SpTU 5, 246 (P348833)
Incantation-Ritual, Hellenistic, Uruk · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
Open in the reader & map →See it among all tablets
| Designation | SpTU 5, 246 |
|---|---|
| ID | P348833 |
| Museum no. | IM — |
| Collection | National Museum of Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq |
| Language | Akkadian; Sumerian |
| Period | Hellenistic · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE |
| Genre | Incantation-Ritual |
| Find spot | Uruk (mod. Warka) |
| Coordinates | 31.3234, 45.6395 |
English translation
By ORACC project cams/gkab · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse Column ii [0:2] o ii 1'o 1'–o ii 2'2' | [...] ... you pulverize [...] water. |
| Obverse Column ii [2:3] o ii 3'3'–o ii 3'3' | You recite [...] 3 times towards the centre. |
| Obverse Column ii [3:5] o ii 4'4'–o ii 5'5' | You draw entwined [...] on the outer door and the breast of the foe and the enemy will be turned away. |
| Obverse Column ii [5:7] o ii 6'6'–o ii 7'7' | [...], the šēdu-demon and plague will not approach a man's house. |
| Obverse Column ii [6:7] o ii 7'7'–o ii 7'7' | [...]: 'Magnetite, directing the [...] horns, |
| Obverse Column ii [7:8] o ii 8'8'–o ii 8'8' | '[...] ..., |
| Obverse Column ii [8:9] o ii 9'9'–o ii 9'9' | 'turning away the [...] of the enemy -- may it leave. |
| Obverse Column ii [9:10] o ii 10'10'–o ii 10'10' | '[...] (and) evil sign -- may they leave. |
| Obverse Column ii [10:11] o ii 11'11'–o ii 11'11' | '[...], taboo (and) the evil asag-demon -- may they leave. |
| Obverse Column ii [11:13] o ii 12'12'–o ii 13'13' | 'The evil [...], the evil eye, the evil mouth (and) the evil tongue -- may they leave.' |
| Obverse Column ii [12:14] o ii 13'13'–o ii 14'14' | Incantation for turning away the breast of the foe [...] the enemy. |
| Obverse Column ii [13:15] o ii 14'14'–o ii 15'15' | Its ritual: ditto. |
| Obverse Column ii [14:15] o ii 15'15'–o ii 15'15' | [...] keeping away the foot of evil from my house he has said: |
| Obverse Column ii [15:16] o ii 16'16'–o ii 16'16' | [...]. 'I am the favourite, I am the favourite. |
| Obverse Column ii [16:17] o ii 17'17'–o ii 17'17' | 'Utu, I am the favourite, judge, I am the favourite. |
| Obverse Column ii [17:19] o ii 18'18'–o ii 19'19' | 'My god, I am the favourite, gods, I am the favourite, man, I am the favourite. |
| Obverse Column ii [19:21] o ii 20'20'–o ii 21'21' | ' [...], I am the favourite, wise one of humanity, [...] of mankind, I am the favourite. |
| Obverse Column ii [21:23] o ii 22'22'–o ii 23'23' | '[...] -- may it leave.' Incantation formula. |
| Obverse Column ii [22:25] o ii 23'23'–o ii 25'25' | [...], imhur-līm-plant, thyme, [...] with hair from a [...] female kid; you sprinkle [...] of good [...]. |
| Obverse Column ii [25:27] o ii 26'26'–o ii 27'27' | [...] on its neck [...] of evil is blocked. |
| Obverse Column ii [27:28] o ii 28'28'–o ii 28'28' | [...] blocking [...] a man's house: |
