[Title] Babylonian Theodicy [Alternate Title] [Akkadian Title] [Translation] by W. G. Lambert Sufferer I   1~O sage [.......] come, [let] me tell you. 2~[............ let] me inform you. 3~[.....]......[.....]... you, 4~I [....] the suffering, will not cease to reverence you. 5~Where is the wise man of your calibre? 6~Where is the scholar who can compete with you? 7~Where is the counsellor to whom I can relate my grief? 8~I am finished. Anguish has come upon me. 9~I was a youngest child; fate took my father; 10~My mother who bore me departed to the Land of No Return. 11~My father and mother left me without a guardian. Friend II 12~Respected friend, what you say is gloomy. 13~You let your mind dwell on evil, my dear fellow. 14~You make your fine discretion like an imbecile’s; 15~You have reduced your beaming face to scowls. 16~Our fathers in fact give up and go the way of death. 17~It is an old saying that they cross the river Ḫubur. 18~When you consider mankind as a whole, 19~... it is not ... that has made the impoverished first-born rich. 20~Whose favourite is the fattened rich man? 21~He who waits on his god has a protecting angel, 22~The humble man who fears his goddess accumulates wealth. Sufferer III 23~My friend, your mind is a river whose spring never fails, 24~he accumulated mass of the sea, which knows no decrease. 25~I will ask you a question; listen to what I say. 26~Pay attention for a moment; hear my words. 27~My body is a wreck, emaciation darkens [me,] 28~My success has vanished, my stability has gone. 29~My strength is enfeebled, my prosperity has ended, 30~Moaning and grief have blackened my features. 31~he corn of my fields is far from satisfying [me,] 32~My wine, the life of mankind, is too little for satiety. 33~Can a life of bliss be assured? I wish I knew how!   Friend IV 34~What I say is restrained ....[..] 35~But you [...] your balanced reason like a madman. 36~You make [your ....] diffuse and irrational, 37~You [turn] your select .. blind. 38~As to your persistent unending desire for ..[..] 39~[The former] security ..[..] by prayers. 40~The appeased goddess returns by .[..] 41~[....]. who did not uphold takes pity on .[..] 42~Ever seek the [correct standards] of justice. 43~Your .., the mighty one, will show kindness, 44~[..........] will grant mercy. Sufferer V 45~I bow to you, my comrade, I grasp your wisdom. 46~[.........].. the utterance of [your words.] 47~[.........].. come, let me [say something to you.] 48~The onager, the wild ass, who filled itself with ..[.] 49~Did it pay attention to the giver of assured divine oracles? 50~The savage lion who devoured the choicest flesh, 51~Did it bring its flour offering to appease the goddess’s anger? 52~[..]. the nouveau riche who has multiplied his wealth, 53~Did he weigh out precious gold for the goddess Mami? 54~[Have I] held back offerings? I have prayed to my god, 55~[I have] pronounced the blessing over the goddess’s regular sacrifices, ....[...] Friend VI 56~O palm, tree of wealth, my precious brother, 57~Endowed with all wisdom, jewel of [gold,] 58~You are as stable as the earth, but the plan of the gods is remote. 59~Look at the superb wild ass on the [plain;] 60~The arrow will follow the gorer who trampled down the fields. 61~Come, consider the lion that you mentioned, the enemy of cattle. 62~For the crime which the lion committed the pit awaits him. 63~The opulent nouveau riche who heaps up goods 64~Will be burnt at the stake by the king before his time. 65~Do you wish to go the way these have gone? 66~Rather seek the lasting reward of (your) god! Sufferer VII 67~Your mind is a north wind, a pleasant breeze for the peoples. 68~Choice friend, your advice is fine. 69~Just one word would I put before you. 70~Those who neglect the god go the way of prosperity, 71~While those who pray to the goddess are impoverished and dispossessed. 72~In my youth I sought the will of my god; 73~With prostration and prayer I followed my goddess. 74~But I was bearing a profitless corvée as a yoke. 75~My god decreed instead of wealth destitution. 76~A cripple is my superior, a lunatic outstrips me. 77~The rogue has been promoted, but I have been brought low. Friend VIII 78~My reliable fellow, holder of knowledge, your thoughts are perverse. 