head [saying]:
106. "'As for thee, thy command shall not fall empty, what goeth forth
from thy mouth shall be established.'
107. "When Kingu was raised on high, and had taken the heavens
(Anutum)
108. "He fixed the destinies for the gods, his sons, [saying]:
109. "'Open your mouths, let the Fire-god be quenched,
110. "'He who is glorious in battle and is most mighty shall do great
deeds.
111. "'I sent the god Anu, but he could not prevail against her.
112. "'Nudimmud (i.e., Ea) was afraid and turned back.
113. "'Marduk, your son, the envoy of the gods, hath set out.
114. "'His heart is stirred up to oppose Tiamat.
115. "'He opened his mouth, he spoke unto me, [saying]:
116. "'Should I as your avenger
117. "'Slay Tiamat, and bestow life upon you,
118. "'Summon a meeting (i.e., council), proclaim and magnify my
position,
119. "'Sit down together in friendly fashion in Upshukkinaku,
120. "'Let me issue decrees by the opening of my mouth, even as ye do,
121. "'Whatsoever I bring to pass let it remain unaltered.
122. "'That which my mouth uttereth shall neither fail nor be brought
to nought."'
123. "Hasten ye therefore, issue your decrees speedily
124. "That he may go to meet your mighty enemy."
125. The gods Lakhmu and Lakhamu heard, they wailed loudly,
126. All the Igigi gods wept bitterly [saying]:
127. "Who were [our] enemies until [the gods] were posted [in heaven]?
128. "We cannot comprehend the work of Tiamat."
129. They gathered themselves together, they went,
130. All the great gods, who issue decrees.
131. They entered in, they filled [the court] before Anshar.
132. Brother [god] kissed brother [god] in the [divine] assembly,
133. They held a meeting, they sat down to a feast,
134. They ate bread, they heated the [sesame wine],
135. The taste of the sweet drink confused their ...
136. They drank themselves drunk, their bodies were filled to
overflowing,
137. They were overcome by heaviness [of drink], their livers
(i.e., spirits) were exalted,
138. They issued the decree for Marduk as their avenger.
FOURTH TABLET.
1. They founded for him a majestic canopy,
2. He (i.e., Marduk) seated himself in the seat of kingship in
the presence of his fathers [who said unto him]:
3. "Thou art honourable by reason of thy greatness among the gods.
4. "Thy position is unrivalled, the words thou utterest become Anum
(i.e., as fixed as the sky).
5. "Thou art honourable by reason of thy greatness among the gods.
6. "Thy position is unrivalled, the words thou utterest become Anum
(i.e., as fixed as the sky).
7. "From this day onward thy command shall not be abrogated.
8. "The power to exalt to heaven and to cast down to the earth both
shall be in thy hand,
9. "That which goeth forth from thy mouth shall be established,
against thy utterance shall be no appeal.
10. "No one among the gods shall overstep thy boundary,
11. "Worship, which is the object of the sanctuary of the gods,
12. "Whensoever they lack [it] shall be forthcoming in thy sanctuary,
13. "O god Marduk, thou art our avenger.
14. "We have given unto thee sovereignty over the whole creation,
15. "Thou shalt sit down, in the council thy word shall be exalted,
16. "Thy weapon shall never fall [from thy hands], it shall break the
head of thy foe.
17. "Lord, whosoever putteth his trust in thee, spare thou his life,
18. "And the god who deviseth evil, pour thou out his soul."
19. Then a cloak (literally, one cloak) was set in their midst,
20. They addressed the god Marduk their first-born [saying]:
21. "Thou, Lord, shalt hold the foremost position among the gods.
22. "Decree thou the throwing down[1] and the building up,[2] and it
shall come to pass.
[Footnote 1: _I.e._, the destruction of Tiamat.]
[Footnote 2: _I.e._, the establishing of a new creation to take
the place of the old.]
23. "Speak but the word, and the cloak shall disappear,
24. "Speak a second time and the cloak shall return uninjured."
