Ritual Contexts and Mythological Explanations of the Emesal Suilla-Prayersˇ in Ancient Mesopotamia
Ritual Contexts and Mythological Explanations of the Emesal Suilla-Prayersˇ in Ancient Mesopotamia*
Daisuke SHIBATA**
The prayers designated as ‰uilla comprise those belonging to the arts of the exorcist (±ipu), and those belonging to that of the cult-singer (kalû). In the present article I draw upon the latter prayers which were written in the Emesal-dialect of the Sumerian language and recited in processions, especially those from/to the Akµtu-house, to investigate the purpose of their recitations in rituals, and furthermore, to seek the possible mythological explanations of the recitations in Babylonian and Assyrian scholarship. Keywords: ‰uilla-prayers, cult-singers (kalû), Emesal, Akµtu-festivals,
narrative Angin (An-gin7)
I. The Emesal Suilla-prayersˇ of the kalûtu, art of the cult-singers ‰uilla, which literally means “lifted hand(s)” in Sumerian, belongs to well- known native genre names given to prayers in ancient Mesopotamia. The prayers designated as ‰uilla comprise those belonging to the ±ipπtu, the art of the ±ipu “exorcist”,1 on the one hand, and those belonging to the kalûtu, the art of the kalû “cult-singer”, on the other hand.2 The ‰uilla’s of the ±ipπtu are mostly written in Akkadian, while some of them are written in the “main dialect” (Emegi) of Sumerian, with Akkadian translations added. Those of the kalûtu, constituting this group alongside the Balag, Eremma and Era◊unga-prayers, are written in the Emesal-dialect of Sumerian, mostly with Akkadian translations added, as is the case with other prayers of the kalûtu group. The ‰uilla’s of the ±ipπtu and the kalûtu have entirely different structures and vocabularies, and were recited during separate ritual contexts. They are therefore regarded as two entirely different prayer groups by modern researchers, even though the same word was applied for designating them. In this short paper I will concentrate on those of the kalûtu – hereafter the genre name ‰uilla refers to the prayers of the kalûtu written in Emesal and those of the ±ipπtu will be referred to only with clear notice. The paper will investigate in which ritual contexts and for what purposes the ‰uilla-prayers were recited, and furthermore how the recitations of
** Assistant Professor, University of Tsukuba
Vol. XLV 2010 67 the prayers might have been regarded in mythological explanations of rituals in Babylonian and Assyrian scholarship.
II. Structure and vocabulary of the prayers Although the structure and vocabulary of the ‰uilla-prayers vary in detail from prayer to prayer, one can offer a sketch according to “family resemblance”. Almost all the ‰uilla-prayers begin with an address to a deity. The address is mostly formed in litany first, then in free style. Such address comprises the first half of the prayers. The second half comprises very often a unit composed by temporal clauses using the Sumerian pronominal conjugation and the corresponding Akkadian infinitive construction with the preposition ina, and a litany of intercession, as in the following example:
É-u-me-a4 é-gal la -l[a-za ◊]úl-l[e-e ku4-ra-zu-ta(/ne)] ana É.MIN É. GAL la-li-ka ◊a-di [ina er≥bµka] ki ma◊ ki ní dúb -bu-da-zu-ne ki kù tu- a -[zu-ta(/ne)] i-na á-ri ≠i-ri a-ri tap-u-u◊-ti-ka ub-tam e[l-le-tam ina a±bµ]-k[a] dA-nun-na ub- u-ukkin -na-ta bar-zu [◊é-en-s]ed-dè dA-nun-na- ki ina MIN-ku ka-bat-ta-ka [li-]ap-i-i◊ dìm-me-er an-na dìm -me-er ki-a a-ra-zu d[è]-ra-ab-bé DINGIR.ME‰ á AN-e DINGIR .ME‰ á KI-tim ta≠-li-tam [l]iq-bu-ú- ka
dìm-me-er gal-gal an-ki-ke4-e-ne umun ◊un-gá ◊u -mu-ra-ab-bé DINGIR.ME‰ GAL.ME‰ á AN -e u KI-tim be-lum nu- u◊ liq-bi-ka3
[When you] joyfully [enter] Eumea, the palace of your happiness, [when] you sit upon the exalted place, your resting place, in the pure dwelling, [may] the Anunna (Akk. Anunnakπ) pacify your mood in the Court of the Assembly! May the gods of heaven and the gods of earth say an appeal to you! May the great gods of heaven and earth say to you, “Lord, calm down!”
As is the case with the example quoted, the temporal clauses describe processes in which the addressed deity enters his/her temple and sits upon his/her dais. Such temporal clauses are followed by the litany of intercession to other deities and also “personified” entities such as temples, wishing to soothe the heart of the addressed deity. The expression hun-gá hu-mu-ra-ab-bé = nπ◊ liqbµka ˘˘
68 ORIENT Ritual Contexts and Mythological Explanations of the Emesal Suilla-Prayersˇ in Ancient Mesopotamia “May (DN etc.) say to you, ‘Calm down!’ ” is especially characteristic of the ‰uilla-prayers. Some prayers contain a long litany composed of this expression.4 We even know a prayer, which is composed almost solely of such a unit, namely the prayer called mu-LU é-a ku4-ra-zu-ta “Lord, when you enter the house”, which was devoted to Marduk and others.5 I quote the first lines of the prayer.
mu-LU é-a ku4-ra-zu-ta é-zu ◊un-gá ◊u-mu-ra-ab-bé be-lum ana É ina e-re-bi-ka É-ka nu-u◊ liq-bi-ka d alim-ma umun Asal-lú-◊i é-a ku4-ra-zu-ta é-zu (vacat) d kab-tu be-lum AMAR.UTU ana É ina e-re-bi-ka É-ka (vacat) d ur-sag gal umun +En-bi-lu-lu é-a ku4-ra-zu-ta é-zu (vacat) d 6 qar-ra-du ra-bu-ú be-lum MIN ana É ina e-re-bi-ka É-ka (vacat) Lord, when you enter the house, may your house say to you, “Calm down!” Honoured one, lord Asallu◊i (Akk. Marduk), when you enter the house, (may) your house (say to you, “Calm down!”) Great hero, lord Enbilulu, when you enter the house, (may) your house (say to you, “Calm down!”)
