The Transgression List in Šurpu Tablet IV and Its Sordid Moral Implications

Modern scholarship has become more attentive to the interrelation between performative and scholastic factors in the production of ancient Near Eastern ritual texts. This article aims to shed light on the compositional processes responsible for the integration of a list of transgressions into Šurpu Tablet 4. This analysis is facilitated by the identification of a close parallel from the Namerimburruda tradition. The comparison of these texts illuminates the subtle manner by which scribe responsible for Šurpu IV appropriated earlier materials to fit the theological and rhetorical aims of the new composition. This focused case study can serve as a point of departure for further research on the flexible roles of interpolated sin lists in ancient Near Eastern literature.