25. Marduk spoke the word, the cloak disappeared,
26. He spoke a second time, the cloak reappeared.
27. When the gods his fathers saw the issue of the utterance of his
mouth
28. They rejoiced and adored [him, saying], "Marduk is King."
29. They conferred upon him the sceptre, the throne, and the symbol of
royalty (?)[1]
[Footnote 1: The meaning of _pal-a_ is unknown.]
30. They gave him the unrivalled weapon, the destroyer of the enemy
[saying]:
31. "Go, cut off the life of Tiamat.
32. "Let the wind carry her blood into the depth [under the earth]."
33. The gods, his fathers, issued the decree for the god Bel.
34. They set him on the road which leadeth to peace and adoration.
35. He strung [his] bow, he set ready his weapon [in the stand],
36. He slung his spear, he attached it to [his belly],
37. He raised the club, he grasped it in his right hand.
38. The bow and the quiver he hung at his side.[1]
[Footnote 1: This equipment of the charioteer is shown on the
bas-reliefs.]
39. He set the lightning in front of him.
40. His body was filled with a glancing flame of fire.
41. He made a net wherewith to enclose Tiamat.
42. He made the four winds to take up their position so that no part
of her might escape,
[Illustration: Portion of a tablet inscribed in Babylonian with a text
of the Fourth Tablet of the Creation Series. [No. 93,016.]]
43. The South wind, the North wind, the East wind, the West wind.
44. He held the net close to his side, the gift of his father Anu,
45. He created the "foul" wind, the storm, the parching blast,
46. The wind of "four," the wind of "seven," the typhoon, the wind
incomparable
[Illustration: Portion of a tablet inscribed in Assyrian with a text
of the Fourth Tablet of the Creation Series. [K. 3437.]]
47. He despatched the seven winds which he had made,
48. To make turbid the inward parts of Tiamat; they followed in his
train.
49. The Lord raised up the wind storm, his mighty weapon.
50. He went up into his chariot, the unequalled and terrible
tempest.[1]
[Footnote 1: Compare Psalms xviii, 7-15; civ, i ff.]
51. He equipped it, he yoked thereto a team of four horses,
52. Pawing the ground, champing, foaming [eager to] fly,
53. ... [the odour] of their teeth bore foetidness,
54. They were skilled [in biting], they were trained to trample under
foot.
[Lines 55-57 too fragmentary to translate; they continue the
description of Marduk's equipment.]
58. His brightness streamed forth, his head was crowned [thereby].
59. He took a direct path, he hastened on his journey.
60. He set his face towards the place of Tiamat, who was ...
61. On his lips ... he restrained
62. ... his hand grasped.
63. At that moment the gods were gazing upon him with fixed intensity,
64. The gods, his fathers, gazed upon him, they gazed upon him.
65. The Lord approached, he looked upon the middle of Tiamat,
66. He searched out the plan of Kingu, her husband.
67. Marduk looked, Kingu staggered in his gait,
68. His will was destroyed, his motion was paralysed.
69. And the gods his helpers who were marching by his side
70. Saw the [collapse of] their chief and their sight was troubled.
71. Tiamat [shrieked but] did not turn her head.
72. With lips full of [rebellious words] she maintained her
stubbornness
73. [Saying], "... that thou hast come as the Lord of the gods,
[forsooth],
74. "They have appointed thee in the place which should be theirs."
75. The Lord raised up the wind-storm, his mighty weapon,
76. [Against] Tiamat, who was furious (?), he sent it, [saying]:
77. "[Thou hast made thyself] mighty, thou art puffed upon high,
78. "Thy heart [hath stirred thee up] to invoke battle
79. "... their fathers ...
80. "...
81. "[Thou hast exalted Kingu to be [thy] husband,
82. "[Thou hast made him to usurp] the attributes of Anu
83. "... thou hast planned evil.
84. "[Against] the gods, my fathers, thou hast wrought evil.
85. "Let now thy troops gird themselves up, let them bind on their
weapons.
86. "Stand up! Thou and I, let us to the fight!"
