This is Tablet III of the Surpu ("Burning") series — the great exorcistic ritual of ancient Mesopotamia, in which every possible curse is systematically named and dissolved by Asalluhi, son of Ea, exorcist of the gods.
The series was performed by the ashipu (exorcist-priest) over a patient believed to be suffering under a curse — whether from a broken oath, contact with impurity, transgression of a taboo, or contamination by the guilt of others. The treatment is comprehensive: the catalogue does not ask which curse afflicts you. It names them all. Every domestic object, every weapon, every animal, every oath, every act of negligence, every contact with the impure, every divine pair in heaven — all are named, all are undone. The ritual's name, "burning," refers to the final act: figurines representing the curses are cast into fire and destroyed.
This tablet from the Iraq Museum (IM.76940, Late Babylonian period) preserves portions of two columns from the obverse (Surpu III lines 19-44) and one from the reverse (lines 130-156). The central columns are lost. What remains is the catalogue's beginning — the curses of daily life — and its climax — the curses of contamination and the six divine pairs.
Translation
Obverse
Column 1
1'. The cur[se of cup and table — may it be released.]12
2'. The curse of [the bed and the couch — may it be released.]
3'. The curse of a cup [not fired, from which water is drunk — may it be released.]3
4'. The curse of leftovers, [of giving them and of asking for them — may it be released.]
5'. The curse of a seat before [the sun, of sitting there — may it be released.]
6'. The curse of a judgment, a bribe, [a judge — may it be released.]4
7'. The curse of pulling up plants in the steppe — [may it be released.]
8'. The curse of snapping off reeds in the marsh — [may it be released.]
9'. The curse of bow and chariot — may it be released.
10'. The curse of dagger and lance — may it be released.
11'. The curse of spear and bow — may it be released.5
12'. The curse of striking a beast on the cheek — may it be released.
13'. The curse of breaking a clod, and of throwing a clod into water — may it be released.
14'. The curse of setting a KI.U₄.BI before a man — may it be released.6
15'. The curse of road and journey — may it be released.
16'. The curse of swearing to a friend and then killing him — may it be released.
17'. The curse of slaughtering a ram and touching the cut flesh — may it be released.7
18'. The curse of showing the pestle in the assembly — may it be released.8
19'. The curse of tapālu and timbuttu — may it be released.9
20'. The curse of asking and then denying on a dark day — may it be released.
21'. The curse of speaking, of asking, and of denying — may it be released.
22'. The curse of pulling a clod out of a field — may it be released.
23'. The curse of taking hold of the plough and swearing by the gods — may it be released.10
24'. The curse of the side of the stall, of beasts, of questioning a man — [may it be released.]11
25'. The curse of swearing by Shamash at his rising — [may it be released.]
26'. The curse of lifting unwashed hands and swearing by the gods — [may it be released.]
Column 2
1'. The cur[se of ... — may it be released.]12
2'. The cur[se of ... — may it be released.]
3'. The cur[se of ... — may it be released.]
4'. The cur[se of ... — may it be released.]
5'. The cur[se of ... — may it be released.]
6'. The cur[se of ... — may it be released.]
7'. The cur[se of ... — may it be released.]
8'. The cur[se of ... — may it be released.] (The rest of the column is lost.)
