A Penitential Psalm

This prayer is preserved on a single Neo-Assyrian clay tablet (K.254) from the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (668--631 BCE), now in the British Museum. It belongs to the genre of penitential psalms -- confessional prayers addressed to a personal god by a supplicant who has been struck by suffering and does not know which sin provoked it. The genre is one of the most psychologically intimate in all of Mesopotamian literature.

The prayer falls into four movements. First, an extended shipwreck metaphor: the speaker is cast into distant waters, the shore is unreachable, a mighty wind covers them, they are like a bird caught in a storm. Second, the confession: their protective spirits have departed, family and friends have turned hostile, they eat bitterness like bread and drink tears like beer, they wear sin "like a garment" -- and yet they do not know what they did wrong. Third, the petition: a cry to the assembly of the gods, to the personal god who is angry, to Ishtar who is enraged, and to Marduk the merciful. Fourth, the purification litany: one of the most beautiful passages in Akkadian literature, in which the speaker begs for cosmic cleansing -- the seven winds, the bird, the fish, the wild beasts of the steppe, the running waters of the river -- and then transformation: "Make me shine like a ring of gold! Like a bead of lapis lazuli, may I be precious before you!" The psalm closes with a plea to be brought into Esagil, the great temple of Marduk in Babylon, the "house of life."

Good Works Translation from Akkadian. Translated from the ATF transliteration in the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, freely available under CC BY 4.0 (Zenodo DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10018951). The parallel witnesses LKA 29, BM.72012, and K.13278 were used to restore broken passages, as indicated in the ATF cross-references. No existing English translation was consulted during the translation process. The genre classification and description of K.254 as a "penitential psalm in Assyrian" are from the eBL catalogue.

I. The Drowning

[The opening four lines are too damaged for translation.]

Like one who does not fear god -- so am I.
I cannot lift my eyes to the light.
[...] does not sustain me.
Cast into the sea [...] the ship runs aground.
I am thrown into distant waters.
[...] a mighty wind covers me,
And [...] may I pass through.
The shore is far from me; the dry land, distant.
Saving the ship upon the mountain has claimed my life.
It overwhelmed me [...] an evil wind arose.
Like a bird in the storm, I am in anguish.
I cannot hold my reason; speech circles me without ceasing.

II. The Confession

The words of my mouth -- what I speak, I do not know.
Sickness [...] my good counsel.
My well-being is carried off. My guardian spirit is estranged.
My good spirit and my good guardian have departed from me.
Before my eyes, my family has turned hostile.
Into a place of evil, sick, I am thrown.
My friends and companions keep turning against me;
the people of my city terrify me.
I have transgressed against god. I have overstepped --
and suffering is set upon me.

Like bread, I eat bitterness and weeping.
Like beer, I drink the waters of anguish and tears.
Like wine, I drink bitter waters.
Like a garment, I am clothed in heavy sin.
Like a reed, I am blackened.
From joy and brightness, my features have grown dark.

What do I know? Who has given thought?
He who has no understanding [...] commits offense --
Because I cannot [...]
And the wind does not [...]
Because of my inability [...]
For hearing and for relenting [...]
My deeds, to the wasteland [...]
How shall I learn the meaning [...]?

III. The Petition

Who, with a god, has had life?
Has anyone ever heeded the word of Ishtar?
What does he know of his own doing?
Let them tell me the deeds that offend!
The pure waters of my god, the trusted one [...]
Let me seek the sanctuaries of the great gods!

Assembly of the gods -- hear my words!
To my anguished cry, greatly attend!
My god who is angry -- turn your face to me!
My Ishtar who is enraged -- receive my prayer!
Receive my prayer! May your heart be at rest!
My lord, forgiving and merciful -- Marduk!
[...] may your hearing be appeased.
My god, relent -- have mercy!
My Ishtar, look upon me -- receive my prayer!

IV. The Purification

May my sins be released! May my wrongs be forgotten!
May my debt be absolved! May my bonds be loosened!
May the seven winds carry off my sighing!
Let me strip off my evil --
may the bird carry it to heaven!
May the fish bear my distress --
may the river carry it away!
May the wild beasts of the steppe take my wrongdoing!
May the running waters of the river wash me clean!
Make me shine like a ring of gold!
Like a bead of lapis lazuli, may I be precious before you!

Cast away my evil, guard my life!
May I guard your courtyard and learn your rites!
Through the evil, make me pass --
and let me be safe at your side!
Show me a good dream, that I may sleep!
The dream I dream -- may it be good!
The dream I dream -- may it be true!
The dream I dream -- turn it to good!
May Mamu, god of dreams, stand at my head!

