An analysis of Professor George A. Barton's Book (1914) Miscellaneous Babylonian Inscriptions and Christian O'Brien's Secular Translation of this material within the Genius of the Few.
Sumerian Archive of the Kharsag Enclosure
Image - University of Philadelphia Museum
Prepared for The Patrick Foundation Kharsag Research Project Laurence Gardner, 2008
MISCELLANEOUS BABYLONIAN INSCRIPTIONS
YALE ORIENTAL SERIES
No. 1 OLDEST RELIGIOUS TEXT FROM BABYLONIA - Kharsag I -
This cylinder, found by Dr. Haynes at Nippur, remained unpacked in the basement of the Museum until after Professor Hilprecht's connection with the Museum had been severed. It was apparently broken when found, for parts of it were obtained from three different boxes. The Museum attendant afterwards fastened them together. Parts of nineteen columns of writing remain. Not more than one whole column of writing is lost.
The beginning of column 1 is unfortunately lost. The only proper names beside those of deities that can be identified in it are those of Nippur, Kesh, and Khallab (Aleppo). The interpretation of an inscription written in pure Sumerian would be in any case difficult, in the present instance interpretation is rendered doubly difficult by the loss of the opening sentences, which, perhaps, contained the name of the writer and certainly indicated the occasion of the composition. Under these circumstances it cannot be too strongly emphasized that the interpretation offered below is purely tentative. The conclusion that the writer has reached is, however, that the inscription was written as a foundation cylinder at a time when the temple at Nippur was repaired, and that this repair was probably undertaken because of a plague that had visited the city. Apparently the plague had made its way to Nippur from Kesh. While the occasion of the inscription appears therefore, to have been historical, the inscription itself is of the nature of an incantation.
The script in which it is written is that of the dynasty of Agade.1 It is slightly more archaic than the busines documents of this period,2 but similar differences are observable between the business scripts and those of religious texts in every period of Babylonian writing. As the dynasty of Agade ruled from about 2800 to 2600 B. C., the incantation here recorded is of equal if not greater antiquity than the Pyramid Texts of Egypt.
During the excavations a pavement of the temple terrace at Nippur laid by Naram-Sin and his successor Shargalisharri was found.3 It is, in the absence of definite information as to where Dr. Haynes found this cylinder, plausible to conjecture that it was written at the time of this reconstruction. The probability that our text comes from one of the two great kings of Agade mentioned above is increased by the fact tha the hold of the later rulers of the dynasty upon Nippur seems to have been uncertain, and there is no evidence that they did any building there.4 We now know that these two monarchs belonged to the dynasty of Kish and Agade that ruled Babylonia for 197 years, and the data published in 1914 by Dr. Poebel 5 and in 1915 by Professor Clay 6 enable us to fix this period as from 2794 B. C. to 2597 B. C. Naram-Sin ruled for
Compare BARTON, The Origin and Development of Babylonian Writing, Part
I, pp. 204-221.
See BARTON, Sumerian Business and Administrative Documents from the
Earliest Times of the Dynasty of Agade.
See HILPRECHT, Exploration in Bible Lands During the Nineteenth Century,
1903, p. 388 ff. and CLAY, Light on the Bible from Babel, 1907, p. 117.
See A. POEBEL, Historical Texts, Philadelphia, 1914, p. 133 f.
PEOBEL, Historical and Grammatical Texts, No. 3, Historical Texts, pp. 92 ff.
and 132 ff.
CLAY, Miscellaneous Inscriptions in the Yale Babylonian Collection, p. 30 ff.
forty-four years (2704-2660 B. C.) and Shargalisharri twenty-four years (2660-2636 B. C.). The oldest of the pyramid texts of Egypt was written in the reign of Unis, a king of the fifth dynasty, whose reign, according to Breasted's chronology, was 2655-2625. It seems more probable that our text came from the reign of Naram-Sin than from the reign of Shargalisharri. The bricks of Naram-Sin were three times as numerous in the pavement of the temple court at Nippur as those of his successor. Naram-Sin1 and Shargalisharri.2 each calls himself', builder of the temple of Enlil', but it would seem probable that Naram-Sin constructed the terrace early in his reign of forty-four years and that Shargalisharri repaired it after it had had time to fall into disrepair fifty or more years later. If our somewhat uncertain chronologies are correct, Shargalisharri's reign was nearly contemporaneous with that of the Egyptian king Unis, while that of Naram-Sin antedated it. It is more probable that a foundation cylinder would be placed beneath the structure when it was first constructed than when spots in its worn pavement were repaired. It is, accordingly, a plausible conjecture that our cylinder was written early in the reign of Naram-Sin. In that case it is probably half a century older than the pyramid text of Unis and is the oldest extended religious expression that has survived from any portion of the human race.
This consideration gives to the text a supreme interest. It contains a primitive, but comparatively refined strain of religious thought. The men who wrote it entertained the animistic point of view. The world was full of spirits of which they were in terror, but chief among these spirits were gods,
1 HILPRECHT, Old Babylonian Inscriptions, No. 3.
2 Ibid., Nos. 1 and 2.
who, however capricious, were the givers of vegetation and life. They could be entreated, and man's hope lay in placating them. The text exhibits the neighborly admixture of religion and magic so characteristic of Babylonian thought. When compared with the pyramid texts it presents one striking difference. They centre around the king and are interested in his fortunes as he enters among the gods. One text represents the Egyptian king as a cannibal, who in heaven eats gods to obtain their strength1 This Babylonian text, on the other hand, represents the community. If not the religious expression of a democracy, it comes at least from an aristocracy. The interests involved are those of the city of Nippur. It represents the point of view of a Babylonian city-state.
1 See BREASTED, Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, New York, 1912, 127 ff.
TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION
[from Sumerian transcript]
He came forth,
from Kesh he came,
Enlil, the food of Enlil
gives him life.