79~You have forsaken right and blaspheme against your god’s designs. 80~In your mind you have an urge to disregard the divine ordinances. 81~[.........] the sound rules of your goddess. 82~The plans of the god [........] like the centre of heaven, 83~The decrees of the goddess are not [.............] 84~To understand properly .[................] 85~Their ideas [.............] to mankind; 86~To grasp the way of a goddess [............] 87~Their reason is close at hand [............] 88~..[.........................] Friend XII 125~[I] ..[.. 126~[I] made white ..[... 127~[I] cared for ..[... 128~[I] looked after the young [ones ... 129~[I] made the people prosperous [... 130~[I] gathered ..[... 131~[I] gave heed to the god [... 132~[I] sought that which was necessary [... Sufferer XIII 133~I will abandon my home .[.............] 134~I will desire no property .[............] 135~I will ignore my god’s regulations and trample on his rites. 136~I will slaughter a calf and .... food, 137~I will take the road and go to distant parts. 138~I will bore a well and let loose a flood, 139~Like a robber I will roam over the vast open country. 140~I will go from house to house and ward off hunger; 141~Famished I will walk around and patrol the streets. 142~Like a beggar I will [....] inwards [...........] 143~Bliss is far away ..[ ...............] Friend XIV 144~My friend, [your mind] dwells on [........] 145~Human activity, which you do not want [.........] 146~In [your] mind there are [...........] 147~Your reason has left you [...........] Sufferer XV 159~The daughter speaks [......] to her mother. 160~The fowler who cast [his net] is fallen. 161~Taking everything, which one [......] luck? 162~The many wild creatures which ..[........] 163~Which among them has [....?] 164~Should I seek a son and daughter [......] 165~May I not lose what I find ..[........] Friend XVI 166~Humble and submissive one ...[......] 167~Your will ever submits [......] precious. 168~[..]. your mind ....[.......] Sufferer XVII 181~The crown prince is clothed in [....,] 182~The son of the destitute and naked is robed in .[.....] 183~The watchman of malt..[.] gold, 184~While he who counted his shining gold in a bushel measure is carrying ..[...] 185~The vegetarian [devours] a noble’s banquet, 186~While the son of the notable and the rich [subsists] on carob. 187~The owner of wealth is fallen. [His ....]. is far away. Sufferer XIX 199~.[...............] wisdom. 200~You embrace the totality of wisdom, you counsel the peoples. ~~ * * * * * Friend XX 212~You have let your subtle mind go astray. 213~[.........]. you have ousted wisdom, 214~You despise propriety, you profane ordinances. 215~[........] head a mitre, the carrying-hood is far away from him. 216~[.........]. is made a person of influence. 217~[..........] is called a savant; 218~He is looked after and obtains his wishes. 219~Follow in the way of the god, observe his rites, 220~[.........]. is counted as righteousness. Sufferer XXI 221~[..............].... rogues, 222~[..............]. all are cheats. 223~They amass goods ................. Friend XXII 235~As for the rogue whose favour you seek, 236~His ....... soon vanishes. 237~The godless cheat who has wealth, 238~A death-dealing weapon pursues him. 239~Unless you seek the will of the god, what luck have you? 240~He that bears his god’s yoke never lacks food, though it be sparse. 241~Seek the kindly wind of the god, 242~What you have lost over a year you will make up in a moment. Sufferer XXIII 243~I have looked around society, but the evidence is contrary. 244~The god does not impede the way of a devil. 245~A father drags a boat along the canal, 246~While his first-born lies in bed. 247~The first-born son pursues his way like a lion, 248~The second son is happy to be a mule driver. 249~The heir stalks along the road like a bully, 250~The younger son will give food to the destitute. 