Bring me into Esagil --
the palace of the gods, the house of life!
To Marduk the merciful, for good --
to kind hands, entrust me!

Let me sing your greatness!
Let me praise your divinity!
May the people of my city proclaim your valor!
Before the gods, may the people praise you
[...at the shrine] of your divinity.

Colophon

Good Works Translation from Akkadian. Translated by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the ATF cuneiform transliteration of tablet K.254 in the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, published by LMU Munich under CC BY 4.0 (Zenodo DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10018951).

K.254 is a Neo-Assyrian clay tablet from the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh, now in the British Museum. The eBL catalogue describes it as "part of a penitential psalm in Assyrian, Neo-Assyrian." The genre is classified as CANONICAL > Literature > Hymns > Divine. Parallel witnesses (BM.72012, LKA 29, K.13278) confirm readings where the primary tablet is damaged; cross-references are recorded in the ATF notation.

The penitential psalm is a distinctly Mesopotamian genre -- a confessional prayer to a personal god by a supplicant who suffers but does not know which transgression provoked the divine anger. Unlike the better-known Ludlul Bel Nemeqi ("I Will Praise the Lord of Wisdom"), which narrates suffering in the third and first person, the penitential psalm is pure prayer: direct address, raw petition, the most intimate register of Akkadian devotional literature. The purification litany in Section IV -- seven winds, bird, fish, wild beasts, running water -- represents one of the most beautiful passages in the entire Akkadian corpus, a cosmic cleansing that moves from air to sky to river to steppe to water before arriving at the alchemical transformation: gold and lapis lazuli.

This is the first free English translation of K.254.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

Blood Rule statement: This translation was independently derived from the Akkadian ATF transliteration. No existing English translation was consulted, reproduced, or paraphrased. The colophon is honest.

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Source Text: K.254

Akkadian cuneiform transliteration (ATF format) from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus. Museum number K.254, British Museum, London. Neo-Assyrian period. Published under CC BY 4.0 by LMU Munich. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

Obverse

1'. [...] x [...]
2'. [...] ka-bat-t[i x x x (x)]
3'. [...] x la? x [x x x (x)]
4'. [...] ma-gal [x x x (x)]
5'. GIM la pa-lih DINGIR DU3-ku a-na-ku
6'. IGI-MU a-na ZALAG2 ta-ra-su ul a-le-'-i
7'. s[a ... ul il]-la-ma-dan-ni
8'. i[n-na-di i-na tam-ti3 ...] KUR gis-MA2
9'. SUB-[ku a-na-ku ina A-ME]S ru-qu-ti
10'. e[... IM dan-nu] SU2.SU2-an-ni
11'. u3 [...] lu-u e-te-ti-iq
12'. ru-qa-[an-ni kib-ri na-b]a-lu ne2-sa-an-ni
13'. su-z[u-ub gis-MA2 ina KUR-i ik-t]e-ru ZI-ti3
14'. ik-man-n[i ... it-b]e2-e IM lem-ni
15'. GIM MUSEN in[a ... a-na]-ku u2-sap-saq
16'. ul as-bat te3-mi il-ta-ni da-ba-bi
17'. pak-ki pi-ia sa2 ad-da-bu-bu ul i-de
18'. GIG e-te-em-[x x] mil-ki dam-qam
19'. tab-lat bal-ti nu-uk-ku-rat la-mas-si
20'. ALAD SIG5 LAMMA SIG5 BAD-u UGU-MU ina IGI-MES-MU sah-rat kim-tu4
21'. ina KI.HUL-e GIG SUB-ku a-na-ku
22'. ib-ri u tap-pe-e it-ta-nam-da-ru-in-ni : UN-MES URU-MU it-ta-nam-da-ra-nin-ni
23'. e-te-e DINGIR e-ti-iq-ma sak-na PAP.HAL
24'. GIM NINDA a-ta-kal ma-ru-us-tu4 bi-ki-tu4
25'. GIM ku-ru-un-ni as-ta-ti A-MES PAP.HAL u dim2-tu2
26'. GIM mut-ti as-ta-ti A-MES SES-MES : GIM TUG2 lab-sa2-ku ar-na kab-ta
27'. GIM zi-i-bi as-sa-lim a-na-ku
28'. ri-su-tu4 nam-ru-tu4 u2-te-et-tu-u zi-m[u-u2-a]
29'. mi-na-a i-de man-nu im-tal2-lik
30'. sa te3-ma la i-su-u x [...] x GAR-na IGI.IGI-ma hi-bil-ta
31'. as2-su2 la a-ba-li x [...]
32'. u3 IM la ka-[x (x)] x x [...]
33'. as2-su la ma-su x [...]
34'. as2-su2 se-me2-e u ta-a-ri [...]
35'. ep-set ana na-mu-tu2 [...]
36'. e-ka-a lil-ma-da te3-em [...]