Unto Sir (Ninkharsag) there is a cry,
She grants favor,
makes all live.
01. . . . . . . . . . .
02. The holy Tigris, the holy Euphrates,
03. the holy sceptre of Enlil
04. establish Kharsag.
05. They give abundance.
06. His sceptre protects (?)
07. [to] itslord,aprayer .. . . .
07. the sproutsofthe land. . . . .
09. . . . . .man (?). . . . .isnot (?)
10. . . . . .are(?). . . . .numerous(?)
11. The hero, Enlil
12. makes bright.
01. .. . . . .protect(?)[man]
02. O lord of darkness protect man
03. O lord of light protect man
04. O lord of the field protect man
05. O lord of the sanctuary protect man
06. Clothe thy king in singu
07. O god be favorable to man
07. Make strong the new temple platform
09. O divine lord protect the little habitation
10. O well of the mighty abyss, give protection
11. A large garment, a singu garment,
12. A goat thou bringest (?) . . . . . let them be offerings (?)
01. .. . . . . . . . .
02. Abundance (?) . . . . he restores.
03. His musician sings, his musician sings:
04. 'To the city he gives protection',
05. The temple he strengthens,
06. O bird {Enlil}, who can overthrow it?
07. My gain is great. The flour by whom is it increased?
07. A plain is filled. Thy water by whom is it poured out?
09. His hand makes the overflow of great waters, it increases fatness.
10. The demon, the cloud-lord is impetuous,
11. O bird {Enlil}, who can overthrow him?
12. My gain is great, by whom is it poured out?
01. . . . . . . . . . .
02. To Ninkharsag belongs demon enchantment,
03. brilliant enchantment her hand [created (?)]
04. Bada opposed to her his word (?)
05. 'The house is bright', may she say, 'The house is pure',
06. 'Which is lofty, brightest of all', (may) she say
07. 'Unspeakable with the brightness
07. of many cedar fires' (may) she say
09. Her power is not overthrown (?) . . . .
10. Two jars they [pour out] for her,
1 . two large . . . . they pour out to her,
1 . the food which she loves they bring her,
1 . a vessel they present to her,
1 . unto Sir {NinKharsag} there is a cry.
1 . . . . . . . . . . .
01. . . . . . . .. . .
02. . . . . . poured out many jars (?)
03. The holy Tigris, the holy Euphrates,
04. the holy sceptre of my protector,
05. Enlil,
06. man does not bring forth.
07. Theson. . . . .
07. . . . . . . . . .
09. of Ninkharsag.
10. To the source (?) of life, the divine lord, raise the eye
11. His eye he lifted up to him,
12. that which came from Kesh did not cease,
13. on the weak he laid hold,
14. for the lowly he [withheld (?)] not protection.
15. . . . . . . . . . .
16. . . . . . . .. . .
01. . . . . . . . . . .
02. the temple nourished them
03. at that time satisfaction came
04. Its platform (?) stands as an incantation
05. unto Sir {NinKharsag} there is a cry
06. . . . . . . . . . .
07. . . . . . . . . . .
07. The house
09. 'My son in the house (?)
10. What is my present?'
11. The musician (?)
01. . . . . . the mighty divine lord
02. increases greatness
03. The great gate to bolt he appoints
04. my door for protection, he
05. . . . . . . . . . .
06. . . . . . . . . . .
07. . . . . . . . . . .
07. . . . . . . . . . .
09. . . . . . may be favourable (?)
10. To heaven he lifts an eye
11. opened by the tree of life
12. . . . . . my dwelling
13. . . . . . . . . . .
14. . . . . . . . . . .
01. . . . . . . . . . . .
02. . . . . . . . favour
03. . the priest proclaims
04. . The firm house he raised upon
05. . its nest is favourable
06. for the prince he appointed it
07. Like a heap
07. may the joy of life be great
09. From his cohabitation
10. with Sir {Ninkharsag}, the brilliant wife, he created
11. a strong one, like a full-grown ibex
12. whom he commanded to guard life
13. .. . . . . . . . .
14. . . . . . . . . . .
15. . . . . . . . . . .
01. 'The light of the city, in the light of the city
02. are they
03. The darkness of the city, in the darkness of the city
04. are they.
05. The people of the city, among the people of the city
06. are they.
07. Whenever there is gladness
07. its lady is strong.
09. O house of Nippur.
10. Whenever there is gladness
11. its lady is strong,
12. its god is just'.
13. Urudue speaks
14. with Dauru. Urudue
15. . . . . . . . . . .
16. . . . . . . . . . .
01. Before the great lord Anu (?)
02. the great lady of Enlil,
03. Ninkharsag,
04. before the arbiter, Anu,
05. the great lady of Enlil,
06. even Ninkharsag,
07. the exalted one spoke:
07. 'On my fire much cedar
09. my seven brightnesses
10. makes brilliant.
11. With mighty Sir {Ninkharsag}
12. are the fruits of thy wise divinity.
13. The great divine river
14. to thy vegetation comes.
15. for the overflow of the divine river the wall
16. [thou makest (?)]'
01. Like the garden god
02. she commands the strong spirit to make
03. The pipi-plants of Iskhara-niginakku,
04. among his 3600 vines she sets them.
05. Before the sunlight is the great light
06. to the goddess, the mother.
07. Our lady, faithful one, brilliant goddess,
07. unspeakable is the brilliance of thy goodness
09. From Dara is food,
10. thou speakest, the gab-grain sprouts, abundant is the wheat,
11. the wide bank is an increasing orchard.
12. O our lady, man is like a sprout of three fronds,
13. the planting of the divine begetter.
14. Strong foundations he establishes,
15. a full hand, a full vessel, he fills.
16. . . . . . . . . . .
01. A libation bowl [he] poured out
02. [to] Sir {Ninkharsag} [at] the great sanctuary.
