To Nusku mighty lord (lofty) judge,[17]
Shining Light, illuminator of the night, god ...
The following first lines of a hymn are neither invocation nor ascription, yet how naturally does an appeal made to the sun-god for freeing of the king from the ban resting upon him, at the moment of the scattering of darkness before the rising sun, begin with such an hymnal introduction, as this:
O Shamash, when out of the great mountain thou comest forth,[18]
Out of the great mountain, the mountain of the springs, thou comest forth,
When out of the mountain, the place of destinies, thou comest forth,
Where heaven and earth meet together out of the heaven’s foundations,—
So far we have been dealing with the first portion of the hymnal introduction, namely the invocation. We have seen that the court style would prescribe that the god be addressed by his proper title, which includes his lineage and his sovereignty over temple and city, or his exalted place in nature, or both. Naturally however when the sway of the god extended far beyond temple and city to all lands, to heaven and earth, it was not so necessary to salute the god as lord of city and temple. And similarly when the god was exalted to a supreme position among the gods, the matter of pedigree became secondary. Perhaps this explains the shortening of the invocation in certain hymns to a single line:
(Holy) Ishtar, heroine among goddesses,[19]
Thy seat ... in the midst of the bright heavens,