f California Regional Facility to o Q .8 o 6 h 8 o 5 O Q < to o o Q g O H U cc Q 2 < U < THE SACRED BOOKS AND EARLY LITERATURE OF THE EAST WITH HISTORICAL SURVEYS OF THE CHIEF WRITINGS OF EACH NATION Translations, Bibliographies, etc. , by the following Leading Orientalists: IN AMERICA: MORRIS JASTROW.LL.D., Professor of Semitic Languages, University of Penn- sylvania; JAMES H. BREASTED, LL.D., Professor of Egyptology, University of Chicago; CHARLES C. TORREY, D.D., Professor of Semitic Languages , Yale University; A. V. W. JACKSON, LL.D., Professor of I ndo- Iranian, Columbia Uni- versity; CHARLES R. LANM AN, LL.D., Professor of Sanskrit, Harvard University; Rev. CHARLES F. AIKEN, S.T.D., Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Catholic University; FRIEDRICH HIRTH, LL.D., Professor of Chinese, Columbia Uni- versity; Rev. WILLIAM E. GRIFFIS, D.D., former Professor at the Imperial University, Tokio. IN EUROPE: E. A. W. BUDGE, F.S.A., Director of Egyptology in the British Museum; Sir GASTON MASPERO, D.C.L., Member of the Royal Institute of France; Rev. A. H. SAYCE, LL.D., Professor of Comparative Philology, Oxford University; W. FLINDERS-PETRIE, LL.D., Professor of Egyptology, Uniyersity College, London; STEPHEN LANGDON, Ph.D., Professor of Assyriology, Oxford University; Sir .ERNEST SATOW, LL.D., G.C.M.G. , British Minister to Japan ; H. OLDENBERG, LL.D., Professor of Sanskrit, Kiel University; T. VV. RHYS-DAVIDS, LL.D., Librarian of the Royal Asiatic Society; ARMINIUS VAMBfiRY, LL.D., Professor of Oriental Languages, University of Budapest. IN ASIA: Sir M. COOMARA SWAMY, Legislative Council of Ceylon; ROMESH CHUNDER DUTT. C.I.E., Author of the History of Civilization in Ancient India; DARAB D. P. SANJANA, Educational Society of Bombay; Viscount KENCHO SUYE- MATSU LL.M., Japanese Minister of the Interior; SHEIK FAIZ-ULLAH-BHAI, Head Master of the Schools of Anjuman-i-Islam; RALPH T. GRIFFITH, President Benares College, India; JIVANJI JAMSHEDJI MODI, FeUow of Bombay Uni- versity, OflScier de I'Academie Frangaise. Under the editorship of a staff of specialists directed hy Phof. CHARLES F. HORNE, Ph.D. PARKE, AUSTIN, AND LIPSCOMB, Inc. NEW YORK LONDON Copyright, 1917, Parke, Austin, and Lipscomb, Inc. inrrtKltTrooT. & rSDMWOOD, X T THE PRESENT AND THE PAST An ancient Babylonian coffin just excavated, and a child of the region today. THE SACRED BOOKS AND EARLY LITERATURE OF THE EAST VOLUME I BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA In Translations by Morris Jastrow, Jr., LL.D., Librarian and Professor of Semitic Languages in the University of Pennsylvania; Rev. A. H. Sayce, LL.D., Professor of Comparative Philology at Oxford University; Robert W. Rogers, LL.D., Professor of Hebrew in Drew Theological Seminary; George A. Barton, LL.D., President of the American Oriental Society and Professor of Semitic in Bryn Mawr College; Leonard W. King, F.S.A., Assistant in Assyrian Antiquities in the British Museum; Stephen Langdon, Ph.D., Professor of Assyriology at Oxford University; Arno Poebel, Ph.D., formerly of the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania Museum; and other noted Babylonian scholars. With a Brief Bibliography by Prof. Morris Jastrow, Jr., LL.D. With an Historical Survey and Descriptions by Prof. CHARLES F. HORNE, Ph.D. PARKE, AUSTIN, AND LIPSCOMB, Inc. NEW YORK LONDON " Let there he light" — Genesis I, 3. " There never was a false god, nor was there ever really a false religion, unless you call a child a false man.'' — Max Muller. GENERAL INTRODUCTION THE PURPOSE OF THIS WOEK IIST speaking of the Sacred Books of the East, that great American sage and teacher, Emerson, called them that " class of books which are the best : I mean the Bibles of the world, or the sacred books of each nation, which express for each the supreme result of their experience. . . . All these books are the majestic expression of the universal con- science. They are for the closet, and to be read on the bended knee. Their communications are not to be given or taken with the lips and the end of the tongue, but out of the glow of the cheek, and with the throbbing heart. Friendship should give and take, solitude and time brood and ripen, heroes absorb and enact them. They are not to be held by letters printed on a page, but are living characters trans- latable into every tongue and form of life. We call them Asiatic, we call them primeval; but perhaps that is only optical, for Nature is always equal to herself, and there are as good eyes and ears now in the planet as ever were. Only these ejaculations of the soul are uttered one or a few at a time, at long intervals, and it takes millenniums to make a Bible." Emerson spoke with but a shadow of our present knowl- edge of the East. Mighty books unknown to him have since been recovered by modern scientific search. Yet the reader may well take Emerson's words as a hint of how profoundly easth's eakliest liteeatuke, even when onlv the barest fragments of it were known, began at once to shape the thought of our foremost men. e^vrth's earliest literature We ask therefore of the reader a moment's consideration of the sources of the earliest human thought and books. In vi GENERAL INTRODUCTION what far distant epoch man first began to think for himself, we do not know. Those half-brutish minds of some long- forgotten " stone age " have left no trace of the vague first " Why ? " with which they began mankind's eternal strug- gle to pierce the infinite. Feeble indeed must have been these earliest efforts of men to reach beyond immediate physical sensation, to understand themselves and the world around them, and the spiritual world which they felt ex- panding above them and beyond. So completely blank is the abyss of ignorance which our climbing forefathers have left behind them that, up to a century or so ago, mankind had scarcely a grain of knowledge of what had happened in the world three thousand years before. Back of the Greek wars sung by Homer, we had almost no guide to earlier ages except in our Scriptures, the Old Testament account of the creation, so brief and so often mis- interpreted and misunderstood. Beyond this one mighty Book of the past, with its attention centered on the Hebrew race, we possessed only a few loose references in old Greek authors, who mentioned Babylon and Egypt as fading lands of the past, in which the Greeks took little interest. The nineteenth century changed this widely. The world of three thousand years ago is now almost as clear to us as yesterday's world. Moreover, we can look back twice as far, six thousand years perhaps, and know more of that dis- tant date than our fathers knew of Homer's time. Even be- yond six thousand years we have now well-defined glimpses of an earlier age, of races at least semi-civilized in an an- tiquity for which we have no measuring terms of years. THE, RECENT REDISCOVEKY OF THE PAST Whence has come this tremendous unfolding of the leaves of the past ? It is one of the chief triumphs ever gained by human intellect. With wonderful patience and ability, our scientists have sought and compared and studied over all the scattered fragments of antiquity which they have found througliout Asia and North Africa. Not only Eg^'pt and Babylonia, but India, China, Persia, and a score of GENERAL INTRODUCTION vii other regious have contributed, sometimes a few words, some- times whole wonderful mysterious literatures, to enlarge our knowledge of man's older days and older thoughts. We may have little cause to boast of any higher wisdom than our fathers, or any deeper spiritual insight, but we have at least established a far broader base of knowledge, both physical and intellectual, from which to uplift our eyes and thoughts — and look beyond. While our knowledge of the physical laws of the v/orld may continue to increase, there is little likelihood that we shall ever again enlarge our mental horizon by such stu- pendous finds as have come to us with the sacred books of the Hindus, the hieroglyphs of the Egyptians, and all these other marvels of the past. Hence it is well to pause and take more careful account of our recovered treasure, to place side by side the richest gems of this " wisdom of the East," and so add all their wealth of knowledge to our own. THE PRESENT SERIES That is what the present series of volumes seeks to do. Erom each of the great centers of Oriental thought, it gathers the chief writings. Only the greatest works are given. These are offered with brief explanations of their value and their origin. Minor points of note and comment have been, avoided, the purpose being to let the reader study the ancient books themselves, rather than our modern discussion of them. The volumes offer, first, the oldest discovered documents of each ancient civilization, so that the reader mav see for himself what vague stirrings of thought first came to men. Sometimes these earliest fragments embody religious ideas from days far, far older than the Divine revelations to Moses. Sometimes they deal with the moral rather than the spiritual world, proverbs which show how man had re- solved to deal with man, thousands of years before Christ's great command, " Love one another." Sometimes they are boasts of a vain conqueror ; sometimes songs of joy ; more often cries of terror. But in each case they are the earliest visions which open to us the human heart. Vlll GENERAL INTRODUCTION Following these most ancient recovered fragments, our series gives for each race its great religious book, its Bible, Koran, or whatever else it has held most sacred as the gift of God to man. For, never a race rose to civilization, but it seems to have regarded some portion of its thought as be- ing divine. Some one of its writings was declared an in- spiration which had come to man from a higher source than he. Then is given the chief — or oldest — historical writing of each race, its most valued poems, its travels, a specimen of its drama, if it ever developed drama, its chief romance, and something of its simpler household tales. Thus the ef- fort is made to let the reader see for himself the best of all the literature of the East. Thus he can follow Oriental wis- dom from its beginning. A SUM]\rAEIZED HISTORY OF EASTERN LITERATURE As far as possible the books of each nation have been not only kept by themselves, but arranged chronologically. Thus each of our volumes is also a history of a nation's literature. Read first the brief introductory sketch to each, telling w^hat the nation's course has been in literature, what its chief books and writers, and what the progress of its thought. Guided by this general knowledge, turn then to whatever chiss of works most please you in the body of the volumes. Read the strangely differing romances of the varied races, their quaintly worded travels, their boastful histories. Or balance, one against the other, the varied hu- man passions of their poems. Or, best of all, compare their Sacred Books, and gather how, amid all the thousand di- versities of man's physical growth and culture, his spiritual thought remains ever in its elements the same, because it is giiidrd by some "Wisdom older, stronger, and more all-en- veloping than human intellect. Charles F. IIorne- CONTENTS OF VOLUME I BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA PAOB Introduction — The Remarkable Re-discovery of Earth's Early Civilization and of the Growth of Religious Thought in Man 1 THE FIRST CIVILIZATION I. — The Tales of Babylon that Survived Its Fall 15 Fragments of the Historian Berosus (300 B.C.) . 19 II. — Earth's Oldest Language: The Sumerian . 27 The Locust Charm, Earth's Oldest Text (4000 B.C. or older) 34 A King Buys Land (3200 b.c.) 36 The Royal Inscriptions of Lagash (3000-2500 B.C.) 41 The Dream of Gudea (2500 B.C.) 55 The Destruction of Uruk (2100 b.c) ... 59 The Oldest Creation Story (2500 b.c?) ... 60 Charms against Evil Spirits ' . 71 A Hymn to the Storm-God 73 III. — ^Texts in the Akkadian, or Oldest Semitic Tongue 75 A Fragmentary Temple Record (3200 B.C.?) . 79 Agricultural Precepts 80 Philosophy of an Unknown King 85 Chronicles of the First World-Conquerors (2675 B.C.) . 87 IX X CONTENTS THE GREAT AGE OF BABYLONIA (2100-1100 b.c.) PAGE IV. — The Writings of -Hammurapi (2081 B.C.) . . 105 Inscriptions and Letters 109 The First Complete Law Code 114 V. — The Creation Epic 147 VI. — The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Goddess Ishtar 185 VIL — Other Religious Legends 221 Adapa, and the Food of Life 225 The Seven Evil Spirits 233 Charms against the Seven Spirits .... 234 Descent of the Goddess Ishtar to the Nether- world 235 VIII. — Moral and Philosophical Texts .... 243 Babylonian Proverbs 246 A Moralist's Counsel 248 The Babylonian " Ten Commandments " . . 249 A Penitential Psalm 251 The Babylonian "Job" . . 253 IX. — The Tel-el- Am arna Letters (1400 b.c.) . . 261 THE GREAT AGE OF ASSYRIA (889-626 b.c.) X. — Records of the Conquering Kings .... 355 The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser .... 360 The Nimrod Inscription 373 Inscription of Sargon II 381 Sennacherib's Boast 396 XI. — Prayers and Magic Incantations .... 413 THE NEO-BABYLONIAN AGE (625-539 b.c.) XII. — Nebuchadrezzar and Belshazzar .... 435 Inscription of Nebuchadrezzar 439 Business Documents of Belshazzar .... 457 The Fall of Babylon: Inscription of Cyrus, the Aryan Conqueror 460 Bibliography • 463 ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME I FACING PAOB The Present and the Past Frontispiece The Oldest Writing in the World 34 Marduk Destroys the Dragon Tiamat 160 The Walls of Babylon and Temple of Babel .... 256 A Human Sacrifice to Baal 320 The Assyrians Assaulting a City 400 SACKED BOOKS AND EAKLY LITEMTUEE OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA INTRODUCTION THE REMARKABLE REDISCOVERY OF EARTH'S EARLY CIVILIZATION AND OF THE GROWTH OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT IN MAN THE ancient Asiatic land of Babylonia, the fertile valley of the great Euphrates river, has a double interest, suffi- cient to arouse the eager attention of every modern reader. In the first place this valley was the home of the oldest civiliza- tion that has survived in any intelligible form, and in its literature we may study the earliest upward steps of the thought and intelligence of our human race. In the second place, the Hebrew people were Babylonians, who left the land some two thousand years before Christ, under the guidance of their patriarch Abraham. Hence much as the Hebrew religion was afterward uplifted by the teachings of Moses, of Jesus, and of many a lesser spiritual leader, yet the human beginnings of both Jewish and Christian faiths are founded on Babylonian thought and knowledge. Our religious be- liefs of to-day are still interwoven with many a strand that can be traced back to its Babylonian source. Still a third, though lighter, cause for interest in the old Babylonian texts lies in the newness and oddity and curiosity of their recent rediscovery after they had lain buried for many ages, and were apparently lost to the world forever. The antiquity of Babylonia is so great, the destruction of its many powerful cities was so complete, that even in the VOL. I.— 1. 1 2 THE SACRED BOOKS isLT distant days of Greece and Eome men were beginning to forget Babylon and to make the mistake of referring to Egypt as the earliest home of civilization. So complete be- came the oblivion of the older land that, a century ago, our modem world knew nothing of Babylonia or of its later rival Assyria, except for the chance references to them in the Hebrew Scriptures and a few comments preserved in old Greek authors. The pictures of Babylonia in the Bible were of the original paradise, the flood, and then of a great power under a savage king Nimrod, or under later tyrants, such as Sennacherib and Nebuchadrezzar. The Greek comments were all based on one source — a history by a Babylonian priest, Berosus, written about the time of Alexander the Great. These surviving fragments from Berosus are given here at the opening of our volume, that the reader may com- bine them with the well-known Bible story and so begin by seeing Babylonia as all the world saw it a century ago, a land of somber mystery, of desolation incurred as a direct curse for sin, of darkness lightened only by the fantastic legends of Berosus. The reopening to our vision of the strange, true world of this most ancient land began about seventy years ago. Scien- tific explorers unearthed the ruins of some of its forgotten cities, and found wall-carvings and tablets inscribed in the old Assyrian language. At first no man could read the un- known script, and it is one of the proudest triumphs of sci- entific ingenuity that by patient labor our scholars managed at last to interpret the ancient signs, and reread the lan- guage which had been obliterated for over two thousand years. Spurred on by this remarkable success, our scientists have explored the whole Euphrates valley and delved into many a buried city. Briefly outlined, the knowledge we have gained is this. Eive thousand years ago there stood in the Babylonian valley many strong cities encircled by mighty defensive walls of brick, and inhabited by men of consid- erable intellectual power. These people wrote, and medi- tated, and invented arts, and had priests and kings and car- LITERATURE OF THE EAST d penters, and lived in that mutual dependence and division of the labors of life which we call civilization. Moreover, these grim and ancient city walls were some of them built high upon the ruins of yet older fortified towns, dating back into centuries that we can not count. At the very bottom of one of these huge mounds of ruin, overlaid by the debris of city upon city, our explorers have come at last upon the rem- nants of a mere simple fishermen's village. How long is it since those fisher folk spread their crude nets against the still unceasing flow of the great Euphrates river ? jSTo man can say, but the explorers reckon that the village may per- haps date back twelve thousand years. Despite this doubling and doubling again of the length of our modern vision into the past, no scientist would to-day say positively that these strange, brick-built cities of Babylonia represent man's original civilization, his first rise above the savage state. They represent only the first of which we have clear trace. Searchers have caught vague glimpses of other civilizations perhaps even older, in central Asia. And in the seaport city of Eridu, one of the very oldest of Baby- lonian centers of culture, the chief religious legend was of the god, Ea, who had in long past years come from the sea, and taught the people all they knew. This may well imply the arrival of a chance wanderer from some far land wherein the dawn of knowledge had begun yet earlier. THE LIBEABY OF ASHUK-BANIPAI. Most of our knowledge of the literature and religion of Babylonia has come to us from our discovery of the library of the Assyrian king, Ashur-banipal. This monarch reigned at a comparatively recent date, about 650 b.c. ; but he was himself an interested student of the past, that past which he could trace as far behind him as we, a century ago, could trace our past. So King Ashur-banipal set his learned men to transcribing all the literature of the older days, writing it down in his capital city of Nineveh, on the little tablets, or bricks of clay, which were his books. Into these clay tab- lets the scribes stamped the queer little wedge-shaped fig- 4 THE SACRED BOOKS ures, which we now call the " cuneiform " (cone-shaped) lan- guage. This peculiar-looking library, in which the books themselves were bricks, was afterward destroyed with the destruction of the city; but we have found some twenty thousand of the tablets which, despite fire and flood and time, can still be read wholly or in part. There have been other writings found in other places, many books of brick; but no others have given us such value as the great library of Ashur-banipal. THE FOUR SUCCESSIVE CIVILIZATIONS OF BABYLONIA From all these garnered writings we have learned that there were at least four, if not more, successive and very dif- ferent civilizations built up in the Babylonian valley. The first clearly visible civilization, which flourished long before the mighty city of Babylon arose, was that of the Sumerian people. They lived at the southern end of the valley, near the mouth of the Euphrates river, or along the sea-coast of the Persian Gulf. These Sumerians seem to have been of different stock from either of the two races of men that have since dominated the world — the Aryan ancestors of Europe and America, and the great Semitic stock from which sprang the Arabs, Babylonians, and Hebrews. The Sumerians were more like the smooth-faced, round-headed men of central Asia, the Chinese or Tartars. So, perchance, both Aryans and Semites have been but the bearers of a borrowed torch of culture. The first light of thought, of progress, may have been set aflame among the Sumerians, or even, as the tale of Ea suggests, in some still earlier race of men. Xorth of Sumer, higher up the Euphrates, there began, in an age perhaps five thousand years before Christ, the growth of other cities. These were built by a more bar- baric people, of different language and race, who at first looked up to the Sumerians and borrowed much from them. This rouglier northern land was called Akkad ; and its peo- ple, the Akkadians, were chiefly of Semitic stock, wander- ers probably from Syria or from the nearby desert of Arabia. Gradually the fiercer, more numerous men of Akkad came LITERATURE OF THE EAST 6 to dominate those of Sumer. And then, not later than twen- ty-five hundred years before Christ — for we come now to days and events upon which we can set a date, though schol- ars are not yet positive within narrow limits — there swept over Akkad a new Semitic invasion. With this the rule of the city of Babylon began, a new city speaking a new lan- guage, though similar to the Akkadian. Babylon first became powerful under a famous conqueror, King Sargou, whom later ages adopted as the founder of the great city. Then, several centuries later (about 2000 B.C.), a second soldier and great ruler in the ways of peace, Ilammurapi, raised the city to such a height of power and splendor as fixed forever its name and its ascendancy over the entire Euphrates valley.^ It was in Hammurapi's day, if not before under Sargon, that Babylon's power and influence began to spread beyond the Euphrates valley. Her people gained their first knowl- edge of the rival civilization of Egypt. This was probably less ancient than that of the Sumerians; but Egypt had not been so harried by devastating war as was the easily acces- sible valley of the Euphrates ; and we shall find in Egypt a more rapid progress in all the arts — with the exception of the one dread art of war. While Hammurapi and his Baby- 1 The chronology of our most recent Babylonian scholars has been adopted throughout this volume. Babylonian chronology ia soundly and fully established from about the time of Hammurapi (2000 B.C.) onward. But as to the gap of years which separates him from Sargon there is doubt. Until lately our scholars had accepted without ques- tion the positive statement of a late Babylonian king, who said that in rebuilding an ancient temple he found beneath it an inscription showing it to have been built thirty-two hundred years before, by the king who had succeeded Sargon. This would have dated Sargon's reign at about 3800 B.C., or nearly two thousand years before Ham- murapi. But as recent discoveries increase our knowledge of those early days, our scientists have found reason to doubt whether more than a few hundred years intervened between these two great kings of Babylon. More probably the monarch who announced the old temple's date was mistaken, or perhaps his officials deceived him. At all events, the present inclination is to set the date of Sargon between 2600 and 2800 B.C., and so reduce all older figures by rather more than a thou- sand years. This most recent reckoning is the one employed through- out this volume. 6 THE SACRED BOOKS lonians fought, the men of Egypt thought. Thus Egypt's intellectual and religious development makes her ancient lit- erature in some ways more worthy of study than that of Baby- lon, though Egypt never reached the opulence nor the cos- mopolitan spirit of the shrewd Babylonians. The latter be- came the merchant princes, the commercial travelers, of the world. There still remains a fourth Euphrates empire to be noted. The Assyrians, who dwelt in what had been originally a sort of rough frontier colony of Babylon, gradually grew in war- like power, until they threw off the yoke of Babylon, con- quered the parent city, and became in their turn the military rulers of the entire valley. Babylon, however, continued even in Assyrian days to dominate the region as its chief center of religion and culture. Sometimes Babylon fought for independence; at others it submitted and was boastfully displayed as the proudest jewel of the Assyrian crown. THE OLDEST LITEEATUKE AND THE GROWTH OF THOUGHT Turn now to the literary remains of these four successive ages. Many of the tablets of the Assyrian Ashur-banipal are written in two parallel columns. They give the text in his own tongue and also in the ancient Akkadian, or Su- merian. Sometimes a third column gives the same record in the later Akkadian, or Babylonian language. Hence we learn that the old Akkadian tongue had been retained for thousands of years, much as Latin has been in our own day, as a sort of religious language. Later, Babylonian and As- syrian resembled it, were bom from it, as our Italian and Erench are born from Latin. The priests of Babylon sang their religious chants in the ancient Akkadian. We might even compare our day and theirs yet further ; for just as we find our ultimate religious sources not in the Latin, but in the still more ancient Hebrew, so Babylon looked back be- yond Akkad and found its first religious source in the Su- merian tongue. In the present volume, therefore, you will find, first of all, the surviving fragments of the pre-Babylonian days. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 7 First come the Sumerian texts, the oldest and most valuable survivals of that earliest human tongue, a language that had been dead for centuries before Hebrew or Greek or Latin was first bom. Next comes the old Akkadian section. The religious chants and hymns in Akkadian are quite numerous among the later libraries; but we can not be sure whether they preserve genuine early Akkadian thought or were composed in the old tongue by Babylonian priests, much as the poet- Milton and many another modern scholar wrote Latin hymns, long after Latin had disappeared from common use. In ad- dition to this book Akkadian, however, our explorers have found numerous carved inscriptions of old Akkadian and even Sumerian date. Moreover, when we deal with late As- syrian transcripts we must remember that Assyrian legend and religious faith always look back to the older originals. Neither Assyria nor Babylon seems to have added much to the stock of thought which each inherited. The progress of ideas, through all those many centuries that we can trace, was almost inconceivably slow. An Assyrian would have told you, like many a modern pessimist, that there was noth- ing new under the sun, that every possible thing had been, thought and said, and said again, thousands of years before his time. We have lived to know that the Assyrian was wrong. We can see now how even his o%vn civilization bore within it the seeds of a tremendously expanding tree of knowledge and divine inspiration. To realize this, to see how from Baby- lonian sources were to burst forth the great Hebrew religious thought, and also the great Greek scientific thought, one need only follow earnestly the literature presented in this and the succeeding volumes. Let the reader begin by noting here the faith and the de- gree of intelligence, as well as the social and religious cus- toms, that find expression in our Sumerian and Akkadian texts, those immeasurably old and oldest treasure-houses of human ideas. There are proverbs, some of them closely paralleling our modern sayings. There are spells to ward 8 THE SACRED BOOKS off evil, such as our age has almost, but not quite, outgrown. There are pompous boasts of conquests by forgotten kings, whose very names are now unreadable. There are laws also, to protect property and life, savage retaliatory laws such as we should expect at the beginning ; and there are other laws such as we should not have expected, arranging small details of business. Instead of a single patriarch or ruler deciding all matters off-hand by a rough personal sense of justice, there was already a complex social code, seeking to fix broad impersonal relationships of equal standing for all men. As for the religious chants, they speak of good powers and evil powers, gods and demons; but these show no large religious thought. Their imagined deities were little more than men. Each city had at first its own god, and sometimes he could not even protect his special city, so his people did not think of him as very powerful. It was quite natural that some other city, having a god a little stronger, should fight against him. THE GREAT AGE OF BABYLONIA HAMMUKAPl's CODE,; THE CREATION EPIC From these early Sumerian and Akkadian days arose at last the great empire and rich civilization of the city of Babylon. Its monarchs conquered all the world they knew; and its literature incorporated all the old legends and gave them a newer and more lasting life, by which they have survived until now. Among the kings of Babylon, we look first and chiefly to Hammurapi. Modem scholars have chosen this ancient monarch as the crowning genius of his country and his race. If Babylon had been famed before his day, he extended both its fame and its power until they seemed illimitable. He gathered the older laws of his land and framed them all into a single code, which still survives. He wrote personal letters which we can read to-day. His name means more to us than that of any other Babylonian before Nebuchadrezzar. Somewhere about Ilammurapi's time, perhaps in the peace which under his dominion extended up and down the LITERATURE OF THE EAST 9 length of the sorely suffering valley of the great river, lit- erature reached its fullest splendor. Most of the later texts now found prove to be copies of older works, dating back in one way or another to this great Babylonian period. Then arose the Creation Epic, founded on still earlier Sumerian tales, but now assuming its final form. Indeed, several varying creation-legends have been preserved and are here given. The chief form of the epic is a noteworthy work, partly because it somewhat tallies with the Biblical narra- tive of the " beginning's," partly because it marks such an upward step in religious conception. The Babylonians had become wholly convinced that their chief god, Marduk, was more powerful than any other. So they thought of him, not exactly as ruling the world, but at least as being able to de- feat any other deity. They enlarged their conception of him until, in the epic, he becomes a civilizing god who wars against chaos and the monsters of darkness. And he con- quers. But the struggle is not an easy one; Marduk must fight his very best — just as in real life Babylon must keep constant ward against all the wild and terrible barbarians sweeping down upon her valley from the unknown regions of the outer world. THE GILGAMESII EPIC To this age also belongs apparently the Gilgamesh Epic, the story of a national hero and ancient king, which includes the tale of the flood and many another old, old legend. This Gilgamesh epic has been declared by modern critics the finest flower of Babylonian literature. Modern English poems have been built upon it, yet the ancient epic itself has never been fully translated into English. For this rea- son Professor Jastrow has prepared for the present volume a special translation, the fullest which has yet been given in our language. As the Gilgamesh story also includes a love-tale, or something that approaches this, the epic thus be- comes earth's first romance. To this fascinating ancient epic are here added several other tales, rich with vivid glimpses into the world of the 10 THE SACRED BOOKS early days. Sometimes these tales resemble closely and most instructively some passages of our own Bible, but it may be well to warn the reader that in the early days of Babylonian discovery these resemblances were somewhat exaggerated. Scholars were so interested in tracing every similarity that they succeeded in finding some which did not exist. For example, one fragment of the Creation Epic was misread as describing the tempting of Eve by the serpent; and another fragment was widely heralded as relating to the building of the tower of Babel. The latter tale is now seen to be dealing with some great tumult caused by a king or god in Babylon, but without any mention whatever of a tower. Nevertheless, the Babylonian tales have all a religious and almost a Biblical tinge. It is hard to say where, in that distant epoch, religion ceased and simple story-telling began. The narratives deal always with the mingled doings of gods and men, because these two, as we have seen, were in the dawning of Akkadian religious thought almost the same. It must, indeed, have been in such semi-religious tales that the Babylonians took their pleasure ; for we have found no other stories, and no drama, no studies of the human heart, and no comic quips. Man may have learned to laugh even in those grim days, but, if so, he put no trace of laughter into his books. He kept his written records very seriously. We might extend this comment further to say that theie is little of what is commonly called " literary merit " m any of the old Babylonian writings. Their interest to-day de- pends wholly upon the reader, upon his power to gather from them some vision of human nature in its early childhood. In our imperfect knowledge of this lost language we can not judge whether in the original the lines had any marked music of sound, though it is quite clear that many of them were written in verse. Moreover, the religious chants offer us sad echoes of human passion, a stirring of stem heart- strings such as can be felt despite all the difficulties of time and language. And some passages of the Gilgamesh and Creation epics are large with power and vision. But, upon LITERATURE OF THE EAST 11 the whole, the Babylonian skill in self-expression was crude and slight. BUSINESS DOCUMENTS AND PRIVATE LETTERS There is yet another class of Babylonian records, scarcely to be called literature, yet of very curious interest and value. These are the letters, private or official, and the business documents of the time. The majority of the clay tablets that have come down to us have been of this latter character ; that is to say, business records, formal agreements made in the presence of witnesses and then filed in some public or private storeroom that there might be no " breaking of the bond." In one case we have even recovered the complete set of tablets of a Babylonian business firm, continuing from generation to generation for nearly two hundred years. The name of this most ancient and long-lived firm of business magnates, forerunners of our present merchant princes, was Egibi. They were bankers, and while their own surviving records began only about 600 b.c, when they were called " the sons of Egibi," yet we find other earlier references to the house of Egibi, so that their banking career is thought to have begun as early as perhaps 900 b.c. Tablets such as theirs can have no wide interest, yet a few samples of them are given, that the reader may see for himself the methods of Babylonian traffic. Far more humanly interesting are the personal letters, carrying bad news or good, and the political ones, seeking to curry favor with a king. Of political letters, the most remarkable find of the last generation is the collection called the Tel-el-Amarna letters. These w^ere not discovered in the Babylonian valley at all, but in Egypt at Tel-el-Amarna in 1888. The importance of this series of letters lies mainly in the fact that they have shown us that Babylonian was the po- litical language of their time, a sort of universal medium employed by many nations. Thus the influence of Baby- lonia's culture extended even farther than her arms. The letters themselves are written to the king of Egypt by gov- Ig THE SACRED BOOKS ernors and princes of Palestine and Syria, who were tribu- tary to him. Yet these submissive reports to a proud con- queror are written not in Egyptian, but in Babylonian. Their subjects are of very human interest: excuses for not sending tribute, appeals for help against rebellion, vows of honesty and fidelity mingled with bitter charges of bad faith and disloyalty against their neighbors. All the methods of " diplomacy " are here revealed to us as being as old as empire itself. Falsehood and the cunning of the vanquished are shown upon the surface, with brute ferocity beneath, ready to strike heavy when it dares. ASSYRIAN LITERATUEE When we turn to the Assyrian literature we find it of the same general character as that of the older races, whose thought the Assyrians inherited. The later records of boast- ful kings still read much like those of Sargon and Ham- murapi. Only, with the rougher, fiercer Assyrians, there came into each king's boasting a cruder note, a seeming de- light in savagery and torture that pictures the Semitic race at its very worst. The mailed foot of Assyria trampled upon the conquered nations with ten times the destruction that Babylon had wrought. THE EEADING OF THE RIDDLE OF THE TEXTS Our volume gives the examples of these gi-im historical rec- ords which are most noteworthy to-day. The first, the " In- scription of Tiglath-pileser I.," has a special interest from having been the text by which scientific scholars first con- vinced the world that they had really solved the riddle of these old clay tablets, and could interpret their long-forgotten writing. This happened in 1860. Scholars had before of- fered translations of other Assyrian writings; but critics pointed out that there was no proof that the tablets reallj meant what some scholars said they did. So four noted Orientalists established a test. They selected this unknown inscription and each translated it separately. The four translations were then presented to a jury of learned men. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 13 If four men, working separately, could read the same mean- ing from this ancient script, the meaning must be there. There were some small differences among the translations, such as were inevitable at that early stage of our investiga- tion of Assyrian remains ; but upon the whole the agreement of the four Orientalists was so close that the whole world was convinced that the riddle of these strange '' cuneiform " texts was really solved. NED-BABYLONIAN LITERATUKE The volume contains also a brief review of what little we know of the literature of that other later Babylonian king- dom, the Neo-Babylonian, which triumphed briefly over As- syria's fall. This was the kingdom of Nebuchadrezzar and Belshazzar, and we give their inscriptions and those of Cyrus, the final conqueror of Babylon, so as to complete the picture of the savage, war-ridden days of this grim childhood of the human race. THE LEGENDS OF BABYLON THAT SURVIVED ITS FALL '' They that see thee shall gaze at thee, they shall consider thee, saying. Is this the man that made the earth to tremble? " — ISAIAH XIV. 16. " And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for jacl:- als, an astonishment and a hissing, without inhabitant." — JEREMIAH LI. 37. THE LEGENDS OF BABYLON THAT SURVIVED ITS FALL (INTRODUCTION) SOME part of very old Babylonian legend and tradition was, as we have already pointed out, carried off by the Hebrews when they first departed from their Babylonian home in the city of TJr. Hence the Book of Genesis must be reckoned among our most valued sources of knowledge of Babylonia. Genesis tells us that the Almighty's first command to earth was, " Let there be light." Those words have been made the opening quotation and motto of the pres- ent series of volumes ; because from that divine command sprang not only all Babylonian and Hebrew culture, but also every form of human progress everywhere. Each upward step of man must ever come from letting in the light. The reader, then, might well begin this volume by review- ing the first chapters of Genesis, to gather their picture of old Babylonia, the Biblical land of Shinar, or of light, the starting-place of human civilization. There lay the garden of Eden, circled by its four rivers, the fertile region of the lower Euphrates. There still towers the enormous bulk of Mount Ararat, on which Xoah landed with the ark. There arose the cities of " Babel and Erech and Accad and Calnah in the land of Shinar," wherein Shinar is but another form of Sumer, and all the names are easily identified with those of Babylonia. There, also, the huge temple tower of Babel, or Babylon, was lifted high toward heaven, while around its base the traffic of all the nations of earth, gathering in earth's first great mercantile metropolis, may well have culminated in a very babel of conflicting, shouting tongues. Yet it must be remembered that the Hebrew narrative re- mained long unknown to the masses of mankind. Greece VOL. I.— 2. 17 18 THE SACRED BOOKS and Rome drew their scanty knowledge of Babylonia, not from Genesis, but from the Babylonian priest, Berosus. To explain his land to its Grecian conquerors, Berosus wrote its history. His volume has long since perished; but frag- ments of it were quoted by other authors, and have come down to us. Mainly, these quotations are but repetitions of one another. The longest and best of them are given here. Berosus wrote them after his country's glory had long faded. Chronologically, they belong at the end of our vol- ume rather than at the beginning. They are, however, given first as representing what, before recent scientific explora- tion, was the sum total of human remembrance retained from all the struggles and the splendors, the terrific wars and gor- geous palaces, all the sin and shame and wisdom and glory, that went to make up at least five thousand years of human effort in its most vigorous youth. THE LEGENDS OF BABYLON BEEOSUS OF THE CEEATION AND CAUSES OF THE DELUGE Berosus, in his first book concerning the history of Baby- lonia, informs us that he lived in the time of Alexander, the son of Philip. And he mentions that there were written accounts preserved at Babylon with the greatest care, com- prehending a term of fifteen myriads of years. These writ- ings contained a history of the heavens and the sea ; of the birth of mankind ; also of those who had sovereign rule ; and of the actions achieved by them. And, in the first place, he describes Babylonia as a coun- try which lay between the Tigi'is and Euphrates. He men- tions that it abounded with wheat, barley, ocrus, sesamum; and in the lakes were found the roots called gongse, which were good to be eaten, and were, in respect to nutriment, like barley. There were also palm-trees and apples, and most kinds of fruits; fish, too, and birds; both those which are merely of flight, and those which take to the element of water. The part of Babylonia which bordered upon Arabia was barren, and without water ; but that which lay on the other side had hills, and was fruitful. At Babylon there was in these times a great resort of people of various nations, who inhabited Chaldea, and lived without rule and order, like the beasts of the field. In the first year there made its appearance, from a part of the Erythraean sea ^ which bordered upon Babylonia, an animal endowed with reason, who was called Oannes. Ac- cording to the account of Apollodorus the whole body of the animal was like that of a fish ; and had under a fish's head another head, and also feet below, similar to those of a man, subjoined to the fish's tail. His voice, too, and language iThe Persian Gulf. 19 20 THE SACRED BOOKS were articulate and bumau; and a representation of him is presen'cd even to this day. This being, in the da^i:ime, used to converse with men ; but took no food at that season ; and be gave them an insight into letters, and sciences, and every kind of art. He taught them to construct bouses, to found temples, to compile laws, and explained to them the principles of geometrical knowledge. He made them distingiiish the seeds of the earth, and showed them bow to collect fruits. In short, be instructed them in everything which could tend to soften manners and humanize mankind. From that time, so universal were bis instruc- tions, nothing material has been added by way of improve- ment. When the sun set it was the custom of this being to plunge again into the sea, and abide all night in. the deep; for he was amphibious. After this there appeared other animals, like Cannes, of which Berosus promises to give an account when he comes to the history of the king-s. Moreover, Cannes wrote con- cerning the generation of mankind; of their different ways of life, and of their civil polity; and the following is the purport of what he said : " There was a time in which there was nothing but dark- ness and an abyss of waters,^ wherein resided most hideous beings, which were produced of a two-fold principle. Men appeared with two wings, some with four wings, and two faces. They bad one body, but two heads — the one of a man, the other of a woman. They were likewise, in their several organs, both male and female. Cther human figures were to be seen with the legs and boms of goats. Some had horses' feet ; others had the limbs of a horse behind, but before were fashioned like men, resembling hippocentaurs. Bulls, likewise, bred there with the heads of men; and dogs, with fourfold bodies, and the tails of fishes. Also horses, with tiie heads of dogs; men, too, and other animals, with the heads and bodies of horses and the tails of fishes. In short, there were creatures with the limbs of every species of animals. Add to these fishes, reptiles, serpents, with other * Compare with Genesis i. 2. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 21 wonderful animals, which assumed each other's shape and countenance. Of all these were preserved delineations in the temple of Belus at Babylon. " The person who was supposed to have presided over them was a woman named Omoroca f which in the Chaldee language is Thalatth ; which in Greek is interpreted Thalassa, the sea: but, according to the most true computation, it is equivalent to Selene, the moon. All things being in this situation, Belus came, and cut the woman asunder ; and, out of one half of her, he formed the earth, and of the other half the heavens; and at the same time he destroyed the animals in the abyss. All this, he says, was an allegorical descrip- tion of nature. For the whole universe consisting of mois- ture, and animals being continually generated therein; the deity (Belus), above-mentioned, cut off his own head; upon which the other gods mixed the blood, as it gushed out, with the earth; and from thence men were formed. On this ac- count it is that men are rational and partake of divine knowl- edge. This Belus, whom men call Dis, or Pluto, divided the darkness, and separated the heavens from the earth, and reduced the universe to order. But the animals so recently created, not being able to bear the prevalence of light, died. " Belus upon this, seeing a vast space quite uninhabited, though by nature very fruitful, ordered one of the gods to take off his head; and when it was taken off, they were to mix the blood with the soil of the earth, and from thence to form other men and animals, which would be capable of bear- ing the light. Belus also formed the stars, and the sun and the moon, together with the five planets." In the second book was the history of the ten kings of the Chaldeans, and the periods of each reign, which consisted collectively of one hundred and twenty sari, or 432,000 years, reaching to the time of the Flood. For Alexander, surnamed Polyhistor, as from the writings of the Chaldeans, enumerat- ing the kings from the ninth, Ardates, to Xisuthrus, who is called by them the tenth, proceeds in this manner. s This is a Greek corruption of the Aramaic word, 'Amgia, i.e., " the deep"; "the ocean." 2^ THE SACRED BOOKS After the death of Ardates, his sou, Xisuthrus, succeeded, and reigued eighteen sari. In his time happened the great deluge; the history of which is given in this manner. The deity, Kronus, appeared to him in a vision, and gave him notice that, upon the fifteenth day of the month Dacsia,"* there would he a Hood, by which mankind would be destroyed. He therefore enjoined him to commit to writing a history of the beginning, progress, and final conclusion of all things, down to the present term; and to bury these accounts securely in the city of the Sun at Sippara ; and to build a vessel, and to take with him into it his friends and relations; and to convey on board everything necessary to sustain life, and to take in also all species of animals that either fly or rove upon the earth ; and trust himself to the deep. Having asked the deity whither he was to sail, he was answered, " To the gods " ; upon which he offered up a prayer for the good of mankind. And he obeyed the divine admonition: and built a vessel five stadia in length, and in breadth two. Into this he put everything which he had got ready; and last of all conveyed into it his wife, children, and friends. After the flood had been upon the earth, and was in time abated, Xisuthrus sent out some birds ^ from the vessel, which, not finding any food, nor any place to rest their feet, returned to him again. After an interval of some days he sent them forth a second time, and they now returned with their feet tinged with mud. He made a trial a third time with these birds, but they returned to him no more; from whence he formed a judgment that the surface of the earth was now above the waters. Having, therefore, made an opening in the vessel, and finding, upon looking out, that the vessel was driven to the side of a mountain, he immediately quitted it, being attended by his wife, his daughter, and the pilot. XirfuthruH immediately paid his adoration to the earth, and, liaving constructed an altar, offered sacrifices'^ to the gods. ♦ Tlie fiftli month of the Macedonian year, answering to May and Juip. B Compare with Genesis viii. 7-12. • See (leneaia viii. 20. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 23 These things being duly performed, both Xisuthrus and those who came out of the vessel with him disappeared. They who remained in the vessel, finding that the others did not return, came out, with many lamentations, and called con- tinually on the name of Xisuthrus. They saw him no more, but could distingTiish his voice in the air, and could hear him admonish them to pay due regard to the gods. He likewise informed them that it was upon account of his piety that he was translated ^ to live with the gods ; that his wife and daughter, with the pilot, had obtained the same honor. To this he added that he would have them make the best of their way to Babylonia, and search for the writings at Sip- para, which were to be made known to all mankind : and that the place where they then were was the land of Armenia.^ The remainder, having heard these words, offered sacrifices to the gods; and, taking a circuit, journeyed toward Baby- lonia. The vessel, being thus stranded in Amienia, some part of it yet remains in the Gordysean ^ mountains in Armenia ; and the people scrape off the bitumen, ^^ with which it had been outwardly coated, and make use of it by way of an alexi- pharmic ^^ and amulet. In this manner they returned to Babylon ; and having found the writings at Sippara, they set about building cities and erecting temples : and Babylon was thus inhabited again. — Syncellus's Chronicon. OF THE BABYLONIAN AND ASSYKIAN KINGS In addition to the above, Polyhistor continues thus : After the deluge, says he, Evexius held possession of the country of the Chaldeans during a period of four neri. And he was succeeded by his son, Comosbelus, who held the empire four neri and five sossi. But, from the time of Xisuthrus ^^ and 7 Compare with this the translation of Enoch, Genesis v. 23, 24. 8 Compare with Genesis viii. 4. Ararat is the Hebrew name of Ar- menia. (See 2 Kings xix. 37.) »The mountains of Kurdistan. 10 Or mineral pitch. (See Genesis vi. 14.) 11 I.e., an antidote to poison, and an amulet, or charm, against the evil eye. 12 Khasis-Adra. 24 THE SACRED BOOKS the flood, to that period at which the Medes took possession of Babylon, there were altogether 86 kings. Polyhistor enu- merates and mentions each of them by name, from the volume of Berosus ; the duration of the reigns of all of which kings comprehends a period of 33,091 years. But, when their power was thus firmly established, the Medes suddenly levied forces against Babylon to surprise it, and to place upon the throne kings chosen from among themselves. He (Polyhis- tor) then gives the names of the Median kings, eight in num- ber, who reigned during the period of 224 years ; and, again, eleven kings during . . .^^ years. Then 49 kings of the Chaldeans, 458 years. Then nine kings of the Arabians, 245 years. After all these successive periods of years, he states that Semiramis reigned over the Assyrians. And again he minutely enumerates the names of 45 kings, assign- ing to them a term of 526 years. After whom, he says, there was a king of the Chaldeans whose name was Phulus, of whom also the historical writings of the Hebrews make mention under the name of Phulus (Pul), who, they say, invaded the country of the Jews. — Extracted from the Armenian Chroni- con of EusebiiLS. OF SENNACHEKIB AJ^D HIS SUCCESSOES And after him (Pul), according to Polyhistor, Senna- cherib was king. [The Chaldean historian also makes mention of Senna- cherib himself, and Asordanus (Esarhaddon) his son, and ^Marodach Baladanus, as well as Nabuchodonosorus.]^'* And Sinecherim (Sennacherib) reigned 18 years; and after him his son (Esarhaddon) reigned eight years. Then Sammuges (Saulmugina) reigned 21 years, and likewise his brother 21 years. Then Nabupalsar (Nabopollassar) reigned 20 years; and after him Nabucodrossorus (Nebu- chadrezzar) reigned 43 years. Therefore, from Sinecherim to Nabucodrossorus is com- l)rohpndcd a period altogether of 88 years. After Samuges, »■» No nvimbor is pivon in the orij^inal text. »«ThcHe remarks, within brackets, are by Eusebius. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 25 Sardanapalus, the Chaldean, reigned 21 years. He sent an army to the assistance of Astyages the Mede, Prince and Satrap of the family, that he might give Amimhean,^^ the daughter of Astyages, to his son Nabucodrossorus (Nebu- chadrezzar). Then jSTabucodrossorus reigned 43 years, and he came with a mighty army, and led the Jews, and Pheni- cians, and Syrians into captivity. And after Nabucodros- sorus, his son, Amilmarudochus (Evil-Merodach — man, i.e.. Servant of Marduk) reigned 12 years. And after him, Neglisarus (Xeriglissor) reigned over the Chaldeans 4 years; and then Nabodenus (Nabonidus) reigned 17 years. In his reign, Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, invaded the country of the Babylonians. ISTabodenus (Na- bonidus) went out to give him battle, but was defeated, and betook himself to flight ; and Cyrus reigned at Babylon 9 years. — Extracted from the Armenian Chronicon of Euse- bius. OF THE GEEAT YEAR Berosus, who thus interprets the Babylonian tradition, says that these events take place according to the course of the stars ; and he affirms it so positively as to fix the time for the general conflagration of the world, and the deluge. He maintains that all terrestrial things will be consumed when the planets, which now are traversing their different courses, shall all coincide in the sign of Cancer, and be so placed that a straight line could pass directly through all their orbs. But the flood will take place, he says, when the same con- junction of the planets shall take place in the constellation Capricorn. The summer is in the former constellation, the winter in the latter. — From Seneca, Nat. Qucest. iii. 29. OF THE FEAST OF SACEA Berosus, in the first book of his Babylonian history, says: That in the eleventh month, called Loos,^^ is celebrated in Babylon the Feast of Sacea, for five days ; in which it is the custom that the masters should obey their domestics, one of 15 Amytis. 16 The Macedonian month Loos answers to our July. ^6 THE SACRED BOOKS whom is led round the house, clothed iu a royal garment, and him they call Zoganes. — Extracted from AthencBUS. CONCERNING THE TOWER OF BABEL, AND ABRAHAM The city of Babylon owes its foundation to those who were saved from the catastrophe of the flood ; these were the giants, and they built the tower which is noticed in history. But the tower being overthrown by the interposition of God, the giants were scattered over all the earth. He ^^ says, moreover, that in the tenth generation, in the city of Babylonia, called Camarina (which, by some, is called the city Urie, and which signifies a city of the Chaldeans), there lived, the thirteenth in descent, a man named Abraham, a man of a noble race and superior to all others in wisdom. Of him they relate that he was the inventor of astrology and the Chaldean magic, and that on account of his eminent piety he was esteemed by God. It is further said that under the directions of God he removed and lived in Phenicia, and there taught the Phenicians the motions of the sun and moon, and all other things ; for which reason he was held in great reverence by their king.