By Torsten Schwanke
PART ONE: THE PROTECTRESS HANNA-BANNA
I
Give me a large beaker full of wine,
Give me goat cheese and white bread,
Give me a large cask full of wine!
O Hanna-Banna!
I go.
You carry me away.
You carried the fleece.
Your arrows pierced me.
O Hanna-Banna,
Protectress of my soul!
If you love him,
Then take him!
And bring him here.
If he hates you,
Do not bring him into the house.
In front he is beautiful,
But also beneath his fleece.
She went, the sweet bee,
And brought the fleece here.
While she came,
Hanna-Banna created three springs.
By the first, the rose grew,
By the second stood a chalice,
By the third burned a fire.
Hanna-Banna sat there
And looked across.
She came, the sweet bee,
And laid the fleece by the chalice.
Then came the goddess Miyadanizpa
And lay down beneath the rose.
She spoke:
With exceptionally good wine
Let it be filled,
The holy chalice!
Then came the sweet bee.
She stepped into the room
Just like a harlot.
And Hanna-Banna
Was made pregnant.
The beloved
Impregnated
The sweet bee
Hanna-Banna!
II
Give me nine sour loaves of wheat bread!
I lay them before me on the earth.
Then let there also be a jug
With the very best kind of beer!
And plenty of goat cheese!
Hanna-Banna spoke
To the goddess Inara,
And the goddess Inara
Spoke to Hanna-Banna:
I did not run away
To evade you.
But Hanna-Banna spoke:
O goddess, do not evade me!
Sit here with me!
The goddess spoke:
I give you a beautiful land
And a man I give you too!
The Sky God worried
About the goddess Inara
And sent the sweet bee:
Go, and seek the goddess!
The bee went
And found the beautiful Hanna-Banna.
The bee spoke to Hanna-Banna:
The God in Heaven worries
About his beloved daughter!
And Hanna-Banna took
The thighs
Of every animal.
And upon them Hanna-Banna laid
The golden fleece of the lamb.
The sweet bee, however,
Returned to God.
God, accept my sacrifice!
They all lie on their backs!
And Hanna-Banna spoke:
I simply cannot kill them!
And God spoke
To Hanna-Banna:
You say things of great importance!
I myself give you an offering.
Go into the field
And catch for yourself the Dog-man,
Him you shall kill.
III
Bring before me the beloved!
He looks for her,
But does not find her.
Hanna-Banna sent
The sweet bee:
Seek my beloved!
The bee went
To his chariot
And stopped the chariot.
Never shall you go from her!
But the bee went.
Hanna-Banna went,
Yes, Hanna-Banna also went
And spoke to the bee:
Take for yourself wax
From my beloved's head!
Take for yourself the honey!
Gather the honey for him!
The form of the beloved is beautiful!
Beneath his feet
Flow milk and honey!
This one I have chosen as my beloved!
IV
Hanna-Banna was
His protectress
And she guarded his member.
The protectress guarded
Cows and lambs.
When she saw the beloved,
Hanna-Banna spoke:
Bring him to my door!
She went and found a stone.
The stone spoke as follows:
Come, be my protectress!
Then Hanna-Banna took
The stone in her hand,
Again and again she took it
Into her hand.
But when you go to the Sun God,
Then do everything rightly!
Do not act like the sinners.
You go and find
The light of the Sun God.
Then you shall speak:
Where is the bridal chamber of light?
The God of the Sun speaks:
But you shall love me!
But if he is silent,
He shall at least shine.
But Zababa spoke:
If I go nowhere,
What then shall I receive?
But Hanna-Banna spoke:
In the New Year, go
Day after day into war!
The three sons of the protectress
Hanna-Banna spoke:
Here we take the father with us!
Does he go or does he not go?
The three sons of the protectress
Spoke instead to Zababa:
May the Sun God lead you
In the New Year
Day after day into war!
V
As the bull is not his master
And as the ram is not his master,
So also the buck is not his master.
Go and instruct the protectress!
He stepped before the gate.
Arise! The birds all came together
With the cows and lambs.
And his protectress came.
As my protectress, go with me!
Here he struck with the hammer.
The knife became blunt.
