The ershahunga — "lament for the appeasing of a heart" in Sumerian — belongs to a world where sin is real even when it is invisible. Unlike the shuilla-prayer, which opens with elaborate hymnic praise of a named god, the ershahunga speaks to an unknown one. The petitioner does not know which deity has turned against them, or why. The offense was committed in ignorance: a taboo eaten unknowingly, a boundary crossed without knowing it existed. And yet the anger is real, the suffering is real, the divine withdrawal is real.

The prayer therefore covers all cases. It addresses the god, the goddess, the known deity, the unknown deity, the personal god, the personal goddess, the one who is angry, the one who may be angry. The refrain — "may the fury of your heart return to where it was" — is spoken to every conceivable form the offended divine might take.

This prayer was copied at Ashurbanipal's palace at Nineveh in the seventh century BCE. The rubric at the end — in Sumerian — describes it simply: "An ershahunga of sixty-five lines, to any god." The last seven lines of the original are in Sumerian only and have no Akkadian translation. They are not included here.

This is a Good Works Translation from Standard Babylonian Akkadian, produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church with AI assistance.

May the fury of my lord's heart return to where it was.

May the god I do not know relent.
May the goddess I do not know relent.
May whatever god it is relent.
May whatever goddess it is relent.
May my god's heart relent.
May my goddess's heart relent.
May god and goddess together relent.
May the god who is angry with me relent.
May the goddess who is angry with me relent.

[Lines 11–16 are poorly preserved.]

The food I came upon — I did not eat it alone.
The water I came upon — I did not drink it alone.
My god's sacred boundary I ate of, not knowing.
My goddess's forbidden ground I trod, not knowing.

O lord, my crimes are many, great are my sins.
O my god, my crimes are many, great are my sins.
O my goddess, my crimes are many, great are my sins.
O whatever god it was, my crimes are many, great are my sins.
O whatever goddess it was, my crimes are many, great are my sins.

The wrong I committed — I do not know what it was.
The sin I sinned — I do not know what it was.
The taboo I broke — I do not know what it was.
The boundary I crossed — I do not know where.

A lord glowered at me from the fury of his heart.
My god made his anger's face turn toward me.
A goddess raged at me and made me deeply sick.
Whatever god it was — he made me burn.
Whatever goddess it was — she laid grief down upon me.

I searched again and again, but no one would take my hand.
I wept, and those near me would not come close.
I cried out, but no one would hear me.
I am full of dread. I am hidden. I cannot see.

To my merciful god I turn constantly — a prayer I speak.
Before my goddess I crawl, kissing the ground at her feet.
To whatever god it was — turn back to me, I implore you, I speak a prayer.
To whatever goddess it was — turn back to me, I implore you.
O lord, turn back to me, I implore you.
O goddess, look at me, I implore you.
O whatever god it was — turn back to me, I implore you.
O whatever goddess it was — look at me, I implore you.

How long, my god, until your heart...?
How long, my goddess, until your mood rests?
How long, whatever god it was, until your rage grows still?
How long, whatever goddess it was, until your estranged heart
returns to where it was?

Humanity is deaf — we know nothing, nothing at all.
Humanity, by whatever name you call it — what does it know?
Whether we do wrong or do good — none of us know it.
O lord, do not cast your servant down.
He is thrown into swamp water — take his hand, lift him.

Turn my many sins into good.
Let the wind carry away the wrong I did.
Strip my many sacrileges from me like a garment.

Rubric: An ershahunga of sixty-five lines, to any god.

Colophon

Colophon: Translated from Standard Babylonian Akkadian by the New Tianmu Anglican Church (tulku-assisted, 2026). The source is a bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian tablet copied at Ashurbanipal's palace at Nineveh, seventh century BCE, faithfully copied from an older original. Lines 11–16 are poorly preserved in all extant manuscripts and are omitted here. Lines 59–65 are in Sumerian only with no Akkadian translation and are likewise omitted. The Akkadian transliteration is preserved in the Lenzi critical edition (Alan Lenzi, ed., Reading Akkadian Prayers and Hymns: An Introduction, 2011). Lenzi's English translation was consulted as a reference; the present English is independently derived from the Akkadian.

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Source Text — Akkadian Transliteration

Standard Babylonian Akkadian, from the Lenzi edition (2011). Curly braces {} indicate lines with no independent Akkadian translation, filled in from the bilingual Sumerian or from structural parallels. Square brackets [] indicate lacunae with scholarly restorations. Lines 11–16 and 59–65 are omitted.

1. šá be-lim nu-ug'-gat ŠÀ-šú ana aš-ri-šú li-tu-ra
2. i-lum ša la i-du-ú {ana aš-ri-šú li-tu-ra}
3. díš-tar ša la i-du-ú {ana aš-ri-ša li-tu-ra}
4. i-lum i-du-u la i-du-ú {ana aš-ri-šú li-tu-ra}
5. {díš-tar i-du-u la i-du-ú ana aš-ri-ša li-tu-ra}
6. lib-bi DINGIR-ia {ana aš-ri-šú li-tu-ra}
7. {lib-bi díš-ta-ri-ia ana aš-ri-šú li-tu-ra}
8. i-lum u díš-tar ana aš-ri-šú-nu li-tu-rù
9. i-lum š[a e-li-ia is-bu-su] {ana aš-ri-šú li-tu-ra}
10. díš-ta-r[a ša e-li-ia is-bu-su] {ana aš-ri-ša li-tu-ra}

[Lines 11–16 are poorly preserved.]

