CONCLUSION
It is now universally recognized by scholars that the Hebrew nation came
late upon the stage of history, and that when the Hebrew Bedouin passed
over out of the desert into the land of Canaan, they entered a land that
had already experienced millenniums of civilization. In successive
decades and centuries the Hebrew conquerors took over not only the land
with its walled cities and its cultivated fields, but they took over
also the land’s sanctuaries, and in large measure its religious and
moral ideas.
One civilization among others that exerted very great influence for many
centuries over Canaan came from the Tigris Euphrates valley. It brought
to Canaan its language, its literary forms, its myths and legends, its
legal statutes; it brought also in some degree the knowledge of its
gods, and the hymns and prayers with which those gods were worshipped.
The Hebrews were inevitably directly and indirectly influenced by
Assyrian culture and religion.
It is of some importance to recognize, although the fact is by no means
surprising, that the situations in life out of which the hymnal
literatures grew were quite similar in Assyria and in Israel. Both
peoples had a certain number of hymns, which can best be characterized
as Nature hymns; but both peoples had also hymns which belong very
clearly to the sanctuary. Some of these are processional hymns: the
procession bringing the god to his sanctuary as in Psalm 24 and Hymn to
Marduk No. 13; or the procession entering the sanctuary to bring gifts
to the god as in Psalm 95 and the Hymn to Enlil; or the procession
passing out from the sanctuary in solemn procession through the sacred
city as in Psalm 48 and a number of the Assyrian hymns. The great
majority of hymns, however in both literatures, just as one would
expect, offer praise to the deity in the sanctuary.
Not only is the background of the hymns relatively similar in both
civilizations, but the principal features of Hebrew poetry, the rhythm,
the uniform length of lines, parallelism, arrangement in strophes, the
rhetorical question, the refrain, the antiphonal responses, the
introduction into the hymn of the divine oracle, all belong to the
literature of the older civilization. Israel did not invent, but rather
found already in existence, its literary forms.
Moreover Israel undoubtedly found in the older civilization much of its
hymnal phraseology and many of its basic religious ideas. The conception
of God as creator of heaven and earth did not first emerge with
Israelitic monotheism, but is expressed in more than one Assyrian hymn.
The thought of God as king, and as exerting authority above and below,
did not wait for the establishment of the Israelitic monarchy under
Saul, David, and Solomon, but was familiar to the Assyrian hymnist.
Certainly the thought of the God of heaven, as making his earthy
dwelling in a sacred sanctuary on holy ground, is many centuries older
than Solomon’s temple. Finally the conception of God as wise, powerful,
righteous, and merciful found frequent expression in the Assyrian hymns
long before the Hebrews attributed those attributes to Yahwe.
However, this certainly does not mean that the Hebrews were merely
passive recipients of Assyrian Culture. They did obviously take over
certain literary forms and devices, but they created a new and distinct
type of hymn, which begins and ends with the exhortation to praise
Yahwe. What is even more important Hebrew genius has employed such
simplicity, variety, beauty, and power of expression as to create such
masterpieces of literature as Psalms 8; 24; 29; 47; 67; 100; 96 and 150.
Again, Israel did undoubtedly take over, as has been indicated, certain
basic conceptions of God, but Hebrew religious genius purified and
exalted those conceptions. The Assyrian could conceive of one god as
supreme among the gods; the Hebrew came to think of Yahwe as the only
God, the altogether Spiritual Being, freed from the contamination of
polytheism. The Assyrian exalted his god to the high heavens; the Hebrew
emancipated Yahwe from any possibility of identification with sun, moon,
or star, or any natural force. The Assyrian attributed to his god great
power to bless or curse; the Hebrew attributed power to Yahwe, but
dissociated him from all magical practise. The Assyrian does indeed
ascribe to his god righteousness and mercy, but the Hebrew makes
righteousness and mercy the essential attributes of Yahwe. In a word the
hymnists of Israel at their highest and best reflect the influence of
the prophets, to which there was nothing comparable in Assyria.
One very important fact to be recognized is the emergence or development
of the genuine hymn in Israel. It has been suggested that the great
majority of so called Assyrian hymns are really only hymnal
introductions to prayers or ceremonies; and furthermore that there may
well be a line of development from the hymnal introduction to the
independent hymn. There are two examples of hymnal introductions in the
Old Testament Psalter, Psalms 89 and 144; and there is some
justification for selecting Psalms 104 and 8 as hymns which represent
the completion of the process of development. Praise has thus attained
to a much greater place in the Hebrew religion than in the religion of
Assyria. Praise is no longer subordinate to any other goal; it has
become an end in itself, profitable to man, and pleasing to God.
The Hebrew religion carries the hymn to its highest pitch of development
in the eschatological hymn, which is sung in anticipation of Yahwe’s
complete and final triumph upon earth. The eschatological hymn owes its
origin to the strong national spirit of the Hebrews, the strength of
their conviction that a moral order exists in the world, and their faith
in Yahwe as the wise and good, and powerful God who will bring justice
and righteousness to triumph in the earth. There was in Assyria also, as
we have seen, the thought of god as exalted king, but the Assyrians
never attained to the conception of a god establishing complete and
final ethical sovereignty over the earth.
