This prayer is known from a single clay tablet in the British Museum (BM.40474), written in a capable but erratic Late Babylonian hand. It preserves one of the most emotionally raw documents in all of Akkadian literature -- the cry of a person destroyed by slander. The supplicant, Nabu-suma-ukin, "son of Nebuchadnezzar," is overwhelmed by gossip, lies, and the schemes of those who have turned his own words against him. He weeps from dawn to the last watch of the night. He cannot speak his own wrong, because the slanderers have already spoken for him.
The prayer falls into three movements: a hymnic preamble praising Marduk's power to scatter the deeds of the wicked (lines 1-17), a third-person narration describing the supplicant's suffering and ceaseless weeping (lines 18-34), and a long first-person litany of petitions demanding that Marduk destroy the slanderer (lines 35-79). It closes with two scribal subscriptions -- the first naming the prayer's purpose ("the prayer of the weary and the bound"), the second naming the man who commissioned it.
Irving Finkel, who published the editio princeps in 1999, argued that Nabu-suma-ukin was the birth name of Amel-Marduk (Evil-Merodach), the son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BCE), and that this prayer was written from a literal prison cell. After his release, Finkel argues, the prince changed his name to Amel-Marduk ("Man of Marduk") to honor the god who freed him. Alan Lenzi (2025) reinterprets the text as an anti-witchcraft prayer, arguing that the "confinement" imagery is figurative -- a common trope in Akkadian devotional literature -- and that the prayer addresses gossip and reputational destruction, not physical imprisonment. The archive presents the text without adjudicating the debate.
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). No existing English translation was consulted.
I. The Power of Marduk
He scatters the deeds of the wicked among the gods -- Marduk.
The schemes of humanity he makes into wind.
He undoes the knot of the wicked's schemes among humanity -- Marduk.
He binds the evil one; he seizes the mouth of the slanderer -- Marduk.
The word of the mouth which is carried through scheming --
he truly hears, he understands, he turns it [...] -- Marduk.
He undoes the bond of the crooked and the hostile;
he makes him into wind.
The bond of scheming -- to undo it he is able -- Marduk.
He who trusts in the schemes of his own heart --
he makes him into wind.
Toward the squinting eye he frowns -- Marduk.
The lips of the slanderous -- Fire consumes.
He tends the unknowing, the unseeing -- Marduk.
Who against him shall craft schemes?
He tends the weak, the powerless -- Marduk.
The signs of scheming are cut short;
all his intent he gathers up -- Marduk.
The schemes of the crooked, the bond of the malevolent --
to undo them he is able.
The one who guards himself -- a storm befalls.
The one who trusts in the schemes of his heart -- his posterity is a phantom.
II. The Weeping
At morning, at dawn;
at noon, at the hour of rest;
in the evening, at twilight;
through the whole night, in the last watch --
the wretched one, the weary one, weeps.
The wretched one, the unseeing, draws forth tears.
Because of the schemes of humanity he draws forth only tears.
He weeps in his confinement because his word is made evil.
Because he cannot speak his wrong, he draws forth tears.
The bond of the crooked and the hostile devises a scheme.
[...] the schemes of humanity intensify the bond of his evil.
[...] in fetters he is enclosed.
[...] through scheming they strengthen the net [...].
The laborer stands and the weary one weeps.
[...] in confinement he weeps, he prays, he cries out to Marduk:
"Grant freedom! I bow my face."
"May the bond of [...] his heart be undone."
III. The Petition
[...] Marduk.
The one who [...] me -- [...] Marduk.
The one who binds me -- [...] Marduk.
The one who restrains me -- [...] Marduk.
The one who slanders me -- [...] Marduk.
My slanderer -- [...] Marduk.
The one who reaches [...] at the command of Marduk --
my schemer -- strike him down, Marduk!
The one who swears oaths against me -- make him stumble, Marduk!
The one who lies in wait for me -- destroy him, Marduk!
The one who glowers at me -- expel him, Marduk!
The one who devises the scheme of my misfortune -- may you truly know!
His lips speak kindness, but his heart is lies [...]
The one who strengthens his bond for my evil -- look! [...]
The thick net which the slanderer through scheming has wrapped around me -- may it surround him!
May he tend -- the beloved of Shazu -- and may Nabu speak to his father!
He who through the schemes of his heart has strengthened the bond of my evil --
quickly may he be uprooted!
He who acted against me to improve himself and to corrupt my heart --
impose a heavy burden upon him!
O Marduk -- you know the doer of evil against me.
The one who instigates my evil -- remember!
The schemes of humanity -- who against you, O Marduk, can scatter them?
Words to the slanderer he has turned against me -- toward my defamers, remember, O Marduk!
He who has perverted me, has slandered me, has instigated his ally against me --
may he know your power, O Marduk!
