The Agušaya Hymn or Song of Agušaya is an

Old Babylonian Old Babylonian may refer to: *the period of the First Babylonian dynasty (20th to 16th centuries BC) *the historical stage of the Akkadian language Akkadian (, Akkadian: )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Camb ...

literary work, a “song of praise”, written in the

Akkadian language Akkadian (, Akkadian: )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages''. Ed. Roger D. Woodard (2004, Cambridge) Pages 218-280 is an extinct East Semitic language th ...

concerning the goddess

Ištar Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in Su ...

, identified with the serpent deity

Irnina Irnina was the Mesopotamian goddess of victory. Her name additionally functioned as a title of other deities. As an independent deity In the ''An-Anum'' god list, Irnina appears among the courtiers of Ningishzida, a god associated with snakes a ...

. It may have been called “the Snake has Turned” in antiquity, as it has ''ú-ta-ar'' MUŠ inscribed at the top edge at the beginning. It is extant on two unprovenanced tablets, designated ATablet A, VAT 5946, VS 10, 214, in the

Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin The Vorderasiatisches Museum (, ''Near East Museum'') is an archaeological museum in Berlin. It is in the basement of the south wing of the Pergamon Museum and has one of the world's largest collections of Southwest Asian art. 14 halls distrib ...

. and B,Tablet B, unknown siglum and present whereabouts, RA 15, 159ff the latter of which includes a request for eternal life for king

Hammurabi Hammurabi (Akkadian: ; ) was the sixth Amorite king of the Old Babylonian Empire, reigning from to BC. He was preceded by his father, Sin-Muballit, who abdicated due to failing health. During his reign, he conquered Elam and the city-states ...

(reigned c. 1792 BC to c. 1750 BC), on the fifth column, 26th line, for whom it is thought to have been composed as an epic hymn of celebration of “the mad dancer in battle”. It is arranged into ten ''kirugú''- stanzas (Akkadian: ''šēru'') and six ''ĝešgiĝal''-

antiphons An antiphon (Greek language, Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christianity, Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are the Psalms. Their form was favored by St Ambrose ...

as lyrical retorts, the numbering of which suggest that the work extends over the two tablets, although the second may not be the actual sequel of the first as the first is an eight column tablet while the second only has six columns and there are apparently subtle differences in late Old Babylonian cursive

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sh ...

distinguishing them, suggesting tablet A is the younger copy.

The text

Among the most difficult literary texts in Old Babylonian, the work opens ''lu-na-i-id šu-ur-bu-ta'', “let me praise the greatest”. Ištar, the goddess of fertility and war, is terrifying to the gods with her wild, ferocious and "virile" antics. “She dances around gods and kings in her manliness” and “young men are cut off as if for spears.” The god Ea, who is angered by her outrageous behavior, fashions a suitable counterfoil, Ṣāltum, “discord” out of the dirt beneath his fingernails, to provide her with distraction, somewhat reminiscent of the purpose of

Enkidu Enkidu ( sux, ''EN.KI.DU10'') was a legendary figure in ancient Mesopotamian mythology, wartime comrade and friend of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk. Their exploits were composed in Sumerian poems and in the Akkadian ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', writte ...

in the

Epic of Gilgamesh The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, and is regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with ...

. Ea tells Ṣāltum he has created her to humiliate Ištar and sends this ferocious beast to challenge her. Much of the subsequent text is fragmentary, however the adversaries seem to engage in a protracted whirling dance of battle. Finally, Ištar entreats Ea to save her from this monstrous virago, “May she return to her cave! Ea opened his mouth and the hero of the gods spoke to Agušaya: ‘to be sure, as soon as you said it, I will do (it).’” With Ištar's taming, Ea proposes the instigation of an annual Ištar festival, providing an explanation for the origin of the ''guštum'', a whirling dance performed during the festivities, commemorating the war-like character of Ištar.

Principal publications

* line art for Agušaya A * translation of Agušaya A * transliteration and translation of Agušaya A and B * * reproduces her 1972 dissertation transliteration and translation of Agušaya A * * translation * transliteration and translation of Agušaya A and B * * provides philological notes to his new translations posted online a
SEAL
references 2.1.5.1 and 2.1.5.2.

Inscriptions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agushaya Hymn 18th-century BC literature Mesopotamian myths Akkadian literature Clay tablets Inanna Hymns