Babylonian Tablets, &C
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CUNEIFORM TEXTS FROM BABYLONIAN TABLETS, &C., IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM. DIRECTOR'S LIBRARY ORIENTAL INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PART XVI. (50 Plates.) SECOND IMPRINT, PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES. SOLD AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM; AND AT LONGMANS Sr Co., 39, PATERNOSTER ROW; BERNARD QUARITCH, 11, GRAFTON STREET, NEW BOND STREET, W. ; ASHER Sr Co., 14, BEDFORD STREET, COVENT GARDEN; AND HENRY FROWDE, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, AMEN CORNER, LONDON. 191I. [ALL RIGHTS RESER ~2Zh.l Part XVI. of " Cuneiform Texts from Ehbylonian Tablets, etc.," contains texts from one hundred and thirty-eight clay tablets and fragments of the Kouyunjik and other collections. The greater number or' these texts contain incantations and exorcisms, spells and formulae of conjuration, and invocations to various supernatural powers, which belong to the famous magical series that bore the name UTUICICI LIMN~TI,i.e., " The Evil Spirits," among the Babylonians and Assyrians. This Series originally consisted of sixteen " Tablets," which were con~posedwith the object of averting the attacks of demons, devils, ghosts, vampires, ghouls, hobgoblins, and all the kindred spirits and powers of evil which were believed to lie in wait for man both by day and by night. These incantations were originally written in Sumerian, i.e., the non-Semitic language of Babylonia, and are of Sumerian origin ; they were translated into Assyrian probably under the Second Assyrian Empire, about B.C. 650. At this period we find that the non-Semitic (Sumerian) originals were written with the interlinear Semitic (Assyrian) translation. Attention was first called to this important series of texts by the late Genera1 Sir H. C. Rawlinson, Bart., G.C.B., who, in the fourth volume of the " Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia," published the Fifth and Sixteenth Tablets in as complete a form as was then possible ; in the same volume he also printed a considerable number of fragments belonging to various Tablets of the Series, which it was impossible at that time to identify. Subsequent examinations of the Kouyunjik and other collections in the British Museum by Mr. L. W. King and Mr. R. C. Thompson have resulted in the identification and " rejoining" of scores of fragments, and thus we now possess at least one-half the Series UTUICICILIMNOTI in a tolerably perfect state. The greater part of the material given in the present Part is published for the first time, and this edition of the Fifth and Sixteenth Tablets is the most complete that has hitherto appeared. The texts of the Series have, as far as possible, been arranged in the order indicated by the Colophons; but in cases where the Colophons are wanting the texts have been indicated by the letters " A" to " J " (see Plates 24-41). On Plates 41-49 will be found the text of an incantation which belongs to a similar Series, and of which a portion has been already published in the " Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia," Vol. IV., plate I In recent years this text has excited a considerable amount of general interest, chiefly because it has been supposed by some to contain a description of the Biblical Garden of Eden : but the discovery of a large completing fragment in the past year proves beyond all doubt that the place in the city of Eridu, where grew the plant or tree Kiikartd, around which the incantation centres, is in no way connected with any locality mentioned in the narrative of the Fall of Man. The plant RiiRand, by reason of its traditional association with certain Sumerian gods, possessed physical properties