03. The fiery offering of Enlil
04. at Nippur
05. on account of the sickness he presented,
06. to Ishtar from the land of Khalab,
07. on account of the sickness he presented,
07. to Enki in the deep
09. on account of the sickness he presented
10. the fiery offering (?) of Enlil.
11. O Nippur on abundant food thou feedest,
12. of abundant water thou drinkest,
13. luxurious fatness is in that storehouse,
14. that storehouse thou dost not lock,
15. the fatness of Akkad is the possession of the temple.
16. . . . . . . . . . .
01. . . . . . . . . . .
02. Enlil declares to him:
03. 'Removed is the sickness from the face of the land'.
04. 'As a protector thou removest it'.
05. Enlil's are they.
06. As a protector thou removest it.
07. The plain is thy royal possession,
07. the royal possession bears fruit.
09. The plain is the possession of thy temple,
10. the possession of the temple bears fruit.
11. The great dagger, the ox-devourer, O father, is thy possession,
12. the house of Nippur
13. it waters, it exalts.
14. Thy great weapon is lifted up.
15. The seeded field the bird discovers.
16. . . . . . . . . . .
01. Lord.
02. . . . .possession. . . . .
03. for Enlil, the prince,
04. on account of the sickness he presented.
05. Let it not come
06. let it not come'
07. When to Ninkharsag
07. Ninurta
09. coming from Meslam
10. day and night with might
11. the increase of his cattle protects
12. . . . . . . . . . .
13. The foundation thou strengthenest
14. for it, thou fillest,
15. thou raisest up.
01. . . . . . . . . . .
02. . . . . . . . . . .
03. sickness. . . . .sickness. . . . .
04. all, in its entirety.
05. Lord of life, god of fruit,
06. Lord of life, god of fruit,
07. pour out good beer in double measure,
07. pour it out, make abundant the wool
09. O my mother, brilliant one, come I. The flour withhold not
10. (may) thy might man's garden (?) restore I.
11. O my mother, divine lady, is there no might with thee?
12. To expel the sickness, I pray earnestly
13. In the fold (may) there be no demon
14. sickness, fever
15. expel. . . . .
01. . . . . . . . . . .
02. . . . . . . . . . .
03. . . . . . . . . . .
04. . . .. . . . . . .
05. . . . . . . . . . .
06. . . . . . . . . . .
07. . . . . . . . . . .
07. Thesickness. . . . .
09. Four (times) thy temple platform approaches.
10. The priestess.
11. The down-pour of deep his well
12. which he dug.
13. The sea fills the land, Ninurta comes as a labourer,
14. [who] increases the boundary abundantly
15. . . . . . . . . . .
01. . . . . . . . . . .
02. . . . . . . . . . .
03. Let him not come
04. Like the wild-ox his strength
05. is terrible.
06. . . . . .sickness. . . . .the land.
07. O divine lady, speak
07. . . . . .them
09. establish (?) the city
10. Let not the full bank overflow
11. The side is strong,
12. its firmness complete.
13. May its reeds be abundant
14. O divine lord, living arm
15. .. . . . . . . . .
01. When (?) thou makest (?) all vegetation
02. strong is man, his eyes see.
04. brilliant (?).
05. The decree do thou establish
06. . . . . . . . . . .
07. . . .. . . . . . .
07. The deep abyss for a libation bow
09. By thy wind, O lady,
10. command not the storm-cloud (?)
11. to come O Enzu, come.
12. Let the meal offering be abundant
13. Thy land it establishes.
14. Men say:
15. . . . . . . . . . .
See Notes (after the following text) in respect of the above Transcript as referenced by Christian O'Brien in The Genius of the Few.
An interesting peculiarity of the palaeography is the writing of the determinative kam, which is often placed after numerals as in the cone of Enlitarzi. 2 In column xi, 10, of our text it is written on the next line after the numeral to which it points. The possessive mu 'my' in the same line refers back to the noun in the preceding line.
It is interesting to note that in this text, in accordance with a wide-spread conception of early men, water was regarded as holy. The Tigris and Euphrates are twice spoken of as holy rivers, and the 'mighty abyss' (or well of the mighty abyss)is appealed to for protection (col. iii, 10).
As was to be expected the principal deity mentioned in the text is Enlil, though Enki is also prominent, and Enzu and some minor gods are also mentioned. The name Ninlil does not occur. The spouse, of Enlil is here called by two other names, Ninkharsag and Mush or Sir. That Ninkharsag was one of the names of the consort of Enlil has long been known, but the new light that the text throws on the Snake goddess Sir is important. That she was a goddess down to the time of Esarhaddon has long been known,1 though Jastrow in his great work, Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens2 appears to have overlooked it. In an inscription of Esarhaddon published in BA, III,3 Sir is defined as il be-lit, 'the divine lady', while in another copy of the text we find Sir il bel.4 The scribes of Esarhaddon were therefore uncertain as to her sex, a fact that indicates that she was actually in process of being transformed from a feminine to a masculine deity.5 Zimmern6 supposes that Sir was identical with the dragon-serpent Tiamat, but the references to her in our text disprove that view. She was regarded as a beneficent goddess, a friend to mankind. Although Sir appears in this text as a goddess, the serpent deity was also from early times sometimes regarded as a god.7 According to our text Mush (Sir) was a spouse of Enlil. She was very wise. Her counsels strengthen the wise divinity of Anu (xi, n, 12), a statement which reveals a point of view similar to that of Genesis 3*: 'Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field.8 Snake worship is very old and has been widely scattered over the earth. It is not strange, therefore, that one of the roots of the cult at Nippur should
1 Cf. ZIMMERN, KAT3, 504 ff.
2 Vol. I, 55, 105, 163 ff. So also WARD, Seal Cylinders, p. 127, and LANGDON,
Tammuz, 120 f.