While most ‰uilla-prayers are composed with such structures and vocabularies, there are also those composed in a different manner. One encounters an entirely different structure and vocabulary especially in another prayer addressed to 7 Marduk, ur-sag úru ur4-ur4 “Hero, devastating flood”. I quote lines from the latter half of the prayer, where the prayer culminates:
mu-LU sag a-ra-an-gíd-da á-zu la-ba-ra-è á i -i-ru-ka ina i-di-ka a-a ú-≠i mu-LU sag a-ra-an-mar-ra-a ki-za nam-ba-an-tùm á i-◊i-u-ka it-ti-ka a-a it-bal ? ? é-bi úru-bi du6-du6-da-a un-bi líl-lá-a ù-ba-e-mar(var. dè -e -mar ) É-su u URU-u ana ti-li ni-i-u ana za-qí-qí te-er(var. te -er- ma? ) ? u úru-za ù-bí-gi ka-nag-gá u6 ì-e-a(var. ù [d]è-e) gi -mil-li URU-ka ter-ma ma-a-tu(var. [ma-a]-ta) li-mur
u é -za ù-bí-gi ka-nag-gá u6 dè-è-a(var. ù dè -e) gi -mil-li É-ka ter-ma ma-a-tu(var. ma-a-ta ) li-ib-ri8
The one who is angry with you should not escape from your arm! The one who confronted you should not deprive your place anything more! You should turn his house (i.e. temple) and city into ruin mounds, his people
Vol. XLV 2010 69 into ghosts! You should avenge your city, so that the land should be impressed! You should avenge your house, so that the land should be impressed!9
Similar phrases concerning vengeance are found also in a ‰uilla-prayer to Anu (TCL VI 43, rev. 15 f.), though much more briefly.10 Following the actual main text of a prayer, Neo-Assyrian manuscripts are often appended with a blessing upon the Assyrian king in the following fixed form, which refers to the king by his personal name.
d m.d A-ur4-ba-an-IBILA(/ 30-MAN-GAR-un) súb ú-a-zu ◊é-en-ti-la à-u- gíd-bi e-ga mu-un-da- an-te dMIN re-e -u za-nin-ka bul-liª su-up-pe-ú e-me su◊u gia-te na-ám-umun-e-bi zé-eb-ba mu-u-u-u un giekiri bí-in-dab-
ba u4 da-r[í-è] gi i-di GU.ZA ar-ru-ti-ú ªa-bi ur-i-di ≠er-ret ni-i li-kil ana u4-me d[a-ru(-ú)-ti] 11
May Assurbanipal(/Sîn-arru-ikun), the shepherd, your (i.e. deity addressed) provisioner, (long) live! You will consent to his supplication willingly, and graciously establish the foundation of his royal throne firmly. Then, he will hold the nose-rope of the people, for ev[er]!12
III. Ritual contexts of the recitations of the prayers Let us turn to the ritual contexts in which the ‰uilla-prayers were recited. We have not many but some texts prescribe a ‰uilla-prayer for recitation. Such prescriptions can be found either in ritual texts or supplementary notes appended to manuscripts of prayer texts. We have attestations concerning Neo-Babylonian Babylon, Neo-Assyrian Aur and Seleucid Uruk. One Neo-Babylonian manuscript of the above-mentioned prayer, mu-LU
é-a ku4-ra-zu-ta devoted to Marduk, BMisc 13 is appended with a short ritual remark.
iti d i-na BÁRA.ZÀ.GAR ina U4.11.KAM* +EN TA Á-ki-ti ana É-sag-íl ir- ru-um-ma lúGALA. MAH [ ] it-ti ◊e-pí e-i [ ] ◊e-pí e-[i ]13 ˘ (vacat) (vacat) (vacat) In the month of Nisannu, on the 11th day, B≥l (coming) from the Akµtu- house enters Esagil, then the chief cult-singer new break accompanied with new break.
