RB 59 Pl. 7f. (Man and his god)

1 A man cries to his god ..., he constantly supplicates and pr[ay]s^? to him.

2 His heart is aflame, his toil is bitter.

3 His mood has become gloomy from trouble.

4 He has become weak and he bent down, he squatted.

5 His toil has become heavy for him, he has come close to crying.

6 He brays like a foal parted from (his parent) donkey.

7 He has become loud before the god ...

8 A bull is his speech, [his] voice two lamenters.

9 His lips bear a lament to his lord.

------------------------------------------------------------------

10 He recounts to his lord the toil he has gone through,

11 The lad reveals the suffering he is enduring:

12 “My lord, I have reflected in my mind,

13 I ... in my heart, but I do not know what sin I have committed.

14 Have I myself ... an abomination against you, that I ... (such a) bad misfortune?

15 A brother should not l[oo]k^? (down)^? at his brother, a friend should not slan[der] his friend,

16 … has not … me … beneath^? you, lord […] a house of rejoicing!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

17 Hea[r^? … ] … [...] … the lord of justice, who dec[rees^? …], is present for me.

18 […] … […] … may his choice heart […].

19 […….] to enclose^? himself for […].

20 [                ] … [                ]

21 […] … [make me he]althy^? and … […].

------------------------------------------------------------

22 [     ] … I got distressed [            ] x x x [    ]

23 [         ] like … [          ] … I cr[y out(?)  ]

24 [    ] … my spirit came to an end. H[e]ar(?) … of my days.

25 [From] my childhood to my maturity my […] have lengthened in the land.

26 [         ] all the favours you have done to me; All that I have […] I cannot forget.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

27 Be[fo]re(?) grace you have shown evil. My lord, wh[en](?) have you ever made … bright?

28 My misfortune has increased; it attaches(?) itself to (my) feet. [It has placed](?) blows on my skull(?).

29 You have made a full(?) mouth very bitter for me; …. has become a stinkwort.

30 ….. you made the water dirty; my release …. since my childhood.

31 … [   ] … the side of the mountain. The heights are humble(?), there is no one to descend(?).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

32 [    ] … ; you have set my feet on the ground.

33 [                   ] …… you have made rain.

34 [                    ] … you have filled.

35 [                   ] … you have heaped up.

36 [                    ] of my house, my father, the man of my clan.

37 [                            ] of(?) his slave(?).

38 [                            ] his(?) …

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

39 [                                                 ] …

40 [                                                 ] to the slave(?).

42 [                                                  ] ….

43 [                                      ] he raised him to the ground.

44 [                                       he an]ointed [him] with myrtle oil.

45 [                           ] food; he has covered his mole(?).

46 Standing by him, he cheered his heart,

47 He speaks to him of the relief(?) of his good health.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

48 Your šibbum-disease is locked(?), your heart should not be disturbed!

49 The years have passed, the days in which you were filled with toil.

50 Had you not been ordained to life,

51 How would you have been able to bear the entire severe di’um-illness?

52 You experienced distress, only a little was prevented (from you)!

53 You have carried its heavy load in full,

54 I have opened your door wide, the way is open for you,

55 The path is straight for you, and compassion is bestowed on you.

56 In future days do not forget [your] god,

57 Your creator, if you want to be well!

------------------------------------------------------------

58 I am your god, your creator, your help.

59 My guards are watching over you and are strong for you.

60 The field will open its refuge [for you].

61 I am watching you so you will always [find(?)] life.

62 And you, do not turn pale: anoint the parched,

63 Feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty to drink,

64 And he who sat, and …. […],

65 May he look at your bread, may he suck, may he receive it and may he rejoi[ce]!

66 The gate of peace and health is open for you!

67 … into it, come in, go out! May you be well!

----------------------------------------------------------------

68 Make his way straight, open his path! May the prayer of your slave go down to your heart!

subscript:   …-num

1: Even though the comparative function of -iš is known only after the OB period, and thus rū’iš is understood by most scholars with the terminative -iš, “to the friend,”  Lambert 1987, p. 194, argues that ru-i-iš is an OB example of comparative -iš (“like a friend”). Mayer 1995, 186, argues on grounds of content, context and grammar, that ru-i-iš should be a modal adverb, comprising of an adjective and the ending -iš. He proposes thee otherwise unattested root rw’, “loud”, i.e., “loudly”.

