"... The trough is then placed on the brick of the birth goddess, who elsewhere is called dtibira-dingir-re-ne-ka ‘Copper caster of the gods’ (Jacobsen 1976: 107 n. 135).106 Around her stand the craftsman, who are now reduced to mere midwives. Symbolizing the birth, three masqû-troughs are filled with blood. The statue faces the three gods Ea, Shamash, and Asalluhi, and the following incantation greets the new day ... These statues were as dead and immobile as the materials from which they were crafted. They may have had mouths, but they could not speak (Jeremiah 10:5); noses, but they could not smell; feet, but they could not walk (Jeremiah 10:5; Psalm 115:3–9). Their only motion was their tendency to wobble (Jeremiah 10:4) or to fall over (Isaiah 40:20; 41:7), so that they had to be fastened to the wall. However, it is clear from the mis pî rite that a cultic attempt was made to have the statue “reborn” with heavenly materials, and so raw products were placed in the tamarisk birth-trough. Furthermore, the rite is replete with countless incantations for the blessing of all the elements used in the ritual, asking that the materials be provided by the gods themselves: “In the great sanctuary of the heavens, the great gods have increased the bounty for the Opening of the Mouth of the gods” (79-7-8, 68 + K.3511, §iii, col. ii, lines 5–6) ..."