The Assyrian and Hebrew Hymns of Praise

by Charles Gordon Cumming

Hymns to Marduk

1. Craig, Religious Texts, I, plates 29-31; published and translated by Brünnow, Assyrian Hymns, in Zeitschrift für Assyriologie, IV, 246-248 and V, 58-66, 77-78; translated by Martin, Textes religieux Assyriens et Babyloniens, and by Jastrow, I, 513. The hymn consists of thirty-eight lines, and is followed by the petition that the anger of the god may abate and favor be shown the suppliant.

2. K 3459; Hehn, Hymnen und Gebete an Marduk, in Beitrage zur Assyriologie, V, 278-400. The poem is in three columns. Of column I, seven lines out of twenty are preserved entire. Of the twenty-one lines of column II, twelve are missing, and no single line is complete. Columns I and III are in praise of Marduk, while column II seeks forgiveness of sin and deliverance of a sufferer from trouble.

3. K 3505; The first seventeen lines of a hymn are addressed directly to Marduk. The text then breaks off.

4. King, Tablets of Creation, I, 204 ff; Craig, Religious Texts, I, Plate 43; Hehn, No. 5; Jastrow, I, 496ff. The first twenty-one lines of a hymn are in praise of Marduk. The text then breaks off. In the hymnal portion the third person of the verb is used.

5. R. IV: 2, 26 No. 4; translated by Jastrow, I, 496; also by Jeremias in Roscher’s Lexicon, II, col. 2367; also by Hehn, No. 6. Nine lines of a hymn in praise of Marduk, the God of War, are preserved. The text then breaks off.

6. R. IV: 2, 29, No. 1; translated by Jastrow, I, 501; also by Fossey, La Magie assyrienne, pages 364-369; also by Jeremias in Roscher’s Lexicon, II, col. 2355; also by Hehn, No. 7. It is a hymn twenty-nine lines in length, of definite strophic arrangement, addressed directly to Marduk, and followed by exorcisms of various demons.

7. R. IV: 2, 18, No. 1; translated by Hehn, No. 12. It is a fragment of eight lines, referring to the founding of Babylon and the temple of Marduk.

8. R. IV: 2, 21, No. 1; also King, Babylonian Magic, No. 9; translated by King; by Hehn, No. 13; also by Jastrow, I, 500f. Though characterized by King and Jastrow as a prayer, yet the first nine lines, constituting the invocation to the god may be regarded as hymnal material. The body of the prayer consists of seventeen lines, and may well be from a king, seeking health and the favor and support of his god.

9. R. IV: 2, 57; translated by King No. 12; by Hehn No. 14; by Jastrow, I, 499; by Lenormant, La Divination, page 212ff; by Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, pages 536ff. This tablet is concerned with the curing by Marduk’s help of a sick man. The first sixteen lines give directions for the ceremonies to be performed. The priest is instructed to hold the hand of the sick man, and repeat the prayer, lines 17-94. Of these lines 17-44 are hymnal, serving as an invocation to the prayer. Following the prayer there are directions for further ceremonies. The hymn is in the second person addressed directly to the god.

10. K 8961; Craig, Assyrian and Babylonian Religious Texts, I, Pl. 59; translated by Hehn, No. 17; also by Jastrow, I, 497. An incantation hymn, of which only twelve lines remain, is addressed directly to Marduk as an invocation to prayer.

11. Craig, Assyrian and Babylonian Religious Texts, I, Pl. 1; translated by Martin, Textes religieux; also by Jastrow, I, 509. Of this text the opening lines are missing. Ten lines are preserved, being a prayer in the mouth of the priest, of which the first five lines supply the element of adoration.

12. R. IV: 2, 40, No. 1 transliterated and translated by Ball, Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, XV, 51-54; translated also by Hehn, No. 25; by Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, pages 80f; by Jastrow, I, 509. The text comprises thirty-two lines. Lines 1 to 6 state that the priest is to rise in the first hour of the night on the second day of Nisan, wash in river water, put on a linen garment and repeat his prayer. Of the prayer, lines 7 to 28 are hymnal; lines 29 to 32 petition the favor of the god for the city, Babylon and the temple, Esagila.

13. R. IV: 2, 18 No. 2; Also published and translated by Weissbach, Babylonische Miscellen, pages 36-41; translated also by Ungnad, page 85; by Rogers, page 130; by Jastrow, I, 503. This is a text of thirty-seven lines. A colophon at the end directs that the hymn should be used on the eleventh day of Nisan, when Marduk enters his own sanctuary in the temple Esagila. It is a processional hymn apparently sung antiphonally, a priest or choir chanting the first half of the line, and a choir responding with the refrain. The first thirty-three lines welcome the god to his temple; the last four lines petition his favor for the city and its temple.

14. Hehn No. 16; King No. 18; Jastrow, I, 513. This is a fragment of which the first lines are missing. A petition for relief from sickness is preceded by hymnal lines praising Marduk, and expressing confidence in him.