“O eternal ruler, lord of everything, grant that the name of the king whom thou lovest, whose name thou hast proclaimed, may flourish, as seems pleasing to thee. Lead him in the right path. I am the prince who obeys thee, the creature of thy hand. Thou hast created me, and hast entrusted to me sovereignty over mankind. According to thy mercy, O lord, which thou bestowest upon all, may thy supreme rule be
| merciful! The fear of thy divinity implant in my heart! Grant
me what seems good to thee, for thou art the one who hast given me my life.’
The prayer emphasizes in impressive diction the dignity which the ruler attaches to his royal post, and lays stress upon the responsibilities it involves rather than upon its pomp and _ glory. Hence the tone of humility which pervades the composition, and which is surprising in a ruler whom we have been accustomed to regard as re- presenting the acme of mortal pride and arro- gance. Still more impressive is the expressed hope and purpose to rule according to the dictates of justice and equity, embodied in a dedication prayer on the completion of the temple at Sippar in honour of Shamash, the Divine judge and oracle- god par excellence §—
‘Shamash, great lord, on entering joyfully thy glorious temple E-barra, look with favour on my precious handiwork. May thy lips proclaim mercy for me! Through thy righteous order may I have abundant offspring! Long life and a firm throne grant me! May my rule|| be extended to eternity, with a righteous sceptre and beneficent authority. With a legitimate staff of authority bringing salvation to men adorn my kingdom for ever. With strong weapons protect my troops at the call of battle! O Shamash, through judicial decision and through dreams answer me aright. By thy lofty, unchangeable decree may my sharp weapons proceed to overthrow the weapons of the enemies !’
The repetition of such expressions as ‘justice,’ ‘right,’ ‘legitimate,’ is an interesting illustration of the emphasis which this king, contrary again to the current view, laid upon exalted principles in carrying out his policy, and_of the high sense of duty by which he was swayed.
The occurrence in historical inscriptions of hymns giving expression to such worthy sentiments, fur- nishes the proof that the compositions found in the library of Assurbanipal are not to be regarded as literary exercises indicative of the intellectual ambitions cherished by the priests attached to the various temples, but as part of the ritual em- ployed in obtaining oracles, in offering sacrifices,
* Qylinder B (ed. Price), col. ii. 27-111. 4.
+ For a translation of practically all the prayers in the Baby- lonian and Assyrian inscriptions, see Jastrow’s Religion Baby- loniens und Assyriens, pp. 394-418.
t Rawlinson, i. 53, col. i. 55-ii. 1.
§ Ball, Proceedings of Society of Bibl. Archeology, xi. p. 127, col. ii. 32-fii. 80.
|| t.e. my dynasty.
RELIGION OF BABYLONIA
RELIGION OF BABYLONIA 565
a
and in praying for relief from sufferings and from
the war-god of Assyria introduced. It begins as
the attacks of demons, witches, and sorcerers, or | follows :—
for averting impending disaster.
Although a large number of the hymns and prayers in this library —most of them, unfortu- nately, mere fragments—still await publication, * yet enough are at our disposal to enable us to judge of the general character of this division of the re- ligious literature of Babylonia and Assyria. All the great gods, Marduk, Ishtar, Sarpanit, Tashmit, Shamash, Sin, Adad, Ninib, Nergal, as well as Ea, Bel of Nippur, and: Ashur, are represented in the library by hymns of a more or less extensive char- acter. On the whole, the traits assigned to the gods in those hymns are the same as we en- counter in the votive and historical inscriptions, though frequently the devotion of the composers leads them to address some favourite god in terms which might lead one to believe that this god em- bodied all the traits possessed by his fellow-deities, —a Prnemonen that finds an interesting parallel in the hymns of the Rigveda, where so often the god addressed has heaped upon him the attributes of all the gods.
Taking up hymns to the heads of the southern and the northern pantheon respectively, Marduk and Ashur, it will be interesting to compare, by an example, the spirit in which each is appealed to. One of the Marduk hymns reads as follows : + —
*O strong, exalted strength of the city off... Supreme ruler, offspring of Ea, Marduk, mighty one, chief of E-turra, § Lord of E-sagila, the strength of Babylon, lover of E-zida ; Preserver of life, prince of E-makhtila, restorer of life, Protector of the land, taking care of distant peoples. Mighty sovereign over all sanctuaries, Thy name is ever good in the mouth of men, O Marduk, great lord... ’ By thy exalted command let me live in tranquillity, Let me behold thy divinity ! What I purpose may I secure! Place justice in my mouth, Implant mercy in my heart. May my god|! stand at my right side, May my goddess stand on my left side, May the god granting salvation stand firm at my side, To be propitious, to hearken, and to be favourable ! Let the word that I speak be favourable as I speak it. O Marduk, mighty ruler, command life, command my