3 P. 297, 42, cf. p. 238, 42.
4 Cf. BA, III, 307, 34.
5 See the writer's Semitic Origins, pp. 120, 125, etc.
6 Loc. cit.
7 See WARD, Seal Cylinders, No. 362 f., and LANGDON, Tammuz, 120 f.
8 In later times 'Sir' appears mainly on the boundary stones, cf. W. J. HINKE, BE,
Series D, Vol. IV, p. 229 and the translations passim.
have been the snake-goddess. One passage concerning her is very interesting. 'From his cohabitation with Sir (Mush), he begat one strong as a large ibex, whom he told to guard life'. (ix, 8-1 1). This statement embodies an idea very wide-spread among men, that important acts of creation are the result of cohabitation between a god and a goddess. This idea isexpressed in lines 22-30 of a tablet which describes the origin of a city and the beginnings of agriculture, published byLangdon, and which he calls the Sumerian Epic of Paradise, the Flood, and the Fall of Man,1 as well as in No. 4, line 22 fT., and in Nos. 4 and 8 of this volume, it appears in the Japanese myth that all things were generated by the union of Izanagi and Izanami,2 in Indian myths, which represent the earlier Vedic cosmogonic ideas, and which refer to acts of creation as acts of generation.3
Another point of interest which the text makes prominent is the connection of Ninkharsag with enchantment. To her is attributed the function of enchanting the demons, or of keeping them away by incantations. If I rightly understand the text, a number of sentences are given, the utterance of which by her, was supposed to banish demons from the temple. A recollection that some such function attached to Ninkharsag is found in one of the Ritualtafeln 4 published by Zimmern, in which divination by oil, connected with the name of Enmeduranki is somehow also connected with the name of Ninkharsag. A line in the text is broken, so that it does not appear whether it is divination by oil, or Enmeduranki himself that is
1 See G. A. BARTON, in American Journal of Theology, XXI, 576 ff., and JASTROW
in AJSL, XXXIII, 112 f.
2 See G. W. KNOX, The Development of Religion in Japan, New York, 1907, p. 21 ff.
3 Cf. A. A. MACDONNELL, History of Sanskrit Literature, New York, 1900, p. 132.
4 H. ZIMMERN, Ritualtafeln fur den Wabrsager, Leipsig, 1901, No. 24, I. 26.
called 'a creation of Ninkharsag', but the text attests a later belief in her connection with the subject. It appears that in the lapse of time her patronage was transferred from enchantment to divination. In this connection it is stated that a deity named Bada, who is otherwise unknown to me, opposed, or was hostile to Ninkharsag. From the point of view of suffering men, Bada, then, if not an actual devil, was one of the not-altogether-friendly divinities that had in him the potentialities of devilship. Perhaps this is too strong a statement of the case, for, in Babylonian thought, the gods were subject to all the passing moods of men, and Bada may have been thought to oppose Ninkharsag's beneficent restraint upon demons, not of settled purpose, but on account of some temporary dislike of men.
In column x, 13 mention is made of Urudu-e, or the Bronze god. In CT, XXIV, 49, 5b Urudu is defined as Ea. It is probable, therefore, that in our text Urudu is an epithet of Enki. The lists of gods in CT, XXIV further record a god Urudu-nagar-dingir-e-ne, literally 'The bronze-carpenter of the gods' or 'The metal-worker of the gods' (cf. CT, XXIV, 12, 25, 25, 8yb), and Urudu-nagar-kalam-ma, 'The metal-worker of the world' (CT. XXIV, 12,24, 25, 87a).1 The simple phrase, 'the Bronze god', suggests a god represented by a bronze statue, but the name may have originated because the god of wisdom was believed to have imparted the knowledge of working metal. As Ea is the Semitic name usually applied to Enki, it is probable that in our text Urudu-e is Enki.
The passage that mentions Urudue says that he spoke with a deity called Da-uru. In CT. XXIV, i, 13 Da-uru is given as one of the names of Anu. When it is said in our text that
1 Cf. PAUL MICHATZ, Die Gotlerlisten der Serie An ilu A-na-um, Breslau, 1909, p. 19.
Urudue spoke with Dauru, it is but another way of saying that Enki addressed Anu.
As among all early peoples the presence of the temple, the abode of deity, was thought to afford protection to the land (col. vii, 5 ff.). This idea persisted in Israel down to the time of Isaiah or later, (cf. Isa. xxxi, 4, 5).
In col. xii, 3, the name of a deity is expressed by nigin, the ideogram for double enclosure, or grand total. CT. XXIV,1 8, Qb gives the Sumerian name of this deity as Ishkharanigginakku, and the Semitic as the goddess Ishtar.
This goddess who is said by her ideogram to sum up the totality of deity, is said to be the possessor of & pi-pi, i. e. the pi-pi-tree or pi-pi-plant. This plant is mentioned in K jib, iii, 21, a tablet published by Kiichler,1 where the writing is *am pi-pi. It was a plant believed to have medicinal properties, since in the tablet published by Kiichler it is an ingredient of a medical prescription.
Another interesting statement is found in col. xv, 8 if., where the phrase mes-lam-ta-e, or as formerly read sid-lam-ta-e, follows the name of Ninurta or Nin-ib. This phrase is in later texts connected with the name of
Nergal, and later still, with the planet Mars.2 The phrase means, 'the hero who comes forth from lam', or 'the prince who comes forth from lam'. The only known meanings of lam are 'sprout', 'to bear fruit', and ninsabu, perhaps, 'be blown away' from the stem nasabu, 'to blow', a meaning applicable to the falling petals of a flower, or to the pollen of a fruit-bearing plant. The sign lam itself probably originated in the picture of a ploughshare, thus suggesting growth and fruitfulness. When this phrase describes
1 Beitrdge {ur Kenntniss der assyriscb-babylonischen Medium, l.eipsig, 1904.
2 Cf. JASTROW, Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens, 64, 185, II, 18, II, 628 f.
Ninurta as 'the hero who comes forth from lam', what does it mean? May the meaning not be suggested by two seals published by Ward on which a god is represented as a walking tree?1 In each case a human form takes the place of the treetrunk, the head is surmounted by the horns that are emblematical of deity, and from the body the branches of a tree grow. Probably we see in these figures the picture of the 'hero who came forth from vegetation' (lam}. It is this hero who comes forth day an night from vegetation, as our text says, who protects the increase of the cattle. This deity is declared to be Ninurta or Ninib, rather than Nergal. It thus becomes probable that the deity referred to under the name Mes-lam-ta-e in the time of Dungi,2 of the dynasty of Ur, was Ninib rather than Nergal.
