Ludlul bēl nēmeqi (“I Will Praise the Lord of Wisdom”), also sometimes known in English as The Poem of the Righteous Sufferer, is a Mesopotamian poem (ANET, pp. 434–437) written in Akkadian that concerns itself with the problem of the unjust suffering of an afflicted man, named Šubši-mašrâ-Šakkan (Shubshi-meshre-Shakkan). The author is tormented, but he does not know why. He has been faithful in all of his duties to the gods. He speculates that perhaps what is good to man is evil to the gods and vice versa. He is ultimately delivered from his sufferings. It is thought to have been composed during the reign of Kassite king of Babylon Nazi-Maruttaš (c. 1307 – 1282 BC), mentioned in tablet IV.
The poem was written on four tablets in its canonical form and consisted of 480 lines. Alternate names for the poem include the Poem of the Righteous Sufferer or the Babylonian Job. According to William Moran, the work is a hymn of thanksgiving to Marduk for recovery from illness.
The first (but now outdated) edition of the poem was published by W. G. Lambert in 1960 (reprinted in 1996). Amar Annus and Alan Lenzi have edited in 2010 a new edition of the poem for the Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project. This volume was published as State Archive of Assyria Cuneiform Text 7 (SAACT 7). The new edition includes tablets published by Wiseman, George and Al-Rawi, Horowitz and Lambert, and several other unpublished tablets from the British Museum.
Šubši-mašrâ-Šakkan (sometimes given as Šubši-mešrê-šakkan), inscribed mšub-ši-maš-ra-a-dGÌR, was the narrator of Ludlul bēl nēmeqi. According to the text, he occupied high office, had slaves and fields, a family and spoke of the city as if it were subject to his rule. An official of the same name appears in two other documents dated to his reign.
Tablet 1
I will praise the lord of wisdom, the con[siderate] god,
Angry at night but relenting at daybreak.
Marduk, the lord of wisdom, the considerate god,
Angry at night but relenting at daybreak.
Who in his fury is like a violent storm, a wasteland,
But whose blowing is pleasant, like a breeze at dawn.
Who in his anger is irresistible, his fury a flood,
But his mind is merciful, his mood relenting.
The brunt of whose hands the heavens cannot bear,
But whose palm is so gentle it rescues the dying.
Marduk, the brunt of whose hands the heavens cannot bear,
But whose palm is so gentle it rescues the dying.
On account of whose wrath, graves are dug,
Through his mercy he raises up the fallen from disaster.
He frowns: the divine guardian and protective spirit withdraw,
He takes notice: his god turns back to the one he had rejected.
His grievous punishment is immediately overbearing,
He shows pity and instantly becomes motherly.
He hastens to butt like a wild bull,
But like a cow with a calf, he is ever attentive.
His beatings are barbed, they pierce the body,
But his bandages mo[lli]fy, they revive the dead.
He speaks and imputes guilt,
But on the day of his offering liability and guilt are absolved.
He is the one who causes one to suffer from a demon and shivering,
But with his incantation he e[xp]els chills and cold tremors.
The one who . . . the [flo]od? of Adad, the blow of Erra,
But who reconciles one’s enraged god and goddess.
The Lord, he sees everything in the heart of the gods,
But no one a[mong] the gods knows his way.
Marduk, he sees everything in the heart of the gods,
But no god can learn his counsel.
As heavy as is his hand, his heart is merciful.
As murderous as are his weapons, his intention is life-sustaining.
Without his consent, who could assuage his striking?
Apart from his intention, who could stay his hand?
I, who ate mud like a fish, will extol his anger,
He quickly bestowed favor on me, just as he revived the dead.
I will teach the people their plea for favor is near,
May his favora[ble] invocation carry off their [sin?].
Fr[om] the day Bel punished me,
And the hero Marduk was angry [wi]th me,
My god rejected me, he disappeared,
My goddess left, she departed from my side.
[The protec]tive spirit of good fortune who was at my side [spl]it off,
My divine guardian became terrified and sought out another.
