S^urpu

S^urpu [‘Burnings’ {= <ibri^ /s`rap-/}], Tablets I-IV

[/j/ in transliterations are pronounced as in German]

pp. 1-2 the tablets of S^urpu (#ing according to the Nineveh recension)

p.	*Tab.*	*contents*
3	I	"four incantations ... . The last three of these incantations, addressed to the sulphur [cf. "sulphur" in Tablet I, according to "Ritual-tablet", line 5], the fire and the torch [cf. "torch" in Tablet I, according to "Ritual-tablet", lines 7-8] -- ...
4	"	on a tablet that we publish here as an Appendix (pp. 52f.)."
1	II	importuning of deities, imploring them to forgive patient
	III	list of oaths guiltily forsworn by patients
	IV	appeal to benevolence of Marduk
	V-VI	"burning of various objects that symbolize the sins ... of the patient"
2	VII	"plight of the patient – an attack of demons leagued against him"
	VIII	entreaty to "a great number of deities to release the patient"
	IX	"all Sumerian : it is a collection of conjurations ... addressed to the objects used in the ritual ceremony"
3	[sequel]	*"S^urpu itself ... instruct the incantation-priest to proceed next with Ili-ud-idi."*

p. 3 The "Ritual-tablet" is "known by the title ... of Ili-ud-idi "My god, I do not know ..."".

p. 2 dating of S^urpu

"Falkenstein (MDOG 85, p. 6 and n. 27) and von Soden (ibid., p. 24) ... have dated S^urpu to the Kassite period, in agreement with the date first proposed by Schott (ZDMG 81, p. XLVII) on the basis of the similarities between the language of S^urpu and that of the kudurru (boundary stone) inscriptions, a typically Kassite genre."

p. 3 the position of S^urpu in the conventional sequence of Akkadian ritual texts

According to "Bit rimki "The House of Ablutions", designed to ward off the evil portended by lunar eclipses," "the incantations of Maqlu^ are followed by Ili-ud-idi".

"This sequence of S^urpu following upon Maqlu^, is attested in other sources also. A manual for the incantation-priest that enumerates the textbooks ... places S^urpu between Maqlu^ and the Dream-Book (Oppenheim, Dream-Book). This manual is ... published by Zimmern ... (ZA 30, pp. 204 ff.)".

pp. 11-12 contents of the 6 tablets of S^urpu, according to the "Ritual-tablet"

p.	l.	*Tab.*	*text*	*meaning*
11	5	1^st	BIL.GI [cf. BIL.GI in "Appendix" (p. 53), ll. 6-7]	Gibil
	16		Gal6-la’	Gallu
12	rev. II.2’	2^nd	GIS^.BAR	Girru
	rev. II.10’		DIS^	Ea
	rev. II.13’	3^rd	i’d.lu’.ru.gu’	"River"
	rev. II.15’	4^th	s^inig	"tamarisk"
	?	5^th	?
	rev. II.18’	6^th	DINGIR.MU ul ZU	God my not knoweth

pp. 52-53 "Appendix" [p. 3 this is numbered as "1^st Tablet", according to the Assur recension; it is omitted in the Nineveh recension, which is lacking any tablet #ed as "1^st"]

p.	l.	*Sumerian*	l.	*Akkadian*	*meaning*
52	1	inim.inim.ma			conjuration
	4	Buranuna	5	Pu-rat	Euphrates
	8	En.ki	9	E’-a	(father)
	16	Dam.gal.nun.na	17	Dam-ki-na	(mother)
	22	i’d.Lu’.ru.gu’	23	I’D	"River"
	24	nam.eri’m	25	ma-mit	oath
	28	Utu	29	UTU	S^amas^
53	rev. 6	BIL.GI	7	BIL.GI	Gibil
	rev. 20	Nin.ka.si

pp. 17-18 Tablet II deities ("may __ release")