^^ OF SAEDANAPALUS Xabopollasar, whom Alexander Polyhistor calls Sardan- apalus, sent to Astyagcs, the satrap of Media, and demanded his daughter, Amuites,^^ in marriage for his son, Xabucho- donosor (Nebuchadrezzar). He was the commander of the anny of Saracus, King of the Chaldeans, and, having been sent upon some expedition, turned his arms against Saracus, and marched against the city of Xinus (Xineveh). But Saracus, confused by his approach, set fire to his palace, and burnt himself in it. And Xabopollasar obtained the empire of the Chaldeans. He w^as the father of Xabuchodonosor (Xebuchadrezzar). — From the Chronicon of Eusehius. " This " he " ia prohal)Iy not Berosus, but the Greek author F.wp«il«nuis "* Ahimcloch, Kinj? of Gcrar. »» Amjtis. THE SUMEETAiq' TEXTS (4000-2100 B.C.) EARTH'S OLDEST LANGUAGE " A word of cursing he repeated/^ — THE LOCUST CHAEM, EARTH'S OLDEST TEXT. "At that time Ziugiddu was king. In humility prostrating himself. Daily and perseveringly standing in attendance." — (A Description of the Sumerian Noah, the First Good Man.) "2'hat which midnight hath brought unto me, its meaning I understand not." — KING GUDEA'S DREAM. EAETH'S OLDEST LANGUAGE (INTRODUCTION) SUMEKIAiSr, as already explained, is the oldest of the four languages found among the ruins of the Euphrates valley. So old is it that the earliest glimpses of history which we have rescued from oblivion show us only the decay and downfall of the ancient Sumerian cities. These were spread along the banks of the lower Euphrates and the sea- coast at its mouth. We find them fighting through the cen- turies in a valiant but gradually weakening struggle against the Akkadian people of the upper Euphrates. Among the last of the cities of the Sumerians to hold military power was Lagash, and their last great religious city was Kippur, the gods of which continued to be worshiped even by the Ak- kadians long after all political supremacy had been lost to the Sumerians forever. The two cities of Lagash and Nip- pur have been carefully unearthed, and much of our knowl- edge of Sumerian comes from their rediscovered inscrip- tions. Even more of our present Sumerian knowledge is due to Ashur-banipal's great Assyrian library. Many texts have been found there written in the old Sumerian or religious langTiage, just as our own printing-presses still occasionally issue Greek and Hebrew texts. In columns by the side of the Sumerian, the scribes of Ashur-banipal wrote its Assyrian translation. This interesting old scholar-king, speaking of himself in one of his volumes, says, " Among the craftsmen I busied myself ; the counsel and wisdom of the heavens with the wise masters I solved. I read the dreadful mysteries which should not be revealed. To translate into Akkadian the skilfully made tablets which were obscure in Sumerian, I was rest- 29 30 THE SACRED BOOKS less." The Sumerian of the later days is thus presented to us as a " dead language/' studied by the Babylonian and Assyrian priesthood. But when we unearth its remnants in Lagash and Nippur we find its earlier and living form, in which both the writing and its meaning change, as all living languages change with the passing centuries. The first inscription given in this section of our volume is among the oldest, and probably the very oldest, yet found. It was purchased from a modern Arab, and hence we do not know from what old Sumerian city it was unearthed, but its writing is of a very early type, a picture-writing in which the pictures are still drawn with enough clearness to be rec- ognized. In our volume we have throughout employed the chronology regarded as probable by our most recent authori- ties; and these have much reduced the reckoning of years which was accepted a decade ago. Yet even our latest schol- ars say of this tablet that it is about six thousand years old (4000 B.C.), and the reckoners of the last decade would un- hesitatingly have added to this another two thousand years. At this period, then, man makes his first appearance in surviving literature. How and upon what is he found em- ployed at this our earliest glimpse within his heart ? What is his line of thought; what the level of his intellect in this opening record of his exceedingly busy and energetic ca- reer ? We meet in this brief account two kinds of men : a group of farmers and a priest. The fields are affected by a plague of locusts, and their owners seek a priest, or ma- gician, who drives the locusts away by a charaa. It is a business transaction ; careful note is made of the number of fields cleared for each owner, and of the price to be paid — a curious price, " a tall palm-tree." Yet in a way is it not as human as it is ancient, this medley of superstition and religion, of business and agriculture, with the plaguy lo- custs and caterpillars behind ? No names can be attached to this first record. The earli- est name that looms up to ua from the darkness is of later date ; our estimate says of about 3250 b.c. It is the name LITERATURE OF THE EAST 31 of a victorious Akkadian king, Mesilim, who had so far con- quered Sumer, and had been so far conquered by its gTcater culture and religion, that he sends a boastful ottering to the temple of Lagash. It is a rather remarkable stone mace-head of colossal size, far too large for human use and apparently intended so that the god of the city, Nin-gursu, could employ it himself. The stone is carved with a circle of six lions each attacking the one before him, and over them, on the end of the mace, is a carved eagle. The brief inscription runs : " Mesilim, King of Kish, builder of the temple of Xin- gursu, deposited this mace-head for Nin-gursu, while Lugal- shag-engair was priest-king of Lagash." Of course this might mean merely that Mesilim had built in his own Akkadian city a temple to Nin-gursu, and wished to proclaim this generosity at the god's chief shrine. A " priest-king," however, was frequently subordinate to some larger ruler, and the probable case is that Mesilim held sway over Lagash and was engaged, as we shall find many a later Akkadian conqueror, in rebuilding the ancient temple, which either time or his own destructive assault had reduced to ruin. These Babylonian temples and towers were built of brick and were forever crumbling. Our second text is the first lengthy one surviving. It dates from about Mesilim's time, or perhaps from a genera- tion later, when Lagash had again asserted its independence. Its king, Enkhegal, is no longer a mere priest-king ; the text calls him a " subduer " and " the uniter of the land." It also speaks of his building or improving canals ; so the land was already extensively farmed, scientifically irrigated. We note also that many ways of irrigation were used, by oxen, by rain, etc., that grain had a " royal standard of purity," that bronze was used for money, and so on. We have stum- bled on a complex civilization. After this the surviving records become more numerous. They are chiefly royal inscriptions from Lagash. King Ur-nina, who ruled about 3000 B.C., left several offerings to the god Nin-gursu. So did Uru-kagina, who is perhaps the most interesting of these early rulers; for we find that he 32 THE SACRED BOOKS was a reformer, upraised apparently by a revolt of the poor. Following down the line of the kings of Lagash, we come at last to Gudea, who, about 2500 e.g., is content once more to call himself merely a priest-king. The inscriptions of Gudea are the first to extend beyond the very barren outlines of his predecessors. There is a moral tone in all he says. His very noted inscriptions boast not only of conquering and building, but of dealing out justice, enforcing law, and shel- tering the weak. Two of Gudea's prayers have also come down to us. They are parts of a remarkable narrative writ- ten down, upon a clay cylinder, apparently by the king's own order. The tale is now known as " Gudea's Dream," and is by far the most striking literary piece preserved from the old Sumerian. From it we can begin to form a clear conception of the religious thought of Babylonia. Xext we come upon a still more important fragment, the oldest of the several Babylonian versions of the creation. We can not date this exactly ; but it is Sumerian, and while our present text comes from Nippur, the story is clearly the retelling of a much more ancient tale from a time when Lagash surely, and Nippur perhaps, were unknown. Neither of them is mentioned as one of the originally created cities, though the translator thinks Nippur must have been named in some lost fragment. The oldest place is given to Eridu, the ancient sea-coast city of Berosus's legend of the fish-god. As this old text is so important, and also unfortunately so badly broken, we print with it the explanation of its contents bv its recent discoverer. Two other versions of the creation-legend are also given ; but these are Sumerian texts preserved from Ashur-banipal's library, and may have been modified by later ideas. One of them, indeed, bodily substitutes Marduk, the great god of Babylon, for some earlier god, as being the chief creator. Hence, those texts do not hold the same positive antiquity as the proooding. Tiie " Cluinns against Evil Spirits," with which this sec- tion closes, are also the transcribed Sumerian of a later age. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 33 The old charms were presumably kept in their Sumerian form from a belief that the mere words themselves had a power over evil spirits, just as astrology still seeks in He- brew or in Arabic the " ineffable name " of magical com- mand. Hence this section, which began with superstition, must also close with it. The venerable Sumerian tongue, after an active employment of uncounted thousands of years, faded in its final usage into a mere hocus-pocus of enchant- ment. VOL. I.— 3. 34 THE SACRED BOOKS EARTH'S OLDEST LANGUAGE THE LOCUST CHARM ' (EARTH'S OLDEST TEXT) SuMERiAN Words Translation ^ COLUMN I I BUR GAN HI-GlN- 1 bur of land belonging to MI-SAL Khiginmi-Sal. USU MUL E 3 At sunset the locusts he drove out, SA-NE GIN their curse he established, KIN he removed 5 MUD ^ 5 the terror. COLUMN II III BUR SAL-A-DU 3 bur belonging to Saladu ; II BUR GURIN KI 2 bur of fruit-land belong- NUN-SA-BAR ing to Nunsabar ; 1 The tablet records the means taken to rid various tracts of land of a pla}^ue of locusts and caterpillars. The last line, " he made it briglit," refers to the ceremonial purification of the field. 2 The Sumerian words are given here because their great antiquity lends them a special interest. This and the following translation are rt'printed, by permission, from the translation by Prof. G. A. Barton in Vol. IX of the University of Pennsylvania publications of the Baby- lonian section. 3('oltimn I, case 2, contains two new pictographs: the sun entering its subterranean passage, and a locust. Column I, the edge, presents a new and in the order of the sentences. The phrase, " of the royal standard of purity," is sometimes far removed from the grain to which it applies. XX UR-SAM II SE SIG DU-SIG-LUGAL GAX-X-RU XI BUR GAN-KI V URUDU MA-XA XI MAS SE SIG LITERATURE OF THE EAST 37 SUMEKIAN WOKDS Translation GAN SAM-SUKUM- a field of sfiukum-me- ME plants EN-HE-GAL-SU LU- for Enkhegal, King of GAL PUR-SIR-LA Lagash — 10 DU-SIG-LUGAL 10 of the royal standard of purity. COLUMN III VIII BUR GAN 8 hurs of land ; IIBAL 2 hurs of plowed land ; XI GAB-SE SIG 11 gurs of winnowed ^a6-grain ; X MAS SE SIG 101^ gurs of winnowed gi'ain ; 5 EN-HE-GAL LUGAL 5 for Enkhegal, the King, KAS E-KI improver of the land's ir- rigation, LAL-KI uniter of the land, LUGAL NIM GIN the exalted King, chief SAG LAL counselor, the subduer. MAS NUN BAR NIG- princely leader, great GU lord. 10 XXX LAL II BUR 10 28 hurs of land; GAN XII URUDU MA-NA 12 manas of bronze; COLUMN IV XL SE SIG 40 gurs of winnowed grain; XX LAL I BUR GAN 19 hurs of land ; IVCXX URUDU NA- 420 manas of bronze; MA X MAS SE SIG 5 IV BUR LUGAL-KI III BUR LUGAL-KI KUR GIS-RU 10^2 5'^^s of winnowed grain; 5 4 hurs of royal land; 3 hurs of royal land, cap- tured from Umma, 38 THE SACRED BOOKS SuMEBiAN Words BAR SIL GIS-GISIM- MAR GU-GAN ZUR-KI EN-HE-GAL 10 LUGAL BUR-STR-LA XIV BUR GAN VICII URUDU MA- NA 10 Tkanslation bordering on the old palm-trees of Gu-edin, the cher- ished land of Enkhegal, King of Lagash. 14 burs of land ; 602 manas of bronze ; COLUMN V II SE SIG of wmn owed BAD-GIS-GI SIS IB-KURUN GIRIX GAL 5 X BUR GAX lie URUDU MA-XA II SE SIG GAX-A-US MAS XUX BAR XIG- GU 10 SIS SID-MAL-RU AP- IX LUGAL XIM GIX SAG LAL KAT . . . LUGAL 10 z gurs gi'ain ; of Badgishgi, brother of Ibkurun. A large enclosure: 10 burs of land ; 200 manas of bronze ; 2 gurs of winnowed grain ; for Ganaush, princely leader, great lord, brother of Shidmal-ni, the shepherd,^ the exalted King, chief counselor, the sub- duer. 2 Two or three points of historical interest may be noted. Shid- mal-ru, who ia described in Column V, 10, as " the shepherd, the ex- alted king," was apparently a predecessor of Enkhegal. It is hia brother whose purchase of land is recorded in this tablet. I have tentatively read in Column IV, 6, the name of the city Umma, which was a near neighbor of Lagash, with which she was often at war. Umma, in later texts, is spelled by the picture of a bow and arrow held in the hand, and this name by the picture of a bow alone, but the reference is probably to the same city in each case. Again in Column IV. 8, a field is described as gu-gan, "bank of the LITERATURE OF THE EAST 39 SuMEEiAN Words VIII BUR GAN CLXXX SE SIG GAN PAR-A-GAB-ES CLX SIG SE APIN 5 MAS NUN BAR NIG- GU DU-SIG-LUGAL XXI BUR GAN NIG UD-DU GUD GAN CXL URUDU MA-NA Tkanslation COLUMN VI 8 burs of land ; 180 gurs of winnowed grain — a field of Paragabes, 160 gws of winnowed grain, the shepherd, princely leader, gTeat lord — of the royal standard of purity. 21 burs of land, belong- ing to Uddu, an ox-irrigated field, 140 manas of bronze. 10 10 COLUMN VII X BUR GAN A-SA VICXXXVI NA-MA MAS-APIN URUDU 5 III BUR URU-MUS ICXX URUDU MA- NA MAS APIN GAN BUR-SIR-LA 10 burs of land, a field. 636 manas of bronze, for the leader, the shep- herd, 5 3 burs LT^rumush. 120 manas of bronze for the leader, the shep- herd of the field of Lagash, field." I take this to be a variant description of the field called in later texts gu-edin, "bank of the plain." It was a field which lay between Umma and Lagash, over which the two cities frequently fought. It was because the men of Umma invaded this plain that Ennatura, a later king of Lagash, undertook the war which is cele- brated in the famous stela of Vultures, most of whicli is preserved in the Louvre, though one fragment of it is in the British Museum. The reader will notice that, along with grain, bronze was used as 40 THE SACRED BOOKS SuMERiAN Words Translation REVERSE I AN-GU-ZI Anguzi. VICXC BUK GAN 690 burs of land ; XXXVIIICX URUDU 3810 manas of bronze ; MA-NA XXI MAS SE SIG 211/2 gurs of winnowed grain, 5 II BUR BAL 5 2 burs of plowed land; GAN-SAM land purchased REVERSE II LUGAL-KI-GAL-LA for Lugalkigalla, ISIB NIN-GIR-SU priest of Ningirsu. GAN-NIG Real estate holdings.^ a medium of exchange. Apparently at this early time the use of silver or gold for this purpose had not begun. We begin to trace their use in the reign of Ur-Nina and his successors, though bronze was sometimes employed for a long time afterward. In Egypt bronze was used as a medium of exchange much longer than it was in Babylonia. 3 The last line is the name of the account. It designates the kind of account to which the table belongs. Similar names are found in the accounts of later time. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 41 THE ROYAL INSCRIPTIONS OF LAGASH I. The Insceiptions of King Ue-Nina No. 1 COLUMN I Nina-ur King of Lagash, son of Nini-ghal-gin, 5 the temple of the god Ningirsu has erected. The Ih-gal he has erected. The temple of the goddess Nina 10 he has erected. COLUMN II The Sig-nir he has erected. His tower in stages he has erected. 5 The temple of E . . . he has erected. The temple of E-ghud he has erected. His observatory 10 he has erected. COLUMN in The palace of the Ti-ash-ra he has erected. The temple of the goddess Gatumdug he has erected. 42 THE SACRED BOOKS 5 The great apzu ^ he has constructed. After that the temple of Ningirsu he has caused to be erected seventy great measures of corn 10 in his house of fruits COLUMN IV he has stored up. From Magan ^ the mountain all sorts of wood he has imported. The wall of Lagash 5 he has built. The small apzu he has constructed; COLUJ^IN V in the temple of the goddess Xina, lady of destinies, he has placed it. Two statues he has set up ; 5 these two statues . . . No. 2 COLUMN I Kina-ur the King of Lagash, son of Nini-ghal-gin, the habitation of Girsu COLLTMN II baa constructed. The bricks of the foundation 1 1 he «/)Cw, or " d('c|i," was the basin for |)urification Hftacliod to a Balnlnninn femiile. corrrspniulinp fo tlie "sea" of Solomon. 2 Thr Sinaitic Peninsula, perhapn iiuliuling Midian. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 48 II. Inscriptions of Uku-K!agina No. 1 COLUMN I For the god Ningirsu the warrior of the god Enlil, Uru-Kagiua, the King 5 of Lagash, his temple has constructed. His palace of Ti-ra-ash he has constructed. COLUMN II The an-ta-shur-ra he has constructed. The E-gish-me-ra in order to be the E-ne-hl of the countries 5 he has constructed. The house of fruits which produces abundance in the country he has constructed. For the god Dun-shagana his habitation of Akkil COLUMN III he has constructed. For the god Gal-aliimna the temple of E-me-gal-ghush-an-ki he has constructed. 5 The temple of the goddess Bau ^ he has constructed. 3 Bau is probably the Baau of Phenician mythology, whose name was interpreted " the night," and who was supposed along with her husband Kolpia, " the wind," to have produced the first generation of men. ^The word has been compared with the Hebrew hohu, translated "void" in Genesis i. 2. 44 THE SACRED BOOKS For the god Enlil the temple of E-adda/ his im-sag-ga, COLUMN IV he has constructed. The Bur-sag, his temple which rises to the entrance of heaven, he has constructed. 5 Of Uru-Kagina, the King of Lagash, who the temple of E-ninnu has constructed, 10 his god COLUMN V is the god Ninshagh.^ For the life of the King during the long days to come before the god Ningirsu 5 may he (Ninshagh) bow down his face! No. 2 ON A BUTTRESS For the god Ningirsu, the warrior of the god Enlil, Uru-Kagina, 5 the King of Lagash, the Anta-Shurra, the house of abundance of his country, has constructed. 10 His palace of Ti-ra-ash «"The temple of the father." 5 Or Nin-dun. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 45 he has constructed. [Lines 12 and 13 are destroyed.] For the god Gal-alimma [Lines 15-21 are destroyed.] he has constructed. For the god Nin-sar, the bearer of the sword 25 of the god Ningirsu, his temple he has constructed. For the god . . . -gir the well-beloved . . . 30 of the god Ningirsu his temple he has constructed. The Bur-sag, his temple which rises to the entrance of heaven, 35 he has constructed. For the god Enlil the temple of E-adda,*^ his im-sag-ga, he has constructed. 40 For the god Ningirsu the sanctuary of E-melam-kurra '^ he has constructed. The temple wherein dwells the god Ningirsu 45 he has constructed. Of Uru-F[agina, who the temple of the god Ningirsu . . . [The inscription breaks off here, having never been finished.] 6 " The temple of the father." f " The temple of the brilliance of the eastern mountain." 46 THE SACRED BOOKS No. 3 ON A CYLINDER COLUMN I [The first lines are lost.] Uru-Kagina, the King of Girsu-ki, the Antorsliurra, 5 the house of abundance of his country, his palace of Ti-ra-ash, has constructed. The temple of the goddess Bau he has constructed. .5 COLUMN II [The first lines are lost.] he has constructed. For the god Dun-shagana his habitation of Akkil he has constructed. For the god . . . his tablet-like amulets ^ and his temple he has made. In the middle of this temple for the god Za-za-uni, 10 for the god Tm-ghud-cn, for the god Gim-nun-ta-en-a temples he has built for them. For the god Nin-sar « Possibly tlie small tablets of white or black atone buried under the foundations of the tomploa. These tablets were sometimes of metal; tho^r•, for example, discovered at Khorsabad. It seems that some con- sisted also of ivory and precious wood. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 47 COLUMN III [The first lines are lost.] Eor the god Enlil the temple of E-adda, his im-sagga, he has constructed. For the goddess Nina, 5 her favorite river, the canal Nina-ki-tum-a he has excavated. At the mouth of the canal, an edifice. . . . [Fragments of four other columns remain.] III. Inscriptions of Uk-Bau No. 1 ON A STATUE COLUMN I To the god Ningirsu the powerful warrior of the god Enlil, Ur-Bau 5 the patesi ^ of Lagash, the offspring begotten by the god Nin-agal, chosen by the immutable will of the goddess Nina, 10 endowed with power by the god Ningirsu, named with a favorable name by the goddess Bau, endowed with intelligence by the god En-ki,^ 10 COLUMN II covered with renown by the goddess Ninni, the favorite servant of the god who is King of Gish- galla-ki, 9 Patesi means a " priest-king," usually the viceroy of some more warlike king. 10 Also called Ea, the god of the deep. 48 THE SACRED BOOKS the favorite of the goddess Duzi-abzu. I am Ur-Bau; 5 the god Ningirsu is mj King. The site of . . .^^ he has excavated. The earth thence extracted, like precious stones, he has measured ; like a precious metal he has weighed it. COLUMN III According to the plan adopted he has marked out a large space ; into the middle of it he has carried this earth, and he has made its mundus. Above, a substructure 6 cubits high he has built. 5 Above this substructure the temple E-Ninnu, which illumines the darkness, 30 cubits in height, he has built. For the goddess Nin-gharsag,^^ the mother of the gods, COLUMN IV her temple of Girsu-ki he has constructed. For the goddess Bau, the good lady, 5 the daughter of Anna, her temple of Uru-azagga he has constructed. For the goddess Ninni, the lady august, the sovereign, her temple of Gishgalla-ki 10 he has constructed. For the god En-ki, the King of Eridu, his temple of Girsu-ki 11 Perhaps Home edifice previously dedicated to the goddess Bau. The characters are destroyed. 12 " The lady of the mountain." LITERATURE OF THE EAST 49 COLUMN V he has constructed. For the god Nin-dara,^^ the lord of destinies, his temple he has constructed. For the god Nin-agal, 5 his god, his temple he has constructed. For the goddess Nin-mar-ki ^* the good lady, 10 the eldest daughter of the goddess Nina, the Esh-gu-tur, the temple of her constant choice, he has constructed. COLUMN VI For the god . . . the shepherd ... of Girsu-ki, his temple ... he has constructed. 5 For the goddess Ku-Anna,^^ the lady of the cloudy sky, her temple of Girsu-ki he has constructed. For the goddess Duzi-abzu, 10 the lady of Kinunir-ki, her temple of Girsu-ki he has constructed. IV. — Inscription of Giidea (KNOWN AS GUDEA B) COLUMN I In the House of Ningirsu his King, the image of Gudea the Patesi of Lagash, who built the temple E-Ninnu. One cab ^^ 13 Or Uras. 14 " The lady of the city of Mar." 15 The consort of the god Martu, or Rimmon. 16 A cab is an ancient measure of about half a liter. VOL. I.— 4. 50 THE SACRED BOOKS of strong drink, one cab of victual, half a cah of fine millet, half a cab of ground corn, as a continual offering ^^ he ap- pointed. If a Patesi revoke it, transgress Ningirsu's com- mand — may his own continual offering in the House of Nin- girsu be revoked, his own behests be thwarted ! COLUMN II To Ningirsu, the mighty Hero of Enlil (Bel), Gudea the Giver of Ornaments, the Patesi of Lagash, the Shepherd named by the heart's choice of jSTingirsu, faithfully regarded by Nina (the Goddess of Nineveh), might-endowed by Nin- dara, gifted with eloquence ^^ by the goddess Bau, the child born of the goddess Gatumdug, with kingship's high scepter endowed by the god Gal-elim, COLUMN III of the living, far and wide. Destroyer through Dunshagga; whose supremacy is the creation of Gishzida his god. When Xingirsu had looked upon his city with faithful eye, when he had named Gudea for faithful Shepherd of the land, when amid the mag-nates he had established his power, then he purified and inspected the city, he made a ring-wall, the banks of the canal he examined. COLUMN IV The sodomites, the catamites, the . . ., he banished from the city. He who did not behave properly with women, pow- erful officers threw him into the canal. The House of Ningirsu, the Mansion of Heaven and Earth, in a pure place he built: a grave he violated not, a coffin he violated not; a mother (deceased) her child did not disturb. The Gatewardens (Prefects), the Mayors (chazans; city-gov- ernors), the Scribes, the sergeants, the overseers of this work, wore garments of goats' hair. The Scribes strengthened their hands. 17 I.e., to hia own statue. Tlie oultus of Gudea was maintained after his death. He was actually called " the god Gudea," like the Egyptian kings and the Roman emperors. 18 Gudea mny mean " speaker, orator." LITERATURE OF THE EAST 51 (X)LUMN V In the city a coffin was not made, a body was not laid in earth; the wizard priest (sorcerer) performed no rite, poured forth no lamentation; the mother, the family uttered no lamentation. In the dominion of SirguUa a man, having a suit, to the place of swearing brought no man: an architect (draughtsman) did not plan or build any man's house. For Ningirsu, his King, he prepared splendid adornments. In E-Ninnu, the chapel called " May Rimmon lighten the Darkness ! " he rebuilt, and restored its dwelling-place. Within it his own chosen sepulcher of fragrant cedar he built him. When he had built the House of N"ingirsu, Ningirsu his beloved King commanded, and from the Upper Sea unto the Lower Sea his way he opened. From Amanum,^'' the moun- tain of cedars, trunks of cedar, whose length was YO cubits, and trunks of cedar, whose length was 50 cubits, and trunks of box, whose length was 25 cubits, for beams he felled, and to this land from that mountain he conveyed. Many dikes, as a defense against floods, before it he made. Many sacrificial knives of flashing bronze, 7,000, he made. Of flashing bronze the water-pipes on its sides and front he made. Of flashing bronze the water-pipes of its cisterns he made. Of those cedars some into great doors he wrought ; with splendid dec- oration he made them (i.e., the doors) surpassing, and in E-Ninnu he set them up: others of them in E-Mag-kia-sig- de-da ^o he fashioned into beams. From the city of Ursu (Tassu), from Mt. Ibla, zabanum-trees, huge shadur-trees, Tuddibbum-trees, and gin-trees, for beams he felled. COLUMN VI In E-Ninnu into beams he fashioned them. Shamanum from the mountains of Menua, musalla from the mountains of the West County, and Nagal-stone he fetched ; into inscribed slabs he made them, and on the side-walls of E-Ninnu he set 19 Probably Lebanon. 20 I.e., " The lofty House," the place into which the sick were carried for healing. 52 THE SACRED BOOKS them up. From Tidanum (Dedau) in the mountains of the West Country, Shirgal-gabbia-stone he brought ; into urpadda (doorposts) he wrought them; for the door-bars in the House he set them up. At Kagal-ad-ki, in the Copper Mountains, he dug out copper; into weapons unsparing he wrought it. From the land of Meluchcha, he fetched i/s/m-wood ; into . . . he made it. Much hulalu-stoiie he fetched ; into weapons for the mighty he wrought it. Gold dust from the mountains of Gagum 2^ he fetched ; into weapons for the mighty he made it. Gold dust from the land of Meluchcha he fetched; for the E-lMartu (House of the Storm-god) he wrought it. Lid-ri he fetched. From Gubin, the land of the galub-tree, he fetched galub-wood ; into bolts he fashioned it. From Madga-land, from the mountains of the river Galruda, mineral pitch he fetched; the platform of E-Ninnu he built therewith. Im- ga-um he fetched. From the mountains of Barsib with nalua-stoue great barges he filled ; the base of E-Ninnu he sur- rounded therewith. With arms he crushed the city of Anshan in Elam ; the spoils of it for :N"ingirsu in E-Ninnu he laid up. COLUMN VII Gudea, the Patesi of Sirgulla, when he had built E-Xinnu for Ningirsu and adorned it with decorations ; when a House of Imagery (carven work), such as no pontiff-king had ever built for Ningirsu, he had built ; his name he inscribed ; an ornament, his own statue, he prepared ; the commands of Nin- girsu he faithfully performed. From the land of Magan hard stone (diorite) he fetched; into his own likeness (the statue) he formed it; lu.gal-mu.ea.ni mu.na.ru nam.ti Ni.BA.MU 22 for a name he called it ; in E-Xinnu he placed it. Gudea to the statue gave command : " To the statue of my King say thou it ! " ^3 After I had built E-Ninnu, his beloved House, I enfran- chised debtors, ^* I washed hands.^"' During seven days corn 21 I.e., Khakh. sontlieast of Medina (TTommol) . 22" My kin{?. Whose House I liave built, let Life be my reward! " 28 I.e., " the jirayer expressed in thy name." 24 Literally, " loosed interest." 25 /.e., "cleared all liabilities." LITERATURE OF THE EAST 53 (food) was not restricted ; the bondmaid was made equal with her mistress, with the bondman his lord was put on a par ; in my city with the powerful his inferior, at his side, reclined. The bad man from this House I repelled. To the behests of Nina and Ningirsu I was heedful. No oppression did the rich man commit ; violence the mighty man did not commit. The house which had no son, its daughter presented its offering in the mouth before his Image she placed it. For the statue of Gudea neither silver nor lapis lazuli let there be ! neither copper nor tin, nor bronze, as covering or ornament, shall any man bestow or lay on ! be it hard stone only ! let a place of drink-offering be appointed ! the work of the pious let no man destroy ! The statue before thee, O Ningirsu, the statue of Gudea, COLOIX VIII the Patesi of Sirgulla, who built Ningirsu's E-Ninnu — the man that shall take it out of E-Ninnu, that shall erase his (Gudea's) inscribed name mu.sae — the man that shall carry it off as spoil — the man who, on the New Year's Festival, instead of my God his own God (Ningirsu is my King;) among the people shall honor with libations — my decrees shall put down, my gifts shall reverse — in the chanting of my stated prayers my name shall take out, his o^\ti name shall put in — the side-walls of Ningirsu, my King, of their cas- ing shall strip, before him shall not sing ; in the days to come, of the exalted Seed a Patesi of Sirgulla E-Ninnu for Ningirsu my King shall rebuild, who shall prepare splendid decor- ations. His commands let no man alter, nor put down his decrees ! — Of Gudea, the Patesi of Sirgulla, whoso his com- mands shall alter, his decrees put down (annul), may Anu, Enlil, Nin-garsag, En-ki the Righteous, Enzu (Sin) whose Name man uttereth not,^*^ Ningirsu King of Arms, Nina the Lady of Oracles, Nindara the Warrior King, the Mother of Sirgulla the glorious Gatumdug, Bau the Lady eldest-born of Anu (Heaven), Ishtar the Lady of Battle, the Sun-god the 26 As the Jews came to avoid uttering the awful name of Jehovah (or Jahvah). 54 THE SACRED BOOKS King of Liglit-giving, Ishum the Overseer of the World, Gal- elim, Dunshaggana, Nin-mar-ki (Lady of the West-land), COLUMN IX eldest-bora of Nina, Duzi-abzu Lady of Ki-nu-nir-ki (Bor- sippa), and my God Gishzida mar his lot ! like an ox in broad day may be be slaughtered, like a wild bull in full strength, fast bound, may he be slain ! his throne may the men he has carried captive lay in the dust ! his children, his name to blot out let them set their mind ! his name, in the House of his God, from the tablets may they take out ! may his God regard not the people's crying ! with the rain of heaven may he smite it ! with the waters of earth may he unite it! nameless may he go forth to die! let his noble offspring become base! That man, like one who hath done evil unto a righteous man, far away at Heaven's foundation in the marshes may he abide ! ... Of the Deliverer of the Gods, the Lord Ningirsu, his Majesty let the world declare! LITERATURE OF THE EAST 55 THE DREAM OF GUDEA COLUMN II When in determining fate in heaven and earth he exalted Lagash with great decrees, Enlil upon the lord Ningirsu looked faithfully. " In my city property exists not. The waters return not to their bank, the waters of Enlil ^ return not to their bank, the waters return not to their bank, " The high flood gleams not full of strength, the waters of Enlil, like the Tigris, flow not with fresh water. The temple its kings shall proclaim, Eninnu, in heaven and earth, he shall cause to arise in splendor." The Patesi, who is a man of vast understanding, exercised understanding. Great things he burnt as offering. Seemly oxen and kids he caused to be brought directly. He exalted the brick of destiny. To build the holy temple he elevated it toward him {i.e., Ningirsu). Unto his lord during the day and at midnight Gudea unto the lord Ningirsu gazed. He commanded him concerning the building of his temple ; upon Eninnu, whose decrees are great, he looked. Gudea, whose heart is profound, sighed these words, " Verily, verily I will speak, verily, verily I will speak, with this command I will go. A shepherd am I ; unto me hath one given majesty. That which midnight hath brought unto me — its meaning I understand not. Unto my mother my dream verily I will report. COLUMN II " My prophetess instructed in what is proper, my Nina, the sister who is goddess in Sirara, verily its meaning will announce unto me." In her boat she embarked not. In her city Nina, upon the river flowing at Nina, she caused her boat 1 From the translation by S. I-^angdon, Reader of Assyriolojiy at Ox- ford T^niversity, in his " Sumerian Grammar and Chrcstoraathy." ~ •' The waters of Enlil " means the canal, or river, at Lagash. 56 THE SACRED BOOKS to remain. The river bright and glad, morning and evening rejoiced. In the Baga, house of the bright river, where water is taken, a sacrifice he made, pure water he poured out. " Hero, raging panther, whom none can oppose, O Ningirsu, who arises from the nether sea, in Nippur thou art glorious. O hero, what command shall I perform for thee faithfully ? Kingirsu, thy house I will build for thee. The decrees fit- tingly I will perform for thee. Thy sister, the child whom Eridu created, wise in what is fitting, lady prophetess of the gods, my Xina thy sister, goddess in Sirara, may she embark." Gudea was heard. His prayer from Gudea, his king the lord i^ingirsu received. In the house Baga he performed sacred rituals. The patesi to the temple of Gatumdug, her chamber of repose, went away. Sacrifices he made, pure water he poured out. Unto the sacred Gatumdug he went. This prayer he spoke to her. " Oh my lady, child whom sacred Anu created, wise in what is fitting, eminent in heaven, COLOIX III " Giving life to the land of Sumer, enlightener of her city, lady, mother who founded Lagash art thou. If thou lookest upon the people there is abundance in plenty. The pious hero whom thou lookest upon — life is lengthened unto him. A mother I have not, my mother thou art ; a father I have not, my father thou art. My father made evil his heart against me; in the great chamber thou hast nurtured me. O my Gatumdug, thou art wise in goodness. If in the night I recline myself, my great sword thou art ; at my side thou standest. With a shining torch . . . thou. The breath of life thou createst for me. The protection of a mother art thou. Thy shadow I reverence. With thy mighty hand whose faithful power is supreme, " Oh my lady, Gatumdug, me thou wilt make humble. Unto the city I will go. May my omen be favorable. Unto Nina, wlio rises above the world, may tliy good genius go before mc. May thy good angel go at my heel. Verily, verily I will speak; verily, verily I will speak. With these LITERATURE OF THE EAST 57 words I will go. Unto my mother my dream I will bring. My prophetess, wise in what is fitting, my Nina, the sister, goddess in Sirara, its meaning verily will reveal." Gudea was heard. COLUMN IV His lady, holy Gatumdng, received from Gudea his prayer. In her boat she embarked not. At her city Nina, she left the boat fixed. The patesi in the court of the goddess of Sirara lifted his head heavenward. A sacrifice he made, pure water he poured out. Unto Nina he went, a prayer he brought. " O Nina, lady of priestly rights, lady of precious decrees. lady, like Enlil, deciding fates, O Nina, thy word is faithful; above all it excels. Prophetess of the gods art thou ; mistress of the lands art thou. O mother, let me relate now the dream. The meaning of the dream I know not. There was a man — like heaven was his form, like earth was his form ; as to the crown of his head a god was he ; at his side was the storm-bird ; at his feet was the hurricane ; at his right and at his left a panther lay. He commanded me to build his temple. His meaning I understand not. The sun arose from the world. There was a woman, who was it not, who was it ? . . . she made. The sacred stylus she held in her hand. She possessed the tablet of the good stars. COLUMN V " She counseled with herself. " Secondly, there was a strong man ; . . . a tablet of lapis lazuli he held in his hand. For the temple a plan he made. Before me an holy head basket he placed ; the holy mold he arranged. The brick of fate in the mold he made. By the sacred . . . placed before me the . . . bird brought morn- ing light to me. An ass crouched at the right of my lord." The patesi his mother Nina answered. " My shepherd, thy dream I will interpret for thee. As for the man in form like heaven, in form like the earth, as to his head a god, at his side the storm-bird, at his feet the hurricane, at whose right and at whose left a panther lay, verily my brother Ningirsu it is. Thee he hast commanded the building of the abode of his 68 THE SACRED BOOKS Eninnu. The sun which arose from the world is thy god Gishzida ; like the sun from the world he arose for thee. The maiden who . . . made, who in her hand held the sacred stylus, who possessed the tablet of the favorable stars, who counseled with herself, verily it is my sister Nidaba. COLUMN VI " By the bright star she announced unto thee the building of the temple. In the second place there is the strong man . . . who held in his hand a plate of lapis lazuli ; it is the god Kindub. He fixes for thee the plan of the temple. The sacred head basket which was placed before thee, the sacred mold which was arranged, the brick of fate which was in the mold, verily, the holy brick of Eninnu it is. As for the holy . . . placed before thee in which the bird . . . brings the light of dawn to men, it means pleasant things shall not pre- vent thee from building the temple. " As for the ass which crouched at the side of my lord, it is thee ; in Eninnu, like . . . thou crouchest. May mason pro- vide my purification. In Girsu, in the sanctuary of the land of Lagash, thou shalt set thy foot. In thy treasure-house change the tablets of accounts, remove therefrom wood. For thy king prepare a chariot. The ass yoke thereto. The sacred chariot with lapis lazuli adorn. The quiver like day- light shall shine. The divine sword of heroism adorn. " His sacred emblem make, thy name write thereon. His beloved lyre, the usumgal of the land, instrument which has a sweet sound, which gives counsel, unto the hero who loves gifts, COLUMN VII " Thy King, the lord Ningirsu, in Eninnu, of the glorious storm-bird, cause to be brought in. Thy little words as great words he has received. Inasmuch as he whose heart is as profound as heaven, Ningirsu, the son of Enlil, appeases thee with his word, and reveals unto thee the plan of his temple; the hero whose decrees are great has blessed thee." LITERATURE OF THE EAST 59 THE DESTRUCTION OF URUK ' (A LAMENT) Until when, oh lady, Shall the ungodly enemy ravage thy land ? In thy queen city, Uruk, Destruction is complete. 5 In Eulbar, thy temple, Blood has flowed as water, O^er all thy lands the foe has poured out flame ; It hangs over them like smoke. Oh lady, it is hard for me 10 To bend my neck to the yoke of misfortune ! Oh lady, thou hast let me suffer, Thou hast plunged me in sorrow ! The mighty evil foe Broke me as a reed; . 15 1 know not what to resolve ; I trust not in myself. Like a thicket of waving reeds I moan low, day and night. I bow my head before thee ! 20 I am thy servant ! 1 The chief gods of the ancient world, including the idols of Anu and Nana at Uruk, of Ea at Eridu, and a score of others, were carried away to Elam, where, for upward of a thousand years, they were held like State prisoners in the temples of Susa, placed in humble servitude at the feet of the Elamite gods. Some poet of Uruk, lamenting this destruction, wrote to his lost goddess Nana a plea which has been preserved to us. The above is a free, rather than a close, translation, by the editor. 60 THE SACRED BOOKS THE OLDEST CREATION-STOEY ^ (WITH A PRELIMINARY EXPLANATION BY DR. ARNO POEBEL) [Our text is a poem, as may be seen from the mere external appearance of the tablet, namely, the arrangement of the lines and the frequent blank spaces between the various groups of signs due to the rhythmical character of the text. Readers of the Bible, moreover, will easily recognize the quaint prin- ciple of partial repetition or paraphrase in parallel lines, which is so characteristic a feature of Hebrew poetry. At the beginning of the preserved portion of the first col- umn we find the goddess Xintur, or Xin-harsagga, speaking of the destruction of mankind which she calls hers, because she was one of its creators, as we shall presently see. It is not clear, however, whether in this passage she promises to protect human kind from destruction, or whether she declares her intention to destroy human kind. The answer to this question would definitely establish the relation between the first two columns of our tablet and the rest of the text, the point at issue being whether the former present an inde- pendent account of the creation or simply a retrospective description of the origin of what was to perish in the flood, namely, all living beings and the cities which man had built. Unfortunately it will be impossible to give a definite answer to this important question as long as the upper portion of the tablet is missing. Be this as it may, in line 11 we read that the creating deity fixes the commandments concerning man, i.e., defines his duties and his rights, one of which is, e.g., the building of cities and temples in a " clean spot," i.e., in hallowed places. The last lines of the first column refer to the creation of the animals, which, by this passage, are shown to have been 1 Rpprinted, by permission, from the publications of the University of Pennsylvania. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 61 created after man, just as in the second Biblical account of the creation in Genesis ii. The introductory lines 13 and 14, which form the transition from the account of the creation of man to that of the animals, fortunately give us the names of the four creators of mankind, namely, Anu, Enlil, Enki, and the goddess Nin-harsagga, the four highest deities of the Babylonian pantheon. It has hitherto been almost completely overlooked v^hat an important part the last-named deity played in the earlier Babylonian period, especially in the southern section of the country; our passage, therefore, fur- nishes us a most welcome clue concerning the position of this deity. One of the sacred cities of this goddess, the city of Adab, has been made known to us by the excavations of the University of Chicago. In the preserved portion of the second column we read of five prediluvian cities of Babylonia, which were founded and bestowed upon various deities evidently by the most powerful of the gods, namely, Enlil, the lord of all the lands. As the first of these cities, Eridu, is given to Enki, the lord of the ocean, who is the third of the gods in rank, it is possible that the now missingoipper portion reported the founding of the sacred cities of the two highest gods, namely, Uruk, the city of Anu, god of Heaven, and Nippur, the city of Enlil himself, which has been partially excavated by the University of Penn- sylvania, and where our own tablet was dug from the soil. In one of the two cities, moreover, one of the created men must have been established as the first king of Babylonia, but in our text we have preserved only an allusion to the creation of the insignia of this king in the broken lines at the begin- ing of Column ii. The last lines of the column are not clear to me ; possibly they treat of the creation of canals, etc., the water of which was indispensable for the existence of the Babylonian cities ; for without it the land would turn into a sandy desert, as indeed it has in many places at the present day. In the third column of our fragment we are already in the story of the flood. The gods have resolved to destroy man- kind, but when it comes to the execution of the decision the 62 THE SACRED BOOKS gods, and especially the goddesses Innauna and Nintu, are filled with terror, and the latter with repentance, for the great calamity which they have caused. But it is only Enki, the god of wisdom, who is able to devise a plan to save at least one of the doomed race, Ziugiddu, the tenth and last of the pre- diluvian kings, who, like Noah in the Bible, was a pious man ; in Column iv we therefore read that Enki informs Ziugiddu of the resolution of the gods, and the missing part of the same column must have reported how Ziugiddu built his boat and placed in it his family and all kinds of artizans, as well as all sorts of animals. In the fifth column the deluge itself is recounted. It is caused only by a strong rain or, in the Babylonian expression, the rain demon, not as in the later Biblical account also by the waters from underneath the earth. The duration of the rain is seven days and seven nights ; in this our tablet differs from the previously known Babylonian account, which gives it as six days only ; nevertheless, in this point our text stands much nearer to this other Babylonian account than to either Biblical tradition, the older of which makes the rain last forty days and nights, while according to the later tradition the flood continued to rise for five months. After the rain has ceased the Sun-god appears from behind the clouds and is the first to observe Ziugiddu in his boat, which is floating on the waters. Our hero prostrates himself before the god and, hy offering up sacrifices, evidently wins his favor. In the sixth and last column, after an obscure pas- sage, he prostrates himself before Enlil, who had been chiefly responsible for the resolution of the gods to destroy mankind. But he, too, is now appeased, and shows his favor by making Ziugiddu a god. In the last of the preserved lines the gods take Ziugiddu to a distant land, probably the country of Dil- mun, somewhere on the shore of the Persian Gulf, where he lives thenceforth as a god.] LITERATURE OF THE EAST 63 COLUMN I " My human-kind on its destruction I will . . .* My, Nintu's, creations . . . I will . . . 5 The people in their settlements I will . . . Cities ... he may build, their shade (protection) I will . . . The brick of our houses may he cast in a clean spot, Our . . . places may he establish in a clean spot." 10 ... of the temennu she made straight for it, The sublime commandments and precepts she made per- fect for it. After Anu, Enlil, Enki, and Xin-harsagga Had created the blackheaded. The ... of the ground the ground . . . 15 The animals, the four-legged, of the field artfully they called into existence. COLUMN II "... I will . . . upon him ... I will look upon him." After the maker of the . . . of the land, the establisher of the foundation of the . . . Had created the . . . of royalty, 10 Created the sublime ... the ... of royalty, The sublime commandments and precepts he made perfect for it. In clean places five cities he founded, And after their names he had called, and they had been allotted to kabdugas — The first of the cities, Eridu, to the leader Nudimmut 15 he gave, Secondly, to . . . Bad-NAGAR + DIS he gave. Thirdly, Larak to Pabilharsag he gave, 2 Possibly " I will " should be read in the plural, " Let us." 64 THE SACRED BOOKS Fourthly, Sippar to the hero Shamash he gave, Fifthly, Suruppak to . . . he gave; 20 After the names of these cities he had called, and to kabdiigas they had been allotted, The ... he ... he .. . . . . small rivers and suluhs ... he established . . . COLUMN III 10 The . . . place The people . . . A rainstorm . . Their . . . they made, . . . 15 At that time iSIintu screamed like a woman in travail. The holy Ishtar v^ailed on account of her people. Enki in his own heart held counsel. Anu, Enlil, Enki, and Xin-harsagga . . . The gods of Heaven and Earth invoked the name of Anu and Enlil. 20 At that time Ziugiddu was King, the priest-king of . . . A huge ... he made, . . . In humility prostrating himself, in reverence . . . Daily and perseveringly standing in attendance . . . . . . -ing by dreams which had not been before, . . . 25 Conjuring by the name of Heaven and Earth . . . COLmiN IV For . . . the gods a wall . . . Ziugiddu standing at its side heard . . . " At the wall at my left side stand and . . . , At the wall I will speak a word to thee. 5 " O my holy one, thy ear open to me By our hand a rainstorm . . . will be sent; To destrov the seed of mankind, to . . . Is the decision, the saying of the assembly of the gods. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 65 10 " The commands of Anu and Enlil . . . , Their kingdom, their rule . . . , To him . . . COLUMN V All the windstorms which possess immense power, they all and together came, The rainstorm . . . raged with them. When for seven days, for seven nights The rainstorm in the land had raged, 5 The huge boat on the great waters by the windstorms had been carried away, Shamash came forth again, shedding light over Heaven and Earth. Ziugiddu opened a ... of the huge boat. The light of the hero Shamash he lets enter into the interior of the huge boat. Ziugiddu, the King, 10 Before Shamash he prostrates himself. The King, an ox he sacrifices, a sheep he slaughters. While . . . great horn . . . ... he ... for him 15 . . . he filled . . . two . . . After . . . COLUMN VI " By the soul of Heaven, by the soul of the earth, ye shall conjure him, that he may . . . with you. Anu and Enlil by the soul of Heaven and by the soul of the earth ye shall conjure, and he will . . . with you." The ... of the ground with the earth, rising it rises. VOL. I.— 5. 66 THE SACRED BOOKS Ziugiddu, the King, Before Anu and Enlil he prostrates himself. Life like that of a god he gives to him, An eternal soul like that of a god he creates for him. 10 At that time Ziugiddu, the King, The name of the ..." Preserver of the seed of man- kind " . . . On a . • . mountain, the mountain of Dilmun . . . they caused him to dwell After . . . they had caused him to dwell, LEFT EDGE Ziugiddu . . . LITERATURE OF THE EAST 67 A LATER SUMERIAN CREATION-TEXT » The holy house, the house of the gods, in the holy place had not yet been made ; No reed had sprung up, no tree had been created. No brick had been laid, no building had been set up ; No house had been erected, no city had been built ; 5 No city had been made, no creature had been created. Nippur had not been made, E-kur had not been built ; Uruk had not been created, E-ana had not been built ; The Deep had not been created, Eridu had not been built ; Of the holy house, the house of the gods, the habitation had not been made. 10 All lands were sea. At that time there was a movement in the sea ; Then was Eridu made, and E-sagil was built, E-sagil, where in the midst of the Deep the god Lugal-dul- azaga * dwelleth ; The city of Babylon was built, and E-sagil was finished. 15 The gods, the Anunnaki, he ^ created at one time; The holy city, the dwelling of their hearts' desire, they proclaimed supreme. Marduk laid a reed upon the face of the waters, He formed dust and poured it out beside the reed. That he might cause the gods to dwell in the habitation of their hearts' desire, 20 He formed mankind. The goddess Aruru together with him ^ created the seed of mankind. The beasts of the field and living creatures in the field he formed. 3 From the translation of L. H. King. 4 Or, Lugal-du-azaga. 5 I.e., Marduk. 6 The Sumerian version reads "together with the god." 68 THE SACRED BOOKS He created the Tigris and the Euphrates, and he set them in their place ; Their names he declared in goodly fashion. 25 The grass, the rush of the marsh, the reed, and the forest he created, The green herb of the field he created. The lands, the marshes, and the swamps; The wild cow and her young, the wild calf; the ewe and her young, the lamb of the fold ; Plantations and forests ; 30 The he-goat and the mountain-goat . . . him. The lord Marduk laid in a dam by the side of the sea, He ... a swamp, he made a marsh, ... he brought into existence. Eeeds he formed, trees he created ; 35 ... he made in their place. Bricks he laid, buildings he set up ; Houses he made, cities he built ; Cities he made, creatures he created. Xippur he made, E-kur he built ; 40 Uruk he made, E-ana he built. [The rest of the Obverse and the beginning of the Eeverse of the tablet are wanting.] REVERSE Thy exalted minister is Papsukal, the wise counselor of the gods. May Nin-aha-kudu, the daughter of Ea, Purify thee with the pure censer, And may she cleanse thee with cleansing fire ! With a cup of pure water from the Deep shalt thou purify thy way ! 10 By the incantation of ^Marduk, the king of the hosts of heaven and earth. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 69 May the abundance of the land enter into thee, And may thy decree be accomplished forever ! E-zida, thou glorious dwelling, thou art dear unto the hearts of Anu and Ishtar! 15 May E-zida shine like the heavens, may it be bright like the earth, may it be glorious like the heart of heaven. And may ... be firmly established ! 70 THE SACRED BOOKS THE CREATION OF THE SUN AND MOON When the gods Anu, Enlil, and Enki Through their sure counsel and by their great commands Ordained the renewal of the Moon-god, The reappearance of the moon, and the creation of the month, 5 And ordained the oracle of heaven and earth. The New Moon did Anu cause to appear, In the midst of heaven he beheld it come forth. [Version] "^ When Anu, Bel and Ea, The great gods, through their sure counsel 10 Fixed the bounds of heaven and earth, And to the hands of the great gods entrusted The creation of the day and the renewal of the month which they might behold. And mankind beheld the Sun-god^ in the gate of his going forth. In the midst of heaven and earth they duly created him.^ 7 The first seven lines are in Sumerian ; the last seven purport to translate this into Assyrian, but, as will be seen, they vary consider- ably from the original. 8 It is interesting to note that in the Semitic version the creation of the sun is substituted for that of the moon, although in the preceding line the renewal of the month is referred to. »The reverse of the tablet, which is badly preserved, is inscribed with some grammatical and astrological notes. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 71 CHARMS AGAINST EVIL SPIRITS ^ TABLET I The noxious god, the noxious spirit of the neck, the neck- spirit of the desert, the neck-spirit of the mountains, the neck- spirit of the sea, the neck-spirit of the morass, the noxious cherub of the city, this noxious wind which seizes the body and the health of the body. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth remember. TABLET II The burning spirit of the neck which seizes the man, the burning spirit of the neck which seizes the man, the spirit of the neck which works evil, the creation of an evil spirit Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth remember. TABLET III Wasting, want of health, the evil spirit of the ulcer, spread- ing quinsy of the gullet, the violent ulcer, the noxious ulcer. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth remember. TABLET IV Sickness of the entrails, sickness of the heart, the palpita- tion of a sick heart, sickness of bile, sickness of the head, noxious colic, the agitation of terror, flatulency ^ of the en- trails, noxious illness, lingering sickness, nightmare. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth remember. TABLET V He who makes an image which injures the man,^ an evil face, an evil eye, an evil mouth, an evil tongue, evil lips, an 1 From Ashur-banipal's library, in which the old Sumerian text is paralleled by a translation into Assyrian. 2 Literally, " opposition." 3 Here we have a reference to a custom well known in the Middle 72 THE SACRED BOOKS evil poison. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth re- member. TABLET VI The cruel spirit, the strong spirit of the head, the head- spirit that departs not, the head-spirit that goes not forth, the head-spirit that will not go, the noxious head-spirit. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth remember. TABLET VII The poisonous spittle of the mouth * which is noxious to the voice, the phlegm which is destructive to the . . ., the pus- tules of the lungs, the pustule of the body, the loss of the nails, the removal and dissolving of old excrement, the skin which is stripped off, the recurrent ague of the body, the food which hardens in a man's body, the food which returns after being eaten, the drink which distends after drinking, death by poison, from the swallowing of the mouth which distends, the unreturning wind from the desert. Spirit of heaven remem- ber, spirit of earth remember. TABLET VIII May Nin-cigal,^ the wife of Nin-a'su, turn her face toward another place ; may the noxious spirit go forth and seize an- other; may the propitious cherub and the propitious genie settle upon his body. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth remember. TABLET IX May Febo, the great steward, the recliner (or incubus) supreme among the gods, like the god who has begotten him. Ages. A waxen figure was made, and as it melted before the fire the person represented by it was supposed similarly to waste away. It will be remembered that Horace speaks of the waxen figure made by the witch Canidia in order that the lover might consume away in the fires of love. Roman and medieval sorcery had its origin in that of ancient Akkad. 4 That would be consumption. 5"Nin-cigar' ("The Lady of the Mighty Earth") was Queen of Hades and a form of " AUat " or " Ishtar." She is also identified with Gula or Bahu (the Bohu or "Chaos" of Genesis i. 2), "The Lady of the House of Death." LITERATURE OF THE EAST 73 seize upon his head ; against his life may he not break forth. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth remember. TABLET X On the sick man by the sacrifice of mercy may perfect health shine like bronze ; may the Sun-god give this man life ; may Marduk, the eldest son of the deep, give him strength, prosperity, and health. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth remember. A HYMN TO THE STORM-GOD, ISHKAR ^ " Ishkar the glorious," is thy name, exalted god ; " Lord of Ishkar, mighty bull and glorious," is thy name, exalted god ; " Ishkar, child of heaven, mighty bull and glorious," is thy name, exalted god; "Lord of Karkar,2 mighty bull and glorious," is thy name, exalted god ; 5 " Ishkar, lord of plenty, mighty bull and glorious," is thy name, exalted god ; " Companion of the lord Ea, mighty bull and glorious," is thy name, exalted god ; " Father Ishkar, lord that rideth the storm," is thy name, exalted god ; " Father Ishkar, that rideth the great storm," is thy name, exalted god; " Father Ishkar, that rideth the great lion," is thy name, exalted god ; 10 " Ishkar, lion of heaven, mighty bull and glorious," is thy name, exalted god ; Thy name doth enthrall the land, Thy splendor covers the land like a garment. 1 The original of this hymn is in Sumerian, though possibly of late date. It is reprinted from " Sumerian and Babylonian Psalms," by S. Lanpdon. 2 Karkar was the citv of Ishkar. 74 THE SACRED BOOKS At thy thunder the great mountain father Mullil is shaken. At thy rumbling the great mother Ninlil trembles. 15 Enlil sent forth his son Ishkar: Who, oh my son, directeth the storm, sendeth forth the storm ? Ishkar directeth the storm, sendeth forth the storm. The storm like the seven demons flieth ; he sendeth forth the storm. Spirit, may thy sonorous voice give forth its utterance; he sendeth forth the storm. 20 The lightning, thy messenger, goeth before thee; he sendeth forth the storm. Who, my son, beareth splendor, v^ho that cometh can strive with thee ? If the foe do evil thy father is by thee; who can strive with thee ? The little hail thou boldest, who can strive with thee ? The great hail thou boldest, who can strive with thee ? 25 Thy little and great hail-stones let be upon him. Let thy right hand destroy the foe, thy left arm pluck him away. Ishkar gave ear to the words of the father, his creator. The father Ishkar went out of the house, spirit of sonorous voice. Out of the house, out of the city went he up, the youthful lion, 30 Out of the city took his way, the spirit of thunderous voice. EARLY TEXTS OF AKKAD (3200-2100 B.C.) SARGON, THE FIRST WORLD-CONQUEROR The fruit of death May man meet. And yet the fruit of life May he achieve." •OLD AKKADIAN SONG. THE EARLY TEXTS OF AKKAD (INTRODUCTION) EXCEPT for ^:he religious songs, or temple hymns, which the later Assyrian and Babylonian priests preserved in their ancient archaic form, our texts of the older Akkadian, of the days preceding Ilammurapi, are not numerous. Akka- dian, as already explained, is a name given to the first-known Semitic peoples who invaded the Euphrates valley. They were apparently a much less cultured people than the Sumer- ians and possessed no form of writing. Hence the inva- ders wrote their first inscriptions in the Sumerian tongue. Indeed, the oldest xikkadian text yet found is the fragment of a quaint temple record, which opens with Sumerian words, but occasionally drifts into the Akkadian with which the scribe was doubtless more familiar. It is given here that the reader may note how the Sumerian temple-offerings of grain are changed to offerings of domestic animals, and how from bronze money men passed to the use of gold. The early Akkadians were nomads, rather than agriculturists; they reckoned their wealth in flocks and herds. As the later gen- erations became more settled they built up an elaborate agri- cultural system. This is partly preserved in our second text, which is only a late Assyrian transcript, but must, from its obscurity, have been originally of early date. It supplies us with our earliest details of farming processes and of man- made laws. From the same source, an old Akkadian text, preserved with a late Assyrian translation, comes our next text, a very ancient philosophy, a long-forgotten king's vague musings on the worth of kingship and of life. Following this we give the genuine old Akkadian inscrip- tions, read from the statues and tablets of the ancient kings, the materials from which we have built up our knowledge of 77 78 THE SACRED BOOKS their reigns. From these we learn briefly that there was a conqueror, Lugal-zaggisi, who overthrew the great Sumerian city of Lagash, and who was at length overthrown, in his turn, by Sarru-kin. One or the other of these vigorous fighters established dominion over all the river valley, be- came, in fact, sole ruler of the world known to him. Sarru- kin, who at first inscribes himself only as King of Agade, and as being subordinate to a king of Kish, comes finally to call himself sovereign of all lands and servant only to the gods. Thus we see his rise from ruler of one city to ruler of all Akkad and Sumer, and even of lands beyond. This Sarru- kin may be the Sargon of later legend, or may be a still earlier king of similar name. The records of later Babylon refer the origin of their mighty city to a King Sargon of Agade and tell a poetic legend of him. This, as well as the later Akkadian chroni- cles, which begin with Sargon, is given here, so that readers may see how the writing of history was first practised. The legend of Sargon's birth has aroused special interest because, as the reader will see, it bears some resemblance to the Bible story of Moses. We also include in this section a recently discovered list of kings such as Bcrosus must have had before him when he wrote of the tens of thousands of years that the Babylonian civilization had existed. EARLY TEXTS OF AKKAD FRAGMEI^T OF A TEMPLE EECOED (OUR EARLIEST AKKADIAN TEXT) COLUMN I Grand Account Three sheep To the Lord the shep- herds sacrificed ; Twelve bullocks, ten heif- COLUMN II Two crops of best sesame. 20 One tu-pi of gold ; One of bronze, Burnished. At Uruk ers — One iu-pi of gold ; The shepherds lived on 25 Sixty manehs of bronze, 30 their flesh. A hundred bull calves In the stalls. Ten bull calves Were sacrificed on the south and west borders. 10 Eleven bull calves to Wm.- gal. Eleven bull calves for breeding. Thirty bull calves At :N^od. Ten bull calves 15 At Ashnak. One boar. Twenty fat porkers. Ten fine hogs. 1 This apparently means that the temple garden was ruined, list is a sort of chronicle of the temple happenings of every sort. 79 Dark As pitch The swamp overflowed The Lord's domain ;^ Together trees and corn Died. With ditches on the bor- ders The gardeners The garden 35 Enclosed; Vegetatioq. Flourished. The 80 THE SACRED BOOKS EAKLY LAWS AND PEECEPTS OF AKKADIAN FAKMEES COLUMN I [First paragraph lost.] In the sixth month ^ of the year, he (the agriculturist) marks his establishment. He agrees about the covenant. He completes the wording of the covenant. 5 He collects his tax-gift and surrounds the field with hedges. He brings together the gazelles (his flock) and gathers the birds. He is to work from dawn to dusk. When the time of the working of the field comes, he plows, rakes, and divides it. For every sixty measures of grain the farmer takes eight measures, wheat produce, straw in stokes, grain thrashed and winnowed. 10 Field of half. In this case a field of culture is merely for culture. He (the agriculturist) goes as associate to his associate. He plows the field, he keeps his seeds, he takes the birds together, and gathers manure. He waters the field and multiplies the seeds. When the time of working the field comes he plows and rakes it, and the overseer reports to the lord of the field. 15 Field of partnership. He (the agriculturist) takes a field of partnership with the lord of the field. 