Tuesday, April 21, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org

The Prayer of the Arrow Star

✦ ─── ⟐ ─── ✦

K.128

This is a prayer spoken in the dark before dawn, watching the eastern horizon.

K.128 is a complete Neo-Babylonian clay tablet from the Kuyunjik collection of the British Museum (ancient Nineveh). It preserves an ikribu — an offertory prayer recited by a diviner (bārû) before performing extispicy, the reading of omens from the entrails of a sacrificial animal. The prayer is addressed to Ninurta, the warrior god whose celestial manifestation is the Arrow Star (Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky).

The text moves from cosmic hymnic praise to a desperate personal petition. The first half builds Ninurta as supreme god: warrior, judge, healer, fire, storm, reviver of the dead, star. The second half reveals the speaker — a son of a diviner, awake through the night, troubled by a case too difficult to read. The verdict of the future is far from him. The sun has set. He waits in darkness for Ninurta’s star to rise.

The tablet’s rubric instructs that the prayer is to be recited “when [the Arrow Star] stands at sunrise” — at the heliacal rising of Sirius, the moment the star first appears above the eastern horizon at dawn. The astronomer-diviner’s night vigil culminates in a single plea: may the oracle I pronounce be truth.

33 lines (19 obverse, 14 reverse). First published by Eric Burrows in JRAS Centenary Supplement (1924). Transliteration from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.

Ninurta, the greatest, valiant god,
foremost of the Anunnaki, commander of the Igigi,

judge of all, examiner of disputes,
who illuminates the darkness, who makes bright the obscure,

who decides the verdicts for the far-flung peoples,

resplendent lord, who heals the flesh of the land —
at whose appearance the evil plague
seizes the corners,
and the dangerous disease returns to its place.

Merciful, who spares lives, who revives the dead,
who holds truth and justice, who destroys the wicked,

untiring arrow, before whom all enemies tremble,

great storm, who holds the reins of heaven and earth,
judge of verdicts, seer of oracles,

Girra the learned, who burns the wicked —

whose name in heaven is the Arrow Star;
among all the Igigi, greatest is your name.
Among all the gods, exalted is your divinity.

At the rising of the stars, your face shines bright as the sun.
You survey the sweep of the settlements —
toward your bright light they yearn.

The peoples — the burdened, the sleepless, the exhausted — they seek you.
He who has no one: you are his trust. [...]
You save the one concealed in robbery and forsaken [...].
From the Underworld you command his revival:
he who in [battle] was surrounded by war,
led toward death, and called upon your name —
you had mercy, O Lord.
In the slaughter, you saved him.

And I — son of a diviner, your worshipful servant —
daily I am troubled; I seek in distress.
The case is hard; to learn it is difficult.
The verdict of the future is far from me.
The sun is hidden — in the night I await your rising.

To learn the outcome I have stood before you,
to set right the case.

I lift my hands in prayer.
Stand now in the midst of the pure heavens!
Hear the word of my mouth!

Release my sin!
Wipe away my transgression!
May my offerings bless you;
may my scattered grain calm your heart.
Do not turn aside — stand!

Judge my case!
Accept my prayer — hear my supplication!

For whatever I have devised, place a verdict.
By your firm assent, let me direct the path,
and before you, let me restore my life.

O Ninurta the Greatest, pure god —
at the offering, stand!
By my words, my name, and my hand,
and in all that he does —
the oracle that I pronounce: may it be truth!

Offertory prayer of the Arrow Star, when it stands at sunrise.

Colophon

Good Works Translation from Akkadian cuneiform by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

Translated from the ATF transliteration of K.128, a complete clay tablet in Neo-Babylonian script from the Kuyunjik collection of the British Museum (ancient Nineveh). The tablet preserves an ikribu — an offertory prayer recited by a diviner before performing extispicy. The prayer is addressed to Ninurta, whose celestial manifestation is the Arrow Star (kakkabu šukūdu = Sirius, α Canis Majoris). The tablet’s rubric specifies the prayer is to be recited at the heliacal rising of Sirius.

The ikribu genre is the liturgical infrastructure of Mesopotamian divination. Where omen texts record what the diviner reads, and the Diviner’s Manual (K.8801, also in this archive) describes the diviner’s professional methodology, the ikribu is the prayer that sanctifies the act of reading — the invocation that opens the channel between the human seer and the divine sign. Without the ikribu, there is no oracle. This text is the first ikribu in the archive.

The text’s most striking feature is the shift from third-person hymnic praise to first-person petition at line 21: “And I — son of a diviner, your worshipful servant.” The speaker identifies himself not as a king or priest but as a professional inheriting his father’s trade, awake in the night, struggling with a case too difficult to read, waiting for his god’s star to rise and illuminate the answer. The closing formula — “by my words, my name, and my hand” — names the three instruments of the diviner’s craft: incantation, identity, and physical manipulation of the sacrifice.

English independently derived from reading the Akkadian transliteration in the eBL corpus. No reference translation consulted. All uncertain signs are marked with “#” in the source text; all restorations appear in square brackets. Where the ATF note suggests an alternative reading (line 8), the most contextually consistent reading was selected.

First freely available English translation.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Translated by Tanken (探検), Expeditionary Tulku Life 204.

