Reading akkadian PRayeRs & Hymns An Introduction

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READING AKKADIAN PRAYERS AND HYMNS: AN INTRODUCTION
Sumerian shuilla-prayers, ershaḫunga-prayers were never sung (zamāru). Rather,
the ershaḫunga-prayers were made (epēšu), spoken (dabābu), recited (manû), and
lifted up (našû). 3 Even though ershaḫunga-prayers were not sung, kettledrums
often accompanied their recitation. Furthermore, ershaḫunga-prayers were recited
along with other forms of laments and prayers during rituals such as for a
substitute king. 4 (See page 43 in the general introduction for more about
ershaḫunga-prayers.)
Originally, the present prayer was composed in Sumerian, but at some point
most lines were furnished with an interlinear Akkadian translation, which will
be the focus of this treatment. A handful of lines or parts of lines were left untranslated,
but this primarily occurs in sentences that repeat something or contain
only a minor change from the previous line that was translated (such as
shifting the gender of the subject). In these cases, the scribe apparently assumed
the translation would be self-evident. I have filled in these assumed translations
with an approximated Akkadian text and placed them inside {braces}. The last
seven lines of the prayer appear only in Sumerian and do not follow the above
rationale. They are not analyzed in this treatment. 5
The prayer begins with what Maul has labeled the “type C” introductory litany
in which the supplicant seeks with a series of precatives to move the deity to
act on their behalf. 6 The first line of the prayer is one of the few petitions within
the bilingual section that is not repeated to a female deity. It should be seen as
an introductory statement summarizing the request that the deity be reconciled
to the petitioner. Lines 2–10 repeat the plea that the deity’s anger subside so
that the relationship may return to status quo and by implication alleviate whatever
hardship the petitioner is suffering. Although lines 11–16 are broken, the
lament section of the prayer probably starts here and continues through line 38.
Based on the scant clues that remain in lines 11–16, the supplicant seems to
mention their sin and something related to a favorable name, a common Mesopotamian
concern. 7 In lines 17–20 the petitioner confesses deep anguish and
remorse concerning the sins that they committed in ignorance. They confess that
3 Maul, HB, 25–26.
4 See Parpola, LASEA 2, nos. 259 and 351.
5 It may be interpretively significant that the end of the prayer consists of seven lines of untranslated
Sumerian since the number seven is central to the petitioner’s plea within this section:
My god, though my sins are seven times seven, forgive my sins.
My goddess, though my sins are seven times seven, forgive my sins.
Whichever god, though my sins are seven times seven, forgive my sins.
Whichever goddess, though my sins are seven times seven, forgive my sins.
Forgive my sins, let me sing your praise.
As if you were my mother, let your heart be reconciled to me.
As if you were my mother or my father, let your heart be reconciled to me.
6 Maul, HB, 18 and n.45.
7 Foster, following Falkenstein (226), reasonably suggests lines 11–12 are a confession of ignorance
of sin and lines 13–16 are a lament that neither god nor goddess called or pronounced the
supplicant’s name with favor (763).