babylonian books of private devotion

8/3/2019 Babylonian Books of Private Devotion

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(BABYLONTACAGTUDES DH IMIILOUMili; ASSYRO-BABYLONIENNE

PLTBUKKs ,\\ EC LE I ONI


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A CHAPTER FROM THE BABYLONIAN BOOKSOF PRIVATE DEVOTIONby St. LANGDON.*

The major divisions of Babylonian liturgical literature are psalmsand prayers said in temples, and incantations said in small huts builtin the fields. The Babylonians accepted these literary distinctions andclassifications made by the Sumerians, who by the word er-iem-mameant a psalm sung to the flute, whether a hymn of praise or a lamen-tation. The motif which caused the primitive inhabitants of Babyloniato evolve a religious literature was fear of the gods. A note of sadness,a consciousness of human weakness, is the dominanl elemenl of theearliest psalms, hence they were sung to the flute 1 , and called wail-ing to the flute . The characteristic thing about the eriemma liturgjis, that from the earliest times to the very end of Babylonian literature(80 BC) it was intended for public devotion. No strain revealing thepersonality of the individual is found therein. The Babylonians wereso imbued with the fear of the gods and the consciousness of sin, thatthey appointed regular days of public lament called sabbaths , occur-ring at least on the seventh and fifteenth of each month. For tin-days of universal penance they evolved Long Lamentatioo servicthe basis of these elaborate rituals for public penance was the older$emma psalm, and they are in fact often called erSemma psalms2 .

* Read before the Semitic section of the Oxford Congress for the History ofReligions.

1. halhallatu. For the great classification tablet of Babylonian religiousliterature v. IV R 03.

2. Reisner, Sicmerisch-Babylonische Hymnen XVIII. Reisnkr gives thereBabyloniaca. III 1


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2 ST. LANGDONThe Suinerians distinguished another class of psalms sung to the

balaggu1 or tambourine ; these were limited to the worship of Enlilthe earth god or Zeus, and of Nana, the Greek Athena.The Sumerians evolved a liturgy for private devotions, which

they called prayers of the lifting of the hand. These are not accom-panied by a musical instrument, but were said by the individual stand-ing before his god (generally seated).We possess Sumerian seals from a period as early as 2500 BC, onwhich the worshipper is often represented as being led to his god by aminor deity : the right hand of the interceding deity holds the lefthand of the worshipper, whose right hand is raised in adoration ; theinterceding deity himself leads the approach to the seated god with hisleft baud raised in adoration2 . Behind the worshipper follows a seconddeity with both hands raised in adoration. In one of the great cylindersof Gudea the patesi describes himself as approaching his god in thecompany of three minor spirits. The god Lugal-kurdub went beforehim ; the god Galalim went behind him ; Ningiszida his own god ledhim by the hand 3 .Humans are sometimes represented in ancient art standing before

the seated god, with hands folded across the lower waist, generallywith one or two interceding deities. Kneeling and bowing are unknownin religious art, yet in prayers, of private devotion occur such phrasesas I am bowed doAvn, I stand seeking for thee4 , or again it is saidof the conclave of gods in heaven that they bow down before themoon god5 , or before Ninib the god of war . Interesting is also the

three other liturgical classes. See the Introduction to my Sumerian Psalms.Reisner is followed by Jastrow, Religion II 6.1. For the balaggu as instrument of wailing, v. SBH 101, 6.2. Menant, Glijptique I pi. IV n 2.3. Gudea Cyl. A 18, 14-17, cf. Babyloniaca I 264 n. 2.4. King, Magic n 1, 21.5. Ibid, line 11.6. ASKT 81, 30.


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BABYLONIAN BOOKS OB PBTVATE DEVOTIOS 3following passage : 1 so and so, son of so and so, this night bowdown before thee, render tne judgment, decide m\ decision1 -.Yd we may assume that these phrases are Largely figurative, and

thai the real form of ancienl private devotion was in a standing positionwith the right hand upraised2 . Of course, the minor deities who accom-pany the worshipper are a mere fantasy, and In actual practice theworshipper probably made hi> private confessions and prayers with apriesl before the statue of a god. That i>, the priests represented theminor gods which we find in the artistic scenes of this liturgy. Breliefs ami seals where a priesl and ool a deity is represented asleading theworshipper to his god are not wanting3 . Frequently we finda person making his confession alone before his god without mediation4.

Unfortunately no example of a private prayer ami confession hasyet heen found from the ancient period. The books or tablets of privatedevotion, of which we have a great many, are all worked into incanta-tion services. In lad the lists of prayers and confessions i.3. V R 60 ; Menant, Glyptique I pi. IV n 3.4. Menant, Glyptique I 106 ; II 132 ll.


