The Aguà ¡aya Hymn or Song of Aguà ¡aya is an Old Babylonian literary work, a âÂÂsong of praiseâÂÂ, written in the Akkadian language concerning the goddess Ià ¡tar, identified with the serpent deity Irnina. It may have been called âÂÂthe Snake has Turnedâ in antiquity, as it has ú-ta-ar <small>MUà  </small> inscribed at the top edge at the beginning. It is extant on two unprovenanced tablets, designated A and B, the latter of which includes a request for eternal life for king Hammurabi (reigned c. 1792 BC to c. 1750 BC), on the fifth column, 26th line, for whom it is thought to have been composed as an epic hymn of celebration of âÂÂthe mad dancer in battleâÂÂ. It is arranged into ten kirugú-stanzas (Akkadian: à ¡ÃÂru) and six ÃÂeà ¡giÃÂal-antiphons as lyrical retorts, the numbering of which suggest that the work extends over the two tablets, although the second may not be the actual sequel of the first as the first is an eight column tablet while the second only has six columns and there are apparently subtle differences in late Old Babylonian cursive cuneiform distinguishing them, suggesting tablet A is the younger copy.
Among the most difficult literary texts in Old Babylonian, the work opens lu-na-i-id à ¡u-ur-bu-ta, âÂÂlet me praise the greatestâÂÂ. Ià ¡tar, the goddess of fertility and war, is terrifying to the gods with her wild, ferocious and "virile" antics. âÂÂShe dances around gods and kings in her manlinessâ and âÂÂyoung men are cut off as if for spears.âÂÂ
The god Ea, who is angered by her outrageous behavior, fashions a suitable counterfoil, á¹¢ÃÂltum, âÂÂdiscordâ out of the dirt beneath his fingernails, to provide her with distraction, somewhat reminiscent of the purpose of Enkidu in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Ea tells á¹¢ÃÂltum he has created her to humiliate Ià ¡tar and sends this ferocious beast to challenge her. Much of the subsequent text is fragmentary, however the adversaries seem to engage in a protracted whirling dance of battle. Finally, Ià ¡tar entreats Ea to save her from this monstrous virago, âÂÂMay she return to her cave! Ea opened his mouth and the hero of the gods spoke to Aguà ¡aya: âÂÂto be sure, as soon as you said it, I will do (it).âÂÂâÂÂ
With Ià ¡tar's taming, Ea proposes the instigation of an annual Ià ¡tar festival, providing an explanation for the origin of the guà ¡tum, a whirling dance performed during the festivities, commemorating the war-like character of Ià ¡tar.