251~How have I profited that I have bowed down to my god? 252~I have to bow beneath the base fellow that meets me; 253~The dregs of humanity, like the rich and opulent, treat me with contempt. Friend XXIV 254~O wise one, O savant, who masters knowledge, 255~In your anguish you blaspheme the god. 256~The divine mind, like the centre of the heavens, is remote; 257~Knowledge of it is difficult; the masses do not know it. 258~Among all the creatures whom Aruru formed 259~The prime offspring is altogether ... 260~In the case of a cow, the first calf is lowly, 261~The later offspring is twice as big. 262~A first child is born a weakling, 263~But the second is called an heroic warrior. 264~Though a man may observe what the will of the god is, the masses do not know it. Sufferer XXV 265~Pay attention, my friend, understand my ideas. 266~Heed the choice expression of my words. 267~People extol the word of a strong man who is trained in murder, 268~But bring down the powerless who has done no wrong. 269~They confirm the wicked whose crime is .[...,] 270~Yet suppress the honest man who heeds the will of his god. 271~They fill the [store house] of the oppressor with gold, 272~But empty the larder of the beggar of its provisions. 273~They support the powerful, whose ... is guilt, 274~But destroy the weak and drive away the powerless. 275~And as for me, the penurious, a nouveau riche is persecuting me. Friend XXVI 276~Narru, king of the gods, who created mankind, 277~And majestic Zulummar, who dug out their clay, 278~And mistress Mami, the queen who fashioned them, 279~Gave perverse speech to the human race. 280~With lies, and not truth, they endowed them for ever. 281~Solemnly they speak in favour of a rich man, 282~"He is a king," they say, "riches go at his side." 283~But they harm a poor man like a thief, 284~They lavish slander upon him and plot his murder, 285~Making him suffer every evil like a criminal, because he has no protection. 286~Terrifyingly they bring him to his end, and extinguish him like a flame. Sufferer XXVII 287~You are kind, my friend; behold my grief. 288~Help me; look on my distress; know it. 289~I, though humble, wise, and a suppliant, 290~Have not seen help and succour for one moment. 291~I have trodden the square of my city unobtrusively, 292~My voice was not raised, my speech was kept low. 293~I did not raise my head, but looked at the ground, 294~I did not worship even as a slave in the company of my associates. 295~May the god who has thrown me off give help, 296~May the goddess who has [abandoned me] show mercy, 297~For the shepherd Šamaš guides the peoples like a god. [Explanatory Notes] This acrostic poem of 27 stanzas is a very original composition in both form and content. Each stanza has 11 lines; 19 stanzas are sufficiently preserved to yield a meaningful translation. The acrostic itself can be restored and reads: “I, Saggil-k&#299;nam-ubbib, the incantation priest, am adorant of the god and the king.” The poem probably was written about 1000 BC and received much attention until the late periods, as a fair number of manuscripts have turned up from different places in Babylonia and Assyria. [Publication] W.G. Lambert, Babylonian Wisdom Literature. Winona Lake:Eisenbrauns 1996 (2nd ed.), p. 63-89. [Publisher URL] http://www.eisenbrauns.com/ECOM/_2H20RF6AX.HTM [Source] several Ms., see W.G. Lambert, BWL [full reference below] , p. 69 for details [Date] c. 1000 BC [Language] Middle-Babylonian [Medium] clay tablet [Find Spot] manuscripts from several Assyrian and Babylonian sites [] Didactic and Wisdom Literature ---------------------------------------- [Title] Treaty between Idrimi and Pilliya (Alalakh Tab. 3) [Alternate Title] Treaty between Idrimi of Alalakh and Pilliya of Kizzuwatna [Akkadian Title] [Translation] Tablet of a binding agreement. ll. 2-5: When Pilliya and Idrimi swore an oath by the gods and made this binding agreement between each other: ll. 6-7: They shall (thereafter) always send back fugitives between each other. ll. 8-11: Should Idrimi seize fugitives belonging to Pilliya, he shall send them back to Pilliya. ll. 12-15: And should Pilliya seize fugitives belonging to Idrimi, he shall send them back to Idrimi. ll. 15-17: And anyone who seizes a fugitive shall return him to his lord. ll. 18-23: If it is a man, then he (= the fugitive's lord) shall pay 500 (shekels of) copper as his ransom, and if it is a woman, then they shall pay 1000 (shekels of) copper as her ransom.