The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria
By Morris Jastrow
CHAPTER XVII.
THE PRAYERS AND HYMNS.
From what has just been said, it follows that the step from magical formulas to prayers and hymns is but a small one, and does not, indeed, carry with it the implication of changed or higher religious conceptions. While the incantation texts in their entirety may be regarded as the oldest fixed ritual of the Babylonian-Assyrian religion, there were occasions even in the oldest period of Babylonian history when the gods were approached in prayer without the accompaniment of magic formulas. Such occasions were the celebration of festivals in honor of the gods, the dedication of temples or of sacred statues, and the completion of such purely secular undertakings as the building of a canal. Gudea, we are told, upon completing a statue to his god Nin-girsu, prayed: 'O King, whose great strength the land cannot endure (?); Nin-girsu! grant to Gudea, who has built this house, a good fate.'[416] As in the earliest, so in the latest, period, the Babylonian kings approach the gods in prayer upon completing their great sacred edifices. The prayers of Nebuchadnezzar are particularly fine—remarkable, indeed, for their diction and elevation of thought. Upon completing the restoration of a temple to Nin-karrak or Gula in Sippar, he prays:[417]
Nin-karrak, lofty goddess, look with favor upon the work of my hands,
Mercy towards me be the command of thy lips,
Long life, abundance of strength,
[Pg 295]Health, and joy, grant to me as a gift.
In the presence of Shamash and Marduk cause my deeds to be regarded with favor,
Command grace for me.
A prayer of the same king addressed to Shamash, upon restoring the great temple at Sippar, E-babbara, runs:[418]
O Shamash, great lord, upon entering joyfully into thy glorious temple E-babbara,
Look with favor upon my precious handiwork,
Mercy towards me be thy command;
Through thy righteous order, may I have abundance of strength.
Long life, and a firm throne, grant to me.
May my rule last forever!
With a righteous sceptre of blissful rulership,
With a legitimate staff, bringing salvation to mankind, adorn my sovereignty forever.
With strong weapons for the fray, protect my soldiers;
Then, O Shamash, by oracle and dream, answer me correctly!
By thy supreme command, which is unchangeable,
May my weapons advance, and strike and overthrow the weapons of the enemies.
Nebuchadnezzar's inscriptions are characterized by the prayer with which they almost invariably close. Whether erecting a sanctuary or building a canal or improving the walls of Babylon, he does not fail to add to the description of his achievements a prayer to some deity, in which he asks for divine grace and the blessings of long life and prosperity.
There were other occasions, too, in which, both in ancient times and in more modern periods, prayers were sent up to the gods. Kudur-mabuk, of the second dynasty of Ur, informs us that he built a temple, E-nun-makh, to Sin in gratitude to the god for having hearkened to his prayer.
The Assyrian kings pray to Ashur or Ishtar before the battle, and offer thanks after the victory has been gained. "O goddess of Arbela!" says Ashurbanabal,[419] "I am Ashurbanabal, the king of Assyria, the product of thy hands, created by thee in[Pg 296] the house of my father. To renew the sanctuaries of Assyria, and to enlarge the cities of Babylonia, ... have I devoted myself to thy dwelling-places, and have steadfastly worshipped thy sovereignty.... Hearken unto me! O thou mistress of mistresses, supreme in battle, mistress of the fray, queen of the gods, ... who speakest good things in the presence of Ashur, the father, that produced thee. Teumman, king of Elam, has arrayed his army and fixed upon battle, brandishes his weapons to proceed against Assyria. Do thou now, O warrior, like ... drive him into the midst of the fray, pursue him with a storm, with an evil wind." Ishtar, the narrative tells us, hearkened to the fervent words of the king. "Be not afraid," says the goddess to her royal subject. Elsewhere the same king prays more briefly to Ashur and Ishtar. "May his corpse [viz., of a certain enemy] be cast before his enemy [i.e., before Ashurbanabal], and his remains be carried off."[420]
Upon ascending the throne, we find Nebuchadnezzar addressing a fervent prayer to the great god Marduk:
O Eternal Ruler! Lord of the Universe!
Grant that the name[421] of the king whom thou lovest,
Whose name thou hast mentioned,[422] may flourish as seems good to thee.
Guide him on the right path.
I am the ruler who obeys thee, the creation of thy hand.
It is thou who hast created me,
And thou hast entrusted to me sovereignty over mankind.