He who, with the words of my accusers before my slanderers, has sought a fault -- O Marduk!
[...] I have not spoken! The slanderer who instigated -- may he learn, O Marduk!
The alteration of my life, the evil wind that has risen against me -- hear me, O Marduk!
The evil wind that has risen against me -- overthrow it, Marduk!
May he shatter the bond of my evil, the bringer of judgment!
Upon his own schemes may a storm descend!
The desires of his heart -- may they be phantoms!
[...] toward the one who teaches, who constantly speaks what is true --
I am your beloved. He who has taught me [...]
Remember against evil, O Marduk!
[...] against those whose lips turned [...] against my kin --
evil [...] they devised [...]
They crafted slander [...] the bond of my evil [...]
they raised his gossip over the one who formed my seed.
[...] appointed [...] they intensified my word in captivity.
O Marduk, [...] to seize him [...]
[...] in bondage until I set myself right, they bind [...]
[...] he has turned; against the one who instigates, against [...] they intensified my word -- may he learn, O Marduk!
[...] hear the gossip, the gossip of my enemy --
undo his schemes! The evil wind [...] his gossip -- phantom!
[...] the bond of the crooked [...] wind, storm, his gossip, phantom -- may they undo his bond!
May your thoughtfulness be favorable!
Toward the weary one -- your thoughts, firstly, mercy!
Over the one who crafts slander, who intensifies the bond of my evil -- achieve triumph!
[...] your weapon, the Flood!
Those who have heard the insult, who have seen the wrong, remembered your good name.
May your heart be eased! Hasten! Achieve triumph! Undo my shackles!
May the Igigi bless you! May the Anunnaki ever bless you!
May heaven and the Abyss rejoice over you!
May Ea, king of the Abyss, joyfully rejoice over you!
Subscriptions
The prayer of the weary and the bound, whom the lord of evil has reached and perverted -- to Marduk. Through the prayer of Marduk may he be released, and may people and land behold his protection.
The craft of the weary and the exhausted: Nabu-suma-ukin, son of Nebuchadnezzar. [...] May they behold all these afflictions.
Colophon
Source: BM.40474 (British Museum, London). Late Babylonian period. Single tablet, unique manuscript.
Transliteration source: Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) platform, fragment P499184. ATF transliteration freely available under CC BY 4.0 (Zenodo DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10018951).
Translation: Good Works Translation by NTAC (New Tianmu Anglican Church), April 2026. First freely available English translation of the Prayer of Nabu-suma-ukin.
Method: English independently derived from reading the Akkadian ATF transliteration. No existing English translation was consulted. The translations of Finkel (1999), Foster (2005), and Hecker (2013) were not used as sources.
Blood Rule: The English is independently derived from the Akkadian source text. All readings are the translator's own. Where the tablet is damaged or the reading uncertain, lacunae are marked with [...].
Key scholarship: I.J. Finkel, "The Lament of Nabu-suma-ukin" (1999, editio princeps) argued this is a prayer by Amel-Marduk from prison. A. Lenzi, "The Prayer of Nabu-suma-ukin (BM.40474): An Anti-Witchcraft Prayer" (KASKAL, 2025) reinterprets the text as an anti-witchcraft prayer about gossip and slander. T. Oshima's edition in Babylonian Prayers to Marduk (ORA 7, 2011) provides the standard philological treatment.
Scribal note: The text divides into three sections marked by rulings on the tablet: a hymnic preamble (lines 1-17) praising Marduk's power to scatter deceit, a third-person narration (lines 18-34) describing the supplicant's weeping through every watch of the night, and a long first-person petition (lines 35-79) demanding Marduk's intervention against the slanderer. The word riksu ("bond," "knot") appears throughout -- it is both the slanderer's weapon and the thing Marduk undoes. The wind (sharu) appears as both the slanderer's tool and Marduk's judgment: what the wicked builds is made into wind; what the wicked sends as wind, Marduk turns into storm (mehu). The reverse of the tablet is noticeably more cramped than the obverse, with longer lines and denser script, suggesting the scribe was copying from a model (Vorlage) that was already arranged this way.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: Akkadian ATF Transliteration (BM.40474)
Akkadian source text in ATF (ASCII Transliteration Format) from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) platform, P499184. Freely available under CC BY 4.0 (Zenodo DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10018951). Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
@obverse
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[u2-s]ap-pah ep-she-et rag#-gi i-na DIGIR#-MESH {d}mardu[k]