In conclusion it should be noted how closely sickness is associated in the text with the work of demons. In col. x, 18, according to one interpretation,3 a demon is adjured not to fly to the darkness of the city, the light of the city, or the people of the city. The Babylonian view that sickness was demoniacal possession was so all-pervading that its primitive character does not need demonstration. The evidence of this text on the point is, accordingly, what we might expect.
1 Cf. WARD, Seal Cylinders of Western Asia, Nos. 374, 378.
2 CT, V, 12217 and IX. 35389.
3 The rendering given in the text seems more probable, but the passage is
difficult.
1999: Dianthus Publishing and The Patrick Foundation
Notes relating to
TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION
The above-given translation from this reverse-cut Sumerian cylinder (predating 2500 BC) was made by George Aaron Barton for the Philadelphia University Museum and Yale University Press in 1918.
The Sumerian text (as translated) amounts to 268 lines of cuneiform through 19 columns of inscription. Of these 268 lines (as numbered for translation purposes) 226 are transcribed in whole or in part, with 42 obliterated lines unresolved.
In The Genius of the Few (page 40), it is explained, however, that there are actually 320 lines of inscription on this cylinder. A further analysis of all columns by Christian O'Brien in the 1980s resolved some of the previous partial-line results and moved many more cuneiform lines into translation.
From columns I-VIII (1-8), three hitherto uninterpreted addresses by Ninkharsag were now evident. From columns IX-XV (9-15) was information concerning Enlil's great house (the E-gal) at Kharsag. And, from columns XVI-XIX (16-19), were additional details concerning the 'sickness' with which Enlil and his brother Enki were stricken.
By adding in the supplementary translations (as given below), O'Brien brought the overall 320 lines to a point of 82.5% completion.
Ninkharsag's addresses the Assembly at Kharsag:
The Great House of Enlil, set high upon a rock:
Fears for Ninurta (the son of Enlil and Ninkharsag) as sickness strikes and rages through the settlement: No. 1
OLDEST RELIGIOUS TEXT FROM BABYLONIA
- Kharsag I -
MISCELLANEOUS BABYLONIAN INSCRIPTIONS
YALE ORIENTAL SERIES
No. 4 ENLIL AND NINLIL - Kharsag II -
This tablet, though fragmentary, as the copies show, contains a more complete text of a myth, a portion of which was published by Pinches in 1911 in PSBA, XXXIII, 85 ff. The text of Dr. Pinches contained an Akkadian translation, the Philadelphia text is in Sumerian only. The myth concerns the irrigation of Nippur and the establishment of its prosperity, the first line of Dr. Pinches text read 'At Duranki, their city they dwelt' instead of At their Nippur(?) they dwelt.' A colophon at the end of his tablet states that it was 'First tablet, At Duranki, their city. Not finished.' In reality his text covers only parts of columns i and ii of our tablet. The two texts in general agree closely, though there are minor variations here and there. The myth itself is of great interest. It represents the courtship and marriage of Enlil and Ninlil {Ninkharsag}. He was a young hero, she a handmaid. She was standing on the bank of a canal, when he saw her, ran to her, and kissed her. Her heart was captivated, she yielded to him, and from their marital union fertilizing rain was born. The story is not unlike that of the union between Enki and Nintu in the Epic of Paradise published by Langdon.1 The idea of creation by birth from the marital union of deities appears to have been particularly popular at Nippur.
1 PBS, X, No. i. For the interpretation cf. JASTROW, AJSL, XXX HI, 112, also BARTON, in Am, Journal of Tbeol., XXI, 576 ff.
The creation of men occurred in this way according to the myth published below as No. 8. After the creation of irrigating waters and the settling of some marital differences between the god and goddess, they proceeded to Nippur accompanied by fifty great gods and seven gods of fate, they cast out the poisonous plants and gave intelligence to the inhabitants. For these and other blessings our text ascribes praise to Enlil and Ninlil.
TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION
[from Sumerian transcript]
01. At . . . . . their Nippur (?) they dwelt.
02. At Nippur, the city which is theirs, they, dwelt.
03. At the favourable dwelling, the city
04. The wide river is their holy river.
05. Its close-shut dyke, its dyke is theirs.
06. The crowded dyke, the dyke of its large ships is theirs.
07. The good well, the well of sweet water is theirs.
07. The canal Nunbiirra, its starnam bright one, is theirs.
09. They reap a bur of irrigated land, bi na-nam its food is theirs.
10. Enlil, its young hero, is theirs.
11. Ninlil {Ninkharsag}, its young maidservant, is theirs.
12. Nunbarshegunu, the exalted, its mother, is theirs.
13. At that time the handmaid, the mother who bore her, verily helped,
14. Ninlil Nunbarshegun verily helped.
15. The holy river, the woman Idazagga, did not flow.
16. Ninlil stood on the bank of the canal Nunbiir.
17. With holy eyes the lord of . . . . . eyes looked upon her.
18. The great mountain, father Mulil, of holy eyes,
with his eyes looked upon her,
19. Her shepherd, he who determines fate, of the holy eyes, with his eyes looked upon her,
20. The exalted father rising, ran, he seized her, he kissed her.
21. The heart of the lady exulted, her heart was captivated, she wished it, she yielded to him.
22. He received her, he cohabited with her. He caused it to rain.
23. The holy river, the woman Idazagga, flowed,
24. Ninlil stood on the bank of the canal, the bank of Nunbiir.
25. Enlil of holy eyes, the king with holy eyes,
with his eyes looked upon her.