| Obverse Column ii [28:30] o ii 29'29'–o ii 30'30' | [...] ... offspring of [...] ... |
| Obverse Column iii [0:1] o iii 1'o 1'–o iii 1'o 1' | They (figures) stand ... [...] ... the right and left and [...]. |
| Obverse Column iii [1:3] o iii 2'2'–o iii 3'3' | You have them bear a grappling hook. You have them bear a belt for a bronze sword, belts for axes (and) .... |
| Obverse Column iii [3:4] o iii 4'4'–o iii 4'4' | You bury them upright at the threshold. |
| Obverse Column iii [4:6] o iii 5'5'–o iii 6'6' | You speak praise to them: |
| Obverse Column iii [5:6] o iii 6'6'–o iii 6'6' | 'You, figures (made) from clay from the ditch in the orchard, |
| Obverse Column iii [6:7] o iii 7'7'–o iii 7'7' | 'I kneaded you in water (flowing) downstream. |
| Obverse Column iii [7:8] o iii 8'8'–o iii 8'8' | 'I fashioned you before the protective goddess. |
| Obverse Column iii [8:9] o iii 9'9'–o iii 9'9' | 'I hold you. |
| Obverse Column iii [9:10] o iii 10'10'–o iii 10'10' | 'For the foot of evil not to enter my house, |
| Obverse Column iii [10:11] o iii 11'11'–o iii 11'11' | 'I assembled you in your entirety at the threshold. |
| Obverse Column iii [11:12] o iii 12'12'–o iii 12'12' | 'I adjure you by the protective god (and) the radiant king, Šamaš.' |
| Obverse Column iii [12:16] o iii 13'13'–o iii 16'16' | To keep away the foot of evil from my house, ... [...] ... and keep away the foot of evil, you approach the foot of evil, the šēdu-demon, the rābiṣu-demon (and) the evil god to the man's house, as well as the figures bearing the plague. |
| Obverse Column iii [16:20] o iii 17'17'–o iii 20'20' | You set out a ritual assemblage at the threshold of the outer door. You slaughter a virgin female kid. You mix the blood, which you sink into a bowl, with water from the well in Marduk's temple and milk, and you sprinkle that house. |
| Obverse Column iii [20:21] o iii 21'21'–o iii 21'21' | You sweep that house with a date-palm spadix from the (tree's) northern side. |
| Obverse Column iii [21:23] o iii 22'22'–o iii 23'23' | You throw the sweepings from the house into a watercourse. |
| Obverse Column iii [22:24] o iii 23'23'–o iii 24'24' | You take a bronze sword whose weight is 10 shekels, and you release (it) at the threshold of the outer door, and you drive (it) in deep towards the house. |
| Obverse Column iii [24:26] o iii 25'25'–o iii 26'26' | You place (it thus). You place the hilt below (and) the tip of evil above. |
| Obverse Column iii [26:27] o iii 27'27'–o iii 27'27' | You kneel and you speak as follows: |
| Obverse Column iii [27:29] o iii 28'28'–o iii 29'29' | 'Bronze sword ... in heaven and earth, and diʾu-illness (and) plague [...] in the man's house.' |
| Obverse Column iii [29:32] o iii 30'30'– | You say (this) 3 times and [...] 'He searched'. |
| Reverse Column i [0:2] r i 1r i 1–r i 22 | The threshold ... you confine [...]. ... [...]. |