Reverse
Column 4
1. The curse of talking with one under a curse — may it be released.13
2. The curse of eating the bread of one under a curse — may it be released.
3. The curse of drinking the water of one under a curse — may it be released.
4. The curse of drinking the leftovers of one under a curse — [may it be released?]14
5. The curse of talking with a guilty man — may it be released.
6. The curse of eating the bread of a guilty man — may it be released.
7. The curse of drinking the water of a guilty man — [may it be released.]
8. The curse of drinking the leftovers of a guilty man — [may it be released.]
9. The curse of [pleading] the cause of a guilty m[an — may it be released.]15
10. The curse of lifting and [swearing — may it be released.]
11. The curse of taking [and swearing — may it be released.]
12. The curse of guilt [and of the forbidden thing — may it be released.]
13. The curse of [committing] neg[ligence — may it be released.]
14. The curse of fa[ult and sin — may it be released.]
15. The curse of song (?) [and insolence — may it be released.]16
16. The curse of [Girra and the brazier — may it be released.]17
17. The curse of [Lugal-asal and the Euphrates — may it be released.]18
18. The curse of [throne and assembly — may it be released.]
19. The curse of [the dead and the living — may it be released.]
20. The curse of [the wronged man and the wronged woman — may it be released.]
21. The curse of [the known and the unknown — may it be released.]
22. The curse of [Anu and Antu — may it be released.]
23. The curse of [Enlil and Ninlil — may it be released.]
24. The curse of [Ea and Damkina — may it be released.]
25. The curse of [Sin and Ningal — may it be released.]
26. The curse of [Shamash and Aya — may it be released.]
27. The curse of [Adad and Shala — may it be released.]
28. The cur[se ...] (The rest of the column is lost.)
Notes on the reading
This is a Hellenistic-period Uruk copy of the third tablet of Šurpu ("Burning"), the great exorcistic series for undoing curses: a long litany naming every kind of māmītu, each line closed with an abbreviated refrain releasing it. The surviving entries move from household objects and everyday acts (cup and table, bed, leftovers, plants, clods, weapons), through broken oaths and contact with the cursed and the guilty, to the paired gods of the pantheon (Anu and Antu down to Adad and Shala). The hardest readings are the logogram KI.U₄.BI in 14', the pair tapālu and timbuttu in 19', and the word-division of 24'; the refrain written only as U₂ is also an abbreviation whose full wording this tablet does not give. Column 2 (eight lines) and reverse line 28 preserve only the word "curse", and reverse lines 16–27 are known almost entirely from the editors' restorations, which are translated in brackets rather than presented as read text.
Colophon
A Good Works Translation from the Akkadian by the Good Works Library, 2026, made directly from the eBL transliteration of IM 76940 printed below. Before translating, every English translation line and editorial note was removed from the working text, so the English here is independently derived from the cuneiform signs. The translation was then checked line by line against the Akkadian by a second reader. Each line of the English renders the source line with the same number. Broken passages stay broken: [...] marks a gap, and words in square brackets are restorations, explained in the notes.
Earlier English translation: the English translation given line by line in the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus (freely available). This is a new translation made independently from the source language.
Prepared for the Good Work Library by the Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted translation and editorial work.
© 2026 Tianmu Anglican Church. This English translation is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0: you may share and adapt it for non-commercial use with credit to the Good Works Library, tianmu.org. The source text keeps its own terms. For other uses, see Rights and Reuse.
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Source Text: IM 76940 (transliteration)
Akkadian transliteration from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, licensed CC BY 4.0, with its English translation lines and notes omitted. %n marks eBL's normalized Akkadian, and %akk the return to the transliteration.