(1) ll. 23-29: And if a fugitive belonging to Pilliya enters the territory of Idrimi, and no one seizes him, but his lord seizes him, then he (= the fugitive's lord) shall not pay a ransom to anyone. ll. 29-35: And if a fugitive belonging to Idrimi enters the territory of Pilliya, and no one seizes him, but his lord seizes him, then he (= the fugitive's lord) shall not pay a ransom to anyone. ll. 36-39: And in whatever city they report a fugitive, the mayor with five nobles shall swear by the gods.(2) ll. 40-43: On whatever day Parattarna has sworn an oath by the gods with Idrimi, from that day (forward) all fugitives are to be returned. ll. 44-47: Whoever transgresses the words of this tablet, may Teshup, Shimigi, Ishhara, and all the gods destroy him. [Explanatory Notes] Notes: <br />(1) The term here translated “ransom” is mishtannu, a word of debated etymology that occurs in no other extant ancient Near Eastern text. Some compare Hebrew mishneh and render the term as “equivalent” (or the like) while others propose an Indo-Iranian etymology (whereby mishtannu would be cognate to Greek misthos, “pay”) and translate “reward” (see James M. Lindenberger, “How Much for a Hebrew Slave? The Meaning of mishneh in Deut 15:18,” JBL 110 [1991], pp. 479-498). The same 3ms. suffix is appended to mishtannu in both the stipulation specifying a man and that specifying a woman; this does not decisively indicate that the antecedent must be the payee rather than the fugitive, because gender distinctions are not infrequently collapsed in Akkadian texts from Hurrian-speaking areas. Whichever etymology one prefers, the term denotes a payment the fugitive’s lord is to make to the person who has seized the fugitive, in effect ransoming the individual. <br />(2) They are to swear that they did not knowingly conceal the fugitive, in order to exonerate themselves from culpability for his or her presence in their community. [Publication] Mark Chavalas, ed., The Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006), pp. 174-76 [Publisher URL] [Source] D. J. Wiseman, The Alalakh Tablets (London: British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, 1953), pp. 31-2 and Pl. IV [Date] c. 1450 BCE [Language] Middle-Babylonian [Medium] clay tablet [Find Spot] Alalakh (Tell Atchana) [] Treaties ---------------------------------------- [Title] Treaty between Niqmepa and Ir-Teshup (Alalakh Tab. 2) [Alternate Title] Treaty between Niqmepa of Alalakh and Ir-Teshup of Tunip [Akkadian Title] [Translation] Seal caption: Seal of Ir-Teshup, king of Tunip.(1) Introductory paragraph — ll. 1–3: Tablet of the oath by the gods, of Niqmepa, king of the land of Mukish, [and of] Ir-Teshup, king of Tunip. Niqmepa and Ir-Teshup made these [terms] with each other, as follows. § 1 — ll. 4–8: [If ... ,] be they merchants or be they Sutean troops,(2) [ ... ] weapons, [ ... ] not your enemies, [ ... ] my [ ... ] be you not ho[stile(?)], indeed [you must not(?) with]hold barley, emmer wheat, sesame oil, [or ... ], and a sealed tablet [ ... ... you] must give (them). § 2 — ll. 9–15: [If ... ... ] there is found [ ... ... he] complains/conspires against me, [ ... ... ] copper [ ... ... ] you shall seek them out, [ ... ... if(?)] they say [ ... in] the land of Mukish we(?)[would seek refuge(?) ... , indeed] you must kill these troops. § 3 — ll. 16–18: If anyone from within my land [enters your land], you must not listen to him; you must [seize him and] inform me.(3) And if he is resident within your land, you must se[ize him and] hand [him over to me.] § 4 — ll. 19–20: If there is spoil (of war) belonging to my land in your land, which (someone) is selling, you must seize it together with the one who sells it, and [hand it over] to me. § 5 — ll. 21–31: If a fugitive, (or) male (or) female slaves, belonging to my land flees to your land, you must seize and return him. If someone seizes him and brings him to you, then you shall fe[tter(?) him] in your prison; whenever his lord comes, you shall hand him over to him. If he is not found, you shall provide him (= the fugitive's lord) a representative, (and) in whatever town (the fugitive) is found, he may seize him. (In whatever town the fugitive) is not found, the mayor together with his five witnesses shall swear by the gods, (promising the fugitive's lord) as follows: "If my servant dwells among you, then you shall inform me."