The Tablet of Destinies & the Fixing of Fates
Whoever holds the tablet on which fates are written holds the cosmos itself.
The gods are imagined as decreeing 'destinies' — the allotted fate (Akkadian shimtu) of each person, city, and thing. This power is concentrated in a mythic 'Tablet of Destinies,' possession of which makes its holder supreme. In the Anzu epic the bird steals it from Enlil and must be defeated to restore order; in Enuma Elish Marduk seizes it. Fate here is not blind: it is a decree, written and sealed, that can in principle be appealed, reaffirmed at the New Year, or altered by the gods who issued it.
Key passages(11)
Inscription A Lacuna [... f ] or oracl [ es... May ] the Igīgū gods... [... ] May the Anunnakū gods reverently [ look after ] the skillfully crafted things that [ I... ] in [... ]. Inscription B [ The
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[... ]... [... ] he made (them) billow. [... ], to cause the rain to fall, [... ] the fog [... ], to pile up her (Tiamat's) poison, [... ] to himself (and) he took (it) in his hand. He put down her he
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The Seal of Destinies [ by which ] (the god) Aššur, king of the gods, seals (the destinies of) the Igīgū and Anunnakū gods, the heavens, the netherworld, and man [ kind ]. Whatever he seals cannot be
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(Anzu saying to Ninurta:)' [... ] all the gods [... ]. ' [... ] you [.. ] have come [... ] battle with me? [... ] your reason!' [... ] the utterance of his mouth came forth, [... ] answered Anzu (Ninu
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An adab to An for Lipit-Eštar (Lipit-Eštar C)
The august lord, pre-eminent, with the most complex divine powers, almighty grandfather of all the lords -- barsud. -- head high, surpassing everyone, breed-bull, who makes the seeds sprout, whose n
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Lacuna Moreover, I struck with the sword Teušpâ, [ a Cimmerian, together with his entire army, in the territory of the land Ḫubušnu ]; I conquered [ Sidon, which is in the midst of the sea, caught [ A
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At his command your weapon struck me evilly. As I let the divine powers go out of my hand, these divine powers returned to the abzu. As I let the divine plan go out of my hand, this divine plan return
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[... ] of rulership, [... ] he (Marduk) took up residence [... ] sovereignty. (The gods said to Marduk:)' [... ] the great gods, ' [... ], your speech is Anu. ' [... ] among the great gods, ' [... ] i
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