17. a-kal [ut-tu-u ina ra-ma-ni-ia ul] a-kul
18. me-e ut-tu-[u ina ra-ma-ni-ia ul] áš-ti
19. ik-kib DINGIR-ia ina la i-[de-e] a-kul
20. an-zil díš-ta-ri-ia ina la i-de-e ú-kab-bi-is
21. be-lum an-nu-u-a ma-a'-da ra-ba-a ḫi-ṭa-tu-u-a
22. {i-li an-nu-u-a ma-a'-da ra-ba-a ḫi-ṭa-tu-u-a}
23. {díš-ta-ri-ia an-nu-u-a ma-a'-da ra-ba-a ḫi-ṭa-tu-u-a}
24. {i-lum i-du-u la i-du-ú an-nu-u-a ma-a'-da ra-ba-a ḫi-ṭa-tu-u-a}
25. {díš-tar i-du-u la i-du-ú an-nu-u-a ma-a'-da ra-ba-a ḫi-ṭa-tu-u-a}
26. an-ni e-pu-šu ul i-[de]
27. ḫi-iṭ aḫ-ṭú {ul i-de}
28. ik-kib a-ku-lu₄ {ul i-de}
29. an-zil ú-kab-bi-su {ul i-de}
30. be-lum ina ug-gat lib-bi-šú ik-kel-manᵃᵐ-ni
31. i-li ina uz-zi lib-bi-šú ú-šam-ḫi-ra-an-ni
32. díš-tar e-li-ia is-bu-us-ma mar-ṣi-iš ú-še-manᵃᵐ-ni
33. {i-lum i-du-u la i-du-ú} ú-ṣar-rip-an-ni
34. {díš-tar i-du-u la i-du-ú} a-šu-uš-ti iš-ku-na
35. áš-ta-né'-e-ma mam-ma-an qá-ti ul i-ṣa-bat
36. ab-ki-ma i-ta-te-ia ul iṭ-ḫu-u
37. qu-bé-e a-qab-bi mam-ma-an ul i-šeₐₘ-manam-ni
38. uš-šu-šá-ku kàt-ma-ku ul a-na-ṭa-al
39. ana DINGIR-ia réme-ni-i at-ta-na-as-ḫar un-ni-ni a-qab-bi
40. ša díš-tar-ia še-pa-ša' [ú-na-áš-šaq ina IGI-kí] ap-ta-na-ši-il
41. ana {DINGIR i-du-u la i-du-ú} [na-ás-ḫi-ra-an-ni un-ni-ni a-qab]-bi
42. {ana díš-ta-ri i-du-u la i-du-ú} [na-ás-ḫi-ra-an-ni un-ni-ni a-qab-bi]
43. [b]e-lum n[a-ás-ḫi-ra-an-ni un-ni-ni a-qab-bi]
44. {díš-tar} nap-l[i-si-in-ni un-ni-ni a-qab-bi]
45. {DINGIR i-du-u la i-du-ú} [na-ás-ḫi-ra-an-ni un-ni-ni a-qab-bi]
46. {díš-tar i-du-u la i-du-ú} [nap-li-si-in-ni un-ni-ni a-qab-bi]
47. a-di ma-ti i-li [ŠÀ-ka . . .]
48. {a-di ma-ti díš-ta-ri} k[a-bat-ta-ki . . . lip-ša-ḫa]
49. {a-di ma-ti i-lum i-du-u la i-du-ú} uz-za-k[a . . . li-nu-uḫ]
50. {a-di ma-ti díš-tar i-du-u la i-du-ú} ŠÀ-ki a-ḫu-u ana aš-ri-šú li-[tūr]
51. a-me-lu-tu su-ku-ka-at-ma mim-ma ul i-de
52. {a-me-lu-tu} ma-al šu-mu na-bu-u mi-i-nu i-de
53. lu-u ú-gal-lil lu-u ú-dam-mì-iq mim-ma ul i-de
54. be-lum ir-ka la ta-sa-kip
55. ina me-e ru-šum-ti na-di qa-as-su ṣa-bat
56. ḫi-it-ṭi aḫ-ṭú-u ana da-mì-iq-ti te-er
57. an-na e-pu-uš šá-a-ru lit-bal
58. gíl-la-tu-u-a ma-a'-da-ti ki-ma ṣú-ba-ti šu-ḫu-uṭ

Rubric (Sumerian): ér-šà-ḫun-gá 65-àm mu-bi-im dingir-dù-a-bi-kám
("An ershahunga of sixty-five lines, to any god.")

Source colophon: Copied at the palace of Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, seventh century BCE. The tablet was found at Nineveh.

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