ru na-[nam]

34. The heart326 of the exalted is a tempest.327
35. š b-bi d.mu-ul-lil a-ma-ru na-nam

35. The heart of Enlil is a tempest.
36. ù-mu-un-na šag an-šú an ní-ne ba-ni-ib-gam-ma-[ne]

36. The heart of the lord is in heaven and the heavens waver of
themselves.328
37. d.mu-ul-lil e-ne-em ki-šú ki ní s+g-ga-ni

37. The word of Enlil is on earth and the earth trembles of itself.
38. e-ne-em-mà d.a-nun-na gil-li-em-eš-[a-ni]329

38. The word which brings woe to the spirits of earth.
39. e-ne-em-mà-ni a-zu nu-tuk šim-šar nu-[un- tuk]

39. His word a prophet has not; a magician it has not.
40. e-ne-em-mà-ni a-ma-ru zi-ga gab-šu-gar nu-un-tuk330

40. His word is an onrushing tempest, an adversary to oppose it
has not.
326
Heart is used here in the sense “wrath.”
327
Cf. SBP. 98, 40 f.
328
Cf. SBP. 98, 44; 124, 19.
329
Cf. SBP. 38, 13.
330
Cf. ibid. 98, 48.
(Here followed Obv. IV; eight or ten lines continued this

melody to the word. Their contents were similar to SBP. 100,
49-57 ff.)
REVERSE III331
1. sukkal-zid mu-dug-ga-sà-a [ ]
1. The faithful messenger, he called by a good name.
2. dingir ga-še-dé a-be-in-si sag [ ]

2. The god who satiates with milk and grain, sag332 ....
[300]
3. an-ki-bi-da im-mi-ib-#un-gà
3. Heaven and earth it has pacified.
4. ki-an-bi-da im-mi-ib-#un-gà
4. Earth and heaven it pacified.
5. ud é-kùr-ta kùr-gal d.mu-ul-lil [im-mi-ib-#un-gà]

5. When in Ekur the great mountain Enlil it pacified,
6. é-lam-ma333 -ta ama-gal d.nin-lil im[-mi-ib-#un-gà]

6. [When] in Elamma the great mother Ninlil it pacified,
7. an-ni-gar-ra334 -ta ereš335 d.mu-ul-[-lil im-mi-ib-#un-gà]

7. In Annigarra the consort (sister) of Enlil it pacified.
331
In case the tablet possessed five columns like KL. 25 then this column is
Rev. III. I know of no four column tablets of similar kind.
332
sag began a refrain which followed the titles of Enlil, Ea, etc. and ended
with this line. See Obv. I 21-31, etc.
333
Cf. SBP. 82, 47.
334
A title of Egalmah in Isin, SBH. 94, 29 = SBP. 186, 29.
335
Either DAM or SAL + KU (sister) must be expected, since we have
obviously a reference to Aruru here.
103
8. e-lum di-da-ra dé-en336 ga-ám-dúr

8. The exalted who walketh forth, where tarries he?337
9. di-da-ra e-lum di-da-ra dé-en ga-ám-dúr

9. Who walketh forth, the exalted who walketh forth, where
tarries he?
10. ù-mu-un-e kur-kur-[ra-ge di-da-ra]

10. The lord of the lands, who walketh forth, where tarries he?
11. [ù-mu-]un-e dúg-ga-zi-da di

11. The lord of faithful word, who etc.
12. d.mu-ul-lil a-a ka-nag-gà di

12. Enlil, father of the Land, who etc.
13. sib sag-gíg-ga di

13. Shepherd of the dark-headed people, who etc.
14. i-dé-du# ní-te-na di

14. He of self-created vision, who etc.
15. am erin-na sá-sá di

15. Hero that directs his hosts, who etc.
16. ù-lul-la dúr-dúr di

16. He that sleeps the sleep of perversity, who etc.
17. me-e bur-ma#-a kaš ga-an-na-ab nisak-ka

17. I in a great bowl will pour out wine to him.
18. ama-gim dugud338 -da da-mu-un-lal

18. I like a wild ox will bow down to the mighty one.339
[301]
19. urú-zu al-gul-gul ga-an-na-ab-dúg

19. “Thy city is destroyed,” will I say to him.
20. kenur é-nam-ti-la al

20. “Kenur and Enamtila are destroyed,” will I say to him.
21. zimbir-(ki) é-bàr-ra al

21. “In Sippar Ebarra is destroyed,” etc.
22. urú-zu tin-tir-(ki) al

22. “Thy city Babylon is destroyed,” etc.
23. é-sag-ila bád-si-ab-ba-(ki) al

23. “Esagila and Barsippa are destroyed,” etc.
24. é-zi-da é-ma#-ti-la al

24. “Ezida and Emahtila are destroyed,” etc.
25. é-te-me-en-an-ki al
25. “Etemenanki is destroyed,” etc.
26. é-dár-an-na al340

26. “Edaranna is destroyed,” etc.
336
Sic! An error for en-ne? See SBP. 120, 1. Perhaps dé = te, “where?”
strengthened by en = adi.
337
The following melody has been restored from the late variant SBP. p. 120.
338
Glossed gú-da.
339
Semitic lu-uk-mi-is-su, glossed kamû. kamû, “to bind,” is the natural
rendering of lal. The Semitic should perhaps be neglected as faulty and the
Sumerian rendered, “Like a wild ox by the mighty one I am hobbled.”
340
Lines 21-26 may not have stood in the ancient liturgy.
105
27. gi-er-ra ba-m ga-an-na-ab-dúg341

27. “Wailing on the reed-flute ascends in her,”342 will I say to
him.
28. ud ma-ra mu-un-zal-la-ta i-dé-a-ni nu-gub

28. When I am overjoyous in his presence may I not stand.
29. d.mu-ul-lil-li mu-un-zal-la-ta i-dé-[a-ni nu-gub

i-dé-nam-mu-un-dm-ru]
29. As to Enlil when I am overjoyous in his presence may I not
stand.
30. d.mu-ul-lil-li i-dé-a-ni nu-gub i-dé-nam-mu-un-dm-ru

30. In the presence of Enlil may I not stand; may he behold me
not.
31. me-e ur-ri-mèn me-e kàs-mèn343

31. I am a stranger and a fugitive.
32. a è-ne al-dib a è-ne al-dib

32. The risen waters seized away; the risen waters seized away.
33. [nin]-urú-ma ama-gal d.nin-lil-là [mèn]

33. Queen of city and house, great mother Ninlil am I.
34. [d.a]-ru-ru SAL+KU d.mu-ul-lil-là [mèn]

34. Aruru, sister of Enlil I am.
35. [nin?]ú-a gašan ni-ib-bur mèn

35. A queenly caretaker, queen of Nippur I am.
[302]
36. [gašan] azag-ga344 gašan ma-gí-a mèn

36. An holy queen, queen of the convent I am.
37. ma ma-al-la-šú ma ma-al-la-šú

37. In the builded house, in the builded house,
38. d.mu-ul-lil [umun?] kúr-kúr-ra ma

38. Enlil [lord] of lands in the builded house,
39. [ereš]-mu mu-un-til ma

39. My consort dwells not in the builded house.
40. At the end of this column began a long titular melody.345
(Lines 1-11 of this melody, i. e., 40-51 on KL. 11, III, are
supplied by Tablet Virolleaud, Rev. 1-11, and restores the entire
section.)
REVERSE IV(?)
1. d.Mu-ul-lil-li dam-a-ni d.Nin-lil-li

1. Enlil and his consort Ninlil (we will pacify). (= Tab. Vir. Rev.
12.)
341
Here begins variant 81-7-27, 203 = BA. X 87.
342
Nippur.
343
Beginning of a melody of a weeping mother series, BL. p. 94, 12. It is not
certain that this melody stood in the ancient text. See for the text 81-7-28, 203
(= 78239) in this volume.
344
Cf. SBH. 132, 27.
345
The duplicate, MEEK, NO.{FNS 11, has here another melody not a titular
litany. This text does not belong to the e-lum gud-sun series.
107
2. An d.Uraša ki-še-gu-nu-e346
2. Anu-Uraš kisegunu.
3. d.En-ki d.Nin-ki En-ul d.Nin-ul

3. Enki and Ninki, Enul and Ninul.
4. d.En-da-šurim-ma d.Nin-da-šurim-ma
4. Endašurimma, Nindašurimma.347
5. d.En-dù-azag-ga d.Nin-dù-azag-ga348
5. The Lord of Duazag, the Queen of Duazag.
6. ama d.Nin-lil a-a d.Mu-ul-lil

6. Mother Ninlil and father Enlil.
7. d.En-ut-til-349 d.En-me-en-šár-ra350
7. Enuttilla and Enmenšarra.
8. nin-zi-an-na351 ga-ša-an #ar-sag-gà352

8. Ninzianna and Ninharsag.
[303]
9. d.Šul-pa-è353 en gišbanšur-ra
9. Šulpae, lord of the sacrificial board.
346
This title of Uraša remains unexplained. In all other examples dUraša
ki-še-gu-nu-ra, SBP. 150, 6; 90, 20; K. 3931 Rev. 29; KL. 17 Rev. II 6.
Perhaps also Gudea, Cyl. B 19, 13 is to be restored ki-še-gu-[nu-ra].
347
Father-mother names of Enlil, IV Raw. 1b 17 f.
348
Enlil names, CT. 24, 4, 24 f.
349
Enlil, CT. 24, 4, 20.
350
Usually me-šár-ra. Enlil name, CT. 24, 4, 26. Not originally associated
with Nergal. See Historical and Religious Texts, p. 35.
351
Here both titles of Ninlil. Variant nin-zíd-an-na, PSBA. 1911, 233 n. 39.
352
353
Originally title of Enlil, CT. 24, 25, 97 = 13, 42. Usually Marduk as Jupiter.
10. ama še-en-tùr354 Catalogue, p. 10, No. 51, 8 where she is

identified with Nintud = dbêlit.
dim-me-ir imin
10. Mother Šentur, (mother) of the seven gods.355
11. ù-mu-un si356 Nipru-(ki) ù-mu-un kalag-a

11. The lord light of Nippur, mighty lord.
12. gù-de-de357 ga-ša-an Nipru-(ki)

12. The loud crying, queen of Nippur.
13. dingir dumu-sag358 d.ga-ša-an mu-un-ga-ra

13. Divine first born daughter, divine queen of treasures.
14. d.Nusku [á-]ma# dingir-gidim [é-kur-ra]

14. Nusku of mighty message, divine spirit of Ekur.
[15. ama é-a-ge d.Sa-dár-nun-na]

[15. Mother of the temple, Sadar-nunna.]
[16. d.Še-ra-a# gidim é-šar-ra]

[16. Šerah spirit of Ešarra.]
[17. lamma-šág-ga me-lam-an-na]

[17. The propitious spirit whose splendor is supreme.]
354
Two other readings of this title of Ninlil as mother goddess are known;
dŠe-en-tkr, SBP. 150 n. 5, l. 11 and dŠe-en-tur, KING{FNS, Supplement to
BEZOLD'S{FNS
355
In ZA. VI 242, 21 their mother is Išhara, another title of the same mother
goddess. For the seven gods see IV Raw. 21 No. 1 B.
356
Perhaps = si-gal, title of Ninurta, SBH. 132, 26; BL. 92, 7. CT. 24, 7, 12.
357
Usually title of Ninlil as here, SBH. 132, 23; SBP. 150 n. 5, 13. But consort
of Ninurta, CT. 24, 7, 12.
358
Var. dNappasi.
109
18. dumu [sukkal-gal d.Nannar d.Zuen-na

18. The son, [great messenger, Nannar-Sin.]
19. d.En-[nu-NUNUZ-zi d.Nannar359 dam d.Nannar-ge]

19. Zir [spouse of Nannar].
20. nu-banda-[ma# d.Mu-ul-lil-la-zi-ge]

20. [The august] prefect, [divine Enlilzi]360
21. d.[En]-bu-[ul-e dumu é-sab-ba]

21. [Enbul son of Ešabba.]
22. šul-a[n-na umun #ar-sag-#al-ge]

22. Hero of [heaven, lord of the great mountain.]
23. d.ga-ša-[an-gal-e ama-an-na-ge]

23. Ningal [heavenly mother.]
[304]
d.
24. ga-ša-[an an-na áš-ni-gi-ge361 ]
24. The queen of heaven [who alone is strong.]
25. mu-ud-[na-ni d.Ama-ušum-gal-an-na]

25. Her husband [Tammuz.]
26. ama ù-[mu-un-na gašan sun-]na

26. The mother of the lord,362 Ninsun.
359
The entire ideogram was read zir = zirru, SMITH{FNS, Miscel. Texts 25,
16.
360
A legendary king who had received apotheosis, and was placed in the court
of Enlil, CT. 24, 6, 20 = 8 Col. III 1. The variant SBP. 152, 15 inserts
another deified king Ur-Sin. See also GENOUILLAC{FNS, Drehem, 5501 II
21; Babylonian Liturgies, 92 Rev. 10; CT. 24, 6, 21.
361
Or gi-ur-sag. The Semitic is ša ediš-ši-ša 3arradat. On Innini queen of
heaven, see Tammuz and Ishtar, 88.
362
I. e., Gilgamish.
27. ù-[mu-un banda ù-mu-un èš-]nun-na

27. Lugalbanda lord of Ešnunak.
28. é-rib an-na mu-tin-an-na
28. The heavenly sister-in-law, Geštinanna.363
(Here supply twenty-eight lines = SBP 154, 24-156, 51.)
REVERSE V(?)
1. d.En-á-nun ama gù-an-ni-si
1. Enanun mother of loud weeping.364
2. d.NINDA + GUD365 amar zag-gi-ra366
2. Ninda-Gud, the radiant son.
3. d.Sú-nir-da367 en šul-mé-ra
3. Šunirda, queen, heroine of battle.
4. dumu-šág-ga ga-ša-an kár368 -nun-na-ra
4. The pious daughter, Ninkar-nunna.369
5. ga-ša-an dig-ga dingir-lum-ma370 , SAK. 273. SCHEIL{FNS, I.
c. 4, says that Lum, *um is an Elamitic god. The
title gašan-dig-ga indicates a female deity. Note
the variant gašan-sa-lum-ma, SBP. 158, 56. An
underworld deity.
ur-sag
5. Queen(?) of the dead, Lumma the heroic.
363
See Tammuz and Ishtar 57, n. 2.
364
On this title of the weeping mother, see Sumerian Liturgical Texts 173.
365
A title of Immer the thunder god.
366
Zagin-na to zaggira, see Sumerian Grammar, § 47.
367
Aja goddess of light and battle, Babylonian Liturgies 143.
368
ZIMMERN{FNS, AZAG an error?
369
Cf. K. 7145, 7 in CT. 29, 47.
370 d
Lum-ma or *umma, CT. 24, 6, 18 one of two utukku of Ekur. Duplicate
24, 22, 117. Often in names of the early period, SCHEIL{FNS, Textes Elamites-
Semitiques, p. 4 and in name of ancient patesi of Umma, Ur-lum-ma, see
THUREAU-DANGIN{FNS
111
6. ù-mu-un uru371 -gal ù-mu-un é372 -gid-da

6. Lord of the grave, lord of the seizing hand.
[305]
d. 373
7. Ir -ra-gal kú-a-nu-si-ra374
7. Great Girra, hero unopposable.
8. lamma-šág-ga sil-gig edin-na

8. The good genius of the dark ways of the plain.375
9. d.Nin-sîg-ge d.Guškin-banda-ra
9. Ninsig Guškinbanda,
10. ù-mu-un nig-nam-ma-ge *U376 -kur-kur377

