As creeping things of the vast desert, cry
I unto thee outstretched on Erech's sod;
And from the river's lowest depths I pray;
My heart cause thou to shine like polished gold,
Though food and drink of Nin-a-zu[14] this day
Be mine, while worms and death thy servant fold.
Oh, from thine altar me support, protect,
In low humility I pray, forgive!
Feed me with joy, my dreams with grace direct;
The dream I dreamed, oh favorable give
To me its omen filled with happiness!
May Mak-hir,[15] god of dreams, my couch invest!
With visions of Bit-sag-gal my heart bless,
The temple of the gods, of Nin, with rest
Unbroken, and to Merodach I pray!
The favoring one, to prosper me and mine:
[16]Oh, may thy entering exalted be!
And thy divinity with glory shine,
And may our city shine with glowing meads,
And all my people praise thy glorious deeds."
Now to Euphrates' banks the Sar and seers
Their footsteps turn to pray into the ears
Of Hea,[17] where, in white, a band of priests
Drawn in a crescent, Izdubar invests.
Now at the water's edge he leans, his hands
Dips in the waves, and pours upon the sands
The sparkling drops, while all a hymn descant
To Hea, thus the incantation chant:

"O chant our incantation to the waters pure,