The knife with the sharp blade
Became blunt
And found nothing.
There he sat upon the stone.
You, become his protectress!
Never desert him!
Carry him always
Upon your breasts!
Then the three sons
Of the beautiful Hanna-Banna
Turned toward him.
Slaughter a lamb from the flock!
And now go in peace!
If they asked him anything,
He always knew the answer.
He looked after the sons.
O God, bring Hanna-Banna to me!
Give me a sign of favor!
Hanna-Banna spoke:
What shall I say to you now?
The goddess Inara gave me
No message for you today.
You heard nothing.
A lion sprang forth,
And he destroyed
The city of the protectress.
But before the beloved,
The lion lay down.
The highest deity
Had blessed the beloved.
PART TWO: THE GODDESS OF LOVE, ISHTAR
I
The stars shall shine.
The old woman hurried.
In the heavens they fight for us,
The Storm God and the goddess Ishtar;
The Storm God, the son of the gods,
Drives the clouds in the sky.
He created the sea of the earth.
The sea spoke to Impaluri:
Send me against the dike
And the living shall
Go down across the sea.
They shall send the swords.
On this side stand the cedars.
But they did not hear
The pleasant message.
They did not taste
The pleasant scent of the cedars.
They shall support the friends.
When the people heard
The words of the sea,
They hurried and made haste.
Then the waves roared.
God sent
The Storm God into war.
And the waves roared.
The goddess Ishtar went down three miles;
At that time, Ishtar, the queen of love and beauty,
Left the Storm God.
The waves subsided
And the seabed dried up.
The dikes stand firm.
You can see unto the horizon.
II
Ishtar, the Great Goddess,
The Queen of Nineveh,
I saw her on Mount Hatti,
The love-goddess Ishtar, naked!
III
The mountain rose up
Before Ishtar's limbs
And wanted to sleep with her.
And the mountain slept with Ishtar.
Then Ishtar sprang up
And veiled her limbs.
Who has dishonored me today!?
It was not the Storm God.
There is yet another enemy.
The mountain is my enemy.
Ishtar said this in anger.
The mountain heard the words
Of the angry Ishtar
And was afraid.
Before her feet he threw himself down
As an apple falls from the tree.
Goddess, do not kill me!
I promise you eternal life.
The Storm God fights with the Sea God,
The mountains defeat the Storm God.
Formerly, Nanni and Hatti were holy mountains.
But my name is Pisa-isa,
The mountain of the goddess Ishtar.
IV
The joined limbs
Were upon Mount Pisa-isa.
O beloved, let me go!
But the joyful news
Began to hasten to the people.
And the beloved was mine!
V
Three times, four times he spoke
To the love-goddess Ishtar:
Come, Ishtar, my sister-bride!
As soon as Ishtar heard his words,
She hurried and made haste.
She went to the beloved,
And they did it.
PART THREE: PRAYERS TO THE SUN GODDESS ARINNA
I
He offers his drink offering
Before the Sun Goddess of the Earth
And the other gods
And speaks these words:
Grant me your favor and grace,
O Sun Goddess of the Earth!
The King calls upon you personally.
He prays for himself and his loved ones.
Goddess, concern yourself with him!
He has chosen you
As his personal goddess.
He has grasped the hem of your cloak.
He kneels now upon the earth.
When his father had despised him,
You did not hear the father!
When his mother was unmerciful,
You did not hear the mother!
When his brother had betrayed him,
You did not hear the brother!
When his sister-in-law had mocked him,
You did not hear the sister-in-law!
And when his friend had abandoned him,
You did not hear the friend and brother!
Turn those merciful eyes of yours toward him!
Lift your long eyelashes of the dawn!
Look upon the King with favor and grace!
Incline your shell-like ears
And hear his wise words!
Hasten quickly forward to the New Year!
Preserve him from evil!
Bring him to the good place!
Increase the prosperity of the people!
To the gods shall be offered
Plentiful bread and wine!
Mercy, O protectress,
O Sun Goddess of the Earth!
Procure justice for him!
Eat of his bread
And drink of his holy wine!
May the Sun Goddess think well of the King!
May the Sun Goddess think lovingly
Upon the name of his Queen!