1 Only the Akkadian text of this paragraph remains; it is interest- ing to note that the month is designated by a number, as in some of the omen and astronomical tablets. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 81 Everything is made equal and on the same footing; man as man, house as house, seed as seed. When the time of working (reaping) comes, the master sends from his place as help a long cart, an ox for thrashing the com ; and the corn of the field . . . [One paragraph lost.] COLUMN II [Three paragraphs lost.] He draws water ^ for the field . . . 5 He takes possession of the field. He fences with sticks the ground to be plowed. He has the field plowed and rakes it. He waters it once or twice. He fixes hooks for the pails for drawing water. 10 When the time of working comes, in a field of fifths the farmer takes one part. As for the other divisions, he takes the percentage accord- ing to the division. In a field of a third he takes a third. In a field of a fourth he takes a fourth. In a field of a fifth he takes a fifth. 15 In a field of a tenth he takes a tenth. As for the tithe, he gives one part as tithe to the palace. [One paragraph lost.] (REVERSE) —COLUMN III Of property. Various kinds of divisions (or land tenures) : division of half, division of a third, division of a fourth, division of a fifth, division of a tenth, division with a tithe. 2 The paragraph is mutilated; it may refer to the establishment of some irrigating instrument. VOL. I.— 6. 82 THE SACRED BOOKS Furniture and fixtures: furniture of the palace, fences, sticks for fences, poles, threshold, plowing instruments, plowing instruments of the field, poles of the plantation. Enclosure (or garden) : enclosure of the palace, enclosure of the lord, enclosure of the associate. 5 He (the agriculturist) marks the limit of his garden. He indicates the limit of the garden by means of boundary stones.^ He plants date-trees in it. He waters the young plants. He strengthens the walls. 10 He completes the paling of the garden. The lord of the garden may give to the farmer his dis- missal. He pulls up the paling of the garden. He extends one enclosure to the other. He strengthens the walls. 15 On the thirtieth of the eighth month, ^ in fine weather. At the time of drying dates. At the time of pulling off the paling. In order to quit himself he delivers to the lord of the plantation two-thirds of the dates. He takes a fixed amount and he sends in money the amount of the produce of the date-trees. [A paragraph lost.] 8 Or palinjrs. * In Akkadian the month Apin. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 83 COLUMN IV He makes secure the door and the gate. The servants' (or working) house and the dwelling-house also. He establishes for a dwelling his dwelling-house as such. Until the house is built, he prepares the beams and makes the foundations. 5 He gathers together the beams which have been cut. He arranges in rows the chief beams. He strengthens the old house with bricks and sets up the uprights. When he does not work in the fields, he works in the house. He makes a small house in the middle of the garden. 10 He lays dow^i the intermediary wall of his foundation. He puts a roof over the wall he has devised. He makes the first house of the man. Let him hold himself cautioned once and twice, even if he is not told so. He works and toils for himself. 15 He pays the wages at the time of the cessation of work. If his wall is not constructed strongly he must not set up props. The house of comfort must be a house for his comfort. He makes a house as a proper house for a man, as becom- ing to a man. If the house is not arranged as a proper house he shall pay a fine of ten shekels.^ [Two or more paragraphs and the colophon are lost.] 5 The tablet from which the above is a translation is of great im- portance as giving us information and particulars as to the system of land tenure and cultivation of the land in the early Akkadian period. The tablet speaks first of the simple tenure, and it shows (Paragraph 2) that the tenure was to begin legally from the sixth month; that is. the Babylonian Vlulu. The end of that month is no doubt meant, and it would tend to confirm the opinion that at an earlier date Tisritu was the first, and Vlulu the last month of the year, though the Baby- lonians might have had an agricultural year, as we have a financial year, a scholastic or university year, etc. After having chosen the farm and agreed to the conditions of the contract, the first step of 84 THE SACRED BOOKS the farmer was to determine his position toward the treasury, for, among the Babylonians as among moderns, the payment of the taxes is a proof of the legality of the holding. After that the farmer had to gather his live stock. The tablet says " gazelles," and so carries ua back to the earliest period, for the ox and sheep did not come originally from Babylonia, and the lirst animal domesticated there must have been a kind of gazelle which was found wild in the country. In the tablet, however, the word " gazelle " is no doubt taken to mean any kind of quadruped; in the same way the word '"birds" designates here domesticated birds — doves, ostriches, and at a later period hens, which were introduced a long time before the Persian conquest. Being once established in his farm, he is to give all his time to it. After tJiCse preliminaries about tenure in general come the specifi- cations about the various kinds of tenure. The first spoken of is the tenure by half, as it is called; it appears to signify the properties which used to belong half to the lord and half to the peasant who was attached to the soil as serf. In that case the farmer worked for his master, he kept the live stock and the seeds, but everything was controlled by the agent of the landlord. In the field of partnership, on the contrary, the landlord was placed on the same footing as his tenant; if the latter gave his labor, the former had to provide himi with the material, implements, utensils, stock, grain, seeds, etc. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 85 THE PHILOSOPHY OF AN UNKNOWN RULER If evil thou bast done, to the sea forever . . . thou goest. My city bless : among my men fully prosper me. Bless everything ; and to my dress be favorable. Before the oxen as they march in the grain thou liest down. My knees are marching, my feet are not resting: with no wealth of thine own, grain thou begettest for me. A heifer am I ; to the cow I am yoked : the plow-handle is strong; lift it up, lift it up ! May he perform vengeance: may he return also to him who gives. The marsh as though it were not he passes ;^ the slain as though they were not ... he makes good. To the waters their god ^ has returned : 1 This line ig translated from the Akkadian, the Assyrian text being wanting, and the words " a recent lacuna " being written instead. This makes it clear that the scribe who copied the tablet for Ashur-banipal's library did not understand Akkadian and could not, therefore, supply the translation. 2 This seems to be quoted from a hymn describing the return of Oannes to the Persian Gulf. 86 THE SACRED BOOKS to the house of bright things he descended as an icicle : on a seat of snow- he grew not old in wisdom. Like an oven which is old against thy foes be hard. Thou wentest, thou spoiledest the land of the foe ; for he went, he spoiled thy land, even the foe. Kingship in its going forth is like a royal robe. Into the river thou plungest, and thy water is swollen at the time : into the orchard thou plungest, and thy fruit is bitter. The com is high, it is flourishing; how is it known ? the com is bearded, it is flourishing; how is it known ? The fruit of death may the man eat, and yet the fruit of life may he acliieve. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 87 HISTORICAL INSCRIPTIONS L— On a Statue i OF LUGAL-ZAGGISI ( Perhaps the first - world-conqueror) and Lugal-zaggisi, lord destroy his seed. of the land of Uruk, Whoever King of the land of Ur. shall . . . this Who shall destroy this image, may Enlil inscription may Enlil and Shamash tear out his name, may he break his weapon. Before his foundations Enlil he has set it up. II. — On a Statub of Saeru-kin (Either the conqueror Sargon or a still earlier king of similar name) Sarru-kin, in a battle King Uruk of Agade, and vicegerent 50 isakhus of Inanna, he vanquished King of Kish, with the battle mace pasisu of Anu, of Zamama King and of the land, the city isakJcti he smote, of Enlil, [About twenty-five lines are missing.] 88 THE SACRED BOOKS he vanquished E-Ninmar and he smote the city he smote and and its wall its wall he destroyed. and Unto Sarru-kin, its territory King of from the land, Lagash Enlil as far as then gave the sea no rival, he smote ; the upper his weapons and he washed in the sea. the lower Ubme sea in a battle Here some thirty lines are missing. The ins( continues r Whoever Who destroys shall . . . this this inscription, image. may Enlil may Enlil and Shamash his name, tear out may he break liis foundations his weapon ! and Before destroy Enlil his seed. he has set it up. III. — Inscription of Sarru-kin ^ Sarru-kin, of Agade, King vicegerent iThis is carved in double column, one being in Sumerian, the other in Akkadian. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 89 of Ishtar, Xing of Kish, pasisu of Anum, King of the land, great isakku of Enlil : the city of Uruk he smote and its wall he destroyed. With the people of Uruk he battled ^ and he routed them. With Lugal-zaggisi, King of Uruk, he battled and he captured him ^ and in fetters he led him through the gate of Enlil. Sarru-kin, King of Agade, battled with the man of Ur and vanquished him ; his city he smote * and its wall he destroyed. E-Ninmar he smote and its wall he destroyed, and its entire territory, from Lagash to the sea, he smote. His weapons he washed in the sea. With the man of Umma he battled and he routed him and smote his city and destroyed its wall. Unto Sarru-kin, King of the land, Enlil gave no foe (adversary) ; from the upper sea to the lower sea. 2 Akkadian text : " In a battle he vanquished Uruk," or perhaps better : " In the battle with Uruk he gained the victory." 8 Alckadian text: "his hand captured him." 4 The Semitic text runs : " In a battle he vanquished Ur and smote the city." 90 THE SACRED BOOKS Enlil subjected the lands to him.^ . . . and the man of . . . and the man of . . . stand in attendance before Sarru-kin, King of the land. Sarru-kin, King of the land, restored Kish (i.e., the people of Kish) in its old place. Their city he gave to them as a dwelling- place. Who shall destroy this inscription, may Shamash tear out his foundations and destroy his seed. IV. — Insckiption of Sarru-kin ® . . . and he gave unto him the upper land, Mari, larmuti, and Ibla, as far as the cedar forest and the silver mountains Unto Sarru-kin, the King, Enlil did not give 6 The Semitic text runs: "The Bubjpctcd to him." « This badly broken old record Akkadian text. an adversary. 5400 men eat daily food before him. Whoever destroys this inscription, may Anu destroy his name, may Enlil extirpate his seed, may Innanna • • • xim • • • upper soa and the lower sea Enlil gives also a Sumerian and parallel LITERATURE OF THE EAST 91 THE LEGEND OF SAEGON, KING OF AGADE Sargon, the mighty king, the King of Agade, am I, My mother was lowly, my father I knew not, And the brother of my father dwells in the mountain. My city is Azupiranu,'^ which lies on the bank of the Euphrates. 5 My lowly mother conceived me, in secret she brought me forth. She set me in a basket of rushes, with bitumen she closed my door; She cast me into the river, which rose not over me. The river bore me up, unto Akki, the irrigator, it carried me. Akki, the irrigator, with . . . lifted me out, 10 Akki, the irrigator, as his own son . . . reared me, Akki, the irrigator, as his gardener appointed me. While I was a gardener the goddess Ishtar loved me, And for . . . -four years I ruled the kingdom. the black-headed peoples ^ I ruled, I governed ; 15 Mighty mountains with axes of bronze did I destroy. I climbed the upper mountains ; I burst through ihe lower mountains. The Country of the Sea three times did I besiege ; Dilmun ^ did . . . 20 Unto the great Dur-ilu ^" I went up, I ... I altered . . . Whatsover king shall be exalted after me. Let him rule, let him govern the black-headed peoples ; 25 Mighty mountains with axes of bronze let him destroy. 7 The location of this city is unknown. 8 A common phrase for the people of the Fuphrates valley. 9 Dilmun was an island in the Persian Gulf. . ri a " 10 A city in eastern Babylonia. The name signifies, " Wall of God. 92 THE SACRED BOOKS Let liim climb the upper mountain ; Let him burst through the lower mountains. The country of the Sea let him three times besiege And Dilmun . . . SO To the great Dur-ilu let him go up , . . . . . from my city of Akkad . . . LITERATURE OF THE EAST 93 CHRONICLE CONCERNmO SARGON AND OTHER EARLY KINGS Sargon, King of Agade, by Ishtar's royal insignia was exalted, And he had no rival or enemy. His glory he poured out over the world. The sea of the East *^ he crossed, And in the eleventh year his hand subdued the Country of the West ^^ in its full extent. 5 He united them under one control ; he set up his images in the west ; Their booty he brought over at his word. He settled the sons of his palace for five biru around, And over the hosts of the world he reigned supreme. Against Kagalla he marched, and turned Kagalla into mounds and ruins; 10 He destroyed within it, leaving not a bird's resting-place. Afterward in his old age all the lands revolted against him, And they besieged him in Agade ; and Sargon went forth to battle and accomplished their defeat ; Their overthrow he brought about, and their wide spread- ing host he destroyed. Afterward he attacked the land of Subartu in his might, and before his arms they bowed down, 15 And Sargon quelled that revolt, and accomplished their defeat ; Their overthrow he brought about, and their wide spread- ing host he destroyed. Their possessions he caused to be brought into Agade. The soil he removed from the trenches of Babylon, And the boundaries of Agade he made like those of Baby- lon.i3 11 The Persian Gulf. 12 Syria. . , IS This passage seems to identify the kingdom of Agade witb tne 94 THE SACRED BOOKS 20 But because of the evil which he had committed the great lord Marduk was angry, And he destroyed his people by famine. From the rising of the sun unto the setting of the sun They rebelled against him and gave him no rest. OBVERSE iN'aram-Sin, the son of Sargon, marched against the city of Apirak, . And he built trenches, and his hand subdued Eish-Adad, King of Apirak, and the governor of Apirak. He marched against Magan,^^ and Mannu-dannu, King of Magan, his hand subdued, 5 Dungi, son of Ur-Engur, richly adorned the city of Eridu, which was on the shore of the sea. But he sought after evil, and the treasure of E-sagila and of Babylon, He brought out as spoil. And Bel was . . . and body and ... he made an end of him. Ura-imitti, the King, set Bel-ibni, the gardener, Upon his throne, that the dynasty might not come to an end; 10 And the crown of his kingship he placed upon his head, Ura-imitti in his palace . . . died. Bel-ibni, who sat upon the throne, did not arise therefrom, But was established as king. Hu-shuma, King of Assyria, against Su-abu. later kingdom of Babylon ; but it also seems to imply the earlier sep- arate existence of Babylon as a defeated rival of Agade. 1* Sinai. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 95 OMEN TABLET OF SARGON OF AKKAD '^ OBVERSE When the moon at its setting with the color of a dust-cloud filled the crescent, the moon was favorable for Sar- gon, who, at this season, marched against the country of Elam and subjugated the men of Elam. Misery he brought upon them ; their food he cut off. When the moon at its setting filled the crescent with the color of a dust-cloud, and over the face of the sky the color extended behind the moon during the day and remained bright, 5 the moon was favorable for Sargon, who marched against the country of Phenicia, and subjugated the country of Phenicia. His hand conquered the four quarters of the world. When the moon increased in form on the right hand and on the left, and moreover during the day the finger reached over the horns, ^^ the moon was favorable for Sagon who, at this season, pro- duced joy in Babylon, and like dust the spoil of Bab-dhuna was carried away and . . . 10 ... he made Akkad a city ; the city of . . . he called its name; the men ... in the midst he caused to dwell. 15 The astrological notices with which the account of Sargon's cam- paigns is associated are explained by the fact that the great Chaldean work on astronomy and astrology was compiled for his library at Akkad, and that one of the objects of this work was to trace a con- nection between certain astronomical occurrences and the events which immediately followed tliem. 16 The moon lay on its back, and the distance from the extremity of one horn to that of another was as much as a span. 96 TKE SACRED BOOKS When tlie mooii ... on the left the color of fire . . . on the left of the planet, and the moon was favorable to Sargon who, at this season, against the country of Phenicia marched and subjugated it. The four quarters of the world his hand conquered. 15 When the moon . . . behind the moon the four heads were placed, the moon was favorable to Sargon who, at this season, marched against the country of Phenicia and subjugated the country of Phenicia. His enemies he smote ; his heroes ... in the gate of its ^" rising. When the moon was fixed and a span . . . the moon was favorable to Sargon, as for whom, at this season, the goddess Ishtar 20 with favors filled for him his hand . . . the goddess Ishtar all countries caused him to conquer ; against Tiri . . . When the moon appeared like a lion, the moon was favor- able to Sargon v/ho, at this season, was very exalted and a rival or equal had not; his own. country was at peace. Over the countries of the sea of the setting sun ^^ he crossed and for three years at the setting sun 25 all countries his hand conquered. Every place to form but one empire he appointed. His images at the set- ting sun he erected. Their spoil he caused to pass over into the countries of the sea.^^ 17 The Sun-pod must be referred to. 18 Tlie Mediterraneun. 10 We infer from this that Sargon had crossed over into Cyprus, and there erpctod an ima^e of liims(>lf. This might explain wliy his later narn^sake Sarpon sent to tlie island a monument, which is now in Berlin. General di Cesnola brought back from Cyprus a Babylonian LITERATURE OF THE EAST 97 When the moon on the right hand was like the color of gall, and there was no finger ; ^*^ the upper part was long and the moon was setting, the moon was favorable for Sargon, who enlarged his pal- ace of Delight by 5 mithliu, and established the chiefs in it and called it the House of Kiam-izallik.^^ 30 When the moon was like a cloud, like the color of gall, and there was no finger; on the right side was the color of a sword; the circumference of the left side was visible ; toward its face on the left the color extended; the moon was favorable for Sargon, against whom, at this sea- son, Kastubila of the country of Kazalla rebelled and against Kazalla Sargon marched and he smote their forces; he accom- plished their destruction. Their mighty army he annihilated ; he reduced Kazalla to dust and ruins. The station of the birds ^^ he overthrew. 35 When the moon was like a cloud, like the color of gall, and there was no finger f^ on the right side was the color of a sword; the circumference of the left was visi- ble; and against its face the Seven ^'^ advanced ; the moon was favorable to Sargon, against whom, at this season, cylinder of hematite bearing the inscription, " Abil-Ishtar, the son of Ilu-Balidh, the servant of the deified Naram-Sin." The cylinder was probably executed either during the reign of Naram-Sin, or shortly afterward, as the cult of the King is not likely to have continued after the fall of his dynasty. 20 It could not be measured. 21 " Thus he has appointed." 22 What this refers to it is impossible to say. The expression can hardly be metaphorical. 23 It could not be measured. 24 The Seven Evil Spirits, who were supposed to cause eclipses of the moon. VOL. I.— 7. 98 THE SACRED BOOKS the elders of the whole country revolted and besieged him in the city of Akkad ; but Sargon issued forth and smote their forces ; their destruc- tion he accomplished. REVERSE Their numerous soldiery he massacred ; the spoil that was upon them he collected. " The booty of Ishtar ! " he shouted. When the moon had two fingers, and swords were seen on the right side and the left, and might and peace were on the left its hand presented a sword ; the sword in its left hand was of the color of 'sukhuruni; the point was held in the left hand and there were two heads ; 5 the moon was favorable for Sargon who, at this season, subjected the men of the country of 'Su-edin ^^ in its plen- itude to the sword, and Sargon caused their seats to be occupied, and smote their forces; their destruction he accomplished; their mighty army he cut off, and his troops he collected; into the city of Akkad he brought them back. 10 When the moon had two fingers and on the right side of it was of the color of a sword and on the left it was visible ; and against its face the Seven advanced; its appearance was of the color of gall ; the moon was favorable for Naram-Sin ^^ who, at this season, marched against the city of Apirak, and utterly destroyed it : Ris-Eimmon the King of Apirak, he overthrew and the city of Apirak his hand conquered. 25 " The plain of the 'Ruti," or nomad tribes on the eastern side of Babylonia. 26 The successor of Sargon on the throne. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 99 15 When the moon ... on the right of it was of the color of a sword, and on the left it was visible ; and against its face the Seven advanced; the moon was favorable for Naram-Sin who, at this season, marched against the country of Maganna ^^ and seized the country of Maganna, and . . . the King of Maganna his hand captured. When against the moon the Seven were banded, and behind it . . . 20 . . . never may there be a son. . . . 2TTlie Sinaitic Peninsula. 100 THE SACRED BOOKS A NEW-FOUND LIST OF KINGS ^ (PURPORTING TO BEGIN FROM THE CREATION) COLUMN I [The beginning of Column i (about 16 lines) is missing.] Qalumum ruled 900 years. Zuqaqib ruled 840 years. Arpi, son of a muskenu, ruled 720 years. Etana, the shepherd, who ascended to Heaven, who subdued (ruled) all lands, ruled 635 years. Willi . . . son of Etana, ruled 410 years. En-me-nunna ruled 611 years. Melam-kishi, son of En-me-nunna, ruled 900 years. Bar-sal-nunna, son of En-me-nunna, ruled 1200 years. Mes-za-mug, son of Bar-sal-nunna, ruled . . . years. . . ., son of Bar-sal-nunna, ruled . . . years. . . . COLUMN II [The beginning of Column it (about 18 lines) is missing.] The kingdom 1 Reprinted, by permission, from the publications of the I'niversity of Pennsylvania. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 101 of Kish passed to Eanna. In E-anna Meskingaser, son of Shamash, as lord and King ruled 325 years. Meskingaser descended into . . . and ascended to . . . Enmerkar, son of Meskingaser, King of Uruk, who built ... together with the people of Uruk, as King ruled 420 years. Lugal-banda, the shepherd, ruled 1200 years. Dumu-zi, the hunter, whose city was HA- A, ruled 100 years. Gilgamesh, whose father was . . ., the lord of Kulab, ruled 126 years. . . . lugal, the son of Gilgamesh, ruled . . . years. COLUMN III [The beginning of Column iii (about 21 lines) is miss- ing.] The kingdom of Uruk 102 THE SACRED BOOKS passed to Ur. In Ur Mes-anni-pada became King and ruled 80 years. Mes-kiag-nunna, son of Mes-anni-pada, ruled 30 years. Elu . . . ruled 25 years. Balu . . . ruled 3G years. 4 kings ruled 171 years. The kingdom of Ur passed to Awan. In Awan [Rest of Column in (about 7 lines), all of Columns iv- IX, and about 10 lines at the beginning of Column x are missing.] COLUMN X Idin-Dagan, son of Su-ilisu, ruled 21 years. Isme-Dagan, son of Idin-Dagan, ruled 20 years. Libit-Ishtar, son of Idin-Dagan, ruled 11 years. Ur-NinIB, son of Ishkur . . . dynasty . . . [Rest of Column x (about 21 lines) is missing.] LITERATURE OF THE EAST 103 COLUMN XI Total: 51 kings ruled 18009 + . . . years . . . months . . . days four times in. Kish Total : 22 kings ruled 2610 + x years 6 months and 15 days five times in TJruk. Total : 13 kings ruled 396 years three times in TJr. Total : 3 kings ruled 356 years once in Awan. Total: 1 king ruled Y years once in . . . once [Rest of Column xi (about 15 lines) is missing.] COLUIkIN XII Total: 12 kings ruled 196 years in Agade. Total: 21 kings ruled 125 years and 40 days once in the people of Gutium. Total: 11 kings ruled 159 years in Isin. 104 THE SACRED BOOKS Eleven cities ... of royalty grand total: 134 kings; grand total of their years of reign : 28876 + . . . months 21 days [The rest of Column xii is missing.] THE GREAT AGE OF BAEYLONIA (2100-HOO B.C.). THE REIGN OF HAMMURAPI THE FIRST LAW CODE As for the land of Sumer and ATcJcad, I collected its scattered people, And procured food and drink for them. In abundance and plenty I pastured them." — HAMilURAPI. " // a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out." — LAW OF HAMMURAPI. THE WRITINGS OF HAMMURAPI (INTRODUCTION) THE career of King Hammurapi has been already out- lined. He was the ruler who chiefly established the greatness of Babylon, the world's first metropolis. Many relics of Hammurapi's reign (2125-20S1 b.c.) have been preserved, and to-day we can study this remarkable King as a conqueror in his royal inscriptions, as a just and ener- getic personal ruler in his personal letters, and as a wise law-giver in his celebrated code. His inscriptions, which stand first in this section, show that he was seriously religious. He attributes all his suc- cesses to his city's god, that Marduk, or Bel-Marduk, who was thereafter to be known as Babylonia's chief god. Hav- ing established the supremacy of Babylon not only over Sumer and Akkad, but over the surrounding mountain and desert lands. King Hammurapi next began a series of pub- lic works of large importance. He was a builder of tem- ples, city walls, and canals. He was also, as his letters here show, a watchful administrator of justice. The Sin-idin- nam, to whom most of his surviving letters are addressed, was his local governor over the city of Larsa, where the letters were found. But by far the most remarkable of the Hammurapi rec- ords is his code of laws, the earliest-known example of a ruler proclaiming publicly to his people an entire body of laws, arranged in orderly groups, so that all men might read and know what was required of them. The code was carved upon a black stone monument, eight feet high, and clearly intended to be reared in public view. This noted stone was found in the year 1901, not in Babylon, but in a city of the Persian mountains, to which some later conqueror must have carried it in triumph. It begins and ends with addresses 107 108 THE SACRED BOOKS to the gods. Even a law code was in those days regarded as a subject for prayer, though the prayers here are chiefly cursings of whoever shall neglect or destroy the law. The code then regulates in clear and definite strokes the organization of society. The judge who blunders in a law case is to be expelled from his judgeship forever, and heavily fined. The witness who testifies falsely is to be slain. In- deed, all the heavier crimes are made punishable with death. Even if a man builds a house badly, and it falls and kills the owner, the builder is to be slain. If the owner's son was killed, then the builder's son is slain. We can see where the Hebrews learned their law of "an eye for an eye." These grim retaliatory punishments take no note of excuses or explanations, but only of the fact — with one striking ex- ception. An accused person was allowed to cast himself into "the river," the Euphrates. Apparently the art of swimming was unknown ; for if the current bore him to the shore alive he was declared innocent, if he drowned he was guilty. So we learn that faith in the justice of the ruling gods was already firmly, though somewhat childishly, estab- lished in the minds of men. Yet even with this earliest set of laws, as with most things Babylonian, we find ourselves dealing with the end of things rather than the beginnings. Ilammurapi's code was not really the earliest. The preceding sets of laws have disap- peared, but we have found several traces of them, and Ilam- murapi's own code clearly implies their existence. He is but reorganizing a legal system long established. INSCRIPTIONS OF HA^IMURAPI^ I COLUMN I Hammurapi, the powerful King, the King of Babylon, the King of the four quarters 5 of the world, the founder of the land, the King whose deeds are well pleasing unto the heart of Shamash and ]\Iarduk 10 am I. The summit of the wall of Sippar I have raised with earth 15 like unto a great mountain. I have compassed it about with a swamp. I have digged out the 20 Euphrates unto Sippar COLmiN II and I have set up a wall of safety for it. Hammurapi the founder of the land, the King v/hose deeds are well pleasing 5 unto the heart of Shamash and Marduk am T. I have caused Sippar 1 These are inscribed in both the Sumerian and the Babylonian lan- guage. Th..y are bore piven as translated by L. W . King m his Let ters and Inscriptions of Hammurapi." 109 110 THE SACRED BOOKS and Babylon 10 to dwell continuously in a peaceful habitation. Hammurapi, the darlini^ of Shamash, 15 the beloved of Marduk, am I. That which from days of old no king 20 had built for the king of the city, for Shamash my lord I have accomplished in might. II Hammurapi the powerful King, the King of Babylon, the King who has brought into subjection 5 the four quarters of the world, who has brought about the triumph of Marduk, the shepherd, who delights his heart, am I. 10 When Ann and Bel gave me the land of Sumer and Akkad to rule, and entrusted their scepter 15 to my hands, I dug out the Hammurapi canal, named Xukhush-nish, which brings abundance of water 20 unto the land of Sumer and Akkad. Both the • ^ . banks thereof LITERATURE OF THE EAST 111 I changed to fields for cultivation, and I garnered 25 piles of grain and I procured unfailing water for the land of Sumer and Akkad. 30 As for the land of Sumer and Akkad, I collected its scattered people, and procured 35 food and drink for them. In abundance and plenty I pastured them, and caused them to dwell 40 in a peaceful habitation. At that time I, Hammurapi, the mighty King, the beloved of the great gods, 45 through the gTeat power which Marduk had bestowed upon me, built a lofty fortress, with much earth 50 whose top, at the head of the Hammurapi canal named Kukhush-nish, reaches heaven like a mountain. 55 This fortress I named Dur-Sin-muballit-abim-walidia, and so did I cause the name of Sin-muballit, 60 the father who begat me, to dwell in the four quarters of the world. in THE SACRED BOOKS LETTERS OF HAMMURAPI Unto Sin-idinnam saj: Thus saith Ilammurapi. Thou shalt call out the men who hold lands along the banks of the Damanum canal that they may dig out the Damanum canal. Within the present month they shall complete the work of clearing out the Damanum canal. II To Sin-idinnam, Ilammurapi saith : Shummanlailu has reported as follows: Bribery has taken place in Dur-Gurgurri. The man who took the bribe and the witness to these matters are here. Thus he (i.e., Shummanlailu) has reported. Now this Shummanlailu and a watchman and one ... I am sending down to thee. "When you receive this tablet, investigate it and if bribery has taken place, send me an official report of the silver and wlifltever is involved in the bribe, and send to me the men who took the bribe and the witnesses to these matters. Ill To Sin-idinnam, Ilammurapi saith : Amel-tummumu, a Kippurian, thus has reported to me. " I stored up 70 gur of grain in a granary. Apil-ili opened the granary and took the grain. Thus he reported to me. LITERATURE OF THE EAST US Herewith I am sending this Amel-tummumu to thee. Send for Apil-ili and let them confirm their statements to thee. See to it that Apil-ili takes the grain and returns it to Amr-1- tummumu.'' IV Unto Sin-idinnam say: Thus saith Hammurapi. Behold I am now dispatching unto thee three hundred and sixty laborers. See that one hundred and eighty of these laborers serve with the work- men of the city of Larsa, and one hundred and eighty of them with the workmen of the town of Rakhabu ... let them go. Unto Sin-idinnam say: Thus saith Hammurapi. Since the year (i.e., the calen- dar) has a deficiency, let the month which is beginning be registered as the second Elul. And instead of the tribute arriving in Babylon on the twenty-fifth day of the month Tishri, ... let it arrive in Babylon on the twenty-fifth day of the second Elul. VOL. I.— 8. 114. THE SACRED BOOKS HAMMURAPI'S CODE OF LAWS When Anu the Sublime, King of the Anunaki, and Bel, the Lord of Heaven and earth, who decreed the fate of the land, assigned to Marduk,^ the over-ruling son of Ea, God of righteousness, dominion over earthly man, and made him gTeat among the Igigi, they called Babylon by his illustrious name, made it great on earth, and founded an everlasting kingdom in it, whose foundations are laid so solidly as those of heaven and earth ; then Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurapi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers ; so that the strong should not harm the weak ; so that I should rule over the black-headed people like Shamash,^ and enlighten the land, to further the well- being of mankind. Hammurapi, the prince, called of Bel am, I, making riches and increase, enriching Nippur and Dur-ilu beyond compare, sublime patron of E-kur ; ^ who reestablished Eridu and purified the worship of E-apsu ; "* who conquered the four quarters of the world, made great the name of Baby- lon, rejoiced the heart of Marduk, his lord who daily pays his devotions in Saggil ; ^ the royal scion whom Sin made ; who enriched Ur ; ^ the humble, the reverent, who brings wealth to Gish-shir-gal ; the white king, heard of Shamash, the mighty, who again laid the foundations of Sippara ; "^ who clothed the gravestones of Malkat with green ; ^ who 1 Marduk was Babylon's chief god, and in Hammurapi's day was already regarded as having received from the other and older gods all their authority. 2 The Sun-god. 3 Temple of Rel in Nippur, the seat of Bel's worship. 4 Temple of Ea, at Eridu, the chief scat of Ea's worship. 5 Marduk's temple in Babylon. 6 Abraham's birthplace, the seat of the worship of Sin, the Moon-god. 7 Seat of worship of Shamash and his wife, Malkat. 8 Symbolizing the resurrection of nature. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 115 made E-babbar^ great, which is like the heavens, the war- rior who guarded Larsa and renewed E-babbar,^° with Sha- mash as his helper; the lord who granted new life to Uruk,^^ who brought plenteous water to its inhabitants, raised the head of E-anna,^^ and perfected the beauty of Anu and Nana ; shield of the land, who reunited the scattered inhabi- tants of Isin ; who richly endowed E-gal-mach ; ^^ the pro- tecting king of the city, brother of the god Zamama ; ^'* who firmly founded the farms of Kish, crowned E-me-te-ursag ^^ with glory, redoubled the great holy treasures of Nana, man- aged the temple of Harsag-kalama ; ^^ the grave of the en- emy, whose help brought about the victory; who increased the power of Cuthah ; made all glorious in E-shidlam, the black steer,^^ who gored the enemy ; beloved of the god Nebo, who rejoiced the inhabitants of Borsippa, the Sublime ; who is indefatigable for E-zida; ^^ the divine king of the city; the White, Wise; who broadened the fields of Dilbat, who heaped up the harvests for Urash ; the Mighty, the lord to whom come scepter and crown, with which he clothes him- self ; the Elect of Ma-ma ; who fixed the temple bounds of Kesh, who made rich the holy feasts of Nin-tu ; ^^ the provi- dent, solicitous, who provided food and drink for Lagash and Girsu, who provided large sacrificial offerings for the temple of Ningirsu ; ^'^ who captured the enemy, the Elect of the oracle who fulfilled the prediction of Hallab, who re- joiced the heart of Anunit ; ^^ the pure prince, whose prayer is accepted by Adad ; ^^ who satisfied the heart of Adad, the 9 Temple of the Sun in Sippara. 10 Temple of the Sun in Larsa in Southern Babylonia. 11 Biblical Erech. 12 Temple of Ishtar-Nana at Uruk. 13 Temple of Isin. 14 God of Kish. 15 Sister city of Kish. 16 Temple of Nergal at Cuthah. 17 Title of Marduk. 18 Temple of Nebo in Babylon. 19 Goddess of Kesh. 20 At Lagash. 21 Whose oracle had predicted victory. 22 God of Hallab, with goddess Anunit. 116 THE SACRED BOOKS warrior, in Karkar, who restored the vessels for worship in E-ud-gal-gal ; the king who granted life to the city of Adab ; the guide of E-mach ; the princely king of the city, the irre- sistible warrior, who granted life to the inhabitants of Mash- kanshabri, and brought abundance to the temple of Shid- iam; the White, Potent, who penetrated the secret cave of the bandits, saved the inhabitants of Malka from misfor- tune, and fixed their home fast in wealth; who established pure sacrificial gifts for Ea and Da«m-gal-nun-na, who made his kingdom everlastingly great ; the princely king of the city, who subjected the districts on the Ud-kib-nun-na Canal to the sway of Dagon, his Creator; who spared the inhabi- tants of Mera and Tutul ; the sublime prince, who makes the face of Ninni shine ; who presents holy meals to the divinity of Nin-a-zu, who cared for its inhabitants in their need, pro- vided a portion for them in Babylon in peace ; the shepherd of the oppressed and of the slaves; whose deeds find favor before Anunit, who provided for Anunit in the temple of Dumash in the suburb of Agade; who recognizes the right, who rules by law ; who gave back to the city of Ashur its pro- tecting god; who let the name of Ishtar of ]Siineveh remain in E-mish-mish; the Sublime, who humbles himself before the great gods ; successor of Sumula-il ; the mighty son of Sin-muballit ; the royal scion of Eternity ; the mighty mon- arch, the sun of Babylon, whose rays shed light over the land of Sumer and Akkad ; the king, obeyed by the four quarters of the world ; Beloved of Ninni, am I. When Marduk sent me to rule over men, to give the pro- tection of right to the land, I did right and righteousness in ... , and brought about the well-being of the oppressed. Code of Laws 1. If any one ensnare another, putting a ban upon liL but he can not prove it, then he that ensnared him shall 1 put to death. 2. Tf any one bring an accusation against a man, and the accused go to the river and leap into the river, if he sink in LITERATURE OF THE EAST 117 the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river prove that the accused is not guilty, and he es- cape unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser. 3. If any one bring an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital offense charged, be put to death. 4. If he satisfy the elders to impose a fine of grain or money, he shall receive the fine that the action produces. 5. If a judge try a case, reach a decision, and present his judgment in writing; if later error shall appear in his de- cision, and it be through his own fault, then he shall pay twelve times the fine set by him in the case, and he shall be publicly removed from the judge's bench, and never again shall he sit there to render judgment. 6. If any one steal the property of a temple or of the court, he shall be put to death, and also the one who receives the stolen thing from him shall be put to death. 7. If any one buy from the son or the slave of another man, without witnesses or a contract, silver or gold, a male or female slave, an ox or a sheep, an ass or anything, or if be take it in charge, he is considered a thief and shall be put to death. 8. If any one steal cattle or sheep, or an ass, or a pig or a goat, if it belong to a god or to the court, the thief shall pay thirtyfold therefor; if they belonged to a freed man of the king he shall pay tenfold ; if the thief has nothing with which to pay he shall be put to death. 9. If any one lose an article, and find it in the possession of another: if the person in whose possession the thing is found say " A merchant sold it to me, I paid for it before witnesses," and if the owner of the thing say, " I will bring witnesses who know my property," then shall the purchaser bring the merchant who sold it to him, and the witnesses before whom he bought it, and the owner shall bring wit- nesses who can identify his property. The judge shall ex- amine their testimony — both of the witnesses before whom 118 THE SACRED BOOKS the price was paid, and of the witnesses who identify the lost article on oath. The merchant is then proved to be a thief and shall be put to death. The owner of the lost article receives his property, and he who bought it receives the money he paid from the estate of the merchant. 10. If the purchaser does not bring the merchant and the witnesses before whom he bought the article, but its owner bring witnesses who identify it, then the buyer is the thief and shall be put to death, and the owner receives the lost article. 11. If the owner do not bring witnesses to identify the lost article, he is an evil-doer, he has traduced, and shall be put to death. 12. If the witnesses be not at hand, then shall the judge set a limit, at the expiration of six months. If his witnesses have not appeared within the six months, he is an evil-doer, and shall bear the fine of the pending case. 14. If any one steal the minor son of another, he shall bo put to death. 15. If any one take a male or female slave of the court, or a male or female slave of a freed man, outside the city gates, he shall be put to death. 16. If any one receive into his house a runaway male or female slave of the court, or of a freedman, and does not bring it out at the public proclamation of the major domus, the master of the house shall be put to death. 17. If any one find runaway male or female slaves in the open country and bring them to their masters, the master of the slaves shall pay him two shekels of silver. 18. If the slave will not give the name of the master, the finder shall bring him to the palace; a further investigation must follow, and the slave shall be returned to his master. 19. If he hold the slaves in his house, and they are caught there, he shall be put to death. 20. If the slave that he caught run away from him, then shall he swear to the owners of the slave, and he is free of all blame. 21. If any one break a hole into a house (break in to LITERATURE OF THE EAST 119 steal), he shall be put to death before that hole and be buried. 22. If any one is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death. 23. If the robber is not caught, then shall he who was robbed claim under oath the amount of his loss; then shall the community, and ... on whose ground and territory and in whose domain it was compensate him for the goods stolen. 24. If persons are stolen, then shall the community and . . . pay one mina of silver to their relatives. 25. If tire break out in a house, and some one who comes to put it out cast his eye upon the property of the owner of the house, and take the property of the master of the house, he shall be thrown into that self-same fire. 20. If a chieftain or a man (common soldier), who has been ordered to go upon the king's highway for war does not go, but hires a mercenary, if he withholds the compensation, then shall this officer or man be put to death, and he who represented him shall take possession of his house. 27. If a chieftain or man be caught in the misfortune of the king (captured in battle), and if his fields and garden be given to another and he take possession, if he return and reaches his place, his field and garden shall be returned to him, he shall take it over again. 28. If a chieftain or a man be caught in the misfortune of a king, if his son is able to enter into possession, then the field and garden shall be given to him, he shall take over the fee of his father. 29. If his son is still young, and can not take possession, a third of the field and garden shall be given to his mother, and she shall bring him up. 30. If a chieftain or a man leave his house, garden, and field and hires it out, and some one else takes possession of his house, garden, and field and uses it for three years: if the first owner return and claims his house, garden, and field, it shall not be given to him, but he who has taken pos- session of it and used it shall continue to use it. 120 THE SACRED BOOKS 31. If he hire it out for one year and then return, the house, garden, and field shall be given back to him, and he shall take it over again. 32. If a chieftain or a man is captured on the " Way of the King" (in war), and a merchant buy him free, and bring him back to his place; if he have the means in his house to buy his freedom, he shall buy himself free: if he have nothing in his house with which to buy himself free, he shall be bought free by the temple of his community; if there be nothing in the temple with which to buy him free, the court shall buy his freedom. His field, garden, and house shall not be given for the purchase of his freedom. 33. If a ... or a ... ^^ enter himself as withdrawn from the " Way of the King," and send a mercenary as sub- stitute, but withdraw him, then the . . . or . . . shall be put to death. 34. If a ... or a .. . harm the property of a captain, injure the captain, or take away from the captain a gift presented to him by the king, then the . . . or . . . shall be put to death. 35. If any one buy the cattle or sheep which the king has given to chieftains from him, he loses his money. 36. The field, garden, and house of a chieftain, of a man, or of one subject to quit-rent, can not be sold. 37. If any one buy the field, garden, and house of a chief- tain, man, or one subject to quit-rent, his contract tablet of sale shall be broken (declared invalid) and he loses his money. The field, garden, and house return to their owners. 38. A chieftain, man, or one subject to quit-rent can not assign his tenure of field, house, and garden to his wife or daughter, nor can he assign it for a debt. 39. He may, however, assign a field, garden, or house which he has bought, and holds as property, to his wife or daughter or give it for debt. 40. He may sell field, garden, and house to a merchant (royal agents) or to any other public official, the buyer hold- ing field, house, and garden for its usufruct. 23 From the connection, some man higher in rank than a chieftain. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 121 41. If any one fence in the field, garden, and house of a chieftain, man, or one subject to quit-rent, furnishing the palings therefor; if the chieftain, man, or one subject to quit-rent return to field, garden, and house, the palings which were given to him become his property. 42. If any one take over a field to till it, and obtain no harvest therefrom, it must be proved that he did no work on the field, and he must deliver gTain, just as his neighbor raised, to the owner of the field. 43. If he do not till the field, but let it lie fallow, he shall give grain like his neighbor's to the owner of the field, and the field which he let lie fallow he must plow and sow and return to its owner. 44. If any one take over a waste-lying field to make it arable, but is lazy, and does not make it arable, he shall plow the fallow field in the fourth year, harrow it and till it, and give it back to its owner, and for each ten gan (a measure of area) ten gur of grain shall be paid. 45. If a man rent his field for tillage for a fixed rental, and receive the rent of his field, but bad weather come and destroy the harvest, the injury falls upon the tiller of the soil. 46. If he do not receive a fixed rental for his field, but lets it on half or third shares of the harvest, the grain on the field shall be divided proportionately between the tiller and the owner. 47. If the tiller, because he did not succeed in the first year, has had the soil tilled by others, the owner may raise no objection ; the field has been cultivated and he receives the harvest according to agreement. 48. If any one owe a debt for a loan, and a storm pros- trates the grain, or the harvest fail, or the grain does not grow for lack of water; in that year he need not give his creditor any grain, he washes his debt-tablet in water ^^ and pays no rent for this year. 49. If any one take money from a merchant, and give the merchant a field tillable for com or sesame and order 24 A symbolic action indicating the inability to pay. 122 THE SACRED BOOKS him to plant corn or sesame in the field, and to harvest the crop; if the cultivator plant com or sesame in the field, at the harvest the corn or sesame that is in the field shall belong to the owner of the field and he shall pay corn as rent, for the money he received from the merchant, and the livelihood of the cultivator shall he give to the merchant. 50. If he give a cultivated corn-field or a cultivated ses- ame-field, the com or sesame in the field shall belong to the owner of the field, and he shall return the money to the mer- chant as rent. 51. If he have no money to repay, then he shall pay in corn or sesame in place of the money as rent for what he received from the merchant, according to the royal tariff. 52. If the cultivator do not plant corn or sesame in the field, the debtor's contract is not weakened. 53. If any one be too lazy to keep his dam in proper con- dition, and does not so keep it; if then the dam break and all the fields be flooded, then shall he in whose dam the break occurred be sold for money, and the money shall re- place the corn which he has caused to be ruined. 54. If he be not able to replace the corn, then he and his possessions shall be divided among the farmers whose corn he has flooded. 55. If any one open his ditches to water his crop, but is careless, and the water flood the field of his neighbor, then he shall pay his neighbor com for his loss. 56. If a man let in the water, and the water overflow the plantation of his neighbor, he shall pay ten gur of corn for every ten gan of land. 57. If a shepherd, without the permission of the owner of the field, and without the knowledge of the owner of the sheep, lets the sheep into a field to graze, then the owner of the field shall harvest his crop, and the shepherd, who had pastured his flock there without permission of the owner of the field, shall pay to the ovimer twenty gur of corn for every ten gan. 58. If after the flocks have left the pasture and been shut LITERATURE OF THE EAST 123 up In the common fold at the city gate, any shepherd let them into a field and they graze there, this shepherd shall take possession of the field which he has allowed to be grazed on, and at the harvest he must pay sixty gur of corn for every ten gan. 59. If any man, without the knowledge of the owner of a garden, fell a tree in a garden he shall pay half a mina in money. 60. If any one give over a field to a gardener, for him to plant it as a garden, if he work at it, and care for it for four years, in the fifth year the owner and the gardener shall divide it, the owner taking his part in charge. 61. If the gardener has not completed the planting of the field, leaving one part unused, this shall be assigned to him as his. 62. If he do not plant the field that was given over to him as a garden, if it be arable land (for com or sesame) the gar- dener shall pay the owner the produce of the field for the years that he let it lie fallow, according to the product of neighboring fields, put the field in arable condition and return it to its owner. 63. If he transform waste land into arable fields and return it to its owner, the latter shall pay him for one year ten gur for ten gan. 64. If any one hand over his garden to a gardener to work, the gardener shall pay to its owner two-thirds of the produce of the garden, for so long as he has it in possession, and the other third shall he keep. 65. If the gardener do not work in the garden and the product fall off, the gardener shall pay in proportion to other neighboring gardens. [Here a portion of the text is missing, apparently compris- ing thirty-four paragraphs.] 100. . ., . interest for the money, as much as he has received, he shall give a note therefor, and on the day, when they settle, pay to the merchant. 101. If there are no mercantile arrangements in the place lU THE SACRED BOOKS wliitlier hie went, be sliall leave the entire amount of money which he received with the broker to give to the merchant. 102. If a merchant entrust money to an agent (broker) for some investment, and the broker sutfer a loss in the place to which he goes, he shall make good the capital to the merchant. 103. If, while on the journey, an enemy take away from him anything that he had, the broker shall swear by God ^^ and be free of obligation. 104. If a merchant give an agent corn, wool, oil, or any other goods to transport, the agent shall give a receipt for the amount, and compensate the merchant therefor. Then he shall obtain a receipt from the merchant for the money that he gives the merchant. 105. If the agent is careless, and does not take a receipt for the money which he gave the merchant, he can not consider the unreceipted money as his own. 106. If the agent accept money from the merchant, but have a quarrel with the merchant,-'^ then shall the merchant swear before God and witnesses that he has given this money to the agent, and the agent shall pay him three times the sum. 107. If the merchant cheat the agent, in that as the latter has returned to him all that had been given him, but the mer- chant denies the receipt of what had been returned to him, then shall this agent convict the merchant before God and the judges, and if he still deny receiving what the agent had given him shall pay six times the sum to the agent. 108. If a tavern-keeper (feminine) does not accept corn according to gross weight in payment of drink, but takes money, and the price of the drink is less than that of the corn, she shall be convicted and thrown into the water. 109. If conspirators meet in the house of a tavern-keeper, and these conspirators are not captured and delivered to the court, the tavern-keeper shall be put to death. 110. If a " sister of a god " ^^ open a tavern, or enter a tavern to drink, then shall this woman be burned to death. 25 Take an oath. 27 I.e., one devoted to the temple. 28 Denying the receipt. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 125 111. If an inn-keeper furnish sixty ka of usakani-fiTUxk to . . . she shall receive fifty ka of corn at the harvest. 112. If any one be on a journey and entrust silver, gold, precious stones, or any movable property to another, and wish to recover it from him; if the latter do not bring all of the property to the appointed place, but appropriate it to his own use, then shall this man, who did not bring the property to hand it over, be convicted, and he shall pay fivefold for all that had been entrusted to him. 113. If any one have a consignment of corn or money, and he take from the granary or box without the knowledge of the owner, then shall he who took com without the knowledge of the owner out of the granary or money out of the box Ijo legally convicted, and repay the corn he has taken. And he shall lose whatever commission was paid to him, or due him. 114. If a man have no claim on another for corn and money, and try to demand it by force, he shall pay one-third of a mina of silver in every case. 115. If any one have a claim for corn or money upon another and imprison him; if the prisoner die in prison a natural death, the case shall go no further. 116. If the prisoner die in prison from blows or maltreat- ment, the master of the prisoner shall convict the merchant before the judge. If he was a free-bom man, the son of the merchant shall be put to death ; if it was a slave, he shall pay one-third of a mina of gold, and all that the master of the prisoner gave he shall forfeit. 117. If any one fail to meet a claim for debt, and sell him- self, his wife, his son, and daughter for money or give them away to forced labor: they shall work for three years in the house of the man who bought them, or the proprietor, and v. the fourth year they shall be set free. ' o giyp r .J..J. i any one fail lo meet a clc^iin x . .nu ue sen the maid servant who has borne him children, for money, the 126 THE SACRED BOOKS money which the merchant has paid shall be repaid to him by the owner of the slave and she shall be freed. 120. If any one store corn for safe keeping in another per- son's house, and any harm happen to the corn in storage, or if the owner of the house open the granary and take some of the corn, or if especially he deny that the corn was stored in his house : then the owner of the corn shall claim his com before God (on oath), and the owner of the house shall pay its owner for all of the corn that he took. 121. If any one store corn in another man's house he shall pay him storage at the rate of one gur for every five ka of corn per year. 122. If any one give another silver, gold, or anything else to keep, he shall show everA,i:hing to some witness, draw up a contract, and then hand it over for safe keeping. 123. If he turn it over for safe keeping without witness or contract, and if he to whom it was given deny it, then he has no legitimate claim. 124. If any one deliver silver, gold, or an\'thing else to another for safe keeping, before a witness, but he deny it, he shall be brought before a judge, and all that he has denied he shall pay in full. 125. If any one place his property with another for safe keeping, and there, either through thieves or robbers, his property and the property of the other man be lost, the owner of the house, through whose neglect the loss took place, shall compensate the o\vmer for all that was given to him in charge. But the owner of the house shall try to follow up and recover his property, and take it away from the thief. 126. If any one who has not lost his goods state that they have been lost, and make false claims : if he claim his goods and amount of injury before God, even though he has not lost them, he shall be fully compensated for all his loss claimed.-^ 127. If any one " point the finger " (slander) at a sister of a god or the wife of any one, and can not prove it, this man 28 /.e., the oath is all that is needed. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 127 shall be taken before the judges and his brow shall be marked.^^ 128. If a man take a woman to wife, but have no inter- course with her, this woman is no wife to him. 129. If a man's wife be surprised with another man, both shall be tied and thrown into the water, but the husband may pardon his wife and the king his slaves. 130. If a man violate the wife (betrothed or child-wife) of another man, who has never knowTi a man, and still lives in her father's house, and sleep with her and be surprised, this man shall be put to death, but the wife is blameless. 131. If a man bring a charge against one's wife, but she is not surprised with another man,^'^ she must take an oath and then may return to her house. 132. If the " finger is pointed " at a man's wife about another man, but she is not caught sleeping with the other man, she shall jump into the river for her husband.^^ 133. If a man is taken prisoner in war, and there is a sus- tenance in his house, but his wife leave house and court, and go to another house : because this wife did not keep her court, and went to another house, she shall be judicially condemned and thrown into the water. 134. If any one be captured in war and there is no suste- nance in his house, if then his wife go to another house this woman shall be held blameless. 135. If a man be taken prisoner in war and there be no sustenance in his house and his wife go to another house and bear children ; and if later her husband return and come to his home : then this wife shall return to her husband, but the children follow their father. 136. If any one leave his house, run away, and then his wife go to another house, if then he return, and wishes to take his wife back: because he fled from his home and ran away, the wife of this runaway shall not return to her husband. 29 By cutting the skin, or perhaps hair. 30 Delit flagrant is necessary for divorce. 31 Prove her innocence bv this test. 128 THE SACRED BOOKS 137. If a man wish to separate from a woman who has borne him children, or from his wife who has borne him chil- dren: then he shall give that wife her dowry, and a part of the usufruct of field, garden, and property, so that she can rear her children. When she has brought up her children, a portion of all that is given to the children, equal as that of one son, shall be given to her. She many then marry the man of her heart. 138. If a man wishes to separate from his wife who has borne him no children, he shall give her the amount of her purchase money ^^ and the dowry which she brought from her father's house, and let her go. 139. If there was no purchase price he shall give her one mina of gold as a gift of release. 140. If he be a freed man he shall give her one-third of a mina of gold. 141. If a man's wife, who lives in his house, wishes to leave it, plunges into debt, tries to ruin her house, neglects her husband, and is judicially convicted : if her husband offer her release, she may go on her way, and he gives her nothing as a gift of release. If her husband does not wish to release her, and if he take another wife, she shall remain as servant in her husband's house. 142. If a woman quarrel with her husband, and say: " You are not congenial to me," the reasons for her prejudice must be presented. If she is guiltless, and there is no fault on her part, but he leaves and neglects her, then no guilt attaches to this woman, she shall take her dowry and go back to her father's house. 