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

The Sufferer's Monologue

✦ ─── ⟐ ─── ✦

K.2599

A Neo-Assyrian literary monologue from the Kuyunjik collection — the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (c. 668–631 BCE). The speaker describes catastrophic illness: disease falls upon him, his limbs are weakened, his speech is stolen, he lies on a bed of groaning. His features darken. His eyes wander. Trembling pains pursue him through every season — the cold does not relent, the north wind is constant, the weapon of Ningirsu strikes without ceasing. In exile, no one rescues him.

Then the turn: the king of the land of the Kassites saves his life. The sufferer emerges "like a fox from a hole." The text concludes with an appeal to the great gods — may they rest, may the enemies of illness be removed.

The tablet is heavily damaged. The left portion of the obverse (columns 1–2) and the right portion of the reverse (columns 5–6) survive; the middle columns (3–4) are entirely lost, taking roughly half the composition with them. The surviving text preserves the opening suffering narrative, the rescue, and the divine appeal — the narrative's skeleton without its middle flesh. The reference to a Kassite king (the Kassite dynasty ruled Babylon c. 1595–1155 BCE) places the narrative's setting centuries before the Neo-Assyrian copy, suggesting an older tradition preserved in Ashurbanipal's library.

This is a "righteous sufferer" monologue — the same genre as the famous Ludlul Bel Nemeqi ("I Will Praise the Lord of Wisdom"), but a distinct composition with different imagery, structure, and narrative content. The sorcery motifs (reed image, tallow image, stolen speech) suggest the sufferer's illness is magically inflicted. First freely available English translation. Translated independently from the Akkadian cuneiform transliteration in the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus.

The Affliction

[...] ...
[...he bou]nd my arms.
[...] he attended to the light.
[...] ...

[...] like the trampling of waters [...]
Disease fell upon me; [I struck] the ground [...]
I turned into a reed image... [...]

He spoke his word — like traps, they pressed me.
He poured coldness upon my back.
He gave the image voice; he stole the speech of my mouth.
He set terrified utterance upon my lips.

He weakened my chest; he enfeebled my limbs.
He slackened my neck — I cannot lift my head.
Trembling pains pursue me: grievous, difficult.
I lie on a bed of groaning; I finish my days in sighs.

The Degradation

I gnaw [...].
He does not rejoice in the land [...].
And I went down to the ground [...].
My features darkened [...].
I turned into an image of tallow [...].
My eyes wander — they cannot [...].
In the binding of my head [...].
... my lips like [...].
... in thirst [...].
... my heart like [...].

The remainder of this column and the following two columns (approximately half the composition) are entirely lost.

The Constant Affliction

Why? The cold [...].
Constantly, the one who [...].
In the heat — no release [...].
Constantly, the north wind [...].
They do not withdraw, nor [...].
Constantly, the weapon of Ningirsu [...].
The plow cannot be set down [...].

I — in my exile [...].
No one rescued me [...].
They pursue... one [...].
His tribute they do not accept [...].
Beside the bed, the Lady [...].
As though you would not release me — you would not [...].
A day swept me away [...].
A thorn, like a spine [...].
Like one in a fierce fire [...].
With a spear he made me lame [...].
Whether dead or alive [...].

The remainder of this column is lost.

The Rescue

I cannot [...] the word of my illness.
May he [...] his face, his chest.
... [...] speech.
He mourned [...] joyfully he kept plucking [...].
... darkness [...].
... the enclosure — he tore it; he attended to his [...].
Like a stake in a bird-catcher's net, detained —
he was released; openly he went forth.

[...] the king of the land of the Kassites saved his life.
[...] like a fox, he came out from a hole.
[...] his going-forth [...] beside him.
[...] he drove him out.
[...] the gods — he wearied them.

The Appeal

[...] joy and jubilation.
[...] he raised a song.
[...] the assembly of enemies.
[...] the great gods —
[...] in their midst, the assembly —
[...] the great gods:
may they rest! May they settle!
[...] may your divinity rest!
[...] place it upon me!
[...] he loosened the boundary.
[...] the enemies of illness — remove!
[...] my limbs, my arms.
[...] the gods — the name that created me.
[...] to the head of my son.
[...] I [...].

