[389] _I.e._, the gods presiding over the watches. [390] Her words dissolve like wax and honey. [391] Supposed to be situated at the northern point of the heavens. [392] The vault of heaven was pictured as having two gates. [393] So that the witch cannot leave her habitation. [394] With the order 'to cast the lock,' etc. [395] To prevent her from uttering her charms. [396] The following four lines constitute the incantation. [397] _I.e._, the witches. [398] See above, p. 278, where one has been given. [399] Maklu, I. 122-143. [400] The fiery element belongs to all three divisions of the universe,--to heaven, earth, and water. [401] Maklu, III. ll. 89-103. [402] Many of the seals used by the Babylonians were of white stone or bone. [403] Zimmern's edition, pp. 25-29. [404] _I.e._, the evil word. [405] His protecting deity has deserted him. [406] Of his body. [407] _I.e._, whoever may have invoked the evil demon to settle upon him. [408] The translation of these lines follows in all but some minor passages the correct one given by Sayce, _Hibbert Lectures_, p. 446. [409] Of the sick man. [410] Zimmern, _Die Beschwoerungstafeln Shurpu_, pp. 5, 6. [411] In mercantile transactions. [412] _I.e._, lied. [413] _I.e._, did he say one thing, but mean the contrary? [414] Zimmern, _ib._ pp. 13-20. [415] For details as to the manner in which this editing was done, see King's admirable remarks in the Introduction to his _Babylonian Magic and Sorcery_, pp. xx-xxiv. CHAPTER XVII. THE PRAYERS AND HYMNS. From what has just been said, it follows that the step from magical formulas to prayers and hymns is but a small one, and does not, indeed, carry with it the implication of changed or higher religious conceptions. While the incantation texts in their entirety may be regarded as the oldest _fixed_ ritual of the Babylonian-Assyrian religion, there were occasions even in the oldest period of Babylonian history when the gods were approached in prayer without the accompaniment of magic formulas. Such occasions were the celebration of festivals in honor of the gods, the dedication of temples or of sacred statues, and the completion of such purely secular undertakings as the building of a canal. Gudea, we are told, upon completing a statue to his god Nin-girsu, prayed: 'O King, whose great strength the land cannot endure (?); Nin-girsu! grant to Gudea, who has built this house, a good fate.'[416] As in the earliest, so in the latest, period, the Babylonian kings approach the gods in prayer upon completing their great sacred edifices. The prayers of Nebuchadnezzar are particularly fine--remarkable, indeed, for their diction and elevation of thought. Upon completing the restoration of a temple to Nin-karrak or Gula in Sippar, he prays:[417]