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Source Text: K.128 — Akkadian Cuneiform (ATF Transliteration)

Akkadian source text from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. ATF (ASCII Transliteration Format) transliteration. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

Obverse

  1. {d#}MAŠ šur-bu-u₂ DINGIR qar-du a-ša₂-re[d*] {d#}a-nun-na-ki mu-ma-ʾi-ir {d}i₂-gi₃-gi₃
  2. DI.KU₅ kul-la-ti sa-niq mit-hur-t[i mu-š]ah-li ek-le-ti mu-nam-mir e-ṭu-ti
  3. pa-ri-is pu-ru-us-se-e a#-na UN-MEŠ a-pa-a-ti
  4. be-li₂ šu-pu-u₂ mu-ṭib UZU KUR ša₂ ina ta#-mar*#-ti-šu₂ GIG di-ʾi-i lem-nu
  5. ih-ha-zu tub-qa-a-ti GIG naq-du i#-tur-ru aš₂-ru*-uš#-šu₂*
  6. re-me₂-nu-u₂ ga-mil nap-ša₂-ti mu-bal-liṭ mi-[i-t]u*
  7. ta-m[i-i]h kit-ti u mi-ša₂-ri mu*-hal-liq [ra-ag-g]i*
  8. šu-ku-du la*# a-ni-hu ša₂ kul-lat a#-a-bi i-[x x-r]u
  9. u₄-mu ra-[bu]-u₂ ta-mi-i[h] ṣer-re-[et AN u] K[I]
  10. DI.KU₅ pu-ru-us-se-e ba-ru-u₂ te-re#-[ti x x]
  11. {d}gira₂ mun-na-ah-zu qa-m[u]-u₂ lem-[nu-(u₂)-ti]
  12. ša₂ {mul}GAG.SI.SA₂ ina AN-e zi-kir-šu i[na g]i*-mir {d}i₂-gi₃-gi₃ šur*-bu*#-u₂*# MU*#-ka*#
  13. ina kul-lat ka-la DINGIR-MEŠ šu#-[un]-na-tu [D]INGIR*-ut-ka
  14. ina ni-pi-ih MUL-MEŠ nu-um-m[u-r]u zi-m[u-ka ki-m]a {d*#}UTU-ši
  15. ta-bar-ri si-hi-ip da-ad₂-me a*#-[n]a* nu-ri-k[a* (nam-ri) ṣu-um-m]u*-ru*
  16. te-ni-še-e-ti aš₂-šu₂ na-as-s[u d]al*-pu šu-n[u-hu i-še-u₂-k]a
  17. ša* la i-šu-u₂ mam-ma-na tu-kul-ta#-šu₂ at-ta ša*?# [x x x x] x
  18. ta-gam-mil ša₂ ina šur-qu pu-un-zu-ru*#-ma ez-bu a-k[a?*-la x x x x] x
  19. ul-tu a-ra-al-le-e ta-qab-bi ne₂-eš-su*# ša* ina* a?#-[šar? ṣa-al-t]i

Reverse

  1. la-mu-u qab-lu a-na mu-u₂-tu šu-lu-ku-ma iz-ku-ru zi-kir-ka
  2. re-me₂-na-ta be-lu₄ ina dab₂-de*-e ta-gam-mil-šu₂ u ana-ku DUMU {lu₂}HAL pa-li-hu IR₃-ka
  3. ur*-ri dal-pak-ma a-še-ʾi ma-ru-uš-ti di-i-nu šup-šuq-ma a-na la-ma-da* aš₂-ṭu
  4. pa-ra-as ar₂-ka-tu₂ ne₂-sa-an-ni {d}UTU-ši*# a-ku-šam-ma ina GE₆ u₂-qa-a-a SAG-ka
  5. a-na la-ma-da ar-ka-ti at-ta*#-ziz ma-har-ka a-na šu-te-šu-ru di-i-nu
  6. ni-iš qa-ti ra-ša₂-ku i-ziz-za-am-m[a i]na* qe₂-reb AN-e KU₃-MEŠ ši-me₂ zi-kir KA-ia
  7. pu-ṭur ar₂-nu pu-su-us hi-ṭ[i*-t]i* tu-bu-uk-ku-u₂-a lik-ru-bu-ka
  8. ser₂-qu-u₂-a lib₃-ba-ka li-ni-i[h*-h]u* e ta-šeṭ i-ziz-za-am-ma
  9. [d]i*-na* di-i-nu un-nin-ni-ia li*#-qe₂#-e-ma ši-me₂ tes₂-li-ti
  10. [a]-na* mim-mu-u₂ ak-pu-du*# pu*-ru-us-su-u₂ šu-kun-ma ina an-ni-ka ki-nu-um
  11. [l]u-ma-ʾi-ir ur-tu u ana-ku ina IGI-ka# ZI-ti₃ lu-ṭer {d}MAŠ šur-bu-u₂
  12. [DINGIR] el#-la ina SISKUR₂ GUB-za-am-ma ina INIM*#-MU MU ŠU-MU u mim-ma mal₂ DU₃-šu₂
  13. [t]a*-mit a-kar-ra-bu [k]it-ti lib-ši
  14. [ik-r]ib {mul}GAG.SI.SA₂ ki-ma i[na] {d#}UTU.E₃ iz-za-zu

Source Colophon

ATF transliteration from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Transliterated by Enrique Jiménez (2021-02-17), revised by Antti Hätinen (2021-08-26), Yoram Cohen (2022-05-02), and Enrique Jiménez (2022-07-21). Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

CDLI number: P237787. British Museum registration: K.128. First published: Eric Burrows, JRAS Centenary Supplement (1924), plates 2–3.

The tablet is a complete clay tablet (9.9 × 6.3 × 2.2 cm) from the Kuyunjik collection of the British Museum. Neo-Babylonian script. Notes indicate the transliteration follows Mayer’s edition with collations, revised according to the copy in CTL 2.

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