| Reverse Column i [2:3] r i 33–r i 33 | Incantation. 'Hu, huba, huhu, he searched, he searched. |
| Reverse Column i [3:4] r i 44–r i 44 | 'I searched, I have seen you, I searched for you, I have sought you. |
| Reverse Column i [4:5] r i 55–r i 55 | 'For me not to be wronged, for me not to be killed, |
| Reverse Column i [5:6] r i 66–r i 66 | 'because like a lion you do not have a ..., |
| Reverse Column i [6:7] r i 77–r i 77 | 'because like a wolf you do not get a ..., |
| Reverse Column i [7:9] r i 88–r i 99 | 'I have overwhelmed your furious weapons (and) I confine you.' |
| Reverse Column i [8:10] r i 99–r i 1010 | You recite this incantation 3 times over the threshold and the foot of evil, diʾu-illness and plague will not approach the man's house. |
| Reverse Column i [10:12] r i 1111–r i 1212 | The foot of evil will go out and the good šēdu-demon and the favourable protective goddess will enter the man's house. The god will be at peace with the man. |
| Reverse Column i [12:13] r i 1313–r i 1313 | (For) diʾu-illness, illness and plague not to approach a man's house: |
| Reverse Column i [13:16] r i 1414–r i 1616 | seeds of greenery, seeds of maštakal-plant, seeds of hound's tongue, seeds of azallû-plant, seeds of šurdunû-plant, seeds of thorn, seeds of anameru-plant -- [...] these 7 plants together. |
| Reverse Column i [16:20] r i 1717–r i 2020 | You mix (them) with honey from the mountain (and) exudation from camelthorn. You divide (them) 3 times and you bury (them) at the threshold of the outer door, on the right [...], and illness, diʾu-illness, anxiety and plague [...] to a man [...]. |
| Reverse Column i [20:23] r i 2121– | [...] to a man [...] |
| Reverse Column ii [0:1] r ii 1r ii 1–r ii 1r ii 1 | You release [...]. |
| Reverse Column ii [1:2] r ii 22–r ii 22 | You release [...]. |
| Reverse Column ii [2:7] r ii 33–r ii 77 | [...] his health [...] you open [...] of the threshold and [...] in the foundations of the house [...] at the head of the bed, you bury [...] of the outer [...]. |
| Reverse Column ii [7:10] r ii 88–r ii 1010 | [...] ... that are provided with wings, [...] head of the bed, bodies [...] you place their [...] towards the outside and -- ditto. |
| Reverse Column ii [10:14] r ii 1111–r ii 1414 | [...] that are bearing the ... of the date palm, [...] that are lying around by the chair, [...] their faces towards the outside, you bury [...]. |
| Reverse Column ii [14:16] r ii 1515–r ii 1616 | You place [...]. ... Bearing a standard, [...] lying around [...] front of the chair -- ditto. |
| Reverse Column ii [16:19] r ii 1717–r ii 1919 | [...] of the cella [...] ..., [...] ... of the ēru-tree, [...] of the cella -- ditto. |
| Reverse Column ii [19:21] r ii 2020–r ii 2121 | [...] gate of the temple of his god [...] ... |
Transliteration (ATF)
From Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC default); per-file JSON license fields say: This data is released under the CC0 license (133618)