Obverse
Column 1
1'. ma-[mit %n kāsi u paššuri %akk U₂]
2'. ma-mit {giš#}[NU₂ %n u mayyalti %akk U₂]
3'. ma-mit GU₂.ZI# [ %n lā ṣarriptu mê šatû %akk U₂]
4'. ma-mit re-he-e#-[tu₄ %n nadānu u šaʾālu %akk U₂]
5'. ma-mit šub-tu₄ ina ma-har# [ %n šamši ašābu %akk U₂]
6'. ma-mit di-i-ni ṭa-a-tu₂ [ %n dayyānu %akk U₂]
7'. ma-mit U₂-HI.A ina EDIN na#-sa#-[hu U₂]
8'. ma-mit GI ina AMBAR ha-ṣa-bu [U₂]
9'. ma-mit {giš}PAN u {giš}GIGIR U₂#
10'. ma-mit GIR₂ u šu-kur-ru U₂#
11'. ma-mit az-ma-ru-u₂ u til-pa-nu U₂
12'. ma-mit le-e-ti u₂-ma-mu ma-ha-ṣu U₂
13'. ma-mit LAG ha-pu-u₂ u LAG ana A-MEŠ ŠUB-u₂ U₂
14'. ma-mit KI.U₄.BI a-na IGI LU₂ ša₂-ka-nu U₂
15'. ma-mit KASKAL u a-lak-ti U₂
16'. ma-mit a-na ib-ri ta-mu-u₂ u da-ki-šu₂ U₂
17'. ma-mit UDU.NITA₂ ṭa-ba-hu u ni-kis-su la-pa-tu₂ U₂
18'. ma-mit bu-kan-nu ina UKKIN šu-pu-u₂ U₂
19'. ma-mit ta-pa-lu u tim-bu-ut-ti U₂
20'. ma-mit ina u₄-mi e-ṭi-i ša₂-ʾa-lu u na-ka-ri U₂
21'. ma-mit qa-bu-u₂ ša₂-a-lu u na-ka-ri U₂
22'. ma-mit LAG ina A.ŠA₃ na-sa-hu U₂#
23'. ma-mit {giš}APIN ṣa-ba-tu u niš DINGIR-MEŠ za-ka-ri [U₂]
24'. ma-mit a-hi u₂-re-e u₂-ma-mu LU₂ ša₂-ʾa-li₂# [U₂]
25'. ma-mit {d}UTU ina ni-ip-hi-šu₂ ta-mu-u₂ [U₂]
26'. ma-mit niš ŠU{II} la me-sa-a-tu₂ u niš DINGIR-MEŠ za-ka-ri# [U₂] (end of column)
Column 2
1'. ma#-[mit %n ... %akk U₂]
2'. ma#-[mit %n ... %akk U₂]
3'. ma#-[mit %n ... %akk U₂]
4'. ma#-[mit %n ... %akk U₂]
5'. ma-[mit %n ... %akk U₂]
6'. ma-m[it %n ... %akk U₂]
7'. ma#-[mit %n ... %akk U₂]
8'. ma#-[mit %n ... %akk U₂] (rest of column missing)
Reverse
Column 4
-
ma-mit it-ti ta#-mu-u₂ da-ba-ba U₂#
-
ma-mit a-kal ta-mu-u₂ a-ka-lu U₂#
-
ma-mit A-MEŠ ta-mu-u₂ ša₂-tu-u₂ U₂#
-
ma-mit re-he-e-tu₂ ta-mu-u₂ ša₂-tu-u₂# [U₂?]
-
ma-mit it-ti EN ar₂-nu da-ba-ba U₂#
-
ma-mit a-kal EN ar₂-nu a-ka-lu U₂#
-
ma-mit A-MEŠ EN ar₂-nu ša₂-tu-u₂ [U₂]
-
ma-mit re-he-e-tu₂ EN ar₂-nu ša₂-tu-u₂# [U₂]
-
ma-mit a-bu-ut EN ar₂-n[u %n ṣabāti %akk U₂]
-
ma-mit na-še-e u# [ %n tamê %akk U₂]
-
ma-mit la-qe₂-e# [ %n u tamê %akk U₂]
-
ma-mit ar₂-nu [ %n u asakki %akk U₂]
-
ma-mit e-g[i-ti %n epēši %akk U₂]
-
ma-mit hi-ṭi#-[ti %n u gillati %akk U₂]
-
ma-mit ŠIR₃-ri [ %n u šillati %akk U₂]
-
ma-mit {d#}[GIRA₂ %n u kinūni %akk U₂]
-
ma-mit {d#}[LUGAL-{giš}ASAL₂ %n u puratti %akk U₂]
-
ma-mit [ %n kussê u puhri %akk U₂]
-
ma-mit [ %n mīti u balṭi %akk U₂]
-
ma-mit [ %n habli u habilti %akk U₂]
-
ma-mit [ %n mūdê u lā mūdê %akk U₂]
-
ma-mit [ %n Anu u Antu %akk U₂]
-
ma-mit [ %n Enlil u Ninlil %akk U₂]
-
ma-mit [ %n Ea u Damkina %akk U₂]
-
ma-mit {d#}[30 %n u Ningal %akk U₂]
-
ma-mit [ %n Šamaš u Aya %akk U₂]
-
ma-mit [ %n Adad u Šala %akk U₂]
-
ma#-[mit ...] (rest of column missing)
Source Colophon
Transliteration of IM 76940 from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) project, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (ebl.lmu.de), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.10018951, CC BY 4.0, fetched 2026-10-16. eBL's English translation lines and notes were removed before translation.
