Origin/Historian/Author: Babylonian
Source: Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, Donald A. MacKenzie
Introduction
This prayer is dedicated to the goddess Ishtar. It appears as though this text was recorded sometime during the middle Babylonian period. Like the many prayers or hymns dedicated to Ishtar, it offers praise and acknowledges her exaltation above all of the gods, with the exception of Ea, Anu, and Bel.
Here we see Ishtar depicted in a way similar to Inanna/Ninegal, as a warlike crowned ruler of Heaven and Earth. However, here she is described as a daughter of Nannar/Suen and Ningal. This conflict in genealogy allows us to determine Ishtar and Inanna/Ninegal to be different deities who were conflated by the Akkadians, and later adopted by the Babylonians. The identity of the daughter of Nannar/Suen is a combination of the Arabian God of War and Venus, Athtar, with the warlike goddess Ninegal. Inanna + Athtar = Ishtar.
Full Text Below
To thee I cry, O lady of the gods,
Lady of ladies, goddess without peer,
Ishtar who shapes the lives of all mankind,
Thou stately world queen, sovran of the sky,
And lady ruler of the host of heaven–
Illustrious is thy name . . . O light divine,
Gleaming in lofty splendor over the earth–
Heroic daughter of the moon, oh! hear;
Thou dost control our weapons and award
In battles fierce the victory at will
O crowned majestic Fate. Ishtar most high,
Who art exalted over all the gods,
Thou bringest lamentation; thou dost urge
With hostile hearts our brethren to the fray;
The gift of strength is thine for thou art strong;
Thy will is urgent, brooking no delay;
Thy hand is violent, thou queen of war
Girded with battle and enrobed with fear . . .
Thou sovran wielder of the wand of Doom,
The heavens and earth are under thy control.
Adored art thou in every sacred place,
In temples, holy dwellings, and in shrines,
Where is thy name not lauded? where thy will
Unheeded, and thine images not made?
Where are thy temples not upreared? O, where
Art thou not mighty, peerless, and supreme?
Anu and Bel and Ea have thee raised
To rank supreme, in majesty and power,
They have established thee above the gods
And all the host of heaven . . . O stately queen,
At thought of thee the world is filled with fear,
The gods in heaven quake, and on the earth
All spirits pause, and all mankind bow down
With reverence for thy name . . . O Lady Judge,
Thy ways are just and holy; thou dost gaze
On sinners with compassion, and each morn
Leadest the wayward to the rightful path.
Now linger not, but come! O goddess fair,
O shepherdess of all, thou drawest nigh
With feet unwearied . . . Thou dost break the bonds
Of these thy handmaids . . . When thou stoopest over
The dying with compassion, lo! they live;
And when the sick behold thee they are healed.
Hear me, thy servant! hearken to my prayer,
For I am full of sorrow and I sigh
In sore distress; weeping, on thee I wait.
Be merciful, my lady, pity take
And answer, ” … is enough and be appeased”.
How long must my heart sorrow and make moan
And restless be? How long must my dark home
Be filled with mourning and my soul with grief?
O lioness of heaven, bring me peace
And rest and comfort. Hearken to my prayer!
Is anger pity? May thine eyes look down
With tenderness and blessings, and behold
Thy servant. Oh! have mercy; hear my cry
And unbewitch me from the evil spells,
That I may see thy glory . . . Oh! how long
Shall these my foes pursue me, working ill,
And robbing me of joy? . . . Oh! how long
Shall demons compass me about and cause
Affliction without end? . . . I thee adore–
The gift of strength is thine and thou art strong–
The weakly are made strong, yet I am weak . . .
O hear me! I am glutted with my grief–
This flood of grief by evil winds distressed;
My heart hath fled me like a bird on wings,
And like the dove I moan. Tears from mine eyes
Are falling as the rain from heaven falls,
And I am destitute and full of woe.
What have I done that thou hast turned from me?
Have I neglected homage to my god
And thee my goddess? O deliver me
And all my sins forgive, that I may share
Thy love and be watched over in thy fold;
And may thy fold be wide, thy pen secure.
How long wilt thou be angry? Hear my cry,
And turn again to prosper all my ways–
O may thy wrath be crumbled and withdrawn
As by a crumbling stream. Then smite my foes,
And take away their power to work me ill,
That I may crush them. Hearken to my prayer!
And bless me so that all who me behold
May laud thee and may magnify thy name,
While I exalt thy power over all
Ishtar is highest! Ishtar is the queen!
Ishtar the peerless daughter of the moon!