Let Me Praise the Lord of Wisdom

Babylonian wisdom poem of roughly 480 lines across four tablets, known by its Akkadian incipit Ludlul bēl nēmeqi ("Let me praise the Lord of Wisdom") and composed during the Kassite period (c. fourteenth–twelfth century BCE). Spoken in the first person by the Babylonian courtier Šubši-mešrê-Šakkan, it laments his inexplicable abandonment by his personal deities, his social ruin and physical torment despite pious observance, and his miraculous restoration by Marduk and his consort Zarpanitu.

Core Themes

• Theodicy and the inscrutability of divine judgment (Divine Justice): "Who can learn the counsel of the gods in the midst of heaven? Who can understand the plans of the underworld gods?"
• Dual aspect of Marduk's power in the opening hymn: his wrath is a devastating deluge, yet his morning mercy revives the dying sufferer.
• Three prophetic dream visions leading to the sufferer's purification and ceremonial procession through the twelve gates of the Esagila temple in Babylon.

Primary Text & Editions

• Untranslated Akkadian (cuneiform & transliteration): electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) III.1 — Ludlul bēl nēmeqi Tablets I–IV
• English translation & lemmatized edition: Oracc CAMS/GKAB — Ludlul bēl nēmeqi; eBL Parallel English Translation
• Primary tablet witnesses (CDLI): Nineveh (K.3291+), Sippar & Sultantepe tablets on CDLI
• Critical edition: Lambert, W. G. 1960. Babylonian Wisdom Literature. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 21–62; Annus, A., and A. Lenzi. 2010. Ludlul bēl nēmeqi: The Standard Babylonian Poem of the Righteous Sufferer (SAACT 7); Oshima, T. 2014. Babylonian Poems of Pious Sufferers.

Related Concepts & Sources

Marduk (the "Lord of Wisdom"), Babylon (Esagila temple setting), Divine Justice (theodicy), Enuma Elish (exaltation of Marduk)