Position in chronology
SAA 10 381. Rituals, Prayers, and Laments Because of Mars (CT 53 008) [miscellaneous]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) The 'farmer' should perform the apotropaic ritual against evil of any kind; the 'farmer' should (also) perform the penitential psalms for Nergal and the 'hand-lifting' prayer for Nergal. Let them write in the apotropaic ritual and the prayer as follows: (5) "In the evil of the planet Mars which exceeded its term and ap[peared] in the constellation Aries: may its evil not [approach], not come near, not press up[on (me)], not affect me, my country, the people of [my pal]ace and my army!" (r 5) Let them write like this in the apotropaic ritual and the 'hand-lifting' prayer.
Source: Parpola, S. 1993. Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars. SAA 10. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa10/P313423/
Why it matters
Transliteration
NAM.BÚR.BI ḪUL DÙ.A.BI LÚ.ENGAR le-pu-uš / ÉR.ŠÀ.ḪUN.GÁ-MEŠ šá dU.GUR ù šu-íl-la-ka-nu / šá dU.GUR LÚ.ENGAR le-pu-uš ina ŠÀ NAM.BÚR.BI / u šu-íl-la-ka-nu liš-šá-⸢ṭir⸣ / um-ma ina ḪUL MUL.ṣal-bat-a-⸢nu⸣ / ša a-dan-šú ú-še-ti-[qu-u-ni] / ù ina ŠÀ MUL.LÚ.ḪUN.GÁ ⸢in⸣-[na-mir-u-ni] / ḪUL-⸢šu⸣ ia-a-ši KUR-ia ⸢UN⸣-MEŠ É.[GAL-ia] / ù e-mu-qí-ia ⸢la⸣ [i-ṭe-eḫ-ḫa-a] / NU i-qar-ri-ba la i-sa-an-[ni-qa] / la i-kaš-šá-dan-⸢ni⸣ / ki-i an-ni-i ina NAM.BÚR.BI / ù šu-íl-la-ka-nu liš-šá-ṭir
Scholarly note
Letter from a scholar (astrologer, exorcist, physician, lamentation-priest) to Esarhaddon or Ashurbanipal, edited by Simo Parpola (SAA 10, 1993). ORACC text P313423.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P313423). source
Translation excerpted from Parpola, S. 1993. Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars. SAA 10. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa10/P313423/.
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