Read an Excerpt
Babylonian Magic and Sorcery
The Prayers of the Lifting of the Hand
By L. W. King Samuel Weiser, Inc.
Copyright © 2000 Samuel Weiser, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-60925-379-0
CHAPTER 1
Section I.
Prayers addressed to Groups of Deities.
The plan on which the following pages have been arranged requires perhaps a word of explanation. The tablets are numbered and are here treated in the same order as they occur in the plates at the end of the volume. I have not divided the Transliteration, Translations and Notes into three separate Sections, as I believe the theoretical simplicity of such an arrangement is purchased at a great practical disadvantage, the constant reference from one part of the book to another tending rather to weary than assist the reader. To reduce this inconvenience as far as possible I have collected together all the matter referring to each tablet. A full transliteration of the text is first given which is followed by a description and translation of the prayers, incantations and ceremonies that it contains. The notes follow the translation, the numbers at the head of each paragraph referring to the line of the text with which the note in question deals.
In the Transliteration those portions of the text that have been restored are placed within square brackets, while the signs within round brackets always denote phonetic complements. Variant readings are given at the foot of the page, the duplicate tablets being cited by the capitals A, B, C etc., the registration numbers of which are in each case given in the first footnote to the cuneiform text. In transliterating a well preserved tablet I have commenced a fresh line with each line of the text and have endeavoured to retain as far as possible the original spacing and arrangement of the words as they stand on the tablet itself. As however in the case of broken tablets such an arrangement would lead to a considerable waste of space, I have let the transliteration of those tablets run on continuously, putting between each line a space of five dots if only one character is missing and ten dots to indicate a gap of two or more characters. When the text of such a broken or badly preserved tablet is insufficient to furnish an intelligible translation I have abstained from attempting one; in every case however a transliteration of the text is given, each word of which is cited in the Vocabulary.
The texts have been divided into Sections, which are to some extent explained by their titles. The first Section, consisting of Nos. 1—10, is composed of tablets on each of which are inscribed separate prayers to two or more deities. In some cases (Nos. 3, 5 and 9) there remain prayers addressed only to one god and goddess but from No. 6 it would appear probable that originally four or five deities shared the prayers inscribed on each of these tablets. It is possible that some fragmentary texts, at present containing a single prayer or incantation and therefore classified under Sections II and III, formed part of a large tablet which when complete contained addresses to various deities, and which would accordingly fall under the present heading. The fact however that such fragments present no distinctive characteristic by which they may be detected renders hazardous any attempt at separating them from the texts addressed solely to one god or goddess. Under these circumstances the only practicable course was to ignore the possibility of their belonging to the first section and to classify them according to their present contents
No.1.: Transliteration.
No. 1 (K 155) consists of the upper part of a large tablet of which fully half has been broken away. The text in its present condition falls into three main sections: (a) 11. 1—27, a prayer to Sin on the occasion of an eclipse of the moon, (b) 11. 29—35, the opening lines of a prayer to Ištar, and (c) 11. 36—51, the conclusion of a prayer to Tašmîtu which like (a) is directed against the evils resulting from a lunar eclipse. The prayer to Sin (a) commences with an address to the god describing his power and attributes. L1. 12 and 13 state the occasion of the prayer: an eclipse of the moon has taken place bringing evil on the land of Assyria and the palace of the king who therefore appeals to the god of heaven and to the Moon-god himself, whose prerogative it is to give an oracle of the great gods when they so desire.
Translation.
1. O Sin! O Nannar! mighty one....
2. O Sin, who art unique, thou that brightenest....
3. That givest light unto the nations....
4. That unto the black-headed race art favourable....
5. Bright is thy light, in heaven....
6. Brilliant is thy torch, like the Fire-god....
7. Thy brightness fills the broad earth!
8. The brightness of the nation he gathers, in thy sight....
9. O Anu of the sky, whose purpose no man learns!
10. Overwhelming is thy light like the Sun-god [thy?] first-born!
11. Before thy face the great gods bow down, the fate of the world is set before thee!
12. In the evil of an eclipse of the Moon which in such and such a month on such and such a day has taken place,
13. In the evil of the powers, of the portents, evil and not good, which are in my palace and my land,
14. The great gods beseech thee and thou givest counsel!
15. They take their stand all of them, they petition at thy feet!
16. O Sin, glorious one of Íkur! they beseech thee and thou givest the oracle of the gods!
17. The end of the month is the day of thy oracle, the decision of the great gods;
18. The thirtieth day is thy festival, a day of prayer to thy divinity!
19. O God of the New Moon, in might unrivalled, whose purpose no man learns,
20. I have poured thee a libation of the night (with) wailing, I have offered thee (with) shouts of joy a drink offering of ...
