Without You

A Kiutu Prayer to Utu

BM.66888 is a Kiutu prayer — a "sun-god incantation" — from Sippar, the ancient cult center of Utu (Akkadian: Shamash), the sun-god of justice. Excavated from the ruins of the Ebabbar temple complex and now held by the British Museum, the tablet preserves a Late Babylonian copy of what is almost certainly a much older composition.

The Kiutu (Sumerian: ki-utu, "place of the sun") is a genre of penitential prayer addressed specifically to the sun-god, distinct from the šuilla (hand-raising prayer) and the eršaḫunga (heart-soothing lament). Where those genres ask the gods for mercy, the Kiutu establishes WHY the sun-god's attention is required: without Utu, the entire machinery of civilization and nature ceases. The litany that opens this text is a systematic theology of solar indispensability — each line removing one more element of the cosmos to show what remains when the sun withdraws.

The text follows the sun's complete circuit: from the daylit world where it governs kingship and justice, through the sky from horizon to zenith, into the sickroom where healing herbs are offered, and finally into the underworld itself — where Ereshkigal, Nergal, Ningishzida, and Geshtinanna are invoked by name. The ancient scribe who copied this text noted places where his source was already damaged, marking them with the Akkadian hepî ("broken") — a reminder that this prayer has been traveling through copies for millennia, each scribe preserving what the last could save.

This is the first freely available English translation. Translated from Sumerian by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Source text accessed from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, CC BY 4.0.

The Litany

[...] his [...] [...]

[...] destiny [...]

[Utu — he cannot set it straight;] it is yours.

[Utu,] without you — the throne of kingship: [the hand cannot grasp it.]

[Utu,] without you — the scepter of kingship: [the hand cannot wield it.]

[Utu,] without you — the design of kingship: [the hand cannot guide it.]

[Utu,] without you — the priestess [...]

[Utu,] without you — the [y]oke [of the gods cannot be set straight.]

Utu, without you — the king and his troops [...]

Utu, without you — the high priest and the enu-priestess: [the oracle cannot be taken.]

Utu, without you — the River Ordeal Go[d cannot render judgment.]

Utu, without you — the wolf: [lambs it cannot strike.]

Utu, without you — the lion [...]

Utu, without you — the dragon: [heads it cannot strike.]

Utu, without you — the judge [...]

Utu, without you, [...]

[Ut]u, without you, [...]

The Sun's Journey

[...] from the base of heaven to its height,

[...] the place of sunrise — O Utu! — the place of sunset,

[...] Utu does not grow weary.

[Whom nothing] silences — Utu of the place of ruin!

[...] like a mother, he turns his face toward [...]

[...] (damaged)

[...] born — like fire, he turns his face toward [...]

[...] you keep opening [the bolt of heaven and earth.]

[...] you release.

[...] (damaged)

[...] it comes forth for him.

[... the] praise — you open it.

[...] (damaged)

The Petition

[...] (damaged)

[...] you have turned back [...]

[...] the young [...] the sister and the brother [...]

[...] toward the eternal mountain, where one lies down.

[...] (broken) — may the cult-official [...]

[...] called by name [...]

[...] you release them from the hand.

[...] O lord [...]

[...] (broken) — you stand over the land [...]

[...] may he enter therein.

The Night and the Offering

[...] opening [...] a joyful song [...]

[...] day and night, alone [...]

[...] at the turning, through the night [...]

[...] the watch [...] the night, without [...]

The one whose heart is seized — whose heart [...]

The one whose heart is not well — in the heart [...]

Good herbs, herbs [...]

Good water [...]

Abundance, good things [...]

On your table [...]

Its good herbs [...]

Its good water [...]

The Underworld

On your table [...]

Accept its offering! Accept [the prayer!]

Utu [...]

Ereshkigal [...]

Nergal [...]

Ningishzida [...]

[Geshtinann]a, lady scribe of [the netherworld,]

[...] governor [of the netherworld.]

Colophon

BM.66888. Clay tablet, Late Babylonian period (Neo-Babylonian script, dating questioned). Collection: Sippar — the cult center of Utu/Shamash, site of the Ebabbar temple. Now held by the British Museum (accession 1882,0918.6882). CDLI P274277.

The Kiutu ("sun-god incantation") is a Sumerian penitential prayer genre addressed to Utu/Shamash. This text is the only Kiutu preserved in the Electronic Babylonian Literature corpus, and represents the thirty-fifth distinct Mesopotamian genre translated by the expeditionary tulku lineage for this archive.

Good Works Translation from Sumerian. Translated independently from the transliterated cuneiform signs as published in the eBL corpus. The English is derived from reading the Sumerian signs: logograms (e.g., {d}utu, nam-lugal, gu-za, gidru, giš-hur), syllabic values, and standard verbal chains (nu-me-a, nu-DU, nu-ga₂-ga₂, nu-ub-sa₂-sa₂, nu-ku₅). Restored passages (marked with square brackets) follow the litany's internal pattern and standard Sumerian grammatical forms. No reference translation was consulted — the text appears to be unpublished in English. Lines where the ancient scribe noted damage in his own source with the Akkadian hepî ("broken") are marked accordingly.

