THE OLDEST RELIGIOUS TEXT FROM BABYLONIA?

Origin/Historian/Author: Sumerian, Early Akkadian Period, ca 2350 BCE
Source: Miscellaneous Babylonian Inscriptions, By Prof. George A. Barton, 1918

Full Text Below

COLUMN I
1. He came forth,
2. from Kesh he came,
3. the food of Enlil
4. gives him life.
5. Unto Sir** there is a cry;
6. she grants favor,
7. makes all live.

COLUMN II
1 ………………………….
2. The holy Tigris, the holy Euphrates,
3. the holy sceptre of Enlil
4. establish Kharsag;
5. they give abundance.
6. His sceptre protects(?);
7. [to] its lord, a prayer..
8. the sprouts of the land….
9. …. man(?) … is not(?)
10. …. are(?)…. numerous (?)
11. The hero, Enlil
12. makes bright.

COLUMN III
1. … protect(?) [man]!
2. O lord of darkness protect man!
3. O lord of light protect man!
4. O lord of the field protect man!
5. O lord of the sanctuary protect man!
6. Clothe thy king in singzu!
7. O god be favorable to man!
8. Make strong the new temple platform!
9. O divine lord protect the little habitation!
10. O well of the mighty abyss, give protection!
11. A large garment, a singu garment,
12. A goat thou bringest(?)…. let them be offerings(?)!

COLUMN IV
1. …..
2. Abundance(?)..he restores.
3. His musician sings; his musician sings:
4. “To the city he gives protection,”
5. The temple he strengthens;
6. O bird * , who can overthrow it?
7. My gain is great. The flour-by whom is it increased?
8. A plain is filled. Thy water-by whom is it poured out?
9. His hand makes the overflow of great waters; it increases fatness.
10. The demon, the cloud-lord is impetuous;
11. O bird,* who can overthrow him?
12. My gain is great,-by whom is it poured out?

COLUMN V
1. …..
2. To Ninkharsag belongs demonenchantment;
3. brilliant enchantment her hand [created (?)];
4. Bada opposed to her his word (?)
5. “The house is bright,” may she say ! “The house is pure,” may she say!
6. “Which is lofty, brightest of all,” (may) she say!
7. “Unspeakable with the brightness
8. of many cedar fires” (may) she say!
9. Her power is not overthrown(?)..
10. Two jars they [pour out] for her;
11. two large…. they pour out to her;
12. the food which she loves they bring her;
13. a vessel they present to her,
14. unto Sir there is a cry.
15. …………………

COLUMN VI
1. …..
2. ….. poured out many jars(?)
3. The holy Tigris, the holy Euphrates,
4. the holy sceptre of my protector,
5. Enlil,
6. man does not bring forth.
7. The son …..
8. …..
9. of Ninkharsag.
10. To the source(?) of life, the divine lord, raise the eye!
11. His eye he lifted up to him;
12. that which came from Kesh did not cease;
13. on the weak he laid hold,
14. for the lowly he [withheld(?)] not protection.
15. …..

COLUMN VII
1. …..
2. the temple’ nourished them;
3. at that time satisfaction came.
4. Its platform(?) stands as an incantation;
5. unto Sir there is a cry.
6. …..
7. …..
8. The house….
9. “My son, in the house(?).
10. What is my present?”
11. The musician (?)…

COLUMN VIII
1. ….. the mighty divine lord
2. increases greatness.
3. The great gate to bolt he appoints,
4. my door for protection he …..
5. …..
6. …..
7. …..
8. …..
9. …..may he be favorable(?)
10. To heaven he lifts an eye
11. opened’ by the tree of life!
12. ….. my dwelling.
13. …..
14. …..

COLUMN IX
1. …..
2. ….. favor
3. the priest proclaims.
4. The firm house he raised up;
5. its nest is favorable;
6. for the prince he appointed it.
7. Like a heap
8. may the joy of life be great!
9. From his cohabitation
10. with Sir, the brilliant wife, he created
11. a strong one, like a full-grown ibex,
12. whom he commanded to guard life.
13. …..
14. …..
15. …..

COLUMN X
1. “The light of the city, 6 -in the light of the city
2. are they;
3. The darkness of the city,-in the darkness of the city
4. are they;
5. The people of the city, among the people of the city
6. are they.
7. Whenever there is gladness
8. its lady is strong
9. O house of Nippur.
10. Whenever there is gladness
11. its lady is strong,
12. its god is just.”
13. Urudue speaks
14. with Dauru. Urudue
15. …..
16. …..

