Gula is the great healer — physician of the gods, patron of the asû, the earthly doctor. Her star is Lyra; her constellation, what we now call Hercules. Her temple in Isin was named the House of Dogs, and thirty-three dog burials were found beneath it. She is mercy made divine: the power to restore, to reconcile, to snatch life back from the edge.
This prayer — Gula 1a in modern classification, a shuilla or "lifted-hand" prayer — was spoken by someone who has everything to fear: an angry personal god, an angry personal goddess, an angry city god, omens, bad dreams. The supplicant does not address these divine powers directly. They go through Gula, asking her to intercede even with Marduk himself. The structure is deliberate — three reprised invocations of the goddess thread through the text, each opening a new request, each returning the prayer's attention to the one from whom all help must come.
The prayer dates to the first millennium BCE. It survives in multiple manuscripts, some of which redirect it to a different goddess, Belet-ili, demonstrating the flexibility of the shuilla form. The ritual instructions at the close require a flour offering and three recitations.
This is a Good Works Translation from Standard Babylonian Akkadian, produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church with AI assistance.
O Gula, most exalted lady, merciful mother,
dwelling in the bright heavens —
I call to you, my lady;
come near and hear me.
I seek you, I turn to you —
as a supplicant grasps the hem of god and goddess,
I seize the hem of your garment.
Because you judge the case, pronounce the verdict.
Because healing and wholeness live with you.
Because you know how to deliver, to spare, to save.
O Gula, sublime lady, merciful mother,
among the countless stars of the heavens —
to you, O lady, I turn;
my ears I set upon you.
Receive my flour-offering.
Take hold of my prayer.
Let me send you to my wrathful god, my wrathful goddess,
to the god of my city who seethes and rages against me.
Because omens and dreams have been pressing upon me,
I am afraid; constant dread has me in its grip.
O Gula, most exalted lady —
by the word of your august command that stands supreme in Ekur,
and your firm consent that cannot be undone —
may my furious god turn back;
may my wrathful goddess return to me.
May the god of my city who seethes and rages against me,
who stands in anger: relent;
who blazes with fury: be soothed.
O Gula, most exalted lady,
you who champion the cause of the powerless —
before Marduk, king of the gods, merciful lord,
speak on my behalf; say a word in my favor.
Let your wide canopy of shelter enfold me.
Let your great forgiveness be mine.
Set upon me a gift of goodness and life,
that I may proclaim your greatness
and sing your praises forever.
Colophon
Translation from Standard Babylonian Akkadian by the New Tianmu Anglican Church (tulku, March 2026). Source transliteration: Alan Lenzi (ed.), Reading Akkadian Prayers and Hymns: An Introduction, Society of Biblical Literature, 2011, pp. 243–255, based on the critical edition by Mayer, UFBG (1976), pp. 450–454. Lenzi's English translation was consulted as reference for grammatical constructions; this English is independently derived from the Akkadian. First millennium BCE.
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Source Text: A Prayer to Gula (Gula 1a, Akkadian)
A Shuilla: Gula 1a — Standard Babylonian Akkadian
Gula bēltu šurbūtu ummu rēmēnītû āšibat šamê ellūti
alsīki bēltī izizzīm-ma šimî yâti
ešēki asḫurki kīma sissikti ilīya u ištarīya sissiktaki aṣbat
aššum dīni dâni purussâ parāsi
aššum bulluṭu u šullumu bašû ittīki
aššum eṭēra gamāla u šūzuba tīde
Gula bēltu šaqūtu ummu rēmēnītû
ina maʾdûti kakkabī šamāmī
bēltu kâši asḫurki ibšâki uznāya
maṣḫata muḫrīnnī-ma leqē unnīnīya
lušpurki ana ilīya zenî ištarīya zenīti
ana il ālīya ša šabsū-ma kamlu ittīya
ina bīrī u šuttī ittanaškanam-ma
palḫākū-ma atanamdaru
Gula bēltu šurbūtu ina amāt qibītiki ṣīrti ša ina Ekur šurbât
u annīki kīnim ša lā enû
ilī šabsu litūra ištartī zenītu lissaḫra
il ālīya ša šabsū-ma kamlu ittīya
ša īziza linūḫa ša īguga lippašra
Gula bēltu šurbūtu ṣābitat abbūt enši
ana Marduk šarri ilī bēlu rēmēnû
abbūtī ṣabtī qibî dameqtī
ṣulūlki rapšu tayyartūki kabtu libšanim-ma
gimil dumqi u balāṭi elīya šuknī-ma
narbīki lušappi dalīlīki ludlul
Source Colophon
Akkadian transliteration: Alan Lenzi (ed.), Reading Akkadian Prayers and Hymns: An Introduction, Society of Biblical Literature, 2011, pp. 243–255 (normalised text), based on Mayer, UFBG, pp. 450–454. Standard Babylonian, first millennium BCE. Survives in multiple Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian manuscripts.
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