tion before the goddess Ishtar. Three times shalt thou recite . . . and thou shalt not look behind thee.
Incantation. “O exalted Ishtar, that givest light unto the four quarters of the world.”
[This] copy from Borsippa, like unto its archetype, has Nergal-balāṭsu-iḳbi, the son of Atarad-kalme, magician,
Written for [the preservation of] his life, and has revised it, and deposited it in the temple of E-sagila.[1]
(III)[2]
O my god, who art angry with me, turn [thy face?] towards me!
O my goddess, who viewest me with displeasure, receive my prayer!
Receive my prayer! Let thy soul be pacified!
O my lord, forgiving and merciful,
Who guidest the span of life and softenest death, receive my supplication!
O my goddess, look favourably upon me, accept my prayer!
May my sins be absolved, and my misdeeds forgotten!
May the evil spell be broken and the fetters loosened!
May my sighing be carried away by the seven winds!
Let me rend asunder the evil, let the bird take it away to heaven!
May the fish take off my trouble, let the stream bear it away!
May the beasts of the field carry it away from me, and wash it away in flowing water!
Make me bright like a golden cord (?)!