The study of the Assyrian psalms has value for the Old Testament student
in widening his field of knowledge, and thus saving him from the danger
of setting up false standards. It is enlightening for him to observe in
the Assyrian hymns the very frequent fact of irregularity, in the length
of lines, in the number of lines in the strophe, in the type of
parallelism employed. This suggests that often it may be variety and not
uniformity that the poet is seeking, and that extreme caution ought to
be observed in altering the Hebrew text, to make it conform to a Western
conception of order and regularity.
One is impressed also by the prominence of the individual in the
Assyrian hymn, and in the Assyrian cult, and is thus warned against the
highly artificial assumption that the individual of the Hebrew psalms is
a personification of the Hebrew nation. The individual may well have
played a much larger part in the early religion of Israel than has been
commonly supposed.
The study of the Assyrian hymns will have value at various other points.
The consideration of the place of the refrains, the antiphonal
renderings, the divine oracles will help us to understand the use of the
hymn in the Hebrew cult. Acquaintance with the Assyrian hymnal
phraseology will undoubtedly be of assistance in the interpretation and
clearer understanding of many phrases in the Hebrew hymns. The Assyrian
hymns make however their indispensable contribution in that practically
all the religious ideas of the Hebrew hymns exist in cruder form in the
Assyrian hymns. They help us to reconstruct the polytheistic background
of the Hebrew religion. They leave us with a clearer perception that
Yahwe was primarily a god of heaven, and with a fuller knowledge of just
what that means. They help us to understand the prominence given to the
attributes of Yahwe as a mighty god of war. They prove the antiquity of
the conception of God as king and judge, shepherd and father. They
reflect crude and crass ideas of the divine wisdom, power, and mercy.
Against the background of the Assyrian hymns one gains a juster
appreciation of the developed Hebrew doctrine of God, the omnipresent,
the omniscient, the omnipotent, whose eternal plan is to be fulfilled,
who will cause truth and righteousness to prevail in the earth, who is
to be universally and eternally adored.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS OF ASSYRIAN HYMNS
Hymns to Shamash
1. Rawlinson, _Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia_, IV: 2, 28 No. 1;
translated by Jastrow, _Die Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens_, I, 426;
and by Fossey, _La Magie Assyrienne_, No. 30. It is a hymn of fourteen
lines, introducing a petition to Shamash for the healing of the king.
The first two lines of the obverse and reverse sides of the tablet are
missing.
2. R. IV: 2, 20 No. 2, translated by Jastrow, I, 427. There remain only
the first five lines of a hymn, introducing a prayer to Shamash at the
rising of the sun.
3. R. V, 50; translated by Jastrow, I, 428; by Zimmern, _Babylonische
Hymnen und Gebete in Auswahl, Der Alte Orient_, 1905, page 15; and by
Fossey, _La Magie Assyrienne_, No. 42. It is a hymn of eleven lines,
introducing a petition to Shamash for the freeing of the king from the
ban resting upon him, the prayer being offered at sunrise.
4. Abel-Winckler, _Keilschrifttexte_, pages 59 to 60; translated by
Jastrow, I, 429. It is a hymn of twelve lines addressed to Shamash at
sunset, wishing the God a safe return and glad welcome to his home from
Ea his wife.
5. R. IV: 2, 19 No. 2; translated by Jastrow, I, 429; and by Zimmern,
_Der Alte Orient_, 1905, page 15. It is a hymn of ten lines addressed to
Shamash at sunrise. After this hymnal section the poem goes on to
describe how the gods inhale the odor of the sacrifice and refresh
themselves with the “food of heaven.” This suggests that the rising of
the sun was the signal for the offering of sacrifice and the praise of
Shamash, even as it was also the favorable moment for the banning of the
powers of darkness which troubled men. (See Jastrow, I, 430.)
6. Craig, _Assyrian and Babylonian Religious Texts_, II, 3; also Gray,
_The Shamash Religious Texts_, IV; translated by Jastrow II, 72; by
Zimmern, _Der Alte Orient_, 1905, page 15; by Martin, _Textes religieux
Assyriens et Babyloniens_, pages 14-26. It is a hymn of six lines,
followed by a prayer, in which an individual petitions for release from
the ban occasioning his sickness.
7. Gray, _The Shamash Religious Texts_, pages 9-23; translated by Gray;
also by Jastrow, I, 432. It is a hymn, complete in four columns of four
hundred and twenty lines, and is entirely free from any reference to
incantation.
Hymns to Sin
1. Published and translated by Perry, _Hymnen und Gebete an Sin_
(_Leipz. Sem. Studien_, 1907); by King, _Babylonian Magic and Sorcery_
(London 1896); by Combe, _Histoire du Culte de Sin_ (Paris 1908). It is
a hymn of eleven lines introducing a petition of sixteen lines, in which
the king, on an occasion of an eclipse of the moon, requests an oracle
promising deliverance from the evil which has befallen his palace and
land. It is addressed to Sin in the second person.
