1. Stones to be Preserved and Adapted to Other Use
There are forty-one
named stones in the text that are preserved and used elsewhere.
These are the Cu, Gasura, Esi, Kagina, Jicnugal, Ducia, Nin, Gug,
Zagin, Amal-Pa-Ed, Laba, Jurizum, Gug-gazi, Marhali, Egi-saga,
Girin-Hihiilba, Anzugulme, Nir-muckir, Gazi-musud, Marhuca, Hactum,
Durul, Cigcig, Engen, Ezinum, Ug-gun, Hem, Madanum, Sajgirmud,
Mursum, Kurgaranum, Bac, and Cimbi stones. Given that there are
some breaks in the text, the possibility that other stones, whose
names are now lost to history, cannot be discounted.
Many on this list —
the Ducia, Nin, Gug, Zagin, Amal-Pa-Ed, Laba, Jurizum, Gug-gazi,
Marhali, Egi-saga, Girin-Hihiilba, Anzugulme, Nir-muckir,
Gazi-musud Stones - were to be preserved and apparently used for
ornamental and ceremonial purposes, since Ninurta decreed that they
were to be “decorated with precious metal” and that “foreign lands”
would prostrate themselves before them.
In the case of the
“Kagina Stone,” whose “surface reflects the light,” Ninurta decrees
an odd fate. It would, he said, be used “as a judge in foreign
lands,” and that it therefore should “live.” A similar destiny for
use in official functions awaited the “Jicnugal Stone,” yet another
stone connected with luminous brilliance, for its “body (shone)
like the daylight.” Ninurta, as has been seen, decreed that it
would be the “seal-keeper” of “the treasury of the land,” perhaps
indicating that it played some special security function in
guarding a place of wealth.
a. The “Cu Stones, ” “Gasura Stones, ” and “Hactum Stone“
But three stones in
this list are worthy of some special attention, for unlike the
others, they appeared to have been more directly components of a
weapon of some sort, but they, unlike the other stones in this
category, were preserved.
The “Cu Stone” was
credited by Ninurta to have “attacked against my weapons.” The
“Gasura Stone” is similarly accused of having “stood fiercely
against me like bulls” and of “having tossed your horns in the dust
at me like wild bulls.” These stones therefore had a clear weapons
application. Ninurta, as has been seen, decrees that his own
“terrifying splendour will cover” the stones and that they would be
shaped by a “goldsmith” to “form a matrix for his
creations.”
The “Cu” and “Gasura”
Stones were thus to be subjected to intense heat, and molded or
adapted to some other use, in spite of their original application
as weapons.
The “Hactum Stone”
was also clearly a weapon, having “cried out” against Ninurta from
its place “in the Mountains.” Additional clues are given in the
text that it “yelled fiercely with wild battle yells,” indicating
that it was possibly a component in a weapon of an acoustical
nature.434 Like the “Cu” and
“Gasura” Stones, however, the “Hactum” Stone is apparently
preserved, for Ninurta enigmatically states “Because of your
digging, ditch shall be your name.” Apparently it was preserved
because it was easily adaptable to uses that were not necessarily
military, but which used its destructive potential in other
practical ways.
Finally, the fate of
the “Durul” Stone should be mentioned, for as the text indicates,
it was a sought commodity of “connoisseurs” of precious metals.
Ninurta thus decrees that “foreign nations shall pursue you,”
suggesting that it was removed and sold.