POEM
OF THE RIGHTEOUS SUFFERER
Source:
Foster, Benjamin R. (1995) Before the Muses: myths, tales and poetry of Ancient
Mesopotamia, CDL Press, Bethesda, Maryland.
The Poem of the Righteous
Sufferer is a poetic monologue, opening and concluding with hymns, that tells
how a noble gentleman, once important and prosperous, for no apparent reason,
was driven to disgrace and disease by the god Marduk. His story is set as exemplary
of the two sides to divine character, anger and forgiveness, as exemplary of
the unfathomable will of the gods, but also as an account of unbroken faith
in the divine designs for deliverance even in face of all possible catastrophes
and impending death. .
Tablet
1
Tablet 2
Tablet 3
Tablet 4 - Frag A
Tablet 4 - Frag B
Tablet 4 - Frag C
- I will praise the lord
of Wisdom, solicitous god,
- Furious in the night,
calming in the daylight;
- Marduk! lord of wisdom,
solicitous god,
- Furious in the night,
claiming in the daylight;
- Whose anger engulfs like
a tempest,
- Whose breeze is sweet
as the breath of morn
- In his fury not to be
withstood, his rage the deluge,
- Merciful in his feelings,
his emotions relenting.
- The skies cannot sustain
the weight of his hand,
- His gentle palm rescues
the moribund.
- Marduk! The skies cannot
sustain the weight of his hand,
- His gentle palm rescues
the moribund.
- When he is angry, graves
are dug,
- His mercy raised the
fallen from disaster.
- When he glowers, protective
spirits take flight,
- He has regard for and
turns to the one whose god has forsaken him.
- Harsh is his punishments,
he.... in battles (?)
- When moved to mercy,
he quickly feels pain like a mother in labor.
- He is bull-headed in
love of mercy
- Like a cow with a calf,
he keeps turning around watchfully.
- His scourge is barbed
and punctures the body,
- His bandages are soothing,
they heal the doomed.
- He speaks and makes one
incur many sins,
- On the day of his justice
sin and guilt are dispelled.
- He is the one who makes
shivering and trembling,
- Through his sacral spell
chills and shivering are relieved.
- Who raises the flood
of Adad, the blow of Erra,
- Wh reconciles the warthful
god and goddess
- The Lord divines the
godsī inmost thoughts
- But no god understand
his behavior,
- Marduk divines the godsīs
inmost thoughts
- But no god understand
his behavior!
- As heavy his hand, so
compassionate his heart
- As brutal his weapons,
no life-sustaining his feelings,
- Without his consent,
who could cure his blow?
- Against his will, who
could sin and escape?
- I will proclaim his anger,
which runs deep, like a fish,
- He punished me abruptly,
then granted life
- I will teach the people,
I will instruct the land to fear
- To be mindful of him
is propitious for ......
- After the Lord changed
day into night
- And the warrior Marduk
became furious with me,
- My own god threw me over
and disappeared,
- My goddess broke rank
and vanished
- He cut off the benevolent
angel who walked beside me
- My protecting spirit
was frightened off, to seek out someone else
- My vigor was taken away,
my manly appearance became gloomy,
- My dignity flew off,
my cover leaped away.
- Terrifying signs beset
me
- I was forced out of my
house, I wandered outside,
- My omens were confused,
they were abnormal every day,
- The prognostication of
diviner and dream interpreter could not explain what I was undergoing.
- What was said in the
street portended ill for me,
- When I lay down at nights,
my dream was terrifyng
- The king, incarnation
of the gods, sun of his people
- His heart was enraged
with me and appeasing him was impossible
- Courtiers were plotting
hostile against me,
- They gathered themselves
to instigate base deeds:
- If the first !I will
make him end his life"
- Says the second "I ousted
him from his command"
- So likewise the third
"I will get my hands on his post!"
- "I will force his house!"
vows the fourth
- As the fifth pants to
speak
- Sixth and seventh follow
in his train!" (literally in his protective spirit)
- The clique of seven have
massed their forces,
- Merciless as fiends,
equal to demons.
- So one is hteir body,
united in purpose,
- Their hearts fulminate
against me, ablaze like fire.