(4) If they do not agree to (swear) my oath, then they shall return his servant to him (= the fugitive's lord). If he swears them (to the oath, but) afterwards he locates his servant (among them), then they are thieves; their hands shall be severed; 5,000 (shekels of) copper will be paid to the palace for him. § 6 — ll. 32–37: If a man or woman recognizes an ox, ass, or horse at the household of someone [in your land(?)], and (the householder) says, "I purchased it," if he produces the merchant then he is cleared (of wrongdoing). But if he does not produce the [merchant], then the one who recognized it shall take it (= the property) [and thus he(?)] shall swear by the gods: "Truly [ ... (it is my property?)"]. And if he does not agree to (take) the oath, then [he is a thief; ... (penalty).] § 7 — ll. 38–46: If a man whom you keep in custody, with the man whom you [(appointed as guard?)], escapes [his control(?),] if he had [(opened?)] his fetters [and ... and] shaved his abbuttu-lock,(5) and [ ... ... ], and seized him (= the escapee), then he (= the guard?) is a thief; if he say[s, " ... ... "], then they shall swear by the gods thus: "Truly[ ... ...."] If they do not agree to (take) the oath, then they are thieves; as thieves [ ... (penalty).] If a blind(?) man, a woman, or a boy escapes his control, [and his lord(?)] seized him (= the escapee), then he is a thief; thus his lord shall swear: "Truly I did seize him from his hand on the road!"(6) § 8 — ll. 47–53: If a thief from your land commits thievery within my land, breaking into a house or town, and he is caught, [they shall put him] in prison. Whenever his lord arrives, the lord of the house (that was burglarized) shall [swear] by the gods thus: "Truly you did seize him from the breach!"(7) He (= the householder) shall produce his witnesses, they shall convict him (= the thief) of his crime and take him away, and he (shall be) a slave. Should they not swear (the oath), then he is cleared. § 9 — ll. 54–58: [If fo]lk of mine enter your land for sustenance, you must protect them like your (own) land, you must watch over(?) them. Whenever they tu[rn ba]ck(?) to my land, you shall assemble(?) them and return them to [my land], and you shall not retain one single family within your land. § 10 — ll. 59–67: If a man of your land [enters] my land for suste[nance, but] claims, "Truly my town ... [ ... ," that man] is a criminal [ ... ... (remainder too broken for translation)]. § 11 — ll. 68–71: If a town [ ... ], if there is [ ... ,] with troop[s within(?)] my town they dwell, [ ... ] ... town to/for [ ... ] ... and in [ ... ] you shall not seize them; from within ... (place) ... [ ... ] you shall not seize them. § 12 — ll. 72–74: [The king] of the Hurrian people is my lord. If you become hostile to the king of the Hurrian people, then I shall not myself break the oath of the king of the Hurrian people, my lord; these terms (i.e., of this treaty) would be released from the oath.(8) Seal caption: Seal of Niqmepa, king of Alalakh. Inscription on the seal used by Niqmepa: Abban, mighty king, son of Sharran, servant of (the god) Addu, beloved of (the god) Addu, treasure of (the goddess) Hepat.(9) Curses — ll. 75–77, on left edge of tablet: Whoever should transgress these terms, may Teshup, l[ord of divina]tion, Shimigi, lord of judgment, Kushukh, and (all) the great gods destroy him, remove his name and his seed from the lands, and overturn his throne and scepter. By [X-Te]shup(?) the scribe. [Explanatory Notes] Notes:<br />(1) The name of Tunip’s ruler is composed of a Hurrian element, ir-, and the storm god’s name, which is written with a logogram. Some scholars read the divine name in Hurrian, thus rendering the king’s name as Ir-Teshup, while others read it as West Semitic, thus Ir-Addu. Since a ruler of Tunip during the Amarna period, a century later, had the Hurrian name Aki-Teshup, and since Hurrian is known to have been spoken at Tunip (based on the Hurrian glosses in EA 59, for which see W. Moran, The Amarna Letters [Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992], pp. 130–1), the Hurrian reading Ir-Teshup is adopted here.