According to thy mercy, O lord, which thou bestowest upon all,
Cause me to love thy supreme rule.
Implant the fear of thy divinity in my heart,
Grant to me whatsoever may seem good before thee,
Since it is thou that dost control my life.
The curses also with which so many of the historical texts of Babylonia and Assyria close may be regarded as prayers. We are also justified in assuming that the offering of sacrifices,[Pg 297] which formed at all times an essential feature of the cult, both in Babylonia and Assyria, was always accompanied by some form of prayer addressed to some deity or to a group of deities. In view of all this, no sharp chronological line, any more than a logical one, can be drawn marking off the incantation formulas from the hymns and prayers pure and simple. The conceptions formed of the gods in the incantation texts are precisely those which we have found to be characteristic of them in the period when this phase of the religion reached its highest development. Ea is the protector of humanity, Shamash the lord of justice; and, if certain ideas that in the prayers are attached to the gods—as wisdom to Sin—are absent from the incantations, it may be regarded rather as an accident than as an indication of any difference of conception. The pantheon too, barring the omission of certain gods, is the same that we find it to be in the historical texts, and the order in which the gods are enumerated corresponds quite closely with the rank accorded to them in the inscriptions of the kings. What variations there are are not sufficiently pronounced to warrant any conclusions. All this points, as has been emphasized several times, to the subsequent remodeling of the texts in question. It is true that we find more traces of earlier and purely mythological notions in the incantations than in the hymns and prayers, but such notions are by no means foreign to the latter. Even in those religious productions of Babylonia which represent the flower of religious thought, we meet with views that reflect a most primitive mode of thought. The proper view, therefore, to take of the prayers and hymns is to regard them as twin productions to the magical texts, due to the same conceptions of the power of the gods, an emanation of the same religious spirit, and produced at the same time that the incantation rituals enjoyed popular favor and esteem, and without in any way interfering with the practice of the rites that these rituals involved.[Pg 298]
This position does not of course preclude that among the prayers and hymns that have been preserved there are some betraying a loftier spirit, a higher level of religious thought, and more pronounced ethical tendencies than others. Indeed, the one important result of the dissociation of the address to the gods from the purely practical magic rites was to produce the conditions favorable to a development of higher religious thought. An offering of praise to the gods, whether it was for victory granted or for a favor shown, called forth the best and purest sentiments of which the individual was capable. Freed from all lower associations, such an act proved an incentive to view the deity addressed from his most favorable side, to emphasize those phases which illustrated his affection for his worshippers, his concern for their needs, his discrimination, and not merely his power and strength. In short, the softer and the more humane aspects of the religion would thus be brought out. The individual would address his god in terms betraying his affection, and would couple with him attributes that would reflect the worshipper's rather than the god's view of the purpose and aim of existence. Whatever powers of idealization there lay in the worshipper's nature would be brought into the foreground by the intellectual effort involved in giving expression to his best thoughts, when aiming to come into close communion with a power upon which he felt himself dependent. For an understanding, therefore, of the ethical tendencies of the Babylonian religion, an appreciation of the prayers and hymns is of prime importance; and we shall presently see that, as a matter of fact, the highest level of ethical and religious thought is reached in some of these hymns.
The prayers of Nebuchadnezzar represent, perhaps, the best that has been attained in this branch of religious literature. Returning, for a moment, to the dedication prayer to Marduk, addressed by the king on the occasion of his mounting the[Pg 299] throne,[423] one cannot fail to be struck by the high sense of the importance of his station with which the king is inspired. Sovereignty is not a right that he can claim—it is a trust granted to him by Marduk. He holds his great office not for purposes of self-glorification, but for the benefit of his subjects. In profound humility he confesses that what he has he owes entirely to Marduk. He asks to be guided so that he may follow the path of righteousness. Neither riches nor power constitute his ambition, but to have the fear of his lord in his heart. Such a plane of thought is never reached in the incantation texts. For all that, the original dependence of the prayers and hymns upon incantation formulas, tinges even the best productions. Some of the finest hymns, in which elevated thoughts are elaborated with considerable skill, reveal their origin by having incantations attached to them. Again, others which are entirely independent productions are full of allusions to sickness, demons, and sorcerers, that show the outgrowth of the hymns from the incantations; and none are entirely free from traces of the conceptions that are characteristic of the incantation texts. The essential difference between these two classes of closely related texts may be summed up in the proposition that the religious thought which produced them both is carried to a higher point of elaboration in the hymns. The prayers and hymns represent the attempt of the Babylonian mind to free itself from a superstitious view of the relationship of man to the powers around him; an attempt, but—it must be added—an unsuccessful one.
