Reading akkadian PRayeRs & Hymns An Introduction

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READING AKKADIAN PRAYERS AND HYMNS: AN INTRODUCTION
preparations, offerings, gestures, and recitations may be observed in other
Mesopotamian rituals, especially those designated as “meal or aromatic gift offerings.”
94 Some Akkadian shuillas include elements not listed here, such as the
manipulation of materials (bricks, minerals, fabric) or the making of other gestures
(holding of objects, anointing of the client). 95
In only two extant exemplars (Nusku 7 and Ishtar 1) is it fairly clear that an
instruction specifies that a shuilla-prayer be recited in conjunction with a gesture
of hand-lifting. Nevertheless, in light of the rubric and of the practice of
scribes to dispense with noting obvious elements, it is likely that a gesture of
hand-lifting was assumed. 96
The instruction for a triple recitation of the text occurs in many cases and
was likely presumed. In the texts of the prayers, typically the address of the deity
occupies a large portion of the total prayer and is expressed with heightened
rhetorical style. 97
Concerning the rationale and purpose: By means of this ritual-prayer one
sought to establish a reciprocal relationship with the deity addressed as was
typical of asymmetrical relationships in the ancient Near East; in such relationships
the one receiving the gifts, gestures, and prayers would be to some degree
obliged to respond favorably to the petitioner. 98 While the convention of reciprocity
certainly influenced perceptions of shuilla-rituals as effective for presenting
petitions, the efficacy of Mesopotamian rituals derived primarily from their
perceived divine origin, and a favorable response to petitions included in them
could not be presumed. 99
94
See Werner Mayer and Walther Sallaberger, “Opfer. A.I. Nach schriftlicher Quellen: Mesopotamien,”
RlA 10 (2003–2005), 93–102, §7.2. Of the types of prayer included in the present
volume, this listing includes namburbis.
95
Zgoll’s discussion lists the burning of aromatics as an essential element separate from the
offering of libations and possibly foods (“Für Sinne,” 29–30). However, one well-attested, laconic
formula simply instructs either the setting up of a ritual arrangement (riksu) or a censer (nignakku).
Such an option is attested at least once in exemplars of fourteen different shuilla-prayers.
Since riksu here likely refers to an array of ritual paraphernalia including the censer, this formula
leaves open the possibility that in some cases only incense was offered. For discussion of this
instruction, see Frechette, Mesopotamian Ritual-prayers, §5.
96
For a detailed discussion of the significance of the rubric and its implications for the ritual
activity accompanying these shuilla-prayers, see ibid., §§2, 3, 5. The gesture of lifted hand(s) is
mentioned in neither Zgoll’s discussion of the function of the procedures and words in these
rituals (“Für Sinne,” 27–43) nor in her sketch of the structure and elements of these rituals
(“Audienz,” 183–87). However, her comparison of the elements of shuilla-rituals with those of
an audience with a human ruler as portrayed in The Poor Man of Nippur asserts that such a
gesture was enacted and gave the ritual its name (“Audienz,” 189–97).
97
See Zgoll, “Für Sinne,” 34–36.
98
Zgoll, “Audienz,” 197–98; See also her “Für Sinne,” 33, and Frechette, Mesopotamian Ritualprayers,
§§3, 7.
99
Claus Ambos offers the following summary of the operative worldview:
Mesopotamian techniques of ritual and divination were believed to have been transmitted
to man by the gods themselves, and they could never work against the will of
the gods nor force them to perform an action merely because it was desired by the