87. On hearing these words Tiamat
88. Became like a mad thing, her senses became distraught,
89. Tiamat uttered shrill cries again and again.
90. That on which she stood split in twain at the words,
91. She recited an incantation, she pronounced her spell.
92. The gods of battle demanded their weapons.[1]
[Footnote 1: I.e., the gods were impatient to begin the fight.]
93. Tiamat and Marduk, the envoy of the gods, roused themselves,
94. They advanced to fight each other, they drew nigh in battle.
95. The Lord cast his net and made it to enclose her,
96. The evil wind that had its place behind him he let out in her
face.
97. Tiamat opened her mouth to its greatest extent,
98. Marduk made the evil wind to enter [it] whilst her lips were
unclosed.
99. The raging winds filled out her belly,
100. Her heart was gripped, she opened wide her mouth [panting].
101. Marduk grasped the spear, he split up her belly,
102. He clave open her bowels, he pierced [her] heart,
103. He brought her to nought, he destroyed her life.
104. He cast down her carcase, he took up his stand upon it,
105. After Marduk had slain Tiamat the chief,
106. Her host was scattered, her levies became fugitive,
107. And the gods, her allies, who had marched at her side,
108. Quaked with terror, and broke and ran
109. And betook themselves to flight to save their lives.
110. But they found themselves hemmed in, they could not escape,
111. Marduk tied them up, he smashed their weapons.
112. They were cast into the net, and they were caught in the snare,
113. The ... of the world they filled with [their] cries of grief.
114. They received [Marduk's] chastisement, they were confined in
restraint,
115. And [on] the Eleven Creatures which Tiamat had filled with
awfulness,
116. The company of the devils that marched at her ...
117. He threw fetters, he ... their sides.
118. They and their resistance he trod under his feet.
119. The god Kingu who had been magnified over them
120. He crushed, he esteemed him [as little worth] as the god Dugga,
(as a dead god?).
121. Marduk took from him the TABLET OF DESTINIES, which should never
have been his,
122. He sealed it with a seal[1] and fastened it on his breast
[Footnote 1: By impressing his seal on the Tablet Marduk proved his
ownership of the Tablet, and made his claim to it legal.]
123. After he had crushed and overthrown his enemies,
124. He made the haughty enemy to be like the dust underfoot.
125. He established completely Anshar's victory over the enemy,
126. The valiant Marduk achieved the object of Nudimmud (Ea),[1]
[Footnote 1: This is an oblique way of saying that Marduk succeeded
where Ea failed.]
127. He imposed strict restraint on the gods whom he had made captive.
128. He turned back to Tiamat whom he had defeated,
129. The Lord [Marduk] trampled on the rump of Tiamat,
130. With his unsparing club he clave her skull.
131. He slit open the channels (i.e., arteries) of her blood.
132. He caused the North Wind to carry it away to a place underground.
133. His fathers (i.e., the gods) looked on, they rejoiced, they were
glad.
134. They brought unto him offerings of triumph and peace,
135. The Lord [Marduk] paused, he examined Tiamat's carcase.
136. He separated flesh [from] hair,[1] he worked cunningly.
[Footnote 1: The word is _kupu_, i.e., "reed" or "sedge."
It is possible that Marduk skinned Tiamat.]
137. He slit Tiamat open like a flat (?) fish [cut into] two pieces,
138. The one half he raised up and shaded the heavens therewith,
139. He pulled the bolt, he posted a guard,
140. He ordered them not to let her water escape.
141. He crossed heaven, he contemplated the regions thereof.
142. He betook himself to the abode of Nudimmud (Ea) that is opposite
to the Deep (Apsu),
143. The Lord Marduk measured the dimensions of the Deep,
144. He founded E-Sharra, a place like unto it,
145. The abode E-Sharra, which he made to be heaven.
146. He made the-gods Anu, Bel and Ea to inhabit their [own] cities.
FIFTH TABLET.
1. He appointed the Stations for the great gods,
2. He set in heaven the Stars of the Zodiac which are their
likenesses.