10. Lord of whatsoever is, the sculptured form.
11. sal-si378 -a d.Ba-ú379 -šág-ga

11. The earth woman, beneficent Bau.
12. ù-mu-un né me en380 ga-ša-an abzu

12. Lord of might, lord of decrees, priest of the deep.381
371
Br. No. 909. Var. SBP. 158, 57 = V Raw. 52 II 27, has unugal.
372
Var. of á = idu.
373
Sign NITA*. See Var. ir-ra, Sumerian Liturgical Texts, p. 174, 7.
374
For gud-á-nu-gí-a, ox that turns not back his might. See I. c. 173 n. 3. For
g to s see Sum. Gr. § 40 b.
375
Spirit of the lower world, CT. 24, 8, 13.
376
Vars. šun, or šen SBP. 158, 61; CT. 24, 23, 24. Hence *U (mušen) has also
the value šen or šun. See on lines 9 f. Sumerian Liturgical Texts 174 n. 5.
377
For kul.
378
Gunu of *U. Var. NU-NUNUZ-ki-a, see SBP. 158, 62 = CT. 24, 10, 2.
379
Var. A-mà-mà. Ma-ma, Ma-mi, Mà-mà, A-mà = Bau, Nintud.
380
For en-me = bêl parci. Var. umun me. Here certainly a male deity as dNin-né
= Almu, form of Nergal in V Raw. 21, 25. For Nin-né in the early period see
ALLOTTE DE LA FUŸE{FNS, DP. 128 II 3. But Nin-né = Nin-né-mal = Alamu,
form of Allat sister Ninlil, CT. 24, 10, 3, cf. V R. 21, 26.
381
Variant SBP. 158, 63 = SBH. 86, 63 reads šanga-ma# abzu-ge. For the
writing of šanga, see Babylonian Liturgies, p. XXII n. 2.
13. d.Ašnan d.Azag-sug382 mun-galu383 -sal-sal

13. Ašnan the divine cleanser, the ... loud crying.
14. [ù-mu-un] sa-a384 ki-sá385 dumu nun-ra

14. Lord of light, director of the earth, and the daughter of the
prince.386
15. [gidim uru-]ma ur sag-imin

15. The demon of my city the dog of seven heads.
16. [d.Gi-bil mu- ? ?]-na387 mu-ten ur-sag

16. Gibil ... warlike man.
17. [d.Ut-ta-ed-dé mu-lu] ki-azag-ga

17. Uttaedde lord of the holy place.
18. [umun ma-da sub-be an-na ]

18. [Lord of the land, light of heaven.]388
[306]
19. [umun á-zu umun e389 -gid-da ]

19. [Lord Nergal, him of the seizing hand.]
20. [ga-ša-an-né-da umun mu-zi-da]

20. [Allat and Ningišzida]390
382
On variants Duru-sug, Dúr-ru-si-ga, see Sum. Lit. Texts 174, 9.
383
Sic! Perhaps error for #a-mun. See also CT. 24, 9, 40 d*a-mun-sal(?)-sal?.
SBP. 158, 64.
384
Title of Shamash, CT. 25, 25, 11.
385
Title of Shamash here. Variant dSu-ud- m = Aja, CT. 25, 9, 25.
386
I. e. Aja.
387
So! Var. mu-galam, “of skilful name.”
388
See Var. Sum. Lit. Texts 175, 10.
389
So Var. l. c. I. 11. See above, line 6.
390
Certainly these two underworld deities are intended in this line. They occur
together also in CT. 25, 5, 60-64. See also 25, 8, 14 where read Nin-né-da.
113
21. [ ] dk-a
21. [ ]
22. [ ]-ga
22. [ ]391
23. [d.Ir-ri-eš ur-sag ga-ša]-an-subur

23. [Irriš, the heroic] lord of the soil.
24. [dingir ama é-uru-sag-gà gašan tin-dib-ba]

24. [The divine mother of the temple of the chief city392 queen
who gives life to the dead.]
25. [sag-gà an-na gašan] Í-si-in-na

25. The lofty browed queen of Isin.
26. [d.Pa-bil-sag ù-mu-]un La-ra-ag-ga

26. Pabil-sag393 lord of Larak.
27. [d.Gu-nu-ra dim-gal] kalam-ma

27. Gunura bar of the Land.
28. [d.Da-mu šág-ga ù-]mu-un gir-su-a

28. The pious Damu lord of the flood.394
29. [d.Immer ù-mu-un] ní-dm-an-na

29. Immer lord of terror.395
30. [ ] íd-da-ra
30. ... the river.396
391
Two lines not on any variant.
392
Gula of Isin.
393
See for reading, Sum. Lit. Texts 176, 5.
394
See Babylonian Liturgies 96 n. 1.
395
For variants, see Sum. Lit. Texts 177, 8.
396
Variant SBP. 160, 16 has another text. Other variants omit the line
altogether, KL. 8 IV 8; Sum. Lit. Texts, 177.
31. [ù-mu-un ši ka-nag-]gà ši kur-kur-ra

31. Lord of the souls of Sumer, of the souls of the lands.
32. [d.Sú-ud-da-am du-mu nun-na ama é-]šab-ba

32. Suddam, daughter of the prince, mother of Ešabba.
About twenty-four lines completed this column and ended
the liturgy. The void is to be completed by part of the titular
litany, SBP. 160, 19-164, 38, and by a short intercession similar
to the fragmentary intercession at the end of KL. No. 8. It is
possible that the eleventh and last section on Tablet Virolleaud
was retained as the final melody of this later redaction.
[307]
Reverse of Tablet Virolleaud (The

titular litany)
1. é-e sub-da sub-da [mu-un-la#-en-ne-en]
To the temple with prayer, with prayer let us go.397
2. balag398 é-e dirig sub-da [mu-un-la#-en-ne-en]

To the lyre unto the temple which surpasses all let us go.
397
Cf. SBP. 74, 19 and 68, 5.
398
For this sign = REC. 46, see now K.L., 25 III 15. The two signs balag
and dup are distinguished clearly on this tablet; see Obv. 9 for dup. On the
distinction of two original signs in Br. 7024, see THUREAU-DANGIN{FNS,
ZA. 15, 167; Chicago Syllabary 208 f., and PBS. 12 No. 11 Obv. Col. II 45
and 46 and page 13. Syl. B distinguishes the two signs.
Reverse of Tablet Virolleaud (The titular litany) 115
3. balag nigin-na-e sub-da d.Mu-[ul-lil-ra mu-un]

To the lyre unto the merciful one with prayer, [unto Enlil,]
4. balag dîm-me-ir mu-lu sub-da d.Mu-ul-[lil-ra mu-un]

To the lyre unto god, the lord, with prayer, unto Enlil [let
us go].
5. dîm-me-ir lu-g -lu-ne-en sub-da mu-un-la#-en-[ne-en]

Unto him who is god of his people with prayer let us go.
6. me-en-ne é-e tùb a-ra-zu-a mu-un-la#-en-ne-[en]

We “Oh temple repose” in prayer come.
7. me-en-ne ki-e tùb a-ra-zu-a mu-un-la#-(en)-ne-en

d.
Mu-[ul-lil-ra]
We “Oh earth repose” in prayer come, unto Enlil (come).
8. ù-mu-un š -ab tùb-e-da in-gà399 -la#-(en)-ne-en

d.
Mu-[ul-lil-ra]
To pacify the heart of the lord behold we come unto Enlil.
9. š -ab #un-gà bar #un-gà-da in-gà-la#-ne-en d.Mu-[ul-lil-ra]

To pacify the heart, to pacify the soul, behold we come to
Enlil.
10. me-en-ne š -ab ù-mu-un-na mu-un-tùb-(en)-ne-en

d.
Mu-[ul-lil]
We will pacify the heart of the lord, yea of Enlil.
11. š -ab an-na š -ab d.Mu-ul-lil-lá mu-un-tub-(en)-ne-en

The heart of Anu and the heart of Enlil we will pacify.
12. d.Mu-ul-lil-lá dam-a-ni ... d.Nin-lil-lá

[The heart of] Enlil and his wife Ninlil [we will pacify.]
399
See RA. 11, 45 n. 5.
13. d.En-ki d.Nin-ki d.En-mul d.Nin-mul400

The heart of Enki, Ninki, Enmul and Ninmul [we will
pacify.]
14. i-lu a-di ig-ga-am-ma-ru

A god until they are finished.401
[308]
ki-šub-gú 10-kam-ma402
The tenth strophe.
(The Recessional)
15. ù-mu-un-mu za-e babbar403 uru-mà ur-sag-gà me-en

My lord thou art, light of my city, a hero thou art.
16. šùb-bi-mu ù-mu-un kalag-a ur-sag-gà me-en

My illumination, oh valiant lord, a hero thou art.
17. ù-mu-un kalag-a ur-sag-gà me-en kalag-ga-na me-en

Oh valiant lord, a hero thou art, its404 defender thou art.
18. d.Babbar-gim za-e ? en-na an-ni tur-tur-ne-[en]

Like Shamash thou art ... into heaven enters.
19. d.Nannar-gim ki dumu-zu an-na(?)405 na-an-gir-ri-[ne-en]

Like Nannar where thy son406 in heaven hastens.
400
All father-mother names of Enlil, CT. 34, 3, 29 ff.
401
This Semitic rubric is unique in the published literature of Sumerian
liturgies. It indicates that the choristers should here complete the long titular
litany by reciting the titles of the deities named in the litany given in full on
the Berlin tablet; see the preceding edition of K. L. 11 Rev. IV 1 ff.
402
For this rubric, see PBS. X 151 note 1.
403
For Enlil connected with the idea of light, see PBS. X 158 n. 1.
404
The pronoun refers apparently to uru in line 15.
405
Text na-an!
406
The moon god was held to be the son of Enlil, SBP. 296, 5.
Reverse of Tablet Virolleaud (The titular litany) 117
20. ù-mu-un-mu enem-zu galu-ra407 na-an-na-ab-zí-[em]

My lord thy word on man has fallen.
21. enem-zu galu ki408 -kal-ra na-an-na-ab-zí-[em]

Thy word on him of the foreign land has fallen.
22. enem-zu galu en-na nu-šeg-ra na-an-na-ab-zí-[em]

Thy word on men as many as are not obedient has fallen.
23. ù-mu-un-mu uru-zu-a è-ni a-sar-sar-ra409

My lord beneficent waters in thy city cause to spring forth.
24. a-ad. Mu-ul-lil ki-bur-ta-bur-ta uru-zu-a è-ni

Father Enlil ... in thy city cause to come forth.
ki-šub-gù 11-kam-ma
The eleventh strophe.
25. sub-bi še-ib è-kur-ra-ta ki-na gí-gí-ra.

A prayer for the brick walls of Ekur, that it return to its
place.
ki-šú-bi-im
A song of supplication.
26. al-tíl e-lum gud-sun

It is finished, the series “Exalted, bull that overwhelms.”
[309]
Early Form of the Series
d.
Babbar-gim-è-ta 11359 (Myhrman
No. 8)
Ni. 11359, published by MYHRMAN, PBS. I. No. 8, is the
left upper corner of a large four column tablet. It contained
a series of ki-šub melodies which formed the prototype of the
later Enlil series of which three tablets have been edited by
the writer, see Sumerian Liturgical Texts 167. It stands to the
completed series as the similar tablet of the e-lum gud-sun series,
Tablet Virolleaud, is related to its completed canonical form
in ZIMMERN, KL. 11. Both Ni. 11359 and Tablet Virolleaud
show the evolution of two great Enlil liturgies arrested midway
in their evolution. They still consist of unmethodically joined
melodies. Both have the same rubric at the end. The first melody
of d.Babbar-gim-è-ta after line four agrees with the first melody
of the Enlil series zi-bu-ù sud-du-ám in ZIMMERN, KL. 8 and 9
after line five of that series. A duplicate will be found in BL. pp.
37-39, which see for critical notes on the reconstructed text.
407
Cf. BL. 48, 23.
408
Text DI.
409
Same phrase in Ni. 14005, 24. See Le Poème Sumèrien du Paradis, p. 140.
119
OBVERSE 1
1. d.Babbar-gim è-ta [ ]
1. Like the sun-god arise ...
2. ù-mu-un gan ...

2. Oh lord ...
3. a-a d.Mu-ul-lil ù-[mu-un kur-kur-ra

3. Father Enlil, lord of the lands.
4. d.Mu-ul-lil ù-mu-[un dúg-ga-zi-da]

4. Enlil lord of faithful word.
5. am-ná-a gud-dé s+g-gan-nu-di

5. Crouching wild ox, bull that rests not.410
6. d.Mu-ul-lil dam-kar-[ra ki-dagar-ra]

6. Enlil herdsman of the wide earth.
[310]
7. ù-mu-un mu erin-na-[ni sag-ma-al ki]

7. Lord who summons his toilers, recorder of the earth.
8. ù-mu-un iá erin-a-[ni ga-eri-ám da-]ma-[la]

8. Lord who causes to abound oil for his toilers, milk for the
newly born.411
9. ù-mu-un ki-dúr-a-ni [uru ir-ir]

9. Lord whose abode is the city of weeping.
10. ki-ná-a-ni á-ág-[gà-e gal-zu]

10. In whose chamber oracles are interpreted.
410
For the interpretation, see RA. 12, 27 n. 5.
411
See for readings BL. 38, 9.
11. a-a d.Mu-ul-lil uru-[ta Nibru-ki]

11. Father Enlil in (thy) city Nippur.
12. é-kur é-šag-gi-pad-da-ta

12. In Ekur temple of (thy) heart's choice.
13. gi-gun-na giš-tir-šim [giš erin-na-ta

13. In the great dark chamber of odorous forest and cedar.
14. [ ] Šeš-dk-a-ka šeš-mul [... ta]

14. In ...,
15. [ ]si-ra é-m-[di- ta ]

15. In ... the house of vision,
16. [ ]lu é babbar nu-[zu-ta]

16. In ... house which knows the sunlight not,
17. [é]-gi-dim-dim-ma i-dé [nu-bar-ri-ta]

17. In the house of the “reed of sorrow,” which eye beholds not,
18. [ ]ma# dug-li du#-[du#-ta]

18. In the great ... causing prosperity to abound,
19. [é(?)]-ku-a gišik-[ku-igi-lal-a-ta]

19. In Ekua gate of the lifting of the eyes,
20. [ ]-silim-ma mu-mar [mar-ra-ta]

20.
...
REVERSE II
...
121
21. sub-bi še-ib é-[kur-ra-ta?] ki-na-an-gí-gí-ra412

21. Prayer for the brick walls of Ekur that it be restored to its
place.
22. ki-šù-bi-im
22. It is a service of prostrations.
[311]
Liturgy of the Cult of Kes (Nippur

Fragments and Ashmolean Prism.)
Keš and Opis, two closely associated but unlocated southern
cities of Sumer, lay apparently somewhere in the region between
Erech and Šuruppak. So closely were they united that the same
cult of the great mother goddess obtained in both.413 According
to II Raw. 60a 26, Innini of Hallab was the queen of Keš. The
Sumerian liturgy, BL. p. 54, names Nintud as the goddess of
this city, but the list of mother goddesses in PSBA. 1911 Pl.
XII calls her by the name Ninharsag,414 where she is associated
with Ninmenna, epithet of the earth mother in Adab a city near
412
See also Tablet Virolleaud, Rev. end.
413
Also Opis was sometimes called Keš, see CT. 16, 36, 3, ki-e-ši, gloss on
the ideogram for Opis.
414
For Ninharsag at Keš, see also SAK. 14 XVIII 6. Another title of the
goddess at Keš is Ninmah, SAK. 237e.
Šuruppak. A fragment, No. 102 in BL., reads her title at Keš as

