Preface
Vol. XV. of the “Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum, printed by order of the Trustees”, was published in 1902. Plates 7-30 of this valuable volume contain hymns addressed to Bêl, Nergal, Adad, Sin, Tammuz, Bau and Ningirgilu. Of these, besides the translations given in the present work, the following have been translated and commented on; viz., J. Dyneley Prince, Jour. Amer. Or. Soc., xxviii, pp. 168-182, a hymn to Nergal (Pl. 14); and a hymn to Sin (also rendered and explained in this thesis) by E. Guthrie Perry, in Hymnen und Gebete an Sin (Pl. 17). In press at present are also translations by J. D. Prince, a hymn to Bau, Vol. XV. Pl. 22 in the Harper Memorial Volume (Chicago); and, by the same author, a hymn to Ningirgilu, Vol. XV. Pl. 23, in the Paul Haupt Collection to appear in 1908.
All these hymns in Plates 7-30 stand by themselves as distinct from anything hitherto published. They are unilingual, a fact indicating that they are very ancient and furthermore adding materially to the difficulty of their translation. This Thesis ventures a transliteration, translation and commentary of four of the hymns which are peculiarly difficult owing to their unilingual Non-Semitic character. Of the history of the tablets in question, which are all in the Old Babylonian character, we have no information. They must tell their own story.
The writer of this Thesis wishes to acknowledge with much appreciation the aid given him by Dr. John Dyneley Prince, Professor of Semitic Languages in Columbia University, in the preparation of this work.
New York, Oct. 1st, 1907
F. A. Vanderburgh
List of Abbreviations
AL:Assyrische Lesestücke, von Friedrich Delitzsch. Vierte durchaus neu bearbeitete Auflage. ASK:Akkadische and Sumerische Keilschrifttexte, von Paul Haupt. BN:Das Babylonische Nimrodepos, von Paul Haupt. Br:A Classified List of Cuneiform Ideograms, Compiled by Rudolph E. Brünnow. CDAL.:A Concise Dictionary of the Assyrian Language, by William Muss-Arnolt. CḤ:The Code of Ḥammurabi, King of Babylon, by Robert Francis Harper. Cler:Collection de Clercq. Catalogue. Antiquités Assyriennes. CT:Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum. Déc:Découvertes en Chaldée, par Ernest de Sarzec. EBH:Early Babylonian History, by Hugo Radau. EBL:Explorations in Bible Lands during the 19th Century, by H. V. Hilprecht. HBA:A History of Babylonia and Assyria, by R. W. Rogers. HW:Assyrisches Handwörterbuch, von Friedrich Delitzsch. IG:The Great Cylinder Inscriptions A and B of Gudea, by Ira Maurice Price. JA:Journal Asiatique. JRAS:The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. MSL:Materials for a Sumerian Lexicon, by John Dyneley Prince. N:Nippur, or Explorations and Adventures on the Euphrates, by John Punnett Peters. OBI:Old Babylonian Inscriptions, chiefly from Nippur. By H. V. Hilprecht. OBTR:Old Babylonian Temple Records, by Robert Julius Lau. R:Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, prepared by Sir Henry Rawlinson. RAAO:Revue d’Assyriologie et d’Archéologie Orientale. RBA:Die Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens, von Morris Jastrow, Jr. RSA:Recueil de Signes Archaiques de l’Écriture Cunéiforme, par V. Scheil. SSD:Les Signes Sumériens derivés, par Paul Toscanne. SSO:A Sketch of Semitic Origins, by George Aaron Barton. SVA:Die Sumerischen Verbal-Afformative nach den ältesten Keilinschriften, von Vincent Brummer. TC:Tableau Comparé des Écritures Babylonienne et Assyrienne Archaiques et Modernes, par A. Amiaud et L. Mechineau. TEA:Der Tontafelfund von El Amarna, herausgegeben von Hugo Winckler. TR:Travels and Researches in Chaldaea and Susiana, by Wm. K. Loftus.
Table of Contents
Page [Introduction] 1 [Chapter I] 21 Transliteration, Translation and Commentary, Hymn to Bel [Chapter II] 42 Transliteration, Translation and Commentary, Hymn to Sin [Chapter III] 55 Transliteration, Translation and Commentary, Hymn to Adad [Chapter IV] 70 Transliteration, Translation and Commentary, Hymn to Tammuz [Glossary] 81