Daily Devotional to the House of Enlil

Daily Devotional to the House of Enlil

Originally published in Evil Speech Stand Aside

Ekur (literally “mountain house”) is the name of the historical temple to Enlil in the Sumerian city Nippur. It was seen as the connection point between the earth and the heavens. It is a landmark which still stands, albeit in ruins, to this day in modern day Afak, Iraq. It was one of the most important temples in ancient Sumer and one which is referenced in numerous hymns and incantations.

This ritual is based on the text of “A Hymn to the Ekur”, and intended to be used as a daily devotional to serve to connect our practice with one of the few still standing holy sites of ancient Sumer and serve as a daily reminder us of who we are and from where our practice comes.

At the time of this writing, the present political climate unfortunately does not allow for it, but if in the future it becomes possible to do so safely, it would be advantageous for the Ishib, at least once in their life, to make a pilgrimage to the Ekur to perform this practice before the house of Enlil in person.

Perform the following incantation at the end of each day while making the orans sign and facing the direction of the Ekur:

The great house is as great as a mountain. The house of Enlil is as great as a mountain. The house of Ninlil is as great as a mountain.

Its ĝišgiĝal.

For him who declares it, for him who declares it, the house comes forth like the daylight.

ts ĝišgiĝal.

The house towers high in full grandeur; in its midst is a mountain of aromatic cedars.

Its ĝišgiĝal.

Its king is worthy of Enlil the king in the true house of youth. The hero Ninurta is worthy of Enlil the king in the true house of youth. He is the favourite of Enlil.

Its ĝišgiĝal.

Sources Cited

Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Ebeling, J., Flückiger-Hawker, E., Robson, E., Taylor, J., and Zólyomi, G., The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/), Oxford 1998–2006.