Aruru. These various epithets all refer to the earth mother whose
principal married type is Ninlil. In fact one liturgy actually names
Ninlil as the goddess of Keš, SBP. 24, 74. On the other hand, a
cult document of the Neo-Babylonian period names Kallat Ekur,
the bride of Ekur, as the goddess of U-pi-ia or Opis, VS. VI.
213, 21.415 The bride of Ekur is Ninlil. Thus the twin cities Keš
and Opis of Sumer with their cult of the earth mother Ninharsag
or Nintud were imitated in later times in Akkad and located on
the Tigris where Opis survived into Greek times (ÉÀ¹Â) and Keš
seems to have become confused in writing with Kiš a famous
city near Babylon. At Opis in Akkad a male satellite Igi-du
[312] was associated with the mother goddess and we may be safe
in assuming that he was borrowed from the original southern
cult.416 Of the names Ninharsag, Aruru, Nintud, Ninmah, Innini
of Hallab, we are not certain which one applied especially to
Keš and Opis. In any case the liturgy which we are about to
discuss had some special name for the goddess here. In a refrain
which recurs at the end of each melody the psalmists say that the
god of Keš, that is probably Igidu,417 was made like Ašširgi, or
Ninurta, and that its goddess was made like Nintud, hence the
special name of the mother goddess in this liturgy cannot have
415
Here the god of Opis is given as Igidu, a form of Nergal. In this late text
Opis on the Tigris at Seleucia is probably intended. The southern Keš and
Opis were imitated in Akkad, at any rate in later times, and Keš was apparently
confused with Kiš which gave rise to a second Kiš in Akkad. The ancient and
historical Kiš at Oheimer on the canal of the Euphrates should not be confused
with Kiš corruption for the new Keš near Seleucia.
416
The god Igi-du of Keš is identified with Ninurta as were most of the male
satellites of the mother goddesses in various cities. CT. 25, 24 K. 8219, 17+K.
7620, 18, dIgi-du = dNin-urta. According to CT. 25, 12, 17 it is one of the titles
of Ninurta in Elam. But in CT. 24, 36, 52 dIgi-du is a form of Nergal, and in
the omen text, BOISSIER{FNS, DA. 238, 10 he is explained as d.Meslamtaèa,
a form of Nergal.
417
Or perhaps Negun. See below.
123
been Nintud.
So far as the text of this important liturgy in eight melodies
can be established, it leads to the inference that, like all other
Sumerian choral compositions, the subject is the rehearsal of
sorrows which befell a city and its temple. Here the glories of
Keš, its temple and its gods are recorded in choral song, and
the woes of this city are referred to as symbolic of all human
misfortunes. The name of the temple has not been preserved in
the text. But we know from other liturgies that the temple in Keš
bore the name Uršabba.418 The queen of the temple Uršabba is
called the mother of Negun, also a title of Ninurta in Elam.419
The close connection between the goddess of Keš and Ninlil is
again revealed, for Negun is the son of Ninlil in the theological
lists, CT. 24, 26, 112. Therefore at Keš we have a reflection
of the Innini-Tammuz cult or the worship of mother and son,
mother goddess Ninlil or Ninharsag, and Igidu or Negun.420 [313]
Keš and Opis must have been closely associated with both
Erech and Šuruppak, and of traditional veneration in Sumer.
Keš is mentioned in a list with Ur, Kullab (part of Erech) and
Šuruppak, SMITH, Miscellaneous Texts 26, 5. Gudea speaks of a
part of the temple in Lagash which was pure as Keš and Aratta (i.
e. Šuruppak).421 , KL. 199 Rev. I 37 (here without é). This temple
can hardly be the one which forms the subject of the liturgy on
the Ashmolean Prism.
The various mother goddesses of Eridu, Kullab, Kêši, Lagaš and
Šuruppak are invoked in an incantation, CT. 16, 36, 1-9. The
first melody of the Ashmolean Prism contains a reference to the
horse of Šuruppak.
The textual history of this liturgy is interesting. The major
418
BL. 72, 14. Here Keš or Kisa is written with the ideogram for Opis.
419
CT. 25, 12, 23. See SBP. 156, 39.
420
SAK. 118 XXVII 2.
421
A temple é-an-za-kar is assigned to Opis in POEBEL{FNS, PBS. V 157, 8
and ZIMMERN{FNS
text is written upon a four-sided prism now in the Ashmolean

Museum of Oxford. The object is eight inches high, four inches
wide on each surface and is pierced from top to bottom at the
center by a small hole, so that the liturgy could be turned on a
spindle. The writer published a copy of this prism or prayer wheel
in his Babylonian Liturgies. The elucidation of this exceedingly
difficult text was lightened somewhat by the discovery of a four
column tablet in Constantinople, which originally contained the
entire text. It was afterwards published as No. 23 of my Historical
and Religious Texts. Since the edition of these two sources, the
Nippur Collection in Philadelphia has been found to contain
several fragments of the same liturgy. A portion of the redaction
on several single column tablets had been already published by
RADAU in his Miscellaneous Sumerian Texts, No. 8 (=Ni. 11876),
last tablet of the series containing melodies six, seven, and eight.
I failed to detect the connection of RADAU's tablet at the time of
the first edition but referred to it with a rendering in my Epic
[314] of Paradise, p. 19. Another tablet, also from a single column
tablet redaction at Nippur, has been recovered in Philadelphia,
Ni. 8384.422 This text utilized here in transcription contains a
section marked number 4 on that tablet but all the other sources
omit it. Hence this redaction probably contained nine melodies.
The new melody has been inserted between melodies three and
four of the standard text. If evidence did not point otherwise the
editor would have supposed that Ni. 8384 and 11876 belonged to
the same tablet. But Ni. 8384 has melodies four, five and six of
its redaction with the catch-line of the next or its seventh melody
which partly duplicates the Radau tablet. Moreover, these two
tablets have not the same handwriting and differ in color and
texture of the clay. Finally a small fragment, Ni. 14031, contains
the end of the second melody and the beginning of the third on its
obverse. The reverse contains the end of the sixth melody. This
422
Published by BARTON{FNS, Miscellaneous Religious Texts.
125
small tablet undoubtedly belongs to the four column tablet in

Constantinople. The two fragments became separated by chance
when the Nippur Collection was divided between Philadelphia
and the Musée Imperial of Turkey. Ni. 14031 will be found in
my Sumerian Liturgical Texts, No. 22.
Under ordinary circumstances a text for which so many
duplicates exist should have yielded better results than I have
been able to produce. But the contents are still obscure owing
largely to the bad condition of the prism. My first rendering of
the interesting refrain in which I saw a reference to the creation
of man and woman was apparently erroneous. The refrain refers
rather to the creation of the mother goddess of Keš and to her
giving birth to her son Negun.423 [315]
COL. I (Lines 1-22 defaced)
...
23. [é ke]š-(ki)-dug-ga dk-a

23. [Temple] in holy Keš builded.
24. [é(?)] ÉN-*AR-(ki)-dug-gu dk-a

24. [Temple(?)] in holy EN-*AR builded.
25. [é ...] nun-gim an-na dirig-ga

25. [Temple] like ... nun, like heaven exceeding all.424
26. [é ...] azag-gim ? -si ri-a

26. [Temple] like the pure ... clothed in
27. [é] an-na-gim mkš kur-kur-ra

27. [Temple] like heaven the illumination of the lands.
423
A new copy of the Ashmolean Prism is published in the Revue
d'Assyriologie, Vol. XVI.
424
Cf. BA. V 707, 7.
28. [é ...] tkr-gim ki-a-ta sur-sur-ra

28. [Temple] like ... tur in the earth founded.
29. [é ...-]gim mur-du ninda425 -gim gù-nun-di426

29. [Temple] like ... roaring, like a young bull bellowing.
30. [é ...] bi-ta lipiš kalam-ma

30. [Temple] in whose ... the hearts of the creatures of the Land
...427
31. [é ...] bi-ta zid Ki-en-gi-ra

31. [Temple] in whose ... the soul of life of Sumer ...
32. [é ...] ib-gal an-e-ri428 uš-sa

32. [Temple], great ... IB, attaining unto heaven.
33. [é ...]-da-gal an-e429 uš-sa

33. [Temple], great ... da, attaining unto heaven.
34. [é ...] gal an-e uš-sa

34. [Temple], great ..., attaining unto heaven.
35. [é ...] -na [an-e] uš-sa

35. [Temple ...], attaining unto heaven.
COL. II
1. ... an-ki ...
1. ... heaven and earth ...
2. ... abzu ...

2. ... of the nether-sea ...
3. é an-ni(?) šu-[ ]
3. Temple which Anu ...
127
4. d.En-lil-li zag-šú ...

4. Enlil above all ...
5. ama d.Nin-tud eš-[bar-kin ... ]

5. The mother, Nintud oracles ...
6. é Keš-ki ... na ...

6. Temple in Keš ...
7. ÉN-*AR-(ki)430 -gim rib-ba431 , KTA. 32, 5, rib-ba = šu-tu-3u.

galu ši-in-[ga-an-túm-mu]
7. Like EN-*AR it has been made surpassing; verily man has
brought solicitude for it.432
8. ur-sag-bi d.Áš-šir-gí-gim rib-ba

8. Its hero like Ašširgi has been
425
Probably for gud-NINDA=bîru, mîru.
426
Var. na.
427
Some verb seems to be missing here. The construction is obscure.
428
So the prism.
429
Var. ni.
430
Variant Constple. omits ki.
431
Cf. ki-gim rib-ba = kima ircitim šûtu3at, DELITZSCH{FNS, AL3 134,
5. KAL (ri-ib) = šûtu3u, Chicago Syllabar 287; rib = šutu33u, CT. 19, 11,
12; nam-kalag-ga-ni rib-ba = dannussu šûtu3at, IV Raw. 24a 48; ana-gim
ki-gim rib-ba-zu-ne = ša kima šamê u ircitim šûtugata, SBP. 250, 6. See also
EBELING{FNS
432
The meaning is obscure. For the suggested rendering cf. en me-a túm-ma,
the lord who cares for the decrees, SAK. 204, 6.
9. ama ši-in-ga-an433 , KL. 68 Rev. 24.

-ù-tud
9. made surpassing; the mother434 verily has borne him.
10. nin-bi d.Nin-tud-gim rib-ba-ra a-ba435 er-mu-ni-in-du#

10. Its lady like Nintud has been made surpassing. And then
wailing began.
11. gú 2 kam-[ma-ám]
11. It is the second song.
12. é an-šú #ud-da ki-šú ...436

12. Temple, in heaven resplendent, in earth ...
13. é an-šú ... ki-šú ...

13. Temple, in heaven ..., in earth ...
14. é an-šú si33a437 ki-šú udu-[gim ... ...]

14. Temple, in heaven (like) a wild goat, on earth like a sheep ...
15. é an-šú ... ki-šú dár-[bar-gim ...]

15. Temple, in heaven (like) ..., in earth like a roe ...
433
For this emphatic verbal prefix cf. DELITZSCH{FNS, AL3, 134, 5;
ZIMMERN{FNS
434
I. e. Nintud. For ummu in the sense of “mother goddess” note CT. 16, 36,
1-9 where the various mothers of Eridu, Kullab, Keš, Lagash and Šuruppak are
invoked. The reference here is undoubtedly to Ninlil as the mother of Negun,
SBP. 156, 39.
435
a-ba = arka, and then. The same phrase in BE. 31, 2, 7 and for aba, see
especially Sum. Gr. § 241. er-du(#) probably variant of er-du = dam mu.
436
Ni. 14031 in PBS. X No. 22 has as the verb the sign dug written five times,
as also the prism.
437
Restored from the variant Cstple. Rev. I 10.
129
16. é an-šú ... gim ... ki-šú dár-bar-gim ...

16. Temple, in heaven like ..., in earth like a roe ...
17. é an-šú muš-gim sîg-ga ki-šu babbar-gim za-e la#-[la#?]

17. Temple, in heaven like a dragon gleaming, on earth like the
sunlight thou shinest.
[317]
18. é an-šú babbar-gim è-a ki-šu d.Nannar-gim ...

18. Temple, in heaven like the sun arising, in earth like the new
moon ...
19. é an-šú kur-ra ki-šu idim-ma

19. Temple, in heaven shining,438 on earth loud crying.439
20. é an-ki 3 gu-ma-bi na-nam

20. Of the temple of heaven and earth three are its attendants.
21. ÉN-*AR-(ki) gim rib-ba galu ši-in-ga-an-túm-mu

21. Like EN-*AR it has been made surpassing; verily man has
brought solicitude for it.
22. ur-sag-bi d.Áš-šir-gí-gim rib-ba-[ra]

22. Its hero like Ašširgi has been made surpassing; the mother
23. [ama] ši-in-ga-an-ù-tud

23. verily has borne him.
24. [nin-bi] d.Nin-tud-gim rib-ba-ra a-ba er-mu-ni-in-du#

wailing began.
438
So? kur = nap +u, better than my former rendering of this passage.
439
idim = šegû, nad ru (cf. THOMPSON{FNS, Reports 82, 6 with 108, 5),
refers to the rumbling of the great gates of the temple.
25. [gú] 3-kam-ma-[ám]

25. It is the third section.
8384.
1. [é- ...] ní-gal-ar an-ni mu-ma# sá
1. [Temple ...] in splendor blazing, which Anu with a far-famed
name has named.
2. [è ...]-gal d.En-lil-li nam-ma-ni gal tar-ri

2. [Temple ...] great, whose fate Enlil has grandly decreed.
3. [é]á-nun-gál d.A-nun-ge-ne kalam sigi(?)440 lám(?)-mu

3. [Temple] ... of the Anunnaki, in the Land starlike gleaming.
4. é ki-dúr im-dúb-bu441 dingir gal-gal-e-ne

4. Temple, peaceful dwelling place of the great gods.
5. é an-ki-bi-da giš-#ar-bi ni-#ar me el šu-ba-e-tag

5. Oh temple whose design in heaven and earth has been
planned, thou art possessed of pure decrees.
6. é kalam ki-gar-ra zag-gar-ra uš-sa

6. Temple erected in the Land, where stand the chapels of the
gods.
[318]
7. é-kur #e-gál ka-zal ud-zal-zal-li

7. Mountain house, radiant with abundance and festivity.
8. é d.Nin-#ar-sag-gà zi-kalam-ma ki-bi-šú gar

8. Temple in whose place Ninharsag has instituted the breath of
life of Sumer.
440
Br. 2729? Cf. R (si-gi) = 3a33abu, CT. 18, 49, 4.
441
Same phrase in CLAY{FNS, Miscel. 31, 33.
131
9. é-#ar-sag-gal šu-lu#-#a túm-ma nig-nam-ma-ni ni442 -kúr

9. Great mountain house, made worthy of the rituals of
purification, of its possessions nought changes.
10. é ... da-nu ka-áš-bar nu-gà-gà

10. Temple ... ceases not to render decision.
11. è ... kalam-dagal-šú lá-a

11. Temple ... unto the wide Land bearing.
12. [é] kalam šár ù-tud numun giš-isimu tuk-tuk

12. [Temple] causing the multitudes of the Land to produce
offspring, causing the seed to send forth sprouts.
13. [é] lugal ù-tud nam kalam-ma tar-ri

13. Temple that gives birth to king, decreeing the fate of the
Land.
14. [é] bár-bár kar su-3in-dúr-bi ag-dé

14. ...
15. ÉN-*AR-(ki)-gim rib-ba galu ši-in-ga-an-túm-mu

15. Like ÉN-*AR it has been made surpassing; verily man has
wrought solicitude for it.
16. ur-sag-bi d.Áš-šir-gí-gim rib-ba ama ši-in-ga-ám-ù-tud

verily has borne him.
17. nin-bi d.Nin-tud-gim rib-ba-ra a-ba er-mu-ni-in-du#

wailing began.
18. [gú 4]-kam-ma-ám

18. It is the fourth section.
[319]
Ashmolean Prism, Col. II
26. [uru]443 -in-ga-ám uru-in-ga-ám šag-bi a-ba a-mu-un-zu444

26. It is a city, it is a city! Its secrets who shall understand?
27. é Keš-ki uru-in-ga-ám šag-bi a-ba a-mu-un-zu

27. The temple of Keš is a city! Its secrets who shall understand?
28. šag-bi-a ur-sag ur-sag-e-ne si-mu-un-si-di-e-ne

28. Within it the heroic ones administrate.
29. eš-bar-3in-dùg-ga šu-gal mu-un-dú-dú445

29. The oracles proclaimed grandly it executes.
30. é-e gud-udu446 -dam gud-ám-ma-gur-ri(?)-en

30.
31. ?-e tum-ma-ám lu#-lu#- ...

31.
442
ni = nu; cf. SBP. 138, 22, ni-kuš-ù; POEBEL{FNS, PBS. V 26, 10.
443
So on Var. Cstple. II 6.
444
First example of the verb zu strengthened by augment a; cf. a-ru, a-sil in
Babyloniaca II 96.
445
Cf. Gudea, Cyl. A 10, 18.
446
Semitic cênu? Cf. EBELING{FNS, KTA. No. 4 Rev. 13.
Ashmolean Prism, Col. II 133
32. é-e gud-šár-ra-ám447 al-dúg-[ga?]

