A New Akkadian Prophecy Text

A New Akkadian Prophecy Text Author(s): Hermann Hunger and Stephen A. Kaufman Reviewed work(s): Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 95, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1975), pp. 371375 Published by: American Oriental Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/599348 . Accessed: 19/03/2012 12:59 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. American Oriental Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of the American Oriental Society. http://www.jstor.org A NEW AKKAD IAN PROPHECY STEPHEN HERMANN HUNGER TEXT A. KAUFMAN UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA This article is a study of a newly discovered example of that genre of Akkadian literature termed variously "prophecy" or "apocalypse." The poorly preserved obverse probably consisted largely of omen protases and apodoses. The reverse is one long hiistorical apodosis; all but the final "prediction" is a vaticiniurn ex eveRtU. On the basis of the historical allusions, the text can be dated to the co-regency of Nebuchadnezzar and Amnel-Marduk. A propogandistic origin is proposed. TAB3LET DISCUSSED TIIE IN THIS PAPER* of eighty plete.2 The 6 ~ text: Warka 22307/7 1x-[l]i-nmu paper was read x z4-ta-as-sa-ar 15 8 19 ... 20 .... 21... ug'-gab ima DTJr(BAXDJ.AN.KI) ana D&r(BA'D.AN.KI) il-lak I1ra-gda-tu-nu itta(iZK]im)-?d kag-gi-da-at 22 .. 23 .. I arru(LUGAL)ina ekaIli(t.GAL)-?d a-na mniarhi(ITU) ul i-da-a-nu purusse'(Eg.BAR) iniilul iparras(KUD-as) [d]LamassU(LAM~~A) Urukkl da-ri-tu4 ig-tui qe,-reb ni x an-na-a Mi7ti(KUR) ti(KUR) 4 Uruk(TIR.AN.NA.Kl) abl(AD)-s'd la' isabbatt(DIB-bat) k~Iussi(AS.I.TE~) *Tliis 1MES a-na a?ri(Ki)-?i-naUtdr(GUR-dr) .1gal-pdl-ut-tim i?akkan(GAR-an) 16 . . .1 isakkan(GAn-an) 17 .. Dir(BAID.AN.KI) id-di Reverse 1 [ I. 1itebbadmma(zr-am-ma) sap-ta-a-ta MCIti(K'UnR) i-be'-e[lI 2 [x x ?arrU(LUG]AL) Maiis'-tt qe'-rebmat tam-fl' s'a ina qe'-rcb Bdbili(gU.AN.NA.Kl) 1pwUS'(D1-411) bclu-Ud-tu Sq4-tar-?6i 9 ... dan-na-til iar MtIM(KUR) iba??i(GA'L-?i) 10 [ x.~ X MU-AP, 11 [~.4x iz-zi-zui 12 kussd(GI9.GU.ZA) i- 14 .. 15 [ na't(ID.A1IE9) 24 dl-tas-sar .1 x mu it-ten-pu-us' I ~]X Uruk(TIR.AN.NA.Ki) sabbat(DIB-bat) 13 [... is one tablets found by the German Warka Expedition in 1969 in Uruk in a residenitial area in levels of the early AchaemenidI l)eriod. These table-ts, most of which were medical or omnen texts and commentaries, probably formned part of the private library of a magiciani anid dtiviner. They will be published by H. Hunger in the near future together with other On the ob-texts from the same excavation.' verse of the tablet only the ends of lines are the reverse, however, is almost compreserved; of a group ib-bak-ma ina qe'-rebBiibilii 5 [Ila dILamassu(LAMA) Uruikki ina parakki(BAR.A)- at the 183rd meeting of the American Oriental Society in Washington,D.C., March20, 1973. 1 See for the time being the report in 26. und 27. V'orlaufiger Berichi ilber die ... Auisgrabungen in UrukWVarka,pp. 79ff. 2 CopieS will be found in the final publication. A ph-otographof the reverse was published in U VB 26/27 (see n. 1), pl. 25 g. 371 sd ii-ge-eg-g'ib la nigi1(uKl.ME?)-s?d ana qis'ti(NfG. i-qa-a's-su s'a Urukkl bil-ti ka-bit-ti im-mid ni?i(UKU.ME?) Urukkl Id-har-rabnjr1(irDxME?) sa-kQi-kii'i-mal-luz BA) 6 7 tamarelti(GARIN.iME9) inaddi(guB-di) a;,ki(E-GIR)?6 ?arru(LUGAL) ilidM(E11)-ma d,.i-i-nl miit7i(1r:UR) ul i-da-a-nzu purusse'(E&sBAR) Mi7ti(ICUn) itl ipar- ras(KUD-as) 8KIN KIMIN KIMIN KIMIN KIMIN bu-g'e-e miii Ak- 372 ~~~~Jouirnal of 11weAmcrican Orienital Societyl 95.3 (1975) 372 kade(URII.Ki)a-na m'it Subarti(su.B1n4.KI) ile qqe (Ti-qe') 9 arki(EGIRQ-?i4 S'arru(LUGAL) di-i-ni illadM(E11j)-ma Mniiti(KUR) ul1 i-da-a-nuzpurusse'(ER.BAR) (KUR) uli iparras(KUD-as) Miiti 1-0 kib-ra-a-ti er-bet-ti i-be'el a-na g'u-mi-s'dkib-rat 11 arki(EI~R)-?ud sarru(LUGAL) ina qe'-reb Uruk wviiilive in DEr he will go to DWr you (pl.) have acquired 22 . its omen is unavoidable(?) 