BMS 13 (P394887)
Prayer, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | BMS 13 |
|---|---|
| ID | P394887 |
| 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' | The seed [. . .] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | High-ranking . . . [. . .] |
| Obverse [3:4] o 4'4'–o 4'4' | A helper, the incapable [. . .] |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | I (am) so-and-so, son of so-and-so, whose (personal) god (is) so-and-so [. . .]. |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | I stand in the presence of your great divinity [. . .] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | In the city, [. . .] the people, who do not [. . .] |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | Establish speaking and agreeme[nt] for me [. . .] |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | Let me walk in the street, (and) those who see (me) [. . .] |
| Obverse [9:10] o 10'10'–o 10'10' | Let me acquire wisdom in your protection [. . .] |
| Obverse [10:11] o 11'11'–o 11'11' | May it [. . .] according to your unchangeable word. |
| Obverse [11:12] o 12'12'–o 12'12' | [It is] the wording of a lifted-hand prayer [to Marduk]. |
| Obverse [12:13] o 13'13'–o 13'13' | Its ritual: In the presence of Marduk, [you sweep the roof and sprinkle pure water]. |
| Obverse [13:14] o 14'14'–o 14'14' | You set up a [cen]ser of juniper, [and you recite] this lifted-han[d prayer]. |
| Obverse [14:15] o 15'15'–o 15'15' | [Incantation: O Lord, Shazu, who knows the hear[ts of the gods of the heavens and the earth], |
| Obverse [15:16] o 16'16'–o 16'16' | [You indeed keep watch over a]ll of the teem[ing] people. |
| Obverse [16:17] o 17'17'–o 17'17' | [. . .] it crosses [. . . in the heart] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1r 1–r 1r 1 | [. . . my wit]ch(?) shall not be established . [. . . before you]. |
| Reverse [1:2] r 22–r 22 | [. . .] which is established for me and [. . . continually pursues me]. |
| Reverse [2:3] r 33–r 33 | [He] (is) like the heavens to me, I (am) [like the earth] to him [. . .] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 44–r 44 | He drove away the benevolent protective spirit [from me]. |
| Reverse [4:5] r 55–r 55 | He seized my lips, my heart he . [. . . behind me]. |
| Reverse [5:6] r 66–r 66 | He bound my arms [. . .] |
| Reverse [6:7] r 77–r 77 | He filled my knees with stiffness [...] |
| Reverse [7:8] r 88–r 88 | The ill-wisher of my land [. . .] |
| Reverse [8:9] r 99–r 99 | He has removed my name . . [. . .] |
| Reverse [9:10] r 1010–r 1010 | My lord, I have approached you, hear [. . .]. |
| Reverse [10:11] r 1111–r 1111 | Take my case, (my) verdict [. . .] |
| Reverse [11:12] r 1212–r 1212 | Bring me . . . [. . .] |
| Reverse [12:13] r 1313–r 1313 | As (if I were) not a lord, . . . [. . .] |
| Reverse [13:14] r 1414–r 1414 | O Marduk, . . [. . .] |
| Reverse [14:15] r 1515–r 1515 | According to [your] word (lit. in [your] mouth) [. . .] |
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' | ⸢NUMUN⸣ [...] | |
| 2' | lil-⸢x⸣-[...] | |
| 3' | ša₂-qa₂-a ⸢E x x x⸣ [...] | |
| 4' | a-lik tap-pu-te la le-ʾ-⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 5' | ana-ku NENNI A NENNI ša₂ DINGIR-šu₂ NENNI [...] | |
| 6' | GUB{az} ina IGI DINGIR{ti}ka GAL{ti} [...] | |
| 7' | ina a-lim UN-MEŠ ša₂ la ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 8' | GAR{nam}ma qa-ba-a u ma-ga-[ra ...] | |
| 9' | lul-lik su-qa a-mi-ri [...] | |
| 10' | lu-ur-ši ina ṣil-li-ka ne₂-me-⸢qi₂⸣ [...] | |
| 11' | ina pi-ka ša₂ la na-kar li-[...] | |
| 12' | KA-INIM-MA ŠU-IL₂-[LA₂ {d}AMAR-UTU-KAM] | |
| 13' | DU₃.DU₃.BI ana IGI {d}AMAR.UTU [UR₃ SAR A KU₃ SUD] | |
| 14' | [NIG₂].⸢NA⸣ {šim}LI GAR{an} ŠU.IL₂.⸢LA₂⸣{[ku} an-ni-tu₄ ŠID{nu}ma] | |
| 15' | [EN₂ be]-lu₄ {d}ŠA₃.ZU mu-de-e ⸢lib₃⸣-[bi DINGIR-MEŠ AN{e} u KI{ti]} | |
| 16' | [ku]-⸢ul-la⸣-at UN-MEŠ a-⸢pa⸣-[ti ta-bar-ri at-ta] | |
| 17' | [...] ⸢ib⸣-ba-lak-⸢ka⸣-[at ... ina lib₃-bi] | |
| r | ||
| 1 | [... kaš]-⸢šap⸣-ti la iš-šak-na ⸢x⸣ [... x-ru IGI-ka] | |
| 2 | [...]-nu ša iš-šak-nam-⸢ma⸣ [... UŠ-MEŠ-ni] | |
| 3 | [šu-u] a-na ia-ši GIM AN{e} ana-ku a-na ša₂-a-šu₂ [GIM qaq-qa-ri RU TE LA BI ŠU₂] | |
| 4 | {[d]}ALAD SIG₅ u₂-še-es-sa ⸢ana⸣ [UGU-ya] | |
| 5 | u₂-ṣab-bit šap-ti-ia lib₃-bi u₂-⸢x⸣-[... EGIR-MU] | |
| 6 | u₂-ka-as-si a-hi-ia ⸢x⸣ [... KA A TI] | |
| 7 | bir-⸢ki⸣-ia u₂-mal-li mun-⸢ga⸣ [... AH HI] | |
| 8 | kam-ma-al KUR-ia [... x x] | |
| 9 | šu-mi u₂-šat-bi NA ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 10 | be-li₂ ak-tal-dak₃-ka ši-me [...] | |
| 11 | šur-ši di-ni EŠ.BAR [...] | |
| 12 | bi-il-la-an-ni ⸢x x x x⸣ [...] | |
| 13 | ki-i la ⸢EN DINGIR⸣ [...] | |
| 14 | {d}AMAR.UTU ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 15 | ina pi-⸢i⸣-[ka ...] | |
| 16 | ⸢MAH 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.