son Ramman to go up with sonorous voice, with lightning, and with small
and great hail stones against the hostile land. This section has already
been discussed earlier in this chapter. Part III is in reality a brief
conclusion to the hymn. It relates in four lines that Ramman obeyed the
summons of Enlil:
Ramman gave ear to the words which his father spoke to him;
The father Ramman went out of the house storm of sonorous voice;
Out of the house, out of the city went he up, the youthful lion;
Out of the city took his way the storm of sonorous voice.
The third hymnal composition of this group, the so-called litany to
Asshur, is in two parts. Part I is a long hymn addressed by an
individual, possibly Asshurbanipal, to Asshur, of which the chief
distinguishing characteristic is the oft repeated vow of the individual
to praise the deity. Nineteen of the twenty-two lines of Part I are as
follows:
Mighty lord of the gods, all knowing one;
Powerful stately lord of the gods, determiner of fates;
Asshur mighty lord, all knowing one;
Powerful stately lord of the gods, determiner of fates;
Asshur almighty one, lord of the gods, lord of the lands;
His greatness (I will praise), his sublimity proclaim;
The memory of Asshur I will glorify, his name I will magnify;
The sublimity of him who dwells at Ekharraggalkurra I will
proclaim;
His might I will praise, to his will I will submit;
He who dwells at Ascharra, Asshur determiner of fates;
To reveal (his glory) to the inhabitants of the land
That later generations may learn of his fame
I will for ever praise his lordship
Mighty one with broad understanding potentate of the gods;
Mighty creator of the heavens, builder of the mountains;
Mighty creator of the gods, begetter of the goddesses;
Of great heart and deep understanding
O glorious one, whose name arouses fear;
O Asshur, whose decrees reach into the distance.
The promise of the poet here to make the fame of Asshur known to later
generations corresponds to the promise of the author of Psalm 45 for the
fame of the reigning Hebrew king. In Part II of this litany to Asshur,
first Anu, Bel, and Ea, the lords of the gods proclaim Asshurbanipal as
ruler of Assyria, promising him many years of sovereignty, lines 1-6;
and then Asshur appoints him to lordship over lands and men, lines 7-8.
The concluding couplet, lines 9-10 is suggestive of the close
relationship between the fame of the king, and the fame of the patron
god of the kingdom.
Through the mouth let it be proclaimed continually let the ear hear
it,
That I Asshur have named you to lordship over lands and men.
May the memory of Asshur be praised, his divinity be exalted,
So that the exaltation of Asshur, the lord of lords, may be known.
Common to these three compositions and of great interest to the Old
Testament student is the appearance and message of the deity, since
there are parallels to this in the Old Testament. Especially close is
the parallel to the decree of Yahwe in Psalm 2, and the oracle of Yahwe
in Psalm 110.