Reading akkadian PRayeRs & Hymns An Introduction

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READING AKKADIAN PRAYERS AND HYMNS: AN INTRODUCTION
these texts in terms of language, style, and content, they are probably the work
of ancient scholars.
Ashurbanipal’s hymn to Ashur (ABRT I 32–34) provides a good, if still incomplete
example of a hymn in SB Akkadian from the Neo-Assyrian court. 241 In
this hymn, written for the sake of Ashurbanipal (see rev. 8ʹ), Ashur’s name is
written as if it were Anshar (AN.ŠÁR), the father of Anu and the great-grandfather
of Marduk according to the Enūma eliš, thus equating Ashur with a god older
than Marduk and exalting Ashur to the head of the pantheon (see rev. 6ʹ).
The so-called syncretistic hymns laud a deity while equating various other
gods with aspects of the deity being praised. Several (incomplete) examples are
known, including a hymn containing a petition to Marduk (KAR 25 ii 3–24), 242
and hymns to Nabu (LKA 16), 243 Ninurta (KAR 102+328), 244 and Ishtar (BM
65454+). 245
Finally, some of the hymns preserved in Akkadian display acrostics, in
which the first syllable of each line combines to spell out a name, petition, or
statement of praise. A notable example is found in Ashurbanipal’s hymn to Marduk
(ABRT I 29–31+). 246 The syllables at the beginning of each line combine to
spell out anāku Aššur-bāni-apli ša ilsûka bulliṭannī-ma Maruduk (ma-ru-du-uk)
dalilīka ludlul, “I (am) Ashurbanipal, who has called out to you, O Marduk. Preserve
me that I may sing your praises!” 247
241 See Alasdair Livingstone, Court Poetry and Literary Miscellanea, no. 1 for the text (several
other hymns may be found in this volume). Foster, 817–19, Seux, 90–93, and von Soden, 254–56
provide translations.
242 See Ebeling, AGH, 14–15 for an edition and Foster, 692–93, Seux, 129–31, and von Soden,
301–2 for translations.
243 See Erich Ebeling, “Ein Loblied auf Nabû aus neuassyrischer Zeit,” WdO 1.6 (1952), 476–79,
for an edition and Foster, 702–03, Seux, 134–36, and Hecker, TUAT II/5, 770–72 for translations.
244 See Erich Ebeling, Quellen zur Kenntnis der babylonischen Religion I (Mitteilungen der
Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft 23/1; Leipzig, Heinrichs, 1918), 47–49 for an edition. Translations
may be found in Foster, 713–14, Seux, 131–33, and von Soden, 258–59.
245 See the edition in W. G. Lambert, “A Syncretistic Hymn to Ištar,” AfO 50 (2003–2004), 21–
27.
246 See Livingstone, Court Poetry and Literary Miscellanea, no. 2 for the edition and Foster, 821–
26, Seux, 115–21, and von Soden, 249–53 for translations. For acrostic prayers, see, e.g., the
double acrostic prayers to Nabu and Marduk, written by a private individual named Nabuushebshi,
in W. G. Lambert, “Literary Style in First Millennium Mesopotamia,” JAOS 88 (1968),
130–32. Translations are available in Foster, 704–05 and Seux, 264–66. R. F. G. Sweet recognized
the double acrostic, see “A Pair of Double Acrostics in Akkadian,” Or n.s. (1969), 459–60.
247 Another example may be found in the very dated edition of S. A. Strong, “A Hymn of Nebuchadnezzar,”
PSBA 20 (1898), 154–62. Foster, 849–51 and Seux, 124–28 give translations.