&P395020 = LSS 2/4, pl. 4
#project: caspo
#atf: lang akk-x-stdbab
#atf: use unicode
##note: K.3447+ attests Ishtar 11.

@tablet

@reverse

1. in-nin-na-at DINGIR-MEŠ šu-tu-qa-at be-le-e-ti
#tr.en: The one with Innin-status among the gods, surpassing one among the ladies, 
#note: Mayer's collations, noted below, come from Deller, Mayer, and Oelsner 1989: 268, s.v. 50a. As recognized by Ebeling and Seux (1976: 324, n.1, who explicitly discusses the issue), despite its lacking the EN₂ superscript and shuila-rubric, the text of this prayer is properly placed among the shuila-type incantation-prayers. If we are looking at the reverse of the tablet (which seems plausible, given the shape of what remains), then this line may not be the first line of the prayer, and thus we would not expect an EN₂ superscript.

2. iš₈-tar₂ šur-bu-tu₄ e-tel-lit ŠEŠ-MEŠ-ša₂
#tr.en: Supreme Ishtar, pre-eminent one among her brothers, 

3. tu-am-ti {d}UTU da-i-na-at kib-ra-a-ti
#tr.en: Twin of Shamash, judge of the world,

4. ru-ba-tu₄ ša it-ti {d}IDIM šit-lu-ṭa-at da-na!(ba)-na!(an?)
#tr.en: Princess, who is as powerful in strength(?) as Enlil,
#note: Mayer's collation suggests we read the last word da-ba-⸢ba⸣ (see also CAD D, 2). Seux 1976: 324, n.5 (see also CAD Š/1, 240) prefers to read danāna, "in strength," here, perhaps assuming some scribal mistake or the like (though both seem to be based on Perry's old edition [1907]: VI and copy [taf. IV]). Reading da-na-na seems more likely semantically in the context of the line. But, comparing the two signs in question here with the other NA signs on the tablet (see lines 11 and 14) suggests da-na-na is not the clear epigraphic choice. The last sign is, however, also not clearly a BA; it looks more like AN to me. (Ebeling 1953: 128 reads the three signs as ṭa-ba-ti, "die Guten Dinge" [129], but the last sign is certainly not TI.) Given how close BA and NA look in the script, it seems reasonable to posit a scribal mistake at some point in the text's transmission: da-na-na > da-ba-ba/an!.

5. ga-šer₂-tu₄ ša ša₂-ru-ru-ša₂ uš-nam-ma-ru ek-le-ti
#tr.en: Powerful one whose brilliance illuminates the darkness,

6. it-tu₄ SIG₅{+tu₄} ša₂ ka-lu ab-ra-a-ti
#tr.en: (Who is) a favorable sign for all humanity,

7. el-li-tu₄ iš₈-tar₂ MUL-MEŠ ZALAG₂ ša-ma-mi#
#tr.en: Pure Ishtar of the stars, light of the heavens,

8. še-e-ru ša ur-ha-ti u₂-pat-tu-u ki-ma AŠ.ME
#tr.en: The morning, who opens the (celestial) paths like the solar disk,

9. GAŠAN{+ti} kib-rat ar-ba-ʾ-i te-be-li-ma#
#tr.en: My lady, you rule the four corners of the earth.
#note: The reading of the first and last signs follows Mayer's collation, against the copy.

10. ṣal-mat SAG.DU te-re-ʾ-i GIM ad#-la-a-ti
#tr.en: You shepherd the black-headed (people) like . . . .
#note: The reading of the signs in the last word follows Mayer's collation, but the sense is unclear to me. Others have suggested a[s-l]a-a-ti, "sheep" (CAD A/2, 336 and Seux 1976: 324, n.12), a[d]-ma-a-ti, "a young bird" (Ebeling 1953: 128-129), or simply i-[l]a-a-ti, "goddesses."

11. en-ša-am a-na dan-ni te-le-ʾ-i tur!(i)-ra-am#
#tr.en: You are able to turn the weak into the strong.
#note: The reading of the last sign follows Mayer's collation. The reading of the word follows CAD E, 171 and Seux 1976: 324, n.13 (with other references there). There looks to be a stray horizontal wedge between the two I signs.

12. ši-mat la dum-qi₂ du-mu-qu ba-a-ši it-ti-[ki]
#tr.en: [You] have (the power) to make fortunate the lot of the unfortunate.

