The following is one of the many early Chaldean hymns that were
incorporated into a collection which M. Lenormant has aptly compared with
the Rig-Veda of India. The concluding lines show that it originally
belonged to the city of Erech (now Warka). The date of its composition
must be exceedingly remote, and this increases the interest of the
astronomical allusions contained in it. The original Accadian text is
given, with an interlinear Assyrian translation, as is usually the case
with hymns of this kind. The terra-cotta tablet on which it is found is
numbered S, 954, being one of those that have been recently brought back
from Assyria by Mr. George Smith, who has translated the Reverse in his
"Assyrian Discoveries," pp. 392, 393. I owe a copy of the text to the
kindness of Mr. Boscawen. It is of considerable importance for the study
of Assyrian grammar.