If his family scorns him,
Do not hear the family!
Mercy, you heavenly angel
Of the Sun Goddess of the Earth!
Procure justice for the King!
Eat his bread and drink his wine!
Mercy, all you holy servants and maids
Of the Sun Goddess of the Earth!
You who bring him to bed in the evening
And wake him in the morning!
Justice be with you!
Eat fat and drink sweet things
And intoxicate yourselves with love!
Mercy, Darawa!
Justice be with you!
Eat fat and drink sweet things!
Intercede for the King
With the Sun Goddess of the Earth!
If his family leaves him alone,
Leave the family alone!
Mercy, Paraya!
Justice be with you!
Eat fat and drink sweet things!
Intercede for the King
With the Sun Goddess of the Earth!
If his family leaves him alone,
Leave the family alone!
Mercy, High Eunuch of the Harem!
Justice be with you!
Eat fat and drink sweet things!
Intercede for the King
With the Sun Goddess of the Earth!
If his family leaves him alone,
Leave the family alone!
Mercy, Hilassi!
Justice be with you!
Eat fat and drink sweet things!
Intercede for the King
With the Sun Goddess of the Earth!
If his family leaves him alone,
Leave the family alone!
And when you dead come from the realm of the dead,
Bring heavenly blessing with you!
Lead the King into a better future!
And in the days of sorrow
Come with sweet consolation!
As the King celebrates the Sun Goddess,
So you shall celebrate the King!
Deliver the King from evil!
And when you come from the realm of the dead,
You blessed spirits of his loved ones,
Intercede for the King
With the Sun Goddess of the Earth!
Speak well of the King!
Whoever speaks evil words of him in days to come,
May they not experience the grace of the Sun Goddess!
II
Sweet lips!
Speak well of the King
Before the Sun Goddess of the Earth!
Set your beautiful words well!
And delight the King once more
With goat cheese
And a jug full of foaming beer!
III
You heavenly deities,
May your temple also be honored!
For you, you heavenly deities,
Only the realm of Hatti
Is a pure land.
To you, you heavenly deities,
In the city of Hattusa
We offer our worship.
You heavenly deities, you know
Through your divine wisdom,
That none honor you as we do!
No one offers you
Such worship as we do.
Your temple, heavenly deities,
With its gold and silver and fine linen
No one loves as we do.
What holy images of you,
The heavenly deities, exist!
Which of the deities could then be old?
And what holy bowls and chalices are there,
Which no one values as we do!
No one strives as we do
For purity in the holy sacrifice.
No one strives as we do,
Daily and weekly and yearly
To offer you the sacrifice of thanks.
The enemies pursue your servants and maids,
They want to make the deities' servants and maids
Slaves of the enemy.
I, the Great King, and my Queen,
We love you in every respect.
And you know me in your holy hearts
With drink offering and with food offering.
The Great Queen also
And the heir to the throne also
Gather with the priest
At the drink offering and at the food offering.
How the evil enemies, however,
Invade and plunder
The holy realm of Hatti—
That we lament to you, the heavenly deities,
That you may create justice!
You deities of heaven and earth,
From your holy land have come forth
The Mother-Goddesses, the anointed ones,
The pure and the impure priests,
Musicians, singers, and poets,
And all bring you the tribute
And perform the holy ritual.
We offer
To the Sun Goddess Arinna
The golden sun-disk
And the silver crescent moon,
The bronze earth,
The linen garments of the women,
The purple cloak of the King,
The star-cloak of the Queen,
White bread and red wine!
We offer
The sweet blood of the sacrifice,
We sacrifice bulls, sacrifice bucks,
We sacrifice the holy lamb!
Your temple in our land
The warriors of Kaska have torn down
And shattered your icons.
They have plundered the temple's gold and silver,
Copper, bronze, and ore;
They have stolen the vessels and vestments
And divided the garments among themselves.
The Mother-Goddesses and the anointed ones
And the pure and impure priests
And the musicians and the singers and the poets
They have carried away
And made into their slaves.
Also the cows and lambs
They have divided among themselves.
The cultivated land of the holy bread
And the cultivated vineyards of holy wine
For the atonement sacrifice
They have divided among themselves.