2. Published and translated by Perry and Combe. It gives the first
fourteen lines of a hymnal introduction to prayer, and then breaks off.
It is addressed to Sin in the second person.
3. Published and translated by Perry. It is a hymn of twenty-one lines
with many repetitions. The last three lines of Perry No. 3, form the
first four lines of Perry No. 4, the two apparently forming one hymn. Of
No. 4 some nineteen lines are preserved, the last lines of the obverse
and reverse being missing and other lines damaged. It is addressed to
Sin in the second person.
4. Published and translated by Perry, King, and Combe. It is a hymn of
eleven lines, introducing a prayer of fourteen lines seeking the favor
of Sin. It is in the second person. The prayer contains the lament and
petition of an individual who feels that his god is angry with him and
afflicting him.
5. Published by Rawlinson IV, 5; also by Perry; and Combe: translated by
Jastrow, I, 436; by Zimmern, _Der Alte Orient_, page II, 1905; by Perry;
by Combe; by Ungnad in Gressmann, _Altorientalische Texte und Bilder_,
page 80; by Rogers, _Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament_, page
141. It is a hymn of thirty-nine lines, introducing a petition nine
lines in length for a temple of the god Sin. It is addressed in the
second person to Sin, and was probably recited or sung at the full moon
festival.
Hymns to Nebo
1. Published and translated by King, _Babylonian Magic_, No. 22; also
translated by Jastrow, I, 445. It contains eight lines of invocation,
followed by the petition at much greater length of an individual,
requesting healing of his disease, favorable dreams, and the support of
his god.
2. R. IV: 2, 20 No. 3; translated by Jastrow, I, 447. It is a fragment,
giving ten lines of a hymn in couplets, of which the second line largely
repeats the preceding line.
Hymns to Ninib
1. Published and translated by King, _Babylonian Magic_, No. 2;
translated by Jastrow, I, 448. The first fourteen lines are addressed to
the god in epithets of praise. In the lines which follow an individual
reminds the god of his sacrifice, and pleads for forgiveness of his sin
and the favor of the god.
2. Transliterated and translated by Jensen, _Kosmologie der Babylonier_,
pages 470-472; also translated by Jastrow, I, 449. It is an hymnal
introduction to prayer, twelve lines in length.
3. Kouyunjik Collection, 2864, 1-22; published and translated by Hrozny,
_Sumerisch-babylonische Mythen von dem Gotte Ninrag in Mitteilungen der
vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft_, 1903. It is a hymn addressed in the
second person to Ninib, of which unfortunately only twelve lines are
preserved, and of these no single line is complete. The hymn is composed
in couplets the second line being a response to the first.
4. K 8531 and Rm 126; published and translated by Hrozny; translated by
Jastrow, I, 455. Here we have an address of the God Nusku to the God
Ninib, of which the first seven lines are epithets of praise, which are
then followed by a petition that the anger of the God may abate, and
that he be honored by the great God.
5. K 4829; published and translated by Hrozny; translated by Jastrow, I,
459. It is a hymn of fourteen lines, in which Ninib praises his own
power.
6. R. II, 19 No. 2; published and translated by Hrozny; translated by
Jastrow, I, 460. This is a hymn of thirteen lines in which the God Ninib
sings his own praise.
7. Published and translated by Hrozny; translated by Jastrow, I, 463.
This is a hymnal composition of thirty lines in the course of which the
god Sharur addresses Ninib with hymnal praises.
Hymns to Nergal
1. Published and translated by King, _Babylonian Magic_, No. 27;
translated by Jastrow, I, 467; also by Böllenrücher, _Gebete und Hymnen
an Nergal_, No. 1. The first ten lines constitute a hymnal introduction
to the prayer that follows. Lines 11-13 are a lament, lines 14-23 a
petition, and line 24 a vow.
2. Published and translated by Böllenrücher, _Gebete und Hymnen an
Nergal_ No. 2; also by King, _Babylonian Magic_, No. 46; translated by
Jastrow, I, 471. Nine lines of praise are addressed to the god, when the
tablet breaks off.
3. Published and translated by Böllenrücher, _Gebete und Hymnen an
Nergal_ No. 3. The beginning and end of the hymn are missing. Of the
twelve lines remaining no single line is complete.
4. R. IV: 2, 26 No. 1; published and translated by Böllenrücher, No. 4;
translated by Jastrow, I, 470. Only the first ten lines of this hymn are
preserved. For the first eight lines, the second half line is a refrain.
5. R. IV: 2, 24 No. 1; published and translated by Böllenrücher, No. 5;
translated by Jastrow, I, 469. Of this hymn thirty-eight lines are
preserved and are so arranged in couplets that the first line gives a
title or attribute of the deity, while the second lines begin with the
words: “God Nergal” and repeat the first words of the preceding line. It
is thus a hymn with responses, made probably by priest and choir.
