Reading akkadian PRayeRs & Hymns An Introduction

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READING AKKADIAN PRAYERS AND HYMNS: AN INTRODUCTION
12. e-ma ú-ṣa-am-ma-ru lu-uk-šu-ud
13. šu-uš-kin kit-ti ina pi-ia
14. šub-ši INIM SIG 5-tì ina lìb-bi-ia
15. ti-ru u na-an-za-zi liq-bu-ú SIG 5-tì
16. DINGIR.MU li-zi-ziz i-na im-ni-ia
“divinity” or “god-ness.” Recall that clauses joined by –ma are logically connected. Since
lušlim-ma is followed by another injunctive form, we should understand luštammar ilūtka as
a resultative clause.
ina qibītīka kitti lubluṭ lušlim-ma luštammar ilūtka
Line 12: The particle ēma, “whatever,” introduces a dependent clause, which is concluded
by uṣammaru, a 1cs durative of ṣummuru (D of ṣamāru), “to strive for, to aim, to
plan.” The –u suffix is the subjunctive marker. Kašādu, “to reach, to achieve.” In military
contexts, the verb implies victory; that is, the army reaches its goal.
ēma uṣammaru lukšud
Line 13: Šakānu, “to put, to place, to establish.” Kittu, “truth, justice, steadfastness,” is
a noun and should be distinguished semantically from the homonym, a fem. adj., in line
12. “Place truth” is a common way of speaking about one’s desire for a god to establish the
right thing in a particular situation. Here the supplicant wants Marduk to give the right
words to say so they can find the social success that they presently lack. Having received
this truth, the supplicant may be better positioned for successful intercession.
šuškin kitti ina pīya
Line 14: Šubšû (Š of bašû), “to cause to be, to create.” INIM = amātu (awātum), “word,
matter.” SIG 5 = damqu (m), damiqtu (f), “good, favorable.” Note the parallel structure of
lines 13 and 14: imperative, noun, prepositional phrase.
šubši amāta damiqti ina libbīya
Line 15: Tīru and nanzāzu are interchangeable terms referring to people of social
prominence, “courtier, attendant.” Qabû, “to speak, to utter, to pronounce, to report.”
Damiqtu, “favor, goodwill, goodness,” is a noun and should be distinguished from the
homonym, a fem. adj., in line 14. Damiqta qabû literally means “to speak good will, favor,”
but may be translated idiomatically as “to intercede” (see CAD D, 64). The supplicant’s
desire is that the divinely placed “good word” will be received by the social elites, who
will then intercede on his behalf.
tīru u nanzāzu liqbû damiqtī
Line 16: MU is a logogram for the 1cs pronominal suffix. One should read it as –ī in
lines 16 and 17 since the nouns are in the nominative case. By contrast, note the –ya suffix
on imnu, “right,” and šumēlu, “left” (see line 17), both of which are in the genitive case.
Izuzzu/uzuzzu, “to stand.” For a detailed study of this verb, see J. Huehnergard, “Izuzzum
and Itūlum,” in Riches Hidden in Secret Places: Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Memory of
Thorkild Jacobsen (ed. Tzvi Abusch; Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2002), 161–85. Lines 16–