BMS 09 (P394511)
Prayer, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | BMS 09 |
|---|---|
| ID | P394511 |
| Museum no. | BM — |
| Collection | British Museum, London, UK |
| Language | Akkadian |
| Period | Neo-Assyrian · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE |
| Genre | Prayer |
| Find spot | Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) |
| Coordinates | 36.3582, 43.1621 |
English translation
By King, Leonard W. · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:1] o 1'o 1'–o 1'o 1' | Prot[ector of [. . .] |
| Obverse [1:2] o 2'2'–o 2'2' | Sovereign ruler of ev[ery ...] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | Your name every[where . . .] |
| Obverse [3:4] o 4'4'–o 4'4' | O Marduk, great lord, [. . .] |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | By your exalted order [. . .] |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | that I may praise [. . .] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | Whatever I plan, [. . .] |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | Establish truth [. . .] |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | Create a favorable word in [. . .] |
| Obverse [9:10] o 10'10'–o 10'10' | May courtier and attendant spea[k . . .] |
| Obverse [10:11] o 11'11'–o 11'11' | May my (personal) god stand at [my] right side. |
| Obverse [11:12] o 12'12'–o 12'12' | May my (personal) goddess stand at [my] left. |
| Obverse [12:13] o 13'13'–o 13'13' | May the god who preserves (me) alwa[ys] be at my side. |
| Obverse [13:14] o 14'14'–o 14'14' | Grant me (the ability) to speak, hear, and ob[ey]. |
| Obverse [14:15] o 15'15'–o 15'15' | The word that I speak, when I speak (it), may it be accep[ted]. |
| Obverse [15:16] o 16'16'–o 16'16' | O Marduk, great lord, giv[e me] my life. |
| Obverse [16:17] o 17'17'–o 17'17' | Ord[er] the well-being of my life. |
| Obverse [17:18] o 18'18'–o 18'18' | May I be sated walking about in your presence. |
| Obverse [18:19] o 19'19'–o 19'19' | May Enlil rejoice over you, may Ea be glad [on your account]. |
| Obverse [19:20] o 20'20'–o 20'20' | May [the god]s of the world bless [you]. |
| Obverse [20:21] o 21'21'–o 21'21' | May the great [god]s make your heart happ[y]. |
| Obverse [21:22] o 22'22'–o 22'22' | [It is the wo]rding of a lifted-hand prayer to [Marduk]. |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1r 1–r 1r 1 | [...] exalted [. . .], elevated one of the g[oddesses] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 22–r 22 | [. . .] of the goddesses, queen of the [. . .], |
| Reverse [2:3] r 33–r 33 | [. . .] pre-eminent of the gods, cherished one of the E[sagil], |
| Reverse [3:4] r 44–r 44 | [Wi]fe of wise Dumuduku (i.e., Marduk), heir of Nin[. . .], |
| Reverse [4:5] r 55–r 55 | Queen of Esagil, the palace of the gods, the mounta[in . . .], |
| Reverse [5:6] r 66–r 66 | Lady of Babylon, the protection of the la[nds], |