23 .. The king will be shuit up in his palace for several 24 months. 19 20 .. 21 .he Reverse I [Somebody] will arise anid come to rule tile devastated part of the land. 2 ..from the Sealand, who liad ruled in Babyion. NA.Ki) di-ka-a-nu 13 0ILaniassU(LAM\A) Urukkl da-ri-ti ig'-tu qe'-rebBRh- 3 After him a king will arise, but lie will not provide justice in the land, lie wvill niot giv\e ib-ba-kam-mamnaqpS-rebUrnk bili(gU.AN.NA.Kl) the right decilsions for the lanid. (TIR.AN.NA.KlI) ma( parakki(BARAk)-hLi 4 I-le wvillremove the anicient protective goddess 14u-se-esg-gi niW(UKfr.MTE9)-S`u a-na qi?ti(NiG.BA) of Uruk from U-ruk anid make her dwell in i-qa-a's-su ekurrdtiE'.KUR.AME9) ?6d Urukkl ipBabylon; pu(DfJ-Il?) bitht(1'.ME9) ili(DINGIR.ME~)ana a'5a goddess who is not the protective goddess of ri(Kl)-?'i-na utdr(GUR-dr) Uruk he will make dwell in her sanctuary anid 1Urklud-da-a's' abulldt(KA_.GAL..NIE?) Uruikkl 5(' devote to her people niot belonging to lier. i)ippuS`(Df-US`) ndrli(D.M~E9)ta'qn(NA4.. 6 He wvill impose heavy tax oii the people of ilu mnardti(GAxRIN.1\rE~)(uih-dui hega llu(mi.GLc~) Uruik. Ilie will devastate U1ruk, fill tile canals mal1-li 1-6 [arki(EG]IR)-?ti S'arru(LUGAL) mdr(DUM u)-?du malt witli nmud. 7and abandoni the cultivated fields. A%fterhimn kib-rat qe-reb Uruk(TIR.AN.NA.KI) illadM(Ell)-ma a king wviiiarise, but he will not provide justice er-bet-ti i-be-el 17 [be-lufl-d'-tuiit sarrul(LUGAL)-'-IU in the land, he will niot give the right decisionls mnaq&-rebUruk for the land. (TIR.AN.NA.Kl) ip)US`(DlJ-US`) a-(di ul-la palC4iiA8 Ditto ditto ditto dlitto (ditto He will take the i-ka-a-nui LA)-?u 18 [s'arri2(LUGAL)].'.IE~ ?a Urukki ki-ma M. DJINGIfl. property of Babylonia to A-ssyria. 9 After him a king wviiiarise, but he as wvell wviii ME)ip-pul-Tbe-lu-ti-ta niot provide justice in the land, he will notLgive Obverse the right decisions for the land. 1 10 He will subdlue the world, and all the wvorld signis ..my 2 xvili tremble at the m-ention of hiis name. 3 11 But after him, a kiing will arise in Uruk wh,Io 4 xviii be made . .they wviii provide justice ini the land anid will give 5 . .it xvasmade right decisions for thle lauid. 12the 6 12He xvili establish the rites of the cuilt of Anu in 7 it passed Uruk. 8 .. . this is its xvriting 13 He wvillremove the anieneit protectiv\Ie goddess 9 xviii be hard tim-e in the land ''there of Uruk from Babylon and let her dIwell in 10 his name ... own sanctuary in Uruk. lher 11 they stood .. 14 The people belonging to her he will devote to 12 [... the son of the king] xviii not succeed to the hier. He wviiirebuild the temples of UL7rukand throne of his father. restore the sanctuiaries of the gods. 13 [.. someone] of Uruk xwiiiseize the throne. 15 He xviii renexv Uruk. The gates of Uruk he 14 .He wvillrestore the [temples( ?)] xviii build of lapis lazuli. Hie xvili fill the rivers . He wviii bring about destruction. 15.. 16 and fields xvith abunidant yieid. he wviii establish ... 16 After him his son xwiiiarise as kina in U rlk, an(l 17 .he laid in(to) DWr iS become master over the xworld. hle xviiibe shut up (TIR.AN.NA.KI) illdM(E11)-ma di-i-na Mati(KunR) i-da-a-nu purusse'(Eg.BlAR) Maiti(KUR) iparras (KUD-as) 12 paras(GAnZA) dA-nu-ii-tu mnaqe'-reb Uruk(TIR.AN. I-UNGERnAND KAUFMAN:Newu Akkadian Prophecey Text 17 He will exercise rule and kingship in Uruk and his dynasty will be established forever. 19 The kings of Uruk will exercise rulership like the gods. *t Textual notes Obv. 1. At the end of tie line the words "my signs" can just be read. This seems to imply that somebody is speaking; there are no clues in the remainder of the text as to who it could be, however. 