Colophon

Good Works Translation of K.2599 (Kuyunjik collection, British Museum). Neo-Assyrian literary monologue from the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (c. 668–631 BCE). The British Museum catalogue describes it as: "Left part of lower portion of a clay tablet. Mythological legend. Belongs to a series." Multi-column tablet, heavily damaged — columns 3–4 (approximately half the text) are entirely lost. Classified in the eBL as Canonical Literature: Monologue.

The text belongs to the "righteous sufferer" genre — first-person accounts of catastrophic illness, divine abandonment, and eventual rescue — alongside Ludlul Bel Nemeqi, but is a distinct composition. The reference to the Kassite king (reverse column 6, line 9) dates the narrative's setting to the Kassite period (c. 1595–1155 BCE), though the surviving copy is Neo-Assyrian. The sorcery imagery (reed image, tallow image, stolen speech, terrified utterance placed on lips) suggests the illness is magically inflicted — a motif shared with the anti-witchcraft literature (Maqlu).

The note in the eBL records that "several signs present in Bezold's, Geers's, and Lambert's copies have now disappeared" — the tablet continues to deteriorate. Earlier hand copies were made by Carl Bezold (Catalogue of the Cuneiform Tablets in the Kouyunjik Collection, 1889–99), F.W. Geers (unpublished), and W.G. Lambert (unpublished).

Translated independently from the Akkadian cuneiform transliteration (ATF format) in the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen. Brackets indicate damaged or missing text. No existing English translation was consulted; the ATF transliteration was the sole source for the English. The Blood Rule is honoured.

Twentieth Mesopotamian genre from expeditionary tulkus: the personal suffering monologue.

Translated by Sagara, Expeditionary Tulku Life 190, New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: K.2599

Neo-Assyrian Akkadian cuneiform transliteration from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen. ASCII Transliteration Format (ATF). Fragment K.2599, Kuyunjik collection, British Museum.

@obverse
@column 1

1'. [...] x ab-x [(x)] x x
2'. [... i]k-sa-a i#-di#-ia
3'. [...] x u2-pa-qa ana ZALAG2
4'. [...] x [(x)] x
5'. [x] x ki#-ma# ka#-ab?#-si# sha# A#-MESH# x [x x x]
6'. [i]m-qut-ni-ma di-'u qaq-qa-r[a x x x]
7'. [a]-tur-ash2-shu# ana ALAM GI u2-ha-x [x x x]
8'. [u2]-bil pa-shu# GIM kip-pe-e id-da-s[u-nen-ni]
9'. u2#-shap-pik hal-pa-a# UGU GU2.M[URGU-ia]
10'. u2#-da-bi-ba tsal-ma e-te-kim da-ba-bi p[i?-ia]
11'. [i]sh-ku#-un at-ma-a pit-ru-da ina NUNDUN-ME[SH-ia]
12'. u2#-ni-ish GABA-ia u2-sa-hi-la me-na-te-ia#
13'. u2#-ram-mi ki-sha2-di qaq#-qa-di na-sha2-a ul a-li-'i
14'. [i-r]a-da-da-ni# n[a*-r]i-tu4 mar-tsa-tu4 pa-shuq-tu
15'. [na?-d]a-ku ina {gish#}[NA2] sha2# shi#-ig#-ge-e u2#-qat#-ta U4-ME

@column 2

1'. u2#-gar#-ra#-ats# [...]
2'. ul i-had-da ina ma-t[i? ...]
3'. u3 ur-rad a-na qaq-qa-ri# x [...]
4'. e#-tu-u zi-mu-u2-a it-x [...]
5'. a-tur a-na ALAM li-pe-e# [...]
6'. te-'a IGI+MIN-a-a ul u2#-[...]
7'. ina lip-ti sha2 qaq-qa-di-i[a ...]
8'. x x NUNDUN-MESH-a-a ki#-m[a? ...]
9'. x x-ni?# ina tsum-me-e# [...]
10'. [x] x lib3#-bi-ia GIM x [...]
11'. [x (x)] x-DU-ka-ia na? x [...]
12'. [(ina?) mi-g]i-ir lib3-bi il#-[...]
13'. x [x] x sha UN-MESH mi#-[...]
14'. sh[a? x-i]l? shul-me-ia# u x [...]
15'. ma-x [x] x ki-x [...]

