Despite advances in Assyriology in recent decades, many issues concerning the Sumero-Akkadian religious texts remain unresolved. One such issue is the precise nature of the prayers modern scholars call Šuilas (literally, “hand-lifting”) based on the characteristic subscript, KA.INIM.MA ŠU.ÍL.LA/LÁ DN-KÁM, “wordings of Šuila of DN”. The book under review is a revised version of the author's 2005 Harvard ThD thesis, dealing with three major issues concerning Akkadian šuilla-prayers: 1) the exact significance of the “šuilla-rubrics”; 2) the significance of the hand-lifting gesture based on examination of textual and iconographic evidence; and 3) the difference between the “šuilla-prayers” and other “ritual-prayers”.
Although some scholars have suggested that the ŠU.ÍL.LÁ-rubric does not refer to any special genre at all, but is simply a generic term for “prayers”, (cf. p. 114), Frechette, in agreement with Daisuke Shibata's unpublished Heidelberg PhD thesis, argues that the gesture of hand-lifting signifies “salutation” and that, in consequence, the “the rubric alludes to the function of šuillas as greetings to a deity” with “the specific function of establishing a favorable relationship with a high-ranking deity and so gaining help, especially in reconciling with other deities, especially one's personal gods” (p. 2 and passim).
On p. 28, Frechette claims that “šuilla terms expressed a communicative gesture whose purpose was to gain [recognition and favorable reception from the authority with whom an audience was sought] … [Š]uilla terms are associated with spoken prayer or supplication … However, this idiom [i.e. ŠU.ÍL.LÁ] remained distinct from terms for prayers” (p. 28). His argument for distinguishing “šuillas” from the prayers actually recited and for taking the term as referring to the gesture of “greeting” or “salutation” rests on his assumption that “[šuillas] were enacted prior to prayers” and that they were “received, seen, or given attention but not spoken or heard” (p. 28 and passim). His interpretation of the special character of šuilla-prayers, however, is not supported by the textual evidence that he presents. In fact, he hardly ever alludes to prayers other than the incantation-prayers that he treats in his book.
Frechette relates the gesture of hand-lifting solely to karābu, which he translates as a verb “to bless, greet” (p. 34). Against this interpretation, however, Landsberger had already observed that the verb karābu in fact describes very complex interactions between the human and a king/deity and thus can have other meanings, such as “to utter formulae of prayer/blessing, praise, worship” depending on context (p. 33). Moreover, as Frechette himself notes, the words denoting the hand-lifting prayers, nīš qāti and šuillakku, are frequently attested as synonyms for the words meaning “prayer” or “words, speech” in general (p. 16). Like A. Zgoll, Frechette claims that šuilla-prayers “tend to include a relatively lengthy” and “well phrased” expression of praise to the deities addressed (p. 134). This, however, is not unique to šuilla-prayers: one finds the same tendency in other Akkadian prayers. Even private prayers engraved on cylinder seals from the Kassite period often include praise to a deity with wording similar to šuilla-prayers, and this praise is often longer than the petition itself. Frechette also fails to realize that, as in English, the Akkadian verbs meaning “to take, accept”, i.e. leqû, mahāru and magāru, refer not only to the acceptance of “šuillas” as salutary gestures (e.g. p. 20), but also to the acceptance of prayers in general. Incidentally, as the CAD translation of qâlu = “to heed” suggests (e.g. CAD Q, p. 72), this verb is frequently used as a synonym of šemû, “to hear, listen to”. Put simply, the ancient thinkers regarded šuilla-prayers as belonging to the prayer genre and the hand-lifting gesture as a typical act of praying.
One may, therefore, ask what ŠU.ÍL.LÁ as such signified. Through an examination of ancient ritual texts, Frechette notes that the recitation of a prayer with the hand-lifting gesture formed part of a larger ritual, normally being performed prior to other ritual acts accompanying the recitation of a prayer/incantation such as Namburbi, (e.g. pp. 165, 225). Thus he concludes that the rubric KA.INIM.MA ŠU.ÍL.LÁ refers to the formulae recited during such ritual acts. To explain the ritual surrounding a šuilla, I would like to examine BMS 12, a healing ritual incorporating a šuilla-prayer to Marduk (pp. 212–14; Marduk 5 in Appendix 3). As Frechette notes (p. 213), this prayer was recited after preparing the materials for four amulets but prior to performing the magical procedures of applying a salve, anointing the client, producing the amulets and reciting another incantation over the amulets. The healing ritual concluded by placing the amulets on the patient and giving assurance for an auspicious result. The same pattern, i.e. recitation of a šuilla-prayer before the ritual act(s) completing the ceremony, recurs in the other rituals Frechette discusses (pp. 165 ff.). In short, the hand-lifting gesture accompanied by recitation of a šuilla-prayer was a preliminary to the main cultic action. Thus one may further develop Frechette's main thesis and suggest that ŠU.ÍL.LÁ meant not simply a gesture of salutation or greeting performed before beginning to pray, but instead a preliminary prayerful act intended to demonstrate one's submission and piety in order to call for the divine presence/intervention or request permission to approach the deity.
This book contains much useful information, including: an up-to-date list of šuilla-prayers with and without the typical rubric (Appendix 3); references to the gesture of hand-lifting in Akkadian texts (Appendix 1 and 2); and a bibliography covering many aspects of Akkadian šuilla-prayers and prayers in general. Frechette has undertaken a thorough study of the secondary literature on Sumero-Akkadian prayers, some of which has not yet been published. Thus, we welcome this new contribution in the study of Mesopotamian religious texts.