13. ar₂!(BI)-da-a-ti ša muš-šu# i-ki-šu tu-daš₂!(AŠ)-šu ME [(x)]
#tr.en: The young women who do not breast-feed (lit. leave (their) breasts unused), you lavishly supply with temple income/wate[r]/provis[ions](?). 
#note: The emended reading at the head of the line follows CAD M/2, 281, N/1, 180, and Q, 50, AHw, 685, and Seux 1976: 324, n.16. Mayer has collated the line and does not see a clear meaning to it. (He suggests muš-šu or muš-ma in the middle of the line.) I follow AHw, 721 and Seux 1976: 324, n.16 for the translation of the first half. Building on Ebeling's reading tu-daš₂!(aš)-šu at the line's end (Ebeling 1953: 128), I assume a scribal mistake hides the expected second feminine singular form of the verb, tudaššî. The presence of the mistaken ŠU in place of the ŠI may be due to the ending of the previous two words in the line, both of which end with a ŠU. I take ME as a logogram for parṣu and translate, tentatively, in the income-sense of the word, which is admittedly not very common in SB texts (see CAD P, 199-200). If the translation is correct, the implication is clear: Ishtar would make the women who could not or chose not to give birth prosper. One might suggest a second, alternate sense of the final two words: "The young women who leave (their) breasts unused (i.e., have dry breasts), you supply lavishly with water (mê)" (perhaps reading me-[e]). That is, Ishtar does not leave them like their own breasts: empty of life giving fluid. Finally, we might also consider reading šib-[bu], šibbû, "provisions," though this term is quite rare and only known from a lexical list (see CAD Š/2, 376). In any case, in a highly patriarchal society where a woman's fortunes were closely tied to childbirth, this statement, on any of the readings, would be affirming to women who could not or chose not to give birth.

14. lil-la a-na re-še x#-[x x] x# x# x# x# [x x x]
#tr.en: The fool [. . .] to the head.
#note: Or, perhaps restore re-še-[e-ti], as does Seux 1976: 324, n.18, with the same meaning. Ebeling 1953: 128 conjectures a verb in the gap, ta-ša-kan-ni, "you establish, put," though there is room for twice as many signs.

15. i-tak-kal-ki-im-ma [...]
#tr.en: He trusts in you, and [. . .]

16. tam-ha-ti ri-tuk-ki te#?-[ret ...]
#tr.en: Exec[utive power . . .] you wield in your hand.
#note: Ebeling 1953: 128 offers several conjectural restorations for the following lines. Mayer's collation suggests the last sign be read B[U] rather than T[E]. Ebeling (1953: 129, n.7) and Seux (1976: 325, n.19) suggest the restoration above and fill the gap with a parallel from BMS 2, obv. 18': te-ret kul-lat DINGIR-MEŠ, "executive power (over) all the gods."

17. ša zik-ri u si-in-niš-[ti ...]
#tr.en: [. . .] of the man and woma[n].

18. e-la ka-a-ti ni-šu [...]
#tr.en: If not for you, the people [. . .]

19. la ir-ha-a NIN-x#-[...]
#tr.en: [. . .] does not inseminate [. . .]
#note: The reading of the second sign follows Mayer's collation, which makes previous suggestions for the restoration of what follows obsolete.

20. a-hu-lap-ki TI.LA [...]
#tr.en: Your pronouncement of mercy (is) life [. . .]

21. mu-sal-li-mat DINGIR ze-na-[a ...]
#tr.en: Who soothes the angr[y] (personal) god [. . .],

22. sul-li-mi-im-ma DINGIR ze#-[na-a ...]
#tr.en: Soothe (my) ang[ry] (personal) god [. . .] for me.

23. DINGIR-MU u {d}iš₈-tar₂-MU ša# iš#-[tu ...]
#tr.en: My (personal) god and my (personal) goddess who fr[om . . .]
#note: Against the copy, the photograph and Mayer's collation indicate two more, broken signs at the end of the line.

24. ina kit-ti u mi-ša₂#-[ri ...]
#tr.en: In truth and justi[ce . . .]

25. ur-hi li-šir₂ [...]
#tr.en: May my path be straight [. . .]

26. be-el-te# [...]
#tr.en: O lady, [. . .]

27. ma-gal x# [...]
#tr.en: Greatly . [. . .]
#note: Ebeling 1953: 128 suggests reading ma-ma-[an . . .]. The above reading follows Mayer's collation.

$ rest of reverse broken