exult.
26. Lord of the holy incantation, who maketh the dead to live,
27. He felt compassion for the gods who were in captivity.
28. He riveted on the gods his enemies the yoke which had been resting
on them.
29. In mercy towards them he created mankind,
30. The Merciful One in whose power it is to give life.
31. His words shall endure for ever, they shall never be forgotten,
32. In the mouth of the Black-headed[1] whom his hands have made.
[Footnote 1: Here the title "Black-headed" refers to all mankind, but
it is sometimes used by the scribes to distinguish the population of
the Euphrates Valley from foreign peoples of light complexions.]
33. O God TUTU, who art the god MU-AZAG in the fifth place--let their
mouth recite a holy incantation [to him],
34. Who by his own holy incantation hath destroyed all the evil ones.
[Illustration: Portion of a tablet inscribed in Assyrian with a text
of the Seventh Tablet of the Creation Series. [K. 8522.]]
35. O god SHAZU, the wise heart of the gods, who searchest the inward
parts of the belly,
36. Who dost not permit the worker of evil to go forth by his side,
37. Establisher of the company of the gods ... their hearts.
38. Reducer of the disobedient ...
[Lines 39-106 are wanting. The positions of the fragmentary lines
supplied by duplicate fragments are uncertain; in any case they give
no connected sense.]
107. Verily, he holdeth the beginning and the end of them,[1]
verily ...
[Footnote 1: Compare the language of the Kur'an (Surah II, v. 256),
"He (Allah) knoweth what is before them and what is behind them."]
108. Saying, "He who entered into the middle of Tiamat resteth not;
109. "His name shall be 'Nibiru' the seizer of the middle.
110. "He shall set the courses of the stars of the heavens,
111. "He shall herd together the whole company of the gods like sheep.
112. "He shall [ever] take Tiamat captive, he shall slit up her
treasure (variant, life), he shall disembowel her."[1]
[Footnote 1: These lines suggest that the fight between Marduk and
Tiamat was recurrent; it is incorrect to translate the verbal forms as
preterites.]
113. Among the men who are to come after a lapse of time,
114. Let [these words] be heard without ceasing, may they reign to all
eternity,
115. Because he made the [heavenly] places and moulded the stable
[earth].
116. Father Bel proclaimed his name, "Lord of the Lands."
117. All the Igigi repeated the title.
118. Ea heard and his liver rejoiced,
119. Saying, "He whose title hath rejoiced his fathers
120. "Shall be even as I am; his name shall be Ea.
121. "He shall dispose of all the magical benefits of my rites,
122. "He shall make to have effect my instructions."
123. By the title of "Fifty times" the great gods
124. Proclaimed his names fifty times, they magnified his going.
EPILOGUE.
125. Let the first comer take them and repeat them;
126. Let the wise man and the learned man meditate upon all of them;
127. The father shall repeat them to his son that he may lay hold upon
them.
128. Let them (i.e., the names) open the ears of the shepherd and the
herdsman.[1]
[Footnote 1: "To open the ears"--to give understanding.]
129. Let [man] rejoice in Marduk, the Lord of the Gods,
130. That his land may be fertile and he himself abide in security.
131. His word is true, his command altereth not.
132. No god hath ever brought to the ground that which issueth from
his mouth.
133. They (i.e., the gods) treated him with contempt, he turned
not his back [in flight],
134. No god could resist his wrath at its height.
135. His heart is large, his bowels of mercy are great.
136. Of sin and wickedness before him ...
137. The first comer utters his complaint of humiliation before him.
[Lines 138-142 are too fragmentary to translate.]
NOTES.
1. There are in the British Museum several fragments of Neo-Babylonian
copies of the Seven Tablets of Creation, the exact position of which is
at present uncertain. One of these (S. 2013) is of some importance
because it speaks of one object which was in the "upper Tiamat", and of
another which was in the "lower Tiamat". This shows that the Babylonians
thought that one half of the body of Tiamat, which was split up by
Marduk, was made into the celestial ocean, and the other half into the
terrestrial ocean, in other words, into "the waters that were above" and
"the waters that were beneath" the firmament respectively.
2. When George Smith published his _Chaldean Account of Genesis_
in 1876, he was of opinion that the Creation Tablets in the British
Museum contained descriptions of the Temptation of Eve by the serpent
and of the building and overthrow of the Tower of Babel. The
description of Paradise in Genesis ii seems to show traces of
Babylonian influence, and the cylinder seal, Brit. Mus. No. 89,326,
was thought to be proof that a Babylonian legend of the Temptation
existed. In fact, George Smith printed a copy of the seal in his book
(p. 91). But it is now known that the tablet which was believed to
refer to man's eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge (K. 3, 473
+ 79-7-8, 296 + R. 615) describes the banquet of the gods to which
they invited Marduk. In like manner the text on K. 3657, which Smith
thought referred to the Tower of Babel, is now known to contain no
mention of a tower or building of any sort. It was also thought by him
that K. 3364 contained a set of instructions which God gave to Adam
and Eve after their creation, but it is now known and admitted by all
Assyriologists that the text on this tablet contains moral precepts
and has nothing to do with the Creation Series. Enquiries are from
time to time made at the Museum for tablets which deal with the
Temptation of Eve, and the destruction of the Tower of Babel, and the
Divine commands to Adam and Eve; it is perhaps not superfluous to say
that nothing of the kind exists.
LIST OF THE NAMES OF THE STARS OR SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC, WITH A LIST
SHOWING THE MONTH THAT WAS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH STAR IN THE PERSIAN
PERIOD.
BY SIDNEY SMITH, M.A., and C.J. GADD, M.A., Assistants in the Department.
No. 77,821 (85-4-30, 15).
Determinative Modern
Month. of Star. Name of the Sign of the Zodiac. Equivalent
[Cuneiform] Goat.
[Cuneiform] Bull.
[Cuneiform] Twins.
[Cuneiform] Crab.
[Cuneiform] Lion.
[Cuneiform] Virgin.
[Cuneiform] Scales.
[Cuneiform] Scorpion.
[Cuneiform] Bow.
[Cuneiform] Capricornus
[Cuneiform] Water-bearer
[Cuneiform] The Fishes.
Month.
|
| Determinative of Star.
| |
| | Name of the Sign on the Zodiac.
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | TRANSLITERATION.
| | TRANSLATION.
| |
1 Nisannu (kakkab) (amel) Agru....
The Labourer.
2 Airu " Kakkab u (kakkab) Alap shame
The Star and the Bull of heaven.
3 Simanu " Re'u kinu shame u (kakkab) tu'ame rabuti
The faithful shepherd of heaven and the Great Twins.
4 Duuzu " AL.LUL. (shittu)[1]....
The Tortoise.
5 Abu " Kalbu rabu....
Great Dog (Lion).
6 Ululu " Shiru....
Virgin with ear of corn.
7 Tashritum " Zibanitum....
....
8 Arah shamna " Akrabu....
The Scorpion.
9 Kislimu " PA.BIL.SAG....
Enurta (the god).
10 Tebetum " SUHUR.MASH....
The Goat-fish.
11 Shabatu " Gula....
The Great Star
12 Addaru " DIL.GAN.u rikis nuni
The star ... and the Band of Fishes.
[Footnote 1: The Egyptian Sheta]
I have been assisted in the preparation of this monograph by
Mr. Sidney Smith, M.A., Assistant in the Department.
E.A. WALLIS BUDGE.
DEPARTMENT OF EGYPTIAN AND ASSYRIAN ANTIQUITIES, BRITISH MUSEUM.
_June_ 1, 1921.