Mesopotamian Monday: Hymn of Sargon II to Nanay

Just as modern-day artists and religious practitioners write hymns of worship for gods, ancient scribes also wrote hymns for gods. The most significant difference between hymns of today and hymns of 2700 years ago is the culture and society in which hymns were written and composed. In other words, hymns presume the reader has a different type of knowledge. For example, when one reads Amazing Grace, the hymn assumes a certain degree of knowledge about Christian religious traditions. The same is true with ancient Mesopotamian hymns. In order demonstrate this, I will briefly examine a hymn of Sargon II to Nanay [1].

Generally speaking, this text is a prayer to Nanay by Sargon II. Because the tablet on which the text was written is broken, though, it is difficult to identify the flow of the text. It roughly consists of a description of cultic performers, a blessing for Sargon II, and a prayer against crop pests [2]. What I am interested in, though, is the particular deity invoked and her associations in the late 8^th and early 7^th centuries BCE.

The deity invoked in this prayer is Nanay, a deity who emerged in first in Sumerian civilization. By the 1^st millennium, though, she became associated with the god of Borsippa, Nabû, at the temple of Ezida [3]. In terms of the family of deities, Nabû was equivalent to Muati, the son of Marduk (lines 2-5). Moreover, Nabû’s divine specialty was in the field of writing. As the deity of writing, his temple in Borsippa was known for being a center of scribal learning and scholasticism [4]. Therefore, by association, Nanay was part of divine household which specialized in scribal learning and scholasticism. In what follows, I will provide two examples as to why understanding this cultural background is essential to understanding the logic of the prayer of Sargon II to Nanay.

First, in the hymn we read a description of what Nanay does: “The knowledgeable physician whom she does not [guide], His hand is faltering before his clients. Without her, who can do anything?” In essence, she enables physicians to do their jobs. The phrase “knowledgeable physician” uses the Akkadian word asû. The asû is known in Mesopotamia as a physician, inasmuch as he employs magical materials as means to heal and provide therapy to the sick. What this hymn suggests, then, is that the knowledge of these ancient physicians was, first and foremost, made possible on account of Nanay’s assistance.

Second, we read that she plays a role in preventing plagues against the crops: “Keep affliction and loss afar off from him: The fell locust plague that destroys the grain, the vile cicade-pest that denudes the orchards, that cut off the food offerings of god and goddess” (lines 23-26). Although Nanay is not the goddess of fields, irrigation, or anything of the sort, she functions in context of a deity who is the deity of scribal writing, namely Nabû. In such scribal writings, we find a wide variety of genres, many of which are incantations and rituals. Within a text which lays out the texts required for an individual to read if they wish to become an exorcist, a line references incantations and rituals which are “designed to avoid plague or pestilence” [5]. Though done tentatively, I suggest that Sargon II requests Nanay to aid in preventing pestilence because her divine family is in charge of writing and scribal practices. Thus, they would have special knowledge of certain rituals and incantations which impact crops.

Furthermore, invoking Nanay as a means of preventing pestilence fits well with apotropaic magic, magic designed to prevents a particular, bad outcome [6]. This is notable because magic was, in many respects, tied to the notion of writing in the ancient world [7]. In light of the close relationship between magic and writing, it is, therefore, reasonable for Sargon II to invoke Nanay and implore her to prevent pestilence as a sort of apotropaic magic.

So, in summary, understanding the cultural context of any text is integral to understanding what it is expressing and the logic of what it is expressing. Thus, I have sought to demonstrate this principal by offering a few examples from the prayer of Sargon II to Nanay.

 [1] Translations from Benjamin Foster, An Akkadian Anthology (Bethesda: CDL Press, 2005), pp. 788-790. To read the text, visit http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/corpus and find SAA 03 004.

[2] Foster (2005), 788.

[3] M. Stol, “Nanea,” in Dictionary of Demons and Deities, ed. Van der Toorn et. al. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), pp. 611-614. For a more detailed history of Nanay, see Tawny L. Holm, “Nanay and Her Lover: An Aramaic Sacred Marriage Text from Egypt,” in JNES 76 (2017), pp. 1-37 (link). For more on Nanay at Borsippa as the husband of Nabû and as Nanaya Ehurshaba, see C. Waerzeggers, The Ezida Temple of Borsippa: Priesthood, Cult, Archives, Achaemenid History 15 (Leiden, 2010), 22, 26–27.

[4] Grant Frame and A.R. George, “The Royal Libraries of Nineveh: New Eivdence for King Ashurbanipal’s Tablet Collecting, in Iraq, Vol. 67, No. 1, Nineveh, Papers of the 49^th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Part Two (2005), pg. 265. This is supported by the role of Ezida, Nabu’s temple, as a center for scholasticism, an archaeological site wherein 250 scholarly tablets were discovered near the shrine to Nabu. For a simple overview, see this link.

[5] M. J. Geller, “2 The Exorcist’s Manual (KAR 44),” in Assyrian and Babylonian Scholarly Text Catalogues: Medicine, Magic and Divination, ed. Ulruke Steinert (de Gruyter, 2018), pg. 306. Text available here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Exorcists_Manual.

[6] ] M. J. Geller, “2 The Exorcist’s Manual (KAR 44),” in Assyrian and Babylonian Scholarly Text Catalogues: Medicine, Magic and Divination, ed. Ulruke Steinert (de Gruyter, 2018), pg. 306.