My dignity [w]as taken, my masculine features obscured,
My characteristic manner was cut off, it jumped for cover.
Portents of terror were established for me,
I was expelled from my house, I wandered about outside.
My omens were confused, equivocal? every day,
My oracle was not decided by diviner and dream interpreter.
What I overheard (my egerrû) in the street portended evil for me,
When I lay down at night, my dream was terrifying.
The king, the flesh of the gods, the sun of his people:
His heart was angry with me and made forgiving me difficult.
Courtiers were plotting to slander me,
They gathered themselves, they were inciting calumny.
If the first was saying, “I will make him pour out his life,”
The second was saying, “I made him vacate his post.”
Likewise the third: “I will seize his office,”
“I will take over his household,” says the fourth.
The fifth overturned the opinion of the fifty,
The sixth and the seventh followed on his heels.
The band of seven gathered their pack,
They were relentless as a devil, equal to a demon.
Their flesh was one, but each had a mouth,
They unleashed their rage against me, they were set ablaze like fire.
They set slander and obstruction in alliance against me,
My eloquent speech they hindered as with reins.
I, whose lips chattered constantly, turned into a mute,
My resounding cries trailed off into silence.
My proud head bowed to the ground,
Terror weakened my stout heart.
A lad turned back my burly chest,
My arms, once far-reaching, were continually covered, they clutched each other.
I, who walked about as a lord, learned to slink,
I was once dignified, but I turned into a slave.
I became alienated from my extensive family.
When I walked through the street, fingers were pointed at me,
When I entered the palace, eyes would squint at me in disapproval.
My city glared at me as an enemy,
My country was hostile to me as if it were foreign.
My brother became a stranger,
My friend became an enemy and a demon.
My comrade would denounce me furiously,
My colleague dirtied his weapon for bloodshed.
My best friend would slander me,
My slave openly cursed me in the assembly.
My slave girl defamed me before the crowd,
When an acquaintance saw me, he hid.
My family rejected me as their own flesh and blood.
A grave lay open for one speaking well of me,
The one uttering slander against me promoted.
The one speaking calumny against me: a god was his helper.
For the one who said “mercy!”: death was hastened.
The one who did not help: life became his protective spirit,
I had no one walking alongside me, I saw no mercy.
They distributed my things to the riff-raff,
They ruined the opening of my canals with silt.
They drove out the work song from my fields,
They silenced my city like an enemy city.
They handed my cultic offices to another,
And they installed an outsider in my cultic obligations.
The day was sighing, the night lamentation,
Every month endless silence, the year misery.
Like a dove I would moan all my days,
Like a singer I would wail my lamentation.
With perpetual weeping my eyes . . . ,
My cheeks burned with tears for a fifth time.
The apprehension of my heart darkened my countenance,
Terror and panic turned my flesh pale.
My guts trembled in perpetual fear,
They were hardened as with the burning of fire.
My prayer was as confused as a blazing flame,
Like discord, my entreaty was a quarrel.
I sweetened my lips, but they were as obscure as darkness,
I would speak sharply, but my conversation was a stumbling block.
“Perhaps good fortune will arrive at daybreak,” I hoped,
“Or, when the new moon appears, maybe then my sun will shine on me.”
Tablet 2
One year to the next, the allotted time passed.
I turned about and misery abounded,
My bad luck was increasing, I could not find prosperity.
I called to my god, but he did not pay attention to me,
I implored my goddess, but she paid me no heed.
The diviner could not determine the situation with divination,
The dream interpreter could not clarify my case with incense.
I prayed to the dream god, but he did not open my ear,
The exorcist with his rituals did not release the divine anger against me.
What strange conditions everywhere!
I looked behind me, harassment and trouble!
