Reading akkadian PRayeRs & Hymns An Introduction

492
READING AKKADIAN PRAYERS AND HYMNS: AN INTRODUCTION
23. i-qab-bi-ma gíl-la-ta uš-raš-ši
24. ina UD i-šar-ti-šú up-ta-aṭ-ṭa-ru eʾ-il-tum u an-nu
25. šu-ú-ma ú-tuk-ka [r]a-ʾi-i-ba ú-šar-ši
26. ina te-e-šú uš-d[ap]-pa-ru šu-ru-up-pu-ú u ḫur-ba-šú
bulluṭa irammu, “Marduk, the merciful lord, who loves to heal the dying” (cited by CAD
M/2, 140).
pašḫū ṣindūšu uballaṭū namtara
Line 23: Qabû, “to speak.” Gillatu, “sin.” Ušrašši is a ŠD durative from rašû, “to acquire.”
According to Moran, this is the first attestation of rašû in this stem (258). Its meaning
here is causative, “to cause someone to acquire something.” In light of gillatu, “to impute”
seems a contextually appropriate definition. Marduk need only speak and he reckons
sin to someone’s account. The offending party is not even mentioned. Whatever one’s actions
may be, it is the judgment of Marduk that determines one’s guilt. This shows another
side to Marduk’s absolute sovereignty.
iqabbī-ma gillata ušrašši
Line 24: Išartu, “prosperity, righteousness, justice.” Putaṭṭuru (Dt of paṭāru), “to be
released, to be forgiven.” Eʾiltu, “bond, liability, sin.” Annu (arnu), “guilt, penalty, fault,
sin.” The couplet in lines 23–24 shows several structural and grammatical parallelisms to
the one in lines 25–26.
ina ūmi išartīšu uptaṭṭarū eʾiltum u annu
Line 25: Šū-ma is the 3ms independent pronoun, “he,” with the enclitic –ma. It emphasizes
the implied subject of the verb, Marduk. Utukku, “demon,” is in apposition to the
following noun: raʾību, “shivering, cramp,” also known to be the name of the demon behind
the medical condition (see qāt Raʾību, CAD R, 81). Šuršû (Š of rašû), “to cause someone
to acquire (something).” This is the more common causative stem for rašû. One’s translation
must supply the second object, the person on whom the disease is imposed.
Although Marduk imputes guilt and causes illness, the hymn is (apparently) free of cynicism
or bitterness. Marduk’s capricious disposition is simply accepted. Apart from some
very poignant but passing protest in Tablet II (lines 10–47), Ludlul’s author seems resigned
to the will and ways of Marduk (see II 48).
šū-ma utakka raʾība ušarši
Line 26: Tû, “incantation.” Marduk and his father Ea were famous for their effective
incantatory word (see, e.g., Enūma eliš IV 19–28, 61; VI 153; VII 11, 26, 33–34 and the
prayer to Ea in this volume, page 227). Šuruppû, “frost, chills.” Ḫurbāšu, “frost, shivering,
cold tremors.” The verb ušdapparu is another ŠD stem durative from the root duppuru (so
CAD D, 186–88, defended by William Moran, “duppuru [dubburu] — ṭuppuru, too?” JCS 33
[1981], 44–47) or ṭuppuru (D of ṭapāru, so AHw, 1380 and CDA, 413). The meaning of the
ŠD, attested only here to my knowledge, follows the D stem, “to drive away.” The final –u
on the verb (in all three MSS attesting this line, MSS gg, ff, and JJ, from Babylon, Nimrud,
and Nineveh, respectively) presents a problem with regard to the subject of the verb. If
šuruppû and ḫurbāšu are the subjects (and the final –ū is the 3mp suffix on the verb), we