| Line | ATF | Machine English (draft) |
|---|---|---|
| o ii | ||
| 1' | [...] x | |
| 2' | [...] ⸢A⸣ ta-sak₃ | |
| 3' | [...] 3-šu₂ ana ŠA₃ ŠID{nu} | |
| 4' | [... ki]-⸢iṣ⸣-ṣu-ru-tu₄ ina KA₂ AN.AŠ.AM₃ | |
| 5' | [HUR{ir]}⸢ma⸣ GABA HUL u a-a-bi ⸢tur⸣-rat(RI) | |
| 6' | [x x] {d}ALAD(KAL) u UŠ₂-MEŠ ana E₂ LU₂ NU TE-MEŠ | |
| 7' | [x x] {⸢na₄⸣}ka-gin₆-na dab-ba ⸢si⸣ x si sa₂-e | |
| 8' | [x x]-⸢bi⸣-a gi₄-bi {d}x igi-ke₄ | |
| 9' | [x x a]-⸢a⸣-bi tur-ru he₂-⸢em⸣-ta-e₃ | |
| 10' | [x x] ⸢ŋiškim⸣ hul he₂-⸢em⸣-ta-e₃ | |
| 11' | [x x niŋ₂]-⸢gig⸣ a₂-sag₃ hul he₂-⸢em⸣-ta-e₃ | |
| 12' | [x] ⸢hul⸣ igi hul ka hul eme hul {<MIN(he₂-em-ta-e₃)>} | |
| 13' | [KA].⸢INIM⸣.MA ⸢GABA⸣ HUL [x] a-a-bi tur-ru | |
| 14' | [DU₃.DU₃]-BI ŠU-BI.AŠ.AM₃ | |
| 15' | [x x] GIR₃ ⸢HUL⸣{ti₃} ina ⸢E₂-ia⸣-ma KU₅{us} ; ⸢iq⸣-ta-bi | |
| 16' | [x x] ⸢še⸣-ga-me-en ⸢še-ga-me⸣-en | |
| 17' | {[d]}⸢utu⸣ še-⸢ga-me⸣-en ⸢di-kud še-ga⸣-me-en | |
| 18' | [diŋir]-⸢ŋu₁₀⸣ še-⸢ga⸣-me-en ⸢diŋir⸣-re-⸢e⸣-ne | |
| 19' | [še]-⸢ga-me-en⸣ lu₂ še-ga-me-⸢en⸣ | |
| 20' | [x x še]-⸢ga-me-en⸣ zu lu₂-lu₇{lu} | |
| 21' | [x x nam-lu₂-lu₇]{⸢lu} še⸣-ga-me-en | |
| 22' | [x x he₂-em]-⸢ta⸣-e₃ te EN₂ | |
| 23' | [... {u₂}IGI]-⸢lim {u₂⸣}ha-šu-u₂ | |
| 24' | [...] ina SIG₂ {munus}AŠ₂.GAR₃ | |
| 25' | [...] DU₁₀.GA ⸢SU₃⸣ | |
| 26' | [...] ina GU₂-šu₂ | |
| 27' | [... HUL]{ti₃} KU₅{at} | |
| 28' | [...] ⸢E₂⸣ LU₂ KU₅{si} | |
| 29' | [...] x tab-nit | |
| 30' | [...] x UD | |
| o iii | ||
| 1' | ⸢TA⸣ [x x] x x ⸢ZA₃⸣ u ⸢GUB₃ GUB{zu⸣} u [x x] | |
| 2' | u₂-ma-ša₂ IL₂-šu₂-nu-tu₂ {kuš}E.IB₂ GIR₂ ⸢ZABAR⸣ | |
| 3' | šib-be-e GIN₂-MEŠ {urudu}KUR-ne₂-e IL₂-šu₂-nu-⸢tu₂⸣ | |
| 4' | ziq-pa ina KUN₄ te-te-mir-šu₂-nu-tu₂ | |
| 5' | ta-na-at-tu ta-dab-bu-ub-šu₂-nu-tu₂ | |
| 6' | at-tu-nu ALAM IM PA₅ {giš}KIRI₆ | |
| 7' | ina A-MEŠ qid-da-ti ab-lul-ku-nu-ši | |
| 8' | IGI {d}LAMMA ab-ni-ku-nu-ši | |
| 9' | u₂-kal-ku-nu-ši | |
| 10' | ana GIR₃ HUL{ti₃} ana E₂-ia₅ la e-re-bi | |
| 11' | ina KUN₄ u₂-gam-mir-ku-nu-ši | |
| 12' | {d}⸢ALAD⸣ LUGAL nam-ru {d}UTU u₂-tam-me-ku-nu-ši | |
| 13' | ⸢GIR₃⸣ HUL{ti₃} ina E₂-ia₅ pur-ru-sa | |
| 14' | x [x] x HA DA NIM-ma GIR₃ HUL{ti₃} pur-ru-sa | |
| 15' | ⸢GIR₃⸣ HUL{⸢ti₃⸣} {d}ALAD MAŠKIM DINGIR HUL ana E₂ LU₂ | |
| 16' | tu-ṭah-ha-am-ma NAM.UŠ₂-MEŠ NU-MEŠ na-šu-tu₂ | |
| 17' | ina KUN₄ KA₂ BAR.RA KEŠ₂ tara-kas₂ {munus}AŠ₂.GAR₃ | |
| 18' | GIŠ₃.NU.ZU GIŠ₃.NU.ZU [KU₅]{is} UŠ₂-MEŠ ša₂ ana kal-li | |
| 19' | ta-mah-⸢ha⸣-hu ina A PU₂ ša₂ E₂ {d}AMAR.UTU | |
| 20' | u GA HI.HI-ma E₂ BI SU₃ | |
| 21' | E₂ BI ina {giš}AN.NA.GIŠIMMAR ša₂ {tu₁₅}SI.SA₂ tu-še-šer | |
| 22' | šu-šu-rat E₂ ana ID₂ ŠUB{di} | |
| 23' | GIR₂ ZABAR ša₂ 10 GIN₂ KI.LA₂-BI TI{qe₂}ma | |
| 24' | ina KUN₄ KA₂ AN.AŠ.AM₃ BAR-ma ana E₂ tu-šap-<pal> | |
| 25' | ⸢GAR⸣{an} ši-ik-ru ana KI.TA{nu} ⸢za⸣-aq-pa-an | |
| 26' | HUL{ti₃} ana AN.TA{nu} GAR{an} | |
| 27' | ta-kam-mis-ma UR₅.GIM DU₁₁.GA | |
| 28' | GIR₂ ZABAR ina AN{e} u KI{ti₃} x x ⸢TA⸣-ma | |
