A witness reading. A Vigslist translation.
Incantation fragment with the šuʾila Nusku 4 line — a right-hand corner fragment from Nineveh whose preserved lines move between ritual instructions, sin-disposal formulae, and birdcall material.
A witness reading. Tier W — witness-scoped only. No composition-level claim is made for this piece, and the composition-level claim is not merely withheld but closed. The reverse’s line 10 is identified on the record itself as the šuʾila Nusku 4, a composition that stands edited and translated from its main witness KAR 58: editions Ebeling (1953), pp. 38–41; Mayer (1976), pp. 485–486; Butler (1998), pp. 339–348; Panayotov (2016), pp. 36–47; translations Foster (2005), p. 717; Falkenstein & von Soden (1953), pp. 351–352; Seux (1976), pp. 254–255 (Corpus of Akkadian Shuila Prayers Online, Q006146). What is printed here is a line-by-line English rendering of this witness’s preserved text. Because the tablet is a right-hand corner, every line is broken at its left; the English stops where the signs stop.
One fragment: K.2559, British Museum, Kuyunjik Collection — the right-hand corner of a clay tablet, 5.71 × 8.25 × 3.17 cm, Nineveh, Neo-Assyrian script and period. CDLI number on the record: P394512; the CDLI page carries metadata and a photograph only — no transliteration, no translation. The record describes it as a fragment from a mythological text, probably referring to religious ceremonies; its genre on the record is Canonical / Magic. Language: Akkadian.
K.2559 is not a copy of one composition. The preserved text moves between ritual instructions (obv. 4′–16′: burying, libating beer and wine, a he-goat for the Apsu, binding), the sin-disposal formulae (obv. 17′; rev. 4–6 and 19: “let me cast down my sin, (as) a fish, into the Apsu”; “like smoke may it rise to heaven”), the šuʾila Nusku 4 line at rev. 10, and birdcall material (rev. 13–14 and 17 — the arbanû, “the bird of Marduk,” and the TU-bird addressing Nergal). Any claim about this piece is a claim about this witness’s mixed contents, line by line — which is why the posture is witness-scoped.
Transliteration exactly as the record serves it. Counts: 38 line-units — 0 whole, 27 part, 11 fragments, 0 invented (obverse 1′–18′, reverse 1–20). Dragon scan: none — no ušumgal, muš, mušḫuššu, or bašmu as a creature stands in the text. The nearest look-alike is MUŠEN, “bird” (rev. 4 restored, rev. 13, and as the bird determinative at rev. 14 and 17): MUŠEN is the ordinary word for a bird and names the birds of the birdcall lines; it is not the serpent term muš.
1′. [...] EŠ.[BAR-a-a? (x x)]
“[…] … decision(?) … (x x)” (Fragment — an isolated word and traces; not rendered further.)
2′. [...] x x [(x)]
“[…] x x [(x)]” (Fragment — traces only; unrenderable.)
3′. [...-m]a da₃-li₂-li₂-ka lud-l[ul?]
“[…] let me proclaim your praise!” (Part.)
4′. [DU₃.DU₃.BI ...] te-qeb-bir
“[Its ritual procedure: …] you shall bury (it/him) […]” (Fragment — only the verb at the line's end is on the tablet; the rest is the record's restoration.)
5′. [... mi-ih]-ha GEŠTIN BAL-qi₂
“[…] mihhu-beer and wine you shall libate.” (Part.)
6′. [... M]AŠ₂.GAL ana ABZU
“[…] a he-goat to (into) the Apsu.” (Part.)
7′. [...]-tar?-šu₂ DU₈-ir
“[…] his … he released.” (Part — the word ending -tar?-šu₂ is unresolved.)
8′. [... 3?]-šu₂ DUG₄.GA-ma
“[…] his … he said, and […]” (Part.)
9′. [... KE]Š₂ KEŠ₂-as
“[…] he binds.” (Part.)
10′. [...-šu₂-n]u HUR-ir
“[…] their […] he digs out(?).” (Part — the verb HUR-ir is uncertain.)
11′. [...]-šu₂-nu HUR-ir
“[…] their […] he digs out(?).” (Part — same uncertainty as 10′.)
12′. [...] x BAL-qi₂
“[…] x you libate / it is libated.” (Part.)
13′. [...] DU₃-uš
“[…] he shall make.” (Fragment — one verb form only.)
14′. [...] IM-MEŠ (x)-ni
“[…] the winds …” (Fragment — broken at both ends of the preserved stretch; not rendered further.)
15′. [... M]IN MIN MIN
“[…] ditto, ditto, ditto.” (Part — MIN is the scribal ditto sign; the line carries no new wording.)
