Mesopotamian prayer

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Mesopotamian prayer are the

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified ...

s of

ancient Mesopotamia The history of Mesopotamia ranges from the earliest human occupation in the Paleolithic period up to Late antiquity. This history is pieced together from evidence retrieved from archaeological excavations and, after the introduction of writing i ...

. There are nine classifications of poem used within Mesopotamia.

Prayers

One definition of prayers of Mesopotamia is "''praise to god followed by request''".Journal of Hebrew Scriptures The ''Journal of Hebrew Scriptures'' is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by the University of Alberta. It was established in 1996 with Ehud Ben Zvi as the founding editor, and covers the Hebrew Bible and the history of ancient Israel ...

(designation DOI:10.5508/jhs.2012.v12.r17) of"> According to one source (Bromiley) the form of the word, known and used to signify prayers during the Mesopotamian era, is described today as šu-il-lá. With regards to šu-il-lá, the scholars ''Lambert'', ''van der Toorn'' and ''Oshima'' posit an alternative use for the term, which they submit is instead with reference to the way in which a prayer is to be recited, not a general signifier (rubric) for prayer itself (a notion expressed by ''Bromiley'').Journal of Hebrew Scriptures The ''Journal of Hebrew Scriptures'' is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by the University of Alberta. It was established in 1996 with Ehud Ben Zvi as the founding editor, and covers the Hebrew Bible and the history of ancient Israel ...
(designation DOI:10.5508/jhs.2012.v12.r17) of"/> Šu-il-lá is held to refer to an act of praying, by prayer exhibited by either ''lifting of hands'', ''to lift hands'', or ''to lift the hand''.

Types

Prayers are divided into the following classifications:

Incantation An incantation, a spell, a charm, an enchantment or a bewitchery, is a magical formula intended to trigger a magical effect on a person or objects. The formula can be spoken, sung or chanted. An incantation can also be performed during ceremo ...

prayers, Ershaḫungas, Gottesbriefe, Ikribus, Royal, Tamitas and other queries,

Hymns A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

, Šigû, and Namburbi.()

Incantation

Tribal specialists in ritual were required to perform incantations to accompany the use of texts known, for example, from Ugarit which are attested to contain ways to aid in the removal of snake-venom. Ugarit is also known to have contained additional health-related incantation texts.

Gottesbriefe

The term ''Gottesbriefe'' is literally, petition-prayers, or letter prayers. ''Gottesbriefe'' is a modern German word. It can be literally translated into both ''God´s letters'' or ''Letters for/to/about God''. They were mostly in the form of pleas for relief from illness and for the deliverance of personal longevity.

Ikribus

These prayers were performed for the purposes of divining. Another source shows ''ikribū'' were benedictions.

Royal

The rulers' (Kings of Babylonia) prayers were made to a variety of deities, for example Marduk (the god of Babylonia), Nabû, Ŝamaš. The kings had inscribed prayers made onto cylinders made of clay and kept within buildings, in order to fulfill this function. Prayers of this type tended to not be for reason of the seeking of mercy and salvation as is found in ''Šuila'' prayers.

Hymns

By study of the prayers, it seems apparent to scholars, that these types of prayers seem to be reformations of earlier

topos In mathematics, a topos (, ; plural topoi or , or toposes) is a category that behaves like the category of sheaves of sets on a topological space (or more generally: on a site). Topoi behave much like the category of sets and possess a notio ...

made, for example, in a similar vein to prayers such as the ''Prayer to the Gods of the Night''.

Šigû

Šigû are lamentations. Lamentations are either complaints, or expressions of grief or sorrow. Both meanings are related (combined) within šigû.

Namburbi

Prayers of this classification were performed during namburbi rituals. These rituals were undertaken firstly if an omen announced a

fate Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

that was

evil Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...

, and a person wished to counter-act the fate, and secondly to counter

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

.Journal of Hebrew Scriptures The ''Journal of Hebrew Scriptures'' is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by the University of Alberta. It was established in 1996 with Ehud Ben Zvi as the founding editor, and covers the Hebrew Bible and the history of ancient Israel ...
(designation DOI:10.5508/jhs.2012.v12.r17) of"/>

Ehud Ben Zvi Ehud Ben Zvi (born 1951) is an Israeli Old Testament scholar. He is Professor Emeritus in the Department of History, Classics and Religion at the University of Alberta. Ben Zvi studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Open University of ...

review of work of S.M. Maul in
Perspectives on Biblical Hebrew: Comprising the Contents of Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, Volumes 1-4
', Gorgias Press LLC, 1 Jan 2006 (934 pages) ''Volume 1 of Gorgias Perspectives on Hebrew Scriptures Series'' etrieved 2015-05-20''namburbi ritual'' sourced at p.575)

Citations

{{Reflist

Sources

*J. Hehn, ''Hymnen und Gebete an Marduk'' (published 1905
as shown here
Prayer Mesopotamian religion Sumerian texts