A Bilingual Letter-Prayer to Shamash
A Babylonian king whose name is lost wrote this letter to Shamash, the sun-god of justice, to protest the destruction of his city. Composed in bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian — the learned literary language paired with the vernacular — the text is a letter-prayer: a genre that combines the epistolary form of a royal letter with the content of a devotional lament. The king addresses the deity directly, as one would address a sovereign: "Your servant speaks."
The letter describes the devastation of Babylon in images that are both precise and devastating: young men cut down like grain, people crumbling like clay statues, children snatched from their mothers' laps. At the letter's center is a theological accusation of extraordinary directness: "O young man Shamash — toward your city Babylon, like an enemy, you have stood!" The god of justice has become the enemy of his own city.
The text then turns to the theological problem that makes this letter unique: the godless tent-dwellers, who know nothing of gods or offerings, who break oaths and eat what is forbidden — they are immune to plague and demons. Their armies are safe. Meanwhile, pious Babylon has suffered seven years of war and pestilence, and lions devour people in the steppe. The Problem of Evil, stated in cuneiform a millennium before the Book of Job.
This tablet (BM.40147) is a Neo-Babylonian copy from the Babylon collection of the British Museum, accessioned in 1881. The Electronic Babylonian Literature corpus classifies the genre as "Sîn-iddinam to Utu" — a composition type originally attributed to Sîn-iddinam, king of Larsa (r. 1849–1843 BCE), but a scholarly note observes that this particular tablet names Babylon rather than Larsa, suggesting the letter-prayer was adapted to new cities and new crises across centuries. The Sumerian lines use the ceremonial name Tintir ("Forest of Life") for Babylon; the Akkadian uses Bābili. The king's name is lost in the break. First freely available English translation.
Obverse
[... (one line destroyed) ...]
[To ...], king of Babylon — your servant speaks:
Your city Babylon, chosen by your heart —
an abomination has been done to it.
From its broad streets, from the places of merriment —
silence has filled them.
Your [...] beauties that had gathered —
like a reed screen, they have been torn apart.
Your young men — like roasted grain, they have withered.
Like fresh fruit, they have been plucked.
Your people — like images of clay, they have been shattered.
Of their own accord, they have crumbled.
On the day of submission —
the land, like flour, is being ground.
Your little ones, from the laps of their mothers —
on the evil day, they have been snatched away.
Your people — with lacerated faces —
their appearances have changed.
O young man, Shamash!
Toward your city Babylon —
like an enemy, you have stood!
The land of Elam, like locusts, is numerous.
Its defeat does not exist.
The people of Shimashki —
among their gods, no qadishtu priestess,
no naditu priestess lifts the offering.
[... (one line fragmentary) ...]
Reverse
[... (one line destroyed) ...]
The tent-dweller, who does not know the shrines of the gods,
who like a flock of birds rides the wind to distant places —
the god, the festival, the offering — he does not know.
Heavy Namtar and cruel Asakku
do not approach him.
[...] The oath of his god, he has broken.
What is forbidden — he eats.
His army is safe.
[... (two lines fragmentary) ...]
For seven years, in my city —
battle and combat do not cease.
Namtar does not relent.
From the steppe, the lion
does not cease devouring people.
O Shamash! [...] At the sunset offering, I stand.
My lamentation is great.
[... (three lines destroyed) ...]
Colophon
Good Works Translation from bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian, translated by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. The English is independently derived from reading both the Sumerian and Akkadian lines of the interlinear text. No existing English translation was consulted — this text has no published free English translation. Genre classification and fragment identification follow the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.
This letter-prayer belongs to a genre that blurs the boundary between state correspondence and devotional lament. The king writes to the sun-god as to a sovereign — but the content is an accusation against divine injustice. The theological architecture of the text is precise: (1) pious Babylon, beloved of Shamash, is destroyed; (2) Elam, whose priestesses do not serve the gods, is numerous and undefeated; (3) the godless tent-dwellers, who break every oath and eat every taboo, are immune to plague and demons. The progression builds a case: the universe's justice has been inverted. The god of justice presides over a cosmos where piety is punished and impiety is rewarded. The king's accusation is not emotional — it is a reasoned theological argument delivered to the only court that can hear it.