The people of Kaska took everything for themselves.
In those lands, no people
Call upon you deities anymore.
No one brings you the daily sacrifice,
Few only the sacrifice of the week,
And fewer still even the yearly sacrifice.
They no longer celebrate festivals for the deities,
They no longer come to the ritual.
Also into the holy land of Hatti
The nations bring no more tribute,
Nor bread and wine for the cult.
From this people come no more priests,
No one values the Mother-Goddesses anymore,
There is no more pious music,
And poets are no longer born.
No one offers anymore to the deities
And to the great Sun Goddess Arinna
Golden suns, silver moons,
Bronze earths,
Linen garments, purple cloaks,
Star-cloaks, priestly robes.
No one offers anymore to the deities
The holy bread for the food offering,
Blood of bulls and bucks,
Milk of cows, cheese of sheep and goats.
This holy bread is truly pleasant.
And later they came to Hattusa,
They struck Thubasana,
They struck Tahatariya,
They struck Hum.
Because the King and Queen
Are full of awe before the deities,
We tend to the holy festivals.
But because the people of Kaska
Have taken the land of Nerik for themselves,
We now offer to the Sky God
And the other gods of Nerik
The offerings from Hattusa,
Sending them to Hakmissa,
Bread for the food offering,
The flesh of the flawless lamb.
We address the people of Kaska,
We give them many gifts.
Furthermore, we make them swear:
When we send offerings
From Hattusa to Hakmissa,
Do not touch the sacrifice!
Then they gladly take the many gifts
And swear by their idols of stone.
But as soon as they return,
They break the oath,
Disregard the words of the gods,
And shatter the seal
Of the covenant tablet of the Sky God!
In the land of Hakmissa, they occupy the roads.
Whatever offerings
Of bread and wine we send to Nerik,
Cows and lambs,
The people of Kaska plunder them.
They bring nothing to Tarauwa,
The Sky God of Nerik.
When the people of Kaska
Within the interior of the land of Hatti
See the land of the gods,
They bring nothing to the deities.
IV
Thus speak the Majesties,
The Great King and the Great Queen:
To you, O great Sun Goddess Arinna,
We have consecrated ourselves.
The Great King and the Great Queen
Pray to you,
Therefore, please hear them!
To you, deities, here and now
We say: Only you are truly pleasant to us,
You are great and strong and pleasant.
To you, great Sun Goddess Arinna,
To you, Sky God of Hatti,
We consecrate the mountains,
The springs and rivers
Of the holy land of Hatti.
The first tablet instructs us
How to pray to the deities.
The praise of the great Sun Goddess Arinna
Is herewith not yet ended.
V
We, the King and the Queen,
Care for the temple
Of the fear of God
And furthermore for all your houses.
We care for the people,
The cows and the lambs,
The grain and the vineyards,
We care furthermore
For Sahan and Luzzi.
We wish to give the holy realm of Hatti
Back to the deities, free.
Whatever you lack,
That we wish to remedy.
In every respect,
The deities know everything.
Which heavenly one, however,
Attends to which matter,
Is determined by means of the oracle.
This the deity tells us.
We learn it through the seeress.
We wish to make amends for all sins.
We, the Great King and the Great Queen,
Help you in every respect.
And you heavenly deities,
Grant mercy to the Great King and the Great Queen.
And now we lament the war,
May there soon be peace again.
May the strength of resistance of the holy realm
Strike the evil enemies
Who wish to plunder and murder us.
VI
Mursili sends me:
Go and speak to my Lady,
My personal goddess,
The Sun Goddess Arinna!
I shall call the Sun Goddess Arinna,
My Lady, my personal goddess,
To my side.
If you, O great Sun Goddess Arinna,
Are up in heaven
Or here on earth
Or in the depths of the sea,
If you have climbed upon the mountains,
Now the olive tree and cypress call you!
And the priest of the sacrifice calls you:
Come into the temple!
I call you now
By the bread of the food offering,
By the wine of the drink offering.
May the sacrifice appease your anger.
What I tell you, hear!
You, Sun Goddess Arinna,
Are a magnificent goddess!