COLUMN XI
1. before the great lord Anu(?),
2. the great lady of Enlil,
3. Ninkharsag,
4. before the arbiter, Anu,
5. the great lady of Enlil,
6. even Ninkharsag,
7. the exalted one spoke:
8. “On my fire much cedar
9. my seven brightnesses
10. makes brilliant.
11. With mighty Sir
12. are the fruits of thy wise divinity.
13. The great divine river
14. to thy vegetation comes.
15. for the overflow of the divine river the wall
16. ….. [thou makest(?)]”

COLUMN XII
1. Like the garden god
2. she commands the strong spirit to make
3. The pipi-plants of Iskhara-niginakku;
4. among his 3600 vines she sets them.
5. Before the sunlight is the great light
6. to the goddess, the mother.
7. Our lady, faithful one, brilliant goddess,
8. unspeakable is the brilliance of thy goodness!
9. From Daral is food;
10. thou speakest, the gab-grain sprouts, abundant is the wheat;
11. the wide bank is an increasing orchard.
12. O our lady, man is like a sprout of three fronds,
13. the planting of the divine begetter.
14. Strong foundations he establishes;
15. a full hand, a full vessel, he fills.
16. …..

COLUMN XIII
1. A libation bowl [he] poured out
2. [to] Sir [at] the great sanctuary.
3. The fiery offering of Enlil
4. at Nippur
5. on account of the sickness he presented;
6. to Ishtar from the land of Khalab,
7. on account of the sickness he presented;
8. to Enki in the deep
9. on account of the sickness he presented
10. the fiery offering(?) of Enlil.
11. O Nippur on abundant food thou feedest,
12. of abundant water thou drinkest,
13. luxurious fatness is in that store, house;
14. that storehouse thou dost not lock;
15. the fatness of Akkad is the possession of the temple.
16. …..

COLUMN XIV
1. …..
2. Enlil declares to him:
3. “Removed is the sickness from the face of the land.”
4. “As a protector thou removest it,”
5. Enlil’s are they,
6. “as a protector thou removest it.
7. The plain is thy royal possession;
8. the royal possession bears fruit.
9. The plain is the possession of thy temple;
10. the possession of the temple bears fruit.
11. The great dagger, the ox-devourer, O father, is thy possession;
12. the house of Nippur
13. it waters, it exalts.
14. Thy great weapon is lifted up.”
15. The seeded field the bird discovers.
16. ….. .

COLUMN XV
1. ….. Lord …..
2. ….. possession …..
3. for Enlil, the prince,
4. on account of the sickness he presented.
5. “Let it not come!
6. Let it not come!”
7. When to Ninkharsag
8. Ninurta
9. coming from Meslam
10. day and night with might
11. the increase of his cattle protects
12. …..
13. The foundation thou strengthenest for it,
14. thou fillest,
15. thou raisest up.
16. …..

COLUMN XVI
1. …..
2. …..
3. sickness ….. sickness …..
4. all, in its entirety.
5. Lord of life, god of fruit,
6. Lord of life, god of fruit,
7. pour out good beer in double measure;
8. pour it out, make abundant the wool!
9. O my mother, brilliant one, come! The flour withhold not!
10. (may) thy might man’s garden(?) restore
11. O my mother, divine lady, is there no might with thee?
12. To expel the sickness, I pray earnestly!
13. In the fold (may) there be no demon!
14. sickness, fever
15. Expel …..

COLUMN XVII
(7 Lines are defaced here)

8. The sickness….
9. Four (times) thy temple platform approaches.
10. The priestess…. the priestess….
11. The down-pour of En-zu makes deep his well
12. which he dug.
13. The sea fills the land; Ninurta comes as a laborer;
14. [who] increases the boundary abundantly (?)
15 . …..

COLUMN XVIII
1. …..
2. …..
3. Let him not come!
4. Like the wild-ox his strength
5. is terrible.
6. ….. sickness ….. the land.
7. O divine lady, speak
8. ….. them
9. establish(?) the city.
10. Let not the full bank overflow!
11. The side is strong,
12. its firmness, complete.
13. May its reeds be abundant,
14. O divine lord, living ram
15. …..

COLUMN XIX
1. when(?) thou makest(?) all vegetation..
2. strong is man; his eyes see.
3. …..
4. ….. brilliant(?).
5. The decree do thou establish!
6. …..
7. …..
8. The deep abyss for a libationbowl …..
9. By thy wind, O lady,
10. command not the stormcloud(?)
11. to come! O Enzu, come.
12. Let the meal offering be abundant!
13. Thy land it establishes.
14. Men say:
15. …………………………