Sabbath Studies

7th day Sabbath     Assyrian Cuneiform Sabbath Text

 

koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Visiting Professor

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

Conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

26 October 2011

 

           The Sabbath was known to Adam and Eve since Creation. Moses used the Book of Adam (Genesis 5:1) to write about the institution of the Sabbath by God at Creation. If Henoch walked with God as Adam and Eve did, then he would have kept the seventh-day Sabbath as well. That day was not changed when Israel left Egypt in 1450 BCE during the Exodus. Even when the manna fell, it was strengthened to be the correct practice to pick up on Friday twice because the next day is Sabbath. That is 2 years before the arrival at Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, reiterating what was known since Adam and Eve had their instruction regarding these matters.

           In 1874 George Smith wrote the following words about a cuneiform tablet from the Library of Ashurbanipal (664-620 BCE) in Niniveh:

"In the year 1869, I discovered among other things a curious religious calendar of the Assyrians, in which every month is divided into four weeks, and the seventh days, or " Sabbaths," are marked out as days on which no work should be undertaken" (George Smith, Assyrian Discoveries: An Account of Explorations and discoveries on the site of Niniveh during 1873 and 1874 [New York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co. 1875], chapter II page 12).

           In 1875 Henry Rawlinson published a copy of the text and we presented in this article that text (see Henry C. Rawlinson, The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia; Vol. IV: A Selection from the Miscellaneous Inscriptions of Assyria [1875, 2nd editions in 1891/1909], R plates 32 and 33. See also http://echo.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/ECHOdocuView?mode=imagepath&url=/mpiwg/online/permanent/library/V92GTB7E/pageimg&viewMode=images.

Rawlinson page 14 (online) gives a list of texts. XXXII is a "Hemerology for the Month of the intercalary Elul" obverse

Online Image number 89 of 493 images. page 32 (in original) in top right.  XXXIII Ditto, reverse (online Image 91) page 33 (in original) top right. There are also a “Fragment of Hemerology of the Month of Marchisvan” and a “List of Months and their regents”.

           In the same year, the biblical apologist A. Sayce, made some comments on this Assyrian Cuneiform Sabbath text, suggesting an Assyrian origin for the seventh day Sabbath institution in the Bible. A number of articles investigated this theory in the light of this finding of Smith and presentation of Rawlinson.

Sayce, Archibald Henry, “The Chaldean Origin of the Sabbath”, The Academy: A Weekly Review of Literature, Science and Art 8 (1875), 554-555.

Jensen, Peter Christian Albrecht, “The Supposed Babylonian Origin of the Week and the Sabbath”, Sunday School Times (1892), nr. 3.

Lotz, W. Guilelmus Quaestiones de Historia Sabbati. (Leipzig 1883.)

Jastrow, Morris, Jr. “The Bible and the Assyrian Monuments” The Century Magazine XLVII. 395-411.[Translated into French by E. Lacordaire in Revue des Revues (1894): 227-235].

Jastrow, Morris, Jr. “The Original Character of the Hebrew Sabbath” AJT II. 312-352.

On the relationship between the Hebrew and Babylonian Sabbaths, some articles appeared:

Brown, Francis,”Critical review with valuable comments of E. Schrader's 'Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament'” AJP IV. 338-343.

Brown, Francis, “The Sabbath in the Cuneiform Records” PR (1882): 688-700.

           The Assyrian Cuneiform Sabbath text which we are dealing with here were mentioned also by F. Delitzsch in which he is citing Rawlinson volume IV on plates 32 and 33 (see F. Delitzsch, Assyrische Lesestucke 4th edition [J. C. Hinrichs’sche Buchhandlung, 1900], page 94 plate 82). He calls it “Das sogenante Sabbatsgesetz” = “the socalled Sabbath command”.

           On this Assyrian Cuneiform Sabbath text there is no doubt that certain days were earmarked for special feasts: days 7, 14, 19, 21 and 28. There are 30 days in this calendar month of Elul which is an intercalary month, the sixth month of the Babylonian year.

           The modern Assyriologist, Allisdair Livingstone wrote an article on the use of Magic and Hemerologies and pointed out the days that are connected as religious in the calendar which coincide with the phases of the moon:

“On the days which correspond to the critical dates of the phases of the moon, namely the 1st, 7th, 9th, 14th, 21st, 28th, 29th and 30th the physician (LU(accute).A.ZU) and the extispicy expert (DUMU LU(accute).H (halfmoon)al) appear together”. In footnote 13 he says: "The 19th day is also added perhaps as the day of the ebbu, ‘wrath of Gula’ but this does not disturb the other pattern” (A. Livingstone, "The use of Magic in the Assyrian and Babylonian Hemerologies and Menologies" in E. Matushima (ed) Official Cult, and Popular Religion n the Ancient Near East [Heidelberg, 1993]: 97-113). One can understand why they would add day 19th sometimes as a feast or special day in hemerologies. It is noted that in Livingstone’s list every 7th day of a 30 day month, similar to our Assyrian Sabbath text is listed: 7, 14, 21, and 28. There are others too in the list he provided.

           In 1962 Henri Cazelles presented a paper at a conference which was published in “Sur les origenes du calendrier des Jubiles” Biblica 43 (1962): 202-212. What caught my attention was his paragraph on page 211 in which he listed the important days for the Babylonians, presented by the cuneiformist R. Labat, Hemerologies et Menologies d’ Assur (Paris: 1939), 44, namely days 1, 7, 15, 21, 28. It is not discounted that there are certain texts that will have day 15 instead of 14, but why did Cazelles not cite Rawlinson’s text that we are presenting here that do not list 15 but 14? It is also treated by R. Labat, Un calendrier babylonien destravaux, des signes et des mois (series iqqur ipu?) ([ Paris: Librairie Honore Champion, 1965] tablets 44, 45, 46, pp. 27ff. thanks to the information of prof. dr. Amar Anus in personal communication).

           The Assyrian Cuneiform Sabbath Text is undoubtedly working with a careful paced out seven cycle of which every seventh day is considered a “Sabbath”. One scholar thought that the Akkadian word at the end of the first line of the 28th day which is ra-ba-a-ti is related to the word ra-ba-su in Akkadian meaning “to lie down or rest” which in turn is related to Sabbath.

           The Akkadian words “ina ud 2 kam”means “on the 2nd day” or literally: “on day 2 nd”. Counting the nails is the numbers which appear after “ud” or “day”. Notice the 3-5 lines for the other days as opposed to the Sabbath days that receive a description of 10-12 lines.

           Before we quite with this article, it suffice to point out that seven in days, evil spirits, gods, symbols for military, religion were commonly in use in the ANE from the earliest times of writing. The evidence from cuneiform writing as early as the days of Gudea in 2142-2124 BCE, the days of Abraham is well known and even recognized as such by F. X. Kugler in the Hilprecht Volume. More will be said about this elsewhere.

 

The Word of God said that God instituted the Seventh day Sabbath and no wonder the ANE was occupied with seven

 

assyrian sabbath text from 650 BCE.jpg assyrian sabbath text from 650 BCE b.jpg