[7] This issue is discussed in an unpublished paper of mine. I hope to publish the discussion in the future. If you are interested in my comments, please email me or leave a comment. Moreover, consider Part 1 of the Exorcist’s manual published by Ulrike Steinert, “1 The Assur Medical Catalogue,” in Assyrian and Babylonian Scholarly Text Catalogues: Medicine, Magic and Divination, ed. Ulruke Steinert (de Gruyter, 2018), pp. 203-291. The colophon for this text is translated by Steinert as follows: “[Written according to an older original and^?] collated. [Tablet of…] …, the young physician, [son of …, the] shangu-priest of Baba, from the midst of the city Assur.”  This is important because it highlights the role of the physician as both (a) performing incantations and rituals and (b) functioning as a scribe to write down such incantations and rituals. This demonstrates, again, a relationship between text and the physician/exorcist who performs magic.

Mesopotamian Monday: Inscription of Sargon II to Adad at Dur-Sharrukin

            

Image of the sanctuary of Adad at Kohrsabad. Image from Frankfort and Jacobsen, Kohrsabad (1936), pg. 123.

    A common way that kings honored deities within the pantheon was via prayers inscribed at temples and gates. For example, at the capital of Assyria during the reign of Sargon II, Dur-Sharrukin, archaeologists uncovered a small room within a temple building. Presumably on account of Adad’s lower position in the pantheon, his sanctuary is smaller than the main sanctuary. Within his sanctuary, archaeologists uncovered an inscribed stone on the threshold of the entrance to the temple [1].

                The inscription is brief, only 8 lines. Because the inscription is so short, I will cite the entire text here. Subsequently, I will offer some comments on the text, focusing primarily on how the text is reflective of Assyrian culture and society.

1.       O Adad, irrigator of heaven and earth, who brightens

2.       The daises, for Sargon, king of the world, king of Assyria, governor

3.       Of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, builder

4.       Of your throneroom (cella), bring the rains from heaven

5.       Floods from underground in good season. Garner grain and oil

6.       In his common-leas; may his subjects

7.       Lie down in safe pastures amidst plenty and abundance;

8.       Make firm the foundation of his throne; let his reign endure [2]

Transcription of the first three lines of the inscription from Frankfort and Jacobsen, Kohrsabad (1936), pg. 130.

Before discussing some aspects of the text, I will discuss a few uncommon terms. Daises references the raised platform in the temple.  The cella references the sanctuary as a house of the image of the deity, in this case Adad. Thus, within this text, Adad is responsible for brightening the dais because of his presence in the sanctuary; however, Sargon II is responsible for building the throneroom, namely the cella.

                Within this inscription, I want to highlight the progression of the narrative. After the narrator addresses Adad and clarifies that this request is for Sargon II (1-4), the narrator requests three things which fit together. First, he requests waters from heaven and springs (4-5). Naturally, well-watered farming land would result in a good crop. On account of the waters, he subsequently requests that the good rain season causes a good season for the crops (5-6). This is particularly relevant because farming and crops played a large role in Mesopotamian economy during the 1 millennium BCE and previously [3]. Therefore, a good rain season leading to a good crop production would effectively feed the population of Mesopotamia. In other words, it allows his subjects to lay down amidst plenty and abundance (6-7).

                As is evident, the narrative progression emphasizes Adad’s role as the ultimate cause for successful farming in Mesopotamia. Within this narrative development, though, I want to highlight an aspect of line 6, “in his common-leas.” Ancient Mesopotamia perceived all land as belonging to the king. This explains why the land is referenced as “his” common-leas. Moreover, the word used here is the Akkadian word tamirtu. Tamirtu has two primarily definitions: “a type of agricultural, especially irrigated, land” and “surrounding territory, environs” [4]. Because (a) irrigation canals were necessary for successful farming in Mesopotamia and (b) the context of this prayer to Adad is concerned with farming, it is likely that the nuance of tamirtu is one of arable, irrigated land [5]. Thus, it is apparent, even within prayers to deities, that a central concern of the king was ensuring that his people received adequate water and food, such that they would live in plenty and abundance.

                Returning to the logical narrative of the inscription, all this successful farming and abundant resources serves to legitimize Sargon II as a ruler of his people and representative of his people to the deities. By maintaining such legitimacy, his position as king is ensured, as is that of his son and his son’s son (line 8).               

[1] Gordon Loud, with chapters by Henri Frankfort and Thorkild Jacobsen, Kohrsabad Part I: Excavations in the Palaces and at a City Gate, OIP 38 (Chicago: 1936, University of Chicago Press), 122-125.

[2] Translation takes elements from both Loud, Khorsabad I (1936), pp. 130-131, and Benjamin Foster, Before the Muses (Maryland: CDL Press, 2005), pg. 784, in order to provide the most clarity in the translation.

[3] For a history of scholarship concerning farming in Mesopotamia and reference to relevant periods, see Herve Reculeau, “Farming in Ancient Mesopotamia and How the Oriental Institute Helped Us Understand It,” in New and Notes: The Oriental Institute’s Quarterly Newsletter 232 (Winter 2017), pp. 4-13.

[4] CAD T, tamirtu, pg. 119.

[5] This connotation of tamirtu is re-enforced by an inscription from Sennacherib dated to 703 BCE, wherein Sennacherib explicitly (a) provides land in the tamirtu for orchards and (b) cuts canals in order “to make the orchards luxurious.” See Thorkild Jacobsen and Seton Lloyd, Sennacherib’s Aqueduct at Jerwan (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, OIP, 1935), pg. 33.