6. Published by Craig, _Zeitschrift für Assyriologie_, X, 276; Published
and translated by Böllenrücher, No. 6. The hymn is divided into two
parts. The first part of some forty lines is addressed directly to the
god. Of these forty lines there are eleven couplets, of which the first
half lines make a double refrain. The second half of the hymn is in
praise of the word of the god. Thirteen lines begin with, “His word.”
The entire hymn is antiphonal in character.
7. R. IV: 2, 30 No. 1; Haupt, _Akkadisch-Sumerische Keilschrifttexte_,
No. 20; published and translated by Böllenrücher, No. 7; translated by
Jastrow, I, 478. The first fourteen lines of the hymn are in narrative
style, praising the attack of Nergal upon the hostile land. After a gap,
where some lines are missing, there are twenty-one lines of praise
addressed directly to the god in the second person.
8. K 9880; published and translated by Böllenrücher, No. 8; translated
by Jastrow, I, 477. It is an individual hymn, addressed directly to
Nergal, of which after the twelfth line the tablet breaks off.
Hymns to Adad
1. R. IV: 2, 28 No. 2; transliterated and translated by Strong,
_Proceedings_ of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, XX, 161;
translated by Jastrow, I, 482. It is a fragment of nine lines of a hymn
praising in the third person of the verb the power of Adad.
2. Transliterated and translated by Langdon, Sumerian and Babylonian
Hymns, pages 280-283; also by Rogers, _Cuneiform Parallels_, page 147;
also by Ungnad in Gressmann, _Altorientalische Texte_, pages 83f. It is
characterized by Langdon, Rogers, and Ungnad as a hymn. It includes an
invocation to the god of ten lines, a hymn proper of four lines, an
address of Enlil to Ramman of ten lines and a narrative section of four
lines.
3. Transliterated and translated by King, Babylonian Magic, No. 21. It
is a fragment of a hymn, containing nine broken lines.
Hymns to Nusku
1. R. IV: 2, No. 3; translated by Jastrow, I, 487. It is a short hymnal
introduction of eight lines, little more than an invocation to the god.
2. Craig, _Assyrian and Babylonian Religious Texts_, I, plate 35;
translated by Jastrow, I, 487. After nineteen lines the text breaks off.
The nineteen lines are of the nature of an invocation.
3. Tallquist, _Die assyrische Beschworungsserie_, Maklu II, pages 1-17;
translated by Jastrow, I, 297. It is a hymnal introduction of eleven
lines, addressed directly to the god, and followed by an individual’s
petition in seven lines for the destruction of those whose witchcraft
was afflicting him.
Hymns to Bel
1. R. IV: 2, 27 No. 2; translated by Jastrow, I, 489. Only five lines of
the hymn are preserved. They seem to praise the great tower of Bel’s
temple at Ekur.
2. R. IV: 2, 27 No. 4; Haupt, _Akkadische und sumerische
Keilinschrifttexte_, page 183; translated by Jastrow, I, 490. Eleven
lines constitute an invocation to Bel. The text then breaks off.
3. King, _Babylonian Magic_, No. 19; Jastrow, I, 492. Sixteen broken
hymnal lines introduce the petition of a king.
Hymns to Marduk
1. Craig, Religious Texts, I, plates 29-31; published and translated by
Brünnow, _Assyrian Hymns_, in _Zeitschrift für Assyriologie_, IV,
246-248 and V, 58-66, 77-78; translated by Martin, _Textes religieux
Assyriens et Babyloniens_, and by Jastrow, I, 513. The hymn consists of
thirty-eight lines, and is followed by the petition that the anger of
the god may abate and favor be shown the suppliant.
2. K 3459; Hehn, _Hymnen und Gebete an Marduk_, in _Beitrage zur
Assyriologie_, V, 278-400. The poem is in three columns. Of column I,
seven lines out of twenty are preserved entire. Of the twenty-one lines
of column II, twelve are missing, and no single line is complete.
Columns I and III are in praise of Marduk, while column II seeks
forgiveness of sin and deliverance of a sufferer from trouble.
3. K 3505; The first seventeen lines of a hymn are addressed directly to
Marduk. The text then breaks off.
4. King, _Tablets of Creation_, I, 204 ff; Craig, _Religious Texts_, I,
Plate 43; Hehn, No. 5; Jastrow, I, 496ff. The first twenty-one lines of
a hymn are in praise of Marduk. The text then breaks off. In the hymnal
portion the third person of the verb is used.
5. R. IV: 2, 26 No. 4; translated by Jastrow, I, 496; also by Jeremias
in Roscher’s _Lexicon_, II, col. 2367; also by Hehn, No. 6. Nine lines
of a hymn in praise of Marduk, the God of War, are preserved. The text
then breaks off.
6. R. IV: 2, 29, No. 1; translated by Jastrow, I, 501; also by Fossey,
_La Magie assyrienne_, pages 364-369; also by Jeremias in Roscher’s
_Lexicon_, II, col. 2355; also by Hehn, No. 7. It is a hymn twenty-nine
lines in length, of definite strophic arrangement, addressed directly to
Marduk, and followed by exorcisms of various demons.