p.	l.	*Sumerian*	*Akkadian*	*trait*
17	134	AMAR.UD	Marduk	"exorcist among the gods"
	135	?		"god of ... the house"
	136	?		"god of the sinner"
	137	U.GUR	Nergal	"lord of absolution"
	138		S^u-qa-mu-na & S^i-ma-li-ia
	140	KI.NE		[god of the] Stove
	142		A-num & An-tum
	143	En-li’l		creator of all
	144	Nin-li’l		queen of E’.KI.U`R
	146	En-ki & Nin-ki
	147	En-s^a’r & Nin-s^a’r
	148	E’-a		king of the ZU+AB
	151	AMAR.UD		king of the I’-gi`-gi`
	152		S.ar-pa-ni-tum	queen of E’.SAG.I’L
	155	PA & Na-na-a	Nabu^ & Nana^	in E’.ZI.DA
	156		Tas^-me-tum	"daughter-in-law"
	157	DI.KUD		thronebearer of E’.SAG.I’L
	158		Iq-bi-SIG5
	160	GAL
	"		De-ri-tum	Deritu
	161	SUH-S^E’S^	Ins^us^inak	in S^u-u’-s^- [S^us^an]
	162		La-h^u-ra-til
	163		Ia-ab-ru	Jabru
	"		H^um-ba	H^umban
	"		Ru-s^u	Naprus^u
	166		si-bit-ti	the 7 winds
	168		Is^-tar	in UNUG (Uruk)
	169	NIN.E’.AN.NA	Belet-ajakki	in E’.AN.NA
	170		A-nu-ni-tum	in A-ga-de`
	172		Is^-h^a-ra	"lady of human dwellings"
18	173		S^i-du-ri	"goddess of wisdom"
	175	I`r-ra, I`r-ra-GAL, I`r-ra-KAL.KAL
	176		La-az
	"		H^a-ia`
	"	LU`.HUS^.A
	177	LUGAL.EDIN.NA
	"		La-ta-rak
	178		S^ar-ra-h^u
	179	UTU		the Warrior
	180	TI.BAL
	"	SAG.KUD
	"	SAG.US^	Kajamanu
	181		Im-me-ri-ia
	183		Na-ru-du
	184	Hendur-sag-ga’

pp. 21-24 Tablet III deities ("the ‘oath’ of __")

p.	l.	*Sumerian*	*Akkadian*	*trait*
21	72	Nin-urta		lord of the censer
	75		Si-lak-kum or Ri-ri-tu	Silakku or Bariritu
	76		Be-li’-li’	"Belili, the always weeping one"
	77	Ma-nun-gal		"the snatcher"
	78	Ki-li-li		"of the windows"
	79	Gaz-ba-ba		"the always laughing one"
	80	Ab-ta-gi4-gi4		"(goddess) of niews"
	81	NIN BA`D		"Lady of the city-wall"
	82		li-sak-ke-e s^a’ tu-ub-qa-a-ti	Lisak"-demons of the corners"
	84	ALA`D		"protective spirits" ("laughing")
	85	UDUG		"demons" ("who chase")
	86	GIDIM		"ghosts" ("revenants")
	87	MAS^KIM		"lurking-demons" ("who sneak")
22	104		Sin
	105		S^a’-mas^
	106	MAS^	Ninurta
	107	Nin-gi’r-su
	108	PA+KU	Nusku
	109	(I-gi`-gi`)
	110	A-nun-na-ki
	111			"gods of the night"
	112	E’-a		"lord of wise understanding"
	117		Ku`-b-
	120	GI`R		(god of) cattle
	129	ES^4.DAR		goddess
23	145	IZI.GAR		(god of) lamp
	146	LUGAL.GIS^.A.TU.GAB		"Lord of the poplar"
	151		A-nu-um & An-tum
	152	En-li’l & Nin-li’l
	153	E’a
	"		Dam-ki-na
	154		Sin
	"	Nin-gal
	155		S^amas^
	"		A-a	Aja
	156	IS^KUR	Adad
	"		S^a-la
	157	AMAR.UD
	"		S.ar-pa-ni-tum	S.arpanitu
	158	PA
	"		Tas^-me-tum	Tas^metu
	159	Nin-urta
	"	NIN.NIBRU.KI	Belet-Nippuri
	160		Da-mu
	"		Gu-la
	161	Nin-gi’r-su
	"	Ba-u’
	162		(Bi-ir-du)
	"		Re-e-bi
	163	(PA+KU)	(Nusku)
	"	Sa-da`r-nun-na
24	169	?
	170	Nin-...
	171	Pap-sukkal
	172	IMIN.BI		"the ‘Seven’ "

