Department of the Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East

Tooth Worm Incantation read by Alex Barker

After the cuneiform copy by L. W. King in Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum vol. 17 (1901), plates 50-51. Italics in the translation signify uncertainty.

Line	Original transcription	English Translation
1’	ultu anum ibnû šamê	After Anum (the sky god) created the heavens,
2’	šamû ibnû erṣetum	(and) the heavens created the earth,
3’	erṣetum ibnû nārāti	(and) the earth created rivers,
4’	nārātu ibnâ atappāti	(and) rivers created canals,
5’	atappāti ibnâ rušumta	(and) canals created mud,
6’	rušumta ibnû tūltu	(and) mud created the worm,
7’	illik tūltu ana pan šamši ibakki	the worm went crying before Šamaš,
8’	ana pan ea illakā dimāša	its tears flowed before Ea:
9’	mīná tattanna ana akāliya	“What have you given for me to eat?
10’	mīná tattanna ana munzuqiya	What have you given for me to suck?”
11’-12’	attannakki titta bašilta armannaya hašhūra	“I have given you the ripe fig and the apricot”
13’-14’	anāku ammīnannâ titta bašilta u armannaya hašhūra	“What good is that to me, the ripe fig and the apricot?
15’-16’	šuknanni-ma ina birīt šinni u lašhi šūšibanni	Place me and let me dwell between tooth and gum,
17’	ša šinni-ma lunzuqa damīšu	so I can suck the tooth’s blood
18’-19’	u ša lašhim luksu[p] kusāpēšu	and mince up the gum!”
20’	sikkata rite-ma šēpa ṣabat	Drive in the peg and seize the foot (while saying:)
21’	aššum annâ taqbî tūltu	“Because you said this, worm,
22’-23’	limhaṣki ea ina dannati rittišu	may Ea strike you with his mighty hand!”

Lines 9’-10’ – context suggests that tattanna has future sense (“what will you give?”), though this is grammatically difficult. (Cf. the analogous situation in Gilgameš XI 275, 280)

Lines 18’-19’ – also possible: luksu[s] kusāsēšu, with similar sense.