The tablet (BM.40147, accession 1881,0324.12) is a Neo-Babylonian copy from the Babylon collection of the British Museum. The eBL genre classification "Sîn-iddinam to Utu" identifies the composition type, originally attributed to Sîn-iddinam of Larsa (r. 1849–1843 BCE), but this version names Babylon, suggesting the letter-prayer was adapted to new cities and new crises across centuries. The text is bilingual: each verse is written first in Sumerian (the learned, liturgical language) and then in Akkadian (the spoken language), producing two independent witnesses to the same content.
First freely available English translation. Twenty-ninth Mesopotamian genre (letter-prayer) from expeditionary tulkus of the Good Work Library.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
🌲
Source Text: BM.40147 — Bilingual Letter-Prayer
Akkadian-Sumerian ATF (Assyriological Transliteration Format) from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, LMU Munich. Presented for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
@obverse
1'. ($$) [...] x x [...]
2'. %sux [(x) x x] si#/sar#/kil# lugal# ka₂#-di[gir-ra{ki}-ke₄ arad-zu na-ab-be₂-a]
#note: Not Sîn-iddinam, not Larsa !?
3'. ($$) [um-m]a MIN LUGAL ba-bi#-l[i? a-rad-ka-ma]
4'. %sux [uru₂-z]u tin-tir{ki} ša₃ [ge pa₃-da-zu nig₂-gig-ga im-ma-an-ak]
5'. ($$) [URU-k]a ba-bi#-li# [i-tu-ut ku-un lib₃-bi-ka ...]
6'. %sux [sila dagal-l]a-ta# ki eše[men-ta u₄-zal-zal-la si-ga im-ma-an-si]
7'. ($$) [ina r]e-ba#-a#-ti#-šu a#-šar# m[e-lul-tu₄ uš-ta-bar-ru-u₂ ša₂-qum-ma-tu₂ im-ta-la-a]
8'. %sux [x] x sa₆-ga-zu# gu₂#-ri# m[e-en-gar-gar-ra gi-sig-gin₇ si-il-si-il-e?]
9'. ($$) [x] kid#/bit# ki#-ka dam-qa-a-ti š[a₂ ip-hu-ra ki-ma ki-ik-ki-šu₂ ul-ta-tal-li-ta]
#note: not ṣābka!
10'. %sux [guruš-zu] še UD.A₂-ba-gin₇# ba#-sag₁₁#-[sag₁₁ gurun gibil-gin₇ (x x) gur₅-gur₅-ru-uš]
11'. ($$) [eṭ-l]u-ti#-ka ki#-ma# ŠE#.IM# ba-aš#-[li i-te-en-ṣi-du ki-ma in-bi eš-šu₂ uq-ta-at-ti-pu]
12'. %sux [ug₃-z]u alan# im-gin₇# ba-gul-l[e-eš ni₂-bi-a ba-an-zal-le-eš]
13'. ($$) ni?#-šu₂?#-ka# ki#-ma ṣa-lam <
14'. %sux [u₄ k]a-an#-ša#-ša# šu-bar-ra-am₃# [kalam zi₃-gin₇ ma₅-ma₅]
15'. ($
16'. %sux [di₄]-di₄-la₂#-zu?# ur₂?# ama-bi#-ne#-[ta u₄ hul-bi ba-an-da-kar-re-eš]
17'. ($$) [ṣ]e-eh?#-he?#-ru?#-ti-ka ina# ut#-li?# um?#-mi#-š[u₂-nu u₄-mu lem-nu i-x x (x)]
18'. %sux [ug₃-z]u? igi# hur#-ra muš₂#-me#-bi [ba-kur₂-re-eš]
19'. ($$) ni#-iš?#-ka# ina gid-da-a-ti zi#-m[u-ši-na it-tak-ru]
#note: gadādu "to lacerate" (see Gabbay OrNS 88)
20'. %sux [šul] {d}utu uru₂-zu tin-tir{ki#}-[še₃? lu₂ kur₂-gin₇ ba-gub-be₂-en]
21'. ($$) [e]ṭ-lu# {d#}UTU ana URU-ka ba-bi-lu k[i-ma nak-ru ta-at-ta-zi-iz]
22'. %sux [kur] elam#-ma#{ki#} buru₅#-gin₇ mah#-a [(...)-bi? šub-ba nu-gal₂-la]
23'. ($$) [MI]N ki#-ma# e-re-bi-e ma-ʾa-da#-a[t mi-qit-ta-šu₂ ul ib-ba-aš₂-šu₂]
24'. %sux [lu₂ SU{k]i} digir-re-e-ne-ke₄# nu#-gig# [lukur nu-mu-un-da-il₂-la-e-a]
25'. ($___$) [ši?-ma]š?-ki# u₂ za?# hu? qa#-diš#-ta?# na#-d[i-tu la i-na-aš₂-šu-u₂]
26'. %sux [...] x x ki?# x x [(x x)] x [...]