| 29' | di-hu-um NAM.UŠ₂-MEŠ ina E₂ ⸢LU₂⸣ [...] | |
| 30' | 3-šu₂ DU₁₁.GA-ma is(IŠ-)hu-⸢ra⸣ [...] | |
| r i | ||
| 1 | KUN₄ x [...] | |
| 2 | te-si-ir ⸢KI DU KA⸣ x MA x [...] | |
| 3 | ⸢EN₂⸣ hu-u₂ hu-ba hu-hu is-hu-ra is-⸢hu⸣-[ra] | |
| 4 | as-hu-ra a-ta-mar-ka as-hu-rak-ka eš-te-e-ka | |
| 5 | ana la ha-ba-li-ia ana la ša₂-ga-ši-ia₂ | |
| 6 | aš-šum GIM UR.MAH ta-qu-ur-tu₂ la ti-šu-u | |
| 7 | aš-šum GIM UR.BAR.RA ta-kal-tu₂ la TUKU{u₂} | |
| 8 | šam-ru {giš}TUKUL-MEŠ-ka as-sa-pan-ka es-si-ir-ki | |
| 9 | EN₂ an-ni-tu₂ 3-šu₂ ana UGU KUN₄ ŠID-ma | |
| 10 | GIR₃ HUL{ti₃} di-hu u NAM.UŠ₂-MEŠ ana E₂ LU₂ NU TE-⸢MEŠ⸣ | |
| 11 | GIR₃ HUL{ti₃} E₃-ma {d}ALAD SIG₅ u {d}LAMMA | |
| 12 | ŠE.GA ana E₂ LU₂ KU₄ DINGIR KI LU₂ i-sal-lim | |
| 13 | ana E₂ LU₂ di-hu GIG u NAM.UŠ₂-MEŠ la₃ TE{e} | |
| 14 | NUMUN {u₂}SAR NUMUN {u₂}IN.NU.UŠ NUMUN EME.⸢UR⸣.[GI₇] EME.⸢UR⸣.[GI₇] | |
| 15 | NUMUN {u₂}A.ZAL.LA₂ NUMUN {u₂}SI.SA₂ NUMUN {u₂}pu-[qut-ti] | |
| 16 | NUMUN {u₂}a-na-mi-ru 7 U₂-HI.A an-nu-tu₂ 1{[niš} x] | |
| 17 | ina LAL₃ KUR.RA ⸢u₂⸣-paṭ {giš}KIŠI₁₆ HI.HI 3-[šu₂] | |
| 18 | ta-za-az-ma ina KUN₄ KA₂ BAR.RA ⸢ZA₃⸣ [x x] | |
| 19 | te-⸢te-mir⸣-ma GIG di-hu ⸢di⸣-[lip-tu₂] | |
| 20 | u NAM.UŠ₂-⸢MEŠ⸣ ana ⸢LU₂⸣ [...] | |
| 21 | ana ⸢NA⸣ [...] | |
| r ii | ||
| 1 | [... ta]-paṭ-tar | |
| 2 | [...] ⸢ta⸣-paṭ-tar | |
| 3 | [...] ⸢šu⸣-lum-šu₂ | |
| 4 | [...] ⸢KUN₄⸣ BAD-ma | |
| 5 | [...] ina SUHUŠ E₂ | |
| 6 | [...] ina SAG {giš}NU₂ | |
| 7 | [... AN.AŠ].⸢AM₃⸣ te-te-mir | |
| 8 | [...] U₂ ša₂ kap-pa GAR{nu} | |
| 9 | [...] ⸢SAG⸣ {giš}NU₂ pag-ru-u₂ | |
| 10 | [...]-MEŠ-šu₂-nu ana KA₂-a-ni GAR-ma MIN | |
| 11 | [...] ša₂ MUNUS ša₂ {giš}GIŠIMMAR na-šu-u₂ | |
| 12 | [...] ša₂ KI {giš}GU.ZA sah-ru-u₂ | |
| 13 | [...] IGI-MEŠ-šu₂-nu ana KA₂-a-ni | |
| 14 | [...] te-te-mir | |
| 15 | [...] x GAR{an} {gi}URI₃.GAL na-šu-u₂ | |
| 16 | [...] ⸢IGI⸣ {giš}GU.ZA ⸢sah⸣-ru-u₂ MIN | |
| 17 | [...] {⸢e₂⸣}pa-pa-⸢hi⸣ [x] x RI GIŠ | |
| 18 | [...] x HA ša₂ {giš}MA.NU | |
| 19 | [... {e₂}pa]-pa-hi MIN | |
| 20 | [...] ⸢KA₂⸣ E₂ DINGIR-šu₂ | |
| 21 | [...] x | |
Sources & licences
- Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative · CDLI: reuse of catalogue/transliteration data with citation of CDLI; images restricted (not fetched) · Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI), https://cdli.earth/ ; cite CDLI and the P-number
- Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC default); per-file JSON license fields say: This data is released under the CC0 license (133618) · ORACC project editions, https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ ; cite the individual project (see texts.extra_json.project)
- electronic Babylonian Library (eBL), LMU Munich · MIT (eBL Zenodo dataset); platform terms unverified · electronic Babylonian Library (eBL), LMU Munich, https://www.ebl.lmu.de/ ; Zenodo dataset (MIT)
Cite the original edition and translator. Page generated by Unread Atlas from the public corpus export of 2026-10-11.