Like one who had not made a libation for his god,
And did not invoke his goddess with a food offering,
Who did not engage in prostration, was not seen bowing down,
From whose mouth prayers and supplications had ceased,
Who had abandoned the day of the god, disregarded the festival,
Become negligent and despised their rites,
Who had not taught his people to fear and pay heed to the gods,
Who did not invoke his god when he ate his (i.e., the god’s) food,
Who had abandoned his goddess, and did not bring a flour-offering,
Like the one who had gone mad and forgotten his lord,
Who had invoked the solemn oath of his god in vain, that is how I was treated.
But I was in fact attentive to prayers and supplications,
Prayer was common sense, sacrifice my rule.
The day to fear the gods was a delight to my heart,
The day of the goddess’s procession was wealth and weal.
The king’s prayer: it was a pleasure,
And his fanfare truly a delight.
I taught my land to observe the rites of the god,
I instructed my people to revere the name of the goddess.
I made my praises of the king like a god’s,
And taught the masses fear for the palace.
Would that I knew these things were acceptable to the god!
That which is good to oneself may be a sacrilege to the god,
That which is wretched to one’s heart may be good to one’s god.
Who can learn the plan of the gods in the heavens?
Who understands the counsel of the deep?
Where did humanity learn the way of the gods?
The one who lived in strength died in distress.
In one moment a person is worried then suddenly becomes exuberant,
In one instant he sings with jubilation,
The next he groans like a mourner.
Their destiny changes in a blink of the eye.
When they are hungry, they turn into corpses,
When they are sated, they rival their god.
In the good times they speak of ascending to the heavens,
When they become distressed, they talk of descending to the netherworld.
I have . . . these things, but I have not learn[ed] their meaning.
[As for] me, the wear[ied one], a storm was dr[iv]ing me.
Debilitating sickness advanced against me,
Evil wind [from] the [hor]izon blew against me.
Headache cropped up from the surface of the netherworld,
A wicked demon/cough came forth from its Apsu.
An un[relen]ting ghost came forth from Ekur,
Lamashtu c[am]e down from the midst of the mountain.
Shivering streamed in with the waters of the inundation,
Debility broke through the soil with the crops.
They [joined] their forces, together they approached me.
They stru[ck my hea]d, they covered my skull,
[My countena]nce darkened, my eyes welled-up.
They strained my neck muscles, they made my neck slack,
They struck my chest, they beat my breast.
They attacked my back, they threw me into convulsions,
They kindled a fire in my chest.
They roiled my innards, they twisted my guts,
They infected [my lun]gs with coughing and phlegm,
They inflicted my limbs with liʾbu, they made my belly feel queasy.
My high stature they demolished like a wall,
My broad build they leveled like rushes,
I was thrown down like an uliltu, cast down on my face.
A malevolent demon clothed my body as a garment,
Sleep covered me like a net.
They were staring, but my eyes could did not see,
They were open, but my ears could not hear.
Numbness had seized my entire body,
Paralysis had fallen upon my flesh.
Stiffness had apprehended my arms,
Debility had fallen on my legs,
My feet forgot mobility.
[A bl]ow? over took me, I choked like one fallen,
Death [has]tened? to shroud my face.
[He was acc]using me, but I could not answer the interrogator,
“[Wo]e!” they were crying, but I could not control myself.
A trap was laid on my mouth,
And a bolt barred my lips.
My [g]ate was bolted, my watering place sealed up,
My hunger [pr]olonged, my thr[oa]t blocked.
If it was grain, I would swallow it like stinkweed,
Beer, the sustenance of people, had become displeasing to me.
Indeed, my sickness stretched on.
Through lack of food, my countenance chan[ged],
My flesh had wasted away, my blood drai[ned].
My bones became visible, covering [my] sk[in],
My tissues were inflamed, affli[cted] with jaundice(?).
I took to a sick-bed of confinement, going out was a hards[hip],
My house became my prison.
A fetter for my flesh, my arms were useless,
A shackle to my person, my feet were done for.
My afflictions were severe, the wound gra[ve]
The whip that beat me was full of thorns,
A goad covered with thorns pricked me.
All day long a persecutor would pursue [me],
At night he did not let me breathe freely for a moment.
Through constant turning my sinews were loosened,
My limbs were splayed, just hanging apart.
