Reading akkadian PRayeRs & Hymns An Introduction

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READING AKKADIAN PRAYERS AND HYMNS: AN INTRODUCTION
26. ka-inim-ma šu-íl-lá d [g]u-la-kám
27. DÙ.DÙ.BI ana IGI d gu-la KEŠDA tara-k[ás . . . K]AŠ SAG BAL-[qí]
28. ÉN an-ni-tum 3-šú ŠID-ma tés-lit-[su . . . ] iš-šem-m[i]
proclaim your praises” or the like. Shuilla-prayers almost always conclude with some form
of foreword looking praise. The phrases used here are very common.
narbīki lušappi dalīlīki ludlul
Line 26: This line is the rubric, which tells something about the classification of the
preceding lines. In this case, the rubric identifies the form of the prayer and to whom it is
directed. As is typical, the rubric is written in Sumerian. It may be translated, “it is the
wording of a lifted-hand to Gula.”
Line 27: The ritual is fragmentary. The present text is based on Mayer’s MS G, but is
not in his edition. Other MSS deviate from this one. DÙ.DÙ.BI = epištašu, “its ritual.” These
words alert the user of the tablet that the ritual instructions follow. Compare the ÉN at the
beginning of the prayer. IGI = maḫru, “front,” or pānu, “face.” According to Mayer, maḫru
is the more likely reading for ina/ana IGI (see UFBG, 175–76). In any case, the meaning is
the same. KEŠDA = riksu, “ritual arrangement, assemblage of offerings.” Rakāsu, literally,
“to bind, tie up,” but in ritual instructions the word means “to prepare, to set out (offerings).”
The other verbs in the ritual instructions should be understood as second person
verbs, too. KAŠ = šikaru, “beer.” SAG = rēšu, “top, head, best.” Šikaru rēšu designates firstrate
beer, a very common item to libate. BAL = naqû, “to pour out, to libate, to sacrifice.”
epištašu: ana maḫar Gula riksa tarakkas . . . šikara rēša tanaqqi
Line 28: ÉN = šiptu, “incantation.” Annītu, “this.” 3-šú = šalāšīšu, “three times.” ŠID =
manû, “to recite, to count.” Teslītu, “petition, request.” Nešmû (N of šemû), “to be heard.”
The final phrase indicates to its user that the ritual-prayer will be successful.
šipta annīta šalāšīšu tammanū-ma teslīssu . . . iššemmi
COMPARATIVE SUGGESTIONS:
In line 8 we learn that the goddess exists “among the myriad stars of the
heavens” (ina maʾdûti kakkabī šamāmī). The close association of Mesopotamian
gods and stars is well-known among contemporary scholars. 1 For example,
Gula’s star is Lyra and her constellation is the one we call Hercules. This close
connection between stars and gods is enshrined in the cuneiform writing system:
the divine determinative (DINGIR) looks like a star in the earliest pictographic
1 The ancient Hebrew scribes were aware of the Mesopotamian connection, too. See, e.g., Amos
5:26 and the comments on this passage by Shalom Paul, Amos: A Commentary on the Book of
Amos (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991), 194–97. See also my comments below on the “host of
heaven.”