Monday, June 22, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Laments and Prayers
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Texts
A Penitential PsalmAn Akkadian penitential psalm from the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh -- a confessional prayer by a person who has lost everything and does not know what they did wrong. Cast into metaphorical seas, abandoned by family and friends, clothed in sin like a garment, they beg the assembly of the gods for purification: may the seven winds carry off my sighing, may the bird carry my evil to heaven, may the fish bear my distress down the river. First free English translation. From tablet K.254 in the British Museum. Translated from the Akkadian by the Good Works Library.An Ershemma to IshtarA complete Neo-Assyrian eršemma — a liturgical lament — to Ishtar, the planet Venus. The goddess is fire and wolf and lioness, guide of oracles, opener of heaven's bolt. Then she speaks in her own voice: I am the goddess of evening, I am the goddess of dawn. Then the penitent calls her by seven temple names to calm her anger. From a tablet in the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh. Translated from Akkadian by the Good Works Library.