16′. [...] x SUM-in
“[…] x he gives.” (Fragment — the object of the giving is lost.)
17′. [ar-ni KU₆ ina ABZU? l]u-še-rid
“[Let me cast down my sin, (as) a fish, into the Apsu].” (Fragment — the line's opening is the record's bracketed restoration; only -u-še-rid, "…cast down," is on the tablet. The rendering follows the restored wording, credited to the record's editors; the same formula stands partly restored again at rev. 19.)
18′. [...] SU-šu₂
“[…] his body.” (Fragment — two signs only.)
1. [...]-ka GUB-az?
“[…] your […] stands.” (Part.)
2. [... D]AB? be-en-nu
“[…] bennu (the falling sickness / bennu-affliction) […]” (Part.)
3. [...] x-ši ana ŠU₂ {d}UTU-ši
“[…] … at sunset.” (Part.)
4. [ar-ni MUŠEN? ana AN]-e li-še-li
“[My sin, (as) a bird, to heav]en may it be raised.” (Fragment — the opening is the record's bracketed restoration; the preserved stretch is -e li-še-li, "…en, may it be raised." Cited in discussion by Reiner (1956), p. 148b.)
5. [...] x ša₂ ina SU-šu₂
“[…] x, which is in his body.” (Part.)
6. [... GIM qut-ri l]i-tel-li AN-e
“[… like smoke may it] rise to heaven.” (Part.)
7. [...]-ku?-šu₂ EGIR-šu₂ la i-sah-hur
“[…] his […] behind him shall not return.” (Part.)
8. [...]-šu₂? ina KUŠ MAŠ₂.GAL
“[…] his […] in the hide of a he-goat.” (Part.)
9. [...]-ta GAR-MEŠ-šu₂-nu-ti
“[…] you shall place them.” (Part.)
10. [ina IGI nu-ri NIG₂.NA {šim}LI] GAR-an {d}nuska MAN GE₆ ŠID-nu
“[You set a censer of juniper before the light.] O Nusku, king of the night, count (it)!” (Part. The record's own note on this line: "The incantation is the šuʾila Nusku 4. Restored after LKA 132 o 20–21." The bracketed opening is that restoration; the preserved text begins at GAR-an, "you set." Cited in discussion by Wiggermann (1992), p. 112.)
11. [...]-ti MUD₂ ŠAH ana UGU-šu₂-nu DUB-ak
“[…] pig's blood you sprinkle over them.” (Part.)
12. [...] GAR-an KAŠ.SAG BAL-qi₂
“[…] you set (it); fine beer you libate.” (Part.)
13. [...] x ar-ba-nu-u MUŠEN {d}AMAR.UTU DAB-bat
“[…] the arbanû, the bird of Marduk, seizes(?)” (Part — cited in Lambert's birdcall discussion, Anatolian Studies 20 (1970), p. 116; the syntax of the line as preserved is not certain.)
14. [...] x{mušen} ana {d}AMAR.UTU DUG₄.GA-ma
“[…] the …-bird says to Marduk, and […]” (Part.)
15. [... u]m?-ma-nu-ti₃ GIG
“[…] the skilled men(?) are ill.” (Part.)
16. [...] x-ma ana-ku HUL-šu₂ KUR BAL
“[…] … and I … his evil …” (Part — the closing group KUR BAL is left uninterpreted.)
17. [...] x-ki TU{mušen} ana {d}U.GUR qi₂-bi-i
“[…] the TU-bird … 'Say to Nergal: […]'” (Part.)
18. [... M]IN A MIN u ša₂-a-šu₂ lu-maš-šir₂-šu₂-ma
“[…] ditto, water, ditto — and that one, let me release him, and […]” (Part.)
19. [ar-ni KU₆? ina ABZ]U? lu-še-rid
“[Let me cast down my sin, (as) a fish, into the Aps]u.” (Fragment — the same formula as obv. 17′; the preserved stretch is U? lu-še-rid; most of the line is the record's bracketed restoration.)
20. [...] x {d}U?.G[UR? x (x x)] ---
“[…] x Nergal(?) … x (x x)” (Fragment — traces and a partly restored divine name; the record's own alternative note reads: "or […] x MAŠ₂.[GAL …]?" — not rendered beyond what is printed.)
Witness reading, K.2559. The šuʾila Nusku 4 composition stands edited and translated from KAR 58, as credited above; no composition-level claim is made for this piece. Published 2026-10-23. A Vigslist translation.
Built 2026-10-23 from the Second Collection of the Vigslist translations program (October 23, 2026).
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