143. If she is not innocent, but leaves her husband, and ruins her house, neglecting her husband, this woman shall be cast into the water. 144. If a man take a wife and this woman give her hus- band a maid-servant, and she bear him children, but this man wishes to take another wife, this shall not be permitted to him ; he shall not take a second wife. 145. If a man take a wife, and she bear him no children, 32 The amount formerly paid to the bride's father. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 129 and lie intend to take another wife: if he take this second wife, and bring her into the house, this second wife shall not be allowed equality with his wife. 146. If a man take a wife and she give this man a maid- servant as wife and she bear him children, and then this maid assume equality with the wife: because she has borne him children her master shall not sell her for money, but he may keep her as a slave, reckoning her among the maid- servants. 147. If she have not borne him children, then her mistress may sell her for money. 148. If a man take a wife, and she be seized by disease, if he then desire to take a second wife he shall not put away his wife, who has been attacked by disease, but he shall keep her in the house which he has built and support her so long as she lives. 149. If this woman does not wish to remain in her hus- band's house, then he shall compensate her for the dowry that she brought with her from her father's house, and she may go. 150. If a man give his wife a field, garden, and house and a deed therefor, if then after the death of her husband the sons raise no claim, then the mother may bequeath all to one of her sons whom she prefers, and need leave nothing to his brothers. 151. If a woman who lived in a man's house made an agreement with her husband, that no creditor can arrest her, and has given a document therefor : if that man, before he married that woman, had a debt, the creditor can not hold the woman for it. But if the woman, before she entered the man's house, had contracted a debt, her creditor can not arrest her husband therefor. 152. If after the woman had entered the man's house, both contracted a debt, both must pay the merchant. 153. If the wife of one man on account of another man has their mates (her husband and the other man's wife) murdered, both of them shall be impaled. 154. If a man be guilty of incest with his daughter, he shall be driven from the place (exiled). VOL. I.— 9. 130 THE SACRED BOOKS 155. If a man betroth a girl to his son, and his son have intercourse with her, but he (the father) afterward defile her, and be surprised, then he shall be bound and cast into the water (drowned). 156. If a man betroth a girl to his son, but his son has not knowqi her, and if then he defile her, he shall pay her half a gold mina, and compensate her for all that she brought out of her father's house. She may marry the man of her heart. 15T. If any one be guilty of incest with his mother after his father, both shall be burned. 158. If any one be surprised after his father with his chief wife, who has borne children, he shall be driven out of his father's house. 159. If any one, who has brought chattels into his father- in-law's house, and has paid the purchase-money, looks for another wife, and says to his father-in-law : " I do not want your daughter," the girl's father may keep all that he had brought. 160. If a man bring chattels into the house of his father- in-law, and pay the " purchase price " (for his wife) : if then the father of the girl say : " I will not give you my daughter," he shall give him back all that he brought with him. 161. If a man bring chattels into his father-in-law's house and pay the " purchase price," if then his friend slander him, and his father-in-law say to the young husband : " You shall not marry my daughter," then he shall give back to him un- diminished all that he had brought with him; but his wife shall not be married to the friend. 162. If a man marry a woman, and she bear sons to him ; if then this -w^man die, then shall her father have no claim on her dowry ; this belongs to her sons. 163. If a man marry a woman and she bear him no sons ; if then this woman die, if the " purchase price " which he had paid into the house of his father-in-law is repaid to him, her husband shall have no claim upon the dowry of this woman ; it belongs to her father's house. 164. If his father-in-law do not pay back to him the amount of the " purchase price " he may subtract the amount LITERATURE OF THE EAST 131 of the " purchase price " from the dowry, and then pay the remainder to her father's house. 165. If a man give to one of his sons whom he prefers a field, garden, and house, and a deed therefor: if later the father die, and the brothers divide the estate, then they shall first give him the present of his father, and he shall accept it ; and the rest of the paternal property shall they divide. 166. If a man take wives for his son, but take no wife for his minor son, and if then he die : if the sons divide the estate, they shall set aside besides his portion the money for the " purchase price " for the minor brother who had taken no wife as yet, and secure a wife for him. 167. If a man marry a wife and she bear him children: if this wife die and he then take another wife and she bear him children : if then the father die, the sons must not partition the estate according to the mothers, they shall divide the dowries of their mothers only in this way ; the paternal estate they shall divide equally with one another. 168. If a man wish to put his son out of his house, and declare before the judge : " I want to put my son out," then the judge shall examine into his reasons. If the son be guilty of no great fault, for which he can be rightfully put out, the father shall not put him out. 169. If he be guilty of a grave fault, which should right- fully deprive him of the filial relationship, the father shall forgive him the first time ; but if he be guilty of a grave fault a second time the father may deprive his son of all filial relation. 170. If his wife bear sons to a man, or his maid-servant have borne sons, and the father while still living says to the children whom his maid-servant has borne : " My sons," and he count them with the sons of his wife; if then the father die, then the sons of the wife and of the maid-servant shall divide the paternal property in common. The son of the wife is to partition and choose. 171. If, however, the father while still living did not say to the sons of the maid-servant : " My sons," and then the father dies, then the sons of the maid-servant shall not share 132 THE SACRED BOOKS with the sons of the wife, but the freedom of the maid and her sons shall be granted. The sons of the wife shall have no right to enslave the sons of the maid ; the wife shall take her dowry (from her father), and the gift that her husband gave her and deeded to her (separate from dowry, or the pur- chase-money paid her father), and live in the home of her husband: so long as she lives she shall use it, it shall not be sold for money. Whatever she leaves shall belong to her children. 172. If her husband made her no gift, she shall be compen- sated for her gift, and she shall receive a portion from the estate of her husband, equal to that of one child. If her sons oppress her, to force her out of the house, the judge shall examine into the matter, and if the sons are at fault the woman shall not leave her husband's house. If the woman desire to leave the house, she must leave to her sons the gift which her husband gave her, but she may take the dowry of her father's house. Then she may marry the man of her heart. 173. If this woman bear sons to her second husband, in the place to which she went, and then die, her earlier and later sons shall divide the dowry between them. 174. If she bear no sons to her second husband, the sons of her first husband shall have the dowry. 175. If a State slave or the slave of a freed man marry the daughter of a free man, and children are born, the master of the slave shall have no right to enslave the children of the free. 176. If, however, a State slave or the slave of a freed man marry a man's daughter, and after he marries her she bring a dowry from a father's house, if then they both enjoy it and found a household, and accumulate means, if then the slave die, then she who was free born may take her dowry, and all that her husband and she had earned ; she shall divide them into two parts, one-half the master for the slave shall take, and the other half shall the free-born woman take for her children. If the free-born woman had no gift she shall take all that her husband and she had earned and divide it into LITERATURE OF THE EAST 133 two parts ; and the master of the slave shall take one-half and she shall take the other for her children. 177. If a widow, whose children are not grown, wishes to enter another house (remarry), she shall not enter it without the knowledge of the judge. If she enter another house the judge shall examine the state of the house of her first hus- band. Then the house of her first husband shall be entrusted to the second husband and the woman herself as managers. And a record must be made thereof. She shall keep the house in order, bring up the children, and not sell the house- hold utensils. He who buys the utensils of the children of a widow shall lose his money, and the goods shall return to their owners. 178. If a " devoted woman '' or a prostitute ^^ to whom her father has given a dov^ry and a deed therefor, but if in this deed it is not stated that she may bequeath it as she pleases, and has not explicitly stated that she has the right of disposal ; if then her father die, then her brothers shall hold her field and garden, and give her corn, oil, and milk accord- ing to her portion, and satisfy her. If her brothers do not give her com, oil, and milk according to her share, then her field and garden shall be given to a farmer whom she chooses and the farmer shall support her. She shall have the usufruct of field and garden and all that her father gave her so long as she lives, but she can not sell or assign it to others. Her position of inheritance belongs to her brothers. 179. If a " sister of a god," ^* or a prostitute, receive a gift from her father, and a deed in which it has been ex- plicitly stated that she may dispose of it as she pleases, and give her complete disposition thereof : if then her father die, then she may leave her property to whomsoever she pleases. Her brothers can raise no claim thereto. 180. If a father give a present to his daughter — either marriageable or a prostitute (unmarriageable) — and then die, then she is to receive a portion as a child from the pater- 33 Connected with the temple neither can marry. 34 The hire of whom went to the revenue of the temple, counterpart to the public prostitute. 134 THE SACRED BOOKS nal estate, and enjoy its usufruct so long as she lives. Her estate belongs to her brothers. 181. If a father devote a temple-maid or temple-virgin to God and give her no present : if then the father die, she shall receive the third of a child's portion from the inheritance of her father's house, and enjoy its usufruct so long as she lives. Her estate belongs to her brothers. 182. If a father devote his daughter as a wife of Marduk of Babylon (as in 181), and give her no present, nor a deed; if then her father die, then shall she receive one-third of her portion as a child of her father's house from her brothers, but she shall not have the management thereof. A wife of Marduk may leave her estate to whomsoever she wishes. 183. If a man give his daughter by a concubine a dowry, and a husband, and a deed ; if then her father die, she shall receive no portion from the paternal estate. 184. If a man do not give a dowry to his daughter by a concubine, and no husband ; if then her father die, her brother shall give her a dowry according to her father's wealth and secure a husband for her. 185. If a man adopt a child and to his name as son, and rear him, this grown son can not be demanded back again. 186. If a man adopt a son, and if after he has taken him he injure his foster father and mother, then this adopted son shall return to his father's house. 187. The son of a paramour in the palace service, or of a prostitute, can not be demanded back. 188. If an artizan has undertaken to rear a child and teaches him his craft, he can not be demanded back. 189. If he has not taught him his craft, this adopted son may return to his father's house. 190. If a man does not maintain a child that he has adopted as a son and reared with his other children, then his adopted son may return to his father's house. 191. If a man, who had adopted a son and reared him, founded a household, and had children, wish to put this adopted son out, then this son shall not simply go his way. His adoptive father shall give him of his wealth one-third of LITERATURE OF THE EAST 135 a child's portion, and then he may go. He shall not give him of the field, garden, and house. 192. If a son of a paramour or a prostitute say to his adoptive father or mother : " You are not my father, or my mother," his tongue shall be cut off. 193. If the son of a paramour or a prostitute desire his father's house, and desert his adoptive father and adoptive mother, and goes to his father's house, then shall his eye be put out. 194. If a man give his child to a nurse and the child die in her hands, but the nurse unbeknown to the father and mother nurse another child, then they shall convict her of having nursed another child without the knowledge of the father and mother and her breasts shall be cut off. 195. If a son strike his father, his hands shall be hewn off. 196. If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out. 197. If he break another man's bone, his bone shall be broken. 198. If he put out the eye of a freed man, or break the bone of a freed man, he shall pay one gold mina. 199. If he put out the eye of a man's slave, or break the bone of a man's slave, he shall pay one-half of its value. 200. If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out. 201. If he knock out the teeth of a freed man, he shall pay one-third of a gold mina. 202. If any one strike the body of a man higher in rank than he, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox-whip in public. 203. If a free-born man strike the body of another free- bom man of equal rank, he shall pay one gold mina. 204. If a freed man strike the body of another freed man, he shall pay ten shekels in money. 205. If the slave of a freed man strike the body of a freed man, his ear shall be cut off. 206. If during a quarrel one man strike another and 136 THE SACRED BOOKS wound him, then he shall swear, " I did not injure him wit- tingly," and pay the physicians. 207. If the man die of his wound, he shall swear similarly, and if he (the deceased) was a free-bom man, he shall pay half a mina in money. 208. If he was a freed man, he shall pay one-third of a mina. 209. If a man strike a free-bom woman so that she lose her unborn child, he shall pay ten shekels for her loss. 210. If the woman die, his daughter shall be put to death. 211. If a woman of the freed class lose her child by a blow, he shall pay five shekels in money. 212. If this woman die, he shall pay half a mina. 213. If he strike the maid-servant of a man, and she lose her child, he shall pay two shekels in money. 214. If this maid-servant die, he shall pay one-third of a mina. 215. If a physician make a large incision with an operat- ing knife and cure it, or if he open a tumor (over the eye) with an operating knife, and saves the eye, he shall receive ten shekels in money. 216. If the patient be a freed man, he receives five shekels. 217. If he be the slave of some one, his owner shall give the physician two shekels. 218. If a physician make a large incision with the operat- ing knife, and kill him, or open a tumor with the operating knife, and cut out the eye, his hands shall be cut off. 219. If a physician make a large incision in the slave of a freed man, and kill him, he shall replace the slave with another slave. 220. If he had opened a tumor with the operating knife, and put out his eye, he shall pay half his value. 221. If a physician heal the broken bone or diseased soft part of a man, the patient shall pay the physician five shekels in money. 222. If he were a freed man he shall pay three shekels. 223. If he were a slave his owner shall pay the physician two shekels. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 137 224. If a veterinary surgeon perform a serious operation on an ass or an ox, and cure it, the owner shall pay the sur- geon one-sixth of a shekel as fee. 225. If he perform a serious operation on an ass or ox, and kill it, he shall pay the owner one-fourth of its value. 226. If a barber, without the knowledge of his master, cut the sign of a slave on a slave not to be sold, the hands of this barber shall be cut off. 227. If any one deceive a barber, and have him mark a slave not for sale with the sign of a slave, he shall be put to death, and buried in his house. The barber shall swear : " I did not mark him wittingly," and shall be guiltless. 228. If a builder build a house for some one and complete it, he shall give him a fee of two shekels in money for each sar of surface. 229. If a builder build a house for some one, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built fall in and kill its owner, then that builder shall be put to death. 230. If it kill the son of the owner the son of that builder shall be put to death. 231. If it kill a slave of the owner, then he shall pay slave for slave to the owner of the house. 232. If it ruin goods, he shall make compensation for all that has been ruined, and inasmuch as he did not construct properly this house which he built and it fell, he shall re-erect the house from his own means. 233. If a builder build a house for some one, even though he has not yet completed it ; if then the walls seem toppling, the builder must make the walls solid from his own means. 234. If a shipbuilder build a boat of sixty gur for a man, he shall pay him a fee of two shekels in money. 235. If a shipbuilder build a boat for some one, and do not make it tight, if during that same year that boat is sent away and suffers injury, the shipbuilder shall take the boat apart and put it together tight at his own expense. The tight boat he shall give to the boat owner, 236. If a man rent his boat to a sailor, and the sailor is careless, and the boat is wrecked or goes aground, the sailor 138 THE SACRED BOOKS shall give the owner of the boat another boat as compensa- tion. 237. If a man hire a sailor and his boat, and provide it with com, clothing, oil and dates, and other things of the kind needed for fitting it: if the sailor is careless, the boat is wrecked, and its contents ruined, then the sailor shall com- pensate for the boat which was wrecked and all in it that he ruined. 238. If a sailor wreck any one's ship, but saves it, he shall pay the half of its value in money. 239. If a man hire a sailor, he shall pay him six gur of corn per year. 240. If a merchantman run against a ferryboat, and wreck it, the master of the ship that was wrecked shall seek justice before God; the master of the merchantman, which wrecked the ferryboat, must compensate the owner for the boat and all that he ruined. 241. If any one impresses an ox for forced labor, he shall pay one-third of a mina in money. 242. If any one hire oxen for a year, he shall pay four gur of corn for plow-oxen. 243. As rent of herd cattle he shall pay three gur of corn to the owner. 244. If any one hire an ox or an ass, and a lion kill it in the field, the loss is upon its owner. 245. If any one hire oxen, and kill them by bad treatment or blows, he shall compensate the owner, oxen for oxen. 246. If a man hire an ox, and he break its leg or cut the ligament of its neck, he shall compensate the owner with ox for ox. 247. If any one hire an ox, and put out its eye, he shall pay the owner one-half of its value. 248. If any one hire an ox, and break off a horn, or cut off its tail, or hurt its muzzle, he shall pay one-fourth of its value in money. 249. If any one hire an ox, and God strike it that it die, the man who hired it shall swear by God and be considered guiltless. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 139 250. If while an ox is passing on the street (market) some one push it, and kill it, the owner can set up no claim in the suit (against the hirer). 251. If an ox be a goring ox, and it shown that he is a gorer, and he do not bind his horns, or fasten the ox up, and the ox gore a free-born man and kill him, the owner shall pay one-half a mina in money. 252. If he kill a man's slave, he shall pay one-third of a mina. 253. If any one agree with another to tend his field, give him seed, entrust a yoke of oxen to him, and bind him to cul- tivate the field, if he steal the corn or plants, and take them for himself, his hands shall be hewn off. 254. If he take the seed-corn for himself, and do not use the yoke of oxen, he shall compensate him for the amount of the seed-corn. 255. If he sublet the man's yoke of oxen or steal the seed- corn, planting nothing in the field, he shall be convicted, and for each one hundred gan he shall pay sixty gur of corn. 256. If his community will not pay for him, then he shall be placed in that field with the cattle (at work). 257. If any one hire a field laborer, he shall pay him eight gur of com per year. 258. If any one hire an ox-driver, he shall pay him six gur of com per year. 259. If any one steal a water-wheel from the field, he shall pay five shekels in money to its owner. 260. If any one steal a shadduf ^^ or a plow, he shall pay three shekels in money. 261. If any one hire a herdsman for cattle or sheep, he shall pay him eight gur of com per annum. 262. If any one, a cow or a sheep . . .^^ 263. If he kill the cattle or sheep that were given to him, he shall compensate the owner with cattle for cattle and sheep for sheep. 264. If a herdsman, to whom cattle or sheep have been en- 35 Used to draw water from the river or canal. 36 This portion of the stone is broken off. 140 THE SACRED BOOKS trusted for watching over, and who has received his wages as agreed upon, and is satisfied, diminish the number of the cat- tle or sheep, or make the increase by birth less, he shall make good the increase or profit which was lost in the terms of settlement. 265. If a herdsman, to whose care cattle or sheep have been entrusted, be guilty of fraud and make false returns of the natural increase, or sell them for money, then shall he be convicted and pay the owner ten times the loss. 266. If the animal be killed in the stable by God (an acci- dent), or if a lion kill it, the herdsman shall declare his inno- cence before God, and the owner bears the accident in the stable. 267. If the herdsman overlook something, and an accident happen in the stable, then the herdsman is at fault for the accident which he has caused in the stable, and he must com- pensate the owner for the cattle or sheep. 268. If any one hire an ox for threshing, the amount of the hire is twenty ha of corn. 269. If he hire an ass for threshing, the hire is twenty ha of corn. 270. If he hire a young animal for threshing, the hire is ten ha of corn. 271. If any one hire oxen, cart and driver, he shall pay one hundred and eighty ha of corn per day. 272. If any one hire a cart alone, he shall pay forty ha of corn per day. 273. If any one hire a day laborer, he shall pay him from the New Year until the fifth month ^'^ six gerahs in money per day ; from the sixth month to the end of the year he shall give him five gerahs per day. 274. If any one hire a skilled artizan, he shall pay as wages of the . . . five gerahs, as wages of the potter five gerahs, of a tailor five gerahs, of . . . gerahs, . . . of . . . gerahs, . . . of . . . gerahs, of a carpenter four gerahs, of a ropemaker four gerahs, of . . . gerahs, of a mason . . . gerahs per day. 87 April to August, when days are long and the work hard. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 141 275. If any one hire a ferryboat, he shall pay three gerahs in money per day. 276. If he hire a freight-boat, he shall pay two and one- half gerahs per day. 277. If any one hire a ship of sixty gur, he shall pay one- sixth of a shekel in money as its hire per day. 278. If any one buy a male or female slave, and before a month has elapsed the 6enw-disease be developed, he shall return the slave to the seller, and receive the money which he had paid. 279. If any one buy a male or female slave, and a third party claim it, the seller is liable for the claim. 280. If while in a foreign country a man buy a male or female slave belonging to another of his own country ; if when he return home the owner of the male or female slave recog- nize it : if the male or female slave be a native of the country, he shall give them back without any money. 281. If they are from another country, the buyer shall de- clare the amount of money he paid before God, and the owner shall give the money paid therefor to the merchant, and keep the male or female slave. 282. If a slave say to his master : " You are not my mas- ter," if they convict him his master shall cut off his ear. THE EPILOGUE Laws of justice which Hammurapi, the wise king, estab- lished. A righteous law, and pious statute did he teach the land. Hammurapi, the protecting king am I. I have not withdrawn myself from the men, whom Bel gave to me, the rule over whom Marduk gave to me, I was not negligent, but I made them a peaceful abiding-place. I expounded all great difficulties, I made the light shine upon them. With the mighty weapons which Zamama and Ishtar entrusted to me, with the keen vision with which Ea endowed me, with the wisdom that Marduk gave me, I have uprooted the enemy above and below (in north and south), subdued the earth, brought prosperity to the land, guaranteed security to the inhabitants in their homes; a disturber was not permitted. 142 THE SACRED BOOKS The great gods have called me, I am the salvation-bearing shepherd, whose staff is straight, the good shadow that is spread over my city ; on my breast I cherish the inhabitants of the land of Sumer and Akkad ; in my shelter I have let them repose in peace; in my deep wisdom have I enclosed them. That the strong might not injure the weak, in order to protect the widows and orphans, I have in Babylon the city where Anu and Bel raise high their head, in E-Sagil, the Temple, whose foundations stand firm as heaven and earth, in order to bespeak justice in the land, to settle all disputes, and heal all injuries, set up these my precious words, written upon my memorial stone, before the image of me, as king of righteousness. The king who ruleth among the kings of the cities am I. My words are well considered ; there is no wisdom like unto mine. By the command of Shamash, the great judge of heaven and earth, let righteousness go forth in the land: by the order of Marduk, my lord, let no destruction befall my monument. In E-Sagil, which I love, let my name be ever repeated ; let the oppressed, who has a case at law, come and stand before this my image as king of righteousness ; let him read the inscription, and understand my precious words : the inscription will explain his case to him ; he will find out what is just, and his heart will be glad, so that he will say : " Hammurapi is a ruler, who is as a father to his subjects, who holds the words of Marduk in reverence, who has achieved conquest for Marduk over the north and south, who rejoices the heart of Marduk, his lord, who has bestowed benefits for- ever and ever on his subjects, and has established order in the land." When he reads the record, let him pray with full heart to Marduk, my lord, and Zarpanit, my lady ; and then shall the protecting deities and the gods, who frequent E-Sagil, gra- ciously grant the desires daily presented before Marduk, my lord, and Zarpanit, my lady. In future time, through all coming generations, let the king, who may be in the land, observe the words of righteous- ness which I have written on my monument ; let him not alter LITERATURE OF THE EAST 143 the law of the land which I have given, the edicts which I have enacted; my monument let him not mar. If such a ruler have wisdom, and be able to keep his land in order, he shall observe the words which I have written in this inscrip- tion; the rule, statute, and law of the land which I have given; the decisions which I have made will this inscription show him; let him rule his subjects accordingly, speak justice to them, give right decisions, root out the miscreants and criminals from this land, and grant prosperity to his subjects. Hammurapi, the king of righteousness, on whom Shamash has conferred right (or law) am I. My words are well con- sidered ; my deeds are not equaled ; to bring low those that were high; to humble the proud, to expel insolence. If a succeeding ruler considers my words, which I have written in this my inscription, if he do not annul my law, nor corrupt my words, nor change my monument, tlien may Shamash lengthen that king's reign, as he has that of me, the king of righteousness, that he may reign in righteousness over his subjects. If this ruler do not esteem my words, which I have written in my inscription, if he despise my curses, and fear not the curse of God, if he destroy the law which I have given, corrupt my words, change my monument, efface my name, write his name there, or on account of the curses com- mission another so to do, that man, whether king or ruler, patesi, or commoner, no matter what he be, may the gi-eat God (Anu), the Father of the gods, who has ordered my rule, withdraw from him the glory of royalty, break his scepter, curse his destiny. May Bel, the lord, who fixeth destiny, whose command can not be altered, who has made my king- dom great, order a rebellion which his hand can not control ; may he let the wind of the overthrow of his habitation blow, may he ordain the years of his rule in groaning, years of scarcity, years of famine, darkness without light, death with seeing eyes be fated to him; may he (Bel) order with his potent mouth the destruction of his city, the dispersion of his subjects, the cutting off of his rule, the removal of his name and memory from the land. ]\Iay Belit, the great ]\lotlier, whose command is potent in E-Kur (the Babylonian Olym- 144. THE SACRED BOOKS pus), the Mistress, who barkens graciously to my petitions, in the seat of judgment and decision (where Bel fixes des- tiny), turn his affairs evil before Bel, and put the devastation of bis land, the destruction of his subjects, the pouring out of bis life like water into the mouth of King BeL May Ea, the great ruler, whose fated decrees come to pass, the thinker of the gods, the omniscient, who maketh long the days of my life, withdraw understanding and wisdom from him, lead him to forgetfulness, shut up his rivers at their sources, and not allow com or sustenance for man to grow in his land. May Shamash, the great Judge of heaven and earth, who sup- porteth all means of livelihood. Lord of life-courage, shatter bis dominion, annul his law, destroy bis way, make vain the march of his troops, send him in his visions forecasts of the uprooting of the foundations of his throne and of the destruc- tion of bis land. May the condemnation of Shamash over- take him forthwith; may be be deprived of water above among the living, and bis spirit below in the earth. May Sin (the Moon-god), the Lord of Heaven, the divine father, whose crescent gives light among the gods, take away the crown and regal throne from him; may he put upon him heavy guilt, great decay, that nothing may be lower than be. May be destine him as fated, days, months and years of dominion filled with sighing and tears, increase of the bur- den of dominion, a life that is like unto death. May Adad, the lord of fruitfulness, ruler of heaven and earth, my helper, withhold from him rain from heaven, and the flood of water from the springs, destroying bis land by famine and want ; may be rage mightily over his city, and make his land into flood-hills (heaps of ruined cities). May Zamama, the great warrior, the first-born son of E-Kur, who goeth at my right band, shatter bis weapons on the field of battle, turn day into night for him, and let bis foe triumph over him. May Ish- tar, the goddess of fighting and war, who unfetters my weapons, my gracious protecting spirit, who loveth my dominion, curse his kingdom in her angry heart ; in her great wrath, change his grace into evil, and shatter his weapons on the place of fighting and war. May she create disorder and LITERATURE OF THE EAST 145 sedition for him, strike down his warriors, that the earth may drink their blood, and throw down the piles of corpses of his warriors on the field ; may she not grant him a life of mercy, deliver him into the hands of his enemies, and imprison him in the land of his enemies. May Nergal, the mighty among the gods, whose contest is irresistible, who grants me victory, in his great might bum up his subjects like a slender reed- stalk, cut off his limbs with his mighty weapons, and shatter him like an earthen image. May Nin-tu, the sublime mis- tress of the lands, the fruitful mother, deny him a son, vouch- safe him no name, give him no successor among men. May Nin-karak, the daughter of Anu, who adjudges grace to me, cause to come upon his members in E-kur high fever, severe wounds, that can not be healed, whose nature the physician does not understand, which he can not treat with dressing, which, like the bite of death, can not be removed, until they have sapped away his life. May he lament the loss of his life-power, and may the great gods of heaven and earth, the Anunaki, altogether inflict a curse and evil upon the confines of the temple, the walls of this E-barra (the Sun temple of Sippara), upon his domin- ion, his land, his warriors, his subjects, and his troops. May Bel curse him with the potent curses of his mouth that can not be altered, and may they come upon him forthwith. VOL. I. — 10. THE GREAT AGE OF BABYLONIA (2100-1100 B.C.) THE EPIC OF CREATION " I will create man who shall inhahit the earth. That the service of the gods may be established and their slirinrs built." — EPIC OF CREATION'. " In the future of mankind, when the days grow old, May this be heard without ceasing ; may it hold sway forever." — EPIC OF CREATION. THE CREATION EPIC (INTRODUCTION) THE Creation Epic is usually regarded as the most im- portant of our recovered Babylonian texts. It was the final or standard form of religious belief which was gradually developed from earlier creation-legends such as we have already shown. This finally established form of the narra- tive was named by both Babylonians and Assyrians Enuma elis, " When in the Height " ; because these were its opening words. It was composed of seven tablets, or seven separate chants, of about equal length. Many fragments of these tab- lets have been recovered, some in Assyrian, some in late Babylonian texts, so that we are now able to reconstruct almost the entire epic, though unfortunately, as the reader will see, the most defective tablets — the fifth and sixth — are just the two which might have held most interest for us. In them the god is actually at work on the details of creation, which are not unlike those described in Genesis. As to the relation of the Genesis narrative and this late Babylonian one, we can only speak in general terms. Abra- ham led his people out from Babylonia about the time of Hammurapi. Probably the Babylonian narrative had not then crystallized into its present form. Eoughly we would assign the " When in the Height " series to the centuries immediately following Hammurapi. It was he who made Babylon's god, Marduk, the chief god ; but the shifting of the creation tale so as to center around Marduk, rather than around the older gods, must have taken considerable time. Abraham probably could have known only the older Sumerian legends. To understand the " When in the Height " epic some un- derstanding of the older gods is necessary. The city of Uruk, or Erech, may have been the very earliest of Sumerian 149 160 THE SACRED BOOKS religious centers, for Anu, the god of Uruk, is preserved through all the legends as the first great god of progress, the guide of all the later ones. He becomes the god of the sky. Ea, that other very ancient god who appeared out of the sea to rule the city of Eridu, and who became the god of the sea, was regarded as the successor of Anu. After that, whenever any city rose to empire, its god seems to have been accepted as a brother of Anu and Ea, and as having received from them his supreme power. Only when Babylon grew so much greater than all the other cities was its god Marduk perma- nently accepted as supreme. When finally the Assyrians rose to power they worshiped their own god Ashur ; but they kept him as their special national god, and did not deny to Mar- duk his long-established rank as the creator. As for the other gods of the Creation Epic, there is an older generation of whom we know little. They are all rep- resented as originating with Apsu, the primeval father god or first thought, and Tiamat, the primeval mother or blank chaos from which life issued. These older, cruder, half-beast gods become the monsters who object to the light and effort and progress that Anu and Ea have inaugurated. Tiamat, from whose vast bulk Marduk creates the universe, becomes later identified with the waters of sea and sky, but this was obviously not the original conception of her. THE EPIC OF CREATION THE FIRST TABLET When in tlie heiglit heaven was not named, And the earth beneath did not yet bear a name, And the primeval Apsu, who begat them, And chaos, Tiamut, the mother of them both — 5 Their waters were mingled together. And no field was formed, no marsh was to be seen; When of the gods none had been called into being, And none bore a name, and no destinies were ordained; Then were created the gods in the midst of heaven, 10 Lahmu and Lahamu were called into being . . . Ages increased, ... Then Ansar and Kisar were created, and over them. . . . Long were the days, then there came forth ... Ann, their son, . . . 15 Ansar and Anu ... And the god Anu ... Nudimmud, whom his fathers, his begetters . . . Abounding in all wisdom, . . -^ He was excecvling strong . . . 20 He had no rival ... , Thus were established and were . . • the great gods. But Tiamat and Apsu were still in confusion . . . They were troubled and . . . vaeuelv conceived as already in existence. , fTMs line evidently contains a description of Nud.mmud (^a), and in vTew o th: -porlant part he plays in the ^-t -"^s^^d tablets, t is not improbable that the two lines following also refer to h.m. 152 THE SACRED BOOKS In disorder . . . 25 Apsu was not diminished in might . . , And Tiamat roared ... She smote, and their deeds ... Their way was evil . . . Then Apsu, the begetter of the great gods, 30 Cried unto Mummu, his minister, and said unto him : " O Mummu, thou minister that rejoicest my spirit. Come, unto Tiamut let us go ! " So they went and before Tiamat they lay down, They consulted on a plan with regard to the gods, their sons. 35 Apsu opened his mouth and spake, And unto Tiamut, the glistening one, he addressed the word: ". . . their way . . ., By day I can not rest, by night I can not lie down in peace. But I will destroy their way, I will . . . 40 Let there be lamentation, and let us lie down again in peace." When Tiamat heard these words. She raged and cried aloud . . . She . . . grievously . . ., She uttered a curse, and unto Apsu she spake : 45 " What then shall we do ? Let their way be made difficult, and let us lie down again in peace." Mummu answered, and gave counsel unto Apsu, . . . and hostile to the gods was the counsel Mummu gave : " Come, their way is strong, but thou shalt destroy it ; 50 Then by day shalt thou have rest, by night shalt thou lie down in peace." Apsu barkened unto him and his countenance grew bright, Since he (Mummu) planned evil against the gods his sons. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 153 ... he was afraid . . ., His knees became weak ; they gave way beneath him, 65 Because of the evil which their first-born had planned. . . . their . . . they altered. . . . they . . ., Lamentation . . . they sat in- sorrow 60 Then Ea, who knoweth all that is, went up and he beheld their muttering. [Lines 61-91 are almost wholly illegible.] ... he spake :^ ". . . thy ... he hath conquered and . . he weepeth and sitteth in tribulation. 95 ... of fear, . . we shall not lie down in peace. . . Apsu is laid waste, . . and Mummu, who were taken captive, in . . . . . thou didst . . . 100 ... let us lie down in peace. . . they will smite. . . . . . let us lie down in peace. . . thou shalt take vengeance for them, . . unto the tempest shalt thou . . . ! " 105 And Tiamat barkened unto the word of the bright god, and said : ". . . shalt thou entrust ! let us wage war ! " . . . the gods in the midst of . . . . . . for the gods did she create. They banded themselves together and at the side of Tiamat they advanced ; 3 The speech that follows is evidently addressed to Tiamat. The speaker refers to the evil fate which has overtaken Apsu and Mummu in their revolt against the gods; he encourages Tiamat to take ven- geance for them (line 103), and, by continuing the struggle, to obtain with him the slothful peace which she desires. From the fact that Tamat subsequently promoted Kingu to lead her forces "because he had given her support," and addressed him as her "chosen spouse," it may be inferred that the speaker of the lines following was Kingu. 154 THE SACRED BOOKS 110 They were furious; they devised mischief without rest- ing night and day. They prepared for battle, fuming and raging ; They joined their forces and made war, Ummu-Hubur,* who formed all things, Made in addition weapons invincible ; she spawned mon- ster-serpents, 115 Sharp of tooth, and merciless of fang; With poison, instead of blood, she filled their bodies. Fierce monster-vipers she clothed with terror. With splendor she decked them, she made them of lofty stature. Whoever beheld them, terror overcame him, 120 Their bodies reared up and none could withstand their attack. She set up vipers and dragons, and the monster Lahamu, And hurricanes, and raging hounds, and scorpion-men. And mighty tempests, and fish-men, and rams ; They bore cruel weapons, without fear of the fight. 125 Her commands were mighty, none could resist them ; After this fashion, huge of stature, she made eleven mon- sters,^ Among the gods who were her sons, inasmuch as he had given her support. She exalted Kingu; in their midst she raised him to power. To march before the forces, to lead the host, 130 To give the battle-signal, to advance to the attack, To direct the battle, to control the fight. Unto him she entrusted ; in costly raiment she made him sit, saying: " I have uttered thy spell, in the assembly of the gods I have raised thee to power. The dominion over all the gods have I entrusted unto him. 4 A title of Tiamat. 6 That ifl, elpven kinds of monsters; gince the plural is used in the case of many of the classes, it is clear that Tiamat created more than one of each. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 155 135 Be tliou exalted, thou my chosen spouse, May they magnify thy name over all of them . . . the Anunnaki." She gave him the Tablets of Destiny, on his breast she laid them, saying : " Thy command shall not be without avail, and the word of thy mouth shall be established." Now Kingu, thus exalted, having received the power of Anu, 140 Decreed the fate among the gods his sons, saying : " Let the opening of your mouth quench the Fire-god ; Whoso is exalted in the battle, let him display his might ! " THE SECOND TABLET Tiamat made weighty her handiwork, Evil she wrought against the gods her children. To avenge Apsu, Tiamat planned evil. But how she had collected her forces, the god . . . unto Ea divulged. 5 Ea barkened to this thing, and He was grievously afflicted and he sat in sorrow. The days went by, and his anger was appeased, And to the place of Ansar his father he took his way. He went and, standing before Ansar, the father who begat him, 10 All that Tiamat had plotted he repeated unto him, Saying, " Tiamat our mother hath conceived a hatred for us, With all her force she rageth, full of wrath. All the gods have turned to her, With those, whom ye created, they go at her side. 15 They are banded together and at the side of Tiamat they advance ; They are furious, they devise mischief without resting night and day. They prepare for battle, fuming and raging ; 156 THE SACRED BOOKS They have joined their forces and are making war. Ummu-Hubur, who formed all things, 20 Hath made in addition weapons invincible; she hath spawned monster-serpents, Sharp of tooth, and merciless of fang. With poison, instead of blood, she hath filled their bodies. Fierce monster-vipers she hath clothed with terror, With splendor she hath decked them; she hath made them of lofty stature. 25 Whoever beholdeth them is overcome by terror, Their bodies rear up and none can withstand their attack. She hath set up vipers, and dragons, and the monster Lahamu, And hurricanes and raging hounds, and scorpion-men. And mighty tempests, and fish-men and rams ; 30 They bear cruel weapons, without fear of the fight. Her commands are mighty ; none can resist them ; After this fashion, huge of stature, hath she made eleven monsters. Among the gods who are her sons, inasmuch as he hath given her support, She hath exalted Kingu ; in their midst she hath raised him to power. 35 To march before the forces, to lead the host. To give the battle-signal, to advance to the attack. To direct the battle, to control the fight, Unto him hath she entrusted ; in costly raiment she hath made him sit, saying: ' I have uttered thy spell ; in the assembly of the gods I have raised thee to power, 40 The dominion over all the gods have I entrusted unto thee. Be thou exalted, thou my chosen spouse, May they magnify thy name over all of them . . .' She hath given him the Tablets of Destiny, on his breast she laid them, saying : LITERATURE OF THE EAST 157 ' Thy command shall not be without avail, and the word of thy mouth shall be established.' 45 Now Kingu, thus exalted, having received the power of Anu, Decreed the fate for the gods, her sons, saying : ' Let the opening of your mouth quench the Fire-god ; Whoso is exalted in the battle, let him display his might!'" When Ansar heard how Tiamat was mightily in revolt, 50 . . ., he bit his lips, . . ., his mind was not at peace, His . . ., he made a bitter lamentation : ". . . battle, . . . thou . . . 55 Mummu and Apsu thou hast smitten,^ But Tiamat hath exalted Kingu, and where is one who can oppose her ? " . . . deliberation . . . the ... of the gods, Nudimmud. [A gap of about a dozen lines occurs here.] Ansar unto his son addressed the word : ". . . my mighty hero. Whose strength is great and whose onslaught can not be withstood, 75 Go and stand before Tiamat, That her spirit may be appeased, that her heart may be merciful. But if she will not barken unto thy word, Our word shalt thou speak unto her, that she may be pacified." '^ 6 From line 93 and the lines following of the first tablet it may be inferred that Apsu was conquered before Tiamat made her prepara- tions for battle. As Ansar is addressing Ea, it may be concluded that Ea was the conqueror of Apsu. In accordance with this conclusion is the fact that it was the god Ea who first discovered the conspiracy of Apsu and Tiamat. 7 The sense of the couplet seems to be that, should Tiamat not listen to Anu, she might perhaps respect the authority of Ansar. 158 THE SACRED BOOKS He heard the word of his father Ansar 80 And he directed his path to her, toward her he took the way. Anu drew nigh, he beheld the muttering of Tiamat, But he could not withstand her, and he turned back. . . . Ansar ... he spake unto him : [A gap of over twenty lines occurs here.] 105 ... an avenger . . .^ . . valiant . . in the place of his decision . . he spake unto him : . . thy father 110 " Thou art my son, who maketh merciful ^ his heart. . . to the battle shalt thou draw nigh, . . he that shall behold thee shall have peace." And the lord rejoiced at the word of his father. And he drew nigh and stood before Ansar. 115 Ansar beheld him and his heart was filled with joy, He kissed him on the lips and his fear departed from him. " O my father, let not the word of thy lips be overcome, Let me go, that I may accomplish all that is in thy heart. O Ansar, let not the word of thy lips be overcome, 120 Let me go, that I may accomplish all that is in thy heart." " What man is it, who hath brought thee forth to battle ? . . . Tiamat, who is a woman, is armed and attacketh thee. . . . rejoice and be glad ; The neck of Tiamat shalt thou swiftly trample under foot. 125 . . . rejoice and be glad ; 8 Here Marduk enters the story, and is depicted at once as the mightiest god. lie is represented as the son of Ansar. 9 Literally, "who maketh broad his heart." The phrase, as applied to Marduk, implies that he shows mercy on the gods by consenting to become their avenger. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 159 The neck of Tiamat slialt thou swiftly trample under foot. O my son, who knoweth all wisdom, Pacify Tiamat with thy pure incantation. Speedily set out upon thy way, 130 For thy blood shall not be poured out ; thou shalt return again." The lord rejoiced at the word of his father. His heart exulted, and unto his father he spake : " O Lord of the gods. Destiny of the great gods, If I, your avenger, 135 Conquer Tiamat and give you life. Appoint an assembly, make my fate preeminent and pro- claim it. In Upsukkinaku seat yourself joyfully together, With my word in place of you will I decree fate. May whatsoever I do remain unaltered, 140 May the word of my lips never be changed nor made of no avail." THE THIRD TABLET Ansar opened his mouth, and Unto Gaga, his minister, spake the word: " O Gaga, thou minister that rejoicest my spirit. Unto Lahmu and Lahamu will I send thee. 5 . . . thou canst attain, . . . thou shalt cause to be brought before thee. ... let the gods, all of them, Make ready for a feast, at a banquet let them sit. Let them eat bread, let them mix wine, 10 That for Marduk, their avenger, they may decree the fate. Go, Gaga, stand before them, And all that I tell thee, repeat unto them, and say: ' Ansar, your son, hath sent me, The purpose of his heart he hath made known unto me. The purpose of his heart he hath made kno\vn unto me. 160 THE SACRED BOOKS 15 He saith that Tiamat our mother hath conceived a hatred for us, With all her force she rageth, full of wrath. All the gods have turned to her, With those, whom ye created, they go at her side. They are banded together, and at the side of Tiamat they advance ; 20 They are furious, they devise mischief without resting night and day. They prepare for battle, fuming and raging ; They have joined their forces and are making war. Ummu-Hubur, who formed all things, Hath made in addition weapons invincible; she hath spawned monster-serpents, 25 Sharp of tooth and merciless of fang. With poison, instead of blood, she hath filled their bod- ies. Fierce monster-vipers she hath clothed with terror. With splendor she hath decked them; she hath made them of lofty stature. Whoever beholdeth them, terror overcometh him, 30 Their bodies rear up and none can withstand their at- tack. She hath set up vipers, and dragons, and the monster Lahamu, And hurricanes, and raging hounds, and scorpion-men. And mighty tempests, and fish-men, and rams; They bear merciless weapons, without fear of the fight. 35 Her commands are mighty ; none can resist them ; After this fashion, huge of stature, hath she made eleven monsters. Among the gods who are her sons, inasmuch as he hath given her support. She hath exalted Kingu ; in their midst she hath raised him to power. To march before the forces, to lead the host, 40 To give the battle-signal, to advance to the attack, To direct the battle, to control the fight, IVIARDUK AND THE DRACJOX. Marduk, Chief God of Babylon, with his thnndcrhoJis destroys Tianiat the Dragon of Primeval Chaos. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 161 Unto him hath she entrusted ; in costly raiment she hath made him sit, saying: *' I have uttered thy spell ; in the assembly of the gods I have raised thee to power, The dominion over all the gods have I entrusted unto thee. 45 Be thou exalted, thou my chosen spouse. May they mag-nify thy name over all of them . . . the Anunnaki." She hath given him the Tablets of Destiny, on his breast she laid them, saying: " Thy command shall not be without avail, and the word of thy mouth shall be established." Now Kingu, thus exalted, having received the power of Anu, 50 Decreed the fate for the gods, her sons, saying: " Let the opening of your mouth quench the Fire-god ; Whoso is exalted in the battle, let him display his might ! " I sent Anu, but he could not withstand her; Nudimmud was afraid and turned back. 55 But Marduk hath set out, the director of the gods, your son; To set out against Tiamat his heart hath prompted him. He opened his mouth and spake unto me, saying: " If I, your avenger. Conquer Tiamat and give you life, 60 Appoint an assembly, make my fate preeminent and proclaim it. In Upsukkinaku seat yourself joyfully together; With my word in place of you will I decree fate. May whatsoever I do remain unaltered, May the word of my lips never be changed nor made of no avail." ' 65 Hasten, therefore, and swiftly decree for him the fate which you bestow, That he may go and fight your strong enemy ! " Gaga went, he took his way and VOL. I.— 11. 165 THE SACRED BOOKS Humbly before Lahmu and Labamu, ibe gods, his fathers, He made obeisance, and he kissed the ground at their feet. YO He humbled himself; then he stood up and spake unto them, saying: " Ansar, your son, hath sent me. The purpose of his heart he hath made knowTi unto me. He saith that Tiamat our mother hath conceived a hatred for us, With all her force she rageth, full of wrath. 75 All the gods have turned to her, With those, whom ye created, they go at her side. They are banded together and at the side of Tiamat they advance; They are furious, they devise mischief without resting niffht and dav. They prepare for battle, fuming and raging; 80 They have joined their forces and are making war. TJmmu-Hubur, who formed all things. Hath made in addition weapons invincible; she hath spawned monster-serpents. Sharp of tooth and merciless of fang. With poison, instead of blood, she hath filled their bodies. 85 Fierce monster-vipers she hath clothed with terror. With splendor she hath decked them, she hath made them of lofty stature. Whoever beholdeth them, terror overcometh him, Their bodies rear up and none can withstand their at- tack. She hath set up vipers, and dragons, and the monster Lahamu, 90 And hurricanes, and raging hounds, and scorpion-men. And mighty tempests, and fish-men, and rams; They bear merciless weapons, without fear of the fight. Her commands are mighty ; none can resist them ; After this fashion, huge of stature, hath she made eleven monsters. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 163 95 Among the gods who are her sons, inasmuch as he hath given her support, She hath exalted Kingu ; in their midst she hath raised him to power. To march before the forces, to lead the host, To give the battle-signal, to advance to the attack, To direct the battle, to control the fight, 100 Unto him hath she entrusted ; in costly raiment she hath made him sit, saying : ' I have uttered thy spell ; in the assembly of the gods I have raised thee to power, The dominion over all the gods have I entrusted unto thee. Be thou exalted, thou my chosen spouse, May they magnify thy name over all of them . . . the Anunnaki.' 105 She hath given him the Tablets of Destiny; on his breast she laid them, saying : ' Thy command shall not be without avail, and the word of thy mouth shall be established.' Now Kingu, thus exalted, having received the power of Anu, Decreed the fate for the gods, her sons, saying : ' Let the opening of your mouth quench the Fire-god ; ^ 110 Whoso is exalted in the battle, let him display his might ! ' I sent Anu, but he could not withstand her ; Nudimmud was afraid and turned back. But Marduk hath set out, the director of the gods, your son; To set out against Tiamat his heart hath prompted him. 115 He opened his mouth and spake unto me, saying: ' If I, your avenger. Conquer Tiamat and give you life, Appoint an assembly, make my fate preeminent and proclaim it. In Upsukkinaku seat yourselves joyfully together ; 120 With my word in place of you will I decree fate. 16^ THE SACRED BOOKS May whatsoever I do remain unaltered, May the word of my lips never be changed nor made of no avail.' Hasten, therefore, and swiftly decree for him the fate which you bestow, That he may go and fight your strong enemy ! " 125 Lahmu and Lahamu heard and cried aloud, All of the Igigi '^^ wailed bitterly, saying : " What has been altered so that they should . . . We do not understand the deed of Tiamat ! " Then did they collect and go, 130 The great gods, all of them, who decree fate. They entered in before Ansar, they filled . . . ; They kissed one another, in the assembly. . . . They made ready for the feast, at the banquet they sat; They ate bread, they mixed sesame-wine. 135 The sweet drink, the mead, confused their . . . They were drunk with drinking, their bodies were filled. They were wholly at ease, their spirit was exalted; Then for Marduk, their avenger, did they decree the fate. THE FOURTH TABLET They prepared for him a lordly chamber. Before his fathers as prince he took his place. ^^ " Thou art chiefest among the great gods. Thy fate is unequaled, thy word is Anu ! 5 O Marduk, thou art chiefest among the great gods, Thy fate is unequaled, thy word is Anu ! Henceforth not without avail shall be thy command, In thy power shall it be to exalt and to abase. Established shall be the word of thy mouth, irresistible shall be thy command ; 10 None among the gods shall transgress thy boundary. 10 The elder gods. 11 The lines which follow contain the words addressed by the gods to Marduk, after he had taken his seat in their presence. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 165 Abundance, tlie desire of the shrines of the gods, Shall be established in thy sanctuary, even though they lack offerings. O Marduk, thou art our avenger! We give thee sovereignty over the whole world. 15 Sit thou down in might; ^^ be exalted in thy command. Thy weapon shall never lose its power; it shall crush thy foe. O Lord, spare the life of him that putteth his trust in thee, But as for the god who began the rebellion, pour out his life." Then set they in their midst a garment, 20 And unto Marduk their first-born they spake: " May thy fate, O lord, be supreme among the gods, To destroy and to create ; speak t hou the wo rd, and thy -/ ^ command shall be fulfilled. _ Command now and let the garment vanish ; And speak the word again and let the garment reap- pear ! " 25 Then he spake with his mouth, and the garment van- ished ; Again he commanded it, and the garment reap- peared. When the gods, his fathers, beheld the fulfilment of his word. They rejoiced, and they did homage unto him, saying, " Marduk is king ! " They bestowed upon him the scepter, and the throne, and the ring, 30 They give him an invincible weapon, which overwhelm- eth the foe. " Go, and cut off the life of Tiamat,^^ And let the wind carry her blood into secret places." 12 This is preferable to the rendering, " Take thy seat in the assem- bly of the gods"; for the other gods had an equal right to sit in the assembly. ht j i, 13 Lines 31 and 32 contain the final address of the gods to Marduk before he armed for the fight. 166 THE SACRED BOOKS After the gods his fathers had decreed for the lord his fate, They caused him to set out on a path of prosperity and success. 35 He made ready the bow, he chose his weapon. He slung a spear upon him and fastened it . . . He raised the club, in his right hand he grasped it, The bow and the quiver he hung at his side. lie set the lightning in front of him, 40 With burning flame he filled his body. He made a net_to^enclose the inward parts of Tiamat, The four winds he stationed so that nothing of her might escape; The South wind and the North wind and the East wind and the West wind He brought near to the net, the gift of his father Anu. 45 He created the e vil wind, and the tempest, and the hur- ricane, And the fourfold wind, and the sevenfold wind, and the whirlwind, and the wind which had no equal ; He sent forth the_ winds which he had created^ the seven of them; To disturb the inward parts of Tiamat, they followed after him. Then the lord raised the thunderbolt, his mighty weapon, 50 He mou nted the chariot^ the storm ^^ unequ aled for terror, He harnessed. and yoked unto it four horses. Destructive, ferocious, overwhelming, and swift of pace; . . . were their teeth, they were flecked with foam ; They were skilled in ... , they had been trained to trample underfoot. 55 ... , mighty in battle. Left and right. . . . i4Marduk is represented driving the storm as his chariot, drawn by- fiery steeds. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 167 His garment Avas . . . , lie was clothed with terror, With overpowering brightness his head was crowned. Then he set out, he took his way, 60 And toward the raging Tiamat he set his face. On his lips he held . . . , ... he grasped in his hand. Then they beheld him, the gods beheld him. The gods his fathers beheld him, the gods beheld him. 65 And the lord drew nigh, he gazed upon the inward parts of Tiamat, He perceived the muttering of Kingu, her spouse. As Marduk gazed, Kiugxi was troubled in his gait. His will was destroyed and his motions ceased. And the gods, his helpers, who marched by his side, 70 Beheld their leader's . . . , and their sight was troubled. But Tiamat . . . , she turned not her neck, With lips that failed not she uttered rebellious words : ^^ ". . . thy coming as lord of the gods, From their places have they gathered, in thy place are they!"