@reverse
1'. [...] x x [...]
2'. [za-lam-gar t]i-la# [ki digir-re-e-ne-ke₄ nu-un-zu-a]
3'. ($$) [x (x) a-šib ku]š-ta#-ri [ša₂ aš₂-rat DINGIR-MEŠ la i-du-u₂]
4'. %sux [x (x x) muš]en-gin₇ e-n[e su₃-ud-da im-mi-e/e₃-a digir-ra-... {zi₃}A.TIR ezen siškur₂ nu-un-zu-a]
5'. ($$) [(...) ša₂ ki-ma r]i-ki-bi iṣṣu₂-r[i? ir-tak-ka-bu a-na DINGIR sa-as-qu-u₂ i-sin-nu la i-du-u₂]
6'. %sux [nam-tar dugu]d-da a₂-sag₃# n[ig₂-gig-ga nu-mu-un-na-te-ge₂₆]
7'. ($$) [nam-ta-ru ka]b-tu a-sak#-k[u mar-ṣu ul i-ṭe-eh-he-šu₂]
8'. %sux [... mu? digir-a-n]i i₃-sal-la# n[ig₂-gig-ga-a-ni x x (x) gu₇-e ugnim-a-ni silim-ma]
9'. [(x) pa-ra]-sa-am? ni-i[š DINGIR-šu₂-nu a-kil ik-ki-bi-šu₂-nu um-mat-šu₂-nu šal-ma]
10'. %sux [inim sa₆? ne? (...)] x ir iš# x [...]
11'. [... a]š₂-na-an x [...]
12'. %sux [mu imin-kam₂-ma-t]a uru₂-g[a₂ me₃ šen-šen-na nu-ub-du₈-a nam-tar-ra a₂-bi nu-ga₂-ga₂]
13'. ($$) [i-na] 7?# MU-MEŠ ina# U[RU-ia ta-ha-zu qab-lu ul ip-paṭ-ṭar nam-ta-ru is-su x (x x)]
14'. %sux [eden-na-ta u]r-mah#-[a lu₂ gu₇-e nu-mu-un-ib₂-la₂-e]
15'. [ina ṣe]-e#-ri n[e-e-šu₂ x x x a-ka-la ul u₂-maṭ-ṭa]
16'. %sux [{d}utu? x (x)] x ir# x [(x) u₄-šu₂-uš siškur₂ (x) al-gub-be₂-en inim si₃-si₃-ke-da-gu₁₀ mah-am₃]
17'. ($___$) [...] x x [...]
18'. [...] x x [...]
19'. [...] x x [...]
20'. [...] x [...]
Source Colophon
Transliteration from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. eBL corpus archived at Zenodo (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10018951). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Tablet: BM.40147 (British Museum, accession 1881,0324.12). Collection: Babylon. Script period: Neo-Babylonian. Genre: Letter-Prayer (Sîn-iddinam to Utu).
🌲