It is rather unfortunate that many of the hymns found in the library of Ashurbanabal are in so fragmentary a condition. As a consequence we are frequently unable to determine more than their general contents. The colophons generally are missing,—at least in those hymns hitherto published,[424]—so[Pg 300] that we are left in the dark as to the special occasion for which the hymn was composed. Without this knowledge it is quite impossible to assign to it any definite date except upon internal evidence. In the course of time, the hymnal literature of the great temples of Babylonia must have grown to large proportions, and, in collecting them, some system was certainly followed by the priests engaged in this work. There is evidence of a collection having been made at some time of hymns addressed to Shamash. Some of these were intended as a salute upon the sun's rising, others celebrated his setting. These hymns convey the impression of having been composed for the worship of the god in one of his great temples—perhaps in E-babbara, at Sippar. We have several hymns also addressed to Marduk, and one can well suppose that at the great temple E-sagila, in Babylon, a collection of Marduk hymns must have been prepared, and so for others of the great gods. But, again, many of the hymns convey the impression of being merely sporadic productions—composed for certain occasions, and without any reference to a possible position in a ritual.
Of the hymns so far published, those to Shamash are probably the finest. The conception of the sun-god as the judge of mankind lent itself readily to an ethical elaboration. Accordingly, we find in these hymns justice and righteousness as the two prominent themes. A striking passage in one of these hymns reads:[425]
The law of mankind dost thou direct,
Eternally just in the heavens art thou,
[Pg 301]Of faithful judgment towards all the world art thou.
Thou knowest what is right, thou knowest what is wrong.
O Shamash! Righteousness has lifted up its neck(?);
O Shamash! Wrong like a —— has been cut(?);
O Shamash! The support of Anu and Bel art thou;
O Shamash! Supreme judge of heaven and earth art thou.
After a break in the tablet, the hymn continues:
O Shamash! Supreme judge, great lord of all the world art thou;
Lord of creation, merciful one of the world art thou.
The following lines now reveal the purpose of the hymn. It is a prayer for the life of the king:
O Shamash! on this day purify and cleanse the king, the son of his god.
Whatever is evil within him, let it be taken out.
The next few lines are a distinct echo of the incantation formulas, and show how readily prayer passes from a higher to a lower stage of thought:
The same incantation occurs at the close of another hymn to Shamash, addressed to the sun upon his rising.[428] The colophon furnishes the opening line of the next tablet, which also begins with an address to Shamash. We have here a clear indication of a kind of Shamash ritual extending, perhaps, over a number of tablets, and to which, in all probability, the hymn just quoted also belongs.
The opening lines of the second hymn read:
O Shamash! out of the horizon of heaven thou issuest forth,
The bolt of the bright heavens thou openest,
The door of heaven thou dost open.
O Shamash! over the world dost thou raise thy head.
O Shamash! with the glory of heaven thou coverest the world.
[Pg 302] It would be difficult to believe, but for the express testimony furnished by the hymn itself, that a production giving evidence of such a lofty view of the sun-god should, after all, be no more than an incantation. The same is the case, however, with all the Shamash hymns so far published. They either expressly or by implication form part of an incantation ritual. Evidently, then, such addresses to Shamash are to be viewed in no other light than the exaltation of Nusku in the 'Maklu' series,[429] and which we have found were in many cases elaborate, beautiful in diction, and elevated in thought. So—to give one more example—a hymn addressed to the sun-god at the setting, and which is especially interesting because of the metaphors chosen to describe the sun's course, is proved by the colophon to be again an incantation. It belongs to a series—perhaps, indeed, to the same as the specimens furnished:[430]
O sun-god in the midst[431] of heaven at thy setting,
May the enclosure of the pure heaven greet thee,[432]
May the gate of heaven approach thee,
May the directing god, the messenger who loves thee, direct thy way.
In E-babbara, the seat of thy sovereignty, thy supremacy rises like the dawn.
May Â, the wife whom thou lovest, come before thee with joy;
May thy heart be at rest,[433]
May the glory of thy divinity be established for thee.