6: This is a stock phrase which occurs in Sumerian laments, see Kramer 1982, 141f:8. The line is almost a translation of a line in an inscription of Lugalzagesi, though using different animals: ki-zabalam^ki-e u₈ sila₄ gur₅-a-gin₇ sig₄ mu-da-gi₄-gi₄ (Steible 1982, 318, Lugalzagesi 1, ii:43-45).

7: rēšu at the end of the line is a peculiar epithet for the god. Note that the scribe erased the sign IM (or IH?), so perhaps a different epithet was intended.

            14: Lambert 1987, 195, excludes the possibility to restore am-ma-[ah-h]a-ar.

            15: We understand this line as referring to the normal social relations which the sufferer does not experience.

            16: Perhaps the supplicant wishes that he shall enter a house of rejoicing or that his house will turn back into a house of rejoicing rather than a house of misery.

            19: The reading us-sú-ra (esērum D) follows von Soden 1990, 137 with n. 19a. Lambert 1987, 196f., reads uṣ-ṣú-ra, which he understands from the root nṣr.

            21: The restoration [bu-u]l-li-ṭa-an-ni follows von Soden 1990, 137 with n. 21a. Lambert 1987, 190, restores [tu-u]l-li-dea-an-ni.

            26: Von Soden 1990, 138 suggests: [im-ma-t]i-ma la tu-da-mi-qá-an-ni-ma. Lambert 1987, 190-191 restores the second verb as ma-la al-z[é-nu-ú-k]u, “And all the balsphemy(?) I have spoken against you.”

            27: CAD K, 400 and von Soden 1990, 138, read ik-[ki-i]p-pí, from kippum, “calamity” (*ina kippi), but the syntax seems awkward. Lambert 1987, 197, suggests: kibbu, “burning”. 

            28: Lambert 1987, 197, suggests an otherwise unattested word watātum, from watûm.

            31: We suggest to understand ašru as “humble”. Lambert 1987, 193, understands ašru as a form of ašar, “where”. Von Soden 1990, 138, understads it as a stative of ašārum.

            33: The restoration of the first verb is according to Lambert 1987, 192 and von Soden 1990, 138. Von Soden 1990, 138 understands the next word as šā’ilum, “praying mantis”. Perhaps read and restore the line: [   hiṣib^? HÉ^?.G]ÁL^!?-lim ša e-li-<ia>^? tu-ša-az-ni-in a-ta (suggestion: Nathan Wasserman).

            35: Von Soden 1990, 138, restores: [ana tap]-pí-ša-tim.

            45: li-pí-us-su is understood from liptum, with von Soden 1990, 139 (contra Lambert 1987, 192, who understands in from libšu).

            48: Lambert 1987, 198: ši-ib-bu-uk e-de-el, “gird your loins”. Perhaps read the verb as: e-ke^!-el, “your šibbu disease is dark(?)”.

            49: Following von Soden 1990, 139: “Relativ-Satz ohne ša”. Lambert 1987, 198, reads: š[a] am-la-ú-ni, “the days I filled with toil,” with a transitive use of malû (very rare and otherwise known only in first millennium, see CAD M/I, 181a).

            54: See Wasserman 1991.

            64: Von Soden 1990, 140 restores: iš-ta-ab-bu-ba i-n[a^!-šu], but this is difficult in the context. Perhaps the root here has a different meaning referring to the person squating before the rescued sufferer (cf. Heb. and Aram. špp, “to crawl”).

            65: For this line, see von Soden 1957, 319.

            67: mu-um-ma in the beginning of the line is difficult to explain and an imperative is expected. Von Soden 1990, 140, proposes to understand it as mūn-ma; CAD M/II, 197, proposes to understand it as an indefinite pronoun.

subscript. The accepted reading of the subscript as referring to the scribe of the tablet, Kalbānum, seems to fit the traces of the signs, but would be an irregular colophon. Perhaps understand the signs as KA PN, “according to the mouth/speech of PN” (cf. Bruschweiller 1990, 120). Another possibility is that this subscript refers to the name of the genre of this prayer, cf. giš-gi₄-gál and ér-šà-ne-ša₄ dingir-lú-ùlu-kam as the subscripts of the Sumerian Man and His God.