PBS 1/2, 122

1 Lilītum whose e[ye is evil, a child-snatcher],

2 Sorceries and spells r[oam about?], [wander about like a lilûm-demon].

3 [In order to bind] a lad or maid [with handcuffs],

4 She went and [took] clay from the apsûm, from a hole, and loose hair.

5 She fashioned a figurine and [rolled it] in the loose hair,

6 (So that) the man is bound in his (own) hair.

7 She spat (on it) and b[uried] it in the earth.

8 She performed sorceries and they were [dropped] in the food,

9 She spat into beer and wickedly […] a spell?.

10 She made the restless [man walk about] disoriented,

11 She [cast] paralysis in that man’s nerves,

12 She twisted his arms, […] his sides.

13 Asalluhi took note,

14 He went unto his father Enki in the temple, [saying]:

15 "My father, the evil one (whose) eye is evil, a child snatcher …"

16 When he spoke a second time: "What can re[lieve] him?"

17 Enki answ[ered] his son Asalluhi:

18 "My son, what do you not already know, what can I add to it?

19 "Asalluhi, what do you not already know, what can I add to it?

20 "Whatever I know you also know,

21 "And I know whatever you know!

22 "Go, my son Asalluhi,

23 "Fill a porous pot with water from a pure quay and

24 "(Place in it) tamarisk, innuš, ‘horned alkali’, šulhi-reed,

25 "Juniper and whi[te cedar],

26 "As well as girinna, zanir, and zamušgir stones,

27 "[And you then] cast [the Eridu incantation],

         (break in text)

28 May Gil[gameš(?)] undo his spell!

29 May her spells and sorceries overwhelm

30 The corpse of that witch like young hatchlings with a net!

31 May his heart not weaken like the shining heaven?!

32 May her own sorceries plague that witch like the child of a scorpion!

33 May they dig up the flesh of that witch like a stake!

34 May her own sorceries prey upon herself!

35 May she tear apart her breasts with her own forearms!

36 [May] she [gn]aw at her own fingers like cheese?!

37 May [anger] dry up [the saliva?] in her palate!

38  Whether it be Nergal, the great lord [of] the Netherworld, […],

39 Whether it be Ninurta, mig[hty] hero, […],

40 Whether it be Utu, the great judge [of] the gods, […],

41 Whether it be Ningišzida, thr[one-bearer of the gods (…)],

42 Whether it be Gibil … incantation-[priest]? […],

43 Whether it be the hero? Idlur[ugu …],

44 Whether the spittle? [be …] like a marsh,

45 By the command of An and the command [of] Enki […],

46 [May] the man, son of his god, [become clean, bright, and pure]!

47 [He should be washed] like an oil jar,

48 [He should be scrubbed] like a butter dish!

49 [He should be assigned] to Utu, foremost of the gods,

50 So that Utu, foremost [of the gods can return him in safety] to the benevolent hand of his god!

51 The god of this man and Enki and [Asalluhi?…].

52 He who was seized […],

53 By the command of Enki may [he be purified]!

         (rest broken)

2: Geller 1989, 194, restores: it-t[a-na-ar-pu-ud], but rapādum is not attested in the N stem. Perhaps restore a form of nagāšum. While the first two substantives seem to serve as the direct object in the Sumerian version (see Geller 1989, 199), they are in the nominative case in the Akkadian translation. The reading uš₇! (KAxLI) contra the copy, follows Wilcke 1973, 12 ("Nach dem Photo").

         9a: šikārum: Loc. adv. (Sumerian: kaš-e).

         1'a–2'a: For image in this couplet, of Gilgamesh with the running chicks, see Wasserman 2003a, 154.

         2'a: ru-ša, standing for rūšum, "dirt", is not expected in this context and does not correspond to uš₇-zu or uš₇-ri-a elsewhere. In addition, an accusative would be hard to explain syntactically. The emendation ru-<ḫu>-ša fits both lexically and syntactically. In addition, the suffix -ša is expected, corresponding to uš₇-ri-a-ni.

         3': For this line, see Michalowski's collation in CAD S, 31^a, lex. sec.

         4': Or: "She went and took clay from the apsu, (and) from the hole – combed-out hair".

         5'a: The Last sign in the copy (-šú), transliterated so by Geller 1989, 197, does not fit OB orthography and grammar. It is likely that the sign is actually -ši!, which is similar in shape and expected grammatically and contextually (thus already Falkenstein1939, 14). The idea expressed here is that sorceries go from generation to generation, at times attacking their own kin, other times simply multiply, see similarly, the opening lines of YOS 11, 15 // YOS 11, 29.

         9'a: Geller 1989, 197, 203, restores ba-á[š?-li? ...], but this is uncertain since bašlu is otherwise not paired with ga-àr.

         14'–15': Geller 1989, 198 transliterates the signs following ḫé-a in these lines as the possessive suffix -zu, followed by ka-silim-m[a] in line 14' and ni[r-gál] in line 15' and translates ( 200): "whether you be…", and the last signs as epithets connected to the following lines. However, a second person is not expected in this context and the break in the line distribution is difficult as well. These signs may be Akkadian glosses. Read perhaps zu-ka-qí-x, as a form of zukaqīpum or zukaqīpānum, although this is difficult to explain in the context.