Maqlu

Tablet IV

Incantation. Cook, cook, burn, burn!
Meanness and evil, do not come in: go away!
Who are you, whose son? Who are you, whose daughter?
You who sit here and command your sorcery, your plots,
5. That you have done against me!
May Ea the magician undo,
And nullify your sorceries!
Asarluhi, the magician of the gods, son of Ea the wise!
I bind you, I tie you up, I give you over,
10. To Girra, who burns, incinerates, binds,
Overpowers and seizes the sorceress!
May incinerating Girra strengthen my arms!
The magic, revolt, malediction, love, hate,
Injustice, murder, paralysis of the mouth,
15. Tearing of the insides, glowing of the face and insanity,
You have done, you have made others do, may Girra undo!
You marked me for a corpse, may Girra undo!
You turned me over to the skulls, may Girra undo!
You turned me over to a ghost of my family, may Girra undo!
20. You turned me over to the ghost of a stranger, may Girra undo!
You turned me over to a wandering ghost who has no caretaker, may Girra undo!
You turned me over to a ghost inhabiting ruins, may Girra undo!
You turned me over to the steppes, the open country, the desert, may Girra undo!
You turned me over to the inner wall and the outer wall, may Girra undo!
25. You turned me over to the mistress of the steppe and high ground, may Girra undo!
You turned me over to the bread oven, the stove, the pail of coals and the bellows, may Girra undo!
You have given images of me to a corpse, may Girra undo!
You have given images of me for a corpse, may Girra undo!
You have laid down images of me next to a corpse, may Girra undo!
30. You have put down images of me in a corpse’s lap, may Girra undo!
You have buried images of me in the grave of a corpse, may Girra undo!
You have turned images of me over to skulls, may Girra undo!
You have locked images of me in the wall, may Girra undo!
You have put down images of me on the threshold, may Girra undo!
35. You have locked images of me in the entrance to the wall, may Girra undo!
You have buried images of me on the bridge so that people stepped over them, may Girra undo!
You have dug a hole in the basin of the wash-house and buried images of me there, may Girra undo!
You have dug a hole in a gardener’s ditch and buried images of me there, may Girra undo!
Images of me out of tamarisk, out of cedar, out of tallow,
40. Out of wax, out of sesame,
Out of asphalt, out of clay, out of dough;
Images, likenesses of my face and my figure you have modelled,
And given them to a dog, to a pig, to eat,
To the birds of the sky; have thrown them in the river;
45. Images of me to Lamaštu, Anu’s daughter,
You have given, you have done, you have made others do, may Girra undo!
Images of me you have given to Girra, may Girra undo!
You have put down my water next to a corpse, may Girra undo!
You have put my water in a corpse’s lap, may Girra undo!
50. You have buried my water in a corpse’s grave, may Girra undo!
You have buried my water in a corpse’s … may Girra undo!
You have buried my water in a corpse’s … may Girra undo!
You have scooped out my water in … may Girra undo!
You have given my water to Gilgameš, may Girra undo!
55. You have picked me for … of the ditch, may Girra undo!
You have cut the throat before Sin, may Girra undo!
You have cut the throat before Šulpaea, may Girra undo!
You have cut the throat before the constellations Cygnus and Lacerta, may Girra undo!
… …
60. … …
… …
… …
… …
In front of … … and the gate of the house,
65. In front of comrades, companions, and servants of the same,
In front of the father and mother, brother and sister, son and daughter of the same,
In front of the house and the gate, slave and maid, small and large, of the same,
You made me … to whomever looks at me.
I have bound you, I have tied you up, I have surrendered you,
70. To Girra who burns, incinerates, binds,
And seizes the sorceresses.
May the burning Girra untie your knots,
Undo your enchantments, remove your ropes,
Upon the order of Marduk, son of Ea the wise,
75. And of Girra the praising, the wise, the son of Anu, the hero! Incantation formula.
Incantation. Who are you, sorceress, who committed murder?
Whether comrade or companion,
Whether brother or friend,
Whether stranger or fellow-citizen,
80. Whether known or unknown,
Whether sorcerer or sorceress,
Whether man or woman, whether murderer or murderess,
Whether kurgarru-priest or sahhiru,
Whether one … or a naršindu or a snake-charmer,
85. Whether an agugilu or a foreigner who happens to be in the country,
… the weapon … to the land,
… … do not come close! Incantation formula.
Incantation. My murderess, my sorceress, my enchantress,
(10 lines missing)
… …
90. … …
… …
I grab you, … …
I put you in the fire which burns,
Burns, binds, seizes,
95. The sorceresses! Incantation formula.
Incantation. Who is the father of the sun, who his mother,
Who his sister and brother his judge,
Of Marduk, Sin … …
The perfect god … …
100. Šamaš … …
And she, the goddess his judge,
I destroy the sorcery,
Witchcraft, revolt, malediction,
Upon the order of … Incantation formula.
105. Incantation. It hexes, and it hexes all the time.
The Cuthites, the Elamites,
The daughters of the Hanigalbatians.
Six on the land tie knots.
Six are their knots; seven are my loosenings.
110. What they tie by night,
I untie by day.
What they tie by day,
I untie by night.
I put them in the fire which burns,
115. Incinerates, binds and seizes,
The sorceresses! Incantation formula.
Incantation. My danger is a witch, I am released.
The witch is a witch, I am released.
The witch is an Elamite, I am released.
120. The witch is a Cuthite, I am released.
The witch is a Sutian, I am released.
The witch is a Lullubian, I am released.
The witch is a Hanigalbatian, I am released.
The witch is an agugiltu, I am released.
125. The witch is a naršindatu, I am released.
The witch is snake-charmer, I am released.
The witch is a magic priestess, I am released.
The witch is a metal-worker, I am released.
The witch is a bump on my gate, I am released.
130. The witch is a fellow-citizen of mine, I am released!
I have gathered her images, and I have sent them to the west.
The figures of the seven and seven witches,
I have given over to Girra.
In a portable oven I have burned them.
135. Gibil, burn my warlock and my witch!
Gibil, incinerate my warlock and my witch!
Gibil, burn them utterly!
Gibil, incinerate them utterly!
Gibil, seize them!
140. Gibil, devour them!
Gibil, take them away!
May the raging Gibil calm down!
Gibil, … …
The sorcerer and the sorceress, the enchanter and the enchantress,
145. May they truly … …
But I, I let the water of the flood,
come upon them! Incantation formula.
Incantation. My enchanter and my enchantress.
Tablet IV of Maqlu.