^« 75 Then the lord raised the thunderbolt, his mighty weapon, And against Tiamat, who was raging, thus he sent the word : " Thou art become great, thou hast exalted thyself on high, And thy heart hath prompted thee to call to battle. . . . their fathers . . . , 80 . . . their . . . thou hatest ... Thou hast exalted Kingu to be thy spouse. Thou hast . . . him, that, even as Anu, he should issue decrees. . . . thou hast followed after evil. And against the gods my fathers thou hast contrived thy wicked plan. 15 Literally, " she held fast rebellion." 18 As the bepinninjr of line 73 is wanting, the meaning of Tiamat s taunt is not quite clear. 168 THE SACRED BOOKS 85 Let then thy host be equipped, let thy weapons be girded on! Stand ! I and thou, let us join battle ! " When Tiamat heard these words, She was like one possessed, she lost her reason. Tiamat uttered wild, piercing cries, 90 She trembled and shook to her very foundations. She recited an incantation, she pronounced her spell. And the gods of the battle cried out for their weapons. Then advanced Tiamat and Marduk, the counselor of the gods; To the fight they came on, to the battle they drew nigh. 95 The lord spread out his net and caught her, And th e evil wind that w as behind him he let loose in her face. As Tiamat opened her mouth to its full extent. He drove in the evil wind, while as yet she had not shut her lips. The terrible winds filled her belly, 100 And her courage was taken from her, and her mouth she opened wide. He seized the spear and burst her belly. He severed her inward parts, he pierced her heart. He overcame her and cut off her life; He cast down her body and stood upon it. 105 When he had slain Tiamat, the leader, Her might was broken, her host was scattered. And the gods her helpers, who marched by her side, Trembled, and were afraid, and turned back. They took to flight to save their lives ; 110 But they were surrounded, so that they could not escape. He took them captive, he broke their weapons; In the net they were caught and in the snare they sat down. The ... of the world they filled with cries of grief. They received punishment from him, they were held in bondage. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 169 115 And on the eleven creatures which she had filled with the power of striking terror, Upon the troop of devils, who marched at her . . . , He brought affliction, their strength he . . . ; Them and their opposition he trampled under his feet. Moreover^ King-u, who had been exalted over them, 120 He conquered, and with the god Dug-ga he counted him. He took from him the Tablets of Destiny that were not rightly his, He sealed them with a seal and in his own breast he laid them. Now after the hero Marduk had conquered and cast down his enemies. And had made the arrogant foe even like . . . , 125 And had fully established Ansar's triumph over the enemy, And had attained the purpose of Nudimmud, Over the captive gods he strengthened his durance, And unto Tiamat^ whom he had conquered, he returned. Xnd the lord sto od upon Tiamat's hinder parts, 130 And with his merciless club he smashed her . skull. He cut through the channels of her blood, And he made the North wind bear it away into secret places. His fathers beheld, and they rejoiced and were glad ; Presents and gifts they brought unto him. 135 Then the lord rested, gazing upon her dead body. While he divided the flesh of the ... , and devised a cunning plan. He splk her up like a flat fish into two halves ; Q^^df of her he stablished as a covering for heaven. He fixed a bolt, he stationed a watchman, 140 And bade them not to let her waters come forth. He passed through the heavens, he surveyed the regions thereof, ^ And over against the Deep he set the dwelling ot Nudimmud. And the lord measured the structure of the Deep, 170 THE SACRED BOOKS And he founded E-sara, a mansion like unto it. 145 The mansion E-sara which he created as heaven, He caused Anu, Bel, and Ea in their districts to in- habit. THE FIFTH TABLET He (Marduk) made the stations for the great gods; The stars, their images^ as the stars of the Zodiac, he fixed. He ordained the year and into sections he divided it;. For the twelve months he fixed three stars. 5 After he had . . . the days of the year . . . images. He founded the station of Nibir ^^ to determine their bounds ; That none might err or go astray, He set the station of Bel and Ea along with him. He opened great gates on both sides, 10 He made strong the bolt on the left and on the right. In the midst thereof he fixed the zenith ; The. Moon-god he caused to shine forth, the night he entrusted to him. He appointed him, a being of the night, to determine the days ; Every month without ceasing with the crown he cov- ered him, saying: 15 " At the beginning of the month, when thou shinest upon the land. Thou commandest the horns to determine six days, And on the seventh day to divide the crown. On the fourteenth day thou shalt stand opposite, the half. ... When the Sun-god on the foundation of heaven . . . thee, 20 The . . . thou shalt cause to ... , and thou shalt make his . . . . . . imto the path of the Sun-god shalt thou cause to draw nigh, 17 Nibir is the planet Jupiter. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 171 And on the . . . day thou shalt stand opposite, and the Sun-god shall . . . ... to traverse her way. . . , thou shalt cause to draw nigh, and thou shalt judge the right. 25 ... to destroy . . ." [iSTearly fifty lines are here lost.] 75 The gods, his fathers, beheld the net which he had made, They beheld the bow and how its work was accomplished. They praised the work which he had done . . . Then Anu raised the ... in the assembly of the gods. He kissed the bow, saying, " It is . . . ! " 80 And thus he named the names of the bow, saying, " ' Long-wood ' shall be one name, and the second name shall be ... , And its third name shall be the Bow-star, in heaven shall it . . . ! " Then he fixed a station for it . . . Now after the fate of . . . 85 He set a throne . . . ... in heaven. ^^ . . . [The remainder of this tablet is missing.] THE SIXTH TABLET When Marduk heard the word of the gods. His heart prompted him and he devised a cunning plan. He opened his mouth and unto Ea he spake That which he had conceived in his heart he imparted unto him : 5 " My blood ^^ will I take and bone ^^ will I fashion, IS In the speech that follows it may be conjectured that the gods complained that, although ^Marduk had endowed the heavens with splendor and had caused plants to live upon the earth, yet there were no shrines built in honor of the gods, and there were no worshipers devoted to their service. 13 According to my rendering of the line, Marduk states his purpose oX.fprming man from his, own Mood^ and from bone which he will create. 20 The traces of the last sign of the word appear to be those of turn. 172 THE SACRED BOOKS I will make man, that man may . . . I will create man who shall inhabit the earth, That the service of the gods may be established, and that their shrines ^^ may be built. But I will alter the ways of the gods, and I will change their paths; 10 Together shall they be oppressed,^^ and unto evil shall they. . . ." And Ea answered him and spake the word : "... the ... of the gods I have changed . . . and one . . . . . . shall be destroyed and men will I . . . 15 . . . and the gods . . . . . . and they . . ." [The rest of the text is wanting ^^ with the exception of the last few lines of the tablet, which read as follows.] They rejoiced . . . In Upsukkinnaku they set their dwelling. Of the heroic son, their avenger, they cried : " We, whom he succored, ... ! " I think there can be no doubt that is-si-im-tum corresponda to the Hebrew 'esem, " bone," which is employed in Genesis ii. 23, in the phrase 'esem me'dsamai, " bone of my bones." 21 It is interesting to note the reason that is here implied for the creation of mankind, i.e., that the..gods may have worshipers. There is clearly a reference to this in line 29 of the seventh tablet, where, after referring to Marduk's mercy upon the gods, his enemies, the text goes on: "For their forgiveness did he create mankind." 22 The sense seems to be that Marduk, by the creation of man, will establish the worship of the gods, but at the same time will punish the gods for their complaints. It is possible that in his speech that follows Ea dissuades Marduk from carrying out the second part of his proposal. 23 It is probable that the missing portion of the text corresponded closely with the account of the creation of man and animals given by Berosus. The tablet K. 3,364 (" Cuneiform Texts," part xiii, pi. 2!) f.) has been thought to belong to the Creation Series, and to contain the instructions given by Marduk to man after his creation. Had this been so, it would have formed part of the sixth tablet. I have given reasons for believing that the text inscribed upon K. 3,364 has no con- nection with the Creation Series, but is part of a long composition containing moral precepts. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 173 145 They seated themselves and in the assembly they named him . . . , They all cried aloud, they exalted him . ^'^ • • THE SEVENTH TABLET O Asari,^^ " Bestower of planting," " Founder of sow- ing." " Creator of grain and plants," " who caused the green herb to spring up ! " O Asaru-alim, " who is revered in the house of coun- sel," " who aboundeth in counsel," The gods paid homage, fear took hold upon them ! 5 Asaru-alim-nuna, " the mighty one," " the Light of the father who begat him," " Who directeth the decrees of Anu, Bel, and Ea ! " He was their patron, he ordained their . . . ; He, whose provision is abundance, goeth forth . . . ! Tutu is " He who created them anew " ; 10 Should their wants be pure, then are they satisfied ; Should he make an incantation, then are the gods ap- peased ; Should they attack him in anger, he withstandeth their onslaught ! Let him therefore be exalted, and in the assembly of the gods let him . . • ; None among the gods can rival him! 15 Tutu is Zi-ukkina, " the Life of the host of the gods," Who established for the gods the bright heavens. He set them on their" way, and ordained their path; Never shall his . . . deeds be forgotten among men. Tutu as Zi-azag thirdly they named, " the Bringer of Purification," 20 "The God of the Favoring Breeze," "the Lord of Hearing and Mercy," 24 The address of the gods to IMaiduk forms the subject of the seventh tablet of the series. 25 These names Asari, Asaru-alim-mina, Tutu, etc., are all titles now bestowed on Marduk by the other gods. 174 THE SACRED BOOKS " The Creator of Fulness and Abundance,'' " the Founder of Plenteousness," " Who increaseth all that is small." " In sore distress we felt his favoring breeze," Let them say, let them pay reverence, let them bow in humility before him ! 25 Tutu as Aga-azag may mankind fourthly magnify! " The Lord of the Pure Incantation," " the Quickener of the Dead," " Who had mercy upon the captive gods," " Who removed the yoke from upon the gods his ene- mies," " For their forgiveness did he create mankind," 30 " The Merciful One, with whom it is to bestow life ! " May his deeds endure, may they never be forgotten In the mouth of mankind whom his hands have made ! Tutu as Mu-azag, fifthly, his " Pure Incantation " may their mouth proclaim, " Who through his Pure Incantation hath destroyed all the evil ones ! " 35 Sag-zu, " who knoweth the heart of the gods," " who seeth through the innermost part ! " " The evil-doer he hath not caused to go forth with him!" *' Founder of the assembly of the gods," " who . . . their heart ! " " Subduer of the disobedient," ". . . ! " " Director of Righteousness," ". . . ," 40 " Who rebellion and . . . ! " Tutu as Zi-si, " the . . . ," " Who put an end to anger," " who ... ! " Tutu as Suh-kur, thirdly, " the Destroyer of the foe," " Who put their plans to confusion," ". 45 "Who destroyed all the wicked," ". . • ' J J let them . . . ! [There is a gap here of sixty linos, recommencing with line 106. But somewhere among the lost lines belong the following fragments.] LITERATURE OF THE EAST 175 He named the four quarters of the world, mankind he created, And upon him understanding . . . " The mighty one ... ! " Agil . . . , " The Creator of the earth ... ! " Zulummu . . . , " The Giver of counsel and of whatsoever ... ! " Mummu, " the Creator of . . . ! " Mulil, the heavens . . . , " Who for . . . ! " Giskul, let ... , " Who brought the gods to naught ... ! " ..." the Chief of all lords," . . . supreme is his might ! Lugal-durmah, " the King of the band of the gods," " the Lord of rulers." " Who is exalted in a roval habitation " " Who among the gods is gloriously supreme ! " Adu-nuna, " the Counselor of Ea," who created the gods his fathers, Unto the path of whose majesty No god can ever attain ! ... in Dul-azag he made it known, . . . pure is his dwelling! . . . the ... of those without understanding is Lugal- dul-azaga ! . . . supreme is his might ! . . . their ... in the midst of Tiamat, ... of the battle ! [Here follows the better-preserved ending.] . . . the star, which shineth in the heavens. May he hold the Beginning and the Future, may they pay homage unto him, Saying, " He who forced his way through the midst of Tiamat without resting, 176 THE SACRED BOOKS Let his name be Nibiru, ' the Seizer of the Midst ' ! 110 For the stars of heaven he upheld the paths, He shepherded all the gods like sheep ! He conquered Tiamat, he troubled and ended her life," In the future of mankind, when the days grow old. May this be heard without ceasing; may it hold sway forever ! 115 Since he created the realm of heaven and fashioned the firm earth, " The Lord of the World," the father Bel hath called his name. This title, which all the Spirits of Heaven proclaimed, Did Ea hear, and his spirit was rejoiced, and he said : " He whose name his fathers have made glorious, 120 Shall be even as I, his name shall be Ea ! The binding of all my decrees shall he control. All my commands shall he make known ! " By the name of " Fifty " did the great gods Proclaim his fifty names, they made his path pre- eminent. EPILOGUE 125 Let them ^^ be held in remembrance, and let the first man proclaim them; Let the wise and the understanding consider them together ! Let the father repeat them and teach them to his son ; Let them be in the ears of the pastor and the shepherd ! Let a man rejoice in Marduk, the Lord of the gods, 130 That he may cause his land to be fruitful, and that he himself may have prosperity ! His word standeth fast, his command is unaltered ; The utterance of his mouth hath no god ever annulled. He gazed in his anger, he turned not his neck ; When he is wroth, no god can withstand his indignation. 135 Wide is his heart, broad is his compassion ; The sinner and evil-doer in his presence . . , 26 /.e., the names of Marduk. 140 LITERATURE OF THE EAST 177 They received instruction, they spake before him, . unto . . . . of Marduk may the gods . . . ; . May they . . . his name . . . ! . they took and . . . ; t 27 27 This is probably the last line of the tablet. It may here be noted that, for the text of the seventh Tablet given in the precedinij pages, only those fragments have been used which are proved by the com- mentaries to contain missing portions of the text. Several other frag- ments, which from their contents and style of writing may possibly belong to copies of the text, have not been included. Tlie text of one such fragment (S. 2,013) is of peculiar interest; in line 10 and beyond it refers to Ti-amat e-li-ti and Ti-amat sap-li-ti, "The Ocean (Tiamat) which is above," and "The Ocean (Tiamat) which is beneath," a close parallel to " the waters which were above the firmament " and " the waters which were under the firmament " of Genesis i. 7. END OF THE CREATION EPIC VOL. I.— 12. 178 THE SACRED BOOKS THE CREATION EPIC THE FIGHT WITH TIAMAT (ANOTHER VERSION) 28 The cities sighed, men . . . Men uttered lamentation, they . . . For their lamentation there was none to help, For their grief there was none to take them by the hand. 5 Who was the dragon . . . ? Tiamat ^^ was the dragon . . . Bel in heaven hath formed . . . Fifty kaspu in his length, one kaspu in his height,^*' 28 Strictly speaking, the text is not a creation-legend, though it gives a variant form of the principal incident in the history of creation according to the version Enuma elis. Here the fight with the dragon did not precede the creation of the world, but took place after men had been created and cities had been built. 29 The form of the name here used is Tamtu, " the Sea." 3c The kaspu is the space that can be covered in two hours' travel- ing, i.e., about six or seven miles. These general dimensions of the size of the dragon are in accordance with the statement made in line 8 of the reverse to the effect that after the dragon had been slain his blood flowed for more than three years. The second measurement in the line is taken by Zimmern to refer to the dragon's breadtli, but, as Jensen points out, this is not consistent with the measurement of the mouth given in the following line. Even Zimmern's readings of 60 gar in line 10 and (15 gar in line 11 do not explain, but render still more anomalous, the ^2 of Ribadda. 17 A name very like Jeremiah. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 289 the sons of Abdasherah, and there is none who lives to carry the message to the King. But counsel now thy faithful servant. I say also the whole of the fortress they have de- stroyed ... I sent to the King ... of advice as to the city Simyra. As a bird in the midst of the net she has re- mained. The siege of the usurpers is exceeding strong, and the messenger who from . . ." [The letter is much broken. It refers to Yapaaddu and to his own faithfulness to the Pahas (" chiefs ") of the King. He also appears to refer to the King destroying the Amor- ites, and goes on:] " The ruins perchance he will assign to his servant ; and he has been constant and is upright against this thing — to subdue all the King's provinces. He has lost all the cities which . . . this has befallen to . . . and from the destruc- tion . . . against me none who . . . them. The two or three that have held fast are turning round. But he hears his faithful servant's message, and a servant who has been constant in all labor, and his handmaid the city of Gebal is the only one that holds fast for me. The evils of this deed are equally thine, but I am broken in pieces. Henceforth Aziru is the foe of Yapaaddu. They have marched; and there is news that they have been cruel in their ravages against me. Thev rest not: thev desire the evil of all that are with me. So they have waxed strong, powerful against me, a servant, faithful to the King from of old . . . More- over, behold I am a faithful servant: this evil is wrought me: behold this message: lo! I am the dust of the King's feet. Behold thy father did not wring, did not smite the lands of his rulers (Khazani) and the Gods established him — the Sun-god, the God . . . and Baalath of Gebal. But the sons of Abdasherah have destroyed from ... us the throne of thy father's house, and . . . to take the King's lands for themselves. They have joined the King of the land of Mitana,^^ and the King of the land of Casi ^^ and i8"Mitana," the later Matiene. Dtisratta, its king, claimed to rule the Hittites. The Amorites joined this league. 19 The region called " Casi " in the inscription of Usurtasen I. VOL. I.— 19. 290 THE SACRED BOOKS the King of the land of the Hittites . . . the King will order soldiers (bitati). Yankhamu with the ... of my poor land . . . The Faka of the city Cumidi . . . and they have marched . . . Gebal ... to a faithful servant." [83 B. — A much-broken fragment, referring to the tak- ing of Simyra, appears to belong to this period.] 43 B. — " Ribadda speaks to the King of many lands. At the feet of my Lord, seven times and seven times I bow, a servant forever. Lo ! the city of Gebal is his place — the Sun-god revered by many lands. Lo! I am the footstool at the feet of the King my lord ; I am also his faithful servant. Now as to the city Simyra the sword of these fellows ^^ has risen very strong against her and against me. And so now the destruction of the city of Simyra is at her gates. She has bowed down before them and they have conquered her power. " To what purpose have they sent here to Ribadda a letter saying thus : ' Peace to the palace from its brethren before Simyra.' Me! they have fought against me for five years, and thus they have sent to my lord. As for me, not to be for- gotten is Yapaaddu, not to be forgotten is Zimridi.^^ All the fortresses they have ruined . . . there was no cause of strife with the city of Simyra . . ." [The next passage is much damaged.] [42 B. begins with the usual salutation given in the first letter.] " Having just heard the chiefs from the presence of the King it is fit that I send back a messenger (or mes- sage). Behold O Sun, descending from heaven, the Sons of Abdasherah are wasting shamefully, as among them there is not one of the horses of the King or chariots, and the chiefs have devised evil — a rebellious race. And a chief is here with us of the Amorite country, with a written mes- (Brugsch, "Hist.," i., p. 139) was in Upper Egypt, and the Cuah of the Bible is apparently intended — a very vague term for the southern deserts from the Euphrates to Nubia. 20 Literally, " boys."' It seems often in these letters to be used as the word weled ("a boy") is still used in Syria to mean "a fellow," applied often to very old men. 21 This letter shows that the war lasted several years. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 291 sage from the allies which is with me. They have demanded what is shameful. Hereby is spoken a friendly message in the presence of the King — the Sun-god. As for me I am thy faithful servant, and the news which is known, and which I hear, I send to the King my lord. What are they but dogs trembling in the presence of the Egyptian soldiers (bitati) of the King — the Sun-god. I sent to your father and he . . . ' to my servant . . . soldiers ' . . . they have not marched . . . Abdasherah . . . the chiefs of this gov- ernment . . . their faces against him. So now they have joined . . . But the Misi men (Egyptians) . . . have brought us, with speed, corn ... So now not without favor ... I have become a great man, behold : strong and power- ful in their sight we have been made. But mighty and re- bellious to the King is this power. His land does not intend to help the land. Behold I am dispatching two men to the city of Simyra, and all the men of its chief have gathered in order to consult as to messages to the King, who will know why you hear from us your chiefs. Good is the letter they have brought us, and the letter which the messengers of the King have uttered to us.^^ Through the pretensions of this dog the King's heart has been grieved with men, . . . has been unrighteously set up, devising in their hearts . . . and . . . your chief. I go against the men of blood from the city Simyra ... to keep . . . axid whatsoever I have been commanded. And let the King ... the news of his serv- ant. I have dispatched ten chiefs of the land of l^ubia,^^ twenty chiefs of the land of Egypt, as a guard to the King. Sun-god and lord, thy sen^ant is faithful to thee." 73 B. — " To the King . . . thus says Ribadda, thy serv- ant, the footstool of the feet of the Sun-god my lord. Seven times and seven times at his feet I bow. Grievous it is to say what, in the sight of the King, he has done — the dog Abdasherah. Behold what has befallen the lands of the 22 The letter in question may have been the proclamation against Aziru given above. 23Miliikha, or Meroe, in Assyrian inscriptions means, according to Dr. Brugsch, Nubia. 292 THE SACRED BOOKS King on account of him ; and be cried peace to the land, and now behold what has befallen the city of Simyra — a station of my lord, a fortress . . . and they spoil our fortress . . . and the cries of the place ... a violent man and a dog." [The next message is too broken to read, but refers to the city of Gebal. The letter continues:] " Will not the King order his Paha to pronounce judg- ment ? and let him guard the chief city of my lord, and order me as I say, and let my lord the Sun set free the lauds, and truly my lord shall order the wicked men all of them to go out. I present my memorial in the sight of my lord, but this dog has not taken any of thy Gods. Prosperity has fled which abode in Gebal, which city of Gebal was as a city very friendly to the King. It is gTievous. Behold, I have associated Abdbaal the prefect with Ben Khia (or Ben Tobia) a man of war; but dispatch -thou him to thy serv- ant . . ." 57 B. — [The salutation as usual mentions Baalath of Gebal.] "Why shall the King my lord send to me? The best indeed trembles, of those who watch for him against my foes, and of my freemen. What shall defend me if the King will not defend his servant? ... if the King will order for us chiefs of the land of Egypt, and of the land of Xubia, and horses, by the hand of this my chief as I hope, and preservation for the servants of the King my lord. If none at all . . . to me ... to march horses . . . my land is miserable. By my soul's life ! if the King cared at heart for the life of his servant, and of his chief city, he would have sent a garrison, and they had guarded thy city and thy servant. That the King shall know ... of our lands; and Eg;>^ptian soldiers (bitati) shall be ordered; and to save all that live in his land, therefore it is spoken as a message to the King with thy messengers. As to the ... of this dispute of Khaia with the city of Simyra, that they should send us without delay thirteen talents (or pieces of gold) : I gave the proclamation. The men of blood are named in the letter to the city of Simyra.^'* It avails not. Ask Khaia 24 This perhaps refers to Khanni's proclamation already given, and LITERATURE OF THE EAST 293 as to the letter of our previous dispute with the city of Simyra — to satisfy the King, and to give security to the King, they are sending again, and ..." 24 B. M. — [This is broken at the top.] " And King my lord, soldiers are moving to the city of Gebal, and behold the city Durubli ^^ has sent forth soldiers to war to the city Simyra. If the heart of the King my lord is toward the city of Durubli my lord will also order many soldiers, thirty chariots and an hundred chief men of your land ; and you will halt at the city Durubli, my lord's city. If the lands are to be defended, the King will order the departure of Egyptian soldiers (hitati) to the city of Gebal, and I doubt not you will march to us. And I . . . to slay him, and . . . behold the King my lord . . . faith- ful ; and they have warred with the men Eau Paur ^^ (Egyptian magnates) of the King. Lo! they have slain Biari the Paur (magnate) of the King, and he has given gifts to my . . . and they are helping. And none are serv- ants of the King. And evil in our eyes, behold, is this. I am spoiled, and I fear lest ... no wnsh of the faithful chief be granted to him. Lo! you will make my kindred to be afflicted. The King shall arm the land . . . thy soldiers • great and small, all of them ; and Pakhamnata ^^ did not listen to me and they do a deed that . . . and thou shalt tell him this, that he shall set free the city of Simyra; and the King will listen to the message of his servant, and shall send Egyptian soldiers. Behold he will say to the King that to the Khai who had been sent at an earlier period to Aziru. The rebels are named in the proclamation of the later embassy, which we thus see to have had no effect. An envoy without a military force behind him usually fails. 2 5 Durubli is probably the city which the Greeks called Tripoli, the largest town between Simyra and Gebal. There is a village called Turbul, on the northeast of Tripoli (Trablus). 26 Kau Pa-ur, Egyptian words in the plural. Kau signifies " men," and Pa-ur (as in the letter from Jerusalem, B. 103) means "very im- portant." 27 Probably the " Pakhanata " (97 B.) who was the PaJca, or chief, of whom Aljdasherah speaks in the letter about the town of Ullaza, near Gebal. He seems to have been the resident in Simyra (B. 80). 294 THE SACRED BOOKS the Egyptian soldiers have no com or food to eat, all the enemies have cut off from the midst of the cities of the King my lord the food and the corn . . . and I have raised sol- diers gathering in the city of Gebal . . . there is not . . . you shall send to us . . . and to march to it, and I have stopped . . . and not one of the lands of the Canaanites helps Yankhamu though he is for the King." [58 B. — This is a large and important tablet, but much broken ; it begins with a short salutation, and then says at once, " I am laid low." It refers to the loss of the city Abur,^^ and mentions the names of Aziru and Abdaslierah, and says there is no garrison. The enemy are marching on to the capital. He says: " I sent to the palace (or capital of Egypt) for soldiers and you gave me no soldiers." " They have burned the city Abur, and have made an end in the sight of Khamu my son." " The man of sin Aziru has marched ... he has remained in the midst ... I have dispatched my son to the palace more than three months ago who has not appeared before the King. Thus says my, chief of the city of Takhida ^^ — they are reaching him : of what use are the fortifications to the men left therein ? " " The chief who came out of the lands of Egypt to inform, whom you announced us on account of Aziru formerly, I shall send to the King. You will not have heard this message as to the city Abur. The dogs are wasting, as is said; do you not mark the news? If the King had thought of his serv- ant, and had given me soldiers . . ." The next passages are much damaged, but refer to the same general subject of complaint. The next intelligible sentence is : " The peo- ple have been enraged expecting that the King my lord vrould give me for my chief city com for the food of the people of the strongholds." He then protests his good faith, and says finally : " And my sons are servants of the King, 28 Abur is perhaps Beit-Abura, in the valley north of the great pass Theouprosopon, between Gebal and Tripoli. The enemy had not as yet forced the pass. 29 The second sign is doubtful, and the place does not suggest identi- fication (see 60 B). LITERATURE OF THE EAST 295 and our expectation is from the King . . . The city is per- ishing, my lord has pronounced our death . . •" ] 77 B. — [After a short salutation : ] " Let the King hear the news of his faithful servant. It is ill with me : mightily fighting, the sons of Abdasherah have striven in the land of the Amorites. They had subdued all the land of the city of Simyra, and they have wrecked the city Irkata (Arkah) for its ruler. And now they are coming out of the city of Simyra, and it is ill for the ruler who is in face of the foes who come out." [The tablet is here broken, but refers to Gebal and to the rulers Zimridi and Yapaaddu. The writer hopes for the arrival of troops.] "Egyptian soldiers; and the Sun-King will protect me. Friendly men have been shut up in the midst of his land. Moreover, the King my lord shall hear the message of his servant, and deliver the gar- rison of Simyra and of Irkata : for all the garrison have . . . out of the city Simyra and . . . Sun-god, lord of the lands, will order for me also twenty companies (tapal) of horse, and, as I trust, to the city of Simyra, to defend her, you will speed a division, instructing the garrisons to be strong and zealous, and to encourage the chiefs in the midst of the city. If also you grant us no Egyptian soldiers no city in the plains will be zealous for thee. But the chain of the Eg}^p- tian soldiers has quitted all the lands — they have disap- peared to the King." ^^ NORTHEEN PALESTINE Letters feom Beirut No. 26 B. M.— " To the King my lord, my Sun, my God, to the King my lord, by letter, thus Ammunira, chief of the city of Burutu, thy servant, the dust of thy feet : at the feet of the King my lord, my sun, my God — the King my lord — seven and seven times I bow. I hear the messages of 30 This agrees with the Jerusalem letters, as showing that the troops had been withdrawn to Egjpt. Amenophis sent commissioners and summoned native levies, but does not appear to have been able to send Egyptian forces. 296 THE SACRED BOOKS ... of the King my lord, my Sun, my God — the ruler of my life, and they have drawn the heart of thy servant, and the dust of the feet of the King my lord, my Sun, and my God — the King my lord — exceeding much. Sufficient is the order of the King my lord, my Sun, my God, for his sen^ant and the dust of his feet. Behold the King my lord, my Sun, has sent to his servant, and the dust of his feet, ' Speed to the presence of the Egyptian sol- diers (hitatl) of the King thy lord.' I listen exceed- ing much, and now I have sped, with my horses, and with my chariots, and with all who march with the servant of the King my lord, to meet the Egyptian soldiers of the King my lord. And art not thou confident of the event ? The breast of the enemies of the King my lord, my Sun, my God, shall be troubled. And shall not the eyes of thy sei'vant behold this, through the mastery of the King my lord ; and the King my lord, my Sun, my God, the King my lord, shall see. Thou increasest the favors of thy servant. Now as to the servant of the King my lord, and the footstool of his feet, now let him fortify the city of the King my lord, my Sun — the ruler* of my life, and her gardens (that is to say, the mulberries),^ till the eyes behold the Egyptian sol- diers of the King my lord, and . . . the servant of the King I proclaim (or predict)." 27 B. M.— " To the King ... my lord, thus says Am- munira, thy servant, the dust of thy feet. At the feet of the King my lord seven and seven times I bow. I hear the message of the letter, and what is thereby commanded to me, O King my lord. And I hear the precept of the message of the scribe of my lord, and my heart is eager, and my eyes are enlightened exceedingly. ISTow I have watched much, and have caused the city of Bunitu to be fortified for the King my lord, until the coming of the Egyptian soldiers (hitatl) of the King my lord. As to the chief of the city of Gebal who is in trouble together with me, now they de- 1 Tlie rTnill)orry is Btill found in larpe fjardens at Beirut and through- out the Lebanon. Since Justinian's time it has been the food of silk- worms. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 297 fend him till there shall be counsel of the King to his serv- ant. The King my lord is shown the grief of one's brother, which troubles us both. From the city of Gebal, lo! the sons of Ribaadda, who is in trouble with me, are subjected to chiefs who are sinners to the King, who are from the land of the Amorites. Now I have caused them to haste with my horses and with my chariots, and with all who are with me, to meet the soldiers of the King my lord. At the feet of the King my lord seven and seven times I bow." Lettee fkom Sidon 90 B. — " To the King my lord, my God, my Sun — the King my lord ^ — by letter, thus Zimridi, the governor of the city of Sidon (Ziduna) : at the feet of the King my lord, my God, my Sun — the King my lord — seven times and seven times I bow. Does not the King my lord know ? Lo ! the city of Sidon has gathered. I am gathering, O King my lord, all who are faithful to my hands (power). And lo! I hear the message of the King my lord. Behold, he causes it to be sent to his servant, and my heart rejoices, and my head is raised, and my eyes are enlightened ; my ears hear the message of the King my lord ; and know, O King, I have proclaimed in presence of the Egyptian soldiers of the King my lord, I have proclaimed all, as the King my lord has spoken ; and know, O King my lord, lo ! mighty has been the battle against me: all . . . who are faithful to the King in ... it has come to pass, and the chiefs . . . sons, and are faithful to the King . . . and her chief who goes out in the presence of the King's Egyptian soldiers. The greatest of the fortresses deserts to the enemies: which has gone well for the men of blood, and they are gaining them from my hands, and my destruction is before me. O King my lord . . . , as said the chiefs who are my foes have done." 2 This repetition may perhaps be regarded as only a phonetic expla- nation of the preceding ideograms; but perhaps the words were added to ^ho^y with certainty that by the terms " God " and " Sun " he meant the King of Egypt. 298 THE SACRED BOOKS [From the letters of the King of Tyre which follow (99 B. and 28-31 B. M.) we see that Zimridi was a weak ruler. His own letter agrees with one from Eibadda (54 B.) as showing that Sidon fell by treachery, not by war.] Letters fkom Tybe [These appear to begin early, before the appearance of Aziru, and show that the rivalry of Tyre and Sidon was of early origin. None of the letters mention Tyre except those written by her King.] 99 B. — " To the King my lord, my God, my Sun, thus says Abimelec,^ thy servant: seven and seven times at the feet of the King my lord I bow. The King my lord sends to ask if I have finished what is doing with me. I present to the King my lord 100 ornaments (or ^ crovnis,' perhaps ' shekels ' — tacilal) ; and let the King my lord give his countenance to his servant, and let him give the city Huzu ^ to his servant — a fountain to supply water for his drink- ing: let the King my lord grant a chief, a subject ^ to guard his town ; and let me plead, and let the face of the King my lord regard my explanation before the King my lord. As said, behold, let the King my lord confide in me to defend his city. Lo ! the King of the city of Sidon is taking the peo- ple who are my subjects — a chief who is my inferior (or foe). Let the King give his countenance to his servant, and let him order his PaJca (chief), and let him give the city of Huzu for waters to his servant, to take trees for our use for the dwellings. Lo! he has made war: nothing is left. In vain have they threshed corn if the King of Sidon despoils the King's land. The King of the city of Khazura (Hazor) ^ 3 The name " Abimelech " at Tyre is interesting. It occurs as the name of a Phenician king in the time of Ashur-banipal (885-860 B.C.). * Huzu is probably the modern el Ghaziyeh, near Sidon. It is at the foot of the hills, and there is a stream (Nahr ez Zahrany, "flowery river") four miles to the south, which accounts for the notice of the waters. It seems clearly to have been in the direction of Sidon. ^ Belu amil neru, literally, "a lord, a chief man of the yoke (or government)." B See the letters from Hazor after those from Tyre. This petty monarch was an enemy to the southern possessions of the King of Tyre. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 299 is leaving his city, and goes out with men of blood. Let the King show their borders to the hostile (or inferior) chiefs. The King's land is vexed by men of blood. Let the King send his Paha, who is in our land." 29 B. M. — " To the King my lord, my God, my Sun, thus says Abimelec, thy servant: seven and seven times at the feet of the King my lord I bow. I am the dust beneath the shoes of the King my lord, my master — the Sun-god who comes forth in presence of the world from day to day, as the manifestation of the Sun-god, his gracious father : who gives life by his good word, and gives light to what is ob- scure : who frees all lands from dissensions by just rule of a free country; who gives this his compassion from heaven, like the god Adonis, and causes all lands to rest through his mercy. This is the message of a servant to his lord. Lo! I hear the gracious messenger of the King who reaches his servant, and the good utterance which comes from the hands of the King my lord for his servant; and the utterance it makes clear, since the arrival of the messenger of the King my lord. Does not he make it clear ? — the utterance is clear. The lands of my fathers, behold, it records. Lo! the utterance of the King comes to me, and I rejoice exceed- ingly and my heart has risen from day to day because the land is not . . . Behold I heard the gracious messenger from my lord, and all my land has been afraid as to my lord's countenance. Lo! I heard the good utterance; and the gra- cious messenger who reaches me, behold he said, O King my lord, that the region is to be established by the presence of many soldiers; and the servant says for his lord that my plain is my land over against my highlands, over against the plain of my cities. He has borne the order of the King my lord listening to the King his lord, and has served him in his integrity, and the Sun-god he has proclaimed before him ; and he makes clear the good utterance from the hands of his lord, and does he not listen to the order of his lord? The portion of his town his lord has divided. His word none shall overthrow in all the lands forever. Behold, this is the duty that he heard from his lord. His city will rest, will SOO THE SACRED BOOKS rest from overthrowing his utterance for all time. Thou art the Sun-god whom he has proclaimed before him; and the decision which shall set at rest is lasting for one. And because she judges that the King my lord is just our land obeys — the land that I am given. This Abimelec says to the Sun-god. My lord, I am given what appears before the King my lord. And now the city Zarbitu '' is to be guarded by the city of Tyre (Tsuru) for the King my lord." 31 B. M. — " To the King, the Sun, . . . thus says Abimelec . . . seven times and seven times at the feet . . . I am the dust from . . . below . . . and the King, the Sun, forever . . . The King spoke to his servant and to his serv- ant, my comrade: he has granted that extension be given, and as to waters for his servants' drinking. And they did not as the King my lord has said ; and we arrive at no ful- filment. And let the King counsel his servant, my com- rade. He has granted that the waters be given, because of the abundance there to drink. My lord the King, behold, there is no one to tend my trees, no one to tend my waters, no one to make . . . Let the King my lord know." [The next lines are much broken, and the letter then continues:] ". . . As the King has said. And let the King assign to his servant and to the city of Tyre (Tsuru) the city that my comrade has given, and what the order lays down on the side of the King for his servant, which the King made an order less than a year ago. The King is the eternal Sun-god, and to his faithful servant the King my lord shall . . . for guardians of the town that my comrade has granted. My requests as to this town . . . Moreover, my lord . . . sol- diers against me ... to my desire . . . King. . . . Lo! his heart is evil . . . King my lord ; and he turns away from my wish; and O King my lord, thou knowest the hearts of all those in the land, and let the King give his countenance to his servant ; and to the city of Tyre, the town that my comrade has granted, is to be given . . . waters 7 The site of Zarbitu is probably the Sarepta, or Zarephah, of the Bible (1 Kinps xvii. 9, etc.), which is now Sarafand, half way between Tyre and Sidon. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 301 for irrigation. Moreover, my lord. ... Let the King ask bis Paha. Lo ! the chief of the city of Zarepta has followed the city of Simyra with a ship. I am marching, and the chief of the city of Sidon marches out; and as for me he has marched with all . . . and let the King counsel his serv- ant . . ." 30 B. M. — [Abimelec begins with his ordinary saluta- tion.] " Thus far I defend the King's city which he con- fides to my hands very much. My intention has been to walk in sight of the face of the King my lord, and not to take by force from the hands of Zimridi of the city of Sidon. Lo! I hear me that he will strive, and has made war with me. Let the King my lord send down to me . . . chiefs for guards of the city of the King my lord ; and let me strive (or plead) for the dwellings of the King my lord, with those who deceive his gracious countenance. I set my face to en- courage the region of those who are peaceful with the King my lord ; and let the King my lord ask his Paha. Lo ! I set my face (or, confirm my intention) forever, O King my lord. Now a messenger I am dispatching to ... of the King my lord, and . . . the King my lord the messenger ... his letter . . . and may it be the means of . . . the King my lord . . . that he sets his face . . . forever to . . . the face of the King my lord. His servant will not let slip . . . from his hands ... Let the King my lord give his countenance . . . and he shall . . . waters for the drawing . . . and woods for his servant. . . . Know, O King my lord, behold they are plucking the fruit that we left. There are no waters and no woods for us. Now Eli- saru, the messenger to the presence of the King my lord, has hasted, and I have made bold to present five precious things of copper, this agate, one throne of gold. The King my lord sends to me, saying, ^ Send to me all you hear from the land of Canaan' (Cina'ana). The King of Danuna ^ has been destroyed, and his brother is ruling after him, and 8 Danima is probably the Danjaan of tlie Bible, now the ruin Danian, four miles north of Achzib, and on tlie border between Tyre and Accho (see 2 Sam. xxiv. 6). 302 THE SACRED BOOKS his land has broken out, and they have seized the King of the town of Hugarit,^ and mighty is the slaughter that fol- lows him. He is strong, and none are saved from him, nor any from the chiefs of the army of the land of the Hittites. The proud Edagama ^^ of the city Ciidzi (Kadesh on Oron- tes, the capital of the Southern Hittites, now Kades) and Aziru have fought — they have fought with Neboyapiza; they have come to the regions of Zimridi. Lo! he gathers ships of soldiers against me from the fortress of Aziru. And lo! they have grievously opposed my lord's subjects, and all will break out. Let the King give countenance to his serv- ant, and let him leap forth to go out a conqueror " (or " to the region"). 28 B. M. — " To the King my lord, my Sun, my God, thus says Abimelec, thy servant; seven and seven times at the feet of the King my lord I bow. I am the dust beneath thy feet. Consider me, O King my lord. The King my lord is like the Sun; like the air-god (or Adonis) in heaven art thou. Let the King advise his servant: the King my lord confides in me. I watch the city of Tyre, the handmaid of the King. And I send a hasty letter to the King my lord, and no order does he return to me. I am the Paka " of the King my lord, and I have diligently followed what was or- dered. But as to our silence to the King my lord, let the King be assured. As a subject I guard his city. And let me plead (or strive) before the King my lord, and let him see his face. Who shall preserve one born a subject ? Lo, there has gone forth no command from the hands of the King his lord ; and he may not know when the King sends to his servant. He may never know. As for me . . ." oHugarit is probably 'Akrith, eight miles east of Danjaan. It has boen mentioned as taken by Aziru, in Yapaaddu's letter (128 B.). Perhaps the attack was from the east; and the King of Hazor seems to have joinod the Hittites (see 99 B.)- 10 Edagama has been mentioned as " Aidugama " in Akizzi's letter from Katna, which was east of Neboyapiza's city Cumidi (Kamid) (see B. M. 37). 11 In the former letters (B. M. 31, B. 99) Abimelec has spoken of the Paka as distinct from himself. Perhaps the Egyptian residents withdrew when the troops were withdrawn. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 303 [The letter is here too broken to read consecutively. It refers to the " west," and apparently to " burning," to Aziru, and to some one, perhaps a king's messenger, called Khabi. The letter becomes readable on the back of the tablet.] ". . . by Elisaru the messenger it is confirmed that the city of Simyra is Aziru's. And is not the King nourished by his city of Tyre, by his country? Lo! if I shall be de- stroyed the King is destroyed. But thus his fortress has been wasted, and there has been great fear, and all the lands have feared; for he has not walked after {i.e., obeyed) the King my lord. O King, know; desolation has remained with me — with the Paka in the city of Tyre. Zimridi is gone to the city Irib.^^ He has escaped from slavery; and there is no water or wood for us ; and alas ! there is none re- maining to stand up for me. The chief is helpless. And let the King my lord advise his servant by a letter he sends to me, whom you thus hear. And Zimrida, of the city of Sidon, has sent to the King, and Aziru is a man sinful against the King, and the chiefs of the city Arada (Arvad) destroy me,^^ and everything is altered through their ravages; and they will gather their ships, their chariots, their foot soldiers, to seize the city of Tyre, the King's handmaid. She has been very constant to the King's hand, and the city of Tyre has been crushed by them. Were they not violent in taking the city of Simyra ? They took from the hands of Zimrida him who bore the King's order to Aziru ; and I sent a letter to the King my lord, and he returns me not an order for his servant. They have fought for a long time against me. There are no waters ^^ and no trees. Let there be ordered a letter for his servant, and let me plead, and let me see 12 Irib is probably 'Arab Salim, fourteen miles southeast of Sidon, on the highest part of the mountains. It stands on a precipice 400 feet above the gorge of the Zahrany River ( Robinson, " Later Bib. Res.," p. 47), and was a stronghold. 13 Aziru's allies from Arvad, no doubt, attacked Tyre by sea. 1* Dr. Bezold has remarked that want of water was always the weak- ness of Tyre. In the reign of Ramses II. the Egyptian traveler (Chabas, p. 313) speaks of water sent to the island of Tyre in boats. Tyre is called by him the city of " two ports," one being on the north, called the Sidonian, and one on the south, called the Egyptian. 304 THE SACRED BOOKS his face, and the King ... to his servant, and to his city, and not . . . his city and his land. Why do they . . . the King our lord from the land, and . . . and he has known that I honor the King's power, who ... no ... to my letter — a subject before the King, my Sun, my lord; and let the King answer his servant." SOUTHERN PALESTINE Lettees fbom Joppa No. 57 B. M. — " To the King my lord, my God, my lord of hosts, by letter thus says Yabitiri (Abiathar) thy servant, the dust of the feet of the King my lord, my God, my lord of hosts. Seven times and seven times I bow. As thou seest, I am among the faithful servants of the King my lord. I am arraying. But if I am arraying, has not he been furious ? and I am arraying before the King ; and he has been furious. Shall the brick (letter) hide it under decep- tions? But I will not conceal under deep sayings (emiki) to the King my lord. And the King my lord shall ask Yankhamu his Paha. Lo! I am a warrior, and I am cast- ing down the rebellion, O King my lord, and I am send- ing out from the pass belonging to the King my lord. And let the King my lord ask his Paha ('head man'). Lo! I am defending the pass (or great gate) of the city of 'Azati (Gaza) and the passage of the city of Yapu (Joppa), and I myself and the soldiers (hitati) of the King my lord have marched to the lands. I myself am with them, and now, and lo ! now, I myself am with them. The yoke of the King my lord is on my neck and I will bear it." 71 B. M. — [The usual salutation from a servant of the King, whose name is broken, but reads Mus . . . ni.] "I hear the messages of the King my lord which he sends to his servant, hearing what is spoken by thy chief (Ka), and it is ' Strengthen thou the fortresses of the King thy lord which are with thee.' Now they have minded the message LITERATURE OF THE EAST 305 of the King my lord to ine, and the King my lord learns of his servant. Now Biia, the son of the woman Giilata/ was my ... of my brethren whom I am dispatching to go down from the city Yapu (Joppa), and to be the defenders of the messengers returning to the King my lord; and now Biia is the son of Gulata, he took them ; and the King my lord shall learn this message of his servant. Thus, since the King my lord said to me, ' Make him leave thy city, on the appear- ance of Biia.' He also indeed is made to leave ; and both go, and indeed both are sent down, O King my lord, day and night till they reach the place." [Joppa is not mentioned in the history of Joshua's wars in the south, but the " border before east of Japho " is no- ticed in the later topographical charter (Josh. xix. 46).] Letters from Ascalon 129 B. — " To the great King my lord, Dagantacala,^ thy servant speaks. Seven times and seven times at the feet of the great King my lord I bow. And now behold Dagan- tacala is thy servant, O great King my lord. He hears care- fully the message of the great King his lord . . . like my fathers, and what my fathers have not done for the great King I have done for the great King my lord. And the great King my lord says to me, ' Listen thou for us to the head man (Ka), thy governor.' ^ I hear this carefully as to the chief governor, and the ruler knows it." 74 B. M. — [This begins with the same salutation from Dagantacala, and continues :] " Kedeem me from the strong foes, from the hands of men of blood. The chiefs are hiding and the chiefs are flying, and redeem thou me, O great King my lord. And the son of a dog has . . . But 1 Gulata is an interesting name to find in the south, as it may have some connection with that of Goliah. 2 The sign of deity is attached to this name, showing that Dagon, the Philistine god, is intended ; and it appears to mean, " Thou, Dagon, art a shield." Compare Yamirdagan (B. 136). 3 The word " Khazanu " is here used of an Egyptian official, but with the qualification " chief Ea " introducing the Egyptian word. This agrees with the view that Pa-lca means " principal man." VOL. I- — 20. 306 THE SACRED BOOKS thou art the great King my lord. Come down, redeem me, and I shall rejoice because of the great King my lord." 118 B. — [From Yadaya of Ascalon, a captain of the horse of the " King — the Sun from Heaven." The usual salutation is much broken. The letter continues:] " Now I shall defend the places of the King that are with me. The strong chiefs who are not foes of the Law (or throne) have cherished greatly the King's Paha. Now both they and I listen to him very exceedingly — to the Paha of the King my lord, the Son of the Sun from the heavens." 119 B. — [From the same Yadaya, chief of the city of Ascalon, with the usual salutation. He is a captain of the horse and the dust of the King's feet. He continues:] " The trusty adherent — the chief of the King my lord, who is sent by the King my lord — the Sun from heaven — to me, I listen exceeding much to his messages ; now I will defend the King's land which is with me." 121 B. — [From the same writer, with the same saluta- tions.] " Now the King's land which is with me is de- fended, and all that the King has sent to me they hear. The decree is very powerful. Who am I but a dog, and shall such a one not listen to the message of the King his lord, the Son of the Sun ? " 122 B. — [From Yadia, the captain of the horse, with the usual salutation; it continues:] "Now they guard . . . my. May the gods of the King my lord grant to all his lands not to be confounded. I hear the message of the King my lord to his Paha. Lo ! without resting he has caused the land of the King my lord to be defended ; and now es- tablish, O King my lord, one who is in favor in the sight of the Paha of the King my lord, who is mighty in the sight of the King my lord. He will work with joy to . . . what- ever is proclaimed by desire of the King my lord. Now he will watch the land carefully." 54 B. M. — [From the same Yadaya, captain of the horse, with the usual salutation ; it continues :] " Now they watch for a message of the King my lord, the Son of the Sun. And now I am sending drink, oil, sheep, oxen, beasts, to meet the LITERATURE OF THE EAST 307 soldiers of the King my lord . . . with all for the soldiers of the King my lord. Who am I — a dog, and shall such a one not hear the messages of the King my lord the Son of the Sun?" 53 B. M. — [The same salutation from Yadaya, captain of horse and " dust of the King's feet."] " Now they guard the land of the King my lord, and the King's chief city, as has asked the King my lord — the Sun from Heaven. Be- hold what the King my lord has said to his servant — to take arms: I am now sending to the King my lord thirty bands to carry weapons. Moreover, who am I but a dog, and shall such a one not hear the message of the King my lord, the Sun from Heaven ? the Sun — Son of the Sun whom you adore." [52 B. M. is very similar to 54 B. M. Yadia watches the land and the city, and is a dog unworthy to hear the King's message ; he sends drink (beer, according to one value of the sign — and the Egyptians drank beer) ^ and oxen, and beasts, and beans, and all that the King requires for the soldiers. It is to be remarked that Ascalon was not among the cities that Joshua took, but we learn that the region submitted to the Hebrews (B. 103) and Ascalon was lost before 1360 B.C.] Letters from Makkedah [These letters appear to be early. They have been sup- posed to come from Megiddo, but the topography (111 B. and 72 B. M.) can not be reconciled with the latter, and applied exactly to the former town (now El Mughar) ; in addition to which Megiddo appears as Makdani in the letter from Accho (95 B.).] 113 B. — " To the King my lord, . . . and my Sun, by letter thus says Biridi, a faithful servant, that I bow at the feet of the King my lord and my Sun and my God, seven times and seven times. I have heard (literally, ' the servant 4 The sign meant originally "cup." It is remarkable that wine is not mentioned in the letters, unless the drink here noticed was wine. There was plenty of wine in Syria and in Hebron as early as 1600 B.C. 308 THE SACRED BOOKS has heard ') the messages of the King my lord and my Sun, and now they guard the city of Makidah, the chief city of the King my lord." [The text is broken, but seems to read probably] " without rest, and is set right . . . without rest they watch with chariots, and they guard with chariots of the King my lord, from those who do injury. And now behold a battle of chiefs in (or from) the land below Mizpah.^ The King is my lord for his land." 114 B. — " To the King my lord and my Sun, by letter thus says Biridia, chief of the city Makidda, a faithful servant of the King. At the feet of the King my lord and my Sun, seven times and seven times prostrated. I have been obe- dient then, zealous for the King . . . thirty oxen . . . they have gathered, and I, too, to fight." 115 B. — [Biridia sends the usual salutation without men- tioning his city. The text is rather worn and broken, but may be read as follows :] " Let the King my lord know this. Lo! since the Egyptian soldiers (hitati) have gone down (or away) Labaya makes war against me and without cause, coming angrily and without cause. Thereupon the entrance of the gate has been closed through the appearance of Labaya. Behold, learn this, and there are no men of the Egyptian soldiers with us. So now it is desired to see them sent into the city of Magiidda, and let the King see accordingly whether it is to be done. Let not Labaya seize the city. If there is no word the city will open its gates. For two years he rebels ; and will not the King grant this also — chiefs of his guard as defenders of his chief city. Let not Labaya take her, though those who have fled from Labaya have failed in this. Moreover, those who disgraced the city Ma . . . are slain." 112 B. — " To the King my lord and my Sun, thus Labaya, thy servant, and the dust of thy feet. At the feet of the King my lord and my Sun, seven times seven times I bow. I have heard the message which the King sent to me; and 5 The text is damaged. It seems perhaps to read " Citam Mizpi " If this is right, Mizpah near Jerusalem might be intended, or it may mean " below the heights." LITERATURE OF THE EAST 309 who am I ? and the King will afflict his country before me. I swear I am myself a faithful servant, and I have not sinned, and I have not murmured at my tribute, and I have not mur- mured at the wishes of my friends (or subjects). Lo! this province my destroyers eat up, and I have had no food. The King my lord says it is my fault. Once more he makes it my fault. Lo! I strive with the city Gezer (Gazri) ^ and I complain of the young men. The King one hears will march. I restrained the band of Milcilu and my band de- sirous to fight. The quarrel of Milcilu against me is relin- quished; as to Ben Zachariah, the King has sent not to attack. Lo! Ben Zachariah with men of blood was known to us to march, and I marched, and we are conquering him. He gives up Abukasu. Once more he has made peace. The King has sent to my band, saying, ' I order peace.' I am desirous of peace, since the King has sent to me. Stay thy sword, ponder in thy heart, and is the peace hollow. Nay, the King's messages have been done." 59 B. M. — " To the King my lord and my Sun and my God, thus Yasdata, a faithful servant to the King, and he is dust of the King's feet. At the feet of the King my lord and Sun and my God, seven times and seven times I bow. Let the King my lord know this. Lo ! all whatsoever things the King my lord judges for his servant . . . him . . . the chiefs of the city of Tabu ^ have slain a hundred of my oxen, and they have wasted me. And with Biridia I have caused men to go forth. Let the King my lord know this as to his servant." [This letter shows that the writer lived near Biridia, who was attacked by Labaya, and that the Hebron hills were in- habited by marauders.] 72 B. M. — " Lo ! a letter as to destruction of my brethren because of what the gods of the King our lord have done. And the people of Libaya are conquered; and so we have 6 Gazri is the Gezer of the Bible, now Tel-Jezar, at the foot of the Jerusalem hills 7 Tabu is probably Taiyibeh, seven miles northwest of Hebron, on a hill at the head of the valley of Elah. This fits in with the rest of the topographical notices. 