Built for you,
My personal goddess,
Are the most beautiful temples of the land.
In no other land
Are there such beautiful temples for you.
Holy festivals are celebrated for you
And the sacrificial meal
In the holy realm of Hatti.
And your temples in the land of Hatti
Are adorned with gold and silver
As richly as in no other land.
There are chalices and bowls of gold,
Silver and precious stones,
These exist for you only in Hatti.
Daily sacrificial feasts,
Weekly sacrificial feasts,
The New Moon festival, the yearly festival,
Spring and summer, autumn and winter
We celebrate you and call upon you;
This exists in no other realm.
Your Holiness, Sun Goddess Arinna,
Is worshipped only in Hatti.
Mursili, the King, your servant,
Worships you in the realm of Hatti.
Your icons, Sun Goddess Arinna,
We gaze upon and celebrate festivals for you
And offer you the holy sacrifice.
Everything we do for you, O Pure One!
In your temple, they praise you:
The gold, the silver, the precious stones.
I am permitted to draw near to you!
You, Sun Goddess Arinna,
Are a magnificent goddess.
Your name is the most beautiful
Among the names of the gods.
Your holiness is the highest
Among the holy ones of heaven.
You are the most glorious and beautiful
Among all glorious gods.
Great are you, Sun Goddess Arinna,
No god is your equal.
The Mistress of justice
And of righteous judgment are you.
You are the Queen of Heaven
And the Queen of the Earth
And govern full of grace.
To the sea, you set boundaries.
You hear when we call you.
You, Sun Goddess Arinna,
Are a goddess full of grace.
The disposition of the good, you accept.
O Sun Goddess Arinna,
You love the righteous.
You exalt the righteous.
In the circle of heaven and earth,
You are the source of light.
In all lands, you are
The highly exalted goddess.
You are the father and mother of all peoples.
You are the justice in judgment.
Among the many ancient goddesses,
You are the Goddess of Goddesses.
To the gods, you assign the sacrifice,
To the ancient gods, their portion.
You are the open portal of heaven,
The gate of heaven you traverse
As a triumphant goddess.
The gods of heaven bow down
Before the highest Sun Goddess Arinna.
Whatever you command, Mistress,
The gods bow before you.
Whichever man the gods are angry with
And whom the gods chastise,
You, O great Sun Goddess Arinna,
Still show him mercy.
Now please help the King,
Take your servant into your arms,
Beloved Sun Goddess Arinna!
Whatever words the King speaks to you,
O Sun Goddess Arinna,
Incline your ear and hear
And answer his plea!
This you gods have done:
You have permitted the sickness,
Many have died in the land,
No one brings offerings to the gods anymore.
Those who worked the soil
In the fields and meadows of the deity,
They have died,
And no one sows the seed anymore
In the field of the goddess,
And no one brings in the harvest.
The women who, with the mill,
Ground the flour for the sacrifice,
Alas, they have died.
No one grinds flour anymore
For the holy bread.
The animals of the slaughter-offering,
Cows and lambs,
One used to set them apart from the flock,
But the shepherds are dead.
Hurdle and pen are desolate.
The sacrifice for the gods is omitted,
There is no food offering and no drink offering anymore
And no slaughtered lamb.
Thus, you gods must
Keep our sins for us.
To us sons of men,
Wisdom was lost.
We no longer do anything right.
The gods look upon our sins.
May a prophet come
To name our sins for us,
Or wise old women
Or incantation priests
Or augurs tell us
What we have sinned,
Or a child shall see it
In a prophetic dream.
We hang on the point of a needle.
You gods, turn back to Hatti
Again in grace!
From the left, sickness oppresses us,
From the right, the enemy oppresses us.
The autonomous lands in the surroundings,
Mitanni and Arzawa,
Every one strives against Hatti.
They do not celebrate the gods,
They break the divine covenant,
They seek to harm Hatti,
To rob the temple.
We lament our suffering to you, O deities!
Sickness, enmity, hunger, and thirst
May you send to our enemy.
The enemies are quarrelsome,
But Hatti is exhausted.
God, deliver the exhausted!
