Prayer tablet excavated in Uncertain (mod. uncertain), dated to the Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC) period and now kept in Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin, Germany
Image
© Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin, Germany
Transliteration
tablet
obverse
1. enuru{+e2-nu-ru}
en: enuru:
2. lu2-ra musz mu-ra gir2 mu-ra ur mu2-da mu-ra
en: A man a snake struck, a scorpion struck, a rabid dog struck,
3. usz-bi mu-na-ab-szum2
en: their spittle gave.
erasure after szum2
4. {d}asar:lu2-hi-e
en: Asarluḫi
5. a-ni {d}en-ki-sze3 lu2 mu-szi-gi4-gi4
en: to his father Enki a messenger sends:
6. a-mu lu2-ra musz mu-ra gir2 mu-ra ur mu2-da mu-ra
en: “My father, a man a snake struck, a scorpion struck, a rabid dog struck,
7. usz-bi mu-na-ab-szum2
en: their spittle gave;
8. a-na ib2-ak-na-bi nu-zu
en: what to do about it, I don't know.”
9. dumu-mu a-na nu-zu
en: “My son, what don't you know?
10. a-na na-ab-dah-e
en: What can I add?
reverse
1. a-la2-ku3-ga na-ba-ni-zalag
en: His silver ala is purified;
2. a-be2 nam-szub u3-ma-szum2
en: once to the water the incantation is given,
3. a-bi lu2 kur2-ra u3-mu-ni-nag
en: the water the ‘foreigner’ made to drink,
4. usz-bi ni2-ba ha-mu-ta-e3-de2
en: may the spittle on its own go out!”
blank space
5. lu2 musz zu2 ba-du3 a-bi lu2 kur2-ra na8-na8-da-kam
en: A man by a snake bitten: the water the ‘foreigner’ is to be given to drink.