3. He fixed the year, he appointed the limits thereof.
4. He set up for the twelve months three stars apiece.
5. According to the day of the year he ... figures.
6. He founded the Station of Nibir (Jupiter) to settle their
boundaries,
7. That none might exceed or fall short.
8. He set the Station of Bel and Ea thereby.
9. He opened great gates under shelter on both sides.
10. He made a strong corridor on the left and on the right.
11. He fixed the zenith in the heavenly vault (?)
12. He gave the god Nannar (i.e., the Moon-god) his brightness
and committed the night to his care.
[Illustration: Portion of a tablet inscribed in Assyrian with a text
of the Fifth Tablet of the Creation Series. [K. 3567.]]
13. He set him for the government of the night, to determine the day
14. Monthly, without fail, he set him in a crown (i.e., disk)
[saying]:
15. "At the beginning of the month when thou risest over the land,
16. "Make [thy] horns to project to limit six days [of the month]
17. "On the seventh day make thyself like a crown.
18. "On the fourteenth day ...
[Lines 19-26 dealt further with Marduk's instructions to the Moon-god,
but are too fragmentary to translate. After line 26 comes a break in
the text of 40 lines; lines 66-74 are too fragmentary to translate,
but they seem to have described further acts of Creation.]
75. The gods, his (Marduk's) fathers, looked on the net which he had
made,
76. They observed how craftily the bow had been constructed,
77. They extolled the work which he had done.
78. [Then] the god Anu lifted up [the bow] in the company of the gods,
79. He kissed the bow [saying]: "That ..."
80. He proclaimed [the names] of the bow to be as follows:--
81. "Verily, the first is 'Long Wood,' the second is ...
82. "Its third name is 'Bow Star in heaven' ..."
83. He fixed a station for it ...
[Of the remaining 57 lines of this tablet only fragments of 17 lines
are preserved, and these yield no connected sense.]
SIXTH TABLET.
1. On hearing the words of the gods, the heart of Marduk moved him to
carry out the works of a craftsman.
2. He opened his mouth, he spake to Ea that which he had planned in
his heart, he gave counsel [saying]:
3. "I will solidify blood, I will form bone.
4. "I will set up man, 'Man' [shall be] his name.
5. "I will create the man 'Man.'
6. "The service of the gods shall be established, and I will set them
(i.e., the gods) free.
7. "I will make twofold the ways of the gods, and I will beautify
[them].
8. "They are [now] grouped together in one place, but they shall be
partitioned in two."[1]
[Footnote 1: Reading, _ishtenish lu kuppudu-ma ana shina lu
uzizu_.]
9. Ea answered and spake a word unto him
10. For the consolation of the gods[1] he repeated unto him a word of
counsel [saying]:
[Footnote 1: _I.e._, "to cause the gods to be content,"]
11. "Let one brother [god of their number] be given, let him suffer
destruction that men may be fashioned.
12. "Let the great gods be assembled, let this [chosen] one be given
in order that they (i.e., the other gods) may be established."
13. Marduk assembled the great gods, [he came near] graciously, he
issued a decree,
14. He opened his mouth, he addressed the gods; the King spake a word
unto the Anunnaki [saying]:
15. "Verily, that which I spake unto you aforetime was true.
16. "[This time also] I speak truth. [Some there were who] opposed
me.[1]
[Footnote 1: Literally "they (indefinite) opposed me."]
17. "Who was it that created the strife,
18. "Who caused Tiamat to revolt, to join battle with me?
19. "Let him who created the strife be given [as sacrifice],
20. "I will cause the axe in the act of sinking to do away his sin."
21. The great gods, the Igigi, answered him,
22. Unto the King of the gods of heaven and of earth, the Prince of
the gods, their lord [they said]:
23. "[It was] Kingu who created the strife,
24. "Who made Tiamat to revolt, to join battle [with thee]."
25. They bound him in fetters [they brought] him before Ea, they
inflicted punishment on him, they let his blood,
26. From his blood he (i.e., Ea) fashioned mankind for the
service of the gods, and he set the gods free.
27. After Ea had fashioned man he ... laid service upon him.
28. [For] that work, which pleased him not, man was chosen: Marduk ...
