Literary Texts from the Sippar Library IV: A “Macranthropic” Hymn to Ninurta

Abstract

The article contains an edition of a hymn to Ninurta in which the god is represented as a man of cosmic proportions, a “macranthrope,” and the major gods of the Mesopotamian pantheon are presented as parts of his body, his garment, and his weaponry. It seems likely that the hymn, which contains many creative images, was composed in Kassite Nippur, and that the image of Ninurta it portrays was a cult statue of the god. A new manuscript from the Sippar Library enables the almost complete restoration of the text.