310 THE SACRED BOOKS ordered Khaia ^ that this be borne by him to the King our lord. And a company of my horse was placed, and the peo- ple are sent out after him, and he rides with Yasdata also till I come. And he is gone away to smite him, and now Yas- data is thy servant, and he strives mightily with me in battle array, and has not he . . . the rule of the King my lord, and let there be ... to the King my lord . • . , and Zurata is stopping the way of Labaya from the city of Makidda. And he asked me to gather ships — my fleet, and it will go straight to inform the King ; and Zurata marches on him and hinders him ; from the city of 'Anana which is his. Zurata is damming the marshes. They have contrived a stoppage of the head waters from his drinking. Behold what thus I have done for the King my lord. Lo ! possession is possible for me, but it is difficult. My brethren have become few but Zurata delays Labaya and Zurata hinders Addumemur from them. And does not the King my lord know this ? " [This letter (confirmed by 154 B.) shows that a to^vn near the sea, not like Megiddo, inland, is intended. Labaya had apparently taken Makkedah from Biridia, who had been afraid of it (115 B.). The writer of the present letter was probably Biridia and he was perhaps blockading the province by sea on the west, while Yasdata, who was on the east (which agrees with 59 B. M.), blocked up the stream near 'Anana. This site would be the Enam of the Bible (Josh. xv. 34), which is thus fixed at the ruin of Kefr 'Ain, by the numerous head springs which feed the river Eubin, which passes close to Makkedah on the south. The marshes here between the hills would easily be dammed, and the water-supply of Makkedah (el Mughar) so cut off. Makkedah is close to the only stream of perennial water south of Joppa, and stands high on a cliff, not far from the sea. It is in the center of the province, the boundaries of which Labaya's sons describe (154 B.).] 149 B. — " To the King my lord, thus says Adduurbilu, thy servant, at the feet of my lord I bow — to the King my 8 Probably the same Khaia who appears in the north as an envoy to the Amorites — an Egyptian official. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 311 lord. And know thou, behold I have raised my . . . what I desire as to Miicilu. Lo ! my chiefs are going against his servants. As to Takanu, a chief will march out to subject his servants for me.^ And I have requited to this slave what they did to us." [The letter then becomes broken, but refers to Miicilu, who was the King of Gezer. Takanu (or Tagi) is mentioned again in connection with Givti (B. 199).] 61 B. M. — " To the King, my master, by letter thus says Labaya, thy servant. I bow at the feet of the King my lord. Lo! a message as to me. Strong were the chiefs who have taken the city. As when a snake coils round one, the chiefs, by fighting, have taken the city. They hurt the innocent, and outrage the orphan. The chief man is with me. They have taken the city and he receives sustenance. My de- stroyers exult in the face of the King my lord. He is left like the ant whose home is destroyed. You will be dis- pleased, but I have extended to the hand of her chief that which is asked of him : like me he is ruined and unfortunate ; and this same taking of my city had been stopped if you had spoken against it. This wickedness (or foolishness) you caused, and thou hast destroyed thy city. They have desired to throttle (or persecute) us — the chiefs who have taken the city from him. It is the city of my fathers also that they persecute." 154 B. — " To the King my lord, by letter thus says Ad- durbilu, thy servant, at the feet of the King my lord seven times and seven times I bow. The King my lord will know the hate which is desired by the son of the sinful chief who hated me — the second son of Labaya. His face is estranged. I foresee estrangement of the land of the King my lord. He has plotted as plotted against me, the chief who was his father ; and the King my lord shall know it. Lo ! he has built a fort . . . against me. The second son of » Takanu (see B. 199, 70 B. M.) lived near Givti, and perhaps was the chief of that town, which may be Gibeah of Judah, near the valley of Elah, southeast of Makkedah. It is mentioned with Hareth, which was close by Gibeah. 312 THE SACRED BOOKS Labaya says : ' Why has a vain papyrus ^^ taken from us the lowlands of the Gitties? . . . thy lord, O city of those who besieged the chief of our father.' As I am saying speaks to us the second son of Labaya. He has made war for me with the chiefs of the land of Gina, causing a chief, our friend, to be slain. And when there was a battle, he has not been confounded, and the fight was great, but he has made it his dwelling, bereaving me in the sight of the King my lord : for he has made war in ... of Gina with the servants of the King my lord. And truly alone of the chiefs exceeding strong is Biruyapiza.^^ And thou shalt hear what is said as to him." [The text becomes broken, but still refers to the doings of the second son of Labaya, and continues with an important passage on the back of the tablet :] " And as I say, speaks to us the second son of Labaya who is making war. ' As to our possessions from the King thy lord, lo ! this is the boundary : over against the city of Sunasu and over against the city Burku and over against the city Kharabu. And behold the boundary of the dwelling of my race. So it was defined by our lord ; and it includes the city of Giti Rimuna (Gath Rimmon). And the King thy lord is breaking the bond of our . . .' And I answered him. It is known that he deprives me of it in sight of the King my lord. Because of his making wars with the King of my lord — my King my lord — I and my brethren have gone down as you heard of us by me. And did not the messenger of Milcilu speak to him before the face of the second son of Labaya ? It was made complete. I foresee estrangement of the land of the King my lord. They disturb a peaceful region, and in vain I repeat the letter about me. The guard of my lord ... to go down, and the King my lord shall hear what the message says." [This letter settles the site of Gath Rimmon (the full name of Gath, so called as standing on a height) — now Tel es Safi. The land of Gina was near the present Umm Jina — 10 Referring to the King's order on papyrus. Tn Dusratta's Hittite letter a royal decree on papyrus is also mentioned. 11 Biruyapiza was probably the second son of Labaya. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 313 probably Engannim of Judah (Josh. xv. 34) — in the low hills about six miles to the northeast. Sunasu is Sanasin, a ruin in the hills east of the Valley of Elah. Burka is Bur- kah, in the plain northeast of Ashdod. Kharabu is el Khu- rab, a village east of Jaffa, and just north of the Valley of Jaffa. Gath stood over the Valley of Elah, and Burka close to the same. The province extended from the hills of Hebron to the sea, and from the Valley of Elah to the Valley of Jaffa ; and just in the middle of this province was Mak- kedah.] [Ill B., a fragment of a letter from Biridia. He is a faithful servant, and sends the usual salutation. He has heard of peace, and he is marching. The son of Labaya is noticed, and there is a reference to gold. Biridia has already appeared as one of the enemies of Labaya.] 73 B. M. — [This seems to come from the same region on account of its topography. The letter is injured at the top and probably not addressed to the King himself.] " I say the dog is marching . . . from their ravages against me. JSTow behold, from being loosed . . . from the wastiugs against ... Lo! consider thou thyself my chief cities. Mighty against me ... he has made ... to the city Mac- dalim.^^ And soldiers of the city Cuuzbe ^^ have destroyed east of me. And now there is no commander to lead me forth from their hands. Moreover, Abbikha (or Abbinebo) smites my western region. They have sinned against me and all the passes he marches against . . . Abbikha . . ." Letters feom Gezee 63 B. M.— " To the King my lord, my God, my Sun, by letter thus says Milcili, thy servant, the dust of thy feet. At the feet of the King my lord, my God, my Sun, seven times seven times I bow. I hear what the King my lord has sent 12 Macdalim may be Mejdel, in the Philistine plain, which is still a place of importance, with a market. 13 Cuuzbe is probably the Chezib of the Bible ( Gen. xxxviii. 5 ) , in the low hills east of Gath, now 'Ain Kezbeh. Ihe maraudei's seem to issue from the mountains, destroying the commerce of the plains (com- pare 59 B. M.). Chezib is again mentioned (104 B.). 314. THE SACRED BOOKS to me, and the King my lord dispatches Egyptian soldiers (bitati) to his servants, and the King my lord dispatches them to dwell as guards. It is apportioned for my honor." [108 B., with the same salutation, is broken. It appears to refer to dispatching six females, five chiefs, sons of . . . and five trusty chiefs led to the King.^^] 109 B. — [Begins with the same salutation as the preced- ing, and continues:] " The message of the King my lord, my God, my Sun, to me being brought, now his command they have done for the King my lord — the Sun from heaven; and truly the King my lord, my God, my Sun, knows, that peaceful is the land of the King my lord which is with me." 110 B. — [Begins with the same salutation and con- tinues :] " The King my lord shall know. Behold mighty is the war against me, and against Suardata;^^ but the King my lord shall pluck his land from the hands of men of blood. Since there are none, the King my lord shall dispatch chariots to march to us . . . you will restrain our slaves for us . . . Yankhamu his servant . . ." [This may refer to the submission of Gezer to the Hebrews mentioned in a letter from Jerusalem (B. 103).] 62 B. M. — [Begins with the same salutation as the preced- ing, and continues :] " Know, O King my lord, the de- mands made to me by Yankhamu since my going forth from before the King my lord. Lo! he . . . let him take from my hands. And they say to me give us thy wife and thy sons. And does the King know this ? And does the King my lord demand dispatch of chariots, and that I shall go to his presence ? Nay ! Let it be brought to nothing by thee." [70 B. M., if not from Gezer, must come from near that town. It is written by Takanu, who is mentioned in connec- tion with Milcilu (149 B.) in a letter from near Makkedah, which was the next great town to Gezer on the south.] 1* This letter is perhaps explained by another (104 B.), in which the King of Jerusalem sends his wives to Egypt with the Egyptian envoy, on account of the war with the Hebrews. 15 Chief of Keilah, whose letters follow. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 315 " To the King my lord, thus says Takanu,^^ thy servant : at the feet of the King my lord seven times and seven times I bow. Lo! I am the King's servant, and the guard of the whole of my roads was in the hands of my people, but they are now without refuge : they have not come up to guard my roads for the King my lord ; and ask the chiefs thy Tarhas,^^ if they are not now without refuge for my people. Moreover, behold us. My eyes are toward thee when I beseech the God of heaven: for we are cast from the land, and have been needy. We have lacked at thy hand, and behold this now, the guard that guards my roads is in the hands of a chief who hates me because of the King my lord, and the King my lord shall instruct; behold, send down a host and it shall watch." [Though the date is doubtful, within limits, this letter probably refers to the departure of the Egyptian soldiers mentioned in the Jerusalem letters.] [155 B. — A much-damaged letter. The name of the writer is lost. He sends the usual salutation, and speaks of a letter: of transgression and sin; and mentions the city Gazri (Gezer). He speaks of the going down of the king (or casting down), and of the Paka. (See note.)] 50 B. M. — " To the King my lord, my God, my Sun, the Sun from the heavens, thus says Yapa'a *^ the chief of the city of Gazri (Gezer) thy servant, the dust of thy feet, a chief captain of thy horse. At the feet of the King my lord — the Sun from the heavens, seven times and seven times bow indeed both this heart and this body; and whatever the King my lord says to me I listen to exceeding much. I am 16 If Takanu's town was Givti, and Givti was Gibeah of Judah, he is referring to the southern route by the Valley of Elah. 17 Tarlca instead of Paka. In Egyptian the word tar means " to drive " or " compel," preceding the sign of a man with a stick. Tarka is thus apparently an " overseer " of the people. 18 Yapa'a is the same name as Japhia, mentioned as the King of Lachish (Josh. x. 3), who was the enemy of Joshua. He appears here as King of Gezer, and the King of Gezer is called in the Bible Horam (x. 33). The words "Gezer" and "Lachish" would not look un- like in the writing of the earlier Hebrew (about the Christian era), but it is not impossible that the two towns may have had the same king. Indeed, the letter seems to show this, as Mer'ash is near Lachish. 316 THE SACRED BOOKS the King's servant, the dust of thy feet. And the King my lord shall learn. Behold the chief of my brethren; fellows foreign to me also strive for the city of Mura'azi j^'-^ and the delivery of the same is the demand of men of blood; and now behold what has arisen against me, and counsel as to thy land. Let the King send to the chief who is his friend against one who is a foe. 49 B. M. — [After the same salutation from Yapa'a, chief of Gezer, master of the horse, the letter continues :] " I hear the message of the messenger of the King my lord ex- ceeding much. And let the King my lord, the Sun from heaven, counsel his servant as to his land. Now strong is the chief of the men of blood against us; and send thou to destroy him, O King my lord, for me ; and will not the King restore from the hand of the chief of bloody ones ? We are not quite made an end of by the chief of the bloody ones." 51 B, M. — [With the usual salutation from Yapa'a, the letter continues :] " Whatever the King my lord says to me I listen to him exceedingly. It is gracious. But as 1 fear what shall befall, help thou my region from the power of the people of the desert lands. And now I hear that the Pauri (chiefs; see the Jerusalem letter B. 103) of the King gather a multitude; and it suffices for me. And they have enlarged my heart very much." [From these letters we gather that there had been a with- drawal of the Egyptian troops about the time when the " desert people " attacked Yapa'a. That these desert people were the Hebrews under Joshua, who was the contemporary of Jahia, we learn more clearly from the Jerusalem letters. That Gezer submitted to them is also shown by the same.] 19 Mura'azi seems clearly to be Mer'ash, the Hebrew Moresheth Gath (Micah i. 14). The modern name is nearer to the Amorite than to the Hebrew, having a guttural at the end; and, as in other cases, the Amorite " z " stands for a Hebrew " s." The site is south of Gath, and not far from Lachish, close to Beit Jibrin. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 317 Letteks from Jekusai^em 105 B. — " To the King my lord . . . thus says Adonize- deck,^*^ thy servant, ... at the feet of my Lord . . . seven times and seven times . . . Behold Milcilu is not rid from the sons of Labaya, and from the sons of Arzaya, as to their desire of the King's land for themselves. A ruling man who makes demand thereof, why has he not asked it of the King i Lo! Milcilu and Takanu have desired the doing thereof. Lo ! he has marched to it. Not having desired to strive . . ." [The lower half of the front is here lost, and the rest is on the back.] " So now, failing those who were chiefs of the garrison of the King, let me fly to the King.^^ Truly Ben Piru (or Ben Carru) has fled his being led captive by my destroyers, he goes from the city 'Azati (Gaza) : let him remind the King in his presence of a garrison to guard the land. All the King's land is rebellious. Yagu Balaam is sent, and let the King's land know from the King's scribe . . . Thus says Adonizedek, thy servant, . . . the messages." 102 B. — " To the King my lord is mourning thus this Adonizedek, thy servant. At the feet of my lord, of the King, seven times and seven times I bow. What shall I ask of the King my lord ? They have prevailed, they have taken the fortress of Jericho,^^ they who have gathered against the 20 The name of the King of Jerusalem is rendered " Abdhiba " by Dr. Winckler, and " Abd Tobba " by Dr. Sayce. The second reading is possible in all cases but one (B. 102), when the sign used has not the syllabic value Toh, but only EM or Hi. This would mean " servant of tlie Good One." 21 Adonizedek is meditating flight. His letters speak of a raid on Gezer, Ascalon, and as far as Lachish, after the taking of Ajalon by the Hebrews, but they say nothing of Makkedah. From the book of Joshua we learn that after the battle of Ajalon the Hebrews pursued to Azekah, perhaps the ruin of Zak, east of Gaza, and to Makkedah (X. 11), and then returned to Gilgal (15). An interval of unstated duration occurred, while the five kings, Adonizedek, Japhia, Hobam, Piram, and Debir (ver. 3), fled to Makkedah, where they were found hid in a cave. It was during this interval, apparently, that these Jerusalem letters were written. 22 The sign is unusual. The words are icalu, ca-ar (Irhu) zabbatu, 318 THE SACRED BOOKS King of Kings, which Adonizedek has explained to the King his lord. Behold, as to me, my father is not and my army is not.^^ The tribe that has ground me in this place is very rebellious to the King, the same is struggling with me for the house of my father. Why has the tribe sinned against the King my lord ? Behold, O King my lord, arise ! I say to the Paka (resident) of the King my lord, ' Why should you trem- ble before the chief of the 'Abiri ^^ (Hebrews) and the rulers fear the end ? So now they must send from the presence of the King my lord.' Behold I say that the land of the King my lord is ruined. So now they must send to the King my lord and let the King my lord know this; behold the King my lord, and let the King my lord know this; behold the King my lord has placed a garrison to stop the way . . . (Bel'amu or Yankhamu) ... of kings . . . chiefs of the garrison . . . the kings as a master to his land ... as to his land she has rebelled, the lands of the King my lord — the whole of it. Ilimelec ^^ cuts off all the King's land. And let one warn the King as to his land. I myself speak plead- ing with the King my lord and for once let the King my lord behold the entreaties. And the wars are mighty against me, and I am not receiving any pledge from the King my lord. And let an order return from the King my lord. Whether will he not order chiefs for garrison ? And let him be kind, and let the King my lord regard the entreaties. This tribe, behold, O King my lord, has risen up. Lo, the Paha they have expelled. I say the lands of the King my lord are ruined. Dost not thou hear this same of me? They have or perhaps icalu-ca ar(unu) sabbatu. The latter would mean "They prevail over thee; they have been swift to seize." 23 " I have no father and no army." It either means this or " Have I no father and no friend?" It might refer to his father's death, or to the King of Egypt not being his father and friend. Dr. Sayce ren- ders "neither father nor mother" {sal um for rag um) ; but it is very unusual for Orientals to refer to their female relations or wives, though in the case of the King of Accho (95 B.) the writer speaks of his wife; but this for a special reason (see also 104 B.). 24'"Abiri." This is read by others "Habiri" ("allies"). 25 Ilimelec is a name found in the Bible (Ruth i. 2; ii. 1) as the name of Ruth's fathcr-in-Iaw, a native of Bethlehem, in the time of the Judges. It is therefore a Hebrew name. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 3l9 destroyed all the rulers. There is no ruler now, King my lord. Let the King give his countenance to the chiefs ; and whether shall the chiefs of the Egyptian soldiers {hitati) remain at rest ? They have lingered, O King my lord. The lands are failing to the King my lord. The Hebrew chiefs plunder all the King's lands. Since the chiefs of the Egyp- tian soldiers {hitati) have gone away quitting the lands this year, O King my lord, and since there is no chief of the Egyptian soldiers {hitati) there is ruin to the lands of the King my lord. They have ... King my lord, and Adonizedek is dust, . . . messages are asked of the King my lord, there is destruction by the foe of the lands of the King my lord." [This letter, like others, clearly indicates a withdrawal of the Egyptian troops shortly before the appearance of the Hebrews. ] 106 B. — [The salutation is broken, but is the same as before — from Adonizedek. The text continues:] ". . . which have done for me Milcilu, and Suardata ^^ for the land of the King my lord. They have hired soldiers of the city of Gezer, soldiers of the city Givti,^^ and soldiers of the city Kielti.^^ They have gone out to (or seized) the city of Rubute.^® The King's land rebels to the chiefs of the He- brews, and now against this capital city U-ru-sa-lim (Jeru- salem) the city called Beth Baalath,^^ a neighbor of the city of the King — has rebelled, to delay the chiefs of the city of Kielti. Let the King hear as to Adonizedek ; and will not he order Egyptian soldiers {hitati), and shall not the King's 26 Milcilu was the King of Gezer, and Suardata of Keilah; his let- ters follow. This represents the league of kings before the battle of Ajalon. 27 Givti is probably one of the Gibeahs, perhaps Gibeah of Judah, now Jeb'a, southwest of Jerusalem, in the direction of Keilah (Josh. XV. 57). 28 Kielti is Keilah (Josh. xv. 44), now Kilah, east of the Valley of Elah, in the direction of Hebron. 29 Rubute is Rabbah of Judah, now the ruin Rubba, in the same dis- trict, four miles east of Beit Jibrin (Josh. xv. 60). 30 Beth Baalath is probably Baalath of Judah, the old name of Kir- jath Jearim, now Erma, in the Valley of Sorek. 320 THE SACRED BOOKS land turn to the King ? And because there are no Egyptian soldiers the King's land has rebelled to the chiefs of the tribe of the Hebrews. They have demanded to dwell in the same with me. They have gone out against (or seized) Milcilu . . . and the city . . . And let the King do justice to (or purify) his land." 104 B. — [The same salutation from Adonizedek. He continues :] " Lo ! the King my lord has established his law from the rising of the Sun to the going down of the Sun. He is a flatterer who deceives as to me. Lo! am not I a ruler myself, a man allied to the King my lord ? Lo ! I myself am a good chief of the King, and I have sent tribute to the King. There is no chief to join me, and my friends (or army) fail ; they have been fighting for the King mightily. I remain ... in this Beth Amilla ^^ . . . from before me thirteen ... I am giving ten slaves . . . Suuta the King's Paha (resident) takes charge from before me of twenty-one slave women. Twenty chiefs who remain trusty to my hand Sutta has led away to the King my lord,^^ which the King advises to his country. The whole of the King's country, which is seized from me, is ruined. They have fought against me as far as the lands of Seeri (Seir) ^^ as far as the city Givti Kirmil (Gibeah of Carmel).^'* They have banded together against all the chiefs of the governments, and they have fought with me. Behold I, the chief of the lords (or of the Amorites), am breaking to pieces,^^ and the King my lord does not regard entreaties, while they have fought against me unceasingly. Behold, array, O mighty King, a fleet in the 31 Beth Amilla is evidently the Beth ham Millo of the Bible (2 Sam. V. 9) ; " house of the ciiief,"' as we now know. It was the royal palace in the lower city (Akra), north of Zion. There was also a Millo in Shechem (Judges i.\. 6, 20), evidently the palace of that city. 32 When Adonizedek sent away his women he was preparing for his own flight, by the advice, it would seem, of Egypt. The Egyptian resi- dent also retired. 3"* This shows the enemy as coming from iVIount Seir or Edom. 3* This "Givti" would seem to be one of the Gibealis, unless we should read " Gimtzi " as before. s'' Perliaps this is capable of being rendered, " I am breaking to piccea; the chief is becoming master." A HUMAN SACRIFICE TO BAAL. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 321 midst of the sea. Thou shalt march to our land, the land of Nahrima and the land of Cazib, and behold these are fortresses of the King.^° Thou shalt march against the chieftains of the Hebrew. There is not a single ruler for the King my lord. They have destroyed all. Lo Tuur- bazu ^"^ is slaughtered . . . : in the great pass of the city of Ziluu ^^ they have bowed down. Behold Zimridi of the city of Lachish. The slaves have subjected him; they have done as they chose ^'^ . . . The region of Eimmon ^'^ laments: slaughter is in the midst ... the fort of Zilu is overthrown ... let the King take heed ... let the King give his coun- tenance to . . . Egyptian soldiers to the land . . . Since there are no Egyptian soldiers in this same year destruction has destroyed the people of all the lands of the King my lord. Do not they say to the face of the King my lord, ' Behold the land of the King my lord has been ruined, and all the rulers have been slain, within this same year ' ? Will the King not order his Paha ? And let the fleet come to me as helpers, and let them take care of the port with the King commanding ... to the scribe of the King my lord. Lo ! Adonizedek is his servant at his feet he bows. Translate the messages now to the King. I am thy . . . myself." 103 B. — [The salutation is much broken, but part of the name of Adonizedek is left. It then speaks of messages, and continues :] " Let him know that they have fought all the lands that have been at peace with me ; and let me warn the King as to his land. Lo ! the land of the city of Gezer, and 30 What is meant is that the Egyptians, having come by sea to Asca- lon or Gaza, are to march to Jerusalem by the Valley of Elah, the highway by which the Philistines came up against Saul. Cazib (Chezib) is in this valley, now 'Ain Kezbeh. 37 " Tu-ur ba-zu " appears to be spelled phonetically, but does not sound like a Semitic name. If it were taken as an ideogram it might be rendered " Ben Zicaru." 88 " Zelah " has been proposed. There were two Zelahs, one being Petra, the other north of Jerusalem (now probably the ruin of Salah) ; it appears to me more probable that Shiloh is intended. 3'J There was a siege of Lachish by Joshua (Josh. x. 33). 40 Rimmon is probably the Rimmon of Benjamin, not far south of Shiloh, now the village of Rummon (Judges xx. 45, etc.). VOL. I.— 21. 322 THE SACRED BOOKS the land of the city of Ascalon, and the land of the city of Lachish they have given (or settled) for themselves. Corn and oil (or fruit), and all things, this race has altogether gathered. And let me warn the King as to Egyptian sol- diers. Will not he order Egyptian soldiers against the chiefs who have done wrong to the King my lord ? Since within this year the Egyptian soldiers have gone away, and quit the lands, the ruler of the King my lord — since there were no Egyptian soldiers — is brought to naught. Yea and the rulers of the King . . . Behold the land of the city of Jeru- salem.^^ No man is my subject. No people is subject to me. His tribe is arrayed (or prepared). They are not sub- ject to me. Lo ! my desire is the same as the desire of Mil- cilu and the desire of the sons of Labaya, that the chiefs of the Hebrews be subject to the King's land. Lo! the King my lord will be just to me, because the chiefs are sorcerers.^^ let the King ask his Pakas or let one ask of the King's Pakas. Lo he is strong, very determined and men have feared. The sinful fort (or camp) is very arrogant. They have burst forth from their pasture (or border) and ... to the land of the habitation of the people night . . . Will not there be sent from the land of Egypt ? . . . soldiers : thou shalt come up with ... let the servants be defended ... to them. The tribe is pouring out . . . lands from the city of Asca- lon. Let the King ask about them. Plenty of com, plenty of fruit (or oil), plenty . . . Up to the province of my Lord Pauru''^ the King's Paka for the land of the city of Jerusalem my foe is rebelling. Up to the chiefs of the gar- ♦1 The name spelled in other cases " U-ru-sa-lim " is here spelled " Uru-sa-lim," showing that the usual explanation, " city of peace," is probable. *2 Casipi. It has been read Casia (" Cushites "), but the word before is in the plural, and the plural could not end in "a." Any great suc- cess is still attributed to sorcery in the East. It may, however, only mean " malicious," according to its use in Hebrew. <3 There was an Egyptian known to history who bore the name of Paur (Brugsch, "Hist." i. p. 462) ; he was a governor in Nubia, some- what later than the present events. The name, however, must have been common, since Paur stands for Paka in some cases. It has been already explained as an Egyptian word. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 323 rison this chief has surged up. Let the King's foe perish by the King . . . for me my foe . . . revolted from me. Do not desert this . . . send me a chief of garrison — a PaJca of the King, dispatched to this thy people. The women are dispatched '*^ to the King my lord with men who have been upright. Four messengers *^ ... to go out. The chiefs of the fort (or camp) are closing the roads of the pass . . . the tribe who have caused the destruction of the city of Ajalon.^^ Let this be known to the King my lord. Have not I shown the people dispatched a road for the King, though it is not easy ? '^^ Lo ! the King my lord has estab- lished his law in the land of the city of Jerusalem forever, and is not the desertion of the lands of the city of Jerusalem manifest ? To the scribe of the King my lord, this lamenta- tion, thus speaks Adonizedek, thy servant — the afflicted. Translate the messages well to the King my lord. O, scribe of the King my lord, I am afflicted, greatly am I afflicted. And thou shalt perform the desire of our people before the chiefs of the land of Cush (Casi).^^ Truly is not there slaughter with us ? Thou shalt make it . . . clear to the chiefs of the land of Cush (Casi) . . . midst of my land the people to take . . . the King to . . . seven times and seven times . . . my lord to me . . ." [199 B. appears to be from Adonizedek, and speaks of Jerusalem. Only the lower third of the tablet remains. The clay is different to that of the preceding, and it may have been written after the city was left.] 44 The participle is feminine. 45 There had been four previous letters, agreeing with my arrange- ment. 4G Ajalon (now Yalo) is at the foot of the Bethhoron Pass, where the battle against the five kings occurred. The women were apparently sent away before the battle of Ajalon, after whicli the easiest road to the plains, by Bethhoron and Ajalon, was closed. The flight of Adonize- dek took place, according to the Biblical account, after the battle of Ajalon, while Joshua was at Gilgal, where the news was brought. 47 This appears to be the meaningr. and refers to the road, mentioned in the last letter, by the Valley of Elah — less easy than that by Ajalon. 48 Casi, or Cush, as in Egyptian records, appears to mean upper Egypt. See what has been said as to this name in Ribadda'a let- ter (61 B.). 324; THE SACRED BOOKS " And lo now ! the city of Jerusalem when these went away from the land was faithful to the King. Lo! the city of Gaza has remained to the King, Behold the land of Harti Cirmiel ^^ belonging to Takanu and the men of the city Givti,^*^ they have bowed down, going away from the land quietly. And truly we do so (or, but whether we do so). Behold Labaya! ^^ and the land Salabimi ^^ are inhabited by the Hebrew chiefs. Milcilu has sent for tribute ^^ and the fellows say ' Have we not indeed dwelt in (or spoiled) this land i ' They are adjudging all that they desire to the men of the city of Keilah. And truly we are leaving the city of Jerusalem. The chiefs of the garrison have left — without an order — through the wastings of this fellow whom I fear. These march to Addasi.^^ He has remained in his land (or camp) in the city of Gaza . . . women ... to the land of Egypt ..." Lettees of the Lady Basmath 137 B. — " To the King my lord, my God, my Sun, by let- ter thus says the Lady whose name is Basmatu,^^ thy hand- maid. At the feet of the King my lord, my God, my Sun, seven times seven times I bow. Know, O King my lord, 49 Harti Cirmiel is evidently Hareth Carmel, representing the Hebron country from Hareth (Kharas), on the northwest, above the Valley of Elah, to Carmel of Judah on the southeast. This would agree with placing Givti at Jeb'a. 50 Apparently the southern Gibeah of Judah, mentioned before ( 106 B.). Dr. Sayce reads Gath, but when Gath is mentioned it is called Giti (154 B."). 51 Labaya may mean, according to a common form of expression, the land of Labaya. 52 Salabimi, Shaalbim (Judges i. 3.5; 1 Kings iv. 9), or Shaalab- bin (Josh. xix. 42), is probably Selbit, lying southeast of Lydda, near Ajalon. 53 In Judges i. 3.5 we read of the Amorites remaining in this district. 54 This name may be read various ways, as " Addamaru " or " Abu Amaru." Perhaps the name " Ithamar " may be compared (Exod. vi. 23; xxviii. 1). See also Yabitiri of Joppa (Abiather). 55 "Basmath," meaning "balsam" or "sweet," was no doubt a com- mon woman's name. It occurs as the name of Ishmael's daughter whom Esau married (Gen. xxxvi. 3, 4, 13), and as that of one of Solo- mon's daughters (1 Kings iv. 15). LITERATURE OF THE EAST 325 behold ! there has been war in the land, and the land of the King my lord has been wearied by rebels, by men of blood. And know, O King, as to his land, and know my foolishness (or disgrace). Behold the men (or chiefs) of blood have sent to the city of Ajalon, and to the city of Zar'a (Zorah),^*^ and this is to show that there is no place of refuge for the two sons of Milcilu; and know, O King my lord, this request." 138 B. — " To the King my lord, my God, my Sun, by let- ter thus says the Lady whose name is Basmatu, thy hand- maid, the dust of thy feet, and at the feet of the King my lord, my God, my Sun, seven times seven times I bow. Let the King my lord pluck his land from the hands of the men of blood. Am not I tired marching to the town of Zabuba ; and because of not resting, O King my lord ? " [There is only one place in Palestine called Zabuba; it is the Sububa of the fourteenth century, the modern Ezbuba, south of Taanach, west of the plain of Esdraelon. Poor Basmath had to go some sixty miles by road to reach it from her home. This interesting little letter, which shows she was not one of the ladies sent to Egypt, though probably a person of importance, seems perhaps to indicate that the central part of the country, from which no appeals for help occur in the letters, was undisturbed. The Amorite-IIittite league came down to Bashan and to Tyre, but not apparently as far as Accho. The Hebrews, on the other hand, coming from Seir, are said to have gone as far north as Eimmon and Shiloh, but were mainly fighting southward from Ajalon. Between the two theaters of war lay the whole of Samaria and lower Galilee, in which Basmath found a refuge.] Other Lettees fkom the South of Palestine 136 B. — " To the King my lord, my God, the Sun from heaven, by letter thus says Yamirdagan, thy servant: at the feet of the King my lord, seven times seven times I bow. I hear the message of the King my lord to me, and now I will 56 Zorah, now Sur'ah (Josh. xix. 41; Judges xiii. 2, etc.), was not far south of Ajalon, and near Gezer on the southeast. 826 THE SACRED BOOKS guard the city of the King my lord till the coming of a mes- sage of the King my lord for me." [Comparing the name with that of Dagontacala of Asca- lon it appears that this writer was probahly a Philistine.] [151 B. — A letter from the " Chief of the town Xaziba " to say he goes with his chariots and horses to meet the King's soldiers. This place must, therefore, have been in or near the plains. It may be the Nezib of the Bible (Josh. xv. 43), now Beit Xusib, eight miles northwest of Hebron, close to Keilah. The chariots could easily reach this vicinity from the plain, by the broad flat highway of the Valley of Elah. ] 55 B. il. — [With the usual salutation, Ben Addu, captain of the King's horse, says :] " 'Now they watch the land of the King my lord exceedingly. And who am I — a dog . . . He will hear the messages of the King my lord and of the Ka-pa (for Paha) of the King my lord. To Sagusi Khasi, . . . thus says Ben Addu: I bow at thy feet. All is failing. So now those who are our friends are fleeing to the King; will not he dispatch ... the road . . . Now they guard the road: it is cleared for thee." 56 B. M. — [The usual salutation from Ben Addu, of the city of Pitazza ; continues :] " Xow they guard the city, and the land of the King my lord, the Sun from heaven : all that the King has said they watch — the allies. And the decree of the message of the King my lord, Bel Anapa ( Baal Anubis) the PaJca of the King my lord has uttered. The King my lord is mighty as the Sun in heaven. Whom I but a dog, and shall such a one not mind the message of the King my lord the Sun from heaven ? " EGYAL LETTERS Duseatta's Letters No. 9 B. M.— "To Neb-mat-ra (Amenophis III.), King of Egv'pt, my brother, by letter, thus Tuseratta ^ King of 1 " Tuser Atta," a Mongol name, " father of conquest." Arta Sumara appears to mean " destroying hero." LITERATURE OF THE EAST 327 Mitani,^ thy brother. I am at peace. Peace be to thee; to Gilukhipa, my sister, be peace. To thy house, thy wives, thy sons, thy lords, thy terrible army, thy horses, thy chariots, and in thy land, be much peace. Since I have sat on my father's throne, and have conquered. But Pirkhi made a lawless command in my land, and smote his lord; and be- cause of these things they have striven to right me, with who so loved us well ; and because my land submitted to this law- less order I was not afraid, but the chiefs who supported Artasumara, my brother, with all that were theirs, I slew. As thou wast well with my father, and because of these things, I send this. I say to you, as my brother hears, and will rejoice ; my father loved thee, and thou, therefore, didst love my father; and my father, as he saw this, gave thee my sister; and now ... as thou wast with my father. When my brother saw these things, he brought all those in the land of the Hittites as foes to my land ; and Rimmon my lord gave them to my hand ; and I slew him among them, so that not one returned to his land.^ Now I have sent thee a chariot with two horses, a young man and a young woman, of the spoil of the land of the Hittites. I have sent thee, as a present to my brother, five chariots, and five yoke of horses ; and as a pres- ent to Gilukhipa,'* my sister, I have sent her trinkets of gold, a pair of gold earrings, and ... of gold, and goodly stones, each. Now Gilia, a prudent man, and Tunipripi,^ I send to my brother ; speedily let him reply to me ; so I shall hear my brother's salutation, and shall rejoice. Let my brother wish me well ; and let my brother send envoys : so my brother's salutation shall come to me, and I shall hear." ® 2Mitani or Matiene (Herod, i. 72, 189, 202; iii. 94; v. 49, 52; vii. 72) extended from the sources of the Araxes to the Halys River, and thus included all Armenia west of Lake Van: other names for the region were, the "Land of Khani Rabbe " (or Khani Rabbatu) and the "Land of the Minyans." (See 27 B.) 3 The Hittites clearly did not live in Matiene, but in the adjacent country of northern Syria. 4 " Gilukhipa," a Mongol name, " possessing glory." 8 " Gilia " and " Tunipripi," Mongol names, " glorious " and " very reliable." 6 This may be dated late in the reign of Amenophis III., as Dusratta survived him. 328 THE SACRED BOOKS 22 B. — [The salutation calls Amenophis III. his " kins- man," but does not name his sister.] " Mani, my brother's envoy, has come to honor me : to take my brother's wife, the Queen of Egypt ;^ and I received the letter that came: I learned the declaration of his order. My heart has been much gladdened by my brother's message, as my brother will see; and it rejoiced that day exceeding much: that day and night they made rejoicings. " And, my brother, all the message that Mani came to bring has been performed. This same year behold, my brother, I will ... his wife, the Queen of Egypt, and I will send . . . henceforth the land of Khanirabbe and the land of Egypt. And because of these things that Mani has spoken, I send back, my brother, Gilia and Mani with speed, to . . • these things; and let not my brother blame them ... as to delay in being dispatched ; for there was no delay to . . . for my brother's wife; and lo! delay is . . . In the sixth month I have sent Gilia my envoy, and Mani my brother's envoy: I will send my brother's wife to my brother. So may Ishtar, the Lady of Ladies, my Goddess, and Amanu,^ my brother's God, give peace ... I have sent to my brother ; and my brother as . . . increased his love very much, and ... as the heart of my brother was satisfied ; and ... for our children my brother . . . more than before ... I have dispatched Khai, my brother, trusting his . . . and I give the letter to his hands . . . and let him bear his message ... I have sent . . . going to my brother ... my brother, are not his soldiers . . ." [The next five lines referring to the wife are too broken to read. The back of the tablet continues :] ". . . which my brother sent ... all that my brother has caused to be collected ... in presence of all of them they have been given us . . . all these things, beyond expectation thereof, and the gold . . . which they have paid — and he has indeed lavished very much . . . them, any or all these things; was not the gold . . . They say, 'In the land of 7 Possibly Queen Teie or Thi. 8 Amanu, the Egyptian god Amen. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 329 Egypt there is plenty more gold for thee, my brother, because he loves thee very much . . . and will love, and being so, is not there, behold, an}i;hing needful, anything beside, from the land of Egypt in addition ? So send to me, accordingly, him by whom these are given, and there shall be no lack.' Thus indeed, said I, ' As to anything further, do not I say to your faces — He loves me, and my land, exceeding much, does this King of Egypt ? ' " And my brother has taken me to his heart : all is as my heart desired ; and is it not understood ; when he sends shall not I hasten me for my brother : shall not I increase in long- ing toward my brother : as my brother does also ? Mani, my brother's envoy, has brought my brother's . . . which was with Mani. I have honored their . . . and I have honored them very much. Now Mani will take this ; and my brother we direct him to . . . how I have received from him very much : he will tell my brother this, and my brother will hear what we have done, as I have sent list of gifts of this and that, and he shall not refuse it. " And may my brother send untold gold ; and may my father's power increase with me, as my brother has increased n y favor, as my brother has cherished me much, in the sight of my country, in the sight of the whole of my brethren. May Rimmon and Amanu appoint that my brother's wishes be ever fulfilled ; and for myself, my brother, that my wishes may be fulfilled, as men whom the Sun-god loves. And so now the gods shall indeed decree for us this prayer, ... we shall join as friends forever, " For my brother's present I have sent to my brother a double-edged weapon . . . and of emeralds, and pure gold . . . enclosed in a box, and ... of alabaster, and pure gold, for a box ..." 21 B. — " To Amenophis III., the great King, King of Egypt, my brother, my kinsman ^ whom I love, and who loves 9 The word Khatanu means any kinsman by marriage, and emu is still used generally of any " kinsman " or even for " friend." Some have translated " son-in-law " and " father-in-law," but the latter word would be khamu, not emu. Dusratta was the father-in-law of Amen- ophis IV., but brother-in-law of Amenophis III. 330 THE SACRED BOOKS me, by letter thus Dusratta, the great King, King of Mitani, thy brother, thy kinsman who also loves thee. I am at peace," etc. " To my brother whom I love I have given his young wife.^" May the Sun-god and Ishtar . . . her face. As my brother desires: may . . . and may my brother rejoice, in the day when ... the Sun-god and the God . . . giving joy to my noble brother, ... let them grant it to be . . . and may my brother . . . forever. " Mani, my brother's envoy, and Khanni,^^ my brother's interpreter, as you cause them to be sent, plenty of provisions I shall give them . . . them much ; as they performed their orders I made all the people protect them. If they do not, may my gods, and my brother's gods, giiard them. Now I have sent Nahramani, who is careful in my brother's affairs, and I have sent an ornament of precious stones — of precious stones and gold, as a present to my brother; and may my brother be granted to live a hundred years." 8 B. M. — [The salutation is the same as before, but the writer's name is spelled " Tusratta " instead of Dusratta. The letter is the best preserved in the whole collection.] " Since your forefathers were friendly with my fore- fathers, thou therefore wast very greatly friendly with my father. So you love me : we are zealous friends. Ten times more you increase it than to my father. The heavenly gods shall decree that we shall be friends. May Rimmon my God, and Amanu, so pronounce, even forever. " And so my brother sent Mani his envoy. Thus indeed my brother said, ' Does not my brother's heart desire that thy daughter be the wife of my young son ^^ — as a princess 10 Bin ft, not Bintiya ("my daughter"). The word Bint is still used generally for " a young woman." Perhaps Queen Teie is in- tended. ^i Targumanu ("interpreter") is the modern "dragoman." Khanni was sent to Aziru, showing that the Canaanite rebellion may have occurred in the reign of Amenophis III. i2Asnnt marii/a elme, or perliaps Assutti elme ("in marriage to the youth"). There is no statement tliat shows Dusratta's daughter to have married Amenophis 111. She married his son, and is called "daughter-in-law" of Queen Teie ( U B. M.). LITERATURE OF THE EAST 331 of Egypt ' and I spoke as to my intention about it ; and my brother desiring that she should be made ready for Mani, and to show her, so he beheld her, and praised her much. And may they lead her in peace into the land of my brother. May Ishtar and Amanu make her agreeable to my brother's heart. '' Gilia, my envoy, set forth my brother's message before me. So I heard and it was very good ; and so I rejoiced very much. Thus truly I say, ' This is thus arranged between us so that we may be zealous friends.' Now with firm faith forever let us be friends. " So I shall send to my brother, and I say thus myself, so let us be much more friendly ; and do not you respond to us ? And I say thus, that my brother has enriched me ten times more than my father. " And I have asked much gold of my brother : so he has given me more than to my father. My brother indeed sent to me; and to my father you sent much gold: much mer- chandise of gold ; and besides all the gold you sent him you have sent me bricks of gold lavished like copper. " I sent Gilia humbly to my brother, and asked for gold. Thus indeed I said, ' Truly my brother has given me more than to my father, and may he send me untold gold.' " May my brother send me more than to my father ; and now I say thus to my brother : the loan that my grandfather made, so I may say, as one thinking little of wealth he made it for thee ; and now as regards what I say, the gold that my brother shall send, let him send it when he likes. " Lo, my brother has sent the gold saying, ' It is due to you.' But no. ISTo more was due ; and he had satisfied the account; and when he had satisfied the account I was glad thereof exceedingly; and whatever my brother sends I have been very glad thereof. " Now, behold, I sent to my brother — and may my brother extend his kindness to me more than to my father; now I asked gold of my brother, and whatever gold I asked of my brother he has sent the double of what was asked. One sum for the loan, and a second of good-will. 332 THE SACRED BOOKS " And may my brother send me untold gold ; and may he send me more than to my father ; and so may the gods decree, that much more gold beside be in my brother's land, as there now is in my brother's land ; and ten times more than there now is, may it increase. ^^ And let not my brother refuse the gold that I ask by my brother's wish ; and, as for me, let me not refuse my brother's wish ; and may my brother send me very much gold uncounted ; and whatever my brother needs, let him send and take. Let me return the gift that my brother desires for his household. This land is my brother's land, and this house is my brother's house. " Now I send Gilia, my envoy, to my brother. Let him not refuse him. Let him speedily command him: let him send him away. So hearing my brother's salutation, let me rejoice exceeding much. Let me ever hear my brother's salu- tation. And these messages that we send, let my God Rim- mon, and Amanu, decree that they may arrive through their mercy. And now it is prayed therefor, so we are friends; and as now so forever may we be friends. " Now as to the gifts for my brother : I have sent as my brother's gifts a quantity of solid gold, and precious stones: its value includes the amount of twenty precious stones and nineteen pieces of gold. The weight of precious stones and gold remaining includes the amount of forty-two precious stones and twenty pieces of gold Zuzas of Ishtar : this is the weight of precious stones and gold remaining; and ten yoke of horses, and ten chariots, with all that belongs to them, and thirty female slaves." 27 B. — [This is the longest letter in the collection, includ- ing six lines in Aramaic, and 512 lines in Dusratta's native language (see " Journal Royal Asiatic Society," October, 1892, for my translation). The important passages of the letter appear to me to read as follows, and the meaning is confirmed by statements in other letters by this writer con- cerning his daughter's marriage. The letter was addressed IS The gold came from Nubia and Abyssinia. (See Brugsch, "Hist. Egypt," i. pp. 287, 310.) LITERATURE OF THE EAST 333 to Amenophis III., and sent by the same two envoys, Mani and Gilias,^^ already noticed.] '^ Gilias, the envoy who takes the messages, is ordered to utter it, his duty being to go out, because Amenophis III., the Egyptian ally, rules a far off land, and I rule in the city Ikhibin,^^ the city of the God Simigis,^*^ the paternal deity. " To proceed : as Mani, my brother's envoy, says, it is understood that my brother is very desirous that it should be speedily completed. " Brother, I gladly empower the envoy to take back this woman, whom Mani says my brother commanded him to bring, when he was ordered as an envoy. " Understanding that my brother desires now to take her home, is it not necessary, understanding this decision to be preferred; as twenty-three months have gone by, is not her taking home to be hastened? My Court having decided to accept, and being satisfied as well as my wife, and resolved to accept the agreement ; and the girl being heartily pleased — how happy she is words can not tell — the decision is from the gods, brother, for me the decision is from the mighty gods, my brother. Surely you know w^hether I do not desire that she should be so brilliantly exalted, the girl being so fortunately married : surely you know that I shall be glad. " Proclaim thou for me that w^hatever people of Khalci,^'' west of the Minyan ^^ country — whatever people of Khalci I have conquered, are made subject. 14 In Aramaic " Gilia," in the native tongue " Gilias," with the Mongol termination of the nominative indefinite. 15 Ikhibin, possibly Kaban Maden in Armenia. 16 Si-migi-8 is apparently a Mongol title for some deity, " the eye of night" (or "of sunset"), either the moon or the evening star. 17 Khalci, either Chalcis near Aleppo, or the " Land of the Khal " or " Phenicians." (Karnak list, No. 140.) 18 The Minyans (Jer. li. 27; and in Ps. xlv. 8, Targum) lived west of Lake Van. The Hyksos are called Men, or Menti, in Egyptian texts. Apepi, the Hyksos King, adored Set, or Sut, who was adored also by the Hittites, and from whom Dusratta's father, Sut-tarna ("Set is his lord " ) was probably named. It would appear that the Hyksos, Hit- tites, and Armenians, were of the same race. The land of the Men ia said to have been near Assyria, and east of Syria, which agrees. 334 THE SACRED BOOKS " I being the great chief of the power of the land of the Hittites taking to me, my brother, all the people that are con- quered. Let it extend to the city of Harran,^'* and let the land possessed by no king be taxed. " My son-in-law being married in the city of Thebes in presence of the image of the deity. " Is it not thus that Dusratta dwelling afar arranges the marriage of Tadukhipa ^^ — Dusratta, the favored friend, from the Minyan land, consenting to the wish of Amenophis III., the Egyptian friend, that the son of Amenophis III. be so married to her, in the presence of the image of the deity." [As this letter is written in what is called by scholars an ^' unknowTi language," these renderings may be questioned. The dialect appears, however, to be closely related to the Akkadian and to other Mongol dialects of western Asia, and to be also the same used (B. 10) by the Hittites.] 10 B. M. — [Written, as the Egyptian docket at the bottom of the tablet on the back states, in the thirty-sixth year of Amenophis III., which appears to have been probably the last of his reign.] "To Amenophis III., King of Egypt, my brother, my kinsman whom I love, and who loves me, by letter thus Dus- ratta, King of Mitani, who loves thee, thy kinsman. I am at peace. Peace be to thee, to thy house, to the woman Tachik- hipa, my daughter, to the wife thou lovest be peace.^^ To thy wives, to thy sons, to thy lords, to thy chariots, to thy horses, to thy army, to thy land, and to all that is thine, be much, much, much peace. " Thus I say, Ishtar of Nineveh, the lady of the lands, is kind of heart to the land of Egypt. In the land that I love do not they walk after her ? ^^ Do not they cry aloud to her ? Now behold it has brought thee prosperity. 19 Harran (Oen. xi. 31, etc.), now Harran, was on the south border of Dusratta's kingdom, marching with Assyria. (Compare 24 B.) 20 Tadukhipa, a Mongol name, " possessing sweetness." 21 Probably Tele is here meant, as there is no notice of Gilukhipa. Sho may have died. 22 " Walk after " for " obey " or " worship," is used just as in Bibli- cal Hebrew. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 335 " Now from the time of my father they have besought Ishtar in her land for thy prosperity ; and, as of old so now, it continues. They honor her. " And now may my brother receive of her ten times more than before. Let my brother receive with joy: let it be hastened for him: let it endure. " Ishtar is the Lady of Heaven, my brother, and as for me let me be guarded by her for a hundred years; and may great joy be given. Let it be granted by her that I may not fail; and as you desire may it befall. " Is not Ishtar my God, and has not she prospered my brother (or been with my brother) ? " 24: B. — [The second longest of Dusratta's letters, 185 lines in all, is unfortunately very much damaged, as it is perhaps the most important, giving as it does historical in- formation extending over three generations, during which the kings of Egypt and of Mitani were allied by marriage.] " To . . . ya,^^ my kinsman, whom I love and who loves me, . . . the great King, King of Mitani, thy kinsman who loves thee. I am at peace ... to the Lady Teie . . . to Tadukhipa, my daughter, thy wife, be peace, to ... be peace. To thy sons, to thy lords, to thy chariots, to thy horses, to thy . . . and to all that is thine, be much, much much peace ... of Amenophis III. thy father he sent to me ; he explained ... of all that he sent there was no mes- sage at all that I ... to your father as to what he sent to me ; and Teie, the chief wife of Amenophis IIL, your mother knew all of them. All these have been seen by Teie, your mother, ... the messages that your father caused to be ad- dressed to me. ". . . and ten times more than with Amenophis IIL your father caused him to tell me whatsoever wish . . . and what- ever message I spoke, faithfully in the same day ... he himself did not turn away his heart from any message . . . but faithfully in the same day he caused it to be done. 23 The broken name was " Nabkhuriya," or Amenophis IV., as is clear from the next paragraph. He was also the husband of Tadukhipa, as here stated. (See 11 B. M.) 336 THE SACRED BOOKS ". . . the father of Amenophis III. sent to Sitatama,^* my grandfather, and ... a daughter. He sent to my grandfather five or six times, and he was not given her, when . . . he sent; and at length he was given her. Amenophis III. your father sent humbly to Suttarna, my father, . . . and so for my father's daughter, my own sister, his heart was desirous; and five or six times he . . . her: when he had sent five or six times at length he was given her. So Amenophis III. . . . sent to me, and so desired a daugh- ter 2^ and I ... I said in ... of his envoy ' Thus I say I have sworn to give her : by our wish ... to take, and the . . . which he has known: and she is a sister, so it is law- ful; and I give . . . Amenophis III. thy father's ... if these are not truths . . . heaven and earth bear witness . . . to give her; and Khai,^^ the envoy of my brother ... to the Queen and to Amenophis III. I sent with her ... in three months with the greatest speed . . . and the gold . . . truly was not . . . which I sent. ' " When you favored a daughter, and so sent for her, and as Amenophis III. your father, knew her ... I rejoiced, being exceeding glad, and he said, ' My brother, is not it thy wish thus to give the handmaid ' ; and he made public agree- ment with this his land, in presence of my envoy ... so men . . . when they beheld ; and I received from him ; and Amenophis III. established us . . . for the future; and so receiving ... I was made great; and in the cities which for Tadukhipa ... in all of them he made us dwell as con- querors,^^ and among the envoys who went down . . . none 24 Sitatama, a Mongol name, apparently " fair-faced." Suttarna, also Mon Khai was sent to Aziru (31 B.), which again shows the date of the Canaanite rebellion to have been early. 27 This agrees with 27 B. as regards Dusratta's conquests in the Hittite country. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 337 that Gilia . . . the gold of one (limzu) was given by weight. Truly to Amenophis III. for Tadukhipa it was given; and Tadukhipa . . . was given . . . and . . . my envoys Amenophis III. with ... I received; there was no one . . . Amenophis III. sent Nizik his envoy . . . myself; and he . . . refusing to my face the ... of gold . . . the gold which ... of Gilia and ... he established us . . . my envoys ... to be dispatched ... he did not cease to deny . . . and ... he took her ... I was not able to re- fuse to please him ... he sent this to me . . . they sent was wonderful, and then . . . Amenophis III., your father, in every message . . . the lord of the place to protect her. Did not he order all these as I say ... do not I say that Teie ^^ . . . has known . . . and Teie is your mother, ask her if, among the messages that I spake, there is one mes- sage which is not vindicated by her, as to these messages to Amenophis III. your father, ... if to Amenophis III., your father, brotherhood was made by me : if it was said by Amenophis III., your father, ' If at all there is gold that . . . in the land of Khani Rabbe I will dispatch it; and order thou thus the ... do not I desire to cause it to be sent ' : the . . . bore what was ordered to be given of Ameno- phis III., your father ; and Amenophis III. said to me ^ . . the treasures of gold ... all that my . . . desires is sent . . . and ... to do this I have sent to thee ' . . . there by Amenophis III. with a message. Never was there a mes- sage without a reply. I never refused any of the messages. " And when Amenophis III. was obliged to be taken to his fate, and they told me ... I tore my cheeks, and I mourned on that same day ; I sat in the dust ; I took no food or water that same day ; and I was grieved ... I said ' Let me perish myself from earth, and from my . . . and that he loved me God knows, and he was loved ' and because of these things we are cast down in our hearts. ". . . to me the eldest son of Amenophis III. by his wife 28 Aa Amenophis IV. was married already in the reign of Amenophis III., his mother's marriage evidently took place some twenty years at least before the date of this letter. VOL. I.— 22. 338 THE SACRED BOOKS Teie . . . was made, and I said, ' Has not Amenophis III. died . . . the eldest son of liis chief wife Teie is in his stead . . . shall not we be sent news . . . from her abode as of old.' "... I say, thus Amenophis IV. is my brother whom we shall love in our hearts . . . the son of Amenophis III. more than his father, because of Teie his mother, who was the wife ... as she desires a message to the presence of Amenophis IV. (Abkhuriya) the son of Amenophis III., her husband. I rejoice very exceeding much that we shall be friends. " As they have sent me this message ? As they have or- dered it, Gilias is humbly sent . . . they have sent Mani as an envoy, and treasures of woods or trees my brother has sent, and gold . . . without gold and without . . ." [The next passage is too broken to read, but refers to the continuance of friendship since the time of the ancestors of both kings, and for the future. The back of the tablet is very much broken, the whole of one paragraph, and the greater part of the next, which refers to Teie as the mother of Amenophis IV., being destroyed. It continues:] ". . . the message of your mother which to Gilias . . . He has desired a message to be dispatched and as he desires . . . have not I sent my envoys, and have not I . . . and it is not my fault and the treasures . . . which he asked of him I have caused to be given, not being desired . . . my envoys four years since you ^® . . ." [Eight lines are here almost entirely destroyed, referring to some speedy message, and to the former king, with a refer- ence to certain persons, including the " father of Teie (your elders) with me," with professions of friendship. The end of the paragraph (lines 40, 41) contains the words, "as thus he set us up over all her many lands ... all the lands are all hers in his sight." ^^ The next paragraph continues:] 2n Af)par('ntly tliis was written at least four years after the death of Amenopliis III., or about 1450 n.c. at earliest. 