7. R. IV: 2, 18, No. 1; translated by Hehn, No. 12. It is a fragment of
eight lines, referring to the founding of Babylon and the temple of
Marduk.
8. R. IV: 2, 21, No. 1; also King, _Babylonian Magic_, No. 9; translated
by King; by Hehn, No. 13; also by Jastrow, I, 500f. Though characterized
by King and Jastrow as a prayer, yet the first nine lines, constituting
the invocation to the god may be regarded as hymnal material. The body
of the prayer consists of seventeen lines, and may well be from a king,
seeking health and the favor and support of his god.
9. R. IV: 2, 57; translated by King No. 12; by Hehn No. 14; by Jastrow,
I, 499; by Lenormant, _La Divination_, page 212ff; by Sayce, _Hibbert
Lectures_, pages 536ff. This tablet is concerned with the curing by
Marduk’s help of a sick man. The first sixteen lines give directions for
the ceremonies to be performed. The priest is instructed to hold the
hand of the sick man, and repeat the prayer, lines 17-94. Of these lines
17-44 are hymnal, serving as an invocation to the prayer. Following the
prayer there are directions for further ceremonies. The hymn is in the
second person addressed directly to the god.
10. K 8961; Craig, _Assyrian and Babylonian Religious Texts_, I, Pl. 59;
translated by Hehn, No. 17; also by Jastrow, I, 497. An incantation
hymn, of which only twelve lines remain, is addressed directly to Marduk
as an invocation to prayer.
11. Craig, _Assyrian and Babylonian Religious Texts_, I, Pl. 1;
translated by Martin, _Textes religieux_; also by Jastrow, I, 509. Of
this text the opening lines are missing. Ten lines are preserved, being
a prayer in the mouth of the priest, of which the first five lines
supply the element of adoration.
12. R. IV: 2, 40, No. 1 transliterated and translated by Ball,
_Proceedings_ of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, XV, 51-54;
translated also by Hehn, No. 25; by Sayce, _Hibbert Lectures_, pages
80f; by Jastrow, I, 509. The text comprises thirty-two lines. Lines 1 to
6 state that the priest is to rise in the first hour of the night on the
second day of Nisan, wash in river water, put on a linen garment and
repeat his prayer. Of the prayer, lines 7 to 28 are hymnal; lines 29 to
32 petition the favor of the god for the city, Babylon and the temple,
Esagila.
13. R. IV: 2, 18 No. 2; Also published and translated by Weissbach,
_Babylonische Miscellen_, pages 36-41; translated also by Ungnad, page
85; by Rogers, page 130; by Jastrow, I, 503. This is a text of
thirty-seven lines. A colophon at the end directs that the hymn should
be used on the eleventh day of Nisan, when Marduk enters his own
sanctuary in the temple Esagila. It is a processional hymn apparently
sung antiphonally, a priest or choir chanting the first half of the
line, and a choir responding with the refrain. The first thirty-three
lines welcome the god to his temple; the last four lines petition his
favor for the city and its temple.
14. Hehn No. 16; King No. 18; Jastrow, I, 513. This is a fragment of
which the first lines are missing. A petition for relief from sickness
is preceded by hymnal lines praising Marduk, and expressing confidence
in him.
Hymn to Asshur
1. Craig, _Religious Texts_, I, plates 32-34; translated by Jastrow, I,
520. This is called by Jastrow a Litany to Asshur. It begins with a
hymn, twenty-two lines of which are preserved. Then in six lines Anu,
Bel, Ea, and the great gods proclaim Asshurbanapal ruler of Assyria, and
in the last four lines the god Asshur himself calls Asshurbanapal to
lordship.
Hymns to Ishtar
1. King No. 1; duplicate, No. 5; translated by Jastrow, I, 529. It is
only a fragment of five lines of praise addressed directly to Ishtar.
2. King No. 32; translated by Jastrow, I, 529. It is a fragment of ten
lines of praise, addressed directly to Ishtar.
3. Craig, Religious Texts, I, plates 15-17; translated by Jastrow, I,
535. Eighteen lines of praise are followed by an enumeration of the
sacrifices, foods for the temple servants, and of gifts of gold, as well
as by directions for the purification of the sick, who wish to be healed
by Ishtar.
4. Reisner, Sumerisch-babylonische Hymnen, No. 56; transliterated and
translated by Hussey, No. 1. The tablet was according to the colophon
ninety-five lines in length, but only fifteen strophes of four lines
each are in good preservation. It is a hymn sung by Ishtar in praise of
herself.
5. Reisner No. 53; translated by Hussey, No. 5; by Langdon, _Sumerian
and Babylonian Psalms_, page 192; by Jastrow, I, 530. This hymn opens
with three strophes of four, three, and four lines respectively in
praise of the goddess. Then in strophes of five, four, and seven lines
Ishtar appears singing her own praise. There follows the prayer of
thirteen lines petitioning the removal of her anger.
Hymn to Sarpanitum
1. Craig, I, plate 1; translated by Jastrow, I, 536. This is a hymn of
eleven lines addressed directly to the goddess, followed by a brief
petition for the suppliant, the king, and the people of Babylon.