- Slander and lies they
try to lend credence against me
- My mouth once proud was
muzzled like a ....
- My lips, which used to
discourse, became those of a dead man.
- My resounding call struck
dumb,
- My proud head bent earthward,
- My stout heart turned
feeble for terror,
- My broad breast brushed
aside by a novice,
- My far-reaching arms
pinned down by flimsy matting,
- I, who walked proudly,
learned slinking,
- I, so grand, became servile,
- To my vast family, I
became a loner,
- As I went through the
streets, ears were pricked up at me,
- I would enter the palace,
eyes would squint at me,
- My city was glowering
at me like an enemy,
- Belligerent and hostile
would seem my land!
- My brother became my
foe,
- My friend became a malignant
demon,
- My comrade would denounce
me savagely,
- My colleague was constantly
keeping the taint to this weapons,
- My best friend would
pinch off my life.
- My slave cursed me openly
in the assembly of gentlefolk
- My slavegirl defamed
me before the rabble.
- An acquaintance would
see me and make himself scarce,
- My family disowned me,
- A pit awaited anyone
speaking well of me,
- While he who was uttering
defamation of me forged ahead.
- One who relayed base
things about me had a god for his help
- For the one who said
"What a pity about him!" death came early,
- The one of no help, his
life became charmed,
- I had no one to go at
my side, nor saw I a champion.
- They parceled my possessions
among the rifffaff,
- The sources of my watercourses
they blocked with muck,
- They chased the harvest
song from my fields,
- They left my community
deathly still, like that of a ravaged foe.
- They let another assume
my duties,
- They appointed an outsider
to my prerogatives.
- By day sighing, by night
lamentation,
- Monthly, trepidation,
despair the year,
- I moaned like a dove
all my days,
- I let out groans as my
song,
- My eyes are forced to
look through constant crying,
- My eyelids are smarting
through of tears.
- My face is darkened from
the apprehensions of my heart,
- Terror and pain have
jaundiced my face.
- The.... of my heart is
quaking in ceaseless apprehension.
- ..... like a burning
fire,
- Like the bursting of
a flame falshehood beset me,
- .... lamentation, my
imploring!
- The speech of lips was
senseless, like a moronīs,
- When I tried to talk,
my conversation was gibberish.
- I watch, that in daylight
good will come upon me!
- The moon will change,
the sun will shine!
TABLET
II
- One whole year to the
next! The normal time passed.
- As I turned around, it
was more and more terrible,
- My ill luck was on the
increase, I could find no good fortune.
- I called to my god, he
did not show his face,
- I prayed to my goddess,
she did not raise her head.
- The diviner with his
inspection did not get the bottom of it,
- Nor did the dream interpreter
with his incense clear up my case
- I beseeched a dream spirit,
but it did not englighten me,
- The exorcist with his
ritual did not appease divine wrath.
- What bizarre actions
everywhere!
- I looked behind: persecution,
harassment!
- Like one who had not
made libations to his god,
- Nor invoked his goddess
with a food offering,
- Who was not wont to prostrate,
nor seen to bow down,
- From whose mouth supplication
and prayer were wanting,
- Who skipped holy days,
despised festivals,
- Who was neglectful, ommitted
the godsī rites,
- Who had not taught his
people reverence and worship,
- Who did not invoke his
god, but ate his food offering,
- Who snubbed his goddess,
brought her no flour offering,
- Like one possessed, who
forgot his lord,
- Who casually swore a
solemn oath by his god; I indeed seemed such a one!
- I, for my part, was mindful
of supplication and prayer,
- Prayer to me ws the natural
recourse, sacrifice my rule.
- The day for reverencing
the gods was a source of satisfaction to me,
- The goddessīs processionday
was my profit and return.
- Praying for the king,
that was my joy,
- His sennet was if for
my own good omen.
- I instructed my land
to observe the godīs rites,
- The goddessīs name did
I drill my people to esteem
- I made my praises of
the king like a godīs,
- And taught the populace
reverence for the palace.
- I wish I knew that these
things were pleasing to a god!
- What seems good to oneīs
self could be an offence to a god,
- What in oneīs own heart
seems abominable, could be good to oneīs god!