| Reverse [6:7] r 77–r 77 | Lady of the gods, who love[s] to preserve life, |
| Reverse [7:8] r 88–r 88 | She is the rescuer from hardship and dif[ficulty], |
| Reverse [8:9] r 99–r 99 | . . . who seizes the hands of the fa[llen], |
| Reverse [9:10] r 1010–r 1010 | Who provides for the weak, who pours out [seed], |
| Reverse [10:11] r 1111–r 1111 | Who guards life, who gives an heir [. . .], |
| Reverse [11:12] r 1212–r 1212 | Who gives life, who accepts prayer, who rece[ives supplication], |
| Reverse [12:13] r 1313–r 1313 | Who creates the people, all of [creation], |
| Reverse [13:14] r 1414–r 1414 | [The goddess] of sunrise and sunset, who ru[les the remote heavens], |
| Reverse [14:15] r 1515–r 1515 | You keep watch daily, you overs[ee . . .] |
| Reverse [15:16] r 1616–r 1616 | [At] your [fe]et they kneel [. . .] |
| Reverse [16:17] r 1717–r 1717 | Your [name] they constantly la[ud . . .] |
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 | ||
| 1' | ⸢ṣu⸣-[lul ...] | |
| 2' | UŠUMGAL ⸢ka⸣-[liš ...] | |
| 3' | MU-ka ka-[liš ...] | |
| 4' | {d}AMAR.UTU EN GAL-⸢u⸣ [...] | |
| 5' | ina qi₂-bi-ti-ka ṣir-⸢ti⸣ [...] | |
| 6' | lu-uš-tam-mar [...] | |
| 7' | e-ma u₂-ṣa-am-ma-ru [...] | |
| 8' | šu-uš-kin kit-tu [...] | |
| 9' | šub-ši INIM SIG₅{ti₃} ⸢ina⸣ [...] | |
| 10' | ti-i-ri u na-an-za-za liq-⸢bu⸣-[u₂ ...] | |
| 11' | DINGIR-MU li-iz-ziz ina ZAG-[MU] | |
| 12' | {d}1(diš) 5(u)-MU li-iz-ziz ina GUB₃-[MU] | |
| 13' | DINGIR mu-šal-li-mu ina A₂-MU lu-u ka-a-⸢a⸣-nu | |
| 14' | ⸢šur⸣-kam-ma qa-ba-a še-ma-a u ma-⸢ga⸣-ra | |
| 15' | ⸢a⸣-mat a-qab-bu-u₂ ki-ma a-qab-bu-u₂ lu-u ma-⸢ag⸣-rat | |
| 16' | {d}AMAR.UTU EN GAL{u₂} ZI{ti₃} qi₂-šam | |
| 17' | ba-laṭ ZI{ti₃}ia qi₂-bi | |
| 18' | ⸢ma⸣-har-ka nam-riš ⸢a⸣-tal₂-⸢lu-ka⸣ lu-⸢uš⸣-[bi] | |
| 19' | {d}en-lil₂ lih-du-ka {⸢d⸣}e₂-a li-riš-[ka] | |
| 20' | [DINGIR]-⸢MEŠ⸣ ša₂ kiš-ša₂-ti lik-ru-bu-[ka] | |
| 21' | [DINGIR]-MEŠ GAL-MEŠ ⸢lib₃⸣-ba-ka li-⸢ṭib⸣-[bu] | |
| 22' | [KA]-⸢INIM-MA⸣ ŠU-⸢IL₂⸣-LA₂ {⸢d⸣}[AMAR-UTU-KAM] | |
| r | ||
| 1 | [...] ⸢ṣir-tu₄⸣ ša₂-qut ⸢i⸣-[la-a-ti] | |
| 2 | [... {d}IŠ₈].⸢TAR₂⸣-MEŠ ra-bit₂ {⸢d⸣}[...] | |
| 3 | [...]-tu₄ e-ṭil-let DINGIR-MEŠ ka-nu-ut e₂-⸢abzu⸣ | |
| 4 | [hi]-⸢rat {d⸣}DUMU.DU₆.KU₃ ⸢šal⸣-ba-bu a-pil {d}⸢nin-ši⸣-[ku₃] | |
| 5 | ⸢šar⸣-rat e₂-sag-il₂ ⸢E₂⸣.GAL DINGIR-MEŠ ša₂-du-u HE₂.⸢NUN⸣ | |
| 6 | ⸢be⸣-let KA₂.DINGIR.RA{ki} ṣu-lul ⸢ma-ti-tan⸣ | |
| 7 | {⸢d⸣}be-let i₃-li₂ ša ⸢bul⸣-lu-ṭa i-ram-mu | |
| 8 | ⸢eṭ⸣-ṭe-rat ina PAP.HAL u MUNUS.KALAG.GA | |
| 9 | ⸢x⸣-li-tu ṣa-bi-ta-<at> ŠU-2(diš) na-as₂-ki | |
| 10 | ⸢e⸣-pi-rat en-še ša₂-pi-kat₃ ŠE.NUMUN | |
| 11 | ⸢na⸣-ṣi-rat ZI{⸢ti⸣} SUM{at} IBILA u ŠE.NUMUN | |
| 12 | qa₃-i-šat TI.LA le-qat₂ un-ni-ni ma-⸢hi-rat tes₂-lit⸣ | |
| 13 | ⸢ba⸣-na-at UN-MEŠ gi-mir [nab-ni-ta] | |
| 14 | [i-lat] ṣi-ta-aš₂ u ši-la-an ba-⸢e⸣-[lat AN BAD] | |
| 15 | ⸢ta⸣-hi-iṭ-ṭi ud-da-kam ta-⸢bar⸣-[ri-i ...] | |
| 16 | [ša]-pal-ki kit-⸢mu-sa⸣ [...] | |
| 17 | [MU]-⸢ki iš-tam-ma⸣-[ra ...] | |
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.