| DESCRIPTION |
|
|---|---|
| Language: | Akkadian |
| Medium: | clay tablets reconstructed from multiple copies |
| Length: | 28 lines of writing |
| Genre: | ritual text |
| Approximate Date: | 7th century BCE |
|
(line numbers here do not follow Biggs, since he indicates the lines used from each copy) |
Adapted from Biggs 1967:27-30 |
|
[DIŠ N]A ÍL ŠÀ-shú KAR-ma lu [ana ] SAL-shú lu ana SAL BAR-ti ŠÀ-shu NU [ÍL] |
1. | [If a man]'s potency is taken away and his "heart" does not rise for his own woman or for another woman, |
| ana IGI 15 MUL.MEŠ GI.GAB GUB-an UDU.SIZKUR BAL-qí | 2. | you set up a reed altar facing Ishtar-of-the-Stars, (and) you sacrifice a sheep; |
| NÍG.NA ŠIM.LI GAR-an KAŠ.SAG BAL-qí | 3. | you set up a censer of juniper, you libate beer, (and) |
| UZU.ZAG UZU.ME.HÉ UZU.KA.IZI [tu- tah-ha] | 4. | [you offer] the shoulder, fatty tissue, and the roast. |
| 2 NU Ì.UDU 2 NU GAB.LÀL 2 NU kup-ri 2 NU IM. BABBAR | 5. | You make two figurines of tallow, two figurines of wax, two figurines of bitumen, two figurines of gypsum, |
| 2 NU NÍG.LAG 2 NU GIŠ.ERIN DÙ-ush ina DUG.BUR.ZI NU AL ŠEG6.GÁ | 6. | two figurines of dough, two figurines of cedar; in an unfired pursitu-vessel |
| ina IZI ana IGI 15 MUL.MEŠ ta-shar-rap-ma kam DU11.GA | 7. | you burn them in a fire facing Ishtar-of-the-Stars, and you recite the following: |
| ÉN na-na-rat AN-e te-li-tu dIsh-tar | 8. | An Incantation. Bright one of the heavens, wise Ishtar, |
| be-let DINGIR.MEŠ shá an-na-shá an-nu | 9. | Mistress of the gods, whose "yes" is indeed yes, |
| mu-tal-la-at DINGIR.MEŠ shá qí-bit-sa se-rat | 10. | proud one among the gods, whose command is supreme, |
| be-let AN-e u KI-tì mu-ma-'i-rat kàl URU.URU | 11. | Mistress of heaven and earth, who rules all towns. |
| dIsh-tar [ana] MU-ki kit-mu-su ŠU.NIGIN EN.MEŠ-e | 12. | Ishtar, at your name all lords are bowed down. |
| ana-ku NN A NN ak-ta-mis IGI-ki | 13. | I, (name), son of (name), have bowed down before you. |
| sha kish-pi ep(!)-shu ina KI shu-nu-lu NU.MEŠ-ia | 14. | (I) against whom magic has been performed, figurines of whom have been laid in the ground— |
| GIM NA4.ZA.GÌN lu-bi-ib zu-um-ri | 15. | May my body be purified like lapis lazuli. |
| GIM NA4.GIŠ.NUx(ŠIR).GAL lu ZALÁG.MEŠ SAG.MEŠ-[ia] | 16. | May [my] features be bright like alabaster. |
| GIM KÙ.BABBAR eb-be GIM KÙ.GI ru-she-e a-dir-ta a-a ar-shi | 17. | Like shining silver and reddish gold, may I not be dull. |
| Ú tar-mush Ú.IGI.LIM Ú.IGI.NIŠ Ú.AŠ.TÁL.TÁL | 18. | May tarmush-plant, imhur-limu-plant, imhur-eshra-plant, ardadillu-plant, |
| Ú SIKIL Ú.KUR.RA GIŠ.KAN.U5 | 19. | usikillu-plant, "mountain"-plant, (and) GIŠ.KAN.U 5-plant |
| lit-ru-du ru-he-e-a an-nam 3-shú DU11.GA-ma | 20. | dispel my enchantment. You shall recite this three times. |
| DÙ.DÙ.BI KÙ.BABBAR KÙ.GI NA4.ZA.GÌN NA4.GIŠ.NUx.GAL | 21. | Its ritual is: silver, gold, lapis lazuli, alabaster; |
| Ú tar-mush Ú.IGI.LIM Ú.IGI.NIŠ Ú.AŠ.TÁL.TÁL | 22. | tarmush-plant, imhur-limu-plant, imhur-eshra-plant, ardadillu-plant, |
| Ú SIKIL Ú.KUR.RA GIŠ.KAN.U5 ina ÉŠ GADA É-ak | 23. | usikillu-plant, "mountain"-plant, (and) GIŠ.KAN.U 5-plant you string on a linen cord |
| ina GÚ-shú GAR-an UDU pu-ha-la ina SAG GIŠ.NÁ-shú | 24. | (and) put (it) round his neck. You tie a ram at the head of his bed, |
| [UDU TA]R-su ina she-pit GIŠ.NÁ- shu tar-kas | 25. | [a wea]ned sheep at the foot of his bed. |
| ina SAG.KI pu-ha-la u SAG.KI UDU TAR.si | 26. | From the forehead of the ram and the forehead of the weaned sheep |
| SIG.MEŠ ta-na-sah-ma DUR.MEŠ a- hi-na-a NU.NU | 27. | you pull out wool and spin separate threads. |
| EN [. . . .] ana UGU ŠID-nu ina MÚRU- shú KEŠDA-ma ŠÀ.ZI.GA | 28. | The incantation [. . .] you recite over (them), tie them round his waist, and he will be potent. |
| SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY |
| Biggs,
Robert D. ŠÀ.ZI.GA: Ancient Mesopotamian Potency Incantations.
Texts from Cuneiform Sources. Locust Valley, N.Y.: Augustin, 1967.
Hoffner, Harry A. "Symbols for Masculinity and Femininity: Their Use in Ancient Near Eastern Sympathetic Magic Rituals." Journal of Biblical Literature 85 (1966) 326-34. Levine, Baruch A. "The Descriptive Ritual Texts from Ugarit: Some Formal and Functional Features of the Genre." In The Word of the Lord Shall Go Forth: Essays in Honor of David Noel Freedman, edited by C. L. Myers and M. O'Connor, 467-75. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1983. Levine, Baruch A. "Ugaritic Descriptive Rituals." Journal of Cuneiform Studies 17 (1963) 105-11. Meyer, Marvin and Paul Mirecki, eds. Ancient Magic and Ritual Power. Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 129. Leiden: Brill, 1995. Mikasa, Takahito, ed. Cult and Ritual in the Ancient Near East. Bulletin of the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan 6. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1992. Quaegebeur, Jan, ed. Ritual and Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 55. Leuven: Peeters, 1993. Robertson, J. J. M. "Divine Freedom and Cultic Manipulation in Israel and Mesopotamia." In Unity and Diversity: Essays in the History, Literature and Religion of the Ancient Near East, edited by H. Goedicke and J. J. M. Roberts, 181-90. Johns Hopkins Near Eastern Studies. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1975. Smith, Jonathan Z. To Take Place: Toward Theory in Ritual. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1987. |
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