70 ORIENT Ritual Contexts and Mythological Explanations of the Emesal Suilla-Prayersˇ in Ancient Mesopotamia It is clear that this remark was copied from the original on which the present manuscript was based, together with the text of the prayer, as revealed by the scribal notation ◊epi ei “new break” indicating that the latter half of the remark was already unreadable on the original tablet, when the scribe of this manuscript copied it. Most probably the latter part that the scribe could not copy referred to the recitation of the present ‰uilla-prayer.14 Altogether the remark attests that this prayer was recited in Babylon on the 11th Nisannu (I) at the return of Marduk’s cult image from the Akµtu-house north of Babylon to his temple, Esagil. As already investigated by Maul in detail, we are dealing here with a procession at the Akµtu-festival of Nisannu.15 The festival culminated in processions, accompanying the cult images of Marduk and other deities, as well as the Babylonian king himself, going from Esagil to the Akµtu-house on the 8th, and then returning to Esagil on the 11th, followed by the assembly of the gods held in the Court of the Assembly located within Esagil.16 This prayer was recited in the procession returning at the late phase when the cult image of Marduk entered Esagil, before the assembly of the gods. We have a plentiful number of attestations for the recitations of ‰uilla- prayers at calendrical festivals held in the city of Aur during the late Neo- Assyrian period. Ritual texts prescribing works of the cult-singers during the local festivals refer to ‰uilla-prayers for recitation to the city-god Aur as well as his spouse Mullissu alongside other Emesal-prayers.17 Furthermore, one ritual text instructing the works of the Assyrian king during the festivals, A. 126, makes mention of the recitation of ‰uilla-prayers.18 I will summarize such attestations in the following table:
Date Incipits of prayers Deities addressed Attestations
X ‰ab±ªu (XI)(?) nin? kur-kur-ra19 Mullissu Maul 2000, no. 1, 6’
26th ‰ab±ªu (XI) alim-ma umun Aur Maul 2000, no. 2, obv. 25’; an-ki-a20 Menzel 1981, T 47, no. 29, l. 20
26th ‰ab±ªu (XI) nin? kur-kur-ra Mullissu Maul 2000, no. 2, obv. 26’; Menzel 1981, T 47, no. 29, l. 21
18th Addaru (XII) Broken Aur(?) Maul 2000, no. 2, rev. 17
18th Addaru (XII) égi mah gasanˇ Mullissu(?) Maul 2000, no. 2, rev. 18 an-ki-a˘(?)21
11th Nisannu (I) en za-e-mèn22 Aur Maul 2000, no. 2, rev. 25
11th Nisannu (I) nin? kur-kur-ra Mullissu Maul 2000, no. 2, rev. 26
Vol. XLV 2010 71 It is noteworthy that in each case the prayer was recited in a very similar situation, as follows: the cultic image of the deity addressed returned from a procession to his/her cella, and then took a seat upon his/her dais. On this occasion, cult-singers held a reception ritual performed always in the same manner. On the above-mentioned ritual texts concerning the works of the cult- singers, the reception ritual is instructed briefly as agurru tukân é sà-abˇ hun-e- ˘ ta tazammur “You (i.e. cult-singer) set up a baked brick. You sing (the prayer) ‘House, so that the heart be calmed’ ”. The baked brick was possibly set either for the sake of an Assyrian king who will stand upon it to greet the returning deity,23 or that the Assyrian king will set up offerings for the deity upon it.24 The prayer to be sung belongs to the group of Ritual Eremma’s.25 Following this process, the above-cited ‰uilla-prayers were recited for the deities, always one prayer for one deity. In the ritual texts prescribing the works of the cult-singers, the recitation of a ‰uilla-prayer always marks the end of the section, as indicated by a ruling line drawn after the instruction to recite a ‰uilla-prayer and followed by a new section prescribing a ritual on another date. In all cases, the termini of the processions are the cellae of Aur and Mullissu in the Earra-temple. The points of departure differ, however, case by case. The procession on the 26th ‰ab±ªu came from the House of Dagan.26 That on the 11th Nisannu came from the Akµtu-house outside the city wall.27 It is unfortunately unclear where the processions on the 18th Addaru came from. The ritual text prescribing the works of the Assyrian king, A. 126, reveals that also the king performed the recitation of the ‰uilla-prayers referred to, surely under the guidance of cult-singers. It seems reasonable to assume that the Assyrian king also joined in the recitation of some of other ‰uilla-prayers in the festivals of Aur, although this is not yet testified by ritual texts. Ritual texts and manuscripts of Emesal-prayers, which most probably stem from a library kept in a storeroom within the R≥-temple of Anu in Uruk, inform us about the local Akµtu-festivals held in Nisannu (I) and Tarµtu (VII) for Anu during the Seleucid-period.28 Some of them prescribe ‰uilla-prayers for recitations. One ritual text, KAR 132, which concerns a procession from the R≥- temple to the Akµtu-house outside the city-wall held probably on the month of Nisannu,29 prescribes one ‰uilla-prayer An-gal-e “Great An” for a recitation addressing Anu at the end of the procession in a chapel of Anu within the Akµtu- house,30 apparently accompanied by a king. The exact date of the process is unfortunately not preserved on the text. Short ritual remarks noted in one manuscript of ‰uilla-prayers, TCL VI 43,31 prescribe one ‰uilla-prayer, whose text is mostly preserved on the manuscript, though its incipit is not, and another