26. The great mountain, father Enlil of the holy eyes,
with his eyes looked upon her.
27. Her shepherd, he who determines fate, of the holy eyes, with his eyes looked upon her.
28. To his wife in anger he said: 'Did I not yield to thee?'
29. To Ninlil in anger he said: 'Did I not yield to thee?'
30. 'Did I not embrace (?) thee?' 'Did I not know [thee]?'
31. 'I kissed thee, I knew [thee]'.
32. '. . . . . thou didst sieze me, I submitted,
33. . . . . . 'Thou didst lie down thou didst gain the mastery.
04. To her husband she spoke, to his anger she. . . . .
05. Hishandgraspedit. . . . .
06. To her husband she spoke, to his anger she . . . . .
07. In a dwelling with offspring thou shalt lie down.
07. To her husband she spoke, to his anger she gave a kiss.
09. Resting her head on her husband, she kissed him.
10. Standing brilliant by Enlil, her husband, her heart rejoiced.
11. Enlil, the hero came,
12. Enlil, the hero, entered.
13. The great gods, fifty are they,
14. The gods of fate, seven are they.
15. With Enlil they marched.
16. Enlil cast the poisonous plant (?) from the city,
17. Nunamnir cast the poisonous plant (?) from the city,
18. Enlil came, Ninlil [descended].
19. Nunamnir came, the handmaid
20. Enlil to him of the palace called:
21. 'O man of the great gate! man of the lock!
22. Man of the strong wood, man of the lock!
23. Thy lady, Ninlil, [comes]
24. If a name he shall ask of thee,
25. Thou shalt not tell him of my place'.
26. Ninlil to the man of the great gate spoke:
27. 'O man of the great gate, man of the lock . . . . .'
01. . . . . .. . . . .
02. Mulil, lord of lands,
03. Mulil, lord, thou didst create,
04. 'In brilliance, O lord, art thou, by thy hand thou created (?) . . . . .
05. Father, Lord, thou dost illumine their heart.
06. Thou, Father Enlil, dost illumine their heart.
07. O father, my king, mighty god, thou comest, thou dwellest . . . . .
17 lines missing
25. Mulil, lord of lands . . . . .
26. Mulil, lord of the month, like a tree . . . . .
27. When, O lord, thou art in thy might thou overthrowest . . . . .
28. O Father, Lord, thou art brilliant, the heart thou liftest up . . . . .
29. O Father Enzu, exalted one, brilliant, the heart thou liftest u . . . .
30. O father, my king, mighty god, thou comest,
thou abidest, thou comest . . . . .
31. O my father, as my king thouadvancest, thou comest . . . . .
32. O Enlil, who, like the river of the land, mightily risest,
33. O hero, thou speakest to them, they have rest.
34. With the hero is their preservation, with the hero is their rest.
35. O Father, divine lord, who is against the king?
My hero, verily thou overthrowest him.
36. Enlil comes. Ninlil descends,
37. Nunamnir comes. The handmaid
01. . . . . . . . . . .
02. . . . . . . . . . .
03. My . . . . . determined,
04. My . . . . . does not overthrow them.
05. . . . . . the boat for the ferry Ninlil makes.
06. The boat for the ferry comes.
07. Enlil,lordof . . . . .king,
07. Ninlil fills the flock with favour, she gives verdure,
09. She is gracious, to her beloved she speaks.
10. Enlil is gracious to his beloved. He speaks.
11. Ninlil, the exalted, gives decisions, Ninlil the exalted thunders . . . . .
12. Turning, she establishes, she clothes the weak, she . . . . .
13. Mulil the lord with the weapon turns in brilliance he . . . . .
14. When, O lord, thou art in thy might thou overthrowest . . . . .
15. O Father, lord, thou art brilliant, the heart thou liftest up.
16. O Enlil, lord, thou art brilliant, the heart thou liftest up.
17. O father, king of countries, thy favour thou . . . . .
18. O my Father, as my king thou advancest, thou comest . . . . .
19. Enlil. . . . .
20. O hero, thou speakest to them, they have rest !
21. With the hero is their preservation, with the hero is their rest.
22. OfatherEnlil(?) . . . . .
23. Olord,to thee. . . . .
24. OEnlil,thouart lord. . . . .
25. Nunamnir comes, the maiden . . . . .
26. . . . . . . . . . .
27. Theheromakes. . . . .grow. . . . .
28. The lord creates, the lord . . . . .
29. Enlil is lord, Eniil is king . . . . .
30. Enlil, the king does not [deny] food to man
31. The prince, creator of all, does not deny them intelligence.
32. Full praise to Mother Ninlil!
33. To Father Enlil praise.
No. 4
No. 4 ENLIL AND NINLIL - Kharsag II -
MISCELLANEOUS BABYLONIAN INSCRIPTIONS
YALE ORIENTAL SERIES
No. 7 HYMN TO IBI-SIN - Kharsag III -
This fragment of a hymn to Ibi-Sin is a portion of a large, finely written six-column tablet. Unfortunately it is so broken that in only a portion of columns ii and v are there complete lines. These portions are herewith translated. In line 5 of col. v he is addressed as lugal-mu, 'My king.' It is probable that the hymn belonged to the same series as No. 3 the hymn to Dungi. Ibi-Sin was an inglorious king. Under his rule the extended empire built up by Dungi gradually dwindled and was finally overthrown, but the tradition that he was a god, inherited, perhaps, from the great Dungi, persisted, and loyal courtiers and priests in the language translated below addressed him as the source of all blessings, and with servile adulation lauded him as a god. The hymn must, one is compelled to think, have been composed during his lifetime, for there was nothing in his career that could, so far as we know, induce later generations, in a city like Nippur, to address him in such language. He was the last of his dynasty, and fawning priests and courtiers were soon compelled to make their peace with a conqueror to whom his memory was hateful. The hymn supplies a powerful argument for emperor worship in Ur during the lifetime of the monarch.
TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION
[from Sumerian transcript]
8 lines missing
09. The great gods (?) the great tar-ri steward appointed.
10. The length (?) of the garden was kaskal-gid.
11. The cold filled the land, it darkened it,
12. The houses of the young hero of Enlil,
13. The house of life, the temple of Enlil he built,
14. Ishtar-cakes he prepared,
15. The cattle of his lady, the sheep of Kharsag,
16. In houses, apart from cold, drink and food with full
17. heart are poured out.
18. Strong are they, like roaming wild-oxen
19. verily they advance.
20. The cold-god is mighty, the four walls protect thee.
21. The grain, luxuriant on the broad banks,
22. From its power (?) preserves them.
23. Not like an enemy in hostility does he come,
24. His people he does not destroy.
25. Kharsag for the cold constructed a furnace,
26. For the houses it appointed comfort
27. The houses my brethren inhabit,
28. Edible fruits for food the palace . . . . .
01. Myprotector(?) . . . . .
02. Thou art exalted, what . . . . .?
03. Food and drink abundantly thou . . . . .
04. For the people as protector thou . . . . .
05. My king, known of Nannar, exalted one of Enlil,
06. Ibi-Sin, in exalted power he is alone.
07. In brilliant garments, lamkbussu garments his wife and he converse,
07. The feasts of the gods as seer he celebrates.
09. The great god, the spirit of bright fire, brilliantly he raises up
10. The house of life with the bright weapon of royalty he establishes,
11. Below favor, below food, a good possession, in fullness he pours out.
12. In the midst full pails, festal vessels full for watering he makes abundant.
13. Mighty one, life of thy soldiers, exultant warrior, the enclosure thou didst protect,
14. day and night thou dost illumine.
15. The palace of the king is fortunate, great are the acclamations!
16. His beneficent power gives joy.
17. With his . . . . . with majesty the seers at his side go forth,
18. . . . . . strong houses of Sumer
19. . . . . .at his right(?)they go
No. 7
HYMN TO IBI-SIN - Kharsag III -
MISCELLANEOUS BABYLONIAN INSCRIPTIONS
YALE ORIENTAL SERIES
No. 8 CREATION MYTH - Kharsag IV -
This important text was found by the writer among some then uncatalogued tablets that had just been unpacked. It belongs to the cycle of myths of which No. 4 above is an excellent example. It is also in some respects parallel to the myth published by Langdon in PBS, Vol. X, No. i, called by him a "Sumerian Epic of Paradise," etc. Takku (read by Langdon Tagtug) is one of the deities who figures in this new myth.
Like the myth published by Langdon, this one begins with an elaborate statement of the non-existence of many things once upon a time. Most interesting is its statement that mankind was brought forth from the physical union of a god and goddess.
TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION
[from Sumerian transcript]
Obverse
01. The mountain of heaven and earth
02. The assembly of the great gods,
03. A tree of Ezinu had not been born, had not become green,
04. Land and water Takku had not created,
05. For Takku a temple-terrace had not been filled in,
06. A ewe (?) had not bleated, a lamb had not been dropped
07. An ass (?) there was not to irriragate the seed,
07. A well and canal (?) had not been dug,
09. Horses and cattle had not been created.
10. The name of Ezinu, spirit of sprout and herd,
11. The Anunna, the great gods, had not known,
12. There was no ses-grain of thirty fold,
13. There was no ses-grain of fifty fold,
14. Small grain, mountain grain, cattle-fodder, there were not,
15. Possessions and dwellings there were not,
16. Takku had not been brought forth, a shrine not lifted up,
17. Together with Ninki the lord had not brought forth men.
18. Shamsah as leader came, unto her desire came forth;
19. Mankind he planned; many men were brought forth;
20. Food and sleep he did not plan for them;
21. Clothing and dwellings he did not plan for them;
22. The people with rushes and rope came,
23. By making a dwelling a kindred was formed.
24. To the gardens they gave drink;
25. On that day they were green;
26. Their plants. . . . .
Reverse
01. . . . . . . . . . .
02. Father Enlil (?)....
03. . . . . . . . . . .
04. Of mankind. . . . .
05. . . . . . creation(?) ofEnki. . . ..
06. FatherEnlil. . . . .
07. Duazagga is surrounded, O god,
07. Duazagga, the brilliant, I will guard (?) for thee, O god.
09. Enki and Enlil cast a spell . . . .
10. A flock and Ezinu from Duazag [ga] they cast forth,
11. The flock in a fold they enclosed (?)
12. His plants as food for the mother they created.
13. Ezinu rained on the field for them;
14. The moist (?) wind and the fiery storm-cloud he created for them;
15. The flock in the fold abode;
16. For the shepherd of the fold joy was abundant.
17. Ezinu as tall vegetation stood;
18. The bright land was green, it afforded full joy.
19. From their field a leader arose;
20. The child from heaven came to them;
2 . The flock of Ezinu he made to multiply for them;
2 . The whole he raised up, he appointed for them;
2 . The reed-country he appointed for
2 . The voice of their god uttered just decisions for them.
2 . A dwelling place was their land;
2 . The prosperity of their land
2 . They made bricks of clay of the land for its protection.
2 . The lord caused them to be; they came into existence.
2 . Companions were they; a man with a wife he made them dwell;
30. By night, by day they are set as helpers.
31. .. . . . . . .
