Reading akkadian PRayeRs & Hymns An Introduction

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READING AKKADIAN PRAYERS AND HYMNS: AN INTRODUCTION
1. ÉN d GIŠ.BAR a-ri-ru bu-kur d a-nim
2. da-in di-ni-ia KA pi-riš-ti at-ta-ma
3. ik-le-e-ti tu-uš-nam-mar
4. e-šá-a-ti dal-ḫa-a-ti tu-uš-te-eš-šir
5. a-na DINGIR.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ EŠ.BAR-a ta-nam-din
Line 1: ÉN = šiptu, “incantation, ritual wording.” This word marks the beginning of
the prayer. It is not a part of the prayer itself. d GIŠ.BAR = Girra. Āriru, “burning one.” The
adj. āriru is used elsewhere to describe a blazing fire or a burning lamp (see CAD A/2,
268). Bukur is the construct state of bukru, “firstborn.” It is common for invocations to
include genealogical information for summoned deities.
Šiptu: Girra āriru bukur Anim
Line 2: Dânu (diānum), “to judge.” Dīnu, “judgment, decision, legal case.” Dīna dânu
means “to render a verdict.” KA = atmû (atwûm), “speech, word” (see CAD P, 399). Pirištu,
“secret.” Attā, “you.” Shamash is the deity most commonly associated with judging /
judgment since he looked down on the world (and underworld during the night) and saw
all of humankind’s deeds. However, when petitioners prayed to a specific deity for help
their prayers usually included a request for the deity to render a judgement on their behalf.
For an extensive treatment of the topic of divine secrecy, see Alan Lenzi, Secrecy and
the Gods: Secret Knowledge in Ancient Mesopotamia and Biblical Israel (SAAS 19; Helsinki:
The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, 2008). Our line is treated briefly on p. 84, n.99.
dāʾin dīnīya atmê pirišti attā-ma
Line 3: Iklēti (ekletu), “darkness.” Šunammuru (ŠD of namāru [nawārum]), “to shine, to
illuminate.” The form is a 2ms durative. This is a very appropriate description given
Girra’s connection with fire.
iklēti tušnammar
Line 4: Ešâti is a fp from ešû, “confused.” Likewise, dalḫāti from dalhu, “mixed up,
perplexed.” Tušteššir is a 2ms Št-lexical durative from ešēru. We could normalize this verb
in accordance with the expected i-vowel that is often colored by the following r so that it
becomes e (Huehnergard §36.1), which would yield tušteššer. The Št-lexical of ešēru means
“to put and keep in order, to straighten, to set aright.” This verb is commonly used in invocations
of and petitions to deities that they might “clear up confusion” and “provide
justice” (see CAD E, 361 and Tawil, ALCBH, 151–52). Superficially, this line is a description
of the deity’s character; however, it could also be seen as an implicit plea that the
deity act in accordance with this confession. This prayer contains many lines that function
similarly (see, e.g., line 25).
ešâti dalḫāti tušteššir
Line 5: DINGIR = ilu, “god.” GAL = rabû, “great.” EŠ.BAR = purussû, “decision.” The –a
after the logogram is a phonetic complement, indicating the accusative case. Nadānu, “to
give.” In the form, tanamdin, –dd– dissimilates to –md–. Here nadānu used with purussû