72 ORIENT Ritual Contexts and Mythological Explanations of the Emesal Suilla-Prayersˇ in Ancient Mesopotamia prayer An-na á-gál-la “An, the capable”, for recitation on the 10th and the 11th Nisannu respectively.32 Although TCL VI 43 mentions no detailed circumstances for the recitation of the first ‰uilla-prayer, it does so for the second one on the 11th. The prayer was recited at the time when the cult image of Anu came (safely from a procession) to be placed upon its dais, most probably located within the R≥-temple. Another ritual text, TCL VI 40,33 concerning the local Akµtu-festival on the month of Tarµtu refers to one ‰uilla-prayer en nir-gál-la “Lord, majestic one” recited on the 9th day of this month.34 Although the poor condition of the tablet prevents us from knowing where the prayer was recited with certainty, one may suppose from its context that the prayer was recited again at the last phase of a procession, which brought the cult image of Anu from the Akµtu-house outside the city-wall into the R≥-temple.35 It is striking that all the ‰uilla-prayers that are attested for recitation in ritual prescriptions were recited in processions. The attestations reveal that the prayers were recited especially during the late phase of processions to the deity returning from the processions. Noteworthy is furthermore that such situations accord with those described in the temporal clauses, which are typical to the ‰uilla-prayers as mentioned above, i.e. that the deity addressed enters his/her temple and sits upon his/her dais. For instance, the prayer mu-LU é-a ku4-ra- zu-ta “Lord, when you enter the house” to Marduk was recited indeed when the cult image of this god returned from a procession entering his temple, Esagil, as seen above. It is reasonable to assume that such temporal clauses reflect the situation in which the relevant prayer was recited. In this respect, worth mentioning is one ‰uilla-prayer partially reconstructed from two Neo-Assyrian manuscripts stemming from Nineveh, K 5098+DT 243+83-1-18,691 // BM 128025.36 The prayer was devoted to the goddess Ninlil of Nippur (in K 5098+). However, in one version documented on BM 128025, which apparently derived from the remains of a library at the temple of Itar in Nineveh, Emama,37 it is devoted to Itar of Nineveh, because of the syncretistic identification of both goddesses. The prayer contains extraordinary long temporal clauses, which seem refer to an Akµtu-festival in Nippur, as well as Nineveh, describing a procession returning from an enemy country designated as kur nu-se-gaˇ d+En-líl-lá (/dMu-ul-líl-lá) = adû l± m±gir Enlil “mountain disobedient to Enlil” and heading for the Akµtu-house apparently built within/near the Ekur-temple (in the case of Nippur) and Emama-temple 38 gisˇ (in the case of Nineveh), and then a feast held in the botanical garden ( kiri6- mah).39 Such a description especially reminds us of an Akµtu-festival of Itar in ˘ Nineveh, which obviously culminated in a triumphal procession.40 Although
Vol. XLV 2010 73 there is no ritual text attesting the recitation of this ‰uilla-prayer, we may assume the prayer was recited during the late phase of the Akµtu procession in Nineveh as well as Nippur. To sum up, the evidence available so far reveals that the ‰uilla-prayers were recited in processions, especially those from and to an Akµtu-house, addressing a deity, for whose sake the procession concerned was carried out. It became also clear that the prayers were recited very often during the late phase of these processions to the returning deity, although it is not excluded that some prayers might have been recited during another phase in the processions, such as the beginning, as discussed below. Apparently ‰uilla-prayers were performed sometimes (if not often) in the royal presence, which is also suggested by the formal blessing upon the Assyrian king appended in Neo-Assyrian manuscripts. As was the case in Aur, the king himself might have taken part in a recitation. Recitations of the ‰uilla-prayers may have been followed by the assembly of the gods, as was the case in Babylon. Suggestions for the assembly of the gods can also be found in the words of the prayers.41
IV. Basic function of the Suilla-prayersˇ For what purpose were the ‰uilla-prayers recited in such circumstances? I would propose that the prayers were recited in the first place to greet a deity, especially the deity who came back from a procession. Alongside the ritual contexts summarized above, there are some further persuasive arguments for this proposal as follows. The first argument is the above-mentioned unit composed of temporal clauses describing the move of the addressed deity and the litany of intercession to other deities as well as “personified” entities such as the temple. Such a unit can also be found in the Sumerian Kiutu-prayers recited by exorcists to the sun god Utu-‰ama. As pointed out elsewhere, the exorcists recited the Kiutu- prayers bearing this unit either in order to welcome the sun god at sunrise or to bid farewell to him at sunset.42 The unit can be regarded as a greeting formula to welcome a deity and to bid farewell to a deity, that may be designated as the “greeting-unit”. Most probably this lengthy expression originated in real court greetings, with which a subject addressed his superior to welcome him and to bid farewell to him. In this respect, it seems also reasonable to suppose that some ‰uilla-prayers were recited rather at the beginning of a procession to bid farewell to a deity, who was proceeding to a procession, although we have no clear evidence for this on any ritual prescriptions. The second argument is the gesture of hand-lifting, which the genre-name
74 ORIENT Ritual Contexts and Mythological Explanations of the Emesal Suilla-Prayersˇ in Ancient Mesopotamia ‰uilla certainly derived from. Although the gesture well-attested in iconographies tends to be explained as a gesture of praying in archaeological literature,43 we conceptualize it better as a gesture of greeting, for the gesture is attested not only for persons facing a deity and a ruler but also a deity facing a person as well as a ruler facing a liegeman, as pointed out by Frechette.44 The gesture of the hand-lifting was certainly exchanged between (divine and human) superior and subject as a sort of greeting. As the third argument one can refer to the ‰uilla-prayers of the ±ipπtu. Although the ‰uilla-prayers of the ±ipπtu contain entirely different words and were recited during distinct contexts from those of the kalûtu altogether, the ‰uilla-prayers of the ±ipπtu functioned in the first place also as a greeting to a deity, as already suggested by Maul, Zgoll and Frechette.45 To the enigma why two totally different types of prayers were designated by the very same name ‰uilla, I would propose a solution: both types of prayers were regarded as some sort of greeting-prayers.
