Step 4 of 7

I Say a Little Prayer

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Fig 6: Statue of the goddess Nikkal (or Ningal), found in Ur - Penn Museum - [B16229](https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/53090) — Fig 6: Statue of the goddess Nikkal (or Ningal), found in Ur - Penn Museum - B16229

These are the lyrics. It is a hymn to the goddess Nikkal. The lyrics of the hymn are neatly separated from the musical notation by a double line.From Seven Songs From Ancient Mesopotamia, reconstructed by Richard Dumbrill and sung by Soprano Sevan Habib - Youtube link

Before being introduced in Ugarit, the goddess Nikkal (Fig 6) occupied a high position in the Sumerian pantheon where she was responsible for fertility and motherhood. These aspects of hers are represented in the lyrics of the Hurrian Hymn After T. Krispijn, ‘Musik in Keilschrift. Beitrage zur altorientalischen Musikforschung 2,’ in E. Hickmann, A. D. Kilmer, R. Eichmann (eds), Studien zur Musikarchäologie Band 3 (Rahden/Westfalen, 2000), 465-479.

To those, who make sacrifices to you Prepare two sacrificial loaves in your bowls Before which I will make a sacrifice to you You have dedicated your gifts to heaven for your welfare and fortune

At the silver sword symbol to the right of your feet have I offered them I want to repulse my sins Without concealing them or denying them, I will bring them to you In order to be in your favor

You love the ones who come in order to be reconciled I have come to submit them to you And to repulse them through a ritual of reconciliation I will honor you and will not […] at your footstool

Nikkal is the one who will strengthen them She will let the married ones have children She will let them be born to their fathers But the bearer will cry out: She has not borne a child. Why have I as a woman not born a child to you?

As far as we can understand the Hurrian, these lyrics may be clear. The musical notation, however, remains a point of contention among scholars.