Reading akkadian PRayeRs & Hymns An Introduction

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READING AKKADIAN PRAYERS AND HYMNS: AN INTRODUCTION
2. d a-num EN šur-bu-ú [ša ina AN-e šu-luḫ-ḫu-šú KÙ]
3. DINGIR AN-e EN [ṣa]-ad-di EN [AGA]
4. d a-num DINGIR AN-e [EN ṣa-ad-di EN AGA]
5. pa-šir u 4-mi EN [ṣa-ad-di EN AGA]
6. d a-num pa-šir u 4-me [EN] ṣa-ad-di EN a-g[e-e ? ]
Line 2: Lines 1–6 consist of three pairs of parallel lines that imitate Sumerian hymnic
style. Each pair moves from the general to the specific. The first line of each pair addresses
the deity with a particular epithet. The epithet is repeated verbatim in the second line of
the pair, except that the deity addressed is called by name. Notice the retention of mimation
in the DN Anu, which is otherwise absent in the text.
Anum bēlu šurbû ša ina šamê šuluḫḫūšu ellū
Line 3: DINGIR = ilu, “god.” MS B begins the line with bēlu instead of ilu. Ṣaddu means
“sign, signal,” particularly as it pertains to omens. AGA = agû, “crown.” In some texts the
crown of Anu represents kingship in the divine council. The title bēl agê, “lord of the
crown,” also underscores Anu’s authority to coronate kings. In the astrological text Astrolabe
B, the crown of Anu is a constellation called is lê, “Jawbone-of-an-Ox.”
il šamê bēl ṣaddi bēl agê
Line 4: If the connection between Anu and the heavens were not clear from line 1,
there can be no mistaking the connection in line 4. This relationship is even more striking
with the presence of three DINGIR signs in the line. There is some ambiguity—perhaps
intended—regarding the precise function of the genitive šamê. The options are “heaven’s
god,” “the heavenly god,” “the god in heaven,” or “the god whose domain is the heavens.”
MS C seems to have skipped our lines 4 and 5, probably due to parablepsis (homoioarcton).
Anum il šamê bēl ṣaddi bēl agê
Line 5: Lines 5–8 employ substantive participles to define the attributes of the deity
that are pertinent to the petitioner’s request. Pašāru, “to release, to loosen.” As is often the
case with this verb, a deity, in this case Anu, is its agent. Ūmu, “day,” is in the genitive
case, which is to be expected by the fact that it is preceded by a participle in the bound
form. The exact meaning of pāšir ūmi, “the one who absolves the day,” is uncertain. One
suggestion is that it refers to a clearing of the weather (see CAD P, 239). The context of the
prayer does not warrant such an interpretation here. Rather, the day in question is likely
the day of suffering, which is the impetus for the prayer. Thus, it likely refers to the removal
of that day of suffering from the memory of the supplicant.
pāšir ūmi bēl ṣaddi bēl agê
Line 6: MS B attests the start of a fragmentary line between lines 5 and 6 and again
between lines 6 and 7. In both cases the line reads mukallim ṣaddi, “the one who reveals
the sign.”
Anum pāšir ūmi bēl ṣaddi bēl agê