Zu-buru-dabbeda
Zu-buru-dabbeda,inscribedzú-buru5-dib-bé-da,is the most complete exemplar of a small body of similarly themed texts from ancientMesopotamia.[1]Composed inAkkadian,it is a compendium ofincantationsagainst field pests such aslocusts,grasshoppers,insectlarvae,weevilsand other vermin, the creatures known as the "great dogs ofNinkilim".Authorship credited to a certain Papsukkal-ša-iqbû-ul-inni, a scholar and cleric ofBabylonandBorsippa.
The text
[edit]Listed in theExorcist's Manual,[i 1]recovered fromNineveh,Aššur,Babylon,SipparandUrukand the catalogue of apotropaic and prophylactic rituals known asNamburbifrom Nineveh, it was inscribed on perhaps four tablets. It is one of the many texts only recovered from theLibrary of Ashurbanipal.The text provides a series of invocations to various deities, entreating them to deflect various subjects of the god Ninkilim:[2]
Accept, O East Wind that averts [storm-damage!] Eat the tasty food, drink [the sweet liquid!] Get rid of the great dogs of [Ninkilim,] locusts whose mouths are a Deluge, [a tempest,] mice whose mouths are a Deluge, [a tempest!] Come [around] to this plot of farmland and lead them [away...!] Seize them by the hand, [take them away! Take them off ] to the latch of the heavens! Roast them, [... them!] By command ofMarduk,[lord of exorcism,] by command ofAdad,[king of plenty,] by command ofNinurta,foremost one ofE-kur![i 2]
There is a sequence ofšuilla-prayers and incantations ( "ka.inim.ma" ) to a variety of gods and the four winds, in a formulaic structure. The latter part of the series introduces rituals, one of which involves the fumigation of the infested field with a censer of juniper. In a letter[i 3]toSargon IIby his governor ofAssur,Ṭab-ṣilli-Ešarra, he quotes the king's instructions to carry out just such a ritual fumigation.[3]The final ritual includes a pause of seven days, a sacrificial white lamb, a bonfire heaped with a variety of offerings, and careful treatment of the charred remains. The tablet includes a plea that "An ignorant scholar, who does not know the wise arts and is not skilled in wisdom, must not see (it)!" It then concludes with a list of equipment needed to perform the rituals.[2]
Inscriptions
[edit]References
[edit]- ^A. R. George (1999). "The Dogs of Ninkilim: Magic against field pests in ancient Mesopotamia".Landwirtschaft im alten Mesopotamien – Ausgewählte Vorträge der XLI. Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Berlin 4.–8.7. 1994.pp. 291–99.
- ^abA. R. George and Junko Taniguchi (2010)."The Dogs of Ninkilim, part two: Babylonian rituals to counter field pests"(PDF).Iraq.LXXII:79–148.doi:10.1017/S0021088900000607.S2CID190713244.
- ^K. Radnor (2003). "Ritual locust control in SAA 1 103".NABU(3): 74–76.