80 Tiie lands given when Tadukliipa was married. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 339 ". . . the treasures of gold allowed to be dispatched pre- viously by Amenophis 111. ... he has sent. Lo! very ex- ceedingly my brother has desired that treasures ... to us; and much of his gold . . . very exceedingly my brother ... as intending for me . . . whatever among . . . and your father ; was not he given by me ; and lo ! now let my brother see that I was not at all . . . to your father: the treasures that he desired were given, and lo ! . . . I am send- ing back my message: there shall be nothing done to cause the heart to turn away ... all the messages . . . Teie has been a witness, and Teie your mother . . . plenty. Lo! I asked your father, and did not your father grant me ? and ... let this gold be given, and let not my brother's heart ... let him not turn from my . . . when the loan . . . was not made, and what had . . . ". . . Let Gilia know this day what my brother's heart desires. I have made Gilia travel . . . thus I have made my brother's envoys to obey him, traveling with speed. If ever, my brother, my envoys ... if ever I send my envoys . . . the fault is not mine ... I have sent Mani and Gilia to my brother as before. If at all by my brother my envoys to him, and if by us they shall be received, I also shall so hasten him . . . Lo! as regards messages from my brother, which he makes about anything as to my brother's intentions . . . thence ; and on the throne of his father he sits this day ; and let me do my brother's will. " I say thus, my brother, have not I sent my envoys, and much in their keeping which is for thee; and my brother let . . . which is for thee. Mazipalali,^^ my envoy, is the paternal uncle of Gilia, and for . . . my brother I have sent him, and my brother am not I the surer as Gilia is not . . . And the other envoy whom I shall send to my brother is the brother of Gilia, the son of his mother ^^ . . . I sent him. So my brother have not I dispatched him speedily without stopping, and, my brother, as to my wishes that I wish, it is not my fault, and because of these things did not I send 31 Mazipalali, a ^rongol name. " hero with the sword." 32 Indi"*tiss that t.li<»ae Moneola were not monogamists. 340 THE SACRED BOOKS Gilia ... for security, and for all this am not I the surer. " Mazipalali, whom I shall send to my brother, is the uncle of Gilia ; and the treasures allowed to be dispatched . . . and plenty of untold gold of the loan which I desire from my brother let my brother give . . . and let him not refuse; and with my brother gold in addition ... ten times more may it increase to me exceedingly ... let these things be ordered; and Mani with my envoy my brother ... let be given of my brother ; and let him send Gilia to me ; and . . . and all the news about my brother's mother that they shall speak, and especially let me hear . . . that they did. And lo ! as before I sent not to thee my brother, so let him . . . me. Let not my brother . . . and to my brother's pleasure . . . and I meditate a message of consolation for my brother. "Let both Artessupa^^ and . . . thus relate in my brother's land this thing. I have been sent under escort . . . Mani brought before me all my wicked slaves, who have dwelt in Egypt, and I examined them ^^ as to . . . and they said . . . and I said before them, ' Why is your insolence so great?' ... So they put them in chains, and . . . one of my . . . one from my city who has angered the land . . . and another . . . did not I slay because of these things ? My brother, did not he say . . . was not I wroth ? Behold, my brother, they were wicked . . . and . . . my brother it was necessary and now let me afflict them. " As to a present for my brother. My brother's presents are — a weight of solid gold from the land Ris Burkhis, a weapon with a stone head ^^ ... of precious stone ... an «3 Mongol name, Ar-Tessupas, "worshiper of Tessupas " (Eimmon). Other Mongol names occur in 27 B. (in the native speech) including Asali ("joyful") and Artatan ("strong soldier"). If Tele's name was Mongolic, it would mean " bright." 34 Similar extradition is noticed in the treaty between Ramses II. and Kheta Sar, the Hittite king, a century later. 3r. The signs IZCU, SAK, TAK ("weapon, stone, head") seem to indicate a stone axe such as the Carians used. Battle-axes of flint are noticed in the time of Thothmes III. (Brugsch, "Hist. Egypt," i. p- 342.) LITERATURE OF THE EAST 341 ornament for the hands of precious stones, one part of gold : three cloths: three . . . three . . . with fastenings of gold, ... of refined bronze or copper . . . two . . . " As a present for Teie your mother an ornament for the hands of precious stones . . . earrings . . . two cloths. " As a present for Tadukhipa, my daughter, an ornament for the hands . . . earrings . . . two cloths." 23 B. — [The salutation is the same as in the last, being addressed to Amenophis IV., to Teie, and to Tadukhipa.] " Mani, my brother's envoy, has come to me. I have heard. I liked much the gifts that my brother ... I saw, and I rejoiced very much. My brother utters this message and says, ' As with my father Amenophis III., you were friends, now behold this day be friends with me, thy brother. You will continue to be kind,' and I have not delayed . . . with my brother. Lo! ten times more than to your father I will be a friend. " And your father, Amenophis III., spoke this message in his letter by your . . . Mani, ' Continue thou the friend- ship,' ^^ and when my brother, Amenophis III., said this, lo ! what I had sent was nothing at all, and my brother shall not consider it anything. And I do not send this present, which behold I have sent to thee, as desiring to cause you to send; but humbly whatever my brother desires to be given to his wife, they shall be made to take away. They shall see her,^^ and I will send ten times as much. " And the treasures of gold allowed to be dispatched — one treasure for me, and another treasure as the treasure of Tadukhipa, my daughter, lo! I asked of Amenophis III., your father. And your father said, ' Send for the gold that remains to be remitted ; let the rest be given, and the precious stones that are to be given thee, and the gold, because we have increased the gift, which is marvelous with treasure to be given to you.' And the gold of the treasures all my en- 36 This letter may, perhaps, be earlier than the preceding. 37 From a later letter ( 1 B. M. ) it seems that the foreign ladies were shown to envoys from their parents, to enable them to report as to their health. 342 THE SACRED BOOKS voys who were in the laud of Egypt beheld with their eyes ; and your father lavishly increased the treasures in presence of my envoys. He welcomed them on their way; he main- tained them ! and lavishly expended the . . . on my envoys. They gazed, and so truly they beheld with their eyes his favor poured out. " And more gold beside, which was marvelous, which he sent to me, he piled up ; and he said to my envoys, ' Behold the treasures, and behold the gold in plenty, and the pos- sessions which are marvelous,^^ which I shall send to my brother : behold them also with your eyes.' And my envoys beheld with their eyes. " But now, my brother, the treasures remitted, which your father sent, you shall not send, but the woods (or trees) have been received.^*^ You are sending the possessions that your father sent to me. You shall not send them, but shall store them up very much. " And thinking of all that one has known, how I rejoiced because of my brother, none ever brought salutation from him at any time, my brother, but the same day return was made to him. " And Khamassi, my brother's envoy, he sent humbly to my presence, and humbly he spoke my brother's message: I heard, and then I said, ' As I was friends with Amenophis HI., thy father, lo! now ten times more with Amenophis IV. (Nabkhuriya) shall I be great friends.' So then I said to Khamassi, your envoy. " And lo ! my brother : the treasures of gold to be remitted you shall not send ; and there shall be respite of gifts which your father spoke of sending. It is desired that my brother shall not send them. " Lo ! my brother, the treasures of gold which I asked of your father I may say that half of them will be carried off (or stolen) . . . The lands are at strife . . ." '*" 38 Or " the curious things." 39 Or, perhaps, " but letters are received." ■•uThis agrees with the letters from Babylonia in showing the dis- turbed state of the countries between Armenia and Egypt early in the LITERATURE OF THE EAST 343 11 B. M.— "To . . . Princess of the Land of Egypt," ^ thus Dusratta, King of Mitani. I am at peace : Peace be to thee . . . Peace be to thy son; peace be to Tadukhipa, thy daughter-in-law. To thy land and to all that is thine be much, much peace. " Thou hast known of me how I loved Amenophis III., thy husband, and Amenophis III., because he was thy hus- band how he loved me. As for Amenophis III., thy hus- band, he heard what I said ; and Amenophis III., because he was thy husband, sent messages to me ; and what he said to thee my . . . both Mani has known, and thou . . . hast known all of these things — the messages we zealously ut- tered. There was nothing thus that he has not known of them. " Now you said to Gilia, ' Say to your Lord, Amenophis III. was friends with your father, and why should his favor be less than to your father? Nay, indeed, what he shall send to our place shall not . . . will not you hasten to . . . your friendship with Axnenophis III. . . . making it greater; and assure him . . . that you will gladly send . . ." [Here many broken lines follow, but it seems clear from this letter, and from 24 B., that Teie (or Thi), the Queen of Egypt, was related to Dusratta, but it is not clear that she was his sister. Gilukhipa, the sister whom he names, is known from Egyptian sources to have been the daughter of Suttarna, Dusratta's father, and she came to Egypt with 317 ladies in her train. Amenophis III. also married at least one Babylonian princess, as will appear in the letters that follow.] RiMMON NiRARl's LeTTEE 30 B.— " To the Sun-god the King my lord, the King of Egypt, thus Rimmon Nirari,'*^ thy servant. I bow at my reign of Amenophis IV., due to the revolts of Hittites, Amorites, and Hebrews. *i Clearly written to Teie, as Amenophis IV. is mentioned as her son. *2 " Rimmon Nirari " is an Assyrian name, but the king so called 34-4 THE SACRED BOOKS lord's feet. Lo! Manakhbija (Thothmes IV.) made my father King ... to rule in the land of Markhasse (or Nuk- hasse), and established men to dwell with him; and as the King of . . . was disputing for the kingdom, which has been made . . . which he established for him ... he gave him . . ." [About twenty lines of the letter are here destroyed; the remainder of the lines being broken and disconnected.] Callimmasin's Letters 1 B. — " To Amenophis III., the King of Egypt, by letter thus Callimmasin,'^^ the King of Carandunias (Babylonia), thy brother. I am at peace. To thee, to thy house, thy wives, thy land, thy chariots, thy horses, thy ... be much peace. " Because of the youngest of my daughters, whom you send to wed, Irtabi, whom you remember, they took this message. My father formerly sent a message. You col- lected many soldiers, you approved his message, and you sent making a present to my father. " Xow I send thee this envoy. In the sixth year you seek for this, and in the sixth year you send thirty manahs of gold instead of silver for my present. I return the same gold. Casi, your envoy, has known its value, which he has seen. I send thy envoy well instructed as to our opinion. For I followed . . . and the present that he is instructed to ... is thirty manahs of gold, w^hich you ... a gift of alliance." [The rest is too broken to read. It mentions five women sent, and ten wooden chariots — the latter as presents. The next letter is from Egypt ; either a copy or an original never sent.] lived a good deal later. The rank of this writer is evidently inferior, but not as inferior as that of the Canaanite chiefs. He may have been an Assyrian prince, and perhaps verote to Amenophis III. 43 Tliig king, unknown before, was probably older than Amenophis Til., who married his daughter, who was marriageable before the writ- er's father died. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 345 1 B. M. — " To Callimmasin, King of Carandunias, mj brother, by letter thus Amenophis III., the great King, the King of Egypt, thy brother. There is peace to my region. To thy region be peace: to thy house, to thy wives, to thy sons, to thy lords, to thy horses, to thy chariots, and in thy hands be much peace. I am at peace. There is much peace to my house, to my wives, to my sons, to my lords, my horses, my chariots, my army; and in my lands there is much peace. " Now I heard the message you sent about her to me. Thus it was, ' Now you ask my daughter as your wife, but ID.J sister whom my father gave thee, being good to you, has any seen her whether she has lived or whether she has died ? ' This is the message that you send in your letter. But did you ever send as your envoy one who has known your sis- ter, and who has spoken with her, and understood her ? And let one speak with her. The chiefs you send are useless, your envoy Zakara is one who is a chief. There is not one among them related to your father, and . . . concerning this my envoy is with thee, and has spoken to her . . . her heart . . . concerning this, and she has given ... to her mother. And lo ! you send this, ' You spoke to my envoys, and they gathered your wives: a lady appeared before you, saying thus, Behold your queen who is brought out before you all. But my envoys knew her not to be my sister.' Now satisfy yourself as to what you thus send, ' My envoys knew her not,' and you say, ' Who was it that was recognized by her ? ' Why do not you send as your envoy one who shall tell you a true message as to the salutation from your sister, I pray you? And you said that they disputed as to her appearance. But you can see her with the King. And lo ! you send thus, ' Who was the princess — a daughter of one who was a native, or was she one of the land of my neigh- bors, or was she the daughter of the land of Khani Eabbatu, or the princess of the land of Ugarit, that my envoys so saw, and who was it that spoke to them to satisfy that nothing wrong was done ? ' And does not your message say all this ? But if she has died — your sister, and I am concealing, as 346 THE SACRED BOOKS you pretend, her ... in former times, which we . . . the God Amanu ... I rejoice that the wife I love ... she has been made queen ... I deny that . . . beyond all the wives . . . that the Kings of Egypt ... in the land of Egypt. And lo ! you send thus, ' Both my daughters . . . as wives of the Kings of the land of Carandunias.' But if the ... of my envoys is friendly, and they have said, ' With these things our lord has sent us, as a present, to satisfy thee concerning thy message: the princess salutes the Kings, and all her friends your daughters.' Take thou possession from him of whatever is with them, and send me a letter, and ar- range with thy sister who is with me, and make sure of everything; and I have sent to thee an overseer, so to make known to your daughters, in order to perceive the evil that they teach you. And lo ! you send ' The messages that my father has left, do not these messages of his say concerning this that he established alliance between us ? ' This is the message you send. JSTow you and I have fulfilled the alli- ance, and the portion is before your envoys as they will say in your presence. Is not all to be given by us to her who is to come to the land of Egypt whom they shall bring before me? And choose one of them. Now I have sent silver, gold, unguents, cloths, all whatsoever the land can give, and the overseer will say what is the value of that which he has brought — every gift to be weighed to you, that my envoy is to give. And we have been shamed by the evils that they speak. They have refuted the abominations — the evil things that they told you of us. And I was grieved when they ... us all these things. Eor is it not of their deceit that they told you thus ? And I appointed them not to . . . them about this. And lo! you send thus, you say thus to my envoys, ' There are no soldiers of my lord, and is not a young girl to be given them ? ' This is thy message : ' Thy envoys said for thee that none are going forth. It might be done safely if there were soldiers, if there be none it is im- possible to arrange for us what I am asked by him. If there are soldiers I grant it you, if there are horses I grant you this.' This reason your envoy made use of with us, who LITERATURE OF THE EAST 347 put me to shame — the evil man whom you sent. I pray thee if they feared to be slain, and lamented evils when she went out, lo! all was in your hands. Thus let my chariots be granted from among the chariots of the ruling chiefs : do not you regard them as a possession 'i You can send them wherever you please. Are not they all a possession ? Are not there, I pray you also, chariots; are not there, I pray you, horses with me? Demand all my horses: the chariots behold you shall send to meet you at the stations. As for me you shall send me the girl, and send out one to lead her to me." 3 B. M. — [This is broken at the top, but supposed to be from Callimmasin.] ". . . my envoys . . . the many . . . that they send to me I . . . Thou my brother without . . . for thy daughter to wed, as I send . . . you say thus, ' From of old a daugh- ter of the King of Egypt was not given for anything.' Why so? Thou art a King, and doest thy will. As they spake this message to me I then sent thus, ' Many of your daugh- ters are grovni up. So send one who is grown up as I ask for her.' Who says thus, ' There is no daughter of the King to give.' Thou hast sent without inquiring as to this. Thou dost not rebuke alliance and good-will, as you send approach- ing me eagerly as to a taking to wife. And I sent to you because of these things, in brotherhood and good-will, because eagerly approaching me as to taking a wife. My brother, why not send a woman? Why am I repulsed? I myself have sent like thee, I have entrusted a woman. As there were daughters I did not refuse thee. Why associate by taking a wife as ... I have sent to thee to know this . . . all your . . . so . . . they said your . . . Lo! my daugh- ter whom I have sent . . . you do not take unwillingly, con- senting to whatever you desire . . . and as for the gold that I send you, your envoy has agreed with me as to the amount of the gold I . . . Behold speedily, within this year, whether in the month of June (Duzu) or in the month of July (Ab), this message being taken away, let her whom I have taken be ... If within this year, in June or in July, 348 THE SACRED BOOKS I send you the gold, you shall send . . . the daughter whom I am given by you, and you in return shall send the gold for your . . . But if in June or in July the gold is not sent, do not cause her whom I have taken to be sent away. And in return for what will you send to be carried away her whom I have taken. Why, indeed, is it necessary to trouble about gold? Truly sending 3,000 pounds of gold, have not I completed the exchange for you, and have not I given my daughter to take to wife ? " Ashuruballit's Letter 9 B. — " To Amenophis IV., the great King, the King of Egypt, my brother, thus Ashuruballit,^^ King of Assyria, the great King, thy brother. Peace be to thee, to thy house, and to thy land. I was very glad when I saw your envoys. Let me send your envoys again with my message. I have sent as a present for you a chariot of the royal forces, of my . . . and two horses swift and sure. A chariot, and a precious stone. " The sending of gold from your land that has formerly come across to the great King has ceased.^'^ Why should he be repulsed from your sight? They have taken as much gold as there was ; as much as I have received, which also I have needed, is caused to be sent. " In the time of Assurnadinakhi, my ancestor, they sent to the land of Egypt twenty pounds of gold. " In the time that the King of Khani-Rabbatu sent to your father, to the land of Eg^^pt, they sent him twenty pounds of gold. ". . . To the King of Khani-Rabbatu and to me . . . you have sent gold. I sent . . . and you . . . from the hands of my envoys . . . " If fortunately your face is favorable, send gold, and let him who executes the message take what is needed. In return let our envoys be sent to thee from us. Your envoys ** This Kinpr's date has been placed as late as 1400 B.C., but the dates are not accurately fixed. ♦sThia interruption was probably due to the Syrian revolt. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 349 who have tarried with me needing men to guide them it is granted, in order that I may send this. They took from me men to guide them as they went down. Do not disgrace my envoys, and do not delay them for me. Why should we not in future send out envoys ? In future they will carry news, in future they will be sent out to the King to carry the news. And in future let it be declared, ' Whosoever of us is treach- erous, let him be destroyed for the King.' I have received envoys thirteen times, why should not other envoys beside from the King in future again . . ." Letters from Burnabukiash 2 B. M. — "To Amenophis IV. (Nibkhuarririya), King of Egypt, by letter thus Burnaburiash, King of Carandu- nias,^® thy brother. I am at peace. May there be much peace to thee, to thy house, thy wives, thy sons, thy land, thy lords, thy horses, thy chariots. " Since my fathers and thy fathers spoke good things zealously, sending eagerly to make presents, and m.aking friends — and did not they speak eagerly — lo ! now my brother has sent two manalis of gold as a present to me. Lo ! there is much gold beside, which your father sent, and as this has increased beyond what your father gave, why should you send two manalis of gold ? Lo ! I have received much, even very much gold, which remains in the temple. Enough gold has been sent. Why should you send two manalis of gold ? But as for thee, whatever is needed in thy land send for it, let it be taken of me for thee. " In the time of Kurigalzu,^'^ my father, all the Canaan- ites sent to him saying thus, ' What sayest thou as to the setting up of the land. It is weak. What sayest thou ? ' " My father clave to thy father. He sent to them thus, ' It has been sent to me as to your discontent. If you are foes with the King of Egypt, my brother, you must cleave to some other. Shall not I go out against you for this ? Shall 46 Burnaburiash appears to have reigned about 1400 B.C. 47 This indicates the beginning of the Syrian wars in the reign of Amenophis III. 350 THE SACRED BOOKS not I destroy you, as if you were discontented with me ? ' j\Jy father heard them not because of your father. Now behold Assyria has arrayed against me. Did not I send to you, as to their thoughts about your land? Why do they send against me ? If you have pity on me it will never be done. They will fail to win these things. I have sent to thee, as a present for thee, three manahs of precious stones, fifteen pairs of horses for five wooden chariots." 3 B. M. — [The salutation is the same as in the preced- ing.] " Since the time of Caraindas, since your father's envoys to my father came to me, until now there has been good- will. Now I and thou are well with each other. Your envoys have come thrice to me, making also presents, what- ever was sent. And I have sent to thee whatever present has been made. As for me, is it not all an honor; and as for thee, have not I honored thee in all ? Your envoy whom you send, has not he paid the twenty manahs of gold that he has brought ? And as for the gifts that remain, is not the amount five manahs of gold ? " [Five lines of the letter are here destroyed. On the back of the tablet it continues :] "... the forces of the land of Egypt . . . these let him gather within the year, which thy envoy says he has sent, and he shall cause the women of the princess to be guided to you, any time that you order. Let me ask for her that the speed may be gTeater ; and having been delayed, when he has made speed let your envoy take them, and he shall do more than they did before. So I have told my envoy Sindisugab to say. So let them both station the chariots speedily. Let them come to me, and let them make proper arrangements; so let my envoy and your envoy come to me, speedily con- veyed. " As a present for thee I have sent thee two manahs of precious stones ; and to enrich your daughter my son's wife ^^ he gave a . . . and an amulet to cause safety; and I have 4» Apparently a Babylonian princess was to be sent to Egypt, and an Kgyptian princess to Babylon. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 351 sent thee as a present precious stones to the number of one thousand forty and eight; and I sent, as your envoy was sent back with Sindisugab." [4 B. M. — With the same salutation as before, is very much broken. It contains a list of presents sent in connec- tion with the same royal marriage of a daughter of the King of Egypt to the Babylonian prince. The envoy's name was Sutti ; the presents included a throne of strong wood, ivory, and gold, and another of wood and gold, with other objects of gold and strong wood.] 6 B. — [The salutation is the same, but the Kings' names are spelled " Nabkhururia " and " Burnaburias." This tab- let is very much injured. It refers to a daughter and a promise. It continues :] " He takes her people with him in seven chariots, with seven chariots which he took from me; all that belongs to her, behold ... let me send her people to you. The Kings who ... of the daughter of the great King, in five chariots ... to your father . . . three overseers ... us he sent . . ." [About half the obverse of the letter is then lost, and about a quarter of the upper part of the back. It then con- tinues :] " If the arrangements are already complete ... if there are no previous arrangements let . . . to send Zalmu for the Eoyal Princess, for Zalmu ^^ was your envoy whom I sent out, let him come ... let him take back the soldiers whom he has sought of me, and let him take ... of the people of the neighborhood, who being speedily sent he may take back, and let them add as many as . . . *' Khai your chief, whom you send, is given soldiers and a chariot of our . . . and send plenty of soldiers with Khai, for the King's daughter . . . and otherAvise do not send the King's daughter to travel . . . Do not delay ; send speedily ... in the course of this year you shall send a chariot and soldiers, so gathering ... let them unite as many as he says are necessary. 49 Zalmu was a Babvlonian. See the next letter. 352 THE SACRED BOOKS " Your father sent much gold to Curigalzu ... of Curi- galzu, the quantity thereof increased in the palace ... so, because he heard the Kings (or great men) who gave advice, thus the gold . . . the Kings, brotherhood, and good-v^'ill, peace, and fealty . . . the . . . increased the silver, in- creased the gold, increased . . . " As thy present I have sent ... of precious stones. To the Lady of thy house twenty of precious stones : so my wife causes me to send, because very greatly . . . and as she desires shall it not be done, as I rejoiced being glad ... let them take of me much gold for thyself ... let them take of me according as I . . . may it come quickly ; and has not my lord ordered thus, that your envoy should bring to his brother much ... so let me send to thee ..." 7 B. — [The salutation from Burnaburiash is the same as in the preceding lettere. The letter continues :] " On the day that my brother's envoy arrived, and brought me this message, his envoy came wearied to my presence: he had eaten no food, and had drunk no strong drink . . . the envoy you send told me the news, that he had not brought to me the caravan on account of wicked men from whom it was not safe. So he has not brought to me the caravan. The explanation of the head man was, because of fear of being destroyed, which my brother has known of. Thus as I de- sired explanation, not . . . why the chief did not . . . his envoy, why he had not sent it, had not . . . my brother's envoy he has caused to say this . . . ' Is it not that the region was at strife ? ' thus . . . your brother heard this. He has sent vou salutation. Who is it that has told my brother thus that the land has risen ? Your brother sends with speed to salute you, as wishing to hear this. Does not he send his envoy to thee ? I have told him then to say to my brother, ' A great multitude has arisen, and the land is at strife: the thing is true that thy envoy thus said. As thy brother heard not that the expedition has marched on thee, he has asked. Has not he sent to salute thee V So as I asked my envoy, he said, ' As the foe has arisen let him LITERATURE OF THE EAST 353 be destroyed.' My brother, have not I ordered this ? ^^ And so they told me all that has happened in my brother's country, and is not all this explanation necessary i And all has thus happened in my land, and as for me is it not all needful ? ' The lawful command that was previously in the hands of our kingdom has been opposed,' he said. We have speedily sent salutation : an interchange of messages between us has been established ... to your presence . . ." [Several lines are here missing at the top of the tablet on the back, and the letter then goes on to describe difficulties in the sending of presents.] 8 B. — [The same salutation from Burnaburiash to Amen- ophis IV. The letter continues:] " For this also my brother we speak with good-will ea- gerly, and we cause this to be said thus with eagerness (or speed) in reply. As for us we have been troubled indeed. Lo! the merchants who have returned with a charge, from the land of Canaan, have spoken in my hearing. They were anxious on account of the charge from my brother's pres- ence, as Sumatta, the son of Malumme, from the city of Khin- natunu, in the land of Canaan, and Sutatna, son of Sarratu, of the city of Acca, sent their soldiers: they perceived my merchants, and they spoiled our ... I sent to you ... let him tell you. " The Canaanites in your country, and the Kings . . . in your country have violently cut off . . . the silver that they carried — a present . . . And the men who are my servants ... has smitten them. He destroyed our wealth ; and as these chiefs he has caused to be slain, it is clear that the man is, indeed, my foe. And, indeed, they are slaying a chief of your envoys : when he was an envoy between us he was slain, and his people have been hostile to you, and the chief my foe, Sumatta, dogging his steps, caused him to be slain; he saw him and slew him. And the other chief Sutatna the Acchoite, though at first they repelled him, sent 50 Or "advised this." The foes attacking Egypt were at some dis- tance from Babylonia, and the news only came by the envoy from Egypt. VOL. I.— 23. 354. THE SACRED BOOKS his chiefs against him ... he said thus. Behold this . . . ask as to this, truly you know ... I have sent thee as a present one manah of precious stones . . . my envoy speed- ily .. . truly my brother has known ... do not blame my envoy ... let him be speedily sent . . ." END OF THE TEL-EL-AMARNA LETTEES THE GREAT AGE OF ASSYRIA (889-626 B.C.) RECORDS OF THE KINGS " Their fighting men I slew. Their spoil I carried away, Their cities I threw down, dug over, and burned with fire." — A COMMON PHRASE OF THE INSCRIPTIONS. " Hezekiah I shut up like a caged bird in Jerusalem, his royal city." — KING SENNACHERIB. EECORDS OF THE ASSYRIAN KINGS (INTRODUCTION) ASSYRIA began to rise to military power as early as the period of the Tel-el- Amarna letters (1400 b.c.)- At that time her rulers had become rivals of Babylon. But the fighting Assyrian kings met many a rebuff, and the age of their actual world-empire scarcely begins until we come to King Shalmaneser III., who ruled from 858 to 824 b.c. Shalmaneser was not, like the earlier Assyrian kings, a mere marauder, a ravager of other lands. He was a statesman, an organizer, who tried to retain permanent hold of the regions he had conquered, and to restore them to prosperity under his control. Shalmaneser III. is also the first As- syrian king of whom we know definitely that he came in contact with the kings of Bible story, the Hebrew rulers of Judah and Samaria, and the Aramaic kings of Damascus. Shalmaneser asserts his victory over all these western kings; but when we allow for the boastful tone of Assyrian inscriptions it seems probable that they fairly held their own against him. The consolidation and extension of his power were mainly in his own valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates. Several of Shalmaneser's inscriptions have come down to us, the most noted being the one here given and known as " the black obelisk " inscription. It is engraved on an obe- lisk of black marble, about five feet high, which was set up in his capital. On all four sides of the obelisk there are sculp- tured figures of vassals bringing tribute, among them being the tribute of " Jehu of Israel," of Bible fame. The second inscription here given is that of Tiglath- Pileser IV. (745-727 b.c). This king carried his arms farther eastward in Asia than any other Assyrian general. The names of conquered cities on his list gradually become strange to us and we can only guess to what point he really 357 358 THE SACRED BOOKS penetrated. Some scholars have thought he even crossed the Indus Eiver, capturing northwestern India. ISText come the longer and still more boastful inscriptions of Sargon II. (721-705 b.c.) and his son Sennacherib (705- 681 B.C.). Both of these grim and furious destroyers rav- aged the surrounding lands with a cruelty and a breadth of successful destruction previously unknown even to Assyrian annals. Again and again Sargon II. records of a captured city, " its king I flayed " or " its warriors I set up on stakes." It was in Sargon's reig-n that the kingdom of Israel was finally destroyed, though the Jewish history rightly attrib- utes the final attack to his predecessor, Shalmaneser V., who began the campaign but died before completing it. Thus the actual destruction of Samaria, the capital of Israel, was accomplished by Sargon, and it was he who dragged the " ten tribes " of the Hebrews away to Assyria as his cap- tives and so utterly dispersed them that we know them only as the '' ten lost tribes." Sargon in his inscription describes this capture of Samaria, its rebellion, and its second capture. Sennacherib also tells of warring in Palestine, and boasts of his success against Hezekiah, King of Judah. He makes no mention of the story which the Bible tells of his losing an army by pestilence; but then the Assyrian kings never mention their defeats. We know that their campaigns were sometimes failures ; but we have to read between the lines of their boasting to discover these. Sennacherib admits quite plainly that he did not conquer Jerusalem, but only held its king besieged " like a caged bird," and then abandoned the attack, for some reason which he did not care, in his pom- pous record, to admit. History knows no more astounding story than this, of these Assyrian kings marching forth, year after year, to bat- tle. It is tragic as it is terrible to follow any one of their records. Each year had its campaign, and each summoned tens of thousands of men from their homes to go marching into unknown lands whence many never returned. " Like an ibex I climbed to the high peaks against them," boasts one king, '' wherever my knees had a resting-place, I sat LITERATURE OF THE EAST 359 down on a rock." And again, " my unrelenting warriors entered with weariness into their narrow passes." The peo- ples of these far lands were harried, slain with torture " for the honor of the great god Ashur." Their homes were de- stroyed; and if the next year any of them ventured to lift their heads above despair, they were crushed again. There seemed no limit to Assyria's savagery ; no interest for her kings except in heaping up piles of human heads. Theirs was the military spirit gone mad. Mankind may well read and ponder on these empty boasts of " glory." RECORDS OF THE KINGS THE BLACK OBELISK OF SHALMANESER IIL FACE A Ashur, the great Lord, the King of all the great gods ; Anu, King of the spirits of heaven and the spirits of earth, the god. Lord of the world ; Bel, the Supreme, Father of the gods, the Creator; 5 Hea, King of the deep, determiner of destinies, the King of crowns, drinking in brilliance ; Rimmon, the crowned hero, Lord of canals; the Sun- god, the Judge of heaven and earth, the urger on of all ; Marduk, Prince of the gods. Lord of battles ; Adar, the terrible, 10 Lord of the spirits of heaven and the spirits of earth, the exceeding strong god ; Nergal, the powerful god. King of the battle ; Nabu, the bearer of the high scepter, the god, the Father above; Beltis, the wife of Bel, mother of the great gods ; Ishtar, sovereign of heaven and earth, who the face of heroism perf ectest ; the great gods, determining destinies, making great my kingdom. 15 I am Shalmaneser, King of multitudes of men, prince and hero of Ashur, the strong King, King of all the four zones of the Sun and of multitudes of men, the marcher over the whole world; Son of Ashur-natsir-pal, the supreme hero, who his heroism over the gods has made good and has caused all the world to kiss his feet; 360 LITERATURE OF THE EAST 361 FACE B the noble offspring of Tiglath-Adar 20 who has laid his yoke upon all lands hostile to him, and has swept them like a whirlwind. At the beginning of my reign, when on the throne of royalty mightily I had seated myself, the chariots of my host I collected. Into the lowlands of the coun- try of 'Sime'si 25 I descended. The city of Aridu, the strong city of Ninni, I took. In my first year the Euphrates in its flood I crossed. To the sea of the setting sun (the Mediterranean) I went. My weapons on the sea I rested. Victims for my gods I took (for sacrifice). To mount Amanus I went up. 30 Logs of cedar-wood and pine-wood I cut. To the country of Lallar I ascended. An image of my Royalty in the midst of it I erected. In my second year to the city of Tel-Barsip I ap- proached. The cities of Akhuni, the son of Adin I captured. In his city I shut him up. The Euphrates in its flood I crossed. The city of Dabigu, a choice city of the Hittites, 35 together with the cities which were dependent upon it, I captured. In my third year Akhuni, the son of Adin, from the face of my mighty weapons fled, and the city of Tel-Barsip, FACE C his royal city, he fortified. The Euphrates I crossed. The city unto Assyria I restored. I took it. The town which is on the farther side of the Euphrates, which is upon the river 'Sagurri, which the Kings 40 of the Hittites call the city of Pitru,* 1 Pethor iu the Old Testament. 362 THE SACRED BOOKS for myself I took. At my return into the lowlands of the country of Alzi I descended. The country of Alzi I conquered. The countries of Dayaeni and Elam, and the city of Arzascunu, the royal city of Arame, of the country of the Armenians, the country of Gozan and the country of Khupuscia. 45 During the eponymy of Dayan-Ashur, from the city of Nineveh I departed. The Euphrates in its upper part I crossed. After Akhuni, the son of Adin, I went. The heights on the banks of the Euphrates as his strong- hold he made. The mountains I attacked, I captured. Akhuni with his gods, his chariots, his horses, his sons, and his daughters I carried away. To my city Ashur 50 I brought them. In that same year the country of Kullar I crossed. To the country of Zamua of Bit-Ani I went down. The cities of Nigdiara of the city of the Idians and Nigdima I captured. In my fifth year, to the country of Kasyari I ascended. The strongholds I captured. Elkhitti, of the Serui- ans, in his city I shut up. His tribute to a large amount I received. In my sixth year, to the cities on the banks of the river Balikh FACE D 55 I approached. Gi'ammu, their governor, they had slain, To the city of Tel-abil-akhi I descended. The Euphrates in its upper part I crossed. The tribute of the Kings of the Ilittites, all of them I received. In those days Bir-idri ^ 60 of Damascus, Irkhulina of Hamath, and the Kings 2 This is the Ben-hadad of Scripture. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 363 of the Hittites and of the sea-eoasts to the forces of each other trusted, and to make war and battle against me came. By the command of Ashiir, the great lord, my lord, with them I fought. A destruction of them I made. 65 Their chariots, their war-carriages, their war-material ^ I took from them. 20,500 of their fighting men with arrows I slew. In my seventh year, to the cities of Khabini, of the city of Tel-Abni, I went. The city of Tel-Abni, his stronghold, together with the cities which were dependent on it, I captured. To the head of the river, the springs of the TigTis, the place where the waters rise,'* I went. 70 The weapons of Ashur in the midst of it I rested. Sac- rifices for my gods I took. Feasts and rejoicing I made. An image of my Royalty of large size I con- structed. The laws of Ashur my Lord, the rec- ords of my victories, whatsoever in the world I had done, in the midst of it I wrote. In the middle of the country I set it up. FACE A, BASE In my eighth year, Marduk-suma-iddin, King of Kar- Duniash,"^ did Marduk-bila-vu'sate his foster-brother against him rebel ; 75 strongly had he fortified the land. To exact punish- ment ^ against Marduk-suma-iddin I went. The city of the waters of the Dhurnat ^ I took. 3 Or, " furniture of battle." 4 Or, " the place of the exit of the waters situated." The tablet ia still to be seen near the town of Egil. 5 That is, Babylon. 6 Or, " to return benefits." T The Tornadotus of classical geographers. 364 THE SACRED BOOKS In my ninth campaign, a second time to the land of Akkad I went. The city of Gana-nate I besieged. Marduk-bila-y'sate exceeding fear of Ashur and Marduk overwhelmed, and to save his life to 80 the mountains he ascended. After him I rode. Mar- duk-bila-yu'sate and the officers, the rebels ^ who were with him, with arrows I slew. To the great fortresses I went. Sacrifices in Babylon, Borsippa, and Cuthah I made. Thanksgivings to the great gods I offered up. To the country of Kaldu ^ I descended. Their cities I captured. The tribute of the Kings of the country of Kaldu I re- ceived. The greatness of my arms as far as the sea overwhelmed. 85 In my tenth year, for the eighth time the Euphrates I crossed. The cities of 'Sangara of the city of the Carchemishians I captured. To the cities of Arame I approached. Ame, his royal city, with 100 of his other towns I captured. In my eleventh year, for the ninth time the Euphrates I crossed. Cities to a countless number I captured. To the cities of the Hittites of the land of the Hamathites I went do^vn. Eighty- nine cities I took. Bir-idri of Damascus and twelve of the Kings of the Hittites with one another's forces strengthened themselves. A destruction of them I made. In my twelfth campaign, for the tenth time the Euphrates I crossed. 90 To the land of Pagar-khubuna I went. Their spoil I carried away. In my thirteenth year, to the coun- try of Yaeti I ascended. 8 Or, "the Lord of Bin." » Sumer. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 365 Their spoil I carried away. In my fourteenth year, the country I assembled; the Euphrates I crossed. Twelve Kings against me had come. I fought. A destruction of them I made. In my fif- teenth year, among the sources of the Tigris and the Euphrates I went. An image of my Majesty in their hollows I erected. In my six- teenth year, the waters of the Zab I crossed. To the country of Zimri I went. Mardak-mudammik, King of the land of Zimru, to save his life the mountains ascended. His treasure, 95 his army, and his gods to Assyria I brought. Yan'su, son of Khanban, to the kingdom over them I raised. FACE B, BASE In my seventeenth year, the Euphrates I crossed. To the land of Amanus I ascended. Logs of cedar I cut. In my eighteenth year, for the six- teenth time the Euphrates I crossed. Hazael, of Damascus, to battle came. 1,221 of his chariots, 470 of his war-carriages with his camp I took from him. In my nineteenth campaign, for the eighteenth ^^ time the Euphrates I crossed. To the land of Amanus 100 I ascended. Logs of cedar I cut. In my twentieth year, for the twentieth time the Euphrates I crossed. To the land of Kahue I went down. Their cities I captured. Their spoil I carried off. In my twenty-first champaign, for the twenty-first time the Euphrates 1 crossed. To the cities of Hazael of Damascus I went. Four of his fortresses I took. The tribute of the Tyrians, 10 The King counts his passage of the river on his return from Syria the seventeenth time of his crossing the Euphrates. Q66 THE SACRED BOOKS The Zidouiaiis, and the Gebalites 1 received. In my twenty-second campaign, for the twenty-second time the Euplirates 105 I crossed. To the country of Tabalu ^^ I went down. In those days as regards the twenty-four Kings of the country of Tabalu their wealth 1 received. To conquer the mines of silver, of salt, and of stone for sculpture I went. In my twenty-third year the Euphrates I crossed. The city of Uetas, his strong city, which belonged to Lalla, of the land of the Milidians, I captured. The Kings of the country of Ta- balu 110 had set out. Their tribute I received. In my twenty- fourth year, the lower Zab I crossed. The land of Khalimmur I passed through. To the land of Zimru I went down. Yan'su King, of the Zimri, from the face of my mighty weapons fled and, to save his life, ascended the mountains. The cities of 'Sikhisatakli, Bit-Tamul, Bit-Sacci, 115 and Bit-Sedi, his strong cities, I captured. His fight- ing men I slew. His spoil I carried away. The cities I threw down, dug up, and with fire burned. The rest of them to the mountains ascended. The peaks of the mountains I attacked, I captured. Their fighting men I slew. Their spoil and their goods I caused to be brought down. From the country of Zimru I departed. The tribute of twenty-seven Kings 120 of the country of Par'sua *^ I received. From the country of Par'sua I departed. To 11 The Tubal of the Old Testament, and Tibareni of classical geog- raphers. lii The Parthia of classical authors. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 367 the strongholds of the country of the Amadai,^" and the countries of Arazias and Kharkhar I went down. The cities of Cua-cinda, Khazzanabi, Ermul, and Cin-ablila, with the cities which were dependent on them, I captured. Their fighting men FACE C, BASE I slew. Their spoil I carried away. The cities I threw down, dug up, and burned with fire. An image of my Majesty 125 in the country of Kharkhar I set up. Yan'su, son of Khaban, with his abundant treasures, his gods, his sons, his daughters, his soldiers in large numbers I carried off. To Assyria I brought them. In my twenty-fifth campaign, the Euphrates at its flood I crossed. The tribute of the Kings of the Hittites, all of them, I received. The country of Amanus I traversed. To the cities of Cati, of the country of the Kahuians, I descended. The city of Timur, his strong city, I besieged, I captured. Their fighting men I slew. Its spoil I carried away. The cities to a countless number I threw down, dug up, 130 and burned with fire. On my return, the city of ]\Iaru, the strong city of Arame, the son of Agu'si, as a possession for myself I took. Its entrance-space I marked out. A palace, the seat of my Majesty, in the middle of it I founded. In my twenty-sixth year, for the seventh time the coun- try of the Amanus I traversed. For the fourth time, to the cities of Cati of the country of the Kahuians I went. The city of Tanacun, the strong city of Tulca, I approached. Exceeding fear IS These seem to be the Madai or Medes of later inscriptions. This is the first notice that we have of them. It will be observed that they have not yet penetrated into Media but are still eastward of the Parthians. 368 THE SACRED BOOKS of Ashur my lord overwhelmed him and when he had come out my feet he took. His hostages I took. Silver, gold, 135 iron, oxen, and sheep, as his tribute I received. From the city of Tanacun I departed. To the country of Lamena I went. The men collected themselves. An inacces- sible mountain they occupied. The peak of the mountain I assailed, I took. Their fighting men I slew. Their spoil, their oxen, their sheep, from the midst of the mountain I brought down. Their cities I threw down, dug up, and burned with fire. To the city of Khazzi I went. My feet they took. Silver and gold, their tribute, I received. Cirri, the brother of Cati, to the sovereignty over them 140 I set. On my return to the country of Amanus I ascended. Beams of cedar I cut, I removed, to my city Ashur ^^ I brought. In my twenty-seventh year the chariots of my armies I mustered. Dayan-Ashur, the Tartan,^^ the commander of the wide-spreading army, at the head of my army to the country of Armenia I urged, I sent. To Bit-Zamani he descended. Into the low ground to the city of Ammas he went down. The river Arzane he crossed. 'Seduri, of the country of the Armenians, heard, and to the strength of his numerous host 145 he trusted; and to make conflict and battle against me he came. With him I fought. A destruction of him I made. With the flower of his youth his broad fields I filled. In my twenty- eighth year, i« The Ellasar of Genesis, now Kalah Shergat. IB Turf onu ("chief prince") in Assyrian. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 369 when in the city of Calah I was stopping, news had been brought me, that men of the Patinians Lubarni their lord had slain, and 'Surri, who was not heir to the throne to the kingdom, had raised. Dajan-Ashur, the Tartan, the commander of the wide- spreading army at the head of my host and my camp, 150 I urged, I sent. The Euphrates in its ilood he crossed. In the city of Cinalua, his royal city, a slaughter he made. As for 'Surri, the usurper, ex- ceeding fear of Ashur my lord overwhelmed him, and the death of his destiny he went. The men of the country of the Patinians, from before the sight of my mighty weapons, FACE D, BASE fled, and the children of 'Surri, together with the sol- diers, the rebels, whom they had taken, they deliv- ered to me. Those soldiers on stakes I fixed. 'Sa'situr of the coun- try of Uzza my feet took. To the kingdom 155 over them I placed him. Silver, gold, lead, bronze, iron, and horns of wild bulls to a countless number I received. An image of my Majesty of great size I made. In the city of Cinalua, his royal city, in the temple of his gods I set it up. In my twenty-ninth year my army and camp I urged, I sent. To the country of Cirkhi ^® I ascended. Their cities I threw down, dug up, and burned with fire. Their country like a thunderstorm I swept. Exceeding fear over them I cast. In my thirtieth year, when in the city of Calah I was stopping, Day an- Ashur, 160 the Tartan, the commander of the wide-spreading army, 16 The mountainous country near the sources of the Tigris. VOL. I.— 24. 370 THE SACRED BOOKS at the head of my army I urged, I sent. The river Zab he crossed. To the midst of the cities of the city of Khupusca he approached. The tribute of Datana, of the city of the Khupuscians, I received. From the midst of the cities of the Khupuscians I departed. ^^ To the midst of the cities of Maggubbi, of the country of the Madakhirians, he approached. The tribute I received. From the midst of the cities of the country of the Madakhirians he departed. To the midst of the cities of Udaci, 165 of the country of the Mannians, he approached. Udaci, of the country of the Mannians, from before the sight of my mighty weapons fled, and the city of Zirta, his royal city, he abandoned. To save his life he ascended the mountains. After him I pursued. His oxen, his sheep, his spoil, to a countless amount I brought back. His cities I threw down, dug up, and burned with fire. From the country of the Mannians ^^ he departed. To the cities of Sulu'sunu, of the country of Kharru, he approached. The city of Mairsuru, his royal city, together with the cities which depended on it, he captured. To Sulu'sunu 170 together with his sons mercy I granted. To his coun- try I restored him. A payment and tribute of horses I imposed. My yoke upon him I placed. To the city of Sur- dira he approached. The tribute of Arta-irri, of the citv of the Surdirians, I received. To the coun- try of Par'sua ^^ I went down. The tribute of the Kings of the country of Par'sua I received. As for the rest of the country of Par'sua which did not reverence Ashur, its cities 17 That is in the person of his commander-in-chief, Dayan-Ashur. 18 The modern Van. i^ Parthia. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 371 I captured. Their spoil, their plunder to Assyria I brought. In my thirty-first year, the second time, the cyclical-feast 175 of Ashur and Rimmon I had inaugurated.^" At the time while I was stopping in the city of Calah, Dayan-Ashur, the Tartan, the commander of my wide-spreading army, at the head of my army and my camp I urged, I sent. To the cities of Data, of the country of Khupusca, he approached. The tribute I received. To the city of Zapparia, a stronghold of the country of Muzatsira, I went. The city of Zapparia, together with forty-six cities of the city of the Muzatsirians, I cap- tured. Up to the borders of the country of the Armenians 180 I went. Fifty of their cities I threw down, dug up, and burned with fire. To the country of Guzani ^i I went down. The tribute of Upu, of the country of the Guzanians, of the country of the Mannians, of the country of the Buririans, of the country of the Ivharranians,^^ of the country of the Sasganians, of the country of the Andians,^^ and of the country of the Kharkhanians, oxen, sheep, and horses trained to the yoke I received. To the cities of the country of ... I went down. The city of Perria and the city of Sitivarya, its strongholds, together with twenty-two cities which depended upon it, I threw down, dug up, 20 This refers to his assmning the eponymy a second time after com- pleting a reign of thirty years. At this period the Assyrian kings assumed the eponymy on first ascending the throne, and tlie fact that Shalmaneser took the same office again in his thirty-first year shows that a cycle of thirty years was in existence. 21 The Gozan of the Old Testament. 22Haran or Harran in the Old Testament; called Carrhae by the classical geographers. 23 Andia was afterward incorporated into Assyria W Sargon. 372 THE SACRED BOOKS 185 and burned with fire. Exceeding fear over them I cast. To the cities of the Parthians he went. The cities of Bustu, Sala-khamanu, and Cini-khamanu, fortified towns, together with twenty-three cities which depended upon them, I captured. Their fight- ing-men I slew. Their spoil I carried oif. To the country of Zimri I went down. Exceeding fear of Ashur and Marduk overwhelmed them. Their cities they abandoned. To inaccessible mountains they ascended. Two hundred and fifty of their cities I threw down, dug up, and burned with fire. 190 Into the low ground of Sime'si, at the head of the coun- try of Khalman, I went down. THE EPIGRAPHS ACCOMPANYING THE SCULPTURES I The tribute of 'Su'a, of the country of the Guzanians : silver, gold, lead, articles of bronze, scepters for the King's hand, horses, and camels with double backs : I received II The tribute of Jehu, of the land of Omri, silver, gold, bowls of gold, vessels of gold, goblets of gold, pitchers of gold, lead, scepters for the King's hand, and staves : I received. Ill The tribute of the country of Muzri : ^^ camels with double backs, an ox of the river 'Saceya,^^ horses, wild asses, elephants, and apes: I received. IV The tribute of Marduk-pal-itstsar, of the country of the 'Sukhians ^^ : silver, gold, pitchers of gold, tusks of the wild bull, staves, antimony, garments of many colors, and linen: I received. V The tribute of Garparunda, of the country of the Patin- ians: silver, gold, lead, bronze, gums, articles of bronze, tusks of wild bulls, and ebony ^'^ : I received. 24 This is the Armenian Muzri, not Egypt. 25 This would seem from the sculpture to mean a rhinoceros. Lenor- mant, however, identifies it with the yak. 26 Nomadic tribes in the southwest of Babylonia. 2T The word means literally, " pieces of strong wood." LITERATURE OF THE EAST 373 THE NIMEOD INSCRIPTION OF TIGLATH- PILESER IV. The palace of Tiglath-Pileser, the great King, the mighty King, King of the whole world, King of Assyria, King of Babylon, King of Sumer and Akkad, King of the four regions, the mighty one, the warrior, who with the help of . . . like a flood overspread them, and as smoke reckoned them — the King who at the command of Ashur, Shamash, and Marduk the great gods . . . from the sea ^ of Bit- Yakin to Bikni of the rising of the sun, and the sea of the setting of the sun to Mutsri,^ from the west to the east the countries ruled, and exercised kingship over them. 5 From the beginning of my kingship to seventeen years of my reign. The peoples of Itu'a, Rubu'a, Khamar- ani, Lukhuatu, Kharibu, Eubbu, Rapiqu, Khiranu, Rabilu, Natsiru, Gulusu, Nabatu, Eakhiqu, Ka . . ., Eummu- lutu, Adilie, Kiprie, Ubudu, Gurumu, Bagdadu, Khindiru, Damunu, Dunanu, Nilqu, Radie Da . . ., Ubulu, Kar- ma', Ambatu, Ru'a, Qabi'a, Li'tau, Marusu, Amatu, Khagaranu, the cities of Dur-Kurigalzi, Adi . . ., Birtu of Sarragiti, Birtu of Labbanat, Birtu of Kar-bel-matati, the Arumu,^ all of them, who are on the banks of the rivers Tigris, Euphrates, and 'Surappi, to the midst of the river Uknie, which is over against the lower 1 Literally, " the bitter river," at the head of the Persian Gulf. 2 Egypt. 3 The Aramaeans. 374 THE SACRED BOOKS sea, I subdued, with slaughter of them I slaughtered, their spoil I spoiled. 10 The Arumu, as many as there were, to the territory of Assyria I added them, and my generals as governors over them I set. Upon Tul-Kamri, which they call the city Khumut, a city I built ; Kar-ashur its name I called ; people of the countries, the spoil of my hands, in the midst I placed. In Sippara, Niffer, Babylon, Borsippa, Kutha, Kish, Dilbat, and Urbuk, cities without equals, splendid sacrifices to Bel, Zirbanit, Nabu, Tasmit, Ner- gal, Laz, the great gods, my lords, I offered, and they loved my priesthood. Broad Kar-Duniash ^ to its whole extent I ruled, and exercised kingship over it. The Puqudu ^ as it were with a net I struck down, with slaughter of them I slaughtered, much spoil of them I spoiled. These Puqudu and the city of Lakhiru, which looks toward the midst of the city of Khilimmu, and the city of Pillutu, which is on the side of Elam, to the territory of Assyria I added, and in the hands of my general, the governor of Arrapkha I allotted. The Kaldudu, as many as there were, I carried away, and 15 in the midst of Assyria I settled. Kaldu ^ to its whole extent like dust I trod it down. Nabuusabsi, son of Silani, his warriors, close to 'Sarrapanu, his city I slew, and himself in front of the great gate of his city on a stake I lifted up, and I reduced his country to sub- jection. 'Sarrapanu by means of a wall and batter- ing-engines I captured. 55,000 people, together with their goods, his spoil, his stuff, his possessions, his wife, his sons, his * Babylonia. sThe'Pekod of Jer. 1. 21. 8 The Chaldeans of classical antiquity, Sumer. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 375 daughters, and his gods, I carried off. That city, together with the cities which are in its neighbor- hood, I destroyed, I laid waste, with fire I burned, and to mounds and ruins I reduced. The city of Tarbatsu and city of Yapallu I captured. 30,000 people, together with their goods, their stuff, their possessions, and their gods, I carried off. Tho:e cities, together with the cities which are in their neighborhood like a ruin of the deluge I destroyed. Zaqiru, son of Sa'alli, against the ordinances of the great gods sinned, and with . . . his mouth. Him together with his great men with my hands I seized ; 20 bonds of iron I put upon them, and to Assyria I took them. The people of Bit-Sa'alli were afraid, and the city of Dur . . . for their stronghold they took. That city by siege and storm I took, and as earth "^ I reck- oned. 50,400 people, together with their goods, their spoil, their stuff, their possessions, his wife, his sons, his daughters, and his gods, I carried off. The city of Amlilatu I captured. The people, together with their goods, its spoil, its stuff, its possessions, I carried off. Bit-Sa'alli to its Avhole extent like a deluge I overspread, and I laid waste its homesteads. Those countries to the territory of Assyria I added Ukin- zir,^ son of Amukkan, in 'Sapie, the city of his king- ship, I besieged him ; his fighting men in numbers in front of his great gate I slew. The groves of palms, which were outside his wall, I cut down, and I did not leave one. His date-palms, which are the growth of the country, I destroyed, and his enclosures I broke down, and filled up the in- teriors. All his cities 25 I destroyed, I laid waste, with fire I burned. Bit-Silani, Bit-Amukkani, and Bit-Sa'alli to their whole extent 7 Or, literally, "on the earth"; that is, "I threw to the ground," " leveled witli the ground." 8 The Khinziros of the Greek writers. 