Reading akkadian PRayeRs & Hymns An Introduction

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READING AKKADIAN PRAYERS AND HYMNS: AN INTRODUCTION
4. mu-sal-li-mat DINGIR ze-na-a d 15 ze-ni-t[u 4]
5. lu-uš-pur-ki a-na DINGIR.MU ze-ni-i d 15.MU ze-[ni-ti]
6. šá kám-lu šab-su lìb-ba-šú-nu-ma ze-nu-ú KI.[MU]
7. su-ul-li--im-ma DINGIR.MEŠ ze-nu-u d 15 ze-n[i-tu]
cially those born first and not differentiated by names; from MB times it came to refer to
gods of earth and underworld, over against the Igigû, the gods of heaven (Black and Green,
34). Ekdu, “wild, furious.”
sapar Anunnakkī ilī ekdūti
Line 4: Sullumu (D of salāmu), “to bring about peace, reconciliation; to cause to relent.”
This participle is in construct with the following four words, all of which are in the
gen. Zenû (ms), zenītu (fs), “angry.” While one would not ordinarily expect a construct
chain to be interrupted by adjectives, this rule is sometimes violated. MS A ze-na-a, MS D
ze-ne-e: the case vowel â in MS A is an apparently erroneous accusative case; the case
vowel ê in MS D reflects the Assyrian genitive ending –e (rather than the Babylonian –i).
Ištaru, “goddess.” While the Sumerogram d 15 may indicate the name of the goddess Ishtar,
the name of this divinity also became a general appellative for “goddess,” as in the typical
phrase “god and goddess.” Ze-ni-t[u 4 ]: Only MS A preserves the ending here, which erroneously
indicates the case vowel u rather than the expected i.
musallimat ila zenâ ištara zenītu
Line 5: Šapāru, “to send.” The form is a 1cs precative with a 2fs pronominal suffix. After
the preposition ana the nouns and adjectives are all in the genitive; both nouns have
pronominal suffixes 1cs (indicated by MU). Having described pertinent characteristics of
Nisaba in lines 1–4, the speaker now begins the petition using language echoing that description.
lušpurki ana ilīya zenî ištarīya zenīti
Line 6: Ša introduces a relative clause. While one might take the following two forms,
as well as zenû to be adjectives, they are more likely predicative constructions (statives)
with the subordination (or subjunctive) marker –u. Kamālu, “to be(come) angry, wrathful.”
Šabāsu, “to be angry, furious.” Libbu, “heart.” The –ma here, which occurs in only one of
the two preserved MSS, may serve as a conjunction or have an emphatic or topicalizing
function (see GAG §123a). Zenû, “to be angry.” KI = itti, “with.” KI.MU = ittīya, “with me.”
While these predicative constructions are single in agreement with the subject libbu, the
translation should reflect plurality: “whose hearts are wrathful, furious and angry.”
ša kamlu šabsu libbašunū-ma zenû ittīya
Line 7: Sullumu, see line 4. Sullimī is a D fs impv. plus ventive. The –ma is emphatic.
Of the four MSS preserving DINGIR here, only MS A adds MEŠ, and this need not indicate a
plural. Assyriologists generally recognize that in some nominal forms MEŠ has become a
frozen form; thus, Borger notes that in nominal forms, MEŠ may be meaningless (MZL, no.
754, 420). Since u may serve as the case vowel for the accusative as well as the nominative
in SB, and seeing that of the four terms requiring an accusative ending in this line,