Hymn to Damkina
1. King No. 4; translated by Jastrow, I, 537. The hymn consists of seven
lines of invocation to Damkina, and is followed by a petition for the
averting of evil threatened by an eclipse of the moon.
Hymns to Belit
1. Haupt, _Assyrisch-sumerische Keilinschrifttexte_, pages 126-131;
Prince, _The Hymn to Belit_ K 357, in the _Journal_ of the American
Oriental Society, XXIV, 103-128; translated by Jastrow, I, 538f. This is
a hymn of some fifty lines sung entirely by Belit in her own praise.
2. Text and transliteration by Scheil, _Zeitschrift für Assyriologie_,
X, 291-298; also Scheil, _Une saison de fouilles a Sippar_, page 98 and
Tablet II; translated by Jastrow, I, 541. The first twelve lines of the
hymn are addressed to Nippur the city of Bel. The following thirty-eight
lines are in praise of Belit, and are for the most part addressed
directly to her.
Hymn to Enlil
1. Transliterated and translated by Langdon, _Sumerian and Babylonian
Hymns_, page 277. It is a psalm of twenty-five lines. The singers are
the bearers of sacrificial gifts to Enlil. The hymn is addressed
directly to the god.
A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Balla, E. Das Ich der Psalmen in Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur
des Alten und Neuen Testaments. 16. Heft, 1912.
Barton, G. A. Archaeology and the Bible, 1914.
Bewer, J. A. The Psalms and the Song of Songs, Chapter XX in The
Literature of The Old Testament, 1926.
Böllenrücher, J. Gebete und Hymnen an Nergal. (_Leipziger semitische
Studien_, 1904.)
Briggs, C. A. The Book of Psalms, I.C.C. (2 vols. 1906, 1907.)
Combe, E. Histoire du Culte de Sin, 1908.
Craig, J. A. Assyrian und Babylonian Religious Texts, I and II.
(_Assyrische Bibliothek_, herausgegeben von Delitzsch und Haupt, XIII,
1895).
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FOOTNOTES
[1]Hymn to Nebo No. 1.
[2]Hymn to Marduk No. 8.
[3]Hymn to Sin No. 3.
[4]Hymn to Nusku No. 1.
[5]Hymn to Marduk No. 6.
[6]Hymn to Ishtar No. 7.
[7]Hymn to Shamash No. 6.
[8]Nebo No. 1.
[9]Nusku No. 3.
[10]Nusku No. 3.
[11]Nusku No. 1.
[12]Ninib No. 2.
[13]Sin No. 5.
[14]Sin No. 1.
[15]Sarpanitum No. 1.
[16]Shamash No. 5.
[17]Nusku No. 2.
[18]Shamash No. 3.
[19]Ishtar No. 2.
[20]Ninib No. 4.
[21]Shamash No. 3.
[22]Shamash No. 2.
[23]Shamash No. 6.
[24]Ishtar No. 7.
[25]Ninib No. 1.
[26]Ninib No. 1.
[27]Shamash No. 1.
[28]Marduk No. 6.
[29]Marduk No. 8.
[30]Nebo No. 1.
[31]Ishtar No. 7.
[32]Marduk No. 1.
[33]Marduk No. 2.
[34]Nergal No. 8.
[35]Enlil No. 1.
[36]Nebo No. 1.
[37]Ninib No. 1.
[38]Marduk No. 4.
[39]Sin No. 3.
[40]Sin No. 5.
[41]Hymn to Ninib No. 1.
[42]Hymn to Shamash No. 4.
[43]Hymn to Shamash No. 5.
[44]Hymn to Sin No. 4.
