This is an excerpt from a lengthy Akkadian ritual that we know from multiple tablets, all of them unfortunately broken. The ritual starts by describing the patient: he is constantly depressed and has other physical symptoms, from pain to nausea. Such symptoms are clearly a sign that he has been attacked by witchcraft. To combat the witchcraft, the ritual practitioner relies on a combination of magical actions (such as burning figurines of the magicians who caused the illness) and prayers to Shamash, the Sun-god, who represents an all-seeing force of justice.
This is the first of the incantations recited by the practitioner. Below the cut, I’ve included the transliteration of the incantation (in case anyone wants to try it) and a short comment on the untranslated word “Namraṣit.”
I call to you, Shamash. Listen to me! Accept my sleepless sighing. Learn swiftly of the suffering that seizes me. I am sluggish; I am sleepless; I am exhausted; I am anxious. I focus on Namraṣit, your light, o my lord. Shamash, lord of justice, to you I turn. Pay attention to my lifted hands; listen to my speech. Listen to me; accept my petition; judge my case; decide my verdict.