- Who could learn the reasoning
of the gods in heaven?
- Who could grasp the intentions
of the gods of the depths?
- Where might human beings
have learned the ways of a god?
- He who lived by his brawn
died in confinement.
- Suddenly one is downcast,
in a trice full of cheer,
- One moment he sings in
exaltation,
- In a trice he groans
like a professional mourner.
- Peopleīs motivations
change in a twinkling!
- Starving, they become
like corpses,
- Full, they would rival
their gods.
- In good times, they speak
of scaling heaven,
- When it goes badly, they
complain of going down to hell.
- I have pondered these
things; I have made no sense of them.
- But as for me, in despair
a whirlwind is driving me!
- Debilitating disease
is let loose upon me:]
- An evil vapor has blown
against me from the ends of the earth,
- Head pain has surged
upon me from the breast of hell,
- A malignant spectre has
come froth from its hidden depth,
- A relentless ghost came
out of its dwelling place.
- A she-demon came down
from the moutain,
- Ague set forth with the
flood and sea,
- Debility broke through
the ground with the plants.
- They assembled their
host, together they came upon me:
- They struck my head,
they closed around my pate,
- My features were gloomy,
my eyes ran a flood,
- They wrenched my muscles,
made my neck limp,
- They thwacked my chest,
pounded my breast,
- They affected my flesh,
threw me into convulsion,
- They kindled a fire in
my epigastrium,
- They churned up my bowels,
they twisted my entrails
- Coughing and hacking
infected my lungs,
- They infected my limbs,
made my flesh pasty,
- My lofty stature they
toppled like a wall,
- My robust figure they
flattened like a bulrush,
- I was dropped like a
dried fig, I was tossed on my face.
- A demon has clothed himself
in my body for a garment,
- Drowsiness smothers me
like a net,
- My eyes stare, they cannot
see,
- My ears prick up, they
cannot hear.
- Numbness has spread over
my whole body,
- Paralysis has fallen
upon my flesh.
- Stiffness has seized
my arms,
- Debility has fallen lupon
my loins,
- My feet forgot how to
move.
- A stroke has overcome
me, I choke like one fallen
- Signs of death have shrouded
my face!
- If someone thinks of
me, I canīt respond to the enquirer,
- "Alas" they weep, I have
lost consciousness,
- A snare is laid on my
mouth,
- And a bolt bars my lips,
- My way in is barred,
my point of slaking blocked,
- My hunger is chronic,
my gullet constricted.
- If it be of grain, I
choke it down like stinkweed,
- Beer, the sustenance
of mankind , is sickening to me.
- Indeed, the malady drags
on!
- For lack of food my features
are unrecognizable,
- My flesh is waste, my
blood has run dry,
- My bones are loose, covered
only with skin,
- My tissues are inflamed,
afflicted with grangrene.
- I took to bed, confined,
going out was exhaustion,
- My house turned into
my prison.
- My flesh was a shackle,
my arms being useless,
- My person was a fetter,
my feet having given way.
- My afflictions were grievous,
the blow was severe!
- A scourge full of barbs
thrashed me,
- A crop lacerated me,
cruel with thorns,
- All day long tormentor
would torment me,
- Nor a night would he
let me breathe freely a moment
- From writhing, my joints
were separated,
- My limbs were splayed
and thrust apart.
- I spent the night in
my dung like an ox,
- I wallowed in my excrement
like a sheep.
- The exorcist recoiled
from my symptoms,
- While my omens have perplexed
the diviner.
- The exorcist did not
clarify the nature of my complaint,
- While the diviner put
no time limit on my illness.
- No god came to the rescue,
nor lent me a hand,
- No goddess took pity
on me, nor went at my side.
- My grave was open, my
funerary gods ready,
- Before I had died, lamentation
for me was done.
- All my country said,
"How wretched he was!"
- When my ill-wisher heard,
his face lit up,
- When the tidings reached
her, my ill-wisher, her mood became radiant,
- The day grew dim for
my whole family
- For those who knew me,
their sun grew dark.
TABLET
III
- Heavy ws his hand upon
me, I could not hear ti!