O Shamash! warrior hero, mayest thou be exalted;
O lord of E-babbara, as thou marchest, may thy course be directed,
Direct thy path, march along the path fixed for thy course (?).
O Shamash! judge of the world, director of its laws art thou.
In the previous chapter, the hymns addressed to the moon-god in connection with eclipses have been referred to and short[Pg 303] specimens given. A more elaborate hymn to Sin will further illustrate the conceptions current about this deity:[434]
O lord, chief of the gods, who on earth and in heaven alone is exalted.
Father Nannar,[435] lord of increase, chief of the gods,
Father Nannar, heavenly lord,
Father Nannar, moon-god, chief of the gods,
Father Nannar, lord of Ur, chief of the gods,
Father Nannar, lord of E-gish-shir-gal,[436] chief of the gods,
Father Nannar, lord of the brilliant crescent, chief of the gods,
Father Nannar, whose sovereignty is brought to perfection, chief of the gods,
Father Nannar, who passes along in great majesty,
O strong Bull,[437] great of horns, perfect in form, with long flowing beard[438] of the color of lapus-lazuli.
Powerful one, self-created, a product (?) beautiful to look upon, whose fullness has not been brought forth,[439]
Merciful one, begetter of everything, who among living things occupies a lofty seat,
Father, merciful one and restorer, whose weapon (?) maintains the life of the whole world.
Lord, thy divinity, like the distant heaven and the wide ocean, is full (?) of fear.
Ruler of the land, protector of sanctuaries, proclaimer of their name.
Father, begetter of the gods and of men, establishing dwellings and granting gifts,
Calling to sovereignty, giving the sceptre, who decreest destinies for distant days.
Strong chief, whose wide heart embraces in mercy all that exists,
... beautiful, whose knees do not grow weary, who opens the road (?) for the gods, his brothers,
... who, from the foundation of heaven till the zenith,
Passes along in brilliancy (?), opening the door of heaven,
[Pg 304]Preparing the fate (?) of humanity.
Father, begetter of everything, ...
Lord, proclaiming the decisions of heaven and earth,
Whose command is not set aside,
... and granting water[440] for all that has life.
No god reaches to thy fullness.
In heaven who is exalted? Thou alone art exalted.
On earth who is exalted? Thou alone art exalted.
Thy strong command is proclaimed in heaven, and the Igigi prostrate themselves.
Thy strong command is proclaimed on earth, and the Anunnaki kiss the ground.
Thy strong command on high, like a storm in the darkness, passes along, and nourishment streams forth.
When thy strong command is established on the earth, vegetation sprouts forth.
Thy strong command stretches over meadows and heights, and life is increased.
Thy strong command produces right and proclaims justice to mankind.
Thy strong command, through the distant heavens and the wide earth, extends to whatever there is.
Thy strong command, who can grasp it? Who can rival it?
Lord, in heaven is [thy] sovereignty, on earth is thy sovereignty. Among the gods, thy brothers, there is none like thee.
O King of Kings, who has no judge superior to him, whose divinity is not surpassed by any other![441]
A more perfect idealization of the mythological notions connected with the moon-god can hardly be imagined. The old metaphors are retained, but interpreted in a manner that reflects higher spiritual tendencies. The moon is still figured as a bull, but it is the idea of strength that is extracted from the picture and dwelt upon. The writer still thinks of the moon as an old man with flowing beard, but he uses the figure to convey the impression of the brilliancy of the great orb. The influence of the moon upon the change of seasons, upon vegetation,—a belief which the Babylonians shared with other[Pg 305] nations,—leads the writer to extol the benign feelings of the god towards mankind. The sun-god, through the glowing heat that he develops, becomes, as we have seen, the warrior and even the destroyer, the consuming force. The moon-god is the benefactor of mankind who restores the energies of man weakened from the heat of the day. Nannar-Sin becomes the giver of life, whose mercies are extended to all. The gods and the spirits follow the example of mankind in prostrating themselves before the great orb of night. The independence of the course that he pursues in the heavens places him beyond the control of the great judge of the world, the mighty Shamash. There is no one superior to Sin, no one to whose command he must bend. With all this, there is a total absence of any allusion to his power of removing the influence of demons and witches. We have here a hymn purified from all association with the incantation texts, and there is every reason to believe that it was composed for use in the great temple at Ur, which is mentioned in the opening lines.