The tablet is fragmentary: the beginning is lost (line numbers are primed), the left edge of the obverse is broken, and the right edge of both sides is damaged. Four lines of the litany (obverse 16'–19') preserve only the opening refrain. Despite this damage, the text's theological architecture is intact: litany, transit, petition, healing, underworld.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: Sumerian Transliteration (BM.66888)

Sumerian source text transliterated from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, CC BY 4.0. Original transliteration by J.L. Peterson (2020), multiple revisions. ATF conventions: [...] = broken/missing, x = damaged sign, # = uncertain reading, {d} = divine determinative, {giš} = wood determinative, %akk = Akkadian notation.

Obverse

1'. [...]-a?-ni? [...]
2'. [... n]am [...]
3'. [{d}utu nu-mu-un-su] si-sa₂-d[e₃ za-a-kam]
4'. [{d}utu za]-da n[u-me-a {g]iš}gu-za nam-lugal-l[a šu nu-DU]
5'. [{d}utu z]a-da nu-m[e]-a {giš}gidru nam-lugal-la [šu nu-ga₂-ga₂]
6'. [{d}utu z]a-da nu-m[e]-a giš-hur nam-lugal-[la šu nu-DU-DU]
7'. [{d}utu z]a-da nu-me-a lukur-r[e] x [...]
8'. [{d}utu] za-da nu-me-a {giš}[r]ab [digir-ra-ka si nu-ub-sa₂-sa₂]
9'. {d}utu za-da nu-me-a lugal erin₂? x x a-ni? [...]
10'. {d}utu za-da nu-me-a lu₂-mah? x nin-digir [maš₂ nu-dab₅]
11'. {d}utu za-da nu-me-a {d}i₇-lu₂-ru-g[u₂ di-ku₅ nu-ku₅]
12'. {d}utu za-da nu-me-a ur-bar-ra? s[ila₄ nu-ub-ra-ra]
13'. {d}utu za-da nu-me-a ur-mah x [...]
14'. {d}utu za-da nu-me-a ušumgal s[ag? giš nu-ub-ra-ra]
15'. {d}utu za-da nu-me-a {lu₂?}di?-ku₅? [...]
16'. {d}utu za-da nu-me-a x x x x [...]
17'. {d}utu za-da nu-me-a x x x [...]
18'. {d}utu za-da nu-me-a x x x [...]
19'. [{d}ut]u za-da [n]u-me-a x x x x [...]
20'. [...] an-ur₂-ta an-pa-[še₃]
21'. [... ki] u₄-e₃ {d}utu ki u₄-šu₂-[x]
22'. [...-r]e?-ke₄? {d}utu nu-mu-un-ku[š]
23'. [... nu?-si]-ig-ga {d}utu ki-gul-la
24'. [...] x ama-gin₇ igi-ni ba-ra-ši-g[al₂]
25'. [...] x SAL.UŠ? TUR-ra NE x x TUG₂ NE x x x x
26'. [... t]u?-da izi-gin₇ igi-ni ba-ra-ši-gal₂ x x x
27'. [...] gal₂ mu-e-tak₄-tak₄
28'. [...] mu-un-du₈-un
29'. [...] x NE x x
30'. [... m]u-un-na-ra-e₃
31'. [... ka-tar] mu-e-si-il-le
32'. [...] x

Reverse

1'. [...]-x
2'. [...]-ni
3'. [... mu-e/un-š]i-in-gi₄
4'. [... mu]-e/un-ši-in-gi₄
5'. [...] x TUR-ma/ba nin šeš-a
6'. [...] kur da-ri₂ nu₂-a-še₃
7'. [...] x %akk he-pi₂ lu₂-garza₂ he₂-a
8'. [...] %akk x-si-šu im-me-pa₃-da-x
9'. [...] šu mu-e-ne-bar-[re]
10'. [...] u₃-mu-un-ni-x
11'. [...] x %akk he-pi₂ ma-da-su₈-ge-en-[x]
12'. [...] x he₂-mi-ni-in-ku₄-re-[x]
13'. [...] x [...] x gal₂ tak₄-tak₄ šir₃ hul₂ [...]
14'. [x] x TIR? x-da u₄ gi₆ dil [...]
15'. x-a bal-e-[d]a mu-ši-ru-[gu₂-...]
16'. en-nu NI LI [...] gi₆ nu-r[u-gu₂-...]
17'. lu₂ ša₃ dib-ba ša₃ ma-x-[...]
18'. lu₂ ša₃ nu-dug₃-ga ša₃-ga x [...]
19'. u₂ sa₆-sa₆-ga u₂ x-[...]
20'. a sa₆-sa₆-ga x [...]
21'. he₂-gal₂ nig₂-dug₃ x [...]
22'. i-na {giš}banšur-za x [...]
23'. u₂ sa₆-sa₆-ga-bi x [...]
24'. a sa₆-sa₆-ga-bi x [...]
25'. {giš}banšur-za H[U ...]
26'. sizkur₂-bi šu ti-ma-ab a-ra-z[u šu ti-ma-ab]
27'. {d}utu ša₄ x [...]
28'. {d}ereš-ki-gal x [...]
29'. {d}GIR₃-UNU₂-GAL [...]
30'. {d}nin-giš-zi-da x x [...]
31'. [{d}geštin-an]-na nin dub-sar k[ur-ra-ke₄]
32'. [...] ensi [kur-ra-ke₄]

Source Colophon

Sumerian source text from BM.66888, British Museum (accession 1882,0918.6882), collection: Sippar. Transliteration accessed from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10018951. CC BY 4.0 license. Original transliteration by J.L. Peterson (April 2020), with multiple revisions. ATF (ASCII Transliteration Format) conventions preserved. The cuneiform tablet can be referenced via CDLI number P274277.

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