- Dread of him was oppressive,
it .... me.
- His fierce punishment....
the deluge,
- His stride was...., it....
- Harsh, severe illness
does not.... my person,
- I lost sight of alertness,
..... make my mind stray,
- I groan day and night
alike,
- Dreaming and waking I
am equally wretched.
- A remarkable young man
of extraordinary physique,
- Magnificent in body,
clothed in new garments,
- Because I was only half
awake, his features lacked form.
- He was clad in splendor,
robed in dread -
- He came in upon me, he
stood over me,
- When I saw him my flesh
grew numb.
- [ ] "The Lady has sent
me,
- " [ ]".
- [ ] I tried to tell my
people (Lishtarīs Note: he probably tried to tell his family)
- "[ ] sent [ ] for me".
- They were silent and
did not speak,
- They heard me in silence
and did not answer.
- A second time I saw a
dream
- In the dream I saw at
night
- A remarkable purifier
[ ]
- Holding in his hand a
tamarisk rod of purification.
- "Laluralimma (Lishtarīs
Note: an accademic Sumerian name, meaning probably a sage), resident of Nippur,
- Has sent me to cleanse
you".
- He was carrying water,
he poured it over me,
- He pronounced the resuscitating
incantation, he massaged my body.
- A third time I saw a
dream,
- In my dream I saw at
night:
- A remarkable young woman
in shining countenance,
- Clothed like a person,
being like a god,
- A queen among peoples
[]
- She entered upon me and
sat down....
- She ordered my deliverance
[ ]
- "Fear not" She said,
"I will..........,
- "Whatever one sees of
a dream..........".
- She ordered my deliverance,
"Most wretched indeed is he,
- "Whoever he might be,.....
the one who saw the vision at night"
- In the dream was Ur-Nintinugga,
a Babylonian...
- A bearded young man wearing
a tiara,
- He was an exorcist, carrying
a tablet,
- "Marduk has sent me!
- "To Shubshi-meshre-Sakkan
[the sufferer] I have brought swathe,
- "From his pure hands
I have brought a swathe".
- He has entrusted me into
the hands of my ministrant.
- In waking hours he sent
a message,
- He revealed his favorable
sign to my people.
- I was awake in my sickness,
a healing serpent slithered by [the symbol of the healing goddess]
- My illness was quickly
over, my fetters were broken
- After my lordīs heart
had quieted,
- And the feelings of merciful
Marduk were appeased,
- And he had accepted my
prayers,
- His sweet relenting ......
- He ordered my deliverance:"
He is greatly tried"
- .... to extol...
- .... to worship and .....
- .... my guilt.....
- .... my iniquity....
- .... my transgression....
- He made the wind hear
away my offenses
(The exact placement of
the following lines is unknown)
- He applied to me his
spell which binds debilitating disease
- He drove back the evil
vapor to the ends of the earth,
- He bore off the head
pain to the breast of hell,
- He sent down the malignant
spectre to its hidden depth,
- The relentless ghost
he returned to its dwelling
- He overthrew the she-demon,
sending her off to a mountain,
- He replaced the ague
in flood and sea.
- He eradicated debility
like a plant,
- Uneasy sleep, excessive
drowsiness,
- He dissipated like smoke
filling the sky.
- The turning towards people
with "Woe!" and "Alas!" he drove away like a cloud, earth....
- The tenacious disease
in the head, which was heavy as a millstone,
- He raised like dew of
night, he removed it from me.
- My beclouded eyes, which
were wrapped in the shroud of death,
- He drove the cloud a
thousand leagues away, he brightened my vision.
- My ears, which were stopped
and clogged like a deaf manīs,
- He removed their blockage,
he opened my hearing.
- My nose, whose breathing
was choked by symptoms of fever,
- He soothed its affliction
so I could breathe freely.
- My babbling lips, which
had taken on a hard crust,
- He wiped away their distress
and undid their deformation.
- My mouth, which was muffled,
so that proper speech was difficult,
- He scoured like copper
and removed its filth.
- My teeth, which were
clenched and locked together frimly,
- He opened their fastening,
freed the jaws.