376 THE SACRED BOOKS like a ruin of the deluge I destroyed ; to mounds and ruins I reduced. The tribute of Balasu,^ son of Dakkuri, and of Nadin of Larak, silver, gold, precious stones I received. Mar- dukbaladan, son of Yakin, king of the sea,^*^ who in the time of the kings, my fathers, into the presence of none of them had come, and kissed their feet, fear of the Majesty of Ashur my lord cast him down, and to Sapia, into my presence, he came, and kissed my feet. Gold, the dust of his country, in abundance. implements of gold, necklaces of gold, precious stones, the produce of the sea, beams of wood . . . parti- colored garments, perfumes in abundance of all kinds, oxen, sheep, as his tribute I received. The countries of Namri, Bit-'Sangibuti, Bit-Khamban, 'Sumurzu, Barrua, Bit-Zualzas, Bit-Matti, the city of Niqu, which is in the country of Umliyas, the countries of Bit-Taranzai, Par'sua, Bit-Zatti, 30 Bit-Abadani, Bit-Kap'si, Bit-Sangi, Bit-Urzakki, Bit- Ishtar, the city of Zakruti,^^ the countries of Gizin- ikissi, Nissa,^^ the cities of Tsibur, Urimzan, the countries of Ra'usan, . . . ISTiparia, Buztuz, Ariarmi, Burrumu-sarrani-itst- suru, 'Sak'sukni, Araquttu, Karzipra, Gukinnana, Bit-'Sakbat, Silkhazi, which men called the stronghold of the Babylonian, Ruadi, Bit-Dur, Usqaqqana, Sikra the land of gold, districts of remote Media, to their whole extent like dust I overwhelmed, and their fighting men in numbers I slew. 60,500 people, together with their goods, their horses, their mules, their humped oxen, their oxen, their sheep, without number, I carried off. 9 This name corresponds to the classical Belesys. 10 The country at the head of the Persian Gulf. "The Asagartiya of the Persian cuneiform texts, the Sagartians of classical geography in the Zagros mountains. 12 The Nisaea of classical geography. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 377 Their cities I destroyed, I laid waste, and with fire I burned ; to mounds and ruins I reduced. The coun- tries of Namri, Bit-'Sangibuti, Bit-Khamban, 'Sum- urzu, Bit-Barrua, Bit-Zualzas, 35 Bit-Matti, Niqqu, which is in Umliyas, Bit-Taranzai, Par'sua, Bit-Zatti, Bit-Abdadani, Bit-Kap'si, Bit- 'Sangi, Bit-Urzakki, the cities of Bit-Ishtar, and Zakruti of remote Media, to the territory of Assyria I added. The cities which were in them anew I built ; the worship of Ashur my lord in the midst I established ; people from the countries the conquests of my hands therein I settled ; my generals as governors over them I appointed ; an im- age of my kingship in Tikrakki, the cities of Bit- Ishtar and Tsibur, the countries of Ariarmi, Barru- mu-sarrani-itstsuru, 'Silkhazi, which men called the stronghold of the Baby- lonian, I set up. The tribute of Media and Ellipai,^^ and the chiefs of the cities of the moun- tains, all of them, as far as Bikni, horses, mules, humped oxen, oxen, and sheep ... the might and majesty of Ashur my lord, which in the mountains, all of them . . . 40 ... of Ashur my lord cast him down, and to Dur-Tig- lath-Pileser, the city which . . . into my presence he came, and kissed my feet. . . . mules, oxen, and sheep, weapons . . . ... my general Ashurdaninani to the land of the mighty Medes, the land of the rising sun . . . . . . the land of Kirkhu in its totality I captured ; to the territory of Assyria I added . . . ... of my kingship therein I placed; the worship of Ashur my lord therein I established . . . 45 . . . the people of Ararat 'Sulumal of the country of the Meliddians," Tarkhu-lara of the Gangumians . . . isEUip was the district of which Ekbatana was subsequently the capital. i*Melid, the modern Malatiyeh in eastern Kappadokia. S78 THE SACRED BOOKS . . . Kustaspi, of the country of the Komageniaus, to capture and plunder . . . . . . the countries of Kistan and Khalpi districts of . . . . . . assunu the river Sinzi, the canal like nabasi . . . ... I seized them in the midst of . . . 50 . . . royal beds . . . , . . which into my presence . . . . . . the cities of the Temanians,^^ the Sabseans/® the Khaiappians, the Bananians . . . . . . whom no one knows, and whose seat is distant, the Majesty of my Lordship . . . 55 . . . camels, she-camels, perfumes in abundance of all kinds, as their tribute like one to . . . Idibi'ili as a watch over against Eg}'pt I appointed. In the countries all of them, which . . . The tribute of Kustaspi of the Komagenians, Urik of the Quans,^^ Sibittibi'il of Gebal . . . Enilu of Hamath, Panammu of the 'Sam'lians,^^ Tark- hulara of the Gamgumians, 'Sulumal of the Melid- dians . . . Uas-surme of Tubal, Uskhitti of the Tunians, Urpalla of the Tukhanians, Tukhamme of the Istundians . . . 60 Matanbi'il of Arvad, 'Sanipu of Bit-Ammon, 'Salamanu (Solomon) of the Moabites . . . Mitinti of Ashkelon, Jehoahaz of Judah, Quasmelech of Edom, Muz . . . Hanon of Gaza, gold, silver, lead, iron, ahar, parti-colored clothing, garments, the dress of their country, pur- ple . . . . . . the produce of sea and land, the spoil of their coun- try, the treasure of royalty, horses, mules, the team of a yoke ... IS The Teman of the Old Testament. 18 'Sab'ai, the Sheba of the Old Testament, 17 On the northern shore of the Gulf of Antioch. 18 'Ramahla lay to the northeast of the Gulf of Antioch, ite capital being now represented by the mounds of Sinjirli. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 379 Uas-surme of Tabal, the things of Assyria sought to rival, and into my presence did not come ; my general the Eabsak . . . 65 Khulli, the son of an unknown person, ^® on the throne of his royalty I seated. 10 talents of gold, 1,000 tal- ents of silver, 2000 horses ... my general, the Eab-shakeh, to Tyre I sent. Of Mie- tenna of Tyre 150 talents of gold . . . with the sense, the cunning, the penetrating thought, which the chief of the gods, the prince Nudimmut ^'^ gave me, a palace of cedar . . . and an entrance-hall after the fashion of a palace of the Hittites for my majesty in Calah I built . . . An amount of earth higher than the former palaces of my fathers from the bed of the Tigris 1 caused to raise . . . 70 All the men of my army, such as were cunning, skilfully I employed, and . . . 20 great cubits below the rushing ^^ water stout, squared stone like the mass of a mountain I piled, and left . . . their terraces I laid out, and their foundations I fixed, and I raised their spires. Half a gar, two-thirds of a cubit the house ... I devised, and . . . On the north side in front I placed their gates, with ivory, usu-wood, box-wood, palm-wood, box-wood . . . juniper. The tribute of the kings of the Hittites, the princes of Aram and Kaldi, whom by the pre-eminence of my strength I had subdued to my feet ... I stored therein. 75 5 1/2 gci'^^ four cubits sheer from the depth of the water their fabric I enclosed, and more than the palaces of all lands I enlarged . . . their work. With beams of cedar, well grown, which like the fra- 19 Literally, " the son of no one." 20 The god Ea. 21 Literally, " strong " ; i.e., " strong-flowing." 380 THE SACRED BOOKS grance of the wood of Khasurri ^^ for their perfume are good, the produce of Khamana,^^ Lebanon and Ammanana, I roofed them, and made them fast. To show forth orna- ment . . . stones, the work of hurkulluii, I made, and therewith I furnished the gate. Doors of cedar and cypress, in pairs, the entering in of which is blissful, whose fragrance breathes upon the heart, with a rim of bronze and shining metal I bound, and in the gates I fixed. Lions, bulls, winged bulls, formed with exceeding cunning, skilfully fashioned, 80 the entrances I caused to hold, and for wonderment I set up; thresholds looking toward the sun, of paruti- stone, at their base I laid down, and I made glorious the entrance. An image, too, I made to keep guard over the great gods ; with creatures of sea and land I surrounded him; with terror I invested him. With a railing of gold, silver, and copper for their com- pletion I surrounded them, and I made their forms to shine. For the dwelling of my royalty its buildings I raised; precious stones, the work ... I placed within it. The palaces — " Pleasure," " Holding abundance," " King's graciousness," " Making their builder grow old," for their names I called. 85 The gates — " Righteousness," " Ordering the judgment of the princes of the four regions," " Preserving the tribute of mountains and seas," " Causing the fulness of the lands to enter into the pres- ence of the King their lord," I named the names of their gates. 22 Khasur was the name of one of the spurs of Mount Amanus. 23 Amanus at the head of the Gulf of Antioch. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 381 THE i:n^scription OE SAEGON II. (IN HIS PALACE AT KHORSABAD) Palace of Sargon, the great King, the powerful King, King of the legions, King of Assyria, Viceroy of the gods at Babylon, King of the Sumers and of the Akkads, favorite of the great gods. The gods Ashur, Nebu, and Marduk have conferred on me the royalty of the nations, and they have propagated the memory of my fortunate name to the ends of the earth. I have followed the reformed precepts of Sippara, Nip- pur, Babylon, and Borsippa ; I have amended the imper- fections which the men of all laws had admitted. I have reunited the dominions of Kalu, TJr, Orchoe, Erikhi, Larsa, Kullab, Kisik, the dwelling-place of the god La- guda ; I have subdued their inhabitants. As to the laws of Sumer and of the town of Harran, which had fallen into desuetude from the most ancient times, I have re- stored to fresh vigor their forgotten customs. The great gods have made me happy by the constancy of their affection, they have granted me the exercise of my sovereignty over all kings ; they have reestablished obedi- ence upon them all. From the day of my accession there existed no princes who were my masters; I have not, in combats or battles, seen my victor. I have crushed the territories of the rebels like straws, and I have struck them with the plagues of the four elements. I have opened innumerable deep and very extensive forests, I have leveled their inequalities. I have traversed winding and thick valleys, which were impenetrable, like a needle, and I passed in digging tanks dug on my way. 5 By the grace and power of the great gods, my Masters, I have flung my arms ; by my force T have defeated my ene- 382 THE SACRED BOOKS mies. I have ruled from latnau,^ which is in the middle of the sea of the setting sun, to the frontiers of Egypt and of the country of the Moschians, over vast Phenicia, the whole of Syria, the whole of guli muski of distant Media, near the country of Bikni, to the country of Ellip, from Ras, which borders upon Elam, to the banks of the Tigris, to the tribes of Itu, Kubu, Haril, Kaldud, Hauran, Ubul, Kuhua, of the Litai who dwells on the borders of the Su- rappi and the Ukne, Gambul, Khindar, and Pukud.^ I have reigned over the suti hunters who are in the terri- tory of latbur, in whatever it was as far as the towns o'£ Samhun, Bab-Dur, Dur-Tilit, Khilikh, Pillat, Dunni- Samas, Bubi, Tel-Khumba, which are in the dependency of Elam,^ and Kar-duniash ^ Upper and Lower, of the countries of Bit-Amukkan, Bit-Dakkur, Bit-Silan, Bit- Sa'alla, which together form Chaldea in its totality, over the country of Bit-Iakin, which is on the sea-shore, as far as the frontier of Dilmun. I have received their tributes, I have established my lieutenants over them as governors, and I have reduced them under my suzerainty. This is what I did from the beginning of my reign to my fifteenth year of reign : I defeated Khumbanigas, King of Elam, in the plains of Kalu. I besieged and occupied the town of Samaria, and took 27,280 of its inhabitants captive. I took from them 50 chariots, but left them the rest of their belongings. I placed my lieutenants over them; I renewed the obliga- tion imposed upon them by one of the Kings who preceded me. Hanun, King of Gaza, and Sebech, Sultan ^ of Egypt, allied 1 Itanus, or Yatnan, in the island of Crete, became afterward the name of the island of Cyprus. 2 The Pekod of the Bible (Jer. i. 21; Ezek. xxiii. 23). 3 Which belongs to Elam. ♦ Nearly all the names of the Elamite towns are Semitic (see Gen. x. 22), but the Susian ones are not. 5 This is the word siltan, the Hebrew shilton ("power"), the Arabic sultan. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 383 themselves at Rapih ^ to oppose me, and fight against me ; they came before me, 1 put them to flight. Sebech yielded before my cohorts, he fled, and no one has ever seen any trace of him since. I took with my own hand Ilanun, King of Gaza. I imposed a tribute on Pharaoh, King of Egypt; Samsie, Queen of Arabia ; It-amar, the Sabean, of gold, sweet smelling herbs of the land, horses, and camels. 10 Kiakku of Sinukhta had despised the god Ashur, and re- fused submission to him. I took him prisoner, and seized his 30 chariots and 7,350 of his soldiers. 1 gave Sin- uhta, the town of his royalty, to Matti from the country of Tuna, I added some horses and asses to the former tribute, and appointed Matti as governor. Amris of Tabal had been placed upon the throne of Khulli his father; I gave to him a daughter and I gave him Cilicia,^ which had never submitted to his ancestors. But he did not keep the treaty and sent his ambassador to Urzaha, King of Armenia, and to Mita, King of the Moschians, who had seized my provinces. I transported Amris to Assyria, with his belongings, the members of his ancestors' families, and the magnates of the country, as well as 100 chariots; I established some Assyrians, de- voted to my government, in their places. I appointed my lieutenant-governor over them, and commanded tributes to be levied upon them. Jaubid of Ilamath, a smith,^ was not the legitimate master of the throne ; he was an infidel and an impious man, and he had coveted the royalty of Hamath. He incited the towns of Arpad, Simyra, Damascus, and Samaria to rise against me, took his precautions with each of them, and prepared for battle. I counted all the troops of the god Ashur ; in the town of Karkar, which had declared itself for the rebel, I besieged him and his warriors, I occupied « Raphia, near the frontier of Egypt. 7 Khilakku. It seems to be identical with the Sparda of Persian, the Sepharad of Obadiah. 8 The condition of Jaiihid before his accession. 384 THE SACRED BOOKS Karkar and reduced it to ashes. I took him, himself, and had him flayed, and I killed the chief of the rioters in each town, and reduced them to a heap of ruins. I recruited my forces with 200 chariots and 600 horsemen from among the inhabitants of the country of Hamath and added them to my empire. Whilst Iranzu, of Van, lived, he was subservient and de- voted to my rule, but fate removed him. His subjects placed his son Aza on the throne. Urzaha, the Arme- nian, intrigued with the people of Mount Mildis, Zikirta, Misiandi, with the nobles of Van, and enticed them to rebellion ; they threw the body of their Master Aza on the top of the mountains. Ullusun, of Van, his brother, whom they had placed on his father's throne, did homage to Urzaha, and gave him 22 fortresses with their garri- sons. In the anger of my heart I counted all the armies of the god Ashur, I watched like a lion in ambush and advanced to attack these countries. Ullusun, of Van, saw my expedition approaching; he set out with his troops and took up a strong position in the ravines of the high mountains. I occupied Izirti, the town of his royalty, and the towns of Izibia and Armit, his formid- able fortresses, I reduced them to ashes. I killed all that belonged to Urzaha, the Armenian, in these high moun- tains. I took with my own hand 250 royal members of his family. I occupied 55 royal towns, of which 8 were ordinary towns and 11 impregnable fortresses. I re- duced them to ashes. I incorporated the 22 strong towns, that Ullusun of Van had delivered to him with Assyria. I occupied 8 strong cities of the country of Tuaya and the districts of Tilusina of Andia ; -1,200 men, with their belongings, were carried away into slavery. Mitatti, of Zikirta, had secured himself against my arms ; he and the men of his country had fled into the forests; no trace of them was to be seen. I reduced Parda, the town of his royalty, to ashes; I occupied 23 great towns in the environs, and I spoiled them. The cities of Suandakhul and Zurzukka, of the country of Van, took the part of LITERATURE OF THE EAST 385 Mitatti; I occupied and pillaged them. Then I took Bagadatti of the Mount Mildis, and I had him flayed. I banished Dayaukku and his suite to Hamath, and I made them dwell there. 15 Then Ullusun heard in his high mountains of my glorious exploits : he departed in haste like a bird, and kissed my feet ; I pardoned his innumerable misdeeds, and I blotted out his iniquities. I granted pardon to him ; I replaced him upon the throne of his royalty. I gave him the two fortresses and the 22 great towns that I had taken away from Urzaha and Mitatti. I endeavored to restore peace to his country. I made the image of my Majesty: I wrote on it the glory of the god Ashur, my Master, I erected many fac-similes of it in Izirti, the town of his royalty. I imposed a tribute of horses, oxen, and lambs upon lanzu. King of the river country, in Hupuskia, the town of his power. Ashurlih, of Kar-Alla, Itti, of Allapur, had sinned against Ashur and despised his power. I had Ashurlih flayed. I banished the men of Kar-Alla, whoever they were, and Itti, with his suite, I placed them in Hamath. I took the inhabitants of the towns of Sukkia, Bala, Ahitikna, Pappa, Lallukni, away from their homes; I made them dwell at Damascus in Syria. I occupied the 6 towns of the country of Niksamma, I took with my own hand Nirisar, governor of the town of Sur- gadia ; I added these towns to the satrapy of Parsuas. 20 Bel-sar-usur ^ was King of the town of Kisisim ; I had him transported to Assyria with all that he possessed, his treasure, the contents of his palace ; I put my lieutenant in as governor of the town, to which I gave the name of Kar-Marduk. I had an image made of my Majesty and erected it in the middle of the town. I occupied 6 towns in the neighborhood and I added them to his government. I attacked and conquered Kibaba, prefect of the town of Kharkhar, I took him and the inhabitants of his country 9 The same name as Belshazzar. VOL. I.— 25. 386 THE SACRED BOOKS captive, I rebuilt this city and made the inhabitants of the provinces, that my arm had conquered, live there, I placed my lieutenant as governor over them. I named the tovm Kar-Sarkin; I established the worship of the god Ashur, my Master, there. I erected an image of my Eoyal self. I occupied 6 towns in the environs, and added them to his government. I besieged and took the towns of Tel-Akhi-tub, Khindau, Bagai, and Anzaria; I transported the inhabitants of them to Assyria. I rebuilt them ; I gave them the names of Kar-Nabu, Kar-Sin, Kar-Ben, Kar-Ishtar. To maintain my position in Media, I have erected fortifica- tions in the neighborhood of Kar-Sarkin. I occupied 34 towns in Media and annexed them to Assyria, and I levied annual tributes of horses upon them. I besieged and took the town of Eristana, and the surround- ing towns in the country of Bait-Ili ; I carried away the spoil. 25 The countries of Agag and Ambanda,^^ in Media, oppo- site the Arabs of the East, had refused their tributes ; I destroyed them, laid them waste, and burnt them by fire. Dalta, of Ellip, was subject to me, and devoted to the wor- ship of Ashur; 5 of his towns revolted and no longer recognized his dominion. I came to his aid, I besieged and occupied these towns, I carried the men and their goods with numberless horses away into Assyria. Urzana, of the town of Musasir, had attached himself to Urzaha, the Armenian, and had refused me his allegiance. With the multitude of my army, I covered the city of Musasir as if it were with ravens, and he to save his life fled alone into the mountains. I entered as a ruler into Musasir. I seized as spoil Ur- zana's wife, sons and daughters, his money, his treasures, all the stores of his palace whatever they were, with 20,100 men and all that they possessed, the gods Haldia and Bagabarta, his gods, and their holy vessels in great numbers. 1" Ambanda is perhaps the Median " Kampanda." LITERATURE OF THE EAST 387 Urzaha, King of Armenia, heard of the defeat of Musasir and the carrying away of the god Haldia^^ his god; he cut off his life by his own hands with a dagger of his girdle. I held a severe judgment over the whole of Armenia. I spread over the men who inhabit this country mourning and lamentation, 30 Tarhunazi, of the town of Melid, sought for revenge. He sinned against the laws of the great gods, and refused his submission. In the anger of my heart, I crushed like briars Melid, which was the town of his kingdom, and the neighboring towns. I made him, his wife, sons and daughters, the slaves of his palace whoever they were, ■with 5,000 warriors, leave Tel-Garimmi ; I treated them all as booty. I rebuilt Tel-Garimmi; I had it entirely occupied by some archers from the country of Kham- manua, which my hand had conquered, and I added it to the boundaries of this country. I put it in the hands of my lieutenant, and I restituted the surface of the domin- ion, as it had been in the time of Gunzinan, the preceding King. Tarhular, of Gamgum, had a son Muttallu, who had mur- dered his father by the arms, and sat on the throne against my will, and to whom they had entrusted their country. In the anger of my heart, I hastily marched against the town of Markasi, with my chariots and horsemen, who followed on my steps. I treated Muttallu, his son and the families of the country of Bit-Pa'alla in its totality, as captives, and seized as booty the gold and silver and the numberless treasures of his palace. I reinstated the men of Gamgum and the neighboring tribes, and placed my lieutenant as governor over them ; I treated them like the Assyrians. Azuri, King of Ashdod,^^ determined within himself to ren- der no more tributes; he sent hostile messages against Assyria to the neighboring kings. I meditated ven- 11 We find in the inscriptions of Van the god Haldi as god of the Armenians. 15! See Isaiah xx. 1. 388 THE SACRED BOOKS geance for this, and I withdrew from him the govern- ment over his country. I put his brother Akhimit on his throne. But the people of Syria, eager for revolt, got tired of Akhimit's rule, and installed laman, who, like the former, was not the legitimate master of the throne. In the anger of my heart, I did not assemble the bulk of my army nor divide my baggage, but I marched against Ashdod with my warriors, who did not leave the trace of my feet. laman learned from afar of the approach of my expedition ; he fled beyond Egypt toward Libya (Meluhhi),^^ and no one ever saw any further trace of him. I besieged and took Ashdod and the town of Gimtu-Asdudim;^* I car- ried away captive laman's gods, his wife, his sons, his daughters, his money, and the contents of his palace, together with the inhabitants of his country. I built these towns anew and placed in them the men that my arm had conquered. I placed my lieutenant as governor over them, and I treated them as Assyrians. They never again became guilty of impiety. 35 The King of Libya lives in the middle of the desert, in an inaccessible place, at a month's journey. From the most remote times until the renewal of the lunar period his fathers had sent no ambassadors to the kings, my an- cestors, to ask for peace and friendship and to acknowl- edge the power of Marduk. But the immense terror inspired by my Majesty roused him, and fear changed his intentions. In fetters of iron he threw him (laman), directed his steps toward Assyria and kissed my feet. Muttallu, of Commagene, a fraudulent and hostile man, did not honor the memory of the gods, he plotted a con- spiracy, and meditated defection. He trusted upon Ar- gisti, King of Armenia, a helper who did not assist him, took upon himself the collection of the tributes and his 13 Meluhhi is not Meroe, but Libya, and especially the Marmarica. The name seems to be the Milyes of Herodotus, 1* Asdudim seepas to be a Hebr?iic plural, LITERATURE OF THE EAST 389 part of the spoil, and refused me bis submission. In tbe anger of my beart, I took tbe road to bis country witb the chariots of my power, and tbe horsemen who never left tbe traces of my feet. Muttallu saw tbe approach of my expedition, he withdrew bis troops, and no one saw any further trace of him. I besieged and occupied bis capital and 62 large towns all together. I carried away bis wife, his sons, his daughters, bis money, his treasure, all precious things from bis palace, together with tbe in- habitants of bis country as spoil, I left none of them. I inaugurated this town afresh ; I placed in it men from the country of Bit-Iakin, that my arm bad conquered. I instituted my lieutenant as governor, and subdued them under my rule. I previously took from them 150 char- iots, 1,500 horsemen, 20,000 archers, 1,000 men armed witb shields and lances, and I confided tbe country to my satrap. While Dalta, King of Ellip, lived, he was submissive and devoted to my rule ; the infirmities of age, however, came and he walked on tbe path of death. Nibie and Ispa- bara, tbe sons of his wives, claimed tbe vacant throne of his royalty, the country and the taxes, and they fought a battle. iSTibie applied to Sutruk-Nakhunti, King of Elam, to support bis claims, giving to him pledges for his alliance, and the other came as a helper. Ispabara, on bis side, implored me to maintain bis cause, and to en- courage him, at the same time bowing down, and bum- bling himself, and asking my alliance. I sent seven of my lieutenants with their armies to support his claims ; they put ISTibie and tbe army of tbe four rivers, which bad helped him to flight, at the town of Mareobisti. I re- instated Ispabara on tbe throne ; I reestablished peace in bis country, and confided it to his care. Marduk-Baladan, son of lakin, King of Chaldea, the falla- cious, tbe persistent in enmity, did not respect the mem- ory of the gods ; be trusted in the sea, and in the retreat of the marshes ; he eluded the precepts of the great gods, and refused to send bis tributes. He bad supported as 390 THE SACRED BOOKS an ally Khumbanigas, King of Elam. He had excited all the nomadic tribes of the desert against me. He pre- pared himself for battle, and advanced. During twelve years, ^^ against the v^^ill of the gods of Babylon, the town of Bel, which judges the gods, he had excited the country of the Sumers and Akkads, and had sent ambassadors to them. In honor of the god Ashur, the father of the gods, and of the great and august Lord jMarduk, I roused my courage, I prepared my ranks for battle. I decreed an expedition against the Chaldeans, an impious and riotous people. Marduk-Baladan heard of the approach of my expedition, dreading the terror of his own warriors, he fled before it, and flew in the night-time like an owl, fall- ing back from Babylon, to the town of Ikbibel. He as- sembled together the towns possessing oracles, and the gods living in these towns he brought to save them to Dur- lakin, fortifying its walls. He summoned the tribes of Gambul, Pukud, Tamun, Euhua, and Khindar, put them in this place, and prepared for battle. He calculated the extent of a plethrum in front of the great wall. He con- structed a ditch 200 spans wide, and deep one fathom and a half. The conduits of water, coming from the Eu- phrates, flowed out into this ditch; he had cut off the course of the river, and divided it into canals, he had surrounded the town, the place of his revolt, with a dam, he had filled it with water and cut off the conduits. ]\Iar- duk-Baladan, with his allies and his soldiers, had the insignia of his royalty kept as in an island on the banks of the river ; he arranged his plan of battle. I stretched my combatants all along the river, dividing them into bands ; they conquered the enemies. By the blood of the rebels the waters of these canals reddened like dyed wool. The nomadic tribes were terrified by this disaster which surprised him, and fled ; I completely separated his allies and the men of Marsan from him ; I filled the ranks of the insurgents with mortal terror. He left in his tent the insignia of his royalty, the golden . . ., the golden 15 From 721 to 709 B.C. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 391 throne, the golden parasol, the golden scepter, the silver chariot, the golden ornaments, and other effects of con- siderable weight ; he fled alone, and disappeared like the ruined battlements of his fortress, and I entered into his retreat. I besieged and occupied the town of Dur-Iakin ; I took as spoil and made captive, him, his wife, his sons, his daughters, the gold and silver and all that he possessed, the contents of his palace, whatever it was, with consid- erable booty from the town. I made each family, and every man who had withdrawn himself from my arms, accountable for this sin. I reduced Dur-Iakin, the town of his power, to ashes. I undermined and destroyed its ancient forts. I dug up the foundation-stone ; I made it like a thunder-stricken ruin. I allowed the people of Sippara, Nipud, Babylon, and Borsippa, who live in the middle of the towns, to exercise their profession, to en- joy their belongings in peace, and I have watched upon them. I took away the possession of the fields, which from remote times had been in the hand of the Suti Nomad, and restored them to their rightful owners. I placed the nomadic tribes of the desert again under my yoke, and I restored the forgotten land delimitations which had existed during the tranquillity of the land. I gave to each of the towns of Ur, Orchoe, Erikhi, Larsa, KuUab, and Kisik, the dwelling of the god Laguda, the god that resides in each, and I restored the gods, who had been taken away, to their sanctuaries. I reestablished the altered laws in full force. I imposed tributes on the countries of Bet-Takin, the high and low part, and on the towns of Samhun, Bab-Dur, Dur- Tilit, Bubi, Tel-Khumba, which are the resort of Elam. I transplanted into Elam the inhabitants of the Comma- gene, in Syria, that I had attacked with my own hand, obeying the commands of the great gods my Masters, and I placed them on the territory of Elam, in the town of Sakbat. Nabu-Pakid-Tlan was authorized to collect the taxes from the Elamites in order to govern them; I claimed as a pledge the tovm of Birtu. I placed all this 392 THE SACRED BOOKS country in the hands of my lieutenant at Babylon and my lieutenant in the country of Gambul. 40 I returned alone to Babylon, to the sanctuaries of Bel, the judge of the gods, in the excitement of my heart and the splendor of my appearance ; I took the hands of the great Lord, the august god Marduk, and I traversed the way to the chamber of the spoil. I transported into it 154 talents 26 minas 10 drachms of gold russu,^^ 1804 talents 20 minas of silver,^'^ ivory, a great deal of copper, iron in an innumerable quantity, some of the stone ka, alabaster, the minerals pi digili, flattened pi sirru for witness seals, blue and purple stuffs, cloth of berom and cotton, ebony; cedar, and cypress wood, freshly cut from the fine forests on Mount Amanus, in honor of Bel, Zarpanit, Nabu, and Tasmit, and the gods who inhabit the sanctuaries of the Sumers, and Akkads ; all that from my accession to the third year of my reign. ^^ TJpir, King of Dilmun, who dwells at the distance of 30 para- sangs ^^ in the midst of the sea of the rising sun and who is established as a fish, heard of the favor that the gods Ashur, Wabu, and Marduk had accorded me; he sent therefore his expiatory gift. And the seven Kings of the country of lahnagi, of the country of latnan (who have established and extended their dwellings at a distance of seven days' navigation in the midst of the sea of the setting sun, and whose name from the most ancient ages until the renewal of the lunar period ^"^ none of the Kings, my fathers, in Assyria and Chaldea had heard), had been told of my lofty achieve- ments in Chaldea and Syria, and my glory, which had ifi 12,544, pd. troy, 68. IT 152,227. pd. troy, 75. A royal silver drachm is about seventy cents, a royal mina nearly $44; the State drachm and mina is the half of it. A silver talent is about $1300. 18 Sargron speaks of his third " year " and not of his third campaign, in order to mark what he had already accomplished before the year 717. 19 One hundred and ten miles. 20 This is the second passage where Sargon alludes to this period end- ing under his reign. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 393 spread from afar to the midst of the sea. They subdued their pride and humbled themselves ; they presented them- selves before me at Babylon, bearing metals, gold, silver, vases, ebony-wood, and the manufactures of their coun- try ; they kissed my feet. While I endeavored to exterminate Bet-Iakin and reduce Aram, and render my rule more efficacious in the country of latbur, which is beyond Elam, my lieutenant, the gov- ernor of the country of Kue, attacked Mita, the Moschian, and 3,000 of his towns; he demolished these towns, de- stroyed them, burnt them with lire, and led away many captives. And this Mita, the Moschian, who had never submitted to the Kings, my predecessors, and had never changed his will, sent his envoy to me to the very borders of the sea of the rising sun, bearing professions of al- legiance and tributes. 45 In these days, these nations and these countries that my hand has conquered, and that the gods Ashur, Nabu, and Marduk have made bow to my feet, followed the ways of piety. With their help I built at the feet of the musri following the divine will and the wish of my heart, a town that I called Dur-Sarkin ^^ to replace Nineveh.^^ Xis- roch, Sin, Shamash, Nabu, Bin, Ninip, and their great spouses, who procreate eternally in the lofty temple of the upper and the nether world (Aralli) blessed the splendid wonders, the superb streets in the town of Dur- Sarkin. I reformed the institutions which were not agreeable to their ideas. The priests, the nisi ramhi, the surmahhi swpar, disputed at their learned discussions about the pre-eminence of their divinities, and the effi- cacy of their sacrifices. 21 Or " Dur-Sarkayan." The King passes rapidly over some other peculiarities which he inserts in other texts, namely, the measures of the town, and the ceremonies of its edification. The circuit is given as containing 3 1-3 ners (miles) 1 stadium 3 canes 2 spans, or 24,740 spans, and Botta's measurings afford 6,790 metres (7,427 yds.). This statement gives for the span, with a slight correction in the fourth deci- mal, 27,425 cm. (10.797 ins., and for the cubit 5,485 cm. 21.594 ins.). 22 At this time the palace of Nineveh was still in ruins. It was re- built by Sennacherib. 394 THE SACRED BOOKS I built in the town some palaces covered with the skin of the sea-calf, and of sandalwood, ebony, the wood of mas- tic tree, cedar, cypress, wild pistachio-nut tree, a palace of incomparable splendor, as the seat of my royalty. I placed their dunu upon tablets of gold, silver, alabaster, tilpe stones, parut stones, copper, lead, iron, tin, and khibisti made of earth. I wrote thereupon the glory of the gods. Above I built a platform of cedar-beams. I bordered the doors of pine and mastic wood with bronze garnitures, and I calculated their distance. I made a spiral staircase similar to the one in the great temple of Syria, that is called in the Phenician language, Bethil- anni. Between the doors I placed 8 double lions whose weight is 1 ner 6 soss, 50 talents of first-rate copper, made in honor of Mylitta . . . and their four huhur in mate- rials from Mount Amanus ; I placed them on nirgalli. Over them I sculptured artistically a crovni of a beast of the fields, a bird in stone of the mountains. Toward the four celestial regions I turned their front. The lintels and the uprights I made in large gypsum stone that I had taken away with my own hand, I placed them above. I walled them in and I drew upon me the admiration of the people of the countries. From the beginning to the end I walked, worshiping the god Ashur, and, following the custom of wise men, I built palaces, I amassed treasures. In the month of blessing, on the happy day, I invoked, in the midst of them, Ashur, the father of the gods, the greatest sovereign of the gods and the Istarat,^^ who in- habit Assyria. I presented vessels of glass, things in chased silver, ivory, valuable jewels and immense pres- ents, in great quantities, and I rejoiced their heart. I exhibited sculptured idols, double and winged, some . . . winged, some . . . winged, serpents, fishes, and birds, from unknown regions and abysses, the . . .^^ in 23 The Hebrew " Astaroth," which signifies " goddesses." ( Compare Judges X. 6.) 24 Obscure. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 395 high mountains, summits of the lands that I have con- quered with my own hand, for the glory of my royalty. As a worshiper of the gods and the god Ashur, I sacri- ficed in their presence, with the sacrifice of white lambs, holy holocausts of expiation, in order to withdraw the gifts that had not been agreeable to the gods. He has granted me in his august power a happy existence, long life, and I obtained a constantly lucky reign. I have entrusted myself to his favor. 50 The great Lord Bel-El, the Master of the lands, inhabits the lofty tracts; the gods and Istarat inhabit Assyria; their legions remain there in pargiti, and martahni. With the chiefs of provinces, the satraps, wise men, astrono- mers, magnates, the lieutenants and governors of Assyria, I have ruled in my palace, and administered justice. I have bid them take gold, silver, gold and silver vessels, precious stones, copper, iron, considerable products of mountains the mines of which are rich, cloth of berom and cotton, blue and purple cloth, amber, skins of sea- calves, pearls, sandalwood, ebony, horses from higher Egypt,^^ asses, mules, camels, oxen. With all these nu- merous tributes I have rejoiced the heart of the gods. May Ashur, the father of the gods, bless these palaces, by giving to his images a spontaneous splendor. May he watch over the issue even to the remote future. May the sculptured bull, the protector and god who imparts per- fection, dwell in day and in night-time in his presence, and never stir from this threshold ! With the help of Ashur, may the King who has built these palaces attain an old age, and may his offspring multiply greatly! May these battlements last to the most remote future ! May he who dwells there come forth surrounded with the greatest splendor; may he rejoice in his cor- poral health, in the satisfaction of his heart accomplish his wishes, attain his end, and may he render his mag- nificence seven times more imposing! 29 It is not clear what animala are meant. 396 THE SACRED BOOKS THE INSCEIPTION OF SENNACHERIB Sennacherib, the great King, the powerful King, the Eang of the world, the King of Assyria, the King of the four zones, the wise shepherd, the favorite of the great gods, the protector of justice, the lover of righteousness, 5 he who gives help, who goes to assist the weak, who frequents the sanctuaries, the perfect hero, the manful warrior, the first of all princes, the great, he who destroys the rebellious, who destroys the enemies ; 10 Ashur, the great rock, a kingdom without a rival has granted me. Over all who sit on sacred seats has he made my arms great, from the upper sea of the setting sun, unto the lower sea of the rising sun ^ 15 the whole of the black-headed people^ has he thrown beneath my feet and rebellious princes shunned battle with me. They forsook their dwellings ; like a falcon which dwells in the clefts, they fled alone to an inacces- sible place. In my first campaign I accomplished the destruction of Marduk-baladan 20 King of Kar-duniash,^ together with the troops of Elam, his allies, near Kish. In the midst of that battle he left his encampment and fled alone, and saved his life. The chariots, horses, freight-wagons, and mules 25 which he left in the onset of battle, my hands seized. 1 T^ke Van and the Persian Gulf, 2 The inhabitants of Babylonia. 3 Babylonia. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 397 Into his palace I entered joyously and opened his treasure-house. Gold, silver, gold and silver utensils, costly stones of every kind, possessions and goods, without number, a heavy spoil, his women of the palace, 30 valets de chamhre, youths and maidens, all the artizans, as many as there were, the portable things of his palace, I brought forth and counted as spoil. By the power of Ashur my lord, 75 of his powerful cities, the fortresses of the land of Kaldi, 35 and 420 smaller cities of their environs I besieged, captured, and carried off their spoil. The Arabians, Aramaeans, and Chaldeans of Uruk, Nippur, Kish, Kharsak-kalamma, Kutu, and Sippara together with the inhabitants of the city who had com- mitted transgression, 40 I brought forth and counted as spoil. On my return march, the Tu'muna, the Rikhikhu, the Yadaqqu, the Ubudu, the Kipre, the Malakhu, the Gurumu, the Ubulum, the Damunu, the Gambulum, the Khindaru, the Eu'ua, 45 the Puqudu, the Khamranu, the Khagaranu, the Nabatu, the Li'tau, Aramaeans •who were rebellious, I conquered together. 208,000 people, young and old, male and female, 7200 horses and mules, 11,073 asses, 5230 camels, 50 80,100 cattle, 800,600 sheep, an immense spoil, I carried away to Assyria. In the course of my campaign, I received from Nabu- bel-shanati, the prefect of the city Khararati, gold, silver, tall palms, asses, camels, cattle, 55 and sheep, a great present. The men of the city Khirimme, a rebellious enemy, I cast down with arms, I left not one alive, their corpses I bound on stakes 398 THE SACRED BOOKS and placed them round the city. That district 60 I took anew. 1 steer, 10 rams, 10 measures * of wine, 20 measures of dates, their first fruits, for the gods of Assyria, my lords, I established forever. In my second campaign, Ashur, my lord, gave me con- fidence. Against the land of the Cossseans,^ and the land of the Yasubigallai, 65 who in former times to the kings, my forefathers, had not submitted, I marched. Over high, wooded mountains, a rough country, I went on horseback. I brought up the chariot of my feet, with ropes. A steep place I climbed like a wild bull. 70 Bit-Kilamzakh, Khardishpi, Bit-Kubatti — his cities, powerful fortresses, I besieged and captured. Men, horses, mules, asses, cattle, and sheep from them I brought forth, and counted as spoil; but their small cities, 75 without number, I destroyed, wasted, and made like fields, the tents, their dwelling-places, I burned with fire, I reduced to ashes. I made that city Bit-Kilamzakh into a fortress, stronger than before I made its walls ; the people of the countries, 80 the possession of my hands, I made to dwell therein. The people of the land of the Cossaeans, and of the land of Yasubigallai, who had fled before my arms, COLUMN II from the mountains I made them descend, in Khardishpi and Bit-Kubatti I made them settle; 4 Imeri, i.e., " donkey-loads," the original meaning of the word homer. 5 Kasshi. They lived in the mountains on the east of Babylonia. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 399 in the hands of my deputy, the governor of Arrapkha,° I placed them ; a tablet I caused to be prepared ; 5 the victory of my hands which I had gained over them I wrote upon it and I set it up in the city. I turned about and to the land of Ellipi ^ I took my way. Before me Ispabara, their King, left his strong cities, 10 his treasure-houses, and fled away. The whole of his extensive land I wasted like a storm-wind. Marubishti and Akuddu, cities of his royal house, together with 34 small cities of their environs, I besieged, took, destroyed, wasted, and 15 burned with fire; the inhabitants, young, old, male and female, horses, mules, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep without number I drove away and I made his land desolate, and diminished it. Sisirtu and Kummakhlum, powerful 20 cities, together with the small cities of their environs, the land of Bit-Barru, in its entire extent, from his land I separated and to the land of Assyria added. The city of Ilinzash I made the capital and fortress of that territory and 25 changed its former name ; Kar-Sennacherib I named it. The people of the lands, the possession of my hands, I made to dwell there. In the hands of my deputy, the governor of Kharkhar,^ I placed them, and widened my territory. On my return 30 I received from the land of Media,^ far away, of which land 6 Hence the classical name of the district of Arrapakhitis, on the Upper Zab; now Albak. "• Ellipi was the country of which Ekbatana was subsequently the center, the Media of classical antiquity. fi Kharkhar adjoined Ellipi on the northeafit. » Madai. It must be remembered that the Medes spoken of by Sen- 400 THE SACRED BOOKS no one of my fathers had heard the name, a heavy tribute. I placed them beneath the yoke of my lordship. In my third campaign I marched to the land of the Hittites.i« 35 Elula?us, King of Sidon, was overcome by the fear of the splendor of my lordship and fled far away to the sea and there made his abode. Great Sidon, Little Sidon, Bit-zitti, Sarepta, Makhalliba, 40 Ushu, Ekdippa, Akko, his powerful cities, fortresses, pastures, and cisterns, and his fortifications, the power of the arms of Ashur, my lord, overcame and cast at my feet. Ethobal upon the royal throne 45 I placed over them and a tribute of my lordship, yearly and unchangeable, I set upon him. Menahem of the city of Samsimuruna, Ethobal of Sidon, Abdili'ti of Arvad, 50 Urumilki of Byblos, Mitinti of Ashdod, Buduilu of Beth-Ammon, Kammusu-nadab of Moab, Malik-rammu of Edom, 55 all Kings of the west land, brought rich presents, heavy gifts with merchandise, before me, and kissed my feet. And Tsidqa, the King of Ashkelon, who had not submitted to my yoke, I brought out, the gods of the house of his fathers, nacherib did not as yet inhabit the district of which Ekbatana subse- quently became the capital. Hence the title of " far off," applied to them here. 10 " The land of the Hittites " had now become a generic title, signi- fying Syria generally. The Hittite kingdoms at Carchemish and else- where had now ceased to exist. THE ASSYRIANS ASSAULTING A CITY. A sculptured slab uf the yimrod Palace. The advancing soldiers shoot from behind screens, an armored fort batters tJie wall, and impaled prisoners form the hachground. :ii».i "6 ■ 6 K •y<. V ..>>> ;>^ i.iwjv^n-., ^^"'^ A\0'S\ LITERATURE OF THE EAST 401 60 himself, his wife, his sons, his daughters, his brothers, the seed of the house of his fathers, and took them to Assyria. Sharru-ludari, the son of Rukibti, their former King, I established over the people of Ashkelon; the giving of tribute, a present to my lordship, I put upon him, and he bears my yoke. 65 In the course of my campaign Beth-Dagon, Joppa, Benebarqa,^^ Azuru, the cities of Tsidqa, which had not quickly thrown themselves at my feet, I besieged, I took, I carried away their spoil. The governors, chiefs, and people of Ekron 70 who had cast Padi, their King according to Assyrian right and oath, into iron chains, and had, in hostile manner, given him to Hezekiah of Judah — he shut him up in prison — feared in their hearts. The kings of Egypt called forth the archers, chariots, and horses of the King of Melukhkhi, 75 a force without number, and came to their help ; before the city of Eltekeh they arranged their battle array, appealing to their weapons. With the help of Ashur, my lord, I fought with them and accomplished their defeat. 80 The chief of the chariots and the sons of the King of Egypt and the chief of the chariots of the King of Melukhkhi my hands took alive in the fight. Eltekeh and Timnath ^- I besieged, I took, and carried away their spoil. 11 The Beni-berak of Joeh. xix. 45. 12 See Gen. xxxviii. 12; Josh. xv. 10; Judg. xiv. 1, etc. The place is now called Tibneh. VOL. I.— 26. 4,02 THE SACRED BOOKS COLUMN III To the city of Ekron I went ; the governors and princes, who had committed a transgression, I killed and bound their corpses on poles around the city. The inhabitants of the city who had committed sin and evil 5 I counted as spoil ; to the rest of them who had committed no sin and wrong, who had no guilt, I spoke peace. Padi, their King, I brought forth from the city of Jerusalem ; upon the throne of lordship over them 10 I placed him. The tribute of my lordship I laid upon him. But Hezekiah, of Judah, who had not submitted to my yoke, I besieged 46 of his strong cities, fortresses, and small cities of their environs, without number, and 15 by casting down the walls and advancing the engines, by an assault of the light-armed soldiers, by breaches, by striking, and by axes I took them; 200,150 men, young and old, male and female, horses, mules, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep without number I brought out from them, 20 I counted them as spoil. Hezekiah himself I shut up like a caged birid in Jerusalem, his royal city ; the walls I fortified against him, and whosoever came out of the gates of the city I turned back. His cities, which I had plundered, I divided from his land and gave them to Mitinti, King of Ashdod, 25 to Padi, King of Ekron, and to Tsil-Bal, King of Gaza, and thus diminished his territory. To the former tribute, paid yearly, I added the tribute of alliance of my lordship, and laid that upon him. Hezekiah himself LITERATURE OF THE EAST 403 30 was overwhelmed by the fear of the brightness of my lord- ship; the Arabians and his other faithful warriors whom, as a defense for Jerusalem, his royal city, he had brought in, fell into fear. With 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver, precious stones, 35 gnkhli daggassi, large lapis lazuli, couches of ivory, thrones of ivory, ivory, usu wood, boxwood of every kind, a heavy trea- sure, and his daughters, his women of the palace, the young men and young women, to Nineveh, the city of my lordship, 40 I caused to be brought after me, and he sent his ambas- sadors to give tribute and to pay homage. In my fourth campaign Ashur my lord gave me confi- dence. I summoned mv masses of troops ; to the land of Bit- Yakin^s I made them march. In the course of my campaign 45 I accomplished at Bittutu the overthrow of Shuzub, the Chaldean, who dwelt in the marsh land. He was overcome by the fear of my battle-line, he lost heart, like a bird he fled alone, his trace was seen no more. I turned about, 50 to the land of Bit-Yakin I took the road. Marduk-baladan, whose overthrow, in the course of my first campaign, I had accomplished and his power dispersed, feared the war-cry of my powerful arms and the advance of my strong battle-line, and 55 the gods who ruled his land he moved in their shrines, on ships he embarked them ; to the city of Nagittu, in the swamps, 15 The capital of Marduk-baladan, in the marshes in the south of Babylonia. 404 THE SACRED BOOKS by the sea-coast, he fled like a bird. His brothers, the seed of his fathers, whom he left by the sea, together with the remaining people of this land, from Bit-Yakin, marsh and meadow-land, 60 I brought them out, counted them slaves. I returned and destroyed his cities ; I wasted them, and made them like plowed land. Upon his confederate, the King of Elam, I poured out fury. On my return march I made Asur-nadin-sum, my first- born son, the scion of my knees, sit upon the throne of his lordship and 65 the broad land of Sumer and Akkad I made subject to him. In my fifth campaign the men of Tumurri, Sarum, Isama, Kibsu, Khalbada, Qua and Qana, whose dwellings, like the nest of the eagle the king of birds, were located upon the pinnacle of Nippur,^* To the steep mountain, had not yielded to my yoke. At the foot of mount Nippur I placed my camp, with my followers drawn up and my unrelenting warriors, I, like a strong wild ox, took the lead. Y5 Clefts, ravines, mountain torrents, difficult high floods in a chair I crossed, places impassable for the chair I went down on foot, like an ibex I climbed to the high peaks against them, wherever my knees had a resting-place, I sat down on a rock ; 80 waters of cold streams, for my thirst, I drank. Upon the peaks of wooded mountains I pursued them, I accomplished their destruction ; their cities I took. 1* Mount Taurus. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 4-05 COLUMN IV I took away their spoil, destroyed, wasted, and burned them with fire. I turned about and against Maniae, King of the city of Ukki, in the land of Daie, yet uncon- quered, I took the road. Into the unopened path, the steep roads before 5 impassable mountains, before me had no one of the former kings marched. At the foot of Anara and Uppa, powerful mountains, I placed my camp, and I, upon my chair, with my unrelenting warriors, 10 entered, with weariness, into their narrow passes. With difficulty I climbed the peaks of the steep mountains. Maniae saw the dust of my soldiers' feet, forsook Ukku, his royal city and fled far away. I besieged and took Ukku. 15 I took his spoil of all sorts, property and possessions; the treasure of his palace I brought out from it and counted as spoil, and 33 cities of the borders of his territory I took. People, asses, cattle and sheep I brought forth 20 from them. I destroyed, wasted, and burned them with fire. In my sixth campaign, the remaining inhabitants of Bit- Yakin who had fled before my powerful arms, like wild asses, and had moved the gods, who rule their lands, in their shrines, and had crossed over the great sea 25 of the setting sun, and had set their homes in Nagitu, of the land of Elam, therefore upon ships of the Hittites ^* I crossed the sea. Nagitu, Nagitu-dibina, with Kilmu, Pillatu and the land of Khupapanu, districts of the land of Elam I took. The people of Bit-Yakin, with their gods, 10 That is, Syrians. 406 THE SACRED BOOKS 30 and the people of the King of Elam I took, and left behind no settler. In ships I brought them ; over to the coast on this side I made them cross and take the road to Assyria. The cities of those districts I destroyed, wasted, burned with fire and made them heaps and plowed land. 35 On my return Shuzub, of Babylon, who, through an attack on the land, had seized the lordship of Sumer and Akkad, in open battle I defeated, I took him alive with my own hand, in fetters and bands of iron I put him, and to Assyria 40 I brought him. The King of Elam, who had helped him and marched to his aid, I overcame ; his power I scattered, I broke down his army. In my seventh campaign Ashur my lord gave me confi- dence. To the land of Elam I marched. Bit-Khairi 45 and Rasa, cities of the Assyrian territory which, in the reign of my fathers, the Elamites had torn away by force. In the course of my campaign I took, and seized their spoil. My royal warriors I took into them. To the territory of Assyria I returned them and 50 gave them into the hands of the chief of Khaltsu dur-sami- irtsiti. The cities of Bubi, Dunnisamas, Bit-risia, Bit-uklame, Duru, Danti-Sulai, Siliptu, Bit-asusi, Karmubasa, Bit-gissi, Bit-kappalani, Bit-imbia, 65 Khamanu, Bit-arrabi, Burutu, Dintu-sa-Sulai, Dintu- sa-Turbititir, Kharriaslaki, Eabai, Rasu, Akkabarina, Tilukhuri, Khamranu, Naditu, with the cities at the entrance GO toward Bit-bunaki, Til-khumbi, Dintu-sa- Dumean, Bit-ubia, Baltilisir, LITERATURE OF THE EAST 407 Tagallisir, Sanakidati, Masutu-saplitu, Sarkhuderi, Alum-sa-tarbit, Bit-akhiddiua, Ilteuba, 34 powerful cities 65 and the smaller cities in their environs without number, I besieged, took, and carried off their spoil, I destroyed, wasted, and burned them with fire. With the smoke of their burning, like a dark cloud I covered the face of the broad heaven. When Kudur- Nakhundu, 70 the Elamite, heard of the taking of his cities, fear overcame him. He made his remaining cities fortresses. He left Madakti, his royal city, and to Khaidala, which is among the far-away mountains, took his way. To Madakti, his royal city, 75 I ordered the march. In the month Tebet, a great cold set in, the heaven poured down rain, rain upon rain and snow ; streams and torrents from mountains I feared. I turned about and took the road to Nineveh. In those days, 80 by command of Ashur my lord, Kudur-Xakhundi, COLUMN V the King of Elam, did not live three months. On a day not destined for him he died suddenly. After him Ummam-minanu, without judgment and intel- ligence, his younger brother, set himself on his throne. 5 In my eighth campaign, after Suzub had been carried off, and the people of Babylon, evil devils had closed their city gates, their heart planned the making of a rebellion. Around Suzub, the Chaldean, the wicked, the base, who has no strength, a vassal under the control of the governor 10 of Lakhiru, the fugitive, the deserter, the bloodthirsty, they gathered and marched into the marsh-land and made a revolt. 408 THE SACRED BOOKS I surrounded them with an army and threatened his life. On account of terror and distress he fled to Elam. 15 As infamy and wrong were around him he hastened from Elam and entered Babylon. The Babylonians illegitimately set him on the throne, and the lordship of Sumer and Akkad en- trusted to him. The treasure-house of E-saggil they opened, and the gold and silver 20 of Bel and Zarbanit, which they brought from their tem- ples, they gave as a bribe to Umman-minanu, the King of Elam, who was without judgment and insight, saying to him : " Assemble thy army, gather thy forces, hasten to Babylon, help us, 25 our confidence art thou." He, the Elamite, whose cities, in the course of my former campaign against Elam I had taken, and turned into plow-land, took no thought, he received the bribe from them and assembled his soldiers and forces; his chariots and bag- gage-wagons 30 he brought together, horses and mules he placed in spans. The lands of Parsuas, Anzan, Pasini, Ellipi, lazan, Lagabra, Karzunu, Dumuqu, Sulai, Samunu, the son of Marduk-baladan, Bit-adini, Bit-amukkana, 35 Bit-sillana, Bit-salududakki, Lakhiru, the Puqudu, the Gambulum, the Khalatu, the Ruua, the Ubulum, the Malakhu, the Rapiqu, the Khindaru, the Damunu, a great confederation, he called unto him. Their great throng took the 40 road to Akkad and came to Babylon. Together with Suzub the Chaldean, King of Babylon, they made an alliance and united their forces, like a great swarm of locusts, on the surface of the earth ; together, they came to do battle 45 against me. The dust of their feet was like a storm LITERATURE OF THE EAST 409 by which the wide heavens are covered with thick clouds. Before me in the city of Khaluli, on the banks of the Tigris, the line of battle was drawn up. Before me they stationed themselves, they brandished their arms. 50 I prayed to Ashur, Sin, Shamash, Bel, Nabu, Nergal, Ishtar of Nineveh, Ishtar of Arbela, the gods of my con- fidence, to overcome my powerful enemy. My prayers they quickly heard, they came to my help. Like a lion I raged and put on 55 my cuirass and with my helmet, sign of war, I covered my head. Into my high war-chariot, which wipes out the refractory, with the fury of my heart I climbed quickly. The powerful bow, which Ashur had entrusted to me, I seized, 60 the javelin which destroys life I seized with my hand. Against all the troops, evil enemies, oppressed, I roared like a lion, like Ramman I raged. At the command of Ashur, the great lord, my lord, on flank and front, like the advance of a wild flood, upon the enemy I fell. 65 With the confidence of Ashur, and the advance of my powerful line of battle, I struck their front and brought about their retreat The hostile forces with arrow and lance I destroyed, through the mass of their corpses I cleared my way. Khumba-nudasa, chief 70 of the King of Elam, a careful champion, who ruled his troops, in whom he had great confidence, him, together with his chief men, whose girdle-dagger was embossed with gold, and whose wrists were bound with double bracelets of shining gold, like fat steers, laid in chains, 75 I quickly destroyed, and accomplished their defeat. Their necks I cut off like lambs, 410 THE SACRED BOOKS their precious lives I cut tiirough like a knot ; like a heavy rain, their trophies and arms I scattered over the wide field. 80 The chargers of my chariot swam in the masses of blood as in a river, crushing evil and bad ; blood and filth ran down its wheel. With the corpses of their warriors, as with herbs I filled the field. I cut off their testicles. COLUMN VI Their pudenda I tore from them like the seed of cucumbers. I cut off their hands. The bracelets of gold and silver, which were on their arms, I took off. With sharp swords I cut off their noses. 5 The gold and silver girdle-daggers, which they carried, I took away. The rest of his officers, and Nabu-sum-iskun, the son of Marduk-baladan, who feared my line of battle, but had gone with them, in the midst of the battle I seized them alive, with my hands. Their chariots 10 with their horses, whose drivers, in the onset of battle, had been killed, while they were left and went up and down by themselves, these I turned together. Until the fourth hour of the night it went on. Then I stopped their slaughter. Umman-minanu, 15 King of Elam, together with the King of Babylon, the princes of Chaldea, who had helped them, the vehemence of my battle-line, like a bull overwhelmed them. They left their tents. To save their lives they trampled over the bodies of their soldiers and fled. Like young captured birds they lost courage. 20 With their urine thev defiled their chariots LITERATURE OF THE EAST 411 and let fall their excrement. To pursue them I sent my chariots and horses after them. Their fugitives, who had gone out to save their lives wherever they were overtaken, were thrown down by arms. 25 In those days, after I had finished the palace adjoining the wall of Nineveh for a royal dwelling, and to the astonishment of all people had adorned it ; the side building, for keeping in order the train, for the keeping of horses, and all sorts of things 30 which the kings, my forefathers and fathers, had built, it had no foundation, its room was too small, the workmanship was not tasteful. In the course of time, its base had become weak, the part under ground had given way, and the upper part was in ruins. That palace I tore down completely. 35 A great mass of building-material I took out of the ground. The surrounding part of the city I cut off and added to it. The place of