V. The Suilla-prayersˇ in the mythological explanations of rituals in the Babylonian and Assyrian scholarship It is well known among Assyriologists that rituals became objects of elaborated exegeses in the Babylonian and Assyrian scholarship, at least in the first millennium. Texts such as cultic commentaries reveal that processes of the rituals, as well as entities, animate and inanimate, which took part in the rituals, were invested with meanings relating especially to mythology.46 Lastly I would like to ask how the recitation of the ‰uilla-prayers might have been regarded in such scholarly discourse of the ritual exegeses. Although no clear evidence answering this question, such as a commentary referring to recitation of a ‰uilla- prayer, has been found, one can offer a hypothesis based on circumstantial evidence. Since the problem is, however, too complicated to wrestle with based on scarce evidence, I would like to concentrate first on the case of the prayer th mu-LU é-a ku4-ra-zu-ta of Marduk, which was recited on the 11 Nisannu in the procession from the Akµtu-house to Esagil, as mentioned above. The Akµtu-festival of Nisannu in Babylon, which savoured the centre of attention of the Babylonian and Assyrian scholars, has attracted also a lot of attention from modern Assyriologists.47 As pointed out by the previous studies, especially those of Lambert,48 the events of 8th-11th Nisannu were explained as mirroring the narrative of Enπma eli: the procession heading for the Akµtu- house was Marduk’s campaign against monstrous Tiamat; the rituals held within the Akµtu-house were Marduk’s fight and victory over Tiamat; the procession
Vol. XLV 2010 75 returning was Marduk’s triumph followed by the assembly of the gods in Esagil, where kingship was granted to Marduk and also the Babylonian king. Following this mythological explanation of the ritual, the ‰uilla-prayer mu-LU é-a ku4-ra- zu-ta appears to have been recited at the end of Marduk’s triumph just before the assembly of the gods. It is, however, baffling that the ‰uilla-prayer emphasizes clearly calming down the heart of Marduk. The prayer, which repeats the phrase “calm down!” (hun-gá) in the litany of intercession as mentioned above, culminates in the following phrase:
mu-LU ilig-ga É-kur-ra ti-la bar-zu an-na-ke4 ◊é-ri-íb-sed-dè be-lum á-ga-pu-ru á ina É-kur á-bu ka-bat-ti da-nu-ti-ka li-nu-u◊ e-er-ma-al dìm-me-er-e-ne za-e-me-en dìm-me-er an-ki-a e-tel-li DINGIR.ME‰ at-ta DINGIR.ME‰ á AN-e u KI-tim úr-ra-zu ◊u-mu-un-◊un-e-ne uz-za-ka li-né-e◊-◊u49
Mighty lord living in Ekur, may your heavenly mood (Akk. the mood of your skygodship) be pacified! You are the prince of the gods! May the gods of heaven and earth calm down your rage!
Why must Marduk be calmed down at the triumphal return from his glorious victory over the archenemy? The narrative of Enπma eli has no counterpart motif to such recitation of the prayer. However, we do find it in the Sumerian narrative compositions of Ninurta, Lugale and Angin.50 Even though the protagonist of the compositions is not Marduk but Ninurta, and the compositions concern the theology of Nippur, not Babylon, it seems justified to compare the compositions with the festival of Marduk in Babylon. As suggested by Lambert, Enπma eli inherited innumerable motifs from those compositions of Ninurta’s mythology, and the Marduk theology of Babylon owed much to the Ninurta theology of Nippur.51 Furthermore, both Sumerian compositions were, exceptionally as Sumerian narrative compositions, taken over in the first millennium and still kept offering important materials for theology, as suggested by Maul.52 There is no doubt that the Babylonian scholars were well informed on both Sumerian narratives of Ninurta. The following episode in Angin especially attracts our attention: after his victory Ninurta returned to his hometown, Nippur. However, being in a fighting mood through his battle, he still remained so furious after the victory that he
76 ORIENT Ritual Contexts and Mythological Explanations of the Emesal Suilla-Prayersˇ in Ancient Mesopotamia even devastated his own country without discrimination, and that terrified his colleague deities.53 In order for him to stop his vandalism and furthermore, to agree to the grant of a kingship to a human king, he must be calmed down. Therefore Ninkarnunna, a liege god of Ninurta, implored Ninurta for this, in terms of a prayer including the above-discussed greeting-unit.
d lugal-mu uru k[i-ág-g]á-zu-è à-zu ◊é-en-◊un-ge26 en Nin-urta-ke4 úru ki- ki ág(-gá)-zu-è á-zu ◊é-en-◊un-ge26 è Nibru -ke4 uru(2) ki-ág(-gá)-z[u-è à-zu ◊é-en-◊un-ge26] É-u-me-a4 ki-tu à dùg-ga-zu asilal ku4-ku4-da- z[u-n]e nitadam-zu ki-sikil dNin-Nibru[ki] à-ga -zu mu-un-na-ab-bé bar-
ra-zu mu-un-n[a-ab-bé] inim dùg lugal u4 sud-da-è mu-un-na-a[b-bé] b≥lum ina ±l[µka a] tarammu libbaka linπ◊ b≥lum Ninurta ina ±lµka a tarammu libbaka linπ◊ ina bµt Nippuri ±lµka a tara[mmu libbaka linπ◊] ana Eumea ubat ªπb libbµka ina rµ±ti ina er[≥bµka] [ana] ◊µrtµka ardati [‰arrat-Nippuri(?)] a libbµka qibµi a kabattµka qib[µi] am±ta ª±bta a arri ana rπq≥ti qib[µi]54
My king, may your heart be calmed down for your beloved city! Lord Ninurta, may your heart be calmed down for your beloved city! May your heart be calmed down for the temple of Nippur, your beloved city! When you joyfully enter Eumea, your pleasant dwelling, open (“say”) your heart to your spouse, the girl, Nin-Nibru (akk. [‰arrat-Nippuri]?)! Open (“say”) your mood to her! Declare a favourable word for a king to her, for eternity!55
