Balag | |
---|---|
Cultural origins | Sumer |
Formats | Hymns |
Authors | Priests |
In Mesopotamia, a balag (or balaĝ) refers both to a Sumerian religious literary genre and also to a closely associated musical instrument. In Mesopotamian religion, Balag prayers were sung by a Gala priest as ritual acts were performed around the instrument. Sometimes the instrument itself was regarded as a minor deity, [1] [2] and every balag had a proper name. [3] Despite the importance of the instrument in the rituals, its identity is disputed, [4] but is generally thought to be either a drum or a string instrument such as a lyre. The purpose of the ritual involving this prayer and instrument was to soothe the local deity with pleasings sounds, [5] while lamenting what may happen to the city should the god decide to abandon it. [6] Balags were used from the Old Babylonian period to the Seleucid Empire. [7]
As a literary genre, the balag was written in the cuneiform script and sung by the Gala priest in a dialect of Sumerian called Emesal ( 𒅴𒊩 eme-sal). [8] [9] Each balag is composed for a particular god. [7]
The precursor to the balag was the City Lament, a type of prayer that was recited when temples were destroyed and rebuilt. [7] The balag instrument was known to accompany the city lament. [7] Over time, as city laments became associated with scribal schools, the balag was adapted for many different ritual uses. [7] As the city lament became more distant from ritual activity, the balag emerged as a distinct literary genre. [7]
Despite its importance in the rituals, the balag instrument's exact nature is debated. [4] [10] Some scholars regard it as a drum, others a stringed instrument such as a lyre. Others have claimed it is both of these at once, and another theory suggests the word balag started out referring to a lyre, but over the period of several millennia, it came to mean a drum. [11] There were earlier suggestions that it was a bell. [12]
Every balag had a proper name. [3] For example, the names of two balags commissioned by Gudea included ‘Great Dragon of the Land' and 'Lady as Exalted as Heaven'. [13]
The word was loaned into Syriac as p(ə)laggā ( Syriac: ܦܠܓܐ), referring to a type of drum.