In the alternating question and answer we have also a valuable indication of the manner in which the hymn was to be recited or sung. The whole production appears to be arranged in a dialogue form, the lines to be alternately read by the reciting priest and the chorus of priests or worshippers. The same method is followed in other productions, while in some, as we shall see, the dialogue does not proceed in alternate lines, but is distributed among a varying number of sections. We may see in this style of composition one of the natural outcomes of the method pursued in the incantation texts, where, as will be remembered, the priest first recites the formulas, and then calls upon the individual before him to repeat it once, twice, or oftener, as the case may be. Such a custom leads to recital and responses in the hymns.
Not many of the hymns rise to such a height as the one just quoted. There were certain gods only, and after all not many,[Pg 306] whose nature was such as to make an ethical development of the conceptions formed of them possible. Besides Shamash and Sin, Ea as the god of humanity and Nebo as the god of wisdom belong to this class. Of Ea, however, no hymns have as yet been found. This may of course be accidental, and still, if one bears in mind that in the later periods of Babylonian history Ea enjoyed a theoretical popularity rather than a practical one, the absence of Ea hymns might be explained as due to the lack of a fixed ritual in the Ea temples outside of the incantation texts.[442] Ea's position, like that of Nusku, was too marked in the magical texts to encourage a conception of them entirely independent of their power to release victims from the grasp of the demons.
A hymn to Nebo, which unfortunately is preserved only in part, illustrates the extent to which polytheistic conceptions may be spiritualized:[443]
... Lord of Borsippa,
... son of E-sagila.[444]
O Lord! To thy power there is no rival power,
O Nebo! To thy power, there is no rival,
To thy house, E-zida, there is no rival,
To thy city, Borsippa, there is no rival,
To thy district, Babylon, there is no rival.
Thy weapon is U-sum-gallu,[445] from whose mouth the breath does not issue, blood does not flow.[446]
Thy command is unchangeable like the heavens.
In heaven thou art supreme.
There are still plenty of mythological allusions in this hymn that take us back to a primitive period of thought, but it is a hymn prompted by the love and reverence that Nebo inspired. Its direct connection with the Nebo cult is shown again by the[Pg 307] complementary character of each two lines. The whole hymn was probably adapted in this way to public worship.
Marduk, by virtue of his relationship to Ea, and by his independent position as the supreme god of Babylon, occupies a middle ground between Shamash, Ea, and Nusku on the one side, and such gods as Sin and Nebo on the other. Some of the hymns addressed to him end in incantations; others form part of the cult arranged for solemn occasions, when the praises of the god were sung in connection with sacrificial offerings.
In confirmation of the theory as to the relationship between magical texts and hymns above advanced, we find scarcely any difference in the grade of religious thought between these two classes of Marduk hymns. Both are equally distinguished by their fine diction. A hymn which celebrates Marduk as the restorer of the dead to life, and yet forms part of an incantation text, reads:[447]
O merciful one among the gods!
O merciful one who loveth to give life to the dead!
Marduk, king of heaven and earth,
King of Babylon, lord of E-sagila,
King of E-zida, lord of E-makh-tila,
Heaven and earth are thine.
The whole of heaven and earth are thine,
The spell affording life is thine,
The breath of life is thine,
The pure incantation of the ocean[448] is thine,
Mankind, the black-headed race,[449]
The living creatures, as many as there are, and exist on earth,
As many as there are in the four quarters,
The Igigi of the legions of heaven and earth,
As many as there are,
To thee do they incline (?).
Thou art the shedu, thou art the lamassu.
Thou restorest the dead to life, thou bringest things to completeness (?).
O merciful one among the gods!
[Pg 308] One scarcely detects any difference between such a hymn and those to Sin and Nebo. The lines are adapted, like the other specimens, for recitation by two parties. The last line forms a solemn close to a section of this hymn. In the section that follows, the same character is maintained till we approach the close, when the exorciser steps in and asks Marduk to
Expel the disease of the sick man,
The plague, the wasting disease ...
and the various classes of demons, utukku, alu, etc., are introduced.
Compare this now with some passages in a prayer addressed to Marduk:[450]
A resting-place for the lord (of E-sagila) is thy house.
A resting-place for the lord of E-makh-tila is thy house.
E-sagila, the house of thy sovereignty, is thy house.
May the city speak 'rest'[451] to thee—thy house.
