Prayers and Hymns

Prayers and hymns were a common part of cultic rituals, some of which were great pieces of literature. For example the Hymn to Shamash, the sun god, a 200-line composition with quotes like:

"The far mountains are capped by thy brilliance,

Thy glow fills the entirety of lands,

Thou dost ascend the highlands to view the earth,

The perimeter of lands in the heavens thou dost weigh.

All the peoples of the lands thou dost supervise,

What divine Ea, king of counselors, created thou dost control entirely."