29. Marduk, the King of the gods, divided ... he set the Anunnaki up
on high.
30. He laid down for Anu a decree that protected [his] heart ... as a
guard.
31. He made twofold the ways on the earth [and in the heavens?]
32. By decrees ...
33. The Anunnaki who ...
34. The Anunnaki ...
35. They spake unto Marduk, their lord, [saying]:
36. "O thou Moon-god[1] (Nannaru), who hast established our splendour,
[Footnote 1: See _Cuneiform Texts_, Part XXIV, Plate 50, where it
is said that the god Sin is "Marduk, who maketh bright the night."]
37. "What benefit have we conferred upon thee?
38. "Come, let us make a shrine, whose name shall be renowned;
39. "Come [at] night, our time of festival, let us take our ease
therein,
40. "Come, the staff shall rule ...
41. "On the day that we reach [thereto] we will take our ease
therein."
42. On hearing this Marduk ...
43. The features of his face [shone like] the day exceedingly.
44. [He said],[1] "Like unto ... Babylon, the construction whereof ye
desire
[Footnote 1: Lines 44 and 45 announce Marduk's determination to build
Babylon.]
45. "I will make ... a city, I will fashion a splendid shrine."
46. The Anunnaki worked the mould [for making bricks], their bricks
were ...
47. In the second year [the shrine was as high as] a hill, and the
summit of E-Sagila reached the [celestial] Ocean.
48. They made the ziggurat[1] [to reach] the celestial Ocean; unto
Marduk, Enlil, Ea [shrines] they appointed,
[Footnote 1: This is the word commonly used for "temple-tower." The
famous ziggurat of E-Sagila here mentioned was built in Seven Stages
or Steps, each probably having its own distinctive colour. It was
destroyed probably soon after the capture of Babylon by Cyrus (539
B.C.) and when Alexander the Great reached Babylon he found it ruins.]
49. It (i.e., the ziggurat) stood before them majestically: at the
bottom and [at the top] they observed its two horns.[1]
[Footnote 1: This is the first known mention of the "horns" of a
ziggurat, and the exact meaning of the word is doubtful.]
50. After the Anunnaki had finished the construction of E-Sagila, and
had completed the making of their shrines,
51. They gathered together from the ... of the Ocean (Apsu). In
BAR-MAH, the abode which they had made,
52. He (i.e., Marduk) made the gods his fathers to take their
seats ... [saying]: "This Babylon shall be your abode.
53. "No mighty one [shall destroy] his house, the great gods shall
dwell therein.
[After line 53 the middle portions of several lines of text are
obliterated, but from what remains of it it is clear that the gods
partook of a meal of consecration of the shrine of E-Sagila, and then
proceeded to issue decrees. Next Marduk assigns seats to the Seven
Gods of Fate and to Enlil and Anu, and then he lays up in E-Sagila the
famous bow which he bore during his fight against Tiamat. When the
text again becomes connected we find the gods singing a hymn of praise
to Marduk.]
94. "Whatever is ... those gods and goddesses shall bear(?)
95. "They shall never forget, they shall cleave to the god (?)
96. "... they shall make bright, they shall make shrines.
97. "Verily, the decision (concerning) the Black-headed [belongeth to]
the gods
98. "... all our names have they called, he (Marduk) is most holy
(_elli_)
99. "... they proclaimed and venerated (?) his names.
100. "His ... is exceedingly bright, his work is ...
101. "Marduk, whose father Anu proclaimed [his name] from his birth,
102. "Who hath set the day at his door ... his going,
103. "By whose help the storm wind was bound ...
104. "Delivered the gods his fathers in the time of trouble.
105. "Verily, the gods have proclaimed his sonship.
106. "In his bright light let them walk for ever.
107. "[On] men whom he hath formed, the created things fashioned by
his fingers
108. "He hath imposed the service of the gods, and them he hath set
free
109. "...
110. "... they looked at him,
111. "[He is] the far-seeing _(maruku)_ god, verily ...
112. "Who hath made glad the hearts of the Anunnaki, who hath made
them to ...