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Footnotes
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"Curse" renders māmītu, the oath and the binding curse that falls on whoever breaks or mishandles it. It is kept as one word throughout so the litany's repetition stands as the tablet has it. ↩
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Every line ends with the sign U₂, a scribal abbreviation for the refrain that undoes each curse, almost certainly a form of pašāru, "to release, loosen, undo". The full refrain, and the name of whoever releases, do not appear on this tablet, so the refrain is rendered impersonally as "may it be released". Everything in square brackets on this tablet is restored by the eBL editors in the transliteration (from the parallel manuscripts of the series), not read on this clay; it is translated here as they restore it and kept in brackets. ↩
-
GU₂.ZI is kāsu, "cup"; lā ṣarriptu is "not refined by fire", that is, unfired clay. Only the cup survives on the tablet: lā ṣarriptu ("not fired"), the water and the drinking are all restored. ↩
-
The signs give only dīni ṭātu, "judgment, bribe", and the editors restore dayyānu, "judge". The line is left as a bare list because how the three words relate (most likely a judge's verdict bought with a bribe) is not stated and is uncertain. ↩
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azmarû is a lance or spear; tilpānu is a kind of bow, distinct from the bow (qaštu, written PAN) of line 9'. ↩
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The logogram KI.U₄.BI is left untranslated. Its Akkadian reading is uncertain to this translator; the line is about placing something in front of a person. That it is an object or an obstacle is only a guess. ↩
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nikissu is a cut, the slaughtered part of the animal; "touching the cut flesh" keeps the literal sense. ↩
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The pestle (bukannu) was handed over in a formal legal act at the conclusion of a sale or transfer; "showing" (šūpû, "to make appear") the pestle in the assembly points to that public act. ↩
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Both words are uncertain. timbuttu is probably a musical instrument (a harp or lyre); tapālu may mean a pair, set or matching piece. They are left in Akkadian rather than guessed. ↩
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"Swearing by the gods" is literally "uttering the life (nīš) of the gods", the oath formula. ↩
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The run of words here is hard to divide: ahi urê ("side of the stall"), ūmāmu ("beasts"), LU₂ šaʾāli ("questioning a man"). Whether these are three separate items or one action (for example, asking a man about a beast at the stall) is uncertain. ↩
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Only the opening of the word "curse" survives on each of these lines. The refrain is restored by formula; the matter of each curse is lost. ↩
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tamû here is a person who is "sworn", bound or struck by an oath, that is, one lying under a curse. ↩
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The refrain at the end of this line is restored by the editors with a query; it may never have been written here. ↩
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abbūta ṣabātu, "to take up the fatherhood (of someone)", is the idiom for interceding on another's behalf; the verb is restored. ↩
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ŠIR₃-ri is read as zamāri, "song", but the reading is uncertain; the paired word (šillatu, "insolence, blasphemy") is wholly restored. ↩
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Girra is the fire-god; the paired kinūnu is the brazier or hearth. Only the god-determinative survives. ↩
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LUGAL-ASAL₂ is "Lord of the Poplar" (Bēl-ṣarbi), a god; the river Euphrates (Purattu) is wholly restored. Only the god-determinative survives. ↩