May Babylon speak peace to thee[452]—thy house.
May the great Anu, the father of the gods, tell thee when there will be rest.
May the great mountain, the father of the gods,[453] tell thee when there will be rest.
Look favorably upon thy house,
Look favorably upon the city, O lord of rest!
May he restore to his place the bolt Babylon, the enclosure E-sagila, the edifice E-zida,[454]
May the gods of heaven and earth speak to thee, O lord of rest.
Here we have specific references to Marduk. Everything about the city of Babylon is associated with the god. The great gods pay homage to Marduk. The whole hymn, conceived as a royal prayer to the god, clearly formed part of the ritual prepared for the great Marduk temple at Babylon. The[Pg 309] hymn closes, as so many others, with a prayer on behalf of the king. The god is asked
To establish firmly the foundation of the throne of his sovereignty,
So that he may nourish (?) mankind to distant days.
'Rest,' in the liturgical language, implied cessation of anger. Marduk, as the 'lord of rest,' was the pacified deity; and since it was a necessary condition in obtaining an answer to petitions that the god should be free from anger, the city, the temple, and the gods are represented as unitedly speaking to him—appealing to him to be at 'rest.' The production might, therefore, be called a 'pacification hymn.' The god has shown his anger by bringing on misfortune of some shape. His divine associates are no less anxious than his human subjects to pacify the mighty god.
Passing on to another god, a hymn to the storm-god, Ramman, enables us to specify the great terror that the god, as the general source of disturbances in the heavenly phenomena, inspired. The god is addressed[455] as
The lord who in his anger holds the heavens in his control,
Ramman in his wrath the earth has shaken.
The mighty mountain—thou dost overturn it.
At his anger, at his wrath,
The gods of heaven mount up to heaven,[456]
The gods of earth enter the earth.
Into the foundation of heaven Shamash[457] enters.
The illustrations adduced will suffice to show the manner in which the Babylonians conceived the relationship between mankind and the gods. The element of fear alternated with that of love, and no matter how near the gods were felt to be, one was never certain of their good will.
Another feature of some of these hymns which calls for special mention is the introduction of the deity as himself or[Pg 310] herself taking part in the dialogue. A hymn addressed to Ishtar, as the morning and evening star,[458] belongs to this class.[459] It begins with a glorification of the goddess as the source of light, of being, and of earthly blessings. The worshipper speaks:
O light of heaven who arises like fire over the earth, who art fixed in the earth,
Thou art exalted in strength like the earth.
As for thee, a just path be graciously granted to thee
When thou enterest the house of man.
A hyena on the hunt for a young lamb art thou,
A restless lion art thou.
A destructive handmaid, the beauty of heaven,
A handmaid is Ishtar, the beauty of heaven,
Who causest all being to emanate, O beauty of heaven,
Associate (?) of the sun, O beauty of heaven!
At this point the goddess speaks, through the officiating priest, who acts as the mediator:
For determining oracles[460] I have been established, in perfection have I been established.
For determining oracles of my father Sin, I have been established, in perfection have I been established.
For determining oracles of my brother Shamash, I have been established, in perfection have I been established.
Me has my father Sin fixed, to determine oracles I have been established,
Shining anew in heaven, for determining oracles I have been established, in perfection have I been established.
From the regular repetition of the refrain at the end of each line, one is tempted to conclude that these utterances of the goddess were to be recited by an officiating priest with the assistance of a chorus of priests, to whom the refrain was assigned, or it may be that the lines were alternately recited by[Pg 311] the priest and the chorus. In the section that follows, this alternative character of the lines is more clearly indicated:
Full of delight is my majesty, full of delight is my supremacy,
Full of delight do I as a goddess walk supreme.
Ishtar, the goddess of morning am I,
Ishtar, the goddess of evening am I,
(I am) Ishtar,—to open the lock of heaven belongs to my supremacy.
Heaven I destroy, earth I devastate,[461]—such is my supremacy.
The destroyer of heaven, the devastator of the earth,—such is my majesty.
To rise up out of the foundation of heaven,
Whose fame shines among the habitation of men,—such is my supremacy.
Queen of heaven that on high and below is invoked,—such is my supremacy.
The mountain I sweep away altogether,—such is my supremacy.
The destroyer of the mountain walls am I, their great foundation am I,—such is my supremacy.