32.
33. è-e udu-šár-ra-ám al-dúg-[ga?]

33.
34. giš-KU-LIL(?)-ne448 gú-LIL-ma-ám gál-li ...

34.
35. giš-KU-da449 ... gùr ...

35.
COL. III
2. gišA-TU-GAB-LIŠ-dam an-da-PI-PI-SAL(?) ...
2.
3. #ar-sag-da m -a450 an-da-sîg-sîg-[ga-ám?]

3.
4. EN-*AR-(ki)-gim rib-ba galu ši-in-ga-túm-mu

4. Like EN-HAR it has been made surpassing; verily man has
5. ur-sag-bi d.Aš-šir-gi-gim rib-ba ama ši-in-ga-an-ù-tud

verily has borne him.
[320]
d.
6. nin-bi Nin-tud-gim rib-ba-ra a-ba er mu-ni-in-du#
wailing began.
447
Var. Cstple. an.
448
Read ge-ne? Ni. 8384 ge(?)-e-ne.
449
Ni. 8384 dam.
450
So on 8384.
7. [gú451 4-kam-ma-ám
7. Section four452 it is.
8. ...
8. ...
9. é [ ]
9.
10. é [ ]-la né [ ] tu453 [ ] ur [ ]

10.
11. šag-bi-a ur-sag ur-sag-e-ne si-mu-un-si-di-e-ne

11. Within it the heroic ones administrate.
12. d.Nin-#ar-sag-gà ušumgal-ám šag-ki im-[ ]

12. Nin+arsag placed it in the bosom of the earth like a python.
13. d.Nin-tud ama-gal-la tud-tud mu-un-[ ]

13. Nintud the great mother ...
14. d.Šul-pa-è-a pa-te-si-ge nam-en-na mu [ ]

14. Šulpae the priest king lordship ...
15. d.Áš-šir-gi454 ur-sag-gà AB455 -mu-[...]

15. Ašširgi, the champion, ...
451
Var. Cstple. é. See below line 21 and BL. 88 n. 4.
452
Fifth section on Ni. 8384.
453
First sign on Ni. 8384 Rev. 1.
454
Ni. 8384 gí
455
Same sign on Var. Cstple. But Ni. 8384 has a sign apparently related to the
difficult sign which I assimilated to Br. 4930 in AJSL. 33, 48. The sign on Ni.
8384 recurs in ZIMMERN{FNS, KL. 35 II 5.
16. d.Urumaš ligir-gal-ám456 edin-na-an457 mu-da-an-[...]

16. Urumaš great prince in the (heavenly) plain has ...
17. é-e si33a lu-lim458 gú-ám-ma-gur-ri459

17. The temple assembles the rams and bucks.

19. ur-sag-bi d.Áš-šir-gi460 -gim rib-ba

20. ama ši-in-ga-a-an-ù-tud

[321]
d.
21. nin-bi Nin-tud-gim rib-ba-ra461
a-ba er-mu-ni-in-du#
wailing began.
22. é 5-kam-ma-ám
22. It is the fifth462 section.
23. é ud-gim ki-gal-la gub-ba

23. The temple like the sun on the vast foundation stands.
456
Var. Ni. 8384 gal-e; Var. Cstple. gal-la. According to CT. 24, 10, 8 the
throne bearer of Enlil, but in 24, 26, 124 a ligir-gal in the attendance of the
mother goddess.
457
Ni. 8384 edin-na; Var. Cstple. edin.
458
Both variants add e.
459
Var. of gú-gar = pu++uru. See BL. 10, 30.
460
Vars. omit gim.
461
Ni. 8384 omits ra.
462
Sixth on Ni. 8384.
24. am-la#-la#-gim edin-na skg-skg-[gi]

24. Like a white bull on the landscape it reposes.
25. [ ] e gar-ra é [ ]
25.
26. [ ]-bi-ta [ ]
26.
27. [ -]ta [ ]
27.
28-30.
(28-30 illegible or lost on all the variants.463 )
31. [ ] ra [ ]
31.
32. [ ] gar nu [ ]
32.
33. [ ] an-šár ki-šar

33.
34. [ ]bi la-#a-ma ki-uš-sa

34.
35. [ ] na-ra-ab Uri-(ki)-ka keš-du

35.
36. ÉN-*AR-(ki)-gim rib-ba464 galu ši-in-ga-an-túm-mu

36. Like ÉN-HAR it has been made surpassing; verily man has
463
Lines 29-IV 4 are partially restored from Ni. 14031.
464
First signs on RADAU{FNS, Miscel. No. 8 = Ni. 11876.
Col. IV
1. ur-sag-bi d.Áš-šir-gí-gim rib-ba-ra
2. ama-a465 ši-in-ga-an-ù-tud
3. nin-bi d.Nin-tud-gim rib-ba-ra a-ba er-mu-ni-in-du#

wailing began.
4. é466 6-kam-ma ám
4. It is the sixth section.
[322]
5. é-azag LU-bi é467 ....

5. The sacred temple whose (?) is....
6. é-Keš-(ki)-azag LU-bi é468

6. The sacred temple of Keš whose ? is....
7. é-a en-bi d.A-nun-na-me-eš

7. In the temple whose high priests are the Anunnaki,
8. nu-éš-bi dim-é-an-na-me-eš469
8. Whose sacrificial priests are the dim of Eanna,
9. kisal-e lugal-bur-ra-ám mu-un-gub

9. The aisle ... treads.
465
So Ni. 11876.
466
So apparently Ni. 11876.
467
Text certain. Not NUN.
468
See last footnote.
469
Var. Cstple. en.
10. en-dug šag túg-lal nam-mi-in-lal

10. (The temple) unto which a beneficent lord has shown
solicitude....
11. a-tu-e umun d.En-ki NE-GAB in-[ ]

11. The libator(?), lord Enki....
12. tu-e a-mr(?)470 -a471 mu- e- gub

12. The baptizer ... treads thee.
13. làl a-šag-ga ki-azag-ga-ám mi-472 ...

13.
14. en isimu-e473 abkal ubar-e-ne tù ki-ám-ma-gál-li-eš [

]šeš-a-ni SU-mu-un-s+g-gi-ne474
14. The lord Isimu, the councilor....
15. [ ] RU URU RU mu-ni-ib-bi-ne

15.
16. [ ]-ma-ge gig-ga475 mi-ni-ib-za [ ] á-lal-e gù-#u mi-ni-ib-bi

16. ... in sorrow abounds. ... the bound cry like birds (?)[7]
17. [ ]?-ra-ge sk#-sk# mi-ni-ib-za [ ] dug-gi si-#a-ba-ni-ib di

17. ... in desolation abounds. ... may direct aright.
[323]
18. [ ] ka-zal-bi al-dug
18. Of ... its joy was sweet.
470
Radau's copy has 2IN.
471
Var. a-an.
472
Ni. 11876 has làl-e ki-azag-ga nam-mi-in-KU?
473
Ni. 11876 omits e. This text proves that in the ideogram Br. 1202 the gloss
isimu belongs properly to the first two signs only and that the original reading
was isimu-abkal. See especially CT. 12, 16, 34 (i-si-mu) = PAP-sîg = usmû. In
the later period abkal was apparently not pronounced and the whole ideogram
was rendered by isimu.
474
This line is not on the prism.
475
Ni. 11876 ga-a-an. Cstple. Var. gig simply.
19. [ -]dug ka-zal-bi al-dug

19. Of ... its joy was sweet.
20. [ ]-zal-bi a-mu-un-KU

20.
21. [ ]-#ar-sag-gà nin-bi[?-] bi ám-mu-un-KU(?)

21.

23. ur-sag-bi d.Áš-šir-gi-gim rib-ba ama ši-in-ga-an-ù-tud

23. Its hero like Ašširgi has been made surpassing; verily the
mother has borne him.
24. nin-bi d.Nin-tud-gim rib-ba-[a a-ba er-mu-ni-in-du#

wailing began.
25. [é(?)476 ] 7-kam-ma-ám

25. It is the seventh section.
476
Or gú.
Third Tablet of the Series “The
Exalted One Who Walketh” (e-lum
didara) (No. 13)
The series elum didara is entered in the Assyrian liturgical

catalogue, IV Raw. 53a 8, and the first tablet of this Enlil
liturgy has been found in the Berlin collection and published by
REISNER, SBH. No. 25.477 The Berlin tablet belongs to a great
Babylonian temple library of the Greek period redacted by a
family of liturgists descendants of Sin-ibni. A fragment of the
same first tablet of another Babylonian copy has been found,
BM. 81-7-27, 203.478 The catch line of tablet two is lost on
[324] SBH. 25 and no part of tablet two has been identified. In 1914 I
copied BM. 78239 (=88-5-12, 94) the upper half of a large tablet
carrying according to the colophon ninety-six Sumerian lines.
The number of lines provided with an interlinear translation on
this fragment is only two, which increases the actual number
of lines to ninety-eight. Probably a few more should be added
for Semitic lines on the lost portion. This tablet, also from a
477
I edited this tablet in SBP. 120-123 where I erroneously assigned it to
the Enlil series ame baranara. The tablet has been partially restored from
MEEK{FNS, No. 11. The first two melodies of elume didara are used in the
Enlil liturgy elum gudsun near the end just before the titular litany and have
been re-edited above pp. 300-2 in the edition of the elum gudsun series.
478
MEEK{FNS, No. 11 in BA. X pt. 1.
141
Babylonian redaction, belongs to an edition made by another

school of liturgists and contains tablet three of elum didara.
The third tablet of elum didara began with a melody nin-ri
nin-ri gû-am-me to the mother goddess Bau (I. 2), who in line
7 is identified with Nanâ. Lines 3-6 introduce by interpolation
other local forms of the mother goddess, as a concession to
cities whose liturgists succeeded in inserting these lines before
the canon of sacred songs were closed in the Isin period. Hence
Babylon is favored by a reference to Zarpanit in line 3; Barsippa
by a reference to Tašmet in lines 4-6. Bau or Gula wails for
Nippur whose destruction is here attributed to the moon-god,
Sin. The introduction of a long passage to the moon-god in the
weeping mother melody of an Enlil liturgy is unusual. The entire
passage reflects the phraseology and ideas of the well-known
Sumerian hymn to the moon-god magur azag anna.479 The
composer desiring to utilize these fine lines makes a setting for
them by describing Sin as the god who visited Nippur with wrath,
regardless of the inconsistency of placing such a passage in an
Enlil song service which attributed the sorrows of Nippur to Enlil
himself.
According to the catch line of tablet two of the Ninurta liturgy
gud-nim kurra the third tablet of that series began by the same
melody as tablet three of the elum didara.480 It is probable [325]
that the first melody of tablet three of both series was identical.
Melodies are always identified by their first lines and when these
agree we assume that the entire melodies are identical. Since
the musicians referred to all melodies by their first lines it was
manifestly impossible to begin two different melodies with the
same line. But tablet three of the weeping mother liturgy muten
nu-nunuz-gim begins its first melody481 nin-ri nin-ri gù-ám, etc.,
otherwise both melodies differ completely. This is the first
479
SBP. 296.
480
SBP. 236.
481
SBP. 140.
known of example of two different melodies bearing the same

title. It is curious indeed that an Enlil, a Ninurta and a mater
dolorosa series all begin their third tablets in the same manner.
The obverse of BM. 78239 breaks away before the end of the
melody nin-ri ninri gú-ám-me. Here forty-five Sumerian lines
are lost; one or two melodies at least stood in this break. For the
last passage on tablet three, the scribe borrows the first melody
of the Ninurta series gud-nim kurra.482 The litanies which begin
these melodies or series of addresses to Ninurta differ greatly in
the two redactions. Since SBH. No. 18 belongs to a Ninurta series
the addresses therein are much more extensive. The composer of
the Enlil series elum didara obviously introduced this irrelevant
melody to obtain the fine passage to the weeping mother, Rev.
10-21 on BM. 78239. These lines are lost on the Berlin text
SBH. No. 18. On the whole the liturgy elum didara is more
inconsistent in the development of ideas than any song service of
which extensive portions are known. Only tablets one and three
are as yet identified and neither of these is much more than half
[326] complete.
ru-ba-tum (rubatum) ši-si-it âli i-šes-si ina lal-la-ra-ti
The princess, the princess, in misery shouts the wailing of the
city.483
1. nin-ri nin-ri gú-ám-me úru in-ga-ám-me ù-li-li

1.
2. a gašan-mu nu-nunuz-šág-ga ù
2. How long my queen, the pious woman, in misery?484
482
SBP. 226=SBH. No. 18.
483
The first line, together with its Semitic translation, is identical with the
first line of the third tablet of the series muten nu-nunuz-gim, see SBP. 140.
Otherwise the melodies differ.
484
The refrain ù-li-li apparently provides an incomplete sentence.
143
3. é-gí-a é-sag-il-la485 ù
3. The bride of Esagila in misery?
4. dumu-sag d.Uraša-a ù
4. First born daughter of Urasha in misery?
5. dumu-sag é-i-be- d.A-nu-um ù

5. First born daughter of the temple Ibe-Anum in misery?
6. gašan-gù-ur-a-s-g ud-lal-a-ge ù
6. The obedient queen, she the ..., in misery?
7. gašan-mu d.Na-na-a ù
7. My queen Nana in misery?
8. é-zu é-zu-šú ù
8. (How long) shall thy temple for thy temple in misery be?
9. uru-zu uru-zu-šú ù
9. Thy city for thy city in misery be?
10. dam-zu dam-zu-šú ù

10. Thy wives for thy wives in misery be?
11. dumu-zu dumu-zu-šú ù

11. Thy sons for thy sons in misery be?
12. še-ib-šú še-ib-gí-gí ù

12. (How long) for the brick walls shall the brick walls restored
wail?
13. sa#ar-šú sa#ar-gí-gí486 ù

13. For the dust shall the restored dust wail?
485
Cf. SBH. No. 84, 13, there a title of the river goddess.
486
Lines 10-13 form a duplicate of SBH. No. 25, Rev. 2-5 = SBP. 122.
14. si-m 487

azag an-na še-ir-ma-al-la ní-te-na dirig-ga-zu-dé
za-e dirig-ga-zu-dé
14. Bright horned light of heaven mighty of itself, in thy
excellence, yea thou in thy excellence,
15. na-an-na-ru el-lu ša ša-me-e e-mil ra-ma-ni-šu ina

šu-tu-ru-ti-ka at-tam
15.
[327]
16. a-a d.Nannar si-m azag an-na še-ir-ma-al- a ní-te-na

16. O father Nannar bright horned light of heaven, mighty of
itself, (in thy excellence, yea thou in thy
excellence),
17. a-a d.Nannar umun-e an-šár

17. Father Nannar, lord of all the heavens,
18. umun d.Nannar umun d.Aš-ìm-ür-ra488

18. Lord Nannar, lord of the rising light,
19. umun gu-la galu nin-#ul-ma-al-la uru-zu ní-te-en-na

še-ir-ma-al-la ní-te-en-na
19. Great lord, who himself has wrought evil to thy city,489
mighty of himself,
20. uru-zu Nippur-(ki) galu nin-#ul-ma-al-la uru-zu

20. As for thy city Nippur, he who has wrought evil to thy city,
21. nigin kalam-ma-zu á-si ma-ni-ib-bi

21. All thy Land....
487
si-m , literally karn nu, the horned, referring to the new-moon. The variant
SBP. 296, 1 has má-gúr, the crescent boat. Undoubtedly má-gúr should be
rendered by nannaru in this passage.
488
See BL. p. 132.
489
I. e. Sin himself is the author of Nippur's sorrows.
145
22. [uru?] kalam-ma-da-zu gig-ga-an-na-ag-eš

22. Thy city and land are afflicted with woe.
23. [ ] zu-gà490 (galu) a-ba an-l #491 -eš

23. In thy ... and thy ... the scribes are driven away.
24. [ ] zu-gà pag-da492 ma-an-lá-lal-la-a#(?)493 -eš

24. In thy ... and thy ... the augurers are exiled.
25. ... zu ba-ni-ib-gul

25. Thy ... is destroyed.
26. ... zu ba-ni-ib-s-g-s-g

26.
27. ... *UL-AŠ-A (gloss) e-ga ib ...