These, however, were the lands in the surroundings:
The land of Kaska,
They were swineherds and carpet weavers,
And Arawanna, Kalasma, Lukka, Petassa,
They abandoned the Sun Goddess Arinna
And paid no tribute.
Since then, they have fought Hatti again and again.
But Hatti became,
At the command of the Sun Goddess Arinna,
A lion for the enemies.
Halpa and Babylon, too,
Wanted to destroy Hatti;
They took the precious goods
And silver and gold and icons
And laid everything down
Before the Sun Goddess Arinna.
Now the enemies have once again
Attacked the holy Hatti.
This we wish to lament to you,
Beloved Sun Goddess Arinna.
Deity, may your name be hallowed!
Whoever is angry at the gods,
Whoever has no more awe before the gods,
Nonetheless, let the pious
Not perish with the godless.
If it is a single city,
If it is a single house
Or a single person,
Let the gods punish only the individual.
But look upon Hatti, O deities,
With those merciful eyes of yours.
Give the sickness to the wicked.
May Hatti grow and flourish,
Hatti shall become again as before!
Those however who desire
To burn down the temple,
Those however who attempt
To rob sacrificial bowls and chalices,
To rob the silver and gold of the icons,
Those however who attempt by force
To devastate fields and forests,
Vegetable gardens and vineyards,
Those who attempt by force
To violate your farmers and shepherds and gardeners
And your millers,
To them give, O mighty Sun Goddess Arinna,
Fever and plague and hunger!
O Sun Goddess Arinna,
My heavenly Mistress,
I call you forth!
Speak words of comfort and love!
Raise up the oppressed once more
And restore the order!
To the King, your servant,
And to the holy land of Hatti,
Turn again in grace!
To the King, your servant,
Give life and health and strength,
Splendor of the soul in the life to come!
Place into his soul light and joy!
Give him eternal youth,
Sons and daughters and grandchildren!
Give him the obedience of faith
And harmony with your will!
Give him plentiful bread
And the best wine from the southern vineyards!
Give him cows and lambs
And noble mares and stallions
And industrious slaves!
Grant him victory through his weapons!
Lay his enemies beneath his feet!
He shall shine,
Shine with joy!
O Sun Goddess Arinna,
Be merciful to Hatti once more
And let it flourish again!
Let the south wind blow!
Let the winds of prosperity waft!
The land shall prosper!
And to you deities, once more,
Bread and wine shall be sacrificed!
The congregation cries: Amen!
As an invocation, I lay down the tablet.
The Sun Goddess Arinna I called
In Hattusa for seven days.
These words I spoke therein.
The tablet of invocation
I lay down separately.
I presented our case to my Goddess,
How people were dying in Hatti.
I wrote a separate tablet concerning this.
When one calls forth the Sun Goddess Arinna,
One should speak words of longing!
Me, the Majesty of the King,
The Goddess has favored.
I went and honored the deities
In the temple of Zippalanda.
These words are entirely according to my mind.
I, the poet Zuwa,
Have sung this hymn to the Goddess.
VII
To the Sun Goddess Arinna,
My heavenly Mistress,
The Queen of the lands of Hatti,
The Queen of Heaven and Earth.
You, Sun Goddess Arinna,
My heavenly Mistress,
Are the Queen of all peoples.
You are called Sun Goddess Arinna
In the land of Hatti,
And in the land of the cedar,
One gives you the name of the goddess Hepat.
I am Puduhepa, your handmaid,
A calf of your stable,
A stone upon your foundation.
You, my Mistress, accepted me.
And Hattusili, your servant,
Is the man you have given to me;
He is consecrated through the lot
To the Sky God as a priest.
The place where you have established us,
O Sun Goddess Arinna,
That is also the place of your beloved son.
But how greatly the fathers
Have neglected the place,
That you know, Sun Goddess Arinna.
The earlier kings,
To whom you, Goddess and Mistress,
Gave their weapons,
They were accustomed to defeating the enemy.
No one attempted to take the city of Nerik.
Your servant Hattusili,
Whom you, my Goddess Mistress,
Visit today,
Was not yet King at that time.
He was only a king's son.
It was possible for him to take Nerik.
If he had not been able to do so,
Then his brother
Would have given him other cities.
