SAA 10 255. Eclipse Rituals for the King, Princes and the Palace (ABL 0018) [from exorcists]


Obverse
o 1o 1	a-na LUGAL be-lí-ia	(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Marduk-šakin-šumi:
o 22	ARAD-ka ^m^dAMAR.UTU—GAR—MU	(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Marduk-šakin-šumi:
o 33	lu-u DI-mu a-na LUGAL EN-ia	(3) Good health to the king, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless the king, my lord!
o 44	^dPA u ^dAMAR.UTU a-na LUGAL EN-ía
o 55	lik-ru-bu ina UGU dul-li ša LUGAL	(5) Concerning the ritual about which the king said yesterday: "Get it done by the 24th day" — we cannot make it; the tablets are too numerous, (god only knows) when they will be written. Even the preparation of the figurines which the king saw (yesterday) took us 5 to 6 days.
o 66	ina ti-ma-li iq-bu-u-ni
o 77	ma a-na UD 24-KÁM ep-šá
o 88	la-áš-šú la nu-šá-an-ṣa
o 99	ṭup-pa-a-ni ma-aʾ-du-ti šu-nu
o 1010	im—ma-ti ⸢i^-šaṭ^-ṭu^-ru^⸣
o 1111	ù šá-aṣ-⸢bu^*⸣-[tú šá] NU-MEŠ-ni
o 1212	ša LUGAL e-mur-[u]-⸢ni⸣ ina ŠÀ UD-MEŠ
o 1313	05 06 re-e-šú ni-⸢it⸣-ti-ši
o 1414	ú-ma-a šum-mu ⸢LUGAL^⸣ be-lí i-qab^-bi	(14) Now, provided that the king, my lord, consents, the month Tebet (X) would be suitable for performing the counterspells. Let the crown prince [perform] (his part) during that (month), and let the people of the king too perform (their parts) [during it. What harm (would it do)?]
o 1515	ina ITI.AB a-na UŠ₁₁.BÚR.RU.DA-a-ni
o 1616	e-pa-še ṭa-[a-ba ina] ŠÀ-bi
o 1717	DUMU—MAN le-[pu-uš ù] ⸢UN⸣-MEŠ
o 1818	ša LUGAL EN^*-[ía ina ŠÀ-bi]-ma
o 1919	le-pu-šú [mi-i-nu ḫi-ṭu]
Reverse
r 1r 1	ù ina UGU šu-me-ra-ni	(r 1) And concerning the Sumerian texts of the counterspells about which the king said: "Send (word)! They should be brought from Nineveh!" — I shall send Iddin-ahhe; he will go and bring them. He will also bring with him the other tablets of the 'refrain series.' Let the king perform (his part) on the 2nd of Tebet (X), the crown prince on the 4th and the people on the 6th.
r 22	ša UŠ₁₁.BÚR.RU.DA-a-ni
r 33	ša LUGAL be-lí iq-bu-u-ni
r 44	ma-a šu-pur ⸢TA^v^*⸣ NINA.KI
r 55	lu-bi-lu-ni o^* ^mSUM—PAB-MEŠ
r 66	la-áš-pur ⸢lil^-lik^⸣ lu-bi-la
r 77	ù ṭup-pa-⸢a^-ni^⸣ am-mu-ti
r 88	ša ÉŠ.QAR mi^-⸢iḫ^⸣-ri
r 99	is-se-šú-ma [o] lu-bi-la
r 1010	a-na UD 02-KÁM ⸢ša⸣ ITI.AB
r 1111	LUGAL le-pu-⸢uš^⸣ o^ UD 04-KÁM
r 1212	DUMU—MAN le-pu-[uš] UD 06-KÁM
r 1313	UN-MEŠ le-pu-[šú] ⸢ú^*⸣-la-a	(r 13) Alternatively, we may perform (the ritual) on [ot]her days, if (the proposed schedule) is troublesome (or) not executable.
r 1414	ú-ma-a-⸢ti⸣ [šá-ni-a]-ti
r 1515	né-ep-pa-áš ⸢šum⸣-[mu] ⸢ma^*⸣-ri-iṣ
r 1616	ina pa-ni la ⸢e-pa^*⸣-šim-ma
r 1717	šá-ki-in

Adapted from Simo Parpola, Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars (State Archives of Assyria, 10), 1993. Lemmatised by Mikko Luukko, 2016, as part of the research programme of the Alexander von Humboldt Chair in the Ancient History of the Near and Middle East at LMU Munich (Karen Radner, Humboldt Professorship 2015). The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/saao/P333970/.