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4 ST. LANGDONcult. Alongside of the mysteries of the water cult or sacred elementof the sea, arose later the mysteries of the fire cult or sacred elementof heaven. The latter mystery was, however, exercised by the priests ofthe water cult. So then immediate communion and confession finallydemanded the intercession of a priest : the books of private penancewhich we have, or tablets of the prayers of the lifting of the hand, callthese prayers " incantations .

I propose in this paper to study a certain class of incantationswhich were called the incantations of the house of light or thebit nu-ru incantations.Before proceeding to this class of incantations and prayers it will bebest to summarize what we know about the principles of grouping andusing them. A list of the titles of about 40 Sumerian psalms existed,called prayers of the lifting of the hand, all of which belong to theperiod when these psalms were not called incantations. It is possiblethat they were repeated by the worshipper before his god without apriest at all. My reason for this supposition is, that on the seals of theearly period only deities are represented accompanying the adorer,whereas those' scenes in which a priest leads the penitent to his godappear to be from a later period. Another argument is, that theSumerian titles of the ancient prayers of the lifting of the hand, omitthe designation siphi or incantation, whereas the later Babylonianprayers of this class are most invariably thus designated 1 . Besidethe above list of such prayers we have a fragmentary list oftitles of much later prayers of the lifting of the hand2 . These titles,mostly in Semitic, are all designated as incantations. The list beginswith the titles bit rim-ki house of washing ,,, and bit sala* me " houseof baptism3 .

In a letter of an Assyrian king to the keeper of the temple library atBorsippa, the king asks for a copy of the tablets belonging to the house of baptism series4 . We actually possess a fragment of a

1. A prayer of the lifting of the hand which is not an incantation is IV R 9.2. King, Magic XIX.3. Cf. LSS II 1 p. 97 Anm. 7.4. CT XXII n 1, 12.


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BABYLONIAN Hooks o] I'KIYVlf. DEVOTION 5prayer which was used as the eighth one in the liturgj for the houseof baptism1 . The Babylonians made a liturgicaJ selecti >fprnprayers to be used in the house of baptism, bul until we have moreexamples from this liturgy, we shall be unable to say under whalcircumstances individuals were admitted to it. The bouse ofwashing was probably a temporary Inn made for the occasion. I am of the opi-nion thai whether the private liturgy, was the u house of washingthe bouse ofbaptism , or the house of light group, thai the uamerefers to the place of I he ritual and the purpose.Of the liturgy called bit rimki or house ol washing we have

fortunately one long prayer and fragments of two others2 . The lasl oneof the section is addressed to Tasmetum the spouse ofNebo. This sameprayer was used in another3 liturgy, quite differenl from the liturgyof the bit rimki : the only difference is thai the prayer, when used inthe bit rimki liturgy, has an insertion concerning an eclipse of themoon and evil portents which threaten the king and his land. Wetherefore infer, that the liturgy of the bit rimkivras for the privatedevotions of the king in time of the evil portents attending the month-ly darkness of the moon. This biturgy was made by collecting praof private devotion to various gods, and inserting proper lines to men-tion the eclipse of the moon and the king as suppliant. The firsl prayerof the section is addressed to the moon god. the second to [Staras the evening star ; the third, which is entirely broken away, was un-doubtably addressed to Nebo, and the fourth already discussed toNebo's consort Tasmet.

Beside the section of four prayers already mentioned from this ritual,a very large tablel has been preserved, which certainly reveals a cere-mony for the king in the bit rimki*. The firsl prayer is directed to thesun god and enumerates the personal sorrows of the worshipper anj one

1. King. Magic n 48. For a translation of the letter K 168 there mentioned,see now LSS II 1. (.7.

2. King, Magic n 1.3. Ibid. n 33.4. V R 50-51.


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6 ST. LANGDONof which might cause him to ask for the performance of a service. Theservice is, however, said for the worshipper by a priest, hence theprayers here are not called lifting of the hand. Among the incanta-tions or prayers on this tablet is one Oh king the faithfulness of apure heart 1 ; this section was intended for the private devotionof a king in the bit rimlci, as is evident from the following translationof part of it :

20 When thou enterest into the house of washing,22 May the god Ea rejoice for thee,24 May Danikina, queen of the ocean, in her radiance make

thee sinless.26 May Marduk, great marshal of the Igigi, purge thy head.30 The farfamed holy message which Ea hath instituted for

his purpose doth make effective their ritualistic acts evenhere ;