21. I am bowed down! I have taken my stand! I have sought for thee!
22. Do thou set favour and righteousness upon me!
23. May my god and my goddess, who for long have been angry with me,
24. In righteousness and justice deal graciously with me! Let my way be propitious, with joy....
25. And ZA.GAR, the god of dreams hath sent,
26. In the night season.... my sin may I hear my iniquity may....
27. For ever may I bow myself in humility before thee!
Of (b) the prayer to Ištar only a few lines have been pre served containing the invocation of the goddess. She is addressed as: "Ištar the heroine, strong among goddesses! Lady(?) of heaven and earth, the splendour of the four quarters!.... the first-born of Sin, offspring of Ningal!.... O Ištar, over these heavens dost thou rule." The reverse of the tablet (c) consists of the last fifteen lines of a prayer to Tašmtu, in which the goddess is petitioned to intercede with her husband the god Nabû and to induce him to remove the sickness and enchantments caused by the Moon's eclipse. After addressing the goddess by name her sup pliant continues: —
28. I so and so, son of so and so, whose god is so and so, whose goddess is so and so,
29. In the evil of an eclipse of the Moon, which in such and such a month on such and such a day has taken place
30. In the evil of the powers, of the portents, evil and not good, which are in my palace and my land,
31. Have turned towards thee! I have established thee! Listen to the incantation!
32. Before Nabû thy spouse, the lord, the prince, the first-born son of Ísagila, intercede for me!
33. May he hearken to my cry at the word of thy mouth; may he remove my sighing, may he learn my suplication!
34. At his mighty word may god and goddess deal graciously with me!
35. May the sickness of my body be torn away; may the groaning of my flesh be consumed!
36. May the consumption of my muscles be removed!
37. May the poisons that are upon me be loosened!
38. May the ban be torn away, may the.... be consumed!
39. May....; at thy command may mercy be established!
40. May god and king ordain favour at thy mighty vcommand that is not altered
41. And thy true mercy that changes not, O lady Tašmîtu!
The catch-line reads: "O lord, that directest the multitude of the peoples, the whole of creation!"
1. The word ru-šu-bu (= rušûbu), if my reading is correct, is an adj. of the form, [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] the usual forms of the word being rašbu and rašûbu. The character, however, which I read as [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] is almost obliterated and might possibly be read. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII].
6. šarahu is proved by JENSEN to have the meaning "to shine, be bright"; cf. Kosmologie p. 105 f., where the present passage is quoted from Strassmaier, A.V., no. 8063. For the meaning of diparu "torch", cf. Jensen, ZK, II, p. 53, and Zimmern, BPS, p. 47.
9. ma-[am-ma-an] is the probable restoration of the end of this line and of 1. 19. From the end of 1. 10 only one character appears to be missing; bu-uk-ri-[ka] would therefore be a possible restoration.
11. ina does not occur in the text with the first pani-ka as we might be led to expect from the latter half of the line: for a similar use of panu without the preposition cf. IV R 59 [66], no. 2, rev. 1. 18, pani-ka lu-kir, "in thy sight may I be precious".
12 f. The formula contained in these two lines, stating the occasion of the prayer, is of frequent occurrence in these texts (cf. Introduction). The first half of the second line, which in several tablets forms a line by itself, is in apposition to ina lumun iluatali iluSin, as indicated in my translation, and the whole formula, which does not represent a complete sentence in itself, acts merely as an introduction to the sentence that follows it. The only difficulty in the two lines is in connection with the phrase [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]. These two ideograms occur together not only in the formula under discussion but are occasionally to be met with in prayers incan-tatious etc., and whenever they so occur they are never joined by a copula but always stand in apposition to one another as in the present passage, cf. No. 12, 1. 64 ai idih-a lumun šu-nti pl ID.MIš ITI.MIš ša šamî-í u irsitim(tim), Haupt's ASKT, No. 7, Rev. 1. 4 f. ina lumun ID.MIN.MIš ITI.MIš ši-kin usurti pl, 1. 7 f. aš- šum lumun ID.MIš ITI.MIš limnîtipl ša ina bîti-yà baš pl-ma pal-ha-ku, and 1. 9 f. ina lumun ID.MIš ITI.MIš šú-ti-ka-an-ni-ma, K 6343, 1. 