27.
28. ... A-AN *UL ... e-ga ib ...

28.
29. ...
29. ...
REVERSE
1. [gk-ud nim] kur-ra [mu-lu ta-zu mu-un-zu]
1. Exalted hero of the world, doth any one comprehend thy
form?494 [328]
2. [kar-ra-]du ša-ku-u ša ma-a-tim kat-tuk [man-nu i-lam-mad]

2.
490
Glossed ki.
491
LA*; transcription and interpretation uncertain.
492
Hereby is established the reading pa(g)-dà = mûdu, kapdu. Probably a kind
of augurer.
493
Probably tautological writing for lalla# = itabbulu, Voc. Hittite 7509.
494
Cf. the first melody of the Ninurta series gk-ud nim kur-ra; see SBP. 226;
BL. No. 9 and SBH. 40.
3. alim-ma umun ur-sag-gal

3. Honored one, lord, great champion.
4. ur-sag-gal umun si d.Mu-ul-lil-lá-ge

4. Great champion, lord, light of Enlil.
5. alim-ma abil é-kur-ra

5. Honored one, son of Ekur.495
6. ur-sag-gal umun é-šu-me-DU496

6. Great champion, lord of Ešume-du.
7. umun é-šag-ma#-a umun-e é-i-be-šu-gúd

7. Lord of Ešama+, lord of E-ibe-šugud.497
8. umun sukkal-ma#-di498 gal-ukkin d.Nusku-ge

8. Lord, great messenger, the herald Nusku.
9. d.Maš-tab-ba d.Lugal-g-r-ra
9. The twin god, Lugalgirra.
10. dúg-ga-zu mu-lu ta-zu mu-un-zu

10. As to thy commands, who comprehends thy form?
495
Similar passages have é-šár-ra (SBP. 226, 8; SBH. 40, 8) chapel of Ninlil
in Ekur (SBP. 221 n. 7).
496
Temple of Ninurta in Nippur. A syllabary recently published by
SCHEIL{FNS (RA. 14, 174 I. 7) explains the name by bit gi-mir par-ci
hammu, Temple which executes the totality of decrees. Note, however, the
epithet é i-dé-ila = bit niš înê, House of the lifting of the eyes, SBP. 208, 11.
497
In any case an epithet of the temple of Urta in Dilbat, Ibe-iluAnum. For
this reading I-be see vars. I-bi, Im-bi, BL. p. 134. The word ibi is probably
Sumerian for igi, and shows that the phonetic rendering i-de is erroneous. The
dialectic pronunciation of igi was ibe and despite the Semitic variant imbi the
name is apparently Sumerian Ibe-Anu, Temple of the eye of Anu. Here šu-gúd
is an epithet for Anu, i. e. the lofty.
498
See also SBH. 132, 46; BL. No. 56 Rev. 31; CRAIG{FNS, RT. 20, 30. This
text has a variant a for di.
147
11. ta#-a-zu mu-lu

11. As to thy succor, who comprehends thy form?
12. e-ne-em-zu mu-lu

12. As to thy word, who comprehends thy form?
13. edin-na di-di edin-na še-ám-du

13. She wanders on the plain, on the plain she wails.
14. ama gašan tin-dib-ba edin-na

14. The mother, queen who gives life to the dead, on the plain
wails.
15. nin gašan nigín-gar-ra edin-na

15. The queen, lady Nigingar, on the plain wails.
16. nin gašan Lara-ak-(ki)-ge499 edin-na

16. The queen, lady of Larak, on the plain wails.
[329]
17. nin gašan I-si-in-na-(ki) edin-na

17. The queen, lady of Isin, on the plain wails.
18. nin ama é-dúr500 -azag-ga edin-na

18. The queen, mother of the holy city, on the plain wails.
19. nin ama ŠU-*AL-BI501 edin-na

19. The queen, the ... mother, on the plain wails.
20. d.Ba-ú nu-númuz šág-ga edin-na

20. Bau, the pious woman, on the plain wails.
499
Probably part of the great city Isin, see SBP. 160 n. 7.
500
Probably variant of é-dmr = adurû, kapru, village, city, POEBEL{FNS, PBS.
V 106 IV 30; see also II Raw. 52, 61 f. Note the similar title of the city of Bau
uru-azag-ga in SAK. 274; BL. 147. Here the title refers to Isin not Lagash.
501
Cf. CRAIG{FNS, RT. II 16, 18 dAma-ŠU-*AL-BI-ta.
21. éš é-rab-ri-ri umun d.Sá-kut-ma#-a edin-a

21. The abode, Erabriri, of the lord Sakutmah on the plain wails.
22. e-lum-e la-lu u-'u-a u-'u-a

22. Oh honored one, the exuberant, alas, alas.
23. 96-ám mu-šid-bi-im duppu 3-kam e-lum di-da-ra nu al-tíl

23. Ninety-six is the number of its lines. Third tablet of Elum
didara, unfinished.
24. gab-ri Bár-sip-(ki) kima labiri-šu ša-mir-ma barim duppu

d.
Bêl-i3-cur m ri-šu ša d.Bêl-iškun-ni
24. Copy from Barsippa, according to its original, written and
collated. Tablet of Bêlikcur son of Belishkunni,
25. mar Iddin-d.Papsukkal pa-li+ d.Nabu ina šar-tum la uštešir ù

ina me-riš-tum la u-ša-bi502 in ZA. 31, 41. ikalli
probably for ukallim; note the variant ušâbi =
ušâpi.
25. son of Iddin-Papsukkal worshipper of Nebo. In fraud he has
not translated it and with wilful readings has he
not published it.
Babylonian Cult Symbols. 6060 (No. 12) 149
Babylonian Cult Symbols. 6060

(No. 12)
Ni. 6060, a Cassite tablet in four columns, yields a notable addi-
tion to the scant literature we now possess concerning Babylonian
mystic symbols. A fragmentary Assyrian copy from the library
of Ašurbanipal was published by ZIMMERN as No. 27 of his Ritual
Tafeln. The Assyrian copy contains only fifteen symbols with
their mystic identifications, in Col. II of the obverse. The ends of
the lines of the right half of Col. I are preserved on ZIMMERN 27,
and these are all restored by the Cassite original. The obverse
of these two restored tablets contained about sixty symbols with
their divine implications. Most of them are the names of plants,
metals, cult utensils and sacrificial animals, each being identified
with a deity. A tablet in the British Museum, dated in the 174th
year of the Seleucid era or 138 B. C., Spartola Collection I 131,
published by STRASSMAIER, ZA. VI 241-4, begins with an astro-
nomical myth concerning the summer and winter solstices503 and
502
Cf. CT. 12, 3a 29; ina šar-tu la uštešir-šu u ina me-riš-tum la i-kal-li, “By
fraud he has not translated it and with wilful readings has he not published
it.” For šutešuru, “to translate or edit a tablet,” see LEHMANN{FNS, Shamash-
shum-ukîn, Taf. XXXIV 17 akkadû ana šutešuri, “to translate into Akkadian.”
On this difficult passage concerning the education of Ašurbanipal see Sumerian
Grammar, p. 3 and corrections by UNGNAD{FNS
503
Only in a loose sense. From Tammuz to Kislev is the period of death, from
Kislev to Tammuz the period of revivification of nature. See on the meaning
of this passage KUGLER{FNS, Im Bannkreis Babels 62-5.
then inserts a passage on the mystic meanings of ten symbols.

The myth of the solstices runs as follows:
“In the month Tammuz, 11th day, when the deities Minimmi
and Kamuna, daughters of Esagila,504 go unto Ezida505 and in the
month Kislev, 3d day, when the deities Gazbaba and Kazalsurra,
daughters of Ezida, go unto Esagila—Why do they go? In the
month Tammuz the nights are short. To lengthen the nights the
[331] daughters of Esagila go unto Ezida. Ezida is the house of night.
In the month Kislev, when the days are short, the daughters
of Ezida to lengthen the days go unto Esagila. Esagila is the
house of day.” The tablet then explains the Sumerian ideogram
gubarra=Ašrat, the western mother goddess Ashtarte, and says
that Ašrat of Ezida is poverty stricken.506 But Ašrat of Esagila
is full of light and mighty.507 Some mystic connection between
Ašrat or Geštinanna, mistress of letters and astrology,508 scribe
of the lower world, and the daughters of night and day existed.
This cabalistic tablet here refers to a mirror which she holds in
her hand and says she appeared on the 15th day to order the
decisions. The 15th of the month Tammuz is probably referred
to or the beginning of the so-called dark period when the days
begin to shorten and Nergal the blazing sun descends to the lower
world to remain 160 days.509 For some reason Ašrat, here called
the queen,510 appears to order the decisions, probably the fates
of those that die. The phrase “The divine queen appeared” is
504
Temple of Marduk in Babylon.
505
Temple of Nebo in Barsippa.
506
maš-dk=muškênitu.
507
šarahitum.
508
See Tammuz and Ishtar, p. 151. Ašrat or the western Ashtoreth usually had
the title bêlit cêri, “Lady of the plains” and was identified with the Babylonian
Geštinanna and Nidaba. Hence [Bêlit-]cêri is dupšarrat ircitm, scribe of the
lower world, K.B. VI 190,47; cf. IV R. 27 B 29.
509
See lines 51-4 of this tablet. Nergal descends into the earth on the 18th of
Tammuz and remains until the 28th of Kislev.
510 ilat
Šarrat.
usually said of the rising of stars or astral bodies, but the reference
here is wholly obscure. As a star she was probably Virgo. At
any rate some mystic pantomime must have been enacted in the
month of Tammuz in which the daughters of Esagila and Ezida
and the queen recorder of Sheol were the principal figures. The
pantomime represented the passing of light, the reign of night and
the judgment of the dead. Clearly an elaborate ritual attended by
magic ceremonies characterized the ceremony. At this point the
tablet gives a commentary on the mystic meaning of cult objects [332]
used for the healing of the sick or the atonement of a sinner.
Obviously some connection exists between this mystagogy and
the myth described. The commentary is probably intended to
explain the hidden powers of the objects employed in the weird
ritual, at any rate the mystery is thus explained.511
(1) Gypsum is the god Ninurta.512 (2) Pitch is the asakku-
demon.513 (3) Meal water (which encloses the bed of the sick
man) is Lugalgirra and Meslamtaea.514 [A string of wet meal
was laid about the bed of a sick man or about any object to guard
them against demons. Hence meal water symbolizes the two
gods who guard against demons. See especially EBELING, KTA.
No. 60 Obv. 8 zisurrá talamme-šu, “Thou shalt enclose him with
meal water.”]
(4) Three meal cakes are Anu, Enlil and Ea.515 (5) The design
511
Here epitomized. It will be found transcribed and translated by
ZIMMERN{FNS in his Zum Babylonischen Neujahrfest, p. 129.
512
MAŠ. See below Col. II 15, gypsum is Ninurta, the god of war, primarily
a god of light. Gypsum, Sum. im-bar, “radiant clay,” became symbolic of
Ninurta because of its light transparent color.
513
So, because gypsum, lime and pitch are smeared on the door of the house
and the god of light (Ninurta) tramples upon the demon of darkness.
514
Two inferior deities related to Nergal, god of the lower world. Their images
placed at the enclosure of a house prevent the demons, ZIMMERN{FNS, Rt.
168, 21 f. The image of Lugalgirra designed on a wall prevents the devils, ibid.
166,12. He binds the evil ones, IV R. 21* C III 26. The two are placed at the
right and left of a door to forbid the devils to enter. Maklu VI 124.
515
The great trinity: heaven, earth and sea.
which is drawn before the bed is the net which overwhelms all
evil. (6) The hide of a great bull is Anu. [Here the hide of the
bull is the symbol of the heaven god as of Zeus Dolichaîos in
Asia Minor.]
(7) The copper gong516 is Enlil. But in our tablet II 13 symbol
of Nergal and in CT. 16, 24, 25 apparently of Anu. The term of
comparison in any case is noise, bellowing.
(8) The great reed spears which are set up at the head of the
[333] sick man are the seven great gods sons of Išhara. The seven
sons of Išhara are unknown, but this goddess was a water and
vegetation deity closely connected with Nidaba goddess of the
reed.517 The reed, therefore, symbolizes her sons.
(9) The scapegoat is Ninamašazagga. Here the scapegoat
typifies the genius of the flocks who supplies the goat. See,
however, another explanation below Obv. II 17.
(10) The censer is Azagsud. The deity Azagsud in both
theological and cult texts is now male and now female. As a male
deity he is the great priest of Enlil, CT. 24, 10, 12, and always a
god of lustration closely connected with the fire god Gibil, MEEK,
BA. X pt. 1 No. 24,4.518 But ordinarily Azagsud is a form of the
grain goddess who was also associated with fire in the rites of
purification. As a title of the grain goddess, see CT. 24, 9, 35 =
23, 17; SBP. 158, 64 A-sug where ZIMMERN, KL. 11 Rev. III 11
has Azag-sug. She is frequently associated with Nin+abursildu
and Nidaba (the grain goddess) in rituals, ZIMMERN, Rt. 126,
27 and 29; 138, 14, etc. The censer probably symbolizes both
male and female aspects, the fire that burns and the grain that is
burned. See below II 9, where the censer is symbol of Urashâ a
god of light.
(11) The torch is Nusku the fire god in the Nippur pantheon.
Below (II 10) the torch is Gibil, fire god in the Eridu pantheon.
516
In any case a cult utensil on which a noise was made, CT. 16, 24, 32.
517
See the Chicago Syllabar 230 where she is identified with Nidaba.
518
Cf. ZA. 16, 178, 27; BA. V 649, 3; Shurpu VIII 10.
The mystic identifications do not always agree, but the term of

comparison can generally be found if the origin and character of
the deities are known and the nature of the symbol determined.
Each god was associated with an animal and a plant and with
other forms of nature over which they presided. When the cult
utensils are symbols the term of comparison is generally clear. [334]
Below will be found such interpretations of these mysteries as the
condition of the tablet and the limits of our knowledge permit.
Most difficult of all are the metal symbols which begin with
Obv. I 10. Here silver is heaven, but it can hardly be explained
after the manner of the same connection of Zeus Dolichaîos with
silver in Kommagene. The cult of this Asiatic heaven god is said
to have been chiefly practiced at a city in the region of silver
mines.519 That is an impossible explanation in the case of Anu
whose chief cult center was at Erech. The association of gold
with Enmesharra, here obviously the earth god, is completely
unintelligible. In Obv. I 31 he is possibly associated with lead
or copper as the planet Saturn. In lines I 14-18 the symbols
are broken away, but they are probably based upon astronomy.
Metals seem to be connected with fixed stars and planets on the
principle of color. The metallic symbolism of the planets was
well known to Byzantine writers who did not always agree in
these matters. Their identifications are certainly a Græco-Roman
heritage which in turn repose upon Babylonian tradition.520 The
519
So A. B. COOK{FNS, Zeus, 632. I would, however, entertain doubts
concerning this explanation of silver as the emblem of the Asiatic Zeus and
of Jupiter Dolichenus. The identification of this metal with the sky god in
Babylonia and Kommagene surely reposes upon a more subtle idea. [For the
explanation of silver = Anu and gold = Enlil, see p. 342.]
520
The Sabeans, a pagan Aramaic sect of Mesopotamia at Harran, are said
to have assigned a metal to each planet. Since a considerable part of their
religion was derived from Babylonia we may consider this direct evidence for
the Babylonian origin of the entire tradition. For an account of the metals
assigned to the planets by the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Sabeans, see
Bousset in Archiv für Religionswissenschaft 1901, article on “Die Himmelreise
following table taken from COOK, Zeus, p. 626, will illustrate

