Iraq 31, pl. V-VIa
Incantation is found on a therapeutic tablet among prescriptions for a woman giving birth having a colic
Transliteration
33. MUNUS munusLA.‹RA›.AḪ-tu šap-šu-qa-at Ù.TUmeš-da
34. Ù.TUmeš šap-šu-qa-at še-er-ra ku-na-at
35. še-er-ra ku-na-at ana qa-tu-ú ZI-te ŠU.RA gišSAG.KUL
36. sa-ni-iq!KÁ ana ti-nu-qí ka!-lu-ú pi-it ARḪUŠ!(SILA4)-mu
37. ba-ni-tu ú-bu-ḫa-at BAmeš mu-ú-te
38. ki-i gišGIGIR ú-bu-ḫa-at BAmeš ta-ḫa-zi
39. ki-i gišAPIN ú-bu-ḫa-at BAmeš gišTIRmeš
40. ki-i UR.SAG mu-ut-taḫ-iṣ ina ÚŠmeš-šá ṣa-la-at
41. ú/šam-ṭa-a IGImeš-šá ul ta-da-gal ka-at-ma šap-ta-šá
42. ul ta-pa-te ši-mat mu-te u ši-ma-te!(TA) ša-pa-a IGImeš-šá
43. ú-ia GÙ-ša ik-ta-na-at-tam ul ŠE.GA-a
44. GEŠTUmeš-šá ul sa-qa-at uzuGABA-sa sà-pu-ḫu ku-lu-lu-šá
45. pu-ṣu-ni ul pa-ṣu-na-at bu-ul-ta ul ti-šu
46. GUB-za-am-ma DUG4.GAmeš -ia!?(SI) re-ma-nu-ú dAMAR.UTU
47. an-nu-ú te-šu-ú la-a-ma-ku-ma ku-ul-da-a-ni
48. še-li kak-ka ša-ti bu-nu-ut DINGIRmeš
49. bu-nu-ut LÚ.U19.LU lu-ú-ṣa-ma li-mur AN.BAR7
50. ÉN!(IGI+AN).É.NU.RU ši-ip-tu ša mu-ul-tap-ši-iq-te
Translation
33. The woman in childbirth gives birth with great difficulty.
34. She gives birth with great difficulty; she is attached to the baby.
35. She is attached to the baby; the bolt is locked to make an end to life.
36. The gate is fastened against the suckling infant; the opening of the womb is blocked.
37. The mother is covered in the dust of death.
38. Like a chariot, she is covered in the dust of battle.
39. Like a plough, she is covered in the dust of the woods.
40. Like a fighting warrior, she lies in her own blood.
41. Her eyes are darkened, she cannot see; her lips are closed,
42. she cannot open (them); (with) the sign(s) of death and demise? her eyes are clouded.
43. The woe of her mouth keeps covering her.
44. Her ears cannot hear, her breast is not restrained, her headband is loosened,
45. she wears no veils, she has no dignity.
46. -Stand by and listen to my utterance, (O) merciful Marduk:
47. “This is chaos, I am surrounded, reach for me!”-
48. Let that what is sealed come up, a creation of the gods,
49. a creation of mankind. Let him come out, let him see the (light of) (mid)day!
50. INCANTATION. An incantation for a woman in childbirth.
Commentary
38–40: Foster 2019.
Michael P. Streck and Nathan Wasserman, Sources of Early Akkadian Literature (SEAL), seal.huji.ac.il. No commercial use is allowed. Published under CC BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives). Reproduced unmodified. Cite as SEAL no. 7231; view on seal.huji.ac.il.