- My tongue, which was
tied and could not converse,
- He wiped off its coating
and its speech became fluent.
- My windpipe, which was
tight and choking, as though on a gobbet,
- He made well and let
it sing its songs like a flute.
- My gullet, which was
swollen so it could not take food,
- Its swelling went down
and he opened its blockage
- My... which...
- .... above....
- .... which was darkened
like
(three damaged lines, then
gap)
TABLET
IV
(FRAGMENT A)
- The Lord.... me
- The Lord took hold of
me,
- The Lord set me on my
feet,
- The Lord revived me,
- He rescued me from the
pit
- He summoned me from destruction
- .... he pulled me from
the river of death,
- .... he took my hand.
- He who smote me,
- Marduk, he restored me!
- It was Marduk who made
him drop his weapon.
- He .... the attack of
my foe,
- It was Marduk who......
(Two fragmentary
lines, then gap. Insert here, perhaps, two lines known only from an ancient
commentary)
At the place of the river
ordeal, where peopleīs fates are decided, I was struck on the forehead, my slavemarks
removed
FRAGMENT
B
- [ ] which in my prayers....
- With prostration and
supplication [ ] to Esagila [ ]
- I who went down to the
grave have returned to the Gate of Sunrise
- In the Gate of Prosperity
prosperity was given me
- In the Gateway of the
Guardian Spirit, a guardian spirit drew nigh to me,
- In the Gate of Well-being
I beheld well-being
- In the Gate of Life I
was granted life
- In the Gate of Sunrise
I was reckoned among the living
- In the Gate of Splendid
Wonderment my signs were plain to see.
- In the Gate of Release
from Guilt, I was released from my bond.
- In the Gate of Petition
my mouth made inquiry.
- In the Gate of Release
from Sighing my sighs were released.
- In the Gate of Pure Water,
I was sprinkled with purifying water.
- In the Gate of Conciliation,
I appeared with Marduk,
- In the Gate of Joy I
kissed the foot of Sarpanitum,
- I was assiduous in supplication
and prayer before them,
- I placed fragrant incense
before them,
- An offering, a gift,
sundry donations I presented,
- Many fatted oxen I slaughtered,
butchered many...
- Honey-sweet beer and
pure wine I repeatedly libated,
- The protecting genius,
the guardian spirit, divine attendants of the fabric of Esagila,
- I made their feelings
glow with libation,
- I made them exultant
with lavish meals.
- To the threshold, the
bolt socket, the bolt, the doors
- I offered oil, butterfat,
and choicest grain,
- [ ] the rites of the
temple
(large gap)
Insert here
four lines quoted in an ancient commentary
- I proceeded along Kunush-kadru
Street in a state of redemption,
- He who has done wrong
by Esagila, let him learn from me.
- It was Marduk who put
a muzzle on the mouth of the lion that was devouring me.
- Marduk took away the
sling of my pursuer and deflected the slingstone.
FRAGMENT
C
- [ ] golden grain
- He anointed himself with
sweet cedar perfume upon him,
- A feast for the Babylonians
.................
- His tomb he had made
was set up for a feast!
- The Babylonians saw how
Marduk can restore to life,
- And all mouths proclaimed
his greatness,
- "Who would have said
he would see his sun?
- "Who would have imagined
that we would pass through his treet?
- "Who but Marduk revived
him as he was dying?
- "Besides Sarpanitum,
which goddess bestowed his breath of life?
- "Marduk can restore to
life from the grave,
- "Sarpanitum knows how
to rescue from annihilation,
- "Wherever earth is founded,
heavens are stretched wide,
- "Wherever sun shines,
fire ablazes,
- "Wherever water runs,
wind blows,
- "Those whose bits of
clay Aruru pinched off to from them,
- "Those endowed with life,
who walk upright,
- "Teeming mankind as many
they be, give praise to Marduk!
- "[...] those who can
speak
- "[...] may he rule all
the peoples
- "[...] shepherd of all
habitations
- "[...] floods from the
deep..
- "[...] the gods [ ]
- "[...] the extent of
heaven and netherworld
- "[....................................................]
- "[...] was getting darker
and darker for him".
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