Thus, in the narrative of Angin, Ninkarnunna devoted a prayer, whose words parallel the ‰uilla-prayers, in order to calm down the fighting mood of Ninurta and let him agree with the grant of kingship to human king. The prayer did not miss the target.56 The narrative of Lugale contains comparable motifs too, though rather briefly.57 This motif, namely that of the fighting mood of Ninurta persisting after his victory, is found also in a cultic commentary to the Akµtu- festival of Ninurta held in Nippur in the month of Ayyaru (II), OECT XI 69+70.58 The commentary refers to Ninurta, who returned “furiously” (aggi; ina ez≥zµu) to his temple, Eumea, during processions on the 15th and 19th Ayyaru. 59 The narrative context suggests that Marduk was also regarded as being in a fighting mood after his battle with Tiamat during his procession returning in Babylon, even if no cultic commentary proving this has been found so far. If Marduk would have kept this furious fighting mood even after the procession to
Vol. XLV 2010 77 Esagil, all the following programmes, especially the assembly of the gods, would have been affected, and most importantly the Babylonian king could not have been granted kingship. Coping with this difficulty, one needed to calm down the fighting mood of Marduk and let cult-singers (and possibly also the
Babylonian king himself) recite the prayer mu-LU é-a ku4-ra-zu-ta as an effective measure. The appeasing of the fighting mood of the deity at the triumphal return using a ‰uilla-prayer was most probably not peculiar only to the examined case of mu-LU é-a ku4-ra-zu-ta in Babylon, but was rather shared in festivals for deities in other cities, if not all other festivals. As pointed out above, the cultic commentary, OECT XI 69+70, reveals that Ninurta was explained clearly as being in a fighting mood during the processions returning to his temple Eumea, which were held in the course of his Akµtu-festival. It is certainly reasonable to assume that other ‰uilla-prayers of Ninurta, which are known from manuscripts and a catalogue,60 were recited on these occasions to calm down his fighting mood, just as the prayer by Ninkarnunna was in Angin, even though no ritual text prescribing a ‰uilla-prayer for recitation on such an occasion has been found so far. As for the prayer to Ninlil/Itar of Nineveh mentioned above, which seems to have been recited during the procession of the Akµtu-festival in Nippur and Nineveh, the procession in the latter city was explained as a triumphal return, as pointed out by researchers.61 I wonder if the prayer might have been recited to calm down the fighting mood of this warlike goddess, Itar of Nineveh, on this occasion.62 Therefore, it seems possible to assume that some (or many?) ‰uilla-prayers were explained in the Babylonian and Assyrian scholarship as a measure to calm down the fighting mood of the addressed deity. However, it is very unlikely that all ‰uilla-prayers were explained in the same manner in Babylonian and Assyrian scholarship. As pointed out above, some ‰uilla-prayers contain words imploring vengeance and appeal to the addressed deity to annihilate his enemies instead. Those prayers could not have logically been a measure to calm down the fighting mood. Rather they appear to have been a measure to inflame the fighting mood. As mentioned above, the genre of the Kiutu-prayers, whose structure and vocabularies are similar to those of the ‰uilla-prayers, comprises not only those welcoming the sun god, but also those bidding farewell to the sun god. It would be no wonder if the genre of the ‰uilla-prayers, whose basic function was certainly greeting, were to contain not only the prayers to welcome a deity, calming down his/her fighting mood, but also those to “bid farewell” to a deity inflaming his/her fighting mood. In this respect, one inclines to suppose that the above mentioned prayer ur-sag úru
78 ORIENT Ritual Contexts and Mythological Explanations of the Emesal Suilla-Prayersˇ in Ancient Mesopotamia ur4-ur4 addressed to Marduk, which comprises the long plea for vengeance, might have been recited in the procession on the 8th Nisannu in Babylon, when Marduk marched to battle with Tiamat, in order to inflame his fighting mood, although this has not yet been proved by a clear attestation.63
VI. Conclusion The Emesal ‰uilla-prayers of the kalûtu group were recited mostly in processions and can be characterized as greeting-prayers, as is the case of the ‰uilla-prayers of the ±ipπtu group. Furthermore the recitations of some prayers appear to have been regarded in mythological explanation by Babylonian and Assyrian scholars as a measure to calm down the fighting mood of the deity returning from battle. One can also speculate that other prayers might have been regarded as a measure to inflame the fighting mood for battle.
Notes * The present paper is a revised and expanded version of the paper I read at a workshop organized by A. Tsukimoto during the 19th World Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions in Tokyo in March 2005. My sincere gratitude goes to S. M. Maul and U. Gabbay, who read a draft of the paper and gave me numerous useful comments. I am also grateful to G. Cunnigham for English correction. This study was financially supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Sciences, Sports and Culture (Japan). 1 No modern comprehensive critical edition of the prayer texts has been published since Ebeling 1953, which is, however, entirely obsolete. The structure and the vocabulary of the Akkadian ‰uilla-prayers of the ±ipπtu are studied exhaustively in Mayer 1976. Zgoll 2003B edits and studies those devoted to Itar. Further studies and editions of the prayers are listed at Zgoll 2003B. My translation “exorcist” is merely conventional. 