INDEXES
GENERAL INDEX
A
Adad, 53, 55
Adoration, 18, 19, 45, 53
Alphabetical psalms, 15, 17, 23, 28, 48
Anointed, 38, 48
Antiphonal hymns, 30, 72-82, 99, 157
Antithetical parallelism, 97
Apocrypha, 3
Ascription of praise, 57, 61, 63, 65, 66
Asshur, 55, 81, 110
B
Babylonia, 3, 4, 6
Bel, 55, 69, 92
Belit, 55, 84
Blessing, 12
Body of hymn, 19, 21, 26
Bull of Jacob, 80
C
Call to praise, 19-21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 37,
39, 40, 85
Choir, 11, 43, 46, 47, 72, 73, 76, 77, 78, 86, 99
City, 45, 46, 73
Classification, 3
Comparative study, 4, 95
Conclusion of hymns, 10, 11, 15, 20, 23, 25, 27, 34, 39, 40, 64,
81, 85, 88
Confidence, 5, 6, 12, 15, 29
Coronation, 7, 48
Council of the Gods, 37, 103
Couplet, 73, 74, 75, 76, 86, 96
Court style, 56, 57, 59, 60, 66
Creator, 21, 81, 120, 121, 122, 123, 129, 155
D
Damkina, 55
Date, 1
Decree, 82
Destiny, 131, 132
Development, 4, 5, 12, 15, 18, 53, 56, 65, 66, 69, 92, 156
Diaspora, 11, 47
Divisions of line, 95
E
Egypt, 3, 4
Enemies, 5, 6, 7, 12, 14
Enlil, 55, 65, 72, 80
Enthusiasm, 18, 21, 22, 32, 34, 38, 54, 55, 107, 119, 123
Eschatological psalms, 6, 14, 26, 31, 32-38, 49, 50, 150, 152
Ethical character of Assyrian god, 59, 151
Exalted deity, 110, 111
F
Faith, 4, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 25, 30, 45
Father, 145, 157
Fertility, 22, 85, 125, 126
Forgiveness, 8, 9, 10, 55, 143
G
Gloss, 86
Goodness, 22, 24, 42
Gratitude, 10, 18, 53, 55
Groups, 3, 4, 5, 9, 53
H
Hallelujah, 19, 20, 22, 23, 34, 41
Harvest, 12
Healing, 9, 10, 61, 62, 142
Heavens, 42, 109, 111, 120, 157
Holiness of Gawe, 22, 34, 107
Holy mountain, 114
Hymn, 4, 11, 12, 18, 20, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 41, 43, 44,
45, 53, 56, 65, 92
Hymnal introductions, 18, 40, 53, 60, 64, 65, 67, 74, 78, 83, 92,
156
I
Idols, 22, 25, 29, 37, 105
Iknaton, 41
Individual, the, in Assyrian and Hebrew religion, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14,
21, 28, 43, 67, 68, 72, 78, 141, 157
Invocation, 57, 60, 61, 65, 66, 73, 76, 89
Ishtar, 53, 55, 56, 58, 63, 64, 78, 79, 85, 86, 109
J
Jerusalem, 14, 21, 44, 45, 46, 141
Judge, 37, 104, 150, 151, 157
K
King, 6, 9, 10, 32, 36, 37, 38, 48, 49, 50, 82, 132, 146, 155,
156, 157
L
Lament, 5, 7, 8, 15, 44, 53, 54, 64
Legend, 11
Length of line, 95
Lightning, 40, 80
Litany, 81, 82
Literary dependence, 105, 155
Liturgical psalms, 10, 13, 27, 28, 30, 36, 41, 47
Lord, 80, 81, 82, 104
Lower world, 111
M
Magic, 7, 55, 62, 66, 73, 78, 90, 96, 106, 132, 134, 142, 155
Marduk, 53, 55, 56, 57, 58, 63, 64, 68, 69, 89, 91, 108, 110, 111
Mercy, 8, 10, 22, 26, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 155
Monotheism, 36, 53, 54, 102, 105, 120, 155
Moon, 109
Mountains, 114, 120
N
Name, 42, 75, 80, 81, 85, 106, 107
Nationalism, 5, 6, 8, 10, 14, 22, 152
Nature, 39, 53, 59, 71, 107, 109, 124, 154
Nebo, 57, 58, 73
Nergal, 53, 55, 56, 57, 72, 74, 75, 77, 88, 90
New song, 33
Night, 39
Ninib, 53, 55, 57, 58, 70, 83, 84, 110
Nusku, 53, 55, 58, 59, 62, 83, 108, 118
O
Oracle, 13, 49, 82, 133, 155, 157
Originality, 4, 5, 11, 26
P
Parallelism, 72, 74, 76, 96, 97, 154
Penitential, 4
Persecution, 7
Petition, 5-8, 10, 15, 21, 29, 38, 40, 41, 44, 48, 62, 63, 64, 87
Philological study of psalms, 3
Phraseology, 88, 100, 155, 157
Pilgrimage, 44, 46, 47
Polytheism, 53, 100, 101, 102, 103, 122, 133, 157
Power, 22, 84, 130, 131, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 155
Praise, 4, 6, 11, 18, 19, 23, 65, 83, 156
Prayer, 4, 6, 7, 9, 40, 53, 55
Priest, 6, 10, 13, 21, 29, 30, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 86
Processional, 11, 26, 27, 46, 68, 99, 154
Prophetic, 28, 45, 156
Proselytes, 21, 29
R
Ramman, 72, 79, 80, 88, 109
Reasons for praise, 20, 21, 22, 28, 29
Refrain, 35, 64, 72, 73, 75, 76, 79, 80, 87, 98, 154, 157
Repetitions, 72, 76, 77, 78, 88
Responses, 73, 74, 75, 86
Rhetorical questions, 63, 66, 87, 99, 103, 154
Righteousness, 151, 152, 155
S
Sacrifice, 5, 6, 9, 53, 55, 56, 65, 116, 117, 118, 119, 125