I would spend the night in my own filth like an ox,
I would wallow in my own excrement like a sheep.
The exorcist was scared by my symptoms,
And the diviner confused my omens.
110 The exorcist could not reveal the nature of my illness,
And the diviner did not give the duration of my sickness.
My god did not rush in to help, he did not take my hand,
My goddess did not have mercy on me, she did not walk alongside.
My grave lay open, my funerary goods prepared,
Before my death, mourning for me was completed.
My entire land said about me, “How wronged is he!”
When my ill-wisher heard, his face brightened,
When they informed my nemesis, her mood became radiant.
The day grew dark for my entire family,
For those among my friends their sun darkened.
Tablet 3
His hand23 was so heavy I could not bear it,
My dread of him was [ove]rwhelming, I [. . .].
His furious [pun]ishment [. . .] flood,
Whose advance was [aggres]sive?, it [. . .].
[Sev]ere, serious illness does not . . . [my] perso[n],
I forgot alertness, [. . .] made me delirious.
[D]ay and night alike I would m[oan],
Dreaming and waking moments both aff[licted me].
There was a singular man, extraordinary in fo[rm],
Magnificent in physique, clo[th]ed in new garments.
Because I was just waking up, his outline la[cke]d form,
He was clad in radiance, clothed in aw[e].
[He en]tered and stood over [m]e,
When [I saw] him, [my] flesh was paralyzed.
[He said], “Your lord sent [me].”
[. . .] he stood, they were suffering [. . .].
“[Gath]er? here, and I will speak their will.
“The men [that] the king sent,
“They were silent, [n]o [one] answered me,
“I was looking at those who heard me.”
I s[aw] a dream a sec[ond t]ime.
In the dream I saw at nig[ht],
There was a singular purification priest bearing [a ritual water vessel],
He was holding in [his ha]nd a purifying t[ama]risk rod.
“Laluralimma, resident of Nippur,
Has sent m[e] to purify you,” he said.
He po[ured] the water that he was carrying over me,
He pronounced the incantation of life and massaged [my bod]y.
I s[aw] a dream for a third time.
In the dream that I saw at ni[ght],
There was a singul[ar] young woman, [whose] app[earance] was beautiful,
[. . .] like a human but eq[ual] to a god.
A queen of people [. . .]
She entered and sat [down beside me].
She ordered my deliverance: “He is utterly exhausted,
“Do not fear,” she said, “I will [. . .],
“And in whatever dream he saw [. . .].”
She spoke my deliverance, “He is greatly distr[essed],
“Whoever he be who saw a vi[sion] in the night.”
In the dream was Ur-Nintinugga of [B]abyl[on . . .]
A bearded man, crowned by his diadem,
An exorcist, carrying a writing-[board].
He said, “Marduk sent m[e].
I brought this band[age] to Shubshi-meshre-Shakkan.”
From his pure hands he brought a band[age],
He entr[usted] it into the hands of my ministrant.
[At] the time of waking he sent the mess[age],
He rev[ealed] his favorable sign to my people.
From the protracted illness, a snake [. . .],
The sickness cam[e to an] end quickly, [my] fe[tters] were broken.
After the heart of my lord was st[illed],
The mind of merciful Marduk was app[eased],
After [he accept]ed my prayers, my requests [. . .],
And re[ve]al[ed] his sweet [benevolent a]ttention [. . .].
[After he order]ed my deliverance by saying “he is u[tterly exhaus]ted,”
[Then . . .] to make manifest [. . .].
[. . .] to complete and [. . .]
[. . .] my sin [. . .]
[. . .] my iniquity [. . .]
[. . .] my transgression [. . .]
He caused the wind to carry off my acts of negligence,
[. . .] my curse [. . .].
Lines 63–64 are missing. Lines 65–66 are too fragmentary to derive sense.
. . . like . . .
[He a]pplied his spell, which d[rive]s away ev[il],
[He dr]ove the evil wind back to the horizon.