Reverse

man-nu it-ti DINGIR ba-la-ta [...]
a-a-um-ma is-me2 a-mat d[is8-tar2]
mi-na-a i-de sa2 D[U3-su2 ...]
liq-bu-nim-ma ep-set DU3-su2 [...]
KU3-ME A-MES i3-li2 tak3-lu-u2 ka[b ...]
u3 lu-us-te-'-i-i as-rat DINGIR-[MES GAL-MES]
pu2-uh-ra DINGIR.DINGIR si-ma-[a qa-ba-a-a]
a-na rig2-mi-ia5 sum-ru-si ma-g[al qu-la]
i3-li2-MU sab-su suh4-hi-ra p[a-ni-ka]
dis8-tar2-MU sa2 te-zi-z[i] TI-e u[n-ni-ni-ia]
TI-e un-ni-ni-ia li-nu-uh kab-t[a-at-ki]
be-li2 ta-a-a-ru re-me2-nu-u [dAMAR.UTU]
u4 ma i te sur tes-mu-u2 tu4-pa-as2-sar2 : i3-li2-MU BUR2-ra TUKU-a [re-e-ma]
dis8-tar2-MU nap-li-si-in-ni-ma TI-e un-ni-[ni-ia]
lip-pat-ru ar-nu-u2-a lim-ma-sa2-a hi-ta-tu-u2-a
e'-il3-ti lip-pa-tir ka-si-ti li-ir-mu
ta-ni-hi-ia lit-ba-lu se-bet IM-HI.A
lu-us-hu-ut lum-ni MUSEN ana AN-e li-se-li
i-dir-ti KU6 lit-bal li-bil ID2
lim-hur an-ni nam-mas-su-u sa2 EDIN : li-mes-su-in-ni A-MES ID2 DU-MES
nu-mir-an-ni-ma GIM GU KU3.GI
ki-i lu-lim-ti el-me-si IGI-ka lu-qir
tup-pir lum-ni u2-sur ZI-ti : lu-us-sur ki-sal-la-ka-ma du-ut-ka lu-mid
it-ti lum-ni su-ti-qa-an-ni-ma lu-un-ne2-tir it-ti-ka
sub-ra-an-ni-ma MAS2.GI6 SIG5-tu2 lut-tul
MAS2.GI6 a-na-ta-lu lu-u SIG5-at : MAS2.GI6 a-na-ta-lu lu-u GI.NA-at
MAS2.GI6 a-na-ta-lu ana SIG5-ti tir-ra
dMA.MU2 DINGIR sa2 MAS2.GI6-MES ina SAG-MU lu GIN-an
su-ri-ba-an-ni-ma a-na e2-sag-il2 E2.GAL DINGIR.DINGIR E2 TI.LA
a-na dAMAR.UTU re-me-ni-i a-na SIG5-ti3 a-na SU-MIN SIG5-MES piq-dan-ni
lud-lul nar-bi-ka lut-ta-'-id DINGIR-ut-ka
UN-MES URU-MU li-se-pa-a qur-di-ka
[i-na] ma-har i3-li2 UN-MES lid-lu-[lu-ka]
[... pa-rak] D[INGIR-ti-ka]

Source Colophon

Akkadian cuneiform transliteration from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, published by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munich. The eBL project is led by Enrique Jimenez and is freely accessible under CC BY 4.0.

The ATF (ASCII Transliteration Format) is the standard encoding for cuneiform transliterations used by the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI) and related projects. Sign readings follow the conventions of the Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary (PSD) and Chicago Assyrian Dictionary (CAD). Determinatives and logograms (e.g., DINGIR = "god," AMAR.UTU = Marduk, GIS-MA2 = "ship") are standard Sumerograms used in Akkadian scribal practice. Subscript numbers distinguish homophonous signs.

The source text above has been lightly normalized from the raw ATF for readability: Unicode subscripts and special characters have been replaced with ASCII equivalents (e.g., su2 for su2), and cross-reference lines (// F ...) have been omitted. The full ATF with all cross-references is available in the eBL corpus at LMU Munich.

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