8. One could also combine the signs differently and read asaftlarsu "I shall write it," but this would leave the signs AN NA unexplained. 21. First person discourse seems to occur once more, though it is unknown who speaks and who is addressed. 22. ittaSu kassidat: The word kassidu is attested only in one other text, which could be called a "Diviner's Manual."3 The phrase in question is idilt same u erseti s'a dumuqunu u lumunsunu kagsidu - "signs in the sky and on the earth whose good and bad predictions are kassidu"; this is followed by a procedure for dissolving the dangers predicted. kassidu occurs several other times in that text, always said of ominous signs, and seems to mean "indecisive" or "unavoidable" or the like; see A. L. Oppenheim, JNES 33 (1974), 207f. While many sentences of this first part of the tablet could be apodoses of omens, not all the remaining words fit into that pattern. Some of the verbs cannot be interpreted as present-future, and therefore cannot have been part of an apodosis. Note iltenpus "it was made" in line 5, itiq "it passed" in 1. 7, izziza "they stood" 1. 11, and iddi "he laid" 1. 17. If we assumnethat the obverse was largely made up of omen-like sentences, then the verbs in the preterite would have to be parts of the protases. All these verbs are at home in astrological omens. There are some lines which can be neither protases nor apodoses but are rather the remarks of the author (11. 1, 8, 21, 22). The reverse continues the apodoses begun on the obverse. 1. The verb use(l here for "arise," tebii could imply a revolt. 37T3 2. The syntax of this line is not clear. About three signs are missing at the beginning. A verb seems to be missing after mfit tdamti, since is'l "from" requires a verb; to express just "from the Sealand" rather than "who came from the Sealand" one would expect sa mict tdmti, not istu miit tdmti. Moreover, the verb ipusl at the end of the line is in the subjunctive and should thus precede the main verb of the whole sentence. The latter could be restored at the beginning of 1. 3, but the traces there suggest the reading arki, a reading which is probable as well in view of the parallels in lines 9 and 11. 8. KIMIN: These five repetition signs may indicate that this king will commit the same things as his predecessor, or that five kings will follow who will do the same, or even that an unknown large number of kings will do the same. Commentary The apparent similarity in tone and style between this text and much of the apocalyptic literature seems even stronger than that of some of the other so-called "prophetic texts" which have been referred to as "Akkadian Apocalypses."4 It seems not unreasonable to expect that this new text should shed some light on this as yet poorly represented genre of cuneiform literature and help to clarify both the nature of the genre and any connections it might have with other types of Ancient Near Eastern literature. A proper understanding of the text and its Sitz im Leben would seem to be both a reasonable and necessary first step in such an endeavor. It has been convincingly demonstrated that some of the previously known "prophecy" texts refer to actual historical events in the guise of prediction.5 That such is also the case here would seem a reasonable assumption and does, in fact, prove to be the case. The key to the proper historical interpretation of this text lies in the rather unusual and obviously important reference to the lamassu of Uruk. The lamassu in question can hardly be any other than that of Istar in the Eanna temple. Now only one Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar II, boasts of having returned the &eduof Uruk and the la- 4 W\. W. Hallo, "Akkadian Apocalypses," IEJ. 16 (1966), 231-242. 