Nabu is the scribe of the gods — keeper of the Tablet of Destinies, stylus in hand, son of Marduk. His planet is Mercury. His temples held libraries. Young scribes copying prayers dedicated their work to him, tracing their family trees with pride in the colophons. To practice the scribal art in ancient Mesopotamia was to live under Nabu's eye.
This shuilla — a "lifted-hand" prayer — is a prayer of old age. The supplicant has prayed all their life, from restless-handed youth to breathless old age, and received nothing for it: no good fortune, no gain. Their days have passed; their years have ended. They stand before humanity like a storm-wind — buffeted, transient — and have come at last to seize the prayer-rope and ask for the light.
The phrase "show me the light" carries a specific image: the light you see when a prison door swings open and you walk free. The supplicant does not ask for wealth or more years. They ask to be released — from divine displeasure, from the shadow settling at life's end.
The prayer builds a ring structure: the closing lines echo the opening. Days and years in the lament mirror days and years in the hymn. The verb "to seize" appears first of Nabu gripping his scribal reed, then last of the supplicant seizing his prayer-rope. What the god holds, the devoted also hold. The prayer knows what it is doing.
This is a Good Works Translation from Standard Babylonian Akkadian, produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church with AI assistance.
Nabu — first-born, true heir —
who holds the scribal reed, who opens the ear,
who watches over days and years,
who saves the living, who repays in kind,
foremost among the gods, whose name is great:
his father-creator does not alter his decree.
Marduk does not change what Nabu, his son, has spoken.
Among the gods his peers, his word stands supreme.
When one's god is angry, you turn him back.
When one's goddess seethes, you make peace between them.
For one weighed down by guilt, you dissolve that guilt.
I, [name], son of [name], am the servant who fears you.
In my youth I prayed with restless hands.
Now I am old; I hold my hands open wide to all the gods.
Prostrating myself, my breath grows short.
Before humanity I am like a storm-wind.
My days have passed away; my years have come to their end.
I have not seen good fortune. I have found no gain.
True heir — Nabu, mighty one —
I seize your prayer-rope: show me the light.
Let me proclaim your greatness; let me sing your praises.
Ritual instructions:
Sweep the ground; sprinkle it with pure water; set up the portable altar.
Place two incense burners — one facing east, one facing west.
On a day of Nabu [...] cedar and juniper in both.
[...] pour out beer and wine.
Then speak: "Nabu, whose name is great —
I seize your prayer-rope; show me the light."
Thus speak — and prostrate yourself.
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. 325–337, based on the critical edition by Mayer, UFBG (1976), pp. 469–472. Lenzi's English translation and commentary were consulted as reference for grammatical constructions; this English is independently derived from the Akkadian. Three manuscripts survive (Mayer's MSS A, B, and C): MS A from Ashur, MS B from Sultan Tepe (Huzirina), MS C from Nineveh. Passages marked with square brackets indicate restorations from broken manuscript text. First millennium BCE.
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Source Text
A Shuilla: Nabu 1 — Standard Babylonian Akkadian
šiptu: Nabû rēštû aplu kēnu
ṣābit qan ṭuppi pētû ḫasissi
. . . ūmī bārû šanāti
ēṭir napišti mutēr gimilli
ašarēd ilī šumu kabtu
zikiršu ul enni abu bānûšu
Marduk ul enni zikir Nabû mārīšu
ina ilī māšīšu amāssu ṣīrat
ša ilšu isbusu tusaḫḫar kišāssu
ša zenât šīmtašu tusallim ittīšu
ša arna išû tapaṭṭar araššu
anāku annanna mār annanna ardu pāliḫka
ina meṣḫarūtīya ma-ši-šu-ti usappa
šēbāku ana kal ilī petâ upnāya
ina lipin appīya takturu napaltu
ina pāni amīlūti kīma meḫê anāku
ittatlakū ūmūya šanātūya iqtatâ
ul āmur dumqa nēmelu lā arši
aplu kēnu Nabû gešru
aṣbat sīpēka kullimanni nūra
narbīka lušāpi dalīlīka ludlul
[Rubric (Sumerian): "Wording of a lifted-hand prayer to Nabu."]
Ritual instructions (normalized):
epištašu: qaqqara tašabbiṭ mê ellūti tasallaḫ paṭīra tukān
šinā nignakka ištēn ana ṣīt šamši šanītu ana ereb šamši tašakkan
ina ūmi ša Nabû . . . erēnu
. . . burāšu kilattān
. . . tasarraq miḫḫa karāna tanaqqi
iqabbi: Nabû šumu kabtu —
aṣbat sīpēka kullimanni nūra
kīam iqabbī-ma uškên
Akkadian transliteration: Alan Lenzi (ed.), Reading Akkadian Prayers and Hymns: An Introduction, Society of Biblical Literature, 2011, pp. 325–337 (normalised text), based on Mayer, UFBG (1976), pp. 469–472. Standard Babylonian, first millennium BCE. Three manuscripts: KAR 25+ (Ashur), STT 55 (Sultan Tepe/Huzirina), K.3433 (Nineveh). Nabu was scribe of the gods, son of Marduk, patron of the scribal art; his planet is Mercury.
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