Prayer to Ninmah for Ashurbanipal (4)

http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in blue mixed-breed demigods in teal)

           (Ashurbanipal, bigger & stronger than a full grown lion)

        Ashurbanipal, great king, mighty king, king of the world, king of Assyria,

        king of the four quarters (of the world), king of kings, prince who has no rival,

        who rules from the Upper Sea to the Lower Sea and has subjugated all rulers;

        son of Esarhaddon, great king, mighty king, king of the world, king of Assyria,

        viceroy of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad;

             (Esarhaddon)  (Sennacherib)

        grandson of Sennacherib, mighty king, king of the world, king of Assyria, I —
         

        I completed the work on Esagil which (my) father who had engendered me had not finished.

        I (re)confirmed the regular offerings for Esagil and the gods of Babylon.

        I (re-)established the privileged status of Babylon (and) appointed Šamaš-šuma-ukīn, my favorite brother,

        to the kingship of Babylon in order that the strong might not harm the weak.

            (private motel-residences for visiting gods in Babylon)

        At that time, I had Emaḫ, the temple of the goddess Ninmaḫ which is inside Babylon, (re)built anew.

          On account of this, may the goddess Ninmaḫ, the august lady, look upon my good deeds with pleasure

          (Marduk, rocket, & spouse Sarpanit in Babylon)

        and say good things about me daily before the god Bēl (Marduk) and the goddess Bēltīia (Zarpanītu) (Sarpanit)!

        May she determine as my fate a long life (and) make my reign as firm as heaven and netherworld!

           (Samas-suma-ukin, subservient King of Babylon)

        Moreover, with regard to Šamaš-šuma-ukīn, king of Babylon, my favorite brother,

        may his days be long and may he experience the fullness of old age!

          (But) as for the one who erases my inscribed name or the name of my favorite (brother)

        by some crafty device, (or) destroys my royal inscription, or changes its position,

          (Ninmah / Ninhursag, Enki’s twin sister-lover)

        may the goddess Ninmaḫ speak evil of him before the god Bēl (and) the goddess Bēltīia (Marduk‘s spouse)

        and make his name (and) his descendant(s) disappear from the lands!