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[ni]k-la-a-ti NAM.LU2.U18#.LU u2-sha2-a[p]-pal# sha2-a#-ru
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u2-pat-tar ri-kis nik-la-a-ti# rag-gi i-na# [NAM.LU2.U18.LU] {d#}mardu[k]
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i-kam-ma lem-nu i-tsab-bat [p]i-i da-bi-bi [...] {d#}mardu[k]
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a-mat pi-i sha2 ina ni-kil ta-ab-bab-lu lu i-[sh]em-me i-lam-mad u2-tar a-[na ...] {d#}mardu[k]
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u2-pat-tar ri-kis eg-ru u za-m[a]-nu u2-sha2-ap-pal#-[shu2 sha2]-a#-ru#
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ri-kis ni-kil-ti pu-ut-tu-ru i-le-'-e {d#}mard[uk]
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sha2 a-na ni-ik-la-at lib3-bi-shu2 tak-la u2-sha2-ap-pal-shu2 sha2#-a#-ru#
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a-na IGI.MIN tsa-pi-ir-ti ik-ke-lem-ma# {d}mar[duk]
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shap-ta-an mu-lam-mi-na-a-ti {d}GISH.BAR u2#-sha2-aq-ma
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i-re-'-e-e la mu-du-u2 la# na-ti-lu {d}marduk
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man-nu it#-ti#-shu2 i-ban-na-a nik-la-a-ti
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i#-re-e-ma en-shu2 la le#-'#-a {d}marduk
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[q]u-ud-da i-da-a-tu4 nik-[la]-a#-ti ka-la-ma ha-mi-im ka-ra-as-su {d}marduk
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[n]ik-la-a-ti eg-ru ri-k[is ts]e-e-nu pu-ut-tu#-ur-shi-na i-le-'#-e
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[na-ts]i-ir ram-ni-shu2 [me]-hu-u2 i-ba-'-ush
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[ta]-kil a-na nik-la-a[t l]ib3-bi-shu2 ar2-kat3-su za-qi2-qu-um-ma
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[mim-m]u-u2 she-e-ri i-na na-ma-ri
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i#-na mu-uts-la-lu i-na tsal-la-a-ti
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i#-na li-la-a-ti i-na she-mi-tan
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i#-na ka-la mu-shi i-na EN.NUN.U4.ZAL.LE
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[n]a-as-su2 an-hu i-bak-ki#
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[n]a-as-su2 la na-ti-lu i-he-et-ti-ib di-im-tu4
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[ash-shu]m nik-la-a-tu4 a-me-lut-tu4 di-ma-ta-am-ma i-he-et-ti-ib
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i-[bak]-ki i-na me-se-ri#-shu2 ash-shum lum-mu-na-at a-mat-su
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[ash-shum la] qa-ba-a-tu4 HUL-ta-shu2 i-he-et-ti-ib di-im-t[i]
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[ri-kis] eg-ru u za-ma-nu u2-na-ak-ki-il ni-kil-t[u2]
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[...nik]-la-a-ti a-me-lut-ti ush-shu-tu ri-kis lum-ni-[shu2]
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[...] ina ki-shu-u2 la-mu-u2
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[...] ni-kil u2-dan-ni-nu sa-pa-ra
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[dun-na-m]u-u2 iz-za-az-ma an-hu i-bak-ki
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[... ina me]-si-ru i-bak-ki u2-sap-pi i-sha2-as-si a-na {d}marduk
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[shu-kun] an-du-ra-ri a-na-ku u2-lab-ban ap-pi
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[... lip-pa-t]i-ir ri-ki-is [...] lib3-bi-shu2
35-47. [Petitions continue on obverse, largely fragmentary]
@reverse
48-79. [Extended petitions and doxology -- see ATF in eBL corpus P499184]
@colophon
80. ut-nin-nu an-hu ka-su-u2 sha2 EN HUL-ti ik-su-shu2 u2-sha-an-nu-u2 a-na {d}marduk
81. i-pish-ti an-hu shu-nu-hu {m}{d}PA-MU-GI.NA A {m}{d}PA-NIG2.DU-URI3 [...]
82. [...] li-ta-am-ma-ru kal GIG-MESH an-na-a-ti
[The complete Akkadian ATF transliteration (82 lines) is freely accessible via the eBL platform at ebl.lmu.de, fragment P499184, and via the Zenodo dataset (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10018951). The full ATF is staged at Tulku/Tools/akkadian/fragments.json.]
Source Colophon
Source: British Museum, London, BM.40474 (= 1881-04-28, 13). Late Babylonian period. Single tablet, unique manuscript.
Transliteration: Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) platform, P499184. CC BY 4.0. Zenodo DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10018951.
Editio princeps: I.J. Finkel, "The Lament of Nabu-suma-ukin," in Festschrift fuer Rykle Borger zu seinem 65. Geburtstag (CM 10, Groningen, 1999), 323-342.
Critical edition: T. Oshima, Babylonian Prayers to Marduk (ORA 7, Tuebingen, 2011), 95-96, 316-327.
Recent study: A. Lenzi, "The Prayer of Nabu-suma-ukin (BM.40474): An Anti-Witchcraft Prayer," KASKAL n.s. 2 (2025), 1-16.
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