Græco-Roman ideas on this point:
Kronos—lead (Saturn); Zeus—silver (Jupiter); Ares—iron
(Mars); Helios—gold (Sun); Aphrodite—tin (Venus);
Hermes—bronze (Mercury); Selene—crystal (Moon).
[335] Our tablet preserves only the names of the deities at this
point, and if metals stood at the left we are clearly authorized to
interpret the divine names in their astral sense. This assumes,
of course, that these astral identifications obtained in the Cassite
period. Assuming this hypothesis we should have the metals
for Betelgeuze, Ursa Major, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, New-
moon(?), a star in Orion, Venus as evening and morning star,
Virgo, and perhaps others.
The reverse of the tablet is even more mystic and subtle. The
first section connects various cult substances with parts of the
body. White wine and its bottle influence the eyes. White figs
pertain to a woman's breasts. Must or mead have power over
the limbs as the members of motion. Terms of comparison fail
to suggest themselves here and we are completely disconcerted
by the fancy of the Babylonian mystagogue. In the next section,
which is only partially preserved, we have twelve gods of the
magic rituals. The province of each in relation to the city and
state is defined. Kushu, the evil satyr who receives the sin-
bearing scapegoat, hovers over the homes of men. Mu+ru, the
deity who receives burnt offerings, or incarnation of the fires of
sacrifice, dwells at the city-gate. Sakkut, a god of light and war,
inexplicably protects the pools. Then follow hitherto undefined
and unknown Cassite deities and a break in the tablet.
As in the Assyrian duplicate, ZIMMERN Rt. 27, so also here, the
reverse contains a lexicographical commentary on mythological
phrases. The name of the god Negun is commented upon here and
most timely information is given. Both the phonetic reading of the
der Seele.” The order of the planets, taken from the Byzantine list above, is
based upon their relative distances from the sun.
name and the character of the deity are defined. The colophon at
the end has the usual formula attached to cult instructions whose
contents are forbidden to the uninitiated. [336]
1. duk a-gub-ba ... [ ]521

1. The vessel of holy water ... [of the gods]
2. d.Nin-+abur-sil-du nin(?) [tù-tù-ge]522

2. is Ninhabursildu,523 queen of incantations.
521
Restoration from Zim. Rt. 27.
522
Conjectural restoration from ASKT. 96, 21. ZIMMERN{FNS, Rt. 27 I 3-4
has a longer description of [Nin+abursildu a-+a-lat [d A-gub-ba bêlit] mê(?)
ša nâri(?).
523
This deity appears in incantations as the queen of the holy waters bêlit
egubbê, IV R. 28*b 16; Bab. III 28, Sm. 491, 3. Although placed in the court
of Enlil the earth god as sister of Enlil by the theologians, CT. 24, 11, 40 = 24,
52, where she is associated with a special deity of holy water, dA-gub-ba, yet
by function and character she belongs to the water cult of Eridu. Her symbol
is the holy water jar (duk) agubba and the deity dAgubba is šu-lu# l g-l g-ga
Erida-ge, Purifying handwasher of Eridu, CT. 24, 11, 41 = 24, 53. The river
goddess dI is also bêlit agubbê, CT. 16, 7, 255 where in l. 254 Nin+abursildu
is a+at dA-[gub-ba], sister of Agubba, and the river goddess is mother of Enki,
or Ea, god of the sea, CT. 24, 1, 25. The reading +abur for A-*A is most
probable, and the cognate or dialectic form +ubur is a name for the mysterious
sea that surrounds the world. See BL. 115 n. 2. The holy water over which she
presides is taken from the apsu or nether sea, which issues from springs, hence
egubbû is spring water, CT. 17, 5 III 1. The name, then, really means “Queen of
the lower world river, she that walks (du) the streets (sil).” The Semitic scribe
of CT. 25, 49, 6 renders the name in a loose way by bêlit têlilti bêlit likat
3. dukgan-nu-tkr524 d.[ ]MEŠ-GAR

3. The little hannu-vessel is the deity ...
4. giššinig d.A-nim
4. The tamarisk is anu.525
5. giššag-gišimmar526 d.Dumu-zi
5. The date palm-head is Tammuz.
6. úin-nu-uš527 , SAI. 2805.

1exd.É-a
6. The mashtakal-plant is Ea.
7. gišul-#i d.Nin-urta
7. the šalatu-reed is Ninurta.
sulê [rapš ti], Queen of lustration, queen that walks the [wide] streets (of the
lower world). For the title bêlit têlilt+, see CT. 26, 42 I 14. For a parallel to the
description of her walking the streets of inferno, cf. d Kal-šág-ga sil-dagal-la
edin-na, Lady of purity who (walks) the wide streets of the plain (of inferno),
consort of Irragal, god of the lower world, SBP. 158, 59. A variant, KL. 16 III
8 has sil-gig-edin-na, the dark street, etc.
524
Variant of kân-tkr, V Raw. 42, 39.
525
In K. 165 Rev. 8 f. the tamarisk and date palm are said to be created in
heaven (giš an-na ù-tm) and the same is said of them in Gudea, Cyl. B 4, 10,
giš-šinig giš-še33a (i. e. = šig = gišimmaru) an ù-tud-da. This plant appears
frequently in magic rituals, IV R. 59b 4 icu bi-ni (Semitic), IV R. 16b 31,
Shurpu IX 1-8, and also in medical texts. bînu has been identified with Syriac
bîn , tamarisk. If this identification be correct, a comparison with the Hebrew
legend of the manna (bread of heaven in Psalms 105,40), said to have been the
exudation of the tamarisk, is possible.
526
Semitic u3uru, Aramaic 3êr , see MEISSNER{FNS, MVAG. 1913, 2 p. 40
and BE. 31, 69 n. 2. Used both in medicine and magic.
527
Passim in rituals and medicine. See BE. 31, 69, 27; 72, 29; KING{FNS,
Magic 11, 44; MEISSNER{FNS
8. úel528 , Magic 30, 25. Perhaps identical in name with the stone
arzallu, SAI. 8545. On a Dublin tablet often giš
EL. Cf. ú-šig-el-šar = šûmu, onion.
1exd.Ninâ529
8. The El-plant is Niná
[337]
9. gišburru530 d.Gir-rá531
9. The gišbur wood is the Fire God Girra.
10. d gkubabbar d.GAL532

10. Silver is the great god (the moon).
11. d gku-gi d.En-me-šár-ra533

11. God is Emmešarra (the sun).
12. d gurudu d.É-a

12. Copper is Ea.
528
In Shurpu VIII 70 mentioned with šal lu. A magic ointment made of the
El and maštakal, CT. 34, 9, 41. See also EBELING{FNS, KTA. 90 rev. 17;
KING{FNS
529
For the correct reading ni-ná-a, see AJSL. XXXIII 194, 159.
530
Here a wood employed in magic, cf. BE. 31, 60, 6+15. In syllabars giš-BUR
= gišburru, giškirru, indicates a weapon or an utensil.
531
NITA-DU, fire god, title of Nergal as fire god and identical with d g-r =
Nergal.
532
Here certainly Anu, heaven god, followed by Earth and Sea gods. Note also
dGu-la in liturgies passim as title of Anu, BL.{FNS 136. Anu = Sin, see p. 342.
533
Title of Enlil, lord of the totality of decrees. Enlil = Šamaš.
13. d gan-na d.Nin-ma#

13. Lead is Ninmah.534 , KTA.{FNS p. 121, 11. Symbols of these
four deities on boundary stones in same register,
HINKE{FNS, A New Boundary Stone, p. 28 second
register, et passim.
14. [ ]535 , Magic 50, 29.

1exd.Ninurta
14. [ ] is Ninurta.
15. [ ] d.Ninlil536 in DEIMEL{FNS, Pantheon Babylonicum 215.

15. [ ] is Ninlil.
16. [ ] d.Dilbat
16. [ ] is Ishtar-Venus.
17. [ ] d.AMAR-RA- E-UD-DU-A-LU-TU537

17. [ ] is Marduk-Jupiter.
18. [ ] d.Lugal-giš-a-tu-gab-liš-a538
18. [ ] is Nergal-Mars.
534
Originally title of the great unmarried mother goddess bêlit il ni, but often a
title of the virgin types Innini and Ninâ, BL. 141; of Gula ibid. Also somewhat
frequently she is Damkina, consort of Ea, IV R. 54b 47; CT.{FNS 33, 3, 21
her star beside that of Ea. Here she is the mother goddess and the same order,
Heaven, Earth, Sea, Mother Goddess in Shurpu IV 42, where Nin-ma# has the
Var. Nin-tud, EBELING{FNS
535
Possibly a metal stood here, identified with dMAŠ, a star in Orion (Kaksidi=
Beteigeuze), CT.{FNS 33, 2, 6; KING{FNS
536
Possibly the constellation Ursa Major. Margidda, the Wagon is intended,
identified with Ninlil on a Berlin text, WEIDNER{FNS, Handbuch 79, 10. See
also BEZOLD{FNS
537
From the context certainly a title of Marduk. ZIM.{FNS 27 I 19 omits
LU-TU.
538
Or Bêl-carbe, title of Nergal, v. VAB. IV 170, 67. Between lines 17 and 18
the variant inserts two lines.
19. [ ] d Sak-kud
19. [ ] is Ninurta-Saturn.539
20. [ ] d.Nusku540
20. [ ] is Nusku.
21. [ ] d.Pap-sukkal541
21. [ ] is Papsukal.
[338]
22. [ -]šág d.Sak-kut542

22. [ ] is Sakkut.
23. [ -]ŠID iluRam-ma-nu

23. [ ] is Ramman.
539
But Mars in Amos 5, 26. I accept here the later identifications, Nergal-
Mars, Ninurta-Saturn. The identifications in the earlier period of Babylonian
astronomy appear to have been Ninurta-Mars and Nergal-Saturn.
540
Probably the astronomical form of Nusku as god of the new moon, IV R.
23a 4. His character as fire god is symbolized by the torch, ZA. VI 242, 24. In
II 10 supply Gibil after ZIMMERN{FNS RT. 27, 5. As fire god he is messenger
of Enlil.
541
Papsukal, messenger of Zamama, god of Kiš, a form of Ninurta. He also
like Nusku derives his messenger character from his connection with light,
Papsukal ša še-ir-ti, Papsukal of the morning light, CT. 24, 40, 53. Since
Ninurta is identified with Alpha of Orion, Pap-sukal is identified with one of
the stars in Orion, CT. 33, 2 II 2; mulsib-zi-an-na dPap-sukal [sukal dAnim
Ištar] restored from VIROLLEAUD{FNS, Supplement LXVII 10. Here he is
messenger of heaven and of Ishtar as Venus, queen of heaven, that is, he is a
messenger of the powers of celestial light. Nusku and Pap-sukal often occur
together in magic texts, Shurpu VIII 10.
542
Here probably Sakkut as lord of light and justice, god of Isin, in his normal
capacity. See BL. 120 n. 6. His emblem is something made of date palm, šág,
gišimmar. This deity is unknown in magic texts except in ZIMMERN{FNS, Rt.
70, 8.
24. [ ] ilatIshtar Uruk-(ki)

24. [ ] is Ishtar of Erech.543
25. [ ] ilatIshtar A-ga-de-(ki)

25. [ ] is Ishtar of Agade.544
26. [ -]TAR ilatBe-lit-cêri

26. [ ] is Bêlit-ceri.545
27. [ ] d.Nin-lil
27. [ ] is Ninlil.
28. [ ri-]kis-su-nu d.Ninurta

28. [ ] their band(?) is Ninurta.
29. [ ] il ni sibitti546
29. [ ] is the seven gods.
30. [ ] d.En-me-šár-ra
30. [ ] is Enmesharra.547
543
Ishtar of Erech is Venus as evening star, the effeminate Venus of Erech, see
Tammuz and Ishtar, 54 and 180 n. 4.
544
Venus as morning star. The Ishtar of Agade was the type of war goddess,
see op. cit. p. 100; hence Venus as morning star is sometimes called the Bow
Star, KUGLER{FNS, Sternkunde II 198.
545
Western title of Geštinanna, sister of Ishtar. Here perhaps the constellation
Virgo.
546
The seven gods are the Pleiades, CT. 33, 2, 44. Since they are followed by
Enmesharra perhaps here to be identified with the seven sons of Enmesharra
(see BE. 31, 35). In ZA. VI 242, 20 gi-uru-gal-meš, “the great reed spears” are
symbols of the seven great gods, sons of Išhara. But traces of the last sign are
not those of MEŠ here.
547
In astronomy a form of Nin-urta = Saturn, but by character allied to Nergal
a lower world deity. See line 11 above. For E. as Saturn note V Raw. 46a
21, his star UDU-LIM and II R. 48, 52 the same star is dUDU-BAD-sag-uš =
kaimânu, Saturn. See also BE. 31, 35 n. 4 line 12, kaim nu title of Enmesharra.
OBVERSE II
...
2. giš [ ] [d. ]
2. [ ]
3. giš [ ] [d. ]
3. [ ]
4. giššim [ ] [d. ]
4. [ ]
5. šim-šal548 , Beiträge zum assyrischen Lexicon, p. 85,

identified it with Syr. šamš r , Persian and
Arabic šimšar.
d.
[ ]
5. Box-wood is the god....
6. gi-dug-ga549 [d. ]
6. The good reed is the god....
[339]
7. šim-li d.[Immer550 ]
7. Cypress is Adad.
548
šimeššalû employed in medical texts, see SAI. 3574 and JASTROW{FNS,
Medical Text Rev. 5. Here also without giš. HOLMA{FNS
549
Passim in medical and incantation texts, CT. 23, 45, 9; RA. 14, 88, 6;
EBELING{FNS, KTA. 26 R. 20; IV R. 55 No. 2, 18., etc.
550
Here variant ZIM{FNS. Rt. 27 Obv. II begins.
8. š+p ti burrumti551 iluLabartu(?)552 and I have seen a sign

KU or ŠU. Labartu is usually written RAB+GAN-
ME. Here we may have to do with some new
ideogram for this deity. She is the daughter of
Anu, HAUPT{FNS, ASKT. 94, 59. A prayer to the
daughter of Anu is KING{FNS, Magic No. 61, 5-21.
mar[at iluAnim ]
8. Wool of variegated color is Labartu daughter of Anu.
9. šim-ZU553 d.[Nin-urta ]
9. The aromat-ZU is Ninurta.
10. nig-na d.Uraš

10. The censer is Urasha.554
11. gi-bil-lá d.[ Gi-bil]

11. The torch is Gibil.555
12. 3u-ta-ri ibbûti556 d.[Ne-gun]

12. The clean incense is Negun.557 , Sin XIII 22.
551
Written sìg dar-a.
552
The name of this deity is not legible in ZIMMERN'S{FNS variant and the
first sign of the name on the Nippur text is doubtful but apparently the šeššig
and gunu of Galu, that is REC. 100 later RAB+GAN, (v. SAI. p. 155 note 1).
After this sign ZIMMERN{FNS
553
ZIM.{FNS SU.
554
But in ZA. VI 242, 23 symbol of Azagsud.
555
But ZA. VI 242, 24 Nusku, fire god in Nippur pantheon.
556
See MUSS-ARNOLT{FNS, p. 940. Also note niknakku ša 3u-ta-ri, censer
of incense, CT. 29, 50, 9; 3utari ša šipti, incense pertaining to the ritual of the
incantation, ibid. 20. 3utari is a plural form employed to denote several acts of
fumigation.
557
Reading established by Rev. II 8. But see MEEK{FNS, AJSL 31, 287,
li-si to ne-su(n) gloss on the star Ne-sùn; son of Ninlil, hence a star in Ninlil's
constellation Ursa Major, VIROLLEAUD{FNS
13. mul-lil-lum d.Ig[i-BALAG558 lù nu-gisš-šar d.En-lil-lá]

13. The amphora(?) is Igi-BALAG, gardener of Enlil.
14. urudknig-kalag-ga559 d.Nin-[sar d.Nergal]

14. The copper kettledrum is Ninsar,560 that is Nergal.
15. kuš-gk-gal561 d.[NINDA+GUD]

15. The hide of a great bull is NINDA+GUD.562
16. im-bar d.[Utu-g l-lu

16. Gypsum is the storm god (Ninurta).563
17. esir d.id

17. Bitumen is the river god.564
18. máš-#ul-dúb-ba-a d.[Ku-šu]

18. The scapegoat is Kushu.565
[340]
19. udu-ti-la566 d.[Gira]

19. “The living lamb” is Gira.567
558
Perhaps igi-sig-sig; cf. CT. 24, 3, 25.
559
In ZA. VI 242, 19, symbol of Enlil. But CT. 16, 24, 25 hero of Anu. In
rituals generally with kušgugalû.
560
Sword bearer (n š patri) of Enlil, CT. 24, 10, 16.
561
Symbol of Anu in ZA. VI 242, 19.
562
Priest of Enlil, CT. 24, 10, 13. Cf. GUD-NINDA = mîru, young ox, SBC.
19, 14.
563
ZA. VI 242, 15 gypsum is dMAŠ.
564
But ZA. VI 242, 15 bitumen is the asakku demon.
565
A pest demon son of Anu, III R. 69, 70. On the other hand, ZA. VI 246, 22
the scapegoat represents the patron of flocks Ninamašazag who supplies the
goat. When sin is transferred to the goat it falls under the protection of Kushu.
See Rev. I 6.
566
Cf. dEn-udu-til-la, SBP. 150 n. 5 I. 8.
567
Patron of flocks and fire god.
20. máš-gi-bil-la d.[Mu-u+-]ra