Both Hattusa and Katapa
His brother wished to give him.
O Sun Goddess Arinna, my Mistress,
The land belongs to the Sky God of Nerik.
For Nerik and Hakmish
He staked body and life,
Until he began the war
Against the Pharaoh of Egypt.
But when his brother Mutawilli
Became a god in the afterlife,
Urbi-Tessob followed him,
His brother's son,
Upon the throne of the King.
How he treated Hattusili, your servant,
In Nerik,
That you know, Sun Goddess Arinna.
The Lord incited him.
The king’s sons called to him:
Because of Nerik, you shall yet die!
That you know, my Goddess and my Mistress.
That one, however, did not care
For his ruin and his death.
He accepted death for Nerik:
I go forward to conquer Nerik!
Whoever treated him poorly,
He ended in misery.
Nerik was taken.
The victor was not silent;
He consecrated himself and the city to the deities.
We shall purify ourselves.
We shall keep the covenant
With you deities
And perform the ritual daily.
As for the fact that the cities
Were barred to the gods,
Now one will again celebrate
The traditional festivals for the gods.
O gods, my lords and masters,
Now your cities will no longer be barred to you.
We, your servant and your handmaid,
Will tend to the things of God.
These verses I made,
Puduhepa, your handmaid,
As an exposition of our case
For the Sun Goddess Arinna,
My heavenly Mistress,
The Mistress of Hatti,
The Queen of Heaven and Earth.
Have mercy upon me,
O Sun Goddess Arinna,
Hear my prayer
And answer me swiftly!
Among men there is a proverb:
To the woman in labor,
The deity gives way.
I too, Puduhepa, your handmaid,
Have exerted myself with all my heart
Like a woman in labor
For your divine son.
O Sun Goddess Arinna,
My heavenly Mistress,
What I entreat of you,
Grant it to me in your grace!
Grant to Hattusili, your servant,
By grace, eternal life!
The Goddess of Fate and the Mother Goddess
May they bestow upon him long life,
Health, and strength!
His life you hold in your hands
As his personal goddess.
When all the gods come together
In the assembly of the gods
And one of the gods speaks,
Entreat for Hattusili,
At the place of the assembly of the gods,
Eternal life, fullness of life!
Your grace is the grace
Of a pure truth and justice.
You, Sun Goddess Arinna, are my Mistress,
You are the right path,
I honor your will.
How I am obedient to your will,
That you know, Mistress,
My holy Sun Goddess Arinna.
And in all my affairs
I turn my pleas again and again
To the Bride of God;
In all my affairs
I show reverence
To the Sun Goddess Arinna,
My Saint and my Mistress.
My Sun Goddess Arinna,
Or shall I call you Lelwani?
To the gods you command what is good.
They give fullness of life.
Stand by me, O Mistress!
This word that I heard among men,
Let it be refuted by you:
"He has only a short life..."
Hattusili, your servant, shall live long!
And concerning that which was said of him:
"The gods have destined him a short life..."
If Hattusili, your servant,
Has offended the gods,
And the gods of heaven and the realm of the dead
Are moved to disfavor by evil words,
Or if an enemy of man
Has cursed Hattusili
By invoking lower gods,
Then stand by him, O Goddess,
Erase the curse and the disfavor,
Be merciful to him and grant him
Long life forever and ever!
May you not permit a disposition of disfavor
Toward Hattusili, your servant.
You gods, you lords of judgment,
Do not turn in grace
Toward the wicked and the envious!
You, my deity and my Mistress,
You sustain him daily in life.
To the gods you mediate what is good.
All curses you trample under your feet.
You hunt the wicked away.
From you, my heavenly Mistress Arinna,
Or shall I call you Lelwani,
From you comes the fullness of life
To Hattusili, your servant,
And to me, Puduhepa, your handmaid;
From your mouth comes eternal life!
To Hattusili, your servant,
And to Puduhepa, your handmaid,
Give long life together,
Give eternal life together!
If you, my holy Mistress Lelwani,
Mediate good to the gods
And preserve life and health
For Hattusili, your servant,
Giving him long life forever and ever,
Then I will bring to you, O Lelwani,
A life-sized statue of Hattusili
As a votive offering into your temple.