113. "The god Marudukku--verily, he is the object of trust of his
country ...
114. "Let men praise him ...
115. "The 'King of the Protecting Heart,' (?), hath arisen and hath
[bound] the Serpent ...
116. "Broad is his heart, mighty [his] belly.
117. "King of the gods of heaven and of earth, whose name our company
hath proclaimed,
118. "We will fulfil (?) the utterance of his mouth. Over his fathers
the gods,
119. "Yea, [over] the gods of heaven and earth, all of them,
120. "His kingship [we will exalt].
121. "[We] will look unto the King of all the heaven and the earth at
night when the place of all the gods is darkness (literally sadness).
122. "He hath assigned our dwelling in heaven and in earth in the time
of trouble,
123. "He hath allotted stations to the Igigi and the Anunnaki.
124. "The gods themselves are magnified by his name; may he direct
their sanctuaries.
125. "ASAR-LU-DUG, is his name by which his father Anu hath named him.
126. "Verily, he is the light of the gods, the mighty ...
127. "Who ... all the parts of heaven and of the land
128. "By a mighty combat he saved our dwelling in the time of trouble.
129. "ASAR-LU-DUG, the god who made him (i.e. man) to live, did
the god ... call him in the second place
130. "[And] the gods who had been formed, whom he fashioned as though
[they were] his offspring.
131. "He is the Lord who hath made all the gods to live by his holy
mouth."
[Lines 132-139 are too fragmentary to translate, but it is clear from
the text that remains that Lakhmu, and Lakhamu, and Anshar all
proclaimed the names of Marduk. When the text again becomes connected
Marduk has just been addressing the gods.]
140. In Up-shukkinaku[1] he appointed their council for them.
[Footnote 1: From this text it seems clear that Up-shukkinaku was the
name of a chamber in the temple of E-Sagila. This name probably means
the "chamber of the shakkanaku," i.e., the chamber in which the
governor of the city (_shakkanaku_) went annually to embrace the
hands of the god Bel-Marduk, from whom he thereby received the right
of sovereignty over the country.]
141. [They said]:--"Of [our] son, the Hero, our Avenger,
142. "We will exalt the name by our speech."
143. They sat down and in their assembly they proclaimed his rank.
144. Every one of them pronounced his name in the sanctuary.
SEVENTH TABLET.
1. O ASARI,--giver of plantations, appointer of sowing time,
2. Who dost make grain and fibrous plants, who makest garden herbs to
spring up.
3. O ASARU-ALIM--who art weighty in the council-chamber, who art
fertile in counsel,
4. To whom the gods pay worship (?) reverent ...
5. O ASARU-ALIM-NUNA--the adored light of the Father who begat him,
6. Who makest straight the direction of Anu, Bel, [and Ea].[1]
[Footnote 1: This line seems to imply that Marduk was regarded as the
instructor of the "old" gods; the allusion is, probably, to the "ways"
of Anu, Bel and Ea, which are treated as technical terms in
astrology.]
7. He is their patron who fixed [their] ...
8. Whose drink is abundance, who goeth forth ...
9. O TUTU--creator of their new life,
10. Supplier of their wants, that they may be satisfied [or, glad],
11. Let but [Tutu] recite an incantation, the gods shall be at rest;
12. Let but [the gods] attack him (i.e., Tutu) in wrath, he
shall resist them successfully;
13. Let him be raised up on a high throne in the assembly
of the gods....
14. None among the gods is like unto him.
15. O god TUTU, who art the god ZI-UKKINA, life of the host of the
gods,
16. Who stablished the shining heavens for the gods,
17. He founded their paths, he fixed [their courses].
18. Never shall his deeds be forgotten among men.
19. O god TUTU, who art ZI-AZAG, was the third name they gave
him--holder (i.e., possessor) of holiness,
20. God of the favourable wind, lord of adoration and grace,
21. Creator of fulness and abundance, stablisher of plenty,
22. Who turneth that which is little into that which is much.
23. In sore straits we have felt his favouring breeze.
24. Let them (the gods) declare, let them magnify, let them sing his
praises.