Sanctuary, 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 32, 44, 59, 69,
86, 91, 92, 112, 154
Sarpanitum, 55, 59, 64, 65, 109
Sceptre, 146, 149
Second person, 20, 25, 35, 36, 40, 43, 55, 65, 66, 72, 89, 90, 92
Self-introduction, 87, 92
Sennacherib, 46
Shamash, 40, 53, 55, 58, 70, 71, 108
Sheol, 9, 17
Shepherd, 13, 144, 157
Sickness, 7, 8, 9, 61, 142
Simplicity, 5, 8, 11, 13
Sin, 53, 55, 57, 59, 63, 65, 71, 73, 76, 108
Soliloquy, 13, 41
Solo, 11, 43
Strophic arrangement, 65, 79, 86, 98, 154
Supplication, 4
Supreme God, 104, 105
Synonymous parallelism, 96
Synthetical parallelism, 97
T
Tautological parallelism, 96
Teaching, 4, 9, 15, 17, 30
Testimony, 8, 9, 12, 18, 42
Thanksgiving, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 53
Third person, 20, 25, 35, 36, 40, 55, 89, 90, 92, 99
Throne, 146, 148
Thunder, 39, 40, 88, 109, 127, 129
Titles, 57, 58, 68, 72, 73, 76, 87
Tristich, 76, 96
Type, 3, 9
U
Universalism, 24, 26, 31, 37, 53, 107
V
Variation, 3, 24, 75
Voice, 39, 88, 110
Vow, 5, 9, 12, 30, 81
W
War God, 134, 135, 136, 137, 157
Wisdom, 15, 28, 30, 65, 66, 130, 131, 132, 134, 155
Word, 69, 89, 90, 91, 127, 128, 129
INDEX OF BIBLICAL PASSAGES
Psalm
1 15
2 38, 49, 50, 82, 123
3 7
4 12
7 7, 8
8 20, 22, 39, 41, 42, 47, 95, 96, 106, 110, 111, 121,
123, 155, 156
9 12
10 5
11 12, 109, 151
13 7, 142
16 12
17 8, 116
18 9
19 20, 39, 40, 95, 96, 134
20 6
21 9
22 7
23 12
24 20, 27, 96, 135, 154, 155
26 8
27 12, 116
29 20, 21, 22, 23, 39, 104, 109, 128, 149, 155
30 9
31 142
32 9, 19
33 20, 22, 23, 30, 107, 121, 122, 129, 131, 132, 143
34 15
37 15, 16
38 8, 142
39 8
42 8, 19
43 8, 19
44 5, 44
45 48
46 14, 105
47 20, 32, 34, 97, 138, 148, 149, 155
48 45, 46, 47, 92, 106, 114, 150, 154
49 15, 16
51 8
55 7
56 7
57 7
58 151
59 7, 8
60 5
62 12, 114
63 12, 116
64 7
65 11, 12, 19
66 9, 20, 143
67 6, 21, 37, 96, 97, 155
68 20, 21, 22, 110, 127, 135, 136, 137, 138, 141, 143,
151
69 7
70 7
71 8
72 6, 7, 48, 49
73 15, 16
74 5
75 151
76 106, 112, 132, 138
78 15
79 5
80 5
81 138
82 32, 35, 37, 38, 97, 104, 110, 123, 151
83 5, 110
84 20, 44, 112
85 5
86 140, 142
87 44, 47, 48, 114
88 8
89 103, 104, 136, 138, 156
90 6
91 13
92 12, 110, 132
93 20, 32, 35, 36, 116, 148, 149
95 20, 102, 114, 118, 121, 124, 144, 149, 150, 154
96 20, 32, 33, 34, 37, 102, 103, 105, 112, 118, 149,
152, 153, 155
97 20, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 104, 137, 138, 148, 149, 151,
153
98 20, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 96, 97, 136, 152, 153
99 20, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 98, 106, 110, 118, 149, 151
100 19, 20, 22, 26, 113, 144, 155
101 48
102 8
103 9, 10, 18, 22, 107, 140, 141, 143, 144, 145, 148, 150
104 22, 23, 39, 40, 41, 97, 99, 110, 116, 122, 124, 125,
126, 129, 133, 137, 156
105 12
107 10
109 7
110 49, 82
111 19, 20, 22, 23, 28, 118
112 15
113 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 99, 103, 105, 110, 111, 140, 141
114 11, 126, 136, 137
115 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 29, 95, 97, 98, 106, 109, 112,
118, 122
116 9, 142
117 19, 20, 21, 23, 31
118 9
119 48
121 13
122 44, 45
123 5, 6
124 11
125 5, 6, 15, 16
126 5
127 15, 16
128 15, 16
129 5, 6
130 8
131 13
132 112, 115
133 15, 16
134 19, 20, 27, 122
135 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 102, 105, 107, 110, 114, 136,
152
136 5, 11, 12, 104, 121
137 5
138 9
139 15, 112, 123, 139
144 156
145 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28, 107, 118, 140, 149
146 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28, 118, 140, 141, 142, 149
147 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 113, 114, 124, 125, 126, 129,
130, 141
148 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 107, 110, 111, 121, 129
149 19, 20, 23, 32, 33, 34, 37, 124, 153
150 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 113, 148, 155
Jonah
2 9
Exodus
3:6 87
20:2 87
Isaiah
41:2, 4 87
42:8 87
43:11, 12 87
45:5, 7 88
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