And you, Zintuhi, beloved daughter
Of the Sun Goddess Arinna
And granddaughter of the Sky God,
You are the pearl necklace
Between the breasts of the Sun Goddess Arinna,
Zintuhi, my princess, be merciful to me!
O most beautiful Zintuhi,
Pray to your grandfather, to the God in Heaven,
And to your mother, the Sun Goddess Arinna,
For long life forever and ever
For Hattusili, your worshiper;
May his life come from the mouth of God!
Show, Zintuhi, holy lady,
Your divine power and favor!
If you, Zintuhi, my beautiful lady,
Hear these my words
And bring them to the grandfather Sky God
And to the mother Sun Goddess
In your omnipotence of intercession,
I will, to you, beautiful lady,
Consecrate a pearl necklace.
Hattusili, the servant of God,
Strives for the wisdom of the deity.
He stakes head and life
For the wisdom of the holy gods.
He will rebuild Nerik,
The beloved city of God.
And you, my Lord and my God,
Stand by Hattusili, your servant,
In grace and mercy!
The city of Puputana
I consecrate to the deity.
VIII
I am the servant and betrothed of the Goddess!
I present my case
To the holy Zintuhi, my beautiful lady!
May she entreat mercy for me
From the Sun Goddess Arinna,
My highest Mistress in Heaven!
IX
I questioned the oracle
Of the living deity.
I transgressed in my youth
Against the purity of the deity.
I repented.
Because of this, the Sun Goddess Arinna
Was kindled with love for me.
I found the favor
Of my heavenly Goddess.
She said to me through the seeress:
You shall live!
You shall live and flourish
Like the lily in the garden!
X
All gods and goddesses
We wish to move to mildness and mercy.
Furthermore, Hatti shall prosper,
The grain shall prosper,
And especially the vineyards in the south.
But those who attempt to harm us,
The enemies in the surrounding lands,
Who wish to do evil to Hatti,
Ward them off with power,
Our beloved Goddess!
They wish to hunt our Mistress
Out of our land,
Our Sun Goddess Arinna,
To cast her out of our federal lands,
Our enemies and the enemies of the Goddess.
But the Sun Goddess Arinna
Protects us with her hand.
The enemies shall not triumph!
Hear my prophecy without question,
My weighty verses!
Those wicked ones shall be overcome.
They do not fear the heavenly deities.
Now, as the deities help us,
As the oracle clearly states,
The victory of the Goddess comes swiftly!
And we celebrate the festivals of the Goddess,
Celebrate the festivals joyfully.
Which people
Honor the Goddess?
What else can be said of them,
Other than that they are the beloved of the Goddess?
XI
O Sun Goddess Arinna,
My heavenly Mistress,
Yours is the kingdom and the power
In the glorious land of Hatti!
Through your word
You have created us.
The realm of Hatti is governed
By the King by the grace of God.
What a King the Goddess gave us!
And he reveres the Goddess greatly!
Twice, three times daily
He brings the sacrifice of thanks to the deity.
XII
We sacrifice to the deities
The slaughtered lamb
And a chalice full of the blood of the grapes.
We consecrate the holy bread
And send pitchers full of wine to the holy ones.
Princes and princesses
We consecrate to the womb of the Goddess.
And after the sacrificial meal,
We celebrate joyfully.
You, Sun Goddess Arinna,
And all other goddesses,
Give us health and long life
And comfort us in misfortune!
Furthermore, you, Goddess, and you goddesses,
Preserve your grace for the King
And for the sons of the King!
And to all gods we consecrate ourselves.
You too, gods, be merciful to us!
XIII
I prayed on this day
And turned again to Arinna,
Who is my way and my life
And my immortal wisdom.
I presented to her all the sorrows
Of my brothers and sisters.
She is the First
And Goddess of Goddesses,
She shall be my beloved!
We pray in the spirit of the Goddess.
Ishtar we shall never forget!
We do not ignore
The desires of Ishtar
And the instructions of Arinna.
To Arinna, we give ourselves entirely!
We dream, pray, and sing
Of Ishtar's bridal body.