Reading akkadian PRayeRs & Hymns An Introduction

INTRODUCTION
THE USE OF AKKADIAN PRAYERS IN THE STUDY OF THE HEBREW BIBLE:
Anna Elise Zernecke
Scholars of the Hebrew Bible have compared Akkadian prayers and hymns
to the biblical text since the late nineteenth century, when publications and
translations of the Akkadian texts first appeared. Unfortunately, the interest in
these texts was much greater at the beginning of the twentieth century than it is
today. The following pages outline the use of Akkadian prayers in the history of
biblical scholarship, assess the strengths and weaknesses of the various approaches
employed, and conclude by offering some prospects for future comparative
work. 248
The first editions and translations of prayers of the lifting of the hand were
published in 1896 by King. The title of King’s book, Babylonian Magic and Sorcery.
Being ‘The Prayers of the Lifting of the Hand’, already indicates that he was
not sure whether the texts were to be classified as religious or magical. 249 This
insecurity is also clear in the introduction where he characterizes these texts as
“a complete group of tablets inscribed with prayers and religious compositions
of a devotional and somewhat magical character.” 250 The qualification of their
character as magical or religious has also influenced the interest of biblical
scholars in these texts, so that decisions in favor of one of these categories or the
other often gave direction to the Akkadian texts’ reception and interpretation.
The transmission of the texts as part of a ritual was deemed very important in
this regard, though the ritual instructions were often not included in Assyriological
editions.
Shortly after the first editions appeared, anthologies of translated texts aiming
at a wider public made the Akkadian prayers more easily accessible. 251 Biblical
scholars at this time began using the Akkadian prayers as parallels to biblical
prayers, especially the Psalms. The “religionsgeschichtliche Schule” had just
started to establish itself. Therefore, it is not surprising that the first monograph
that compares biblical Psalms with Akkadian prayers, the Habilitation of Stummer,
written in Würzburg in 1917, used its form-critical methodology. 252 Along
with his innovative method, Stummer also pursued another question that has
often been asked since the Akkadian prayers had been discovered: Is there a
248 This section traces the history of discussion mainly of prayers of lament.
249 Leonard W. King, ed. Babylonian Magic and Sorcery. Being ‘The Prayers of the Lifting of the
Hand’. The Cuneiform Texts of a Group of Babylonian and Assyrian Incantations and Magical Formulae
Edited with Transliterations and Full Vocabulary from Tablets of the Kuyunjik Collections Preserved
in the British Museum (London: Luzac, 1896), abbreviated King, BMS in this volume.
250 King, BMS, XV.
251 For German speaking countries, see Heinrich Zimmern, Babylonische Hymnen und Gebete (AO
7,3; Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1905). Second volume: Babylonische Hymnen und Gebete. Zweite Auswahl
(AO 13,1; Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1911). Arthur Ungnad, Die Religion der Babylonier und Assyrer
(Religiöse Stimmen der Völker 3; Jena: Diederichs, 1921).
252 Friedrich Stummer, Sumerisch-akkadische Parallelen zum Aufbau alttestamentlicher Psalmen
(Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur des Altertums 11/1 & 2; Paderborn: Schöningh, 1922).
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