{l. 117 Ku`-b- = not only Kub in the Bible, but also Cuba, the island proximate to Eridu on the Jefferson-to-Madison counties-boundary in Florida}

pp. 26-29 Tablet IV

p.	l.	*Sumerian*	*Akkadian*	*trait*
26	45		u’-tuk-ki	daimon
	46	A.LA’		‘binder’
	47	GIDIM		ghost
	48	GAL5.LA’		devil
	49	DINGIR		god
	50	MAS^KIM		lurker
	52	DI`M.ME	Lamas^tu
	53	DI`M.ME.A	Labas.u
	54	DI`M.ME.KIL	Ah^h^asu
27	60		S^amas^	"the warrior"
	61		Sin
	"	U+GUR	Nergal
	62		(Is^tar)	15
	"		Ba-u’
	"		A-nu-ni-tum	Anunitu
	63		A-uum
	"	En-li’l
	"	E’-a
	"	NIN.TU		"Mother-Goddess"
	64	IS^KUR	Adad
	"	MAS^	Ninurta
	"	Za-ba4-ba4
	"	Tis^pak
	"	Nin-gi’r-su
	65	Uras^
	"	AMAR.UD
	"	ASAR.RI
	"		Asal-lu’-h^i
	"	GAL
	"	Tu-tu
	66			7 (the ‘Seven’)
	67			gods of HA.A
28	89		A-num & An-tum
	90	En-li`l		lord of NIBRU "with his unchangeable word"
	91	DIS^	Ea	"whose hands had fashioned man"
	92		Sin	"lord of the month"
	93		S^amas^	"lord of judgment"
	94	IS^KUR	Adad	"lord of oracles"
	95	Tis^pak		"lord of troops"
	96	MAS^	Ninurta	"lord of the mace"
	97	Pap-sukkal		"lord of the staff"
	98	AMAR.UD	Marduk	"wisest among the gods"
	99		Asal-lu’-hi	"exorcist among the great gods, through whose charm the dead lives, the sick gets up"
29	100	U+GUR	Nergal	"lord of the verdict"
	101	Nin-gi’r-su		"lord of agriculture"
	102	Za-ba4-ba4		"lord of the high throne"
	103	En-nu-gi		"lord of [river-]bank and canal"
	104	PA+KU	Nusku	vizier of E’.KUR
	105	BIL.GI	Girru	"conciliator" of the angry god and [angry] 15(-goddess)
	106		Is^tar	"Lady of all lands, may she intercede for him"
	107	Nin-kar-ra-ak	Gula	"great doctoress"
	108	Ba-u’		"may she relieve his restlessness"

ll. 60-66 constitute a triangular #

{l. 99 with –lu’-hi "through whose charm the dead lives" cf. Luhi who reviveth dead fish when invoked by mahasiddha Tailika-pada}

References :

MDOG = Mitteil. d. Deutsch. Orient-Gesellschaft

ZDMG = Zeitschrift d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellschaft

ZA = Zeitschrift fu:r Assyriologie

ARCHIV FU:R ORIENTFORSCHUNG, Beiheft 11 = Erica Reiner : S^urpu : a Collection of Sumerian and Akkadian Incantations. Graz, 1958.