Thy torch is brilliant as fire;
Thy light fills the broad earth.
Thy light is glorious as the Sun ...
Before thee the great gods lie prostrate;
The fate of the world rests with thee.
An eclipse has taken place, portending evil to the country, and libations have been poured out on days carefully selected as favorable ones. The king continues:
I have poured out to thee, with wailing,[378] a libation at night;
I have offered thee a drink-offering with shouts;
Prostrate and standing erect[379] I implore thee.
With the prayer to Sin, appeals to other gods and also goddesses are frequently combined,—to Marduk, Ishtar, Tashmitum, Nabu, Ramman, and the like. The incantations themselves, consisting of fervent appeals to remove the evil, actual or portending, are preceded by certain ceremonies,—the burning of incense, the pouring out of some drink, or by symbolical acts, as the binding of cords; and the god is appealed to once more to answer the prayer.