20. The goat of the torch568 is Mu+ru.
21. še-bir-bir-ri u-pu-un-tum

21. “Scattered grain(?),” chick pea (?)
22. z rê ma-ka-lu-ú
22. seed-corn, eating table and
23. duk3a-gazpl. d.Nun-mr-ra d.Ea569

23. the 3agaz-pots are Ninurra-Ea.
24. gišku-ma-nu 7 û-mu570 ku d.Marduk

24. The seven (headed) weapon of laurel wood, the storm, the
weapon of Marduk.
25. kù-gi-sigpl. d.A-nun-na-ki

25. Red sun-disks(?) are the Anunnaki.
26. kù-gi nig-máš-zid571 d.Maš-tab-ba-gal-ga

26. The golden sacred kid(?) is the Great Twins.572
27. maš-dk d.Un-gal Nibru-ki573

27. The kid is Ungal574 of Nippur.
28. kur-gi-(#u) d.Nin-sîg

28. The crane is Ninsig.575
568
That is burnt offering.
569
I. e. Ea as the god of potters. Nunurra is pa+aru rabû of Anu, MEEK{FNS
BA. X pt. 1 p. 42, 14. Note CT. 24, 14, 41, dNun-mr-ra(duk) 3a-[gaz].
570
Sic! Semitic.
571
Cf. IV R. 28* No. 4 Rev. 3. The symbols in lines 24-6 are obscure.
572
Lugalgirra and Meslamtaea.
573
The temple of Gula and Ungal of Nippur, CLAY{FNS, BE. XV 34, 2. Ungal
= tênisêti, population. God of the people of Nippur.
574
575
A form of Enki as patron of metallurgy. See RA. 12, 83 n. 5.
29. sún576 gišerin šita577 d.Zi-i

29. The sun of cedar, weapon of Zu.578
30. làl ... d.[ ]

30. Honey ... is the god ...
31. lí ... li
31. Oil ... oil ...
32. d.íd d.[ ]

32. ... River-god, god...
[341]
REVERSE I
1. karanu ellu 3a33ul-ti enâ-šu
1. White wine and bottle are his eyes.
2. tittu picîtu579 tulê-šu580

2. The white fig is her breasts.
3. icunurmû bir-ka-a-šu
3. The nur-fig is his (her) knees.
4. tittu581 ki-sal-la-a-šu
4. The fig is his (her) loins.
576
sun probable reading for BAD in this sense. Offerings to the giš-sun,
GENOUILLAC{FNS, Drehem, 5505 Obv. II 15.
577
Sign a confusion of NI+giš and KAK+giš, see RA. 13, 3.
578
Zû, the eagle, bird of the blazing sun, Ninurta, Ningirsu, is the only
emblematic animal that figures as a deity. The myth of his conflict with the
serpent in the story of Etana dramatizes the old legend of the conflict between
sun and clouds. He appears in magic here for the first time.
579
See Vab. IV 154, 44 and note.
580
šu here for ša, feminine. The form should be dual.
581
Gunu of MA = tittu; Sumerian peš, value also assigned to MA = tittu in the
Chicago Syllabar, 115 f.
5. mirsu pit puridi-šu

5. Must is his (her) crotch.
6. d.Ku-ši cêr ki-i-ci582 . Rt. p. 168, 29.

6. The god Kushu over the chamber.
7. d.Mu-u+-ra ina pan abulli

7. Mu+ru before the city gate.
8. d.Sak-kut ina 3abal appari

8. Sakkut in the midst of the pool.
9. d.Si-lak-ki583 ina ma-na-+a-ti

9. Silakki in the ruins.
10. d.E-3u-rum584 ina libbi šêr išdi

10. Ekurum in the leg.
11. d.Ab-ba- gu-la585 ina igari

11. Abbagula in the wall.
12. d. ? ? ina nasikati

12. [ ] in the fortress.
13-17. ........................
13-17.
582
k+cu, compensation for kiccu. See also STRASSMAIER{FNS, Nabonidus
699, 24, ki-cu. Note that the +ulduppu (probably an image of a scapegoat)
symbol of Kuši is placed opposite the door in ZIM{FNS
583
CLAY{FNS, Personal Names of the Cassite Period, mentions a deity Si-
lak-ku-ku(?). In any case a Cassite deity not mentioned in Babylonian lists and
texts.
584
Otherwise unknown. A Cassite deity(?).
585
Probably same as Abagal, DEIMEL{FNS, Pantheon, p. 43.
18. 12 il ni [ ]
18. Twelve gods.
REVERSE II
1. [SAG-G,R]-ME ša ina pani-šu namru586
1. The battle which before him gleams.
2. [ KU]-ŠÚ la587 ma+-ru

2. ... not are received.
3. [ -]u:NU: la-a
3. [ ]NU = not.
4. [ BT:]šu-u588 :ILA:ma-+a-ri
4. [ ]BI = that: ILA = to present.
[342]
d.
5. [ Ne-gun] erim-bi nu-tuk-a ai-bi ina 3atê-šu la ucûni
5. Negun who foes has not. The wicked from his hand escape
not.
6. NE-RU:ai-bi:ID:3a-ti:TUK-A SAL-ŠEŠ?
6. NE-RU = wicked : ID = hand : ? ?
7. d.Ne-gun589 3a-lu-ú i-ša-tam

7. Negun is he that burns with fire.
8. *U-gunu[1agin]:gu-nu-u:SI:3a-lu-u
8. The gunu of *U has the syllabic value gunk:si(g) = to burn.
9. NE:i-ša-tu:sa-niš ka-lu ni-ka

9. NE = fire: Or = to consume offerings in fire.
586
Cf. ZIMMERN{FNS, 27 R. 14-17.
587
Written NU. Cf. ZIMMERN{FNS, 27 Rev. I 19.
588
Cf. ibid. 21.
589
Sign is *U-gunu an error for SI-gunu. Only the latter sign has the values
bright, burn. Line 8 proves that the sign is based on SI.
10. SAL-ŠEŠ590 :ba-nu-ú: ga-lu

10. ninmuš = blaze, burn.
11. SI:ba-nu-ú:NE ga-lu

11. si(g) = blaze: bil = burn.
12. mûdû mûdâ li-kal-lim

12. Let the knowing inform the knowing.
13. la mûdû ul immar

13. He that knows not may not read.
ki-ma labiri-šu iluNinurta-nacir mar Ilu-i3îša ameluašipu išmur

bûši E-šu-me-rá
According to its original Ninurtu-nacir son of Ilu-i3iša, the priest
of magic wrote. It is the property of the temple
Ešumera.591
[343]
590
n+n-muš. The sign ŠEŠ has the value muš. Note SAI. 2629 the gloss
ga-an-ŠEŠ and variant Chicago Syllabar 212 ga-an-muš. See also JRAS. 1905,
81-4-28 l. 14. For muš = banû cf. SAI. 1916.
591
This is a real library note and is clear evidence for assuming that the temple
of Nippur possessed a library, at least in the Cassite period. For similar library
notes on the tablets from Aššur, see RA. 13, 99. Note also the Smith Esagila
tablet published by SCHEIL{FNS, Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions et
Belles Lettres XXXIX, Rev. 7, mûdû mûdâ likallim la mûdâ ul immar an pî
duppi gabri Barsip-ki šamir-ma UB-lU ù ba-ri. For an pi (KA), see RA. 13, 92.
Addendum On Obv. I 10 F.
Anu in this passage really denotes Sin, the moon, which has been
connected with silver on account of its color. The identification
of Anu, the heaven god, with the moon god rests upon the
astronomical connection between the moon and the summer
solstice, see WEIDNER, Handbuch der Babylonischen Astronomie,
32. Sin is called “Anu of heaven,” KING, Magic, No. I, 9, and
for the connection with silver, see VIROLLEAUD, Astrologie,
Supplement, V II, kaspu ilu A-nu huracu ilu Enlil erû ilu Ea.
Enlil is connected with gold in VIROLLEAUD, Astrologie, Second
Supplement, XVII 14, and Enlil is not infrequently identified
with Shamash, see p. 158, 1-2 and p. 308, 18, and gold is the
traditional metal of the sun.
The Greek identification of Zeus, the sky-god, with silver is
certainly borrowed from Babylonia; see p. 334.
[344]
Description Of Tablets
NUMBER MUSEUM DESCRIPTION

IN THIS NUMBER
VOLUME
1 13856 Large two column tablet. Un-
baked; light brown with dark
spots. Top broken away and
left lower corner damaged. H.
6-½ inches; W. 4-¼; T. 1-¾ -
¾. Liturgy of the cult of Ishme-
Dagan. See pages 245-257.
2 11005 Upper part of a large two column
tablet. Unbaked; light brown.
Top and left edge of the fragment
damaged. H. 3-¾; W. 3-¾; T. 1-
½ - ¾. Liturgy of Ishme-Dagan.
See pages 258-259.
Description Of Tablets 171
3 7847 Dark brown unbaked tablet.

Right upper corner slightly dam-
aged. Right lower corner broken
away. Two columns. H. 8; W.
5-¼; T. 1 - ½. Mythological
hymn to Innini. The obverse is
translated on pages 260 to 264,
but the reverse is too badly dam-
aged to permit an interpretation.
The text ends with the line, “Oh
praise Innini,” the literary note
characteristic of epical compo-
sitions. The scribe adds a note
stating that there are 153 lines.
Written by the hand of Lugal-#e-
a ... son of E-a-i-lù(?)....
4 7878 Light brown fragment from the
left upper corner of a large un-
baked tablet. H. 3-½; W. 1-½
- 1; T. 1-½ - 1. Duplicate of
7847. This tablet omits the litur-
gical note, “Oh praise Innini.”
It has the colophon, “Written
by the hand of Ninurash-mu...,
in the presence of Nidaba-igi-
pa(?)-...#e-en.”
5 15204 Single column, dark brown
tablet. Partly baked. Left lower
corner broken away. H. 4-½; W.
2-½; T. 1-¼ - ½. Psalm to Enlil.
See pages 265-268.
6 2154 Single Column, light brown

tablet. Top and left lower corner
broken. H. 4-¼; W. 2-½; T. 1-¼-
½. Lamentation for Lagash. See
pages 268-272.
7 8097 Single column, light brown
tablet. Lower edge damaged. H.
4-¼; W. 2-¼; T. ¾-½. Liturgical
hymn to Sin. See pages 276-279.
8 346 Single column, dark unbaked
tablet. Damaged at top and bot-
tom. H. 4; W. 2-½; T. 1--½.
Bilingual hymn. See plate 86.
9 8334 Single column, light brown
tablet, unbaked. Left upper cor-
ner and top of reverse damaged.
H. 4-¾; W. 2-½; T. 1-¼-½.
Hymn to Innini.
10 8533 Upper part of a large two col-
umn tablet. Light brown, soft
and crumbling. Purchased by the
Expedition in 1895, from Abu
Hatab. H. 3-¼; W. 5-½; T. 1-¼-
½. Hymn to Enlil.
11 7080 Large light brown tablet; five
columns; broken perpendicu-
larly at the middle. Isin period.
H. 8-¼; W. 4; T. 2. Liturgy to
Enlil. Lamentation for the city
of Ur. See pages 279-285.
Description Of Tablets 173
12 6060 Nearly complete tablet; baked.

Temple library (IV). Second
Exp. Two column tablet; Cas-
site period. H. 4; W. 3-½; T.
1-½. Cult symbols. See pages
320-342.
13 B.M. Upper half of large single col-
78239 umn tablet. Light brown, par-
tially baked. H. 7; W. 6; T. 2.
Acquired by the British Museum
in 1888. Late Babylonian edition
of the third tablet of the liturgy
elum didara to Enlil. See pages
323-329.
14 11327 Lower part of a large unbaked
tablet, two columns. Right
half almost wholly broken away.
Myth of the water god Enki. H.
6; W. 6-½; T. 1-¾. Probably a
zag-sal hymn.
[346]
Index Of Tablets
Tablets in this Volume.
MUSEUM NUMBER NUMBER IN THIS VOLUME
346 8
2154 6
6060 12
7080 11
7847 3
7848 4
8097 7
8334 9
8533 10
11005 2
11327 14
13856 1
15204 5
B.M. 78239 13
Other Tablets Translated Or Discussed

Nies 1315, Tablet Virolleaud, 290-308
Poebel, PBS. V No. 26, 272-276
Myhrman, PBS. I No. 5, Radau, BE. 30, No. 2, 285-290
Myhrman, PBS. I No. 8, 309-310
Zimmern, KL. No. 11, 290-308
Zimmern, Ritual Tafeln, No. 27, 330-340
Ashmolean Prism, 311-323
Strassmaier, ZA. VI 241-4, 330-333
Reisner, SBH. No. 18, 327-329
Index Of Tablets 175

[347]
Index To Vol. X
abal, irrigator, 287, 12.
Abbagula (deity), 341, 11.
agubba, vessel, symbol of Ninhabursildu, 336, 1.
Aja (goddess), 305, 14.
Allat (goddess), 306, 20.
am, dAm, title of Ea, 294.
Ama-šuhalbi, title of mother goddess, 329, 19.
Ama-ušum-gal, title of Tammuz, 304.
Annigarra, temple in Isin, 300, 7.
Anu (god), 261; 264; 281; 282; 295; 297; 302.

Identified with the moon god, 337, 10.
Anunnaki (gods), 247, 2; 262; 317; 340.
Arabu, bird of Enlil, 266.
Aralu, 288, 23.
Aruru (goddess), sister of Enlil, 301.
Ašimur, title of moon god, 277, 17 and 22; 278.
Ašnan (goddess), 289; 305.

Index To Vol. X 177
Ašširgi (god), 316; 317; 318; 319; 320.
Ašte, temple in Larak, 289, 9.
Azagsud (ilu), title of grain goddess, 289, 10; 305, 13.
Babylon (city), 301, 22.
balag-di, choral phrase, 250, 14; 254, 26.
Barsippa (city), 301, 23.
Bau (goddess), 329; 305.
Belit-cêri (goddess), 338.
Bel-carbe, title of Nergal, 337, 18.
bitumen, symbol of river god, 339.
Canonical liturgies, 237 ff.
censer, symbol of Urash , 339, 10.
copper, symbol of Ea, 337, 12.
crane, bird symbol of Ninsig, 340.
Damgalnunna (goddess), 294; 296.
Damu, title of Tammuz, 287, 6:14; 306, 28.
date-palm, symbol of Tammuz, 336, 5.
Dilbat (goddess), 337, 16.
Dilmun (ki), 279, 14:19.

dog, seven-headed, 305, 15.
Duazag, sanctuary, 248, 7; 289.
dumu-sag, title of Tašmet, 326, 4:5.

dingir dumu-sag (= Nappasi = Ninmungara) is probably a
title of Ninlil, 303, 13. See ibid. note 6 and
SBP. 150 note 5, line 14.
Ea (god), 336, 6.
E-anna, temple of Ištar in Erech, 275, 20.
E-barra, temple of the sun god, 301.
E-daranna, chapel of Ea in Esagila, 301.
E-dimma, temple, royal chapel in Ekur, 289, 15.
E-durazagga, epithet of Isin, 329, 18.
E-galmah, temple at Isin, 289, 19.
e-gi-a, bride, title of Zarpanit, 326, 3.
E-Ibi-anum, temple in Dilbat, 326.
E-Ibe-šagud, 328.
E-kua, 310, 19.
E-kur, temple of Enlil, 256; 258; 259; 289; 308; 310; 328.
Ekurum (god), 341.