MISCELLANEOUS BABYLONIAN INSCRIPTIONS
YALE ORIENTAL SERIES
No. 11 LITURGY TO NINTUD - Kharsag V -
This text contains a 'fragment' of the text that Dr. Langdon has named the "Liturgy to Nintud on the Creation of Man and Woman," a designation which the writer is inclined to believe will have to be abandoned, when the whole text is known. A fragmentary form of the text is preserved on a prism in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. It was published by Langdon in his Babylonian Liturgies, Paris, 1913, plates LXV-LXVIII, and translated on pages 86 if. Three other fragments of the same text have also previously been published: one by Radau as No. 8 of his "Miscellaneous Texts" in the Hilprecht Anniversary Volume (1909), and translated by Langdon on p. 19 of his Sumerian Epic of Paradise, the Flood, and the Fall of Man, (1915); another by Langdon in BE, XXXI, (1914), pi. 22; and a third by Langdon in his Sumerian Liturgical Texts, 1917, pi. LXI. Of these three, the first and third are in the University Museum in Philadelphia, the second in the Imperial Ottoman Museum at Constantinople. Unfortunately, even with the addition of the new material here presented, it is impossible to reconstruct the whole text of the work. The Ashmolean prism has suffered greatly from disintegration, and the other texts so far recovered are mere fragments. The text of this composition was divided into sections. At the end of each section there was a colophon giving the number of the section. The Ashmolean prism contained eight such sections. The new
tablet which is published herewith was the second of three tablets on which the text was written in nine sections, three on each tablet. Our tablet contained sections four, five, and six. Section five corresponds to section four of the Ashmolean text and the text of BE. XXXI; section six, to section five of those texts. Section four, accordingly (the first section of our tablet), is a section previously unknown. The text of sections five and six of our tablet is much broken, but as these sections overlap sections in BE, XXXI and the Ashmolean prism, the lines of which are also fragmentary, the three sources supplement one another in a very satisfactory way, and make it possible to restore several incomplete lines. The nature and purpose of the composition are still obscure. Langdon (Babylonian Liturgies, 86) says : 'The occasion which gave rise to the compostion appears to have been the coronation of a patesi king of Kesh." The evidence for this view is far from convincing. Kesh is mentioned in some broken lines, where it is impossible to make out the meaning, but so is Surippak. Several sections later a patesiat is also mentioned in a broken line. Apparently the text celebrated the primitive (or very early) conditions in some town; possibly the founding and growth of the town, but beyond this we can confidently affirm nothing. We must await the recovery of the whole text.
So far as the writer can see, there is no allusion in the text to the creation of man. True, allusion is several times made to the goddess Nintu, the mother of mankind. The sign lu which Langdon renders "man" the present writer renders "which"; cf. OBW, 289.* Langdon renders "Like Enkkar may man bear a form"; the present writer: "Like Enkkar verily was the form which it bore." As Enkhar was a
place, it seems clear that the comparison refers to a place and not to a man. Men do not resemble places! The reading gis = 'man' in Babylonian Liturgies, LXVII, 22 (the line is numbered 19 in his translation on p. 91 !) is confessedly uncertain. It is partially erased and the other copy which contains the line omits it. If gil really stood in the text, it could with greater probability be rendered "tree" rather than "man." In the writer's judgment, therefore, the nature of the text is still an enigma.
TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION
[from Sumerian transcript]
Obverse
01. . . . . . makes it bright, exalts the word;
02. Enlil fixes its destiny as great;
03. Eanungal of the great god he founded, he named;
04. Eshubaim for the distant future the great gods blessed;
05. The house of heaven and earth, its structure he built, to brilliance he exalted it;
06. Ekalam is a structure appointed as a sanctuary;
07. Ekur abundance proclaimed; then there was abundance;
07. The house of Ninkharsag is the life of the land; for its land there is food;
09. Ekharsaggal is devoted to cerenamonies; its fate he established;
10. Eutug had neither oracles nor decisions;
11. E . . . sharkalam, for the mother was raised up;
12. . . . . . the whole land was born; the seed of the kir-tree the garden received;
13. . . . . . the king was born, the fate of the land determined
14. Ebarbargan, the brilliant, as his dwelling he made;
15. Like Enkhar, verily was the form which it bore;
16. Its hero, like Ashirig in form, verily the mother bore;
17. Its lady, like Nintu in form, gives the land abundance.
18. . . . . . . . . . .
19. To the field he went, to the city he went; into it who shall enter?
20. To the field of Enkhar, to the city
he went; into it who shall enter?
21. In it their heroes were collected; they were noble
22. In decisions rendered, the word of all the gods; they rejoiced;
23. The fields, the sheep and oxen were like an ox of the stall;
24. The cedars spoke; they were their messengers;
25. The field invited the oxen, all of them;
26. The field strengthened (?) the sheep, all of them;
27. Their fig-trees on the bank the boat filled;
28. The weapon the lord, the prince . . . . . lifted up;
29. The luluppi-tree of the wife of the god, the pi-pi plantsof . . . ..
30. In Kharsag the garden of the god were green . . . . .
31. Like Enkhar was the form which verily it bore;
32. Its hero was Ashirgi . . . . .
Reverse
01. The field . . . . . who shall enter?
02. In it were their heroes collected; they were noble;
03. Ninkharsag, unique in heaven and earth . . . . .
04. Nintu, the great mother, the begetress . . . . .
05. Dunpae for the Patesi, the lordship . . . . .
06. Ashirgi, the hero, the dwelling . . . . .
07. Dimmi, steward of the plain, made alive . . . . .
07. The house of the wild goat and the ram occupied the bank . . . .
09. Like Enkhar was the form which it bore;
10. Its hero, like Ashirgi in form, verily the mother bore;
11. Its lady, like Nintu in form, gave the land abundance.
