This is Tablet III of the Surpu ("Burning") series — the great exorcistic ritual of ancient Mesopotamia, in which every possible curse is systematically named and dissolved by Asalluhi, son of Ea, exorcist of the gods.
The series was performed by the ashipu (exorcist-priest) over a patient believed to be suffering under a curse — whether from a broken oath, contact with impurity, transgression of a taboo, or contamination by the guilt of others. The treatment is comprehensive: the catalogue does not ask which curse afflicts you. It names them all. Every domestic object, every weapon, every animal, every oath, every act of negligence, every contact with the impure, every divine pair in heaven — all are named, all are undone. The ritual's name, "burning," refers to the final act: figurines representing the curses are cast into fire and destroyed.
This tablet from the Iraq Museum (IM.76940, Late Babylonian period) preserves portions of two columns from the obverse (Surpu III lines 19-44) and one from the reverse (lines 130-156). The central columns are lost. What remains is the catalogue's beginning — the curses of daily life — and its climax — the curses of contamination and the six divine pairs.
The Curses of Daily Life
The curse of cup and table —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of bed and resting place —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of the vessel — of drinking water not refined —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of giving leftovers and asking for them —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of sitting on a seat before Shamash —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of a verdict bought with a bribe —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of tearing out plants in the open country —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of breaking off reed in the marshes —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of bow and chariot —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of dagger and spear —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of lance and bow —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of striking the cheek of a beast —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of breaking a lump of clay and throwing a lump of clay into water —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of placing an offering before a man —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of the road and the path —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of swearing to a companion and killing him —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of slaughtering a ram and handling its cuts of meat —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of displaying the pestle in the assembly —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of castanets and drum —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of making inquiry on a dark day and becoming hostile —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of speaking, asking, and becoming hostile —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of tearing a clod from the field —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of seizing a plough and swearing an oath by the gods —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of questioning a man beside the stable and the beasts —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of swearing by Shamash at his rising —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of lifting unwashed hands and swearing by the gods —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
[Broken Passage]
Seven fragmentary lines are preserved from the second column of the obverse. Each begins with the same formula: "The curse of [...]" — but the specific transgressions are lost. The remainder of the central columns (Surpu III 45-129) is missing from this tablet.
The Curses of Contamination
The curse of speaking with the bewitched —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of eating the bread of the bewitched —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of drinking the water of the bewitched —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of drinking the leftovers of the bewitched —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of speaking with the guilty —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of eating the bread of the guilty —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of drinking the water of the guilty —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of drinking the leftovers of the guilty —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of taking up the cause of the guilty —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The Curses of Sin
The curse of lifting and swearing —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of taking and swearing —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of sin and taboo —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of committing negligence —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of offence and wrongdoing —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of singing and shamelessness —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The Curses of the Sacred
The curse of the Fire-god and the brazier —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of the Lord of the Poplar and the Euphrates —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of the throne and the assembly —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The Curses of the Cosmic Pairs
The curse of the dead and the living —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of the wronged man and the wronged woman —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of the knowing and the unknowing —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The Curses of the Divine Pairs
The curse of Anu and Antu —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of Enlil and Ninlil —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of Ea and Damkina —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of Sin and Ningal —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of Shamash and Aya —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The curse of Adad and Shala —
Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo.
The remainder of the reverse is lost. The catalogue continues on further tablets of the Surpu series.
Colophon
Surpu ("Burning") Tablet III. Akkadian exorcistic incantation from the Iraq Museum (IM.76940). Late Babylonian period. The Surpu series is one of the two great anti-witchcraft and curse-dissolution ritual series of Mesopotamia (alongside Maqlu), comprising at least nine tablets. Tablet III is the famous "catalogue of curses" — a comprehensive litany in which every conceivable source of curse-contamination is named and annulled by the divine exorcist Asalluhi (= Marduk's son, known in Sumerian tradition as the purifier who consults Ea/Enki). The preserved portions of this tablet cover lines 19-44 and 130-156 of the standard text.