@reverse
@column 5

  1. mi3#-ish-la hal-pa-a [...]
  2. ka#-a-a-ma-nu-ma-a sha2 x [...]
  3. ina em-me-te la ib-ra-a[k?-ka? ...]
  4. ka-a-a-ma-nu-ma-a {im}SI#.[SA2? ...]
  5. ul ip-pe-re-du-u2 u[l ...]
  6. ka-a-a-ma-nu-ma-a {gish}TUKUL {d}nin#-gi[r2-su ...]
  7. ma-ia-ru ul ish-sha-ka-n[u ...]
  8. a-na-ku a-hi-tu-u2-ia [...]
  9. ul e-ti-ra-ni ma-am-ma [...]
  10. i-rad-da-du-u2 1-en d[u-...]
  11. GUN-su la i-ma-ha-r[u ...]
  12. i-di {gish}NA2 GASHAN u[m-...]
  13. GIM la tu-mash-she-ri-ni la tu[sh-...]
  14. is-sah-pa-ni u4-mu nab x [...]
  15. se-eh-lu GIM az-ma-r[e-e ...]
  16. GIM sha2 ina nab-li dan-ni x [...]
  17. ina shu-kur-ri u2-s[a-hi?-il? ...]
  18. lu-u2 me-ta l[u-u2 bal?-tu? ...]
  19. ku#-u#-ti x [...]
  20. DUG3.GA-t[i ...]
  21. NE.H[A ...]
  22. GI[G ...]
  23. ma-di [...]
  24. a-na [...]

@column 6

  1. ul# a#-x [x x x] a-mat sha2 GIG#-ia
  2. li[d-x x x x x] x pa#-nu#-shu2# ir#-ti-shu
  3. x x [x x x x x x x-ih d]a-ba-bu
  4. ud#-dir# x-a-[x x x] x x [x x-ti ha-di]sh i-ta-na#-[sah]
  5. x [x x] x ek#-le#-tu# mu-x-x u# i#-pa-d[a-x] x
  6. x [x (x)] x sa-ba-ri ish-hi-ta u2-pa-qa [x x x]-shu2
  7. k[i-ma ki]b-ri sha ina {gish}SA {lu2}MUSHEN.DU3 [ka?-l]u?-u2
  8. i[s-sa?-pi?]-ih ib-ba-rish u2-sham-x ar#-ha
  9. [x x x] MAN KUR kash-shi-i nap-sha2-t[u-ush] e#-ti-ra
  10. [...] x GIM KA5.A u2#-[tsi i]na pil-shi
  11. [... a]r? mu-ts[u?-(x)] i?#-da-ash2-shu2
  12. [...] x-shu2?# i-tar-rad
  13. [...] x DINGIR-MESH u2-sha2-na-ah
  14. [... h]a-du#-u2 u ri-i-shu2
  15. [... i]l-ta-kan ni-gu-ta
  16. [... p]u-hur za-ia-a-ri
  17. [...]-a# DINGIR-MESH GAL-MESH
  18. [...]-li#-ba-shu2 pu-uh-ra
  19. [...] x DINGIR-MESH GAL-tu4
  20. [... li?-nu?]-ha# li-ir#-bu-ub
  21. [... DINGIR?-u]t?-ki li-nu-ha
  22. [...]-hi UGU-ia shuk-ni
  23. [... ul?-l]i-pa pa-da-at-ti
  24. [...] KUR2-MESH sha2 GIG shur-ki
  25. [... bu?]-u2#-di-i a-rit-ti
  26. [... DING]IR-MESH shu-mu ib#-ba-a-ni
  27. [...]-u2# ana SAG#.DU#-MU
  28. [...-n]a-ku
  29. [...] x

Source Colophon

Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10018951. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Fragment K.2599, Kuyunjik collection, British Museum. ATF transliteration as of April 2026.

Note: For the source text above, Unicode subscript and diacritical characters from the ATF have been simplified for archival stability. The full Unicode ATF is preserved in the eBL corpus at the DOI above. The eBL editorial note on reverse column 6, line 1 states: "Several signs present in Bezold's, Geers's, and Lambert's copies have now disappeared." The tablet continues to deteriorate; future transcriptions may differ from this version.

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