6 ID.MIš ITI.MIš limnîti pl l tabati, K 8005 + K 8845 + K 8941, a very fragmentary prayer of Aššurbanipal formed from three pieces I have lately joined, in 1. 3 of which the phrase ID.MIš ITI.MIš occurs, IV R 17, Rev. 1. 15 f. mu-pa-aš- šir NAM.BUL.B1.I ID.MIš ITI.MIš lim-nîti pl, probably IV R 60 [67], Rev. 1. 34 [ID].MIš ITI.MÍš BAR.MIš ana šarri u mti-šu baš pl-a, etc. More commonly however the ideogram [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] is found by itself, cf. No. 12, 1. 65 lumun ITI ali u mti ai ikšudanni(ni) yá- ši, the passages quoted from bilingual incantations in Brünnow's List, no. 9429, IV R 56 [63], Col. II, 11 b ilu Sin.... mu-kal-lim ITI.MIš, K 9006, 1. 5 ITI limuttu ša ina su-pu-ri-ya, K 9594, 1. 2 (published and transliterated by Brünnow, ZA IV, pp. 233, 249), 79—7—8, 52 a corner of an incantation in 11. 3—6 of which the suppliant prays for help ina lumun ITI.... ina lumun di-hu ina lumun ašakku.... ina lumun hu-us-[su?], the fragmentary prayer 82—3—23, 57 Rev. 1. 4, K 6187, a Babylonian ceremonial text for obtaining magical results from stones (cf. Bezold, Catalogue, p. 769), in Col. III of which the ITI limuttu(tú) is constantly mentioned, K 3460, Col. I (cf op. cit. P-535), 79-7—8, 115, 1. 16, Bu. 91—5 —9, 14, 1. 10 an astrological report from Ištaršumîrîš, K 21 (cf. R. F. HARPER, Assy rian and Babylonian Letters, Pt. I, p. 49) a letter from Nabû- nadinšum to the king which concludes (1. 12 ff.): [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ina ili it-ti an-ni-ti šarru bí-ili.... -šu lu-.... id-da-ab-bu-ub ilu Bil ilu Nabû am-mar ITI ší-tu-uk-ki ma-su a-na šarru bîli-yá ú- ší-tu-uk-ku šarru bí-ili lu la i-pa-lah, K 168, Obv. 1. 16f. (a letter, published by Winkler, Keilschriftt. II, Leipzig-, 1893, p. 28), etc. Though the interpretation of the ideogram ITI is entirely dependent on the context of the passages where it occurs, there is not much doubt as to its meaning. The word is generally rendered by some synonym of "sign" or "omen" (cf. Lenormant, Études accadiennes, Vol. III, p. 136 f., Delitzsch, WB, p. 169, Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, pp. 449, 459, 512, 516, 538, Jensen in Schrader's Keilins. Bibl., Vol.II, pp. 249, 253, etc.), though in ZKI, p. 303 Jensen assigned to it the active meaning "power, might (ops)". That the former is the more correct rendering of the two is I think put beyond a doubt by a passage occurring in a letter (K 112), the text of which has recently been published by R. F. Harper, Assyrian and Babylonian Letters, Pt. II, p. 228, London 1894. The first fifteen lines of this letter read: a-na am ik-karu bîli-ya arad-ka m ilu Nabû-zîr-î šir lu šulmu(mu) a-na bîli-ya ilu Nabû u ilu Marduk a-na bîli-ya (5) šanti pl ma-'-da-tí lik-ru-bu ITI.MIš lu-u a šamî-i lu ša irsitim(tim) lu-u šá [??] am-mar lim-na-ni a-sa-tar ina ba-at-ta-ta-ai ma-har ilu šamas u-sa-ad-bi-ib-šu-nu (10) ina karn šutû-u ina mî pl rimki ina šamni pl piš šti pl-šu amîlûlti pl (?) am-mu-tí ú-sa-ab-ši-il u-sa-kil-šu-nu šar pu-u-hi ša mt Akkadû ki ITI.MIš uš-tah-ra-an-ni i-si-si (15) ma-a mí-nu-u ITI.... Though the interpretation of this text is in places exceedingly obscure the general drift of the letter is clear enough. In consequence of enquiries concerning the ITI Nabû-zîrî šir takes the necessary observations and returns his report to an official styled the ikkaru. After the usual salutations he states that he has observed "the ITI, whether of the sky, or of the earth, or of the [??]" (possibly an exhaustive formula), and that they are unfavourable; and probably in consequence of this he has performed certain rites and ceremonies which he proceeds to narrate. It is obvious that the only possible meaning for ITI in this passage is "sign" or "portent", a rendering that suits all other passages in which I have met the word including the one already referred to as having been somewhat differently translated by Jensen. That the word is in itself colourless taking a favourable or unfavourable meaning from its context is suggested by the qualifying phrase limnîti pl Ia tabat i pl inserted in the formula under discussion, and this is put beyond a doubt by Rm. 136, a fragment of an omen tablet, in 11. 13 and 16 of which we find the phrase ITI damiktim[(tim?)] as well as ITI limuttim(tim). It is natural however that in prayers for help or deliverance ITI should generally occur in an unfavourable sense.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Babylonian Magic and Sorcery by L. W. King. Copyright © 2000 Samuel Weiser, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Samuel Weiser, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
