Instructions for Temple Officials

The beginning of column i has not been recovered as yet. 2 Furthermore, let those who prepare the daily loaves be clean. Let them be bathed and groomed, let their body hair and nails be removed. Let them be clothed in clean dresses. While unclean, let them not prepare the loaves; let those who are agreeable to the gods’ soul and person prepare them. The bakers’ house in which they prepare them—let that be swept and scrubbed.^[1] 3 If then, on the other hand, anyone arouses the anger of a god, does the god take revenge on him alone? Does he not take revenge on his wife, his children, his descendants, his kin, his slaves, and slave-girls, his cattle and sheep together with his crop and will utterly destroy him? Be very reverent indeed to the word of a god! 4 Further: The festival of the month, the festival of the year, the festival of the stag, the festival of autumn, the festival of spring, the festival of thunder, the festival of pudahas, the festival of isuwas, the festival of dulassas, the festival of the holy priest, the festivals of the rhyton, the festivals of the Old Men, the festivals of the mothers-of-god, the festivals of dahiyas, the festivals of the upati men, the festivals of pulas, the festivals of hahratar, or whatever festival else will be celebrated in Hattusa—if you do not celebrate them with all the cattle, sheep, loaves, beer and wine set before the gods, and if you, the god’s priests, make a deal with those who give all that, you can be sure that the gods will notice what is amiss. 5 Or if you ever take sacrifices that have been set before the gods and do not carry them right to the gods themselves, if you withhold it from them, keep it in your houses, your wives, children or servants consume it, if you give it to a relative or some ubaru befriended with you who happens to visit you, if you give it to him and take it away from the god and do not carry it right to him, or if you give it to him in several portions—you will be held responsible for that matter of dividing. Do not divide it. He who divides it, shall be killed; there shall be no recourse for him. 6 Every bit of the loaves, the beer and the wine keep in the temple. Let no one appropriate for himself a sacrificial loaf of the god or a thin loaf. Let no one pour out beer or wine from the cup. Devote every bit to the god. Furthermore, in the presence of the god speak for yourselves these words: “Whoever has taken from thy divine loaves, may the god, my lord, punish him; may he hold this man’s house responsible for it!” 7 If an ox or a sheep is driven up to the god as food, and you appropriate for yourselves either a fattened ox or a fattened sheep and substitute a lean one which you have slaughtered, and if you either consume that or put it into your pen, or put it under a yoke, or if you put the sheep into your fold or kill it for yourselves, and if you see fit to give it away or to turn it over to another man, or if you accept a price for it and thus take it away from the god and withhold it from his mouth, if you take it for yourselves or give it to another man and speak as follows: “Since he is a god, he will not say anything, and will not do anything to us”—just think how the man reacts who sees his choice morsel snatched away from before his eyes! The will of the gods is strong. It does not make haste to seize, but when it seizes, it does not let go again. Now be very reverent of the will of the gods. 8 Further: Whatever silver, gold, garments or bronze implements of the gods you hold, you are merely their caretakers. You have no right to the silver, gold, garments and bronze implements of the gods, and none whatsoever to the things that are in the gods’ houses. They belong to the god alone. Be very careful and let no temple official have silver or gold. 9 Further: You who are temple officials, if you do not celebrate the festivals at the time proper for the festivals and if you celebrate the festival of spring in the autumn, or if when in the course of time a festival is about to be performed—he who is to perform it comes to you, the priests, the “anointed,” the mothers-of-god and to the temple officials and embraces your knees saying: “The harvest is before me, or arranging for my marriage, or a journey, or some other business. Do me a favor and let me finish that business first. But when that business of mine is finished, I shall perform the festival as prescribed”—do not yield to a man’s whim, let him not take precedence of the gods’ pleasure. 10 Further: You who are temple officials, be very careful with respect to the precinct. At nightfall promptly go to be in the temple; eat and drink, and if the desire for a woman overcomes anyone, let him stay and let every one promptly come up to spend the night in the temple. Whoever is a temple official, all high priests, minor priests, “anointed” or whoever else is allowed to cross the threshold of the gods, let them not fail to spend the night in the temple one by one. Furthermore, there shall be watchmen employed by night who shall patrol all night through. He who commits an offense with respect to the precinct shall be killed; he shall not be pardoned. 11 If anyone has some official duty to perform in Hattusa, and either a priest or an “anointed” is to admit people who are accompanied by guards, he will admit those too. If a guard is assigned to anyone, he may also enter the enclosure. 12 Further: O priests, “anointed,” mothers-of-god and temple officials! Some troublemaker may rise in the temple or another sacred building. If he rises in the temple and causes a quarrel and thereby interferes with a festival, they shall interfere with him.^[2] 13 Further: Be very careful with the matter of fire. If there is a festival in the temple, guard the fire carefully. When night falls, quench well with water whatever fire remains on the hearth. But if there is any flame in isolated spots and also dry wood, if he who is to quench it becomes criminally negligent in the temple—even if only the temple is destroyed, but Hattusa and the king’s property is not destroyed—he who commits the crime will perish together with his descendants. Of those who are in the temple not one is to be spared; together with their descendants they shall perish. So for your own good be very careful in the matter of fire. 14 Further: You who are kitchen servants of all the gods, cupbearers, table-men, cooks, bakers or vintners, be very careful with respect to the gods’ mood. Spend much reverent care upon the gods’ sacrificial loaves and libation bowls. The place where the bread is broken shall be swept and scrubbed; the regulations concerning the threshold shall be enforced for pigs and dogs. As to yourselves, you shall be bathed and dressed in clean garments. Furthermore, your body hair and your nails shall be removed. Let the mood of the gods not befall you. If a pig or a dog somehow approaches the implements of wood or bitumen which you have, and the kitchen servant does not discard it, but gives the god to eat from an unclean vessel, to such a man the gods will give dung and urine to eat and to drink.