It is rather unfortunate that many of the hymns found in the library of Ashurbanabal are in so fragmentary a condition. As a consequence we are frequently unable to determine more than their general contents. The colophons generally are missing,--at least in those hymns hitherto published,[424]--so that we are left in the dark as to the special occasion for which the hymn was composed. Without this knowledge it is quite impossible to assign to it any definite date except upon internal evidence. In the course of time, the hymnal literature of the great temples of Babylonia must have grown to large proportions, and, in collecting them, some system was certainly followed by the priests engaged in this work. There is evidence of a collection having been made at some time of hymns addressed to Shamash. Some of these were intended as a salute upon the sun's rising, others celebrated his setting. These hymns convey the impression of having been composed for the worship of the god in one of his great temples--perhaps in E-babbara, at Sippar. We have several hymns also addressed to Marduk, and one can well suppose that at the great temple E-sagila, in Babylon, a collection of Marduk hymns must have been prepared, and so for others of the great gods. But, again, many of the hymns convey the impression of being merely sporadic productions--composed for certain occasions, and without any reference to a possible position in a ritual. Of the hymns so far published, those to Shamash are probably the finest. The conception of the sun-god as the judge of mankind lent itself readily to an ethical elaboration. Accordingly, we find in these hymns justice and righteousness as the two prominent themes. A striking passage in one of these hymns reads:[425] The law of mankind dost thou direct, Eternally just in the heavens art thou, Of faithful judgment towards all the world art thou. Thou knowest what is right, thou knowest what is wrong. O Shamash! Righteousness has lifted up its neck(?); O Shamash! Wrong like a ---- has been cut(?); O Shamash! The support of Anu and Bel art thou; O Shamash! Supreme judge of heaven and earth art thou. After a break in the tablet, the hymn continues: O Shamash! Supreme judge, great lord of all the world art thou; Lord of creation, merciful one of the world art thou. The following lines now reveal the purpose of the hymn. It is a prayer for the life of the king: O Shamash! on this day purify and cleanse the king, the son of his god. Whatever is evil within him, let it be taken out. The next few lines are a distinct echo of the incantation formulas, and show how readily prayer passes from a higher to a lower stage of thought: Cleanse him like a vessel ----[426] Illumine him like a vessel of ----[426] Like the copper of a polished tablet,[427] let him be bright. Release him from the ban.