2 All identified Emesal ‰uilla-prayers are edited and studied in my dissertation submitted at the University of Heidelberg (2005), which is to be published as a monographic volume in the forthcoming series Heidelberger Emesal Studien edited by S. M. Maul. On the cult-singers see most recently Gabbay 2008. A comprehensive study on the works of the cult-singers is now being prepared by U. Gabbay. My translation “cult-singer” is merely conventional. 3 SBH 74+CTMMA II 15, rev. 2’-11’ (ed. Maul 2005, 102-108). The entire text will be re-edited in my forthcoming monograph of the Emesal ‰uilla-prayers. 4 E.g. K 2861+, rev. 25-36 // K 5162, 1’-9’ (ed. Sjöberg 1960, 169); 80-7-19,121, obv. 1’-16’; K 5325+K 10598(+)K 9445, 6’-13’; K 3259, rev. 3-11. New editions and hand-copies of the texts will be offered in my forthcoming monograph of the Emesal ‰uilla-prayers. 5 Ed. Maul 1998B, 160-176. Alongside the version devoted to Marduk, there are those devoted to Enlil, Aur and Nabû. A new edition and hand-copies of the text, including newly identified manuscripts, will be offered in my forthcoming monograph of the Emesal ‰uilla-prayers. 6 BMisc 13, obv. 1-6 and duplicates (ed. Maul 1998B, 161). 7 BM 59569 // BM 34813+BM 35731 // KAR 310 (= 337a) (ed. Cooper 1988). A new edition of the text, which is based on collation of all manuscripts, will be published together with hand- copies of the manuscripts in my forthcoming monograph of ‰uilla-prayers. 8 BM 59569, rev. 9’-18’ // BM 34813+, rev. 1’-8’ (ed. Cooper 1988, 87, ll. 5’-9’). 9 The Akkadian translation differs slightly as follows: “The one who confronted you should not escape your arm. The one who dashed against you should not deprive you of anything. Turn his
Vol. XLV 2010 79 house (i.e. temple) and city into ruin mounds, his people into ghosts! Avenge your city, so that the land should look at (it)! Avenge your house, so that the land should behold (it)!” 10 Comparable motifs of vengeance are found also in other genres of the Emesal-prayers, especially those of Ninurta, See Gabbay 2007, 29 f., chapter II.1.5 and 40 f., chapter II.2.4, and Maul 1991. 11 IVR2 18, no. 2, rev. 11’-14’ and duplicates (ed. Maul 1998B, 169 f., ll. 37 f.). 12 The Akkadian translation differs slightly as follows: “Keep Assurbanipal, the shepherd, your provisioner, alive! Consent to his supplication willingly! Establish the foundations of his royal throne firmly! May he hold the nose-rope of people for [ever]!” On the interpretation of the word gisˇeskiriˇ = ≠erretu, I profited from a discussion with K. Maekawa. 13 BMisc 13, rev. 35-39 (ed. Maul 1998B, 170). 14 Cf. a comparable remark to a ritual in a manuscript of a ‰uilla-prayer to Anu, TCL VI 43, rev. 19 f. 15 Maul 1998B, 176-182. A number of ritual texts prescribing the Akµtu-festival of Nisannu in Babylon, its cultic commentaries, and various other sources referring to the festival have been published and studied. Most detailed texts documented in the Seleucid period are published by Thureau-Dangin (1921, 127-154), which are re-edited in Linssen 2004, 215-237. See further texts: George 2000, 260-270; idem 2006; Köcher 1952 (on the text see George 2000, 262 f., footnote 17); Lambert 1954-56, 315, F 4; idem 1997; Pongratz-Leisten 1994, 228-246 and Sallaberger 2000. For the festival see furthermore Black 1981; George 1992, 286-291; idem 1996; Lambert 1963; Linssen, op. cit., 78-86, and Zgoll 2006. 16 On the events see the literature cited above in the note 15, especially George 1992, 286-291 and idem 1996, 370-375. 17 The rituals were published and carefully studied by Maul (2000). 18 Ed. Menzel 1981, T 47, no. 29, ll. 20 f. 19 The incipit of the same prayer can be restored in the Nineveh-catalogue of Emesal-prayers, IVR2 53+ iv 14. Manuscripts of the prayer cannot yet be identified with certainty, though it seems possible that a ‰uilla-prayer to Ninlil (and Itar of Nineveh) written on K 5098+DT 243+83-1-18,691 // BM 128025 belongs to this prayer. 20 The incipit of the prayer is mentioned in the catalogue IVR2 53+ iii 45 as addressed to Enlil. Four manuscripts of the prayer have been identified: OECT XI 16(+)17 // BM 62922 // K 4898+K 4979(+)K 10261 // VAT 14127(+)Ass. A 4197 (1st tablet on the 1st row)(+)Ass. A 4241(1st tablet on the 1st row). An edition and hand-copies of the text will be offered in my forthcoming monograph of the Emesal ‰uilla-prayers. 21 Two identical incipits of ‰uilla-prayers are mentioned in the catalogue IVR2 53+, iv 20 and 27, both addressed to Inanna-Itar. No manuscript of the prayer has been identified. 22 The incipit of the prayer is mentioned in the catalogue IVR2 53+ iii 46 as addressed to Enlil. Two manuscripts of the prayer have been identified: K 13544 // K 4659(+)K 17600. An edition and hand-copies of the text will be offered in my forthcoming monograph of the Emesal ‰uilla- prayers. 23 Suggested by Seidl (2001). She refers to one relief stemming from the city of Aur, which represents a king greeting a deity upon a baked brick. I am grateful to U. Gabbay for turning my attention to this article. 24 See Maul 2000, 396. See also Gabbay 2007, 124, footnote 498. 25 Unfortunately no manuscript of the prayer has been identified so far, even though the prayer is referred to in catalogues as well as some further ritual texts. See Gabbay 2007, 406, chapter VII.10. Cf. also ibid., 89 with footnote 282, 123 f. with footnotes 490 and 497, and 133 with footnote 590. On the interpretation of the meaning of this incipit see ibid., 416 f. On the prayer genre of the Ritual Eremma (Eremma kidudê) see ibid., 6-8, chapter I.2.2. and 12, chapter I.3.3. All identified Ritual Eremma’s are edited in ibid. 379-479, chapter VII. 26 On the rituals concerning the House of Dagan see Maul 2000, 394-397. 27 On the Akµtu-house of Aur see Frahm 1997, esp. 173-177, 222-224 and 285-287; George