He expelled headache to the surface of the netherworld,
[He se]nt the wicked demon/cough back down to its Apsu.
He returned the unrelenting ghost to Ekur,
He overthrew Lamaštu, he made her ta[ke to] the mountain.
He made the current of the waters receive my chills, 75 He tore out the root of debility like a plan[t].
Unpleasant sleep, the pouring out of slumber—
As though the heavens were filled with smoke—he sent away.
With “woe” and “alas” . . . and . . .,
He made rise like fog, he re[moved]
to the netherworld.
Constant headache, which was as hea[vy] as a [grind]ing stone—
He withdrew like the dew of ni[gh]t, he dr[ove] it away from me.
My blurred eyes, which were cov[er]ed with the pall of de[ath]—
He removed the pall far, far away, he brightened my vis[ion].
My ears, which were clogged, stopped up like a deaf man’s—
He removed their wax, he opened my hearing.
My nose, [whose br]eathing was blocked with the onset of fever—
He relieved its illness so that I could [soon] breathe freely.
My lips, which were raging and took [. . .]—
He wiped away their fear, he rel[eased] their bond.
My mouth, which was closed up so that speaking was diff[icult],
He polished like copper, its dirt [. . .]
My [tee]th, which were clenched, bo[und] together—
He opened their binding and made their roots [. . .].
My tongue, which was bound so that it c[ould no]t move about—
He wiped away its thickness so that [my] speech became clear?.
My throat, which was constricted, blocked as with a lump,
He made well and caused it t[o sou]nd its songs like a reed flute.
My throat, which was swollen and would not [acc]ept [food],
Its swelling went down, and he opened its stoppage.
My [. . .] are high, its rain [. . .],
The heaped up [. . .] on high, [. . .] he poured out.
[. . . which] was darkened, like . . . [. . .]
[. . .] of his, a song [. . .]
The large intestine, which was always empty due to hunger and woven together like a basket,
[. . .] water, its swelling?
[. . .].
It accepts meals, it takes drink.
[. . .] . . . [. . .] I flourished.
Tablet V
My [lo]rd [soo]thed me,
My [lo]rd bandaged me.
My [lo]rd removed affliction from me,
My [lo]rd revived me.
[From the pi]t he rescued me,
[. . .he g]athered me up.
[From disas]ter he raised me up,
He pulled me out of the Hubur River.
He held my hand through adversity.
He struck me on the right,
And raised my head on the left.
He struck the hand of my striker,
Marduk made him throw down his weapon.
On the mouth of the lion eating me,
Marduk put a muzzle.
Marduk, that of my pursuer,
Snatched his sling, turned back his sling stone.
He snatched the shovel from the hands of my grave-digger.
He forced the harp? from the hands of the male-wailer,
He made the mouth of my female-mourner cease lamentation.
He fille[d] the mouth of my male-gloater with woe,
The mouth of my female-gloater [. . .].
He recited a mourning rite [. . .].
[. . .] . . . [. . .]
[. . .] . . . [. . .]
He took me [. . .] to the city square,
He brought me into the presence of [. . .].
[. . .] . . . Marduk,
. . . [. . .] Zarpan[itu] made strong? / delayed? / helped? .
Who might it have been? The lord released m[e].
Had my life quickly come to an end? Ye[s].
Was I not descending to the netherworld? Y[es].
Had I turned into a ghost? Yes.
Who might it have been? Marduk spared m[e].
I was reckoned as the flesh of an asakku-demon.
A corpse . ? . I walked . . . [. . .].
They pur[ified me] by washing my matted hair,
My ablution and renewal . . . [. . .].
And he swore that he heard in my prayer [. . .],
[I went up] to Esagil for prostration and supplication.
I, who was from the grave, entered the Gate of [the Rising Sun] again.48
In the Gate of Prosperity, prosperity [. . .].
In the Gate of . ? . the Divine Guardian, a divine guardian appro[ached me].
In the Gate of Well-Being, I loo[ked upon] well-being.
In the Gate of Life, I was granted life.
