It would be difficult to believe, but for the express testimony furnished by the hymn itself, that a production giving evidence of such a lofty view of the sun-god should, after all, be no more than an incantation. The same is the case, however, with all the Shamash hymns so far published. They either expressly or by implication form part of an incantation ritual. Evidently, then, such addresses to Shamash are to be viewed in no other light than the exaltation of Nusku in the 'Maklu' series,[429] and which we have found were in many cases elaborate, beautiful in diction, and elevated in thought. So—to give one more example—a hymn addressed to the sun-god at the setting, and which is especially interesting because of the metaphors chosen to describe the sun's course, is proved by the colophon to be again an incantation. It belongs to a series—perhaps, indeed, to the same as the specimens furnished:[430]
O sun-god in the midst[431] of heaven at thy setting,
May the enclosure of the pure heaven greet thee,[432]
May the gate of heaven approach thee,
May the directing god, the messenger who loves thee, direct thy way.
In E-babbara, the seat of thy sovereignty, thy supremacy rises like the dawn.
May Â, the wife whom thou lovest, come before thee with joy;
May thy heart be at rest,[433]
May the glory of thy divinity be established for thee.
O Shamash! warrior hero, mayest thou be exalted;