[348]
E-lamma, chapel or temple of Ninlil at Nippur, 300, 6.
el-plant, symbol of Nin , 336, 8.

Index To Vol. X 179
E-maha, 294, 27 and note.
E-mahtila, chapel in Ezida, 301.
E-mudkurramu, chapel (?) in Ur (?), 279, 6:10.
E-namtila, chapel of Ekur, 301.
Enanun, title of mother goddess, 289, 7; 304.
Enbul (god), son of Ešabba, 303, 21 = SBP. 15216 and CT. 24,
23, 127.
d
Var. A-an-bu-bu, CT. 24, 6, 33.
Endašurimma, title of Enlil, 302, 4.
En-duazag, title of Enlil, 302.
EN-HAR(ki), 316; 317; 318; 319; 320.
Enki (god), 259, 16; 302; 307; 322.
Enlil (god), 258; 259; 261; 264; 265; 266; 267; 268; 269; 277;
281; 282; 283; 292; 293; 295; 299; 300; 302;
307; 309. As sun god, 308, 18 and 15.
Enlilsi, deified king, 303, 20.
Enmešarra (god), 337, 11; 338, 30.

Enmenšarra, 302.
Enul, title of Enlil, 302.

Enmul, 307.
Enuttilla, title of Enlil, 302.
E-rabriri, temple of sakkut, 329, 21.

Erech (city), 272; 273; 274; 275.
Eridu (city), 259, 16; 299, 31.
E-šabba, temple of Gula in Šuruppak, 288, 6; 303, 21;

ilat
Suddam is mother of Ešabba, 306, 32.
See Suddam.
E-sagila, temple of Marduk, 301; 326.
E-šagnamsar, temple in Dilmun, 279, 14:19.
E-šamah, temple of Ninurta, 328, 7; see BL. p. 135.
E-šarra, 303, 16.

Ninurta is son of E-šár-ra, BL. No. 9, 8.
Mythological chamber in Ekur, SBP. 221 n. 7.
Ištar weeps for E-šár-e, KL., 123, Obv. II 2.
Ešnunak (city), 304, 27.
E-šumera, temple of Ninurta in Nippur, 328, 6; 342, 13.
E-temenanki, stage tower in Babylon, 301.
E-zida, temple of Nebo, 301.
gannu-tur, vessel, symbol of a deity, 336, 3.
gepar, dark chamber, 270, 24; 271; 272.
geštinanna (goddess), 304.
Gibil, firegod, 339, 11; 305, 16.
gidugga, reed, 338, 6.
Girra, firegod, 337, 9.

Index To Vol. X 181
gišburru, a wood, symbol of firegod, 337, 9.
gisgigal, antiphon, 251, 24; 254, 23; 283, 26; 284, 10.
Gišzida (god), 287, 7.
gold, symbol of sun, 337, 11.
gudede, title of Ninlil, 303, 12.
Gula (goddess), consort of Tammuz, 285.
Gunura, title of mother goddess, 288, 5; 306, 27 = SBP. 160, 13.
Guškinbanda, title of Ea, 305, 9.
gypsum, symbol of Ninurta, 339.
Hallab (city), 275; 276.
Historical poems, 242.
Ibi-Sin, king of Ur, 281.
Id (deity), river god or goddess, 294; 297; 340.
Igibalag (deity), 339, 13.
Immer (god), 260; 262; 306; 339, 7.

[349]
incense, symbol of Negun, 339, 12.
Innini (goddess), 275; 276.
Irriš (god), title of Ninurta, 306, 23 = SBP. 160, 8.
Isin (city), 289. Queen of Isin, 306, 25; 329.

Išme-Dagan, deified king, 243; 245; 257; 258; 239.
Ištar, goddess of Erech, 338, 24;

of Agade, 338, 25.
kagaz, pot, symbol of Ea, 340.
Kenur, chapel of Ninlil in Ekur, 259; 289; 301.
Keš (city), southern and northern Keš, 311;

southern Keš, 315; 316; 319; 267.
Kingaludda, messenger of the Word, 283.
kinsig, a chamber, 248, 7.
Kišegunura, title of Uraš , 302, 2.
kišub, prayer in liturgies, 245; 256; 279; 290; 308.
kušgugalû, hide of an ox, symbol of Nindagud, 339, 15.
Kušu (deity), 339; 341.
Lagash (city), 268; 270.
Larak (city), 328, 16; 289, 9 and 20.
lead, symbol of Ninmah, 337, 13.
Libit-Ištar, deified king, 243.
Liturgical compositions and compilations, 237 ff. 243.
Lugalbanda (god), 304.
Lugalgirra (god), 328, 9.

Index To Vol. X 183
Lumma (deity), 304.
Mama (god), title of Sin, 269, 8.
Marduk (god), 294; 296; 337; 340.
mašgibilla, burnt offering, symbol of the god Muhra, 340.
maš+uldubbû, 339.
Maštabba (god), 328. Maštabba-galgal, twin gods, Gemini, 340.
maštakal-plant, symbol of Ea, 336, 6.
metals of planets, 334.
mi-ib-weapon, 264, 22.
Muhra (god), 340; 341, 7.
Musical instruments, 249, 23; 251, 29; 262, 33; 279, 22; 301, 27.
Nan (goddess), 326, 7.
Nannar, god of new moon, 277.

Son of Enlil, 277, 22; 284, 12; 303; 308, 19; 309, 1; 327.
Nappasi (goddess), 303 n. 6.
Nebo (god), 294; 297; 299.
Negun (god), 339, 12. Firegod, 342.
Nergal (god), 304; 306.
Nigin marra, title of mother goddess, 289, 8; 328, 15.
nigkalalagû, kettle drum, symbol of Nergal, 339, 14.

Nin (goddess), 270; 336.
Ninazu (god), title of Nergal, 272, 47.
Nindagud (god), 339, 15; 304.
Nindašurimma, mother name of Enlil, 302.
Nin-duazag, mother name of Enlil, 302.
Ningal (goddess), 303.
Ningišzida (god), 306, 20.
Ninhabursildu (goddess), 336, 2.
Ninharsag (goddess), 272; 302; 318; 320.
Ninkarnunna (goddess), 304, 4.
Ninki, mother name of Enlil, 302; 307.
Ninliga (goddess), 272.
Ninlil (goddess), 258; 259; 261; 267; 302; 337; 338.
Ninmah (goddess), 337.
Ninmar(ki), goddess of, 269, 5.

[350]
Ninsar, title of Nergal, 339, 14.
Ninsig, title of Ea as god of metallurgy, 340, 28; 305, 9.
Ninsun (goddess), 304.
Nintud (goddess), 316; 318; 320; 321.
Ninul, Nimul, mother names of Enlil, 302; 307.

Index To Vol. X 185
Ninuraš (god), 256; 336; 337; 338; 339.
Ninurra, title of Ea, 340.
Ninzianna, title of Ninlil, 302, 8.
Nippur (city), 248; 259; 266; 268; 295.
Nunammir, title of Enlil, 258, 5.
Nusku, firegod, 337, 20; 303, 328.
Opis (city). Northern and southern Opis, 311.

See Keš.
Papsukkal (god), 337, 21.
Papilsag, god of Larak, 306.
Queen of heaven, 304.
Ramman (god), 338.
Sadarnunna, consort of Nusku, 303, 15; SBP. 152 note 1.
sagar, liturgical rubric, 277, 16; 279.
Sakkut (god), 341, 8.

Sakkutmah, 329, 21.
See also 337, 19; 338, 22.
šal lu, plant, symbol of Ninurta, 336, 7.
Šamaš (god), 305, 14.
šarur-weapon, 274, 18.
šattam, religious title, 274.

Šentur, title of Ninlil, 303, 10.
Šerah (god), Semitic title of Serpent-god as patron of

vegetation, 303, 16 = SBP. 152, 10.
seven gods, 338, 29; 303, 10.
seven-headed weapon, 340.
Silakki (god), 341.
silver, metal of Anu, i. e., moon god, 337, 10.
šimli, cypress, symbol of Adad, 339, 7.
šimšal-wood, symbol of a deity, 338, 5.
šimzu, an aromat, symbol of Ninurta, 339, 9.
Sin (god), 263; 277; 279.
Single song services, 240.
šipatu, wool, symbol of Labartu, 339.
Sippar(ki), 301, 21.
Sirar(ki), 270.
Suddam, title of Gula, 306, 32 = SBP. 160, 18.

For this title of Gula of Šuruppak, see p. 177 n. 4 in part 2 of
this volume. Usually a title of Aja or Ishtar as
deities of light. Since d Sukurru or Gula of
Šuruppak is the same as Suddam mother of
Ešabba, the temple Ešabba must be located in
Šuruppak.
Index To Vol. X 187
Šulpae, title of Enlil, 303; 320.
šumer, 259; 283.
Šunirda, title of the goddess Aja, 304.
Šuruppak (city), 277, 20; 278, 25.
Symbols of deities, 336 ff.
tallu, part of a door, 275, 20.
tammarisk, symbol of Anu, 336, 4.
Tammuz (god), 270; Hymn of, 285; 336, 5.
tirazagga, sacred grove, 289, 17.
Titular litanies, 236; 302 ff.
Ubšukkinna, hall of assembly, 247, 3.
Uddagubba, messenger of the Word, 283.
udutila, symbol of Girra, 340, 19.

[351]
Ur (city), 277; 278; 279; 282; 284.
Ungal (god), 340; cf. 306, 31.
Uraš (god), 326; 258, 6; 260; 302, 2.
Ur-Engur, cult hymn of, 243.
Urumaš (god), 320.
urusagga, chief city, title of Isin, 289, 16; 306, 24.

Utta-edde (god), 305, 17 = SBP. 158, 4.
Weeping mother, 265; 280.
Word, 261, 28; 262, 29; 284; 294; 299; 308, 22; 315.
Hymn to the Word, 283.
zagsal, rubric, 233 ff.; 276, 37.
Zarpanit (goddess), 294; 296; 297.
Zeus Dolichaeos, 334. His connection with silver borrowed

from Babylonia, 342.
Zir (goddess), wife of Nannar, 303.
Zu (god), the eagle as symbol of the sun, 340, 29.
[352]
Autographed Texts
Plate LXXI. 1. Obverse. Col. 1.
Plate LXXII. 1. Obverse. Col. 2.

Plate LXXIII. 1. Reverse. Col. 1.

Autographed Texts 191
Plate LXXIV. 1. Reverse. Col. 2.

Plate LXXV. 2. Obverse.
2. Reverse.
Plate LXXVI. 3. Obverse. Col. 1 Initial.

Plate LXXVII. 3. Obverse. Col. 1 Continued.
3. Obverse. Col. 2 Initial.

Plate LXXVIII. 3. Obverse. Col. 2 Continued.
3. Reverse. Col. 1 Initial.

Plate LXXIX. 3. Reverse. Col. 1 Continued.

Plate LXXX. 3. Reverse. Col. 2 Continued.
4. Obverse.
4. Reverse.
Plate LXXXI. 5. Obverse.

Plate LXXXII. 5. Reverse.
Plate LXXXIII. 6. Obverse.

Plate LXXXIV. 6. Reverse.
Plate LXXXV. 7. Obverse.

7. Reverse.
Plate LXXXVI. 8. Obverse.

8. Reverse.
Plate LXXXVII. 9. Obverse.

9. Reverse.
Plate LXXXVIII. 10. Obverse. Col. 1. (Col. 2 Destroyed)

Plate LXXXIX. 10. Reverse. Col. 1.
10. Reverse. Col. 2.

Plate XC. 11. Obverse. Col. 3 Initial.

Plate XCI. 11. Obverse. Col. 3 Continued.

Plate XCII. 11. Obverse. Col. 4 Continued.

Plate XCIII. 11. Obverse. Col. 4 Final.

Plate XCIV. 11. Obverse. Col. 5 Continued.

Plate XCV. 11. Reverse. Col. 1. Initial.

Plate XCVI. 11. Reverse. Col. 1 Continued.

Plate XCVII. 11. Reverse. Col. 2 Continued.

11. Reverse. Col. 3. Initial.
Plate XCVIII. 11. Col. 3 Continued.

Plate XCIX. 12. Obverse. Cols. 1 and 2.

Plate C. 12. Reverse. Cols. 1 and 2.

Plate CI. 13. Obverse.
Plate CII. 13. Reverse.

Plate CIII. 14. Obverse. Col. 1
Plate CIV. 14. Obverse. Col. 2.

14. Reverse. Col. 1.
Plate CV. 14. Reverse. Col. 2.

Footnotes
***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK
SUMERIAN LITURGIES AND PSALMS***
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This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost

Title: Sumerian Liturgies and Psalms

Author: Stephen Langdon

Release Date: April 10, 2010 [Ebook 31935]

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK

Autographed Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

somewhat influenced by liturgical mannerisms, may be readily

Ur. By accident both the Philadelphia and the Constantinople

appropriate the collection of these texts into a special corpus they

the basis of tablets not excavated at Nippur but belonging partly

is an appropriate place to give an exact description of this form

Texts No. 317 is a lamentation of the mother goddess and her

or “Lifting of the Hand.” Semitic prayers of the lifting of the

the god-man Ishme-Dagan, fourth king of the Isin dynasty, is

Nearly all the existing prayer services in the cults of the

The liturgical character of this tablet is unique among all the

“Her population like cattle of the fields within her have

Ishme-Dagan joins with the psalmists weeping for Nippur.

3. ub-šu-ukkin-na30 ki di-gal tar-ru

4. eš-bar-e si-di ba-ra-an-zu-uš31 -ám

5. dingir-bi-ne ki-dúr ba-ab- gar-ra32

6. šug-lá#-bi im-šub-ba aga-bi im-ri-a

7. ki-lugal du-azag33 3in-sîg34 unù35 -gal-ba

8. tin36 làl bal-bal-e mu-šú be-ib-tar-ra

9. Nibru-(ki) uru giš-gig-dagal-la-bi-šú

10. uku-sag-gig-ga ní-im-ši-ib-te-en-na

11. ki-dúr-ba gú-ni a-gim37 ba-ra-an-šub

12. ab s+g-gan-dúg-ga-gim e-ne s+g-gan-ba-ra-an-dúg

13. uru šag-bi er-gíg s g- bi

14. en-na38 dam39 dingir ga-ša-an-bi li-bi nu-tar-ri40

15. é-gu-la za-pa-ag ib-zu-a-bi

16. é-ri-a-súd-gim galu nu-un-tur-tur

17. Nibru-(ki) uru ki ligir-ligir-gal-gal-e-ne šu-im-ma-an-*A41 -

18. a-na-áš ú-gu i-ni-in-de-eš42 , Inventaire 944; CLAY{FNS

19. uku sag-gig gú-sa-#i-a43

20. e(?)-en-šú KAK-RU45 er a-nir šag PA-*I-BAD-a

21. en-šú bar46 be-íb- ... ùl

22. šag nu-ub-ši-túg-e

23. suùb suá-lá mu-un-tuk-a-ri47

24. ... gíg-ga a-a na....

25. ... síg ... ne ba-dúr-ru-ne-eš

26. ... gar-ra-bi er-šú ba-ab-bi-ne

27. ... šub-ba tkr-ru-ba-ne

28. ... sìr-ri-eš ba-ab-bi-ne

29. ... ki-dúr-bi 3ar-ra

30. ... im-ši-sìr-sìr-e-ne-eš48

31. ... ne-ne-túg

32. ... ga(?)nu-zu-gim

33. ... sk#49

(END OF COL. I.)

3. ... ma-lal im-mé

4. ... #ul-nu-zu-ne nig-dug be-ib-tar-ru-uš-ám

6. nam-lù-g l-bi máš-anšu-gim šag-ba mi-ni-ib-tíl-la-aš

7. a ka-na- m-mu im-me

8. ki-el kalag tul-tul-lá-bi-ne sùr53 , KL. 12 Rev. 17.

10. šeš-bi imi-dugud šèg-gà-gim di-e-be-ib-sud-ám54

11. er-šú nu- gul-55 e

12. é-e áb amar-bi kud-du gim ní-bi-šù kr-gíg-ga56 im-gub