In the Gate of the Rising Sun, I was counted among the living.
In the Gate of Brilliant Astonishment, my signs became clear.
In the Gate of the Releasing of Guilt, my bond was released.
In the Gate of Praise, my mouth inquired.
In the Gate of Releasing Sighing, my sighing was released.
In the Gate of Pure Water, I was sprinkled with water of purification.
In the Gate of Well-being, I was seen with Marduk.
In the Gate Sprinkled with Luxury, I kissed the feet of Zarpanitu.
I continually prayed before them with entreaties and intense supplication.
I offered fragrant incense before them,
I presented an offering, a gift, heaped up donations.
I sacrificed fattened bulls, slaughtered prime sheep(?),
I continually poured out sweet karanu-beer and pure wine.
As for the protective spirit and divine guardian, the divine attendants of the brickwork of Esagil,
[With] a libation I brightened their mood,
[With] an opulent [mea]l I made their heart rejoice.
[The door jamb, the b]olt socket, the bar of the doors,
[I . . .] sesame oil, ghee, and the abundance of grain.
[. . .] . . . [to E]zida?, to the rites (ordinance)50 of the temple,
. . . red-gold grain . . .
I continuously sprinkled fragrant cedar-oil on them [. . .].
The citizens of Babylon [. . .] [a fe]ast,
The [peop]le?made/performed his house of burying at the feast.
The citizens of Babylon saw how he (i.e., Marduk) revived [hi]s [servant],
Every one of their mouths extolled [his] greatness, saying:
“Who thought52 he would see the light of his sun again?
“Who imagined53 he would stroll along his street again?
“Who but Marduk could restore him from the dead?
Which goddess but Zarpanitu could give him his life?
Marduk is able to revive from the grave,
“Zarpanitu is experienced at sparing from disaster.
“Wherever the earth is established, the heavens stretched out,
“The sun shines and fire54 blazes,
“Wherever water flows and wind blows,
“Those whose lump of clay Aruru pinched off,
“[Li]ving beings, who walk along,
“As many [peo]ple as there are, praise Marduk!”
[. . .] I have answered [. . .], those who were established by testimony,
[. . .] may he rule over [a]ll the people.
[. . .] [she]pherd of all the inhabi[ted world],
[. . .] the floods from the d[ee]p [. . .].
[. . .] sanctuary of the gods [. . .]
[. . .] the extent of the heavens and the [earth]
[. . .] help?
. . . [. . .]
[. . .] . ? .
[. . .] . . . [. . .]
[. . .] light, may [. . .]
[. . .] and the seas . . . [. . .]
[. . .] . . . [. . .] 95 [May he establish?
] the days of his reign . . . [. . .]
[Livin]g?beings . . . [. . .]
[. . .] days [. . .] life
[. . .] Esagi[la . . .] . . . its roots
[. . . of hea]ven, may he spread his offspring
[. . . Nazi]murutash [. . .] . . . was forgotten
[Living?] bein[gs . . .] his days?
[. . .] . . . they?
turned his city . . .
[. . .] may he rule over the people, the black-headed ones.
[. . . Zarpa]nitu, mercy of Marduk
[. . .] . . . and Babylon, the splendid light?/army?of the king
May [. . .] be called to goodness [forever af]ter.
May [. . .] enjoy [. . . happ]iness of life.
[. . .] . . . heavens . . . may he possess.
[. . . may he s]atisfy his desire.
[. . .] over his subjects
[. . .] Shubshi-meshre-Shakkan
[. . . Sum]er and Akkad, who governs the land
[The one who] experienced [troub]le, let his sin be released,
[. . .] may his fatigue be put to rest.
[. . .] may his goddess treat him with honor,
[. . .] may [his pe]ople become? healthy/in peace.
[. . .] may his [goddess]s treat him with honor,
May he stroll along [in . . .] and happiness of heart daily.
[. . .] the song [. . .] Shubshi-meshre-Shakkan,
He sang [your] prai[ses (. . .?)], your praise is sweet.