80 ORIENT Ritual Contexts and Mythological Explanations of the Emesal Suilla-Prayersˇ in Ancient Mesopotamia
1993; Maul 2000, 400 f.; Miglus 1993. The Akµtu-house of Aur is carefully studied in detail in an unpublished MA thesis (Magisterarbeit) of W. Meinhold (2000) submitted at the University of Heidelberg. 28 On the festivals see Thureau-Dangin 1921, 86-111; Pongratz-Leisten 1994, 42 f. and Linssen 2004, 72-78 and 184-214. Editions of the tablets stemming from this Seleucid library of the R≥-temple are now being prepared as part of a project on Geography and Knowledge in Assyria and Babylonia, led by E. Robson and S. Tinney. See http://cdl.museum.upenn.edu/gkab. 29 Although the tablet was published in KAR, it did not stem from Assur but Uruk, most probably from the same locus as those published in TCL VI and others. The most recent edition is Linssen 2004, 201-208. On the Seleucid Akµtu-house of Uruk see Miglus 1993. 30 KAR 132, iv 23 (ed. Linssen 2004, 203). No manuscript of this prayer has been identified so far. 31 Ed. Linssen 2004, 197-200. A new edition of the text, which is based on collation, will be given in my forthcoming monograph of the Emesal ‰uilla-prayer. 32 TCL VI 43, rev. 17-20 (ed. Linssen 2004, 198). 33 Ed. Linssen 2004, 184-196. 34 TCL VI 40, obv. 4’ f. (ed. Linssen 2004, 185). No manuscript of this prayer has been identified so far. 35 Just following the recitation of the ‰uilla-prayer, the cult image of Anu entered the R≥-temple through its main gate (“exalted gate”) and then took seat upon the dais, “the Dais of the Destiny” (TCL IV 40, obv. 9; ed. Linssen 2004, 186). Cf. Linssen, ibid., p. 75. 36 The text will be published with an edition and hand-copies in my forthcoming monograph of the Emesal ‰uilla-prayers. 37 On the rest of a library of Emama see Read 1986, 217 f. 38 On the Akµtu-house in Nineveh see Frahm 2000. 39 K 5098+, rev. 5-16 // BM 128025, obv. 11’-14’, rev. 1-7. 40 On the Akµtu-festival of Itar of Nineveh see George 1996, 375-377; Da Riva and Frahm 1999- 2000, 169-182; Frahm 2000; Pongratz-Leisten 1994, 79-83; Weissert 1997 with evidence for the festival as well as further studies referred to there. 41 E.g. the above quoted line, SBH 74+CTMMA II 15, rev. 6’ f. 42 See Shibata 2008, 191-195, and texts and studies referred to there. 43 E.g. Falkner 1957-71. 44 Frechette 2008, esp. 44-47. However, we must be aware that it would not be appropriate if we would project modern concepts such as “praying”, “greeting” and “blessing” in ancient Mesopotamia naïvely. Such concepts were rather not distinct clearly from each other in Mesopotamian native category, as pointed out by Landsberger in 1928. I prefer to designate the gesture of hand-lifting as a gesture of greeting only because it is a better analytical concept, which offers us more accurate understanding. 45 Maul 1994, 67-71, esp. 68; Zgoll 2003A and Frechette 2008. 46 See George 2006; Lambert 1998; Livingstone 1986, Part Two, and the contribution of Frahm in the present volume. 47 See publications referred to above in the note 15. 48 See Black 1981, 50; Frahm 1997, 222-224; George 1992, 268 f. and 286-291; idem 1993; idem 1996, 375-377 with footnote 32; Lambert 1968; Livingstone 1986, 156-158; Maul 1998B, 176- 182. 49 BMisc, rev. 13-18 and duplicates (ed. Maul 1998B, 166 f., ll. 29 f.). 50 Lugale is edited in van Dijk 1983 and ETCSL 1.6.2. Cf. also Seminara 2001 and the translation in Black et al. 2004, 163-180. Angin is edited Cooper 1978 and ETCSL 1.6.1. See also the translation in Black et al. 2004, 181-186. 51 Lambert 1986. 52 Maul 1991 and 1999. See also Seminara 2001. 53 Cooper 1978, 68-93, ll. 75-176, esp. ll. 75-77; ETCSL 1.6.1, ll.76-174, esp. ll. 76-78. 54 Cooper 1978, 94-97, ll. 182-188; ETCSL 1.6.1, ll. 180-186. The Sumerian text is of the later
Vol. XLV 2010 81 version (following after Cooper, op. cit.). That of the Old Babylonian version is omitted here. 55 This sentence in the Sumerian text of the first millennium version literally means: “You will say that which is in your heart to her. You [will say] that which is in your mood to he[r]. You [will say] a good word for a king to her for eternity”. 56 Cooper 1978, 96-99, ll. 189-200; ETCSL 1.6.1., ll. 187-198. 57 van Dijk 1983, pp. 172 f., ll. 679-683; ETCSL 1.6.2., ll. 676-680. 58 On the cultic commentary see George 1990, 157-159. Cf. also Sallaberger 1993, 121 f. and Annus 2002, 61-71, esp. 63-65. 59 OECT XI 69+70, col. i 19’ and 23’ f. 60 Incipits of the ‰uilla-prayers to Ninurta can be restored in the catalogue IVR2 53+, at least on the lines, iv 1-6. Alongside SBH 74+CTMMA II 15, CTN IV 173 is identified as a manuscript of a ‰uilla-prayer to Ninurta. 61 See literature referred to above in the note 40. 62 On the other hand, one must be astonished that Ninlil, who had no warlike character, needed to be calmed down. 63 The possibility that the prayer was recited on the 8th Nisannu has already been pointed out by Maul (1998B, 178, footnote 70). The mythological motif inflaming the fighting mood of a deity is attested in Erra Tablet I 46-91 (ed. Cagni 1969, 62-67; suggestion of E. Frahm and P. Machinist) and also Lugale (van Dijk 1983, 44-49, ll. 48-69; ETCSL 1.6.2., ll. 48-69).
Abbreviations BMisc = Weissbach 1903; CTMMA II = Spar and Lambert 2005; CTN IV = Wiseman and Black 1996; ETCSL = Black et. al. 2003-06; KAR = Ebeling 1919-23; OECT XI = Gurney 1989; SBH = Reisner 1896; TCL VI = Thureau-Dangin 1922; IVR2 = Rawlinson and Pinches 1891.
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