Babylonian and Assyrian Literature eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 377 pages of information about Babylonian and Assyrian Literature.

Babylonian and Assyrian Literature eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 377 pages of information about Babylonian and Assyrian Literature.

“Go!  A-sac-cu-kab-bi-lu,[10] go! 
O Nam-ta-ru-lim-nu,[11] oh, fly! 
U-tuc-cu-lim-nu[12] from him flow! 
A-lu-u-lim-nu,[13] hence! away! 
E-ci-mu-lim-nu,[14] go! thou fiend! 
Fly, Gal-lu-u-lim-nu,[15] afar! 
Fly from his head! his life!  I send
Thee, fiend! depart from Izdubar! 
Go from his forehead, breast, and heart,
And feet!  Avaunt! thou fiend! depart! 
Oh, from the Curse, Thou Spirit High! 
And Spirit of the Earth, come nigh! 
Protect him, may his spirit fly! 
O Spirit of the Lord of Lands,
And Goddess of the Earthly Lands,
Protect him! raise with strength his hands!

“Oh, make him as the Holy Gods,
His body, limbs, like thine Abodes,
And like the Heavens may he shine! 
And like the Earth with rays divine! 
Quick! with the khis-ib-ta[16] to bring
High Heaven’s Charm—­bind round his brow! 
The sis-bu[17] place around his hands! 
And let the sab-u-sat[18] bright cling! 
The mus-u-kat[19] lay round him now,
And wrap his feet with rad-bat-bands,[20]
And open now his zik-a-man[21]
The sis-bu cover, and his hands
The bas-sat[22] place around his form! 
From baldness and disease, this man
Cleanse, make him whole, head, feet, and hands!

“O Purity, breathe thy sweet charm!

“Restore his health and make his skin
Shine beautifully, beard and hair
Restore! make strong with might his loins! 
And may his body glorious shine
As the bright gods!—­

Ye winds him bear! 
Immortal flesh to his soul joins! 
Thou Spirit of this man! arise! 
Come forth with joy!  Come to the skies!”

And lo! his leprosy has fled away! 
He stands immortal,—­purged! released from clay!

[Footnote 1:  “Su-ku-nu” or “Kak-si-di,” the star of the West.]

[Footnote 2:  “Nipur,” the city from which Izdubar came.]

[Footnote 3:  “Adar,” the star of Ninazu, the goddess of death, who cursed him with leprosy in the cavern.  This star was also called “Ra-di-tar-tu-khu.”]

[Footnote 4:  “U-tu-ca-ga-bu,” the star with the white or pure face.]

[Footnote 5:  “Za-ma-ma,” another name for Adar.  This is the deity for whom Izdubar or Nammurabi built the great temple whose top, in the language of the Babylonians, reached the skies.  It was afterward called the “Tower of the Country” or “Tower of Babylon.”  This was perhaps the Tower of Babel.  He also restored another temple called “Bite-muris,” which was dedicated to the same goddess.]

[Footnote 6:  “Amen and amen!” The word “amen” is usually repeated three times.]

[Footnote 7:  The response of the priest Khasi-sadra.]

[Footnote 8:  “Zi,” spirits.]

[Footnote 9:  See “T.S.B.A.,” vol. ii. p. 31.]

[Footnote 10:  “A-sac-cu-kab-bi-lu,” evil spirit of the head.]

[Footnote 11:  “Nam-ta-ru-lim-nu,” evil spirit of the life or heart.]

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Babylonian and Assyrian Literature from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.