The hymn closes with a prayer that the anger of the god be appeased:
May thy heart be at rest, thy liver[462] be pacified.
By the great lord Anu, may thy heart be at rest.
By the lord, the great mountain Bel, may thy liver be pacified.
O goddess, mistress of heaven, may thy heart be at rest.
O supreme mistress of heaven, may thy liver be pacified.
O supreme mistress of the E-anna,[463] may thy heart be at rest.
O supreme mistress of the land of Erech, may thy liver be pacified.
O supreme mistress of the shining Erech, may thy heart be at rest.
O supreme mistress of the mountain of the universe, may thy liver be pacified.
O supreme mistress, queen of E-tur-kalama,[464] may thy heart be at rest.
O supreme mistress, queen of Babylon, may thy liver be pacified.
O supreme mistress, whose name is Nanâ, may thy heart be at rest.
O mistress of the house, lady of the gods, may thy liver be pacified.
[Pg 312]FOOTNOTES:
[416] Inscription D, col. v. ll. 2-7.
[417] Abel-Winckler, Keilschrifttexte, p. 33, col. iii. ll. 52-58.
[418] Ball, Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch. xi. 124 seq.
[419] Annals, Cylinder B, col. v. ll. 30-46.
[420] Without proper burial,—the greatest misfortune that could happen to the dead.
[421] I.e., life.
[422] I.e., called to the throne.
[424] The prayers and hymns of the Babylonians are only beginning to receive the attention they deserve at the hands of scholars. Sayce, e.g., in the specimens attached to his Hibbert Lectures, pp. 479-520, does not even distinguish properly between pure hymns and mere incantations. Now that Dr. Bezold's great catalogue of the Koujunjik collection of the British Museum is completed, the opportunity is favorable for some one to study the numerous unpublished fragments of hymns in the British Museum, and produce in connection with those that have been published a comprehensive work on the subject. Knudtzon's Assyrische Gebete an den Sonnengott may serve as a model for such a work.
[425] IVR. 28, no. 1.
[426] Some specification of the kind of vessel meant.
[427] Inscriptions were written on various metals,—gold, silver, antimony, lead, copper, etc.
[428] IVR. 20, no. 2.
[429] See above.
[430] Published by Bertin in the Revue d'Assyriologie, no. 4, and translated by Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, p. 573. I adopt Sayce's translation, Bertin's publication being inaccessible to me.
[431] Probably 'horizon.'
[432] Lit., speak to thee of peace.
[433] I.e., may thy anger depart.
[434] IVR. 9.
[435] 'The illuminator,' one of the names of Sin.
[436] The name of Sin's temple at Ur.
[437] A metaphor descriptive of the moon, because of the resemblance of the crescent to a horn.
[438] The moon-god is pictured with a long beard on the seal cylinders.
[439] I.e., unlike other products, the moon's fullness is self-created.
[440] A reference perhaps to the supposed influence of the moon on the tides.
[441] The rest of the hymn—some dozen lines—is too fragmentary to warrant translation.
[442] We have, however, a list (IIR. 58, no. 5) giving many titles and names of Ea that must have been prepared on the basis of Ea hymns.
[443] IVR. 20, no. 3.
[444] I.e., of Marduk.
[445] This weapon plays a part in some of the Babylonian myths.
[446] The weapon is miraculous—It kills instantly, but without causing blood to flow. The reference is to the lightning stroke.
[447] IVR. 29, no. 1.
[448] Perhaps a reference to Ea.
[449] Name for the inhabitants of Babylonla, and then used in general for mankind.
[450] IVR. 18, no. 2. Badly preserved.
[451] I.e., call upon thee to be pacified.
[452] I.e., salute thee.
[453] Bel.
[454] The strongly fortified city of Babylon is compared to a bolt and the temple to an enclosure.
[455] IVR. 28, no. 2.
[456] I.e., fly to a safe place.
[457] I.e., the sun is obscured.
[458] See above.
[459] Delitzsch, Assyrische Lesestücke (3d edition), pp. 134-136.
[460] The portents taken through observation of the position of Ishtar or Venus in the heavens were of especial value.
[461] Phrases introduced to illustrate the power, not the function, of Ishtar.
[462] The liver as the seat of the emotions.
[463] I.e., house of heaven. Name of Ishtar's temple at Erech.
[464] I.e., court of the universe. Name of one of Ishtar's temples.