<br />Ir-Teshup’s seal was impressed on the tablet immediately below the seal caption, and above the introductory paragraph.<br />(2) The Suteans were pastoral nomads, who were sometimes regarded as a threat by sedentary folk and their governments.<br />(3) “You must not listen to him,” i.e., to his request for asylum. This stipulation envisions subjects of one state fleeing to the other state and petitioning its ruler to grant them permission to remain (perhaps also protection); heeding such a request would harm the interests of the state whose subjects the fugitives were.<br />(4) The oath is phrased from the standpoint of the fugitive’s lord, who would administer it to the mayor and the witnesses. The purpose of this procedure is to hold each town in the kingdom accountable for fugitives from the other kingdom that is party to this treaty: the townspeople may not harbor such fugitives, and in particular they may not keep fugitive slaves belonging to people of the other kingdom, since to do so would constitute theft.<br />(5) The abbuttu was a hairstyle distinctive of enslaved persons. To shave it off signified freeing the person from slavery. This clause of the treaty evidently concerns cases in which a person in the ruler’s custody gets free of someone responsible for guarding him, and the problem is to determine whether the guard deliberately allowed him to escape, perhaps having been hired to do so by the escaped man’s former “lord” or patron. The breaks in the tablet make comprehension very difficult, however, and it is hard to tell what this clause has to do with inter-state relations.<br />(6) Apparently the “lord” (of the person who escaped custody) is to exonerate himself by swearing that he seized the person from the culpable guard in the open, rather than, perhaps, hiring the guard to extract the person from royal custody. In the case of blind men, women, and youths, the culpability of the guard need not be proven (as it must be in the case of adult men who are not blind), but is assumed.<br />(7) As in § 5 above, the oath is formulated from the standpoint of the man’s lord, to whom it is sworn, not the standpoint of the householder who swears it. In the case that a man of Alalakh accuses a man of Tunip (or vice versa) of burglarizing his residence, the accuser is required to swear that he caught the man “in the breach,” that is, in the act of breaking in. False allegations of cross-border thievery would result in the fraudulent acquisition of persons subject to one state by persons subject to the other state (the type of situation envisioned in § 5).<br />(8) “These terms” are the terms of the treaty between Niqmepa of Alalakh and Ir-Teshup of Tunip, which would be null and void if either of the two parties were to rebel against the king of Mittani, here designated “king of the Hurrian people.” The word rendered “people” also has the basic meaning “troops,” i.e., the people called to arms (comparable to Greek laos).<br />(9) The name of the storm god is written logographically on the seal as well as on the treaty tablet, but while it is rendered in Hurrian, as Teshup, in the translation of the tablet, it is rendered in Semitic, as Addu, in the translation of the inscription on the seal. The reason for this is that the seal was made in an earlier period, before the Mittani Empire existed and before the thorough Hurrianization of Syria, at a time when West Semitic dialects predominated in the region. The storm god Addu and the goddess Hepat, named on the seal as the patron deities of King Abban, were the principal deities worshipped at Aleppo. [Publication] This translation has not hitherto been published. [Publisher URL] [Source] D. J. Wiseman, The Alalakh Tablets (London: British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, 1953), pp. 26-31 and Pls. I-III [Date] c. 1425 BCE [Language] Middle-Babylonian [Medium] clay tablet [Find Spot] Alalakh (Tell Atchana) [] Treaties ----------------------------------------