This is a Good Works Translation from Akkadian, independently derived from the cuneiform transliteration by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. The Akkadian transliteration was obtained from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen), which is licensed under CC BY 4.0. The eBL corpus contains embedded English translations from the Corpus of Ancient Mesopotamian Scholarship (CAMS) project; these were NOT used as a source for this translation. The English above is independently derived from reading the Akkadian. E. Reiner's critical edition (Surpu: A Collection of Sumerian and Akkadian Incantations, AfO Beiheft 11, 1958) was consulted for line numbering and text reconstruction only.
First freely available English translation. First exorcistic text in the archive.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: Surpu III — IM.76940
Akkadian transliteration from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen. CC BY 4.0. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
Obverse, Column 1 (Surpu III 19-44)
ma-mit kasi u pashshuri U2
ma-mit NU2 u mayyalti U2
ma-mit GU2.ZI la tsarriptu me shatu U2
ma-mit reheetu nadanu u sha'alu U2
ma-mit shubtu ina mahar shamshi ashabu U2
ma-mit dini ta'atu dayyanu U2
ma-mit U2-HI.A ina EDIN nasahu U2
ma-mit GI ina AMBAR hatsabu U2
ma-mit PAN u GIGIR U2
ma-mit GIR2 u shukurru U2
ma-mit azmaruu u tilpanu U2
ma-mit leeti umamu mahatsu U2
ma-mit LAG hapuu u LAG ana me naduu U2
ma-mit KI.U4.BI ana pani ameli shakanu U2
ma-mit KASKAL u alakti U2
ma-mit ana ibri tamuu u dakishu U2
ma-mit UDU.NITA2 tabahu u nikissu lapatu U2
ma-mit bukannu ina puhri shupu U2
ma-mit tapalu u timbutti U2
ma-mit ina umi etii sha'alu u nakari U2
ma-mit qabuu sha'alu u nakari U2
ma-mit LAG ina eqli nasahu U2
ma-mit APIN tsabatu u nish ili zakari U2
ma-mit ahi uree umamu amela sha'ali U2
ma-mit Shamash ina niphishu tamuu U2
ma-mit nish qati la mesatu u nish ili zakari U2
Obverse, Column 2 (fragmentary)
ma-mit [...] U2
ma-mit [...] U2
ma-mit [...] U2
ma-mit [...] U2
ma-mit [...] U2
ma-mit [...] U2
ma-mit [...] U2
Remainder of column missing.
Reverse, Column 4 (Surpu III 130-156)
ma-mit itti tamuu dababa U2
ma-mit akal tamuu akalu U2
ma-mit me tamuu shatuu U2
ma-mit reheetu tamuu shatuu U2
ma-mit itti bel arni dababa U2
ma-mit akal bel arni akalu U2
ma-mit me bel arni shatuu U2
ma-mit reheetu bel arni shatuu U2
ma-mit abut bel arni tsabati U2
ma-mit nashee u tame U2
ma-mit laqee u tame U2
ma-mit arnu u asakki U2
ma-mit egiti epeshi U2
ma-mit hititi u gillati U2
ma-mit zamari u shillati U2
ma-mit Girra u kinuni U2
ma-mit Lugal-Asallu u Puratti U2
ma-mit kusse u puhri U2
ma-mit miti u balti U2
ma-mit habli u habilti U2
ma-mit mude u la mude U2
ma-mit Anu u Antu U2
ma-mit Enlil u Ninlil U2
ma-mit Ea u Damkina U2
ma-mit Sin u Ningal U2
ma-mit Shamash u Aya U2
ma-mit Adad u Shala U2
Remainder of column missing.
Source Colophon
Akkadian transliteration from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, compiled and maintained by Enrique Jimenez and collaborators at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen. The eBL corpus is released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). The full corpus is available via Zenodo (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10018951). Tablet IM.76940 is held in the Iraq Museum, Baghdad.
The Akkadian cuneiform script notation has been simplified for readability: diacritical marks, determinatives, and sign-value indices have been preserved in simplified romanization. The abbreviation U2 throughout the text stands for the refrain "upashshar mashmash ili Asalluhi" — "Asalluhi, exorcist of the gods, will undo."
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