5 Ibid. and R. Borger, "Gott Marduk und Gott-Konig 3 Partially published by Ch. Virolleaudin Babylonialca gulgi als Propheten. Zwei prophetische Texte," Bi.Or. 1 (1910), 108ff. 28 (1971), 3-21. 374 .Journal of the American Oriental Society 95.3 (1975) massu of Eanna.6 This in itself would be more than enough to suggest that the good king of 11. llff. is none other than Nebuchadnezzar. Fortunately, however, we have some very valuable second-hand information as well. Nabonidus also tells of how Nebuchadnezzar restored Istar of Uruk to Eanna, but he adds, in language rather reminiscent of that of our text, that Istar had been removed from Eanna during the reign of EribaMarduk (some 200 years earlier) and had been replaced by a lamassu la simat e-an-na, "a deity inappropriate for Eanna."7 Although Nabonidus ascribes the removal of Istar to the Urukeans themselves, while our text lays the responsibility for this reprehensible deed in the hands of the king, there can be little doubt that the evil king of 11.3ff. is Eriba-Marduk. The biography of Eriba-Marduk, as reconstructed for us by Brinkman, is in almost perfect accord with the data of our text.8 Eriba-Marduk arose after a period of chaos and decimation by Assyria (note the saphdt mriti of line 1) and came from the Yakin tribe of the Sealand (as mentioned in line 2). He first gained control in Uruk and the south of Babylonia, and, by his second year, had possession of Babylon and Borsippa as well. As important as the historical correspondence is the fact that although his name means little to most of us, Eriba-Marduk was one of the best-known of Babylonian kings and was probably considered by his successors to have initiated the control of Babylonia by the southern tribes.9 Thus the identification of the figure in our text with Eriba-Marduk would have been quite obvious to the educated Babylonian. Preceding the king we identify as Eriba-Marduk we note in our text the broken but clear reference to the city of Der, repeated at least twice, and the repeated phrase ?arru ina ekallisu ana mindt arlii utassar. This "prediction" corresponds well with what we know of the two kings who preceded the period of chaos which was brought to an end by Eriba-Marduk: Marduk-balassu-iqbi and Babaaha-iddina. Both kings fought the Assyrians 6 Neb. 9 II 55; see S. Langdon, Die neubabylonischen Konigsinschriften (Leipzig, 1912) p. 92. 7 Nab. 8 III llff; Langdon, p. 271. 8 J. A. Brinkman, A Political History of Post-Kassite Babylonia 1158-722 7.c'., An.Or. 43 (Rome, 1968), pp. 221ff. 9 Ibid. (Samsi-Adad V) in or near Der, were besieged, and then taken captive and brought to Assyria.10 The historical identification of the kings that follow Eriba-Marduk is made difficult by the fivefold repetition of KIIIN in line 8. If one takes it literally as indicating five kings, one notes that Eriba-Marduk was followed by five kings who struggled continuously with Tiglath-Pilesar III of Assyria until the latter finally conquered Babylonia and declared himself king.1l Tiglath-Pilesar's justly deserved fame as an empire builder matches nicely with the description of the king who rules the kibr5t erbetti and at the mention of whose name the universe trembles. Needless to say, this interpretation is problematic because of the jump (11. 10-11) from Tiglath-Pilesar III to Nebuchadnezzar without any appropriate indication of the time gap involved. An alternative, but still not totally satisfactory explanation would understand the KIMNIN'S as indicating a very long period of struggle with and control by Assyria. The king of line 9 would then be Nabopolassar, who restored a native Babylonian dynasty to the throne of Babylon and began the Babylonian empire. If this interpretation of the historical events "foretold" by this vaticinium ex eventu is correct, the actual purpose of the text is self-evident, that is to prove the authenticity and reliability of the real prediction of 11. 