O my mistress, thou hast encompassed me, thou hast brought me into pain,
The mighty foe has trodden me down as a reed,
I have no judgment, I have no wisdom,
Like a 'dry field' I am desolate night and day,
I thy servant beseech thee,
May thy heart be at rest, thy liver be pacified.
At times specific requests are inserted into these hymns, such as release from physical ills. Sickness being, as any other evil, due to divine anger, the sick man combines with his prayer for forgiveness of the sin of which he is guilty, the hope that his disease, viewed as the result of his sin, may be removed. A hymn addressed to Ishtar of Nineveh by Ashurnasirbal, a king of Assyria,[489] is of this character. It begins by an adoration of the goddess, who is addressed as
The producer, the queen of heaven, the glorious lady,
To the one who dwells in E-babbara ... who hath spread my fame,
To the queen of the gods to whom has been entrusted the commands of the great gods,