which were believed to be efficacious in ridding a man of the evil incubus which had assailed him, provided that the suppliant was equipped with the knowledge of the necessary Words of Power. The concluding portion of the incantation, with the new fragment now published for the first time, shows that the text is one of a series of ordinary exorcisms ; and there are no grounds for asserting that it contains any reference to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, or to the traditional Paradise of the Hebrews. The copies have been made by Mr. R. Campbell Thornpson, M.A., Assistant in the Department. E. A. WALLIS BUDGE. INDEX TO REGISTRATION NUMBERS. Registration Registration Registration No. of Tablet . Plate . No . of Tablet . Plate. No . of Tablet . Plate . K . 4871 ... ... 3 5 K . 5164+K . 4661 . K . 4886 ... ... 42 K . 5166+K . 2578 . K . 4887+K . 4857 . K . 5178+K . 3235 . K . 4892 ... ... K . 5179 ... S.. 39 K . 4904 ... ... K . 5183 ... ... 42 K . 4905 ... ... K . 522o+K . 5156. K . 4911 ... ... K . 5238 ... ... 19 K . 49384-K . 4892 . K . 4943 .. ... K S 4947 ... ... K- 4955-w . 4911 K . 4959+K 3235 K . 4965 ... ... K . 4970 ... ... K . 4971+K . 2337 K . 5005 ... ... K . 5009 ... ... K . 5020 ... ... K . 5060+ K . 5009 . K . 5079 ... ... K . 5082 ... ... K . 5086+K . 4661. K . 5096 ... ... K . 5100 ... ... K . 5120 ... .... K . 5123 ... ... K . 5 I 29$ K . 5020. K . 513o+K . 4632 . K . 5133 ... ... I K . 5143 ... ... K . 5150 ... ... K . 5156 ... ... vi INDEX TO REGISTRATION NUMBERS. Registration Registration Registration No. of Tablet. Plate. No. of Tablet. Plate. No. of Tablet. Plate. K, 120001< ... I2 D.T. 271 ... ... I No. 35611... ... I K. I2000N ... I2 D.T. 287+K. 4632. No. 36690 ... 19, 42 K. 12000BB ... 42 No. 38447 ... ... 40 K. 1203o+K. 5079. Rm. 269+ K. 4955. No. 38594 ... ... I K. 1204o+K. 8475. Rw. 314 ... ..* 3 7 No. 38798 ... ... 12 K. 12921 ... ... 41 Rm. 541 ... S.. I No. 45539.a. ... I2 K. 13311+K.4863. No. 45744... ... 50 K. 13536 ... ... 12 No. 46296 ... ... 12 M. 13547+K. 5096. No. 46374+46296. K. 14219 ... -.. 4 I No. 46408+46296. No. 47736 ... ... 18 NO. 33712 ... ... I9 No. 52456 ... ... 40 No. 34106 ... ... I9 No. 55473.m. ... 2 4 No. 35056 ... ... 27 No. 55479.a. ... 42 No. 35191 +35056. No. 55548-k 55479. No. 35 193+ 35056. No. 55608 ... ... 4 3 SERIES ,TABLET 3. PLATE 1. PLATE 2. PLATE 3. K 8262 kas Me JoZeuy okds f Wes (10" ) B' m (10, )@XPP: P[6PP (101m HF (l03 )@M (104)M ( !OS)= m. (106) v& pm (/ot)f-. 46od &X(?) &OS oa.di*g PLATE 4. ISO. PLATE S. :I:::. :. ' F-&=* *w.g m m* :~~::);;;~;j:::~::~.;'~::j;;~;~;s;~~i;.,~,;::~~~~:;,~,'<., . .\ 'W.* .-W W m. '.--: ......... .:..,, ;; ....... '..:,.,".': ..... m6i;;.:,;;;: . :.:,.: .::: :. :,ii~;>.;;,;2:,.;::".;:':' " -RV- - . - . :. .:::: ................. PLATE 6. 205. COL V. s5q4 L10 215. 220 225 230 235. PLATE 7. -I COL W. M %+-- L* wsq* .W W $zH fl* $Er w*mmw*%m*~ 265 p~~~~~* P-F!-FmmF-%m WeFr se W p%ew=f'*[email protected] q+s- @-Ern8 newBk4g JEP @& 270 m 4 * A * w3 "EG~ m W dww PE=.w& H LGf- M- -m W - m*w 275 R-srw -W$%? &-a kp -W W ww qErwg- pgm+--- P -m* *q&ErW n m~m" AS+-- PLATE 8. SERIES +pf F PT-TABLET 62, PLATE 9. @=fq M din . G& .- w~~*P~-~~ww~~~m] /o @TmW m$w] rn@?EK W- WW*H~~~WHMR"N 1 Egwpr&we-& m W Q+bge ~wmwwm It-?' +* SEWES m p V TABLET 5. K. 2507+ K. 3255 t S 1425. ~ejaot~and com/"k&pm K.z52r+D.T 7,K.2954, K .3bZI, K.3218'. K.46SB+ K.qS67, K.kq/J-J+K.6~43, ~.50q6-tK.5?25+ K./3894y, K.8508 , K.q405+ ~.10s34;K. (OfP, K,1200Olc. K. lZoOOs, K.13536 :MP. 8d748 , 45599, 46246.+4Y74 + 4640 B. Ca... 1. COL. 1. !CONTINUED,. m $TT v.,yE +Errn.rnm~~P#=rn COL. II. ~CONTINUEDJ COL. II. IOONTINUED1. PLATE 13. I.nr a~r*M '=l W WLWWFRfiwrnIWPrn~4yr WL,U: gfqw &m-qv +i..*W v S, 7 -------------A -"'...- ....... 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