Sacred Texts Ancient Near East Records of the Past Egypt Index Previous Next
Records of the Past, 2nd series, Vol. II, ed. by A. H. Sayce, [1888], at sacred-texts.com
O Sun, in the middle of the sky, at thy setting,
may the bright gates welcome thee favourably, 1
may the door of heaven be docile to thee.
May the god director, 2 thy faithful messenger, mark the way!
In E-Bara, 3 seat of thy royalty, he makes thy greatness shine forth.
May the Moon, thy beloved spouse, 4 come to meet thee with joy. 5
May thy heart rest in peace.
May the glory of thy godhead remain with thee.
Powerful hero, O Sun! shine gloriously. 6
Lord of E-Bara, direct in thy road thy foot rightly.
O Sun, in making thy way, take the path marked for thy rays!
Thou art the lord of judgments over all nations.
Colophon of the Temple Copy
This is the hymn to the setting sun, the incantator 7 says it after the beginning of the night.
First line of the next Tablet.
O Sun, rising in the shining sky. 1
Tablet which Nabu-damik, son of … has copied and translated from the old copy.
Colophon of the Ex-Voto Copy.
Nabu-balatsu-ikbi, son of E-sagilian, for the preservation of his life has had this tablet written for Nebo, his lord, by Nabu-epis-akhi, son of E-sagilian, and placed it in the temple E-zida.
192:1 The Assyrian version has "speak of peace to thee."
192:2 This is the god who walked in front of the Sun, the forerunner.
192:3 E-bara is the name of the temple of the Sun-god.
192:4 One of the two copies says "thy beloved sister;" the Moon was considered sometimes as wife, sometimes as sister of the Sun, as perhaps being both.
192:5 The Assyrian has "go in front of thee."
192:6 The Assyrian has "glorify thyself."
192:7 This is the name of a class of priests, whose functions were to repeat certain prayers or incantations at certain hours.
193:1 When tablets formed a series, each one always gave at the end the first line of the next tablet of the series. In this case the line is important, because, as the hymn to the setting sun is given first, it shows that the Babylonians, like the Jews, placed the night first.