16ff., and thus to legitimate and lend support to the predicted rule of the son of the good king and his dynasty. This son, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, was Amel-Marduk; and though our knowledge of his brief reign is sparse indeed, what is clear is that during his two years on the throne he was certainly in need of whatever support he could muster. Berossus tells us that Amel-Marduk was assassinated by his successor Neriglissar.12 Furthermore, it has recently been demonstrated that Nebuchadnezzar probably instituted a co-regency with Amel-Marduk prior to his death.l3 Such a co-regency would be natural if there were opposition to Amel-Marduk's succession. That in this political struggle the priest-scribes of Uruk would support the son of the beneficent Nebuchadnezzar is hardly surprising. Note, too, that from what little we do know of 10 Ibid., pp. 205ff. 11 Nabu-guma-iBkun, Nabonassar, Nabu-nadin-zeri, Nabu-Suma-ukin II and (Nabu)-mukin-zeri. 12 See Ronald H. Sack, Anmel-Marduk 562-560 B.c., AOAT Sonderreihe 4 (Neukirchen, 1972) p. 6. 13 Ibid., p. 3. HUNGER AND IAUFMIAN: New Akkadian Neriglissar, his connections and base of support seem to have been in Babylon and Sippar in the north rather than in the south.l4 With the addition of this new text, it is becoming increasingly clear that the so-called "prophecy" texts are not all alike in format nor, apparently, in function. The text studied by IR. Biggs, for example, seems to be nothing more than part of a compendium of historical apodoses to astrological omens.15 The autobiographical "prophecy" texts of Marduk and Sulgi studied recently by Borger are different both from our text and from each other.16 They both are clearly propagandistic in nature and make use of the literary device of pseudonymity- but only the Sulgi text uses the eeentu to lend authority to its valicinium "predictions." This device is also used in text A published by Grayson and Lambert, though there it is not clear whether or not any actual omens are involved.17 14 See V. Scheil, "Note supplemenleaire," RA 11 (1914), 173f.; R. Campbell-Thompson in The Cambridge Ancient hlistory III (1925), p. 217. 15 R D.. Biggs, "MoreAkkadian 'Prophecies'", Iraq 29 (1967), 117-132. Prof. Biggs is preparing to publish a new duplicate containing the end of the text. 16 Borger, loc. cit. 17 A. K. Grayson an(l V\. G. Lambert, "Akkadian Prophecy Text Although we cannot yet rightfully speak of these texts as forming a genre, there can be little doubt that more and more texts of a similar nature will turn up.18 Even from what we know already, however, clear and interesting parallels can be drawn with other literary types of the Ancient Near East; but not all of them, it must be emphasized, are with the apocalyptic literature. Nor are the similarities with the apocalyptic literature which can be detected strong enough to indicate any direct relationship at this point in time.19 Nevertheless, the possibilities for speculations in this realm are almost endless, especially if the attribution of the new text to the time of AmelMarduk is correct. Prophecies," JCS 18 (1964), 7-23. 18 Their scarcity up till now is hardly surprising considering that on first examination they are barely distinguishable from the multitudinous omen texts. Dr. Grayson is to publish several new fragmentary texts in his forthcoming compendium of literary-historical texts. 19 Comparisons between this group of texts and apocalyptic were discussed at length by S. A. Kaufman in "Prediction, Prophecy, and Apocalypse in the Light of New Akkadian Texts," a paper delivered to the Sixth World Congress of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, 1973, and to be published in the proceedings of that congress.