32 The noble gods of heaven and earth stand forth for him,even him ;

34 In the great sanctuaries of heaven and earth they standforth for him ;

36 Their forms 2 are pure and clean.37 With their3 pure clean waters,39 The great divine Anunakki themselves purge him.40 Before them he is purged.41 The great sages of Eridu,42 The lord Isimu, messenger of help [of Eridu], pure one of

Eridu, spotless one of Eridu,43 The lady Isimu, messenger of help [of Eridu], pure one4

of Eridu, spotless 4 one of Eridu,45 They that dwell in the ocean are equipped in majesty ;

1. Rev. Ill 12.2. usuratu-sina. sina refers possibly to ipsetu the acts of the ritual (1. 30).

If so, the idea is the sacramental notion attached to the acts of magic.3. Read su-nu (?).4. The forms are masculine ibba, ella (?).


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BABYLONIAN BOOKS OF PETVATB DEVOTION .47 He that is clothed in the linen of Eridu, is equipped in

majesty1 ;49 In the house of washing the} stand forth for the king

ili\ iiH E i9 ,50 At tin command of Sama greal lord of heaven and earth,52 Health and peace I (!) granl unto him.53 Oh king offspring of sacred stock,55 When thou unto the house of washing drawesl nigh,56 With the of Marduk of the ocean.57 With the (?/ of SamaS shall one make

him clean.59 . . . . in royal robes shall one clothe him.60 When in the [holj ?] chamber thou sittest,62 Clad [in royal robes V] 4 ma \ one make thee daily prospe-

rous63 When thou sighest (?)65 May Marduk66 May Enbilulu restorer of the land5 ....68 Life unto far off days [-rant ihee]70 In the secret chamber of the house of washing72 Ea the lord of magic74 With his incantation which [giveth] life [shall . . . thee]76 Fish and birds, the pride of the sea and sky (?)78 Nam the lady of the sea

[About 22 lines gone]

1. I.e. the priest.2. The idea seems to be that the king is taken into the protection of Ea aa

god of the sacred water cult.3. [um-]me-sam [()4. sag ha[d-lal] 1. 46 (?).5. gu gi (?) = mudi$ mati (?) cf. BA V 345 note on line 12.6. On sutukku as a room in a temple and a canopy, v. KB VI 1, 361.


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8 ST. LANGDONCol. IV. 21 When from the house of washing thou goest forth,

23 The great gods the Anunakki life and peace may grantthee,25 May Ninib great hero of Nippur in the battle give thee aid,27 May Ninib messenger of Ekur send thee forth with the

breath of life.28 When from the house of washing thou goest forth,30 May the propitious utukku, the propitious scdu restore thee

to prosperity.31 The evil utukku, the evil alu [may become ?] the propitious

utukku and the propitious $edu.32 The great gods the Anunakki,33 And Samas, may proclaim the word of thy good fortune.

It is very evident from this section of the ritual, that the service inthe house of washing was said especially for the king. The incantationwhich followed, of which we have but the first line, began

" House ofwashing prepared in the field ; we must infer that the house ofwashing was a temporary hut built in the field.

So then we have direct evidence that two kinds of rituals wereperformed for the king in the " house of washing , one said entirelyby priests, another in which the king himself repeated the prayers andconfessions at the monthly eclipse of the moon. We actually possess theBabylonian book of ritualistic directions 1 for this ceremony, whichdirects the priest to perform sacrifices and various ceremonies withcandles, bread, oil, herbs, etc. and the king's bed is spoken of in amanner to convey the notion that he lay upon it. A bas relief2 representsthe priests incanting a person lying upon a bed with his hand uplifted.I take it that, when a person was too ill to say his prayers in a standingposition, he was compelled at least to lift his right hand.

In the ritual the king mentions the tablet of his sins 3 , and his

1. Zimmern, Ritualtafeln n 26.2. LSS III 3 plate I.3. Col. Ill 5.


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BABYLONIAN BOOKS OF PRIVATE DEVOTIONwickedness1 . Finally the ritual gives the titles of those prayers whichthe king must say2 . On the section preserved we have alreadystudied four prayers viz. to Sin. [tar, Nebo and TaSniet, finding thaieach of them was said by the king in the ritual of the bit rimhi. Theritual refers to these four among many others. Inasmuch as thebook of ritual contained full directions for saying the service, we ofcourse do uot find the hooks containing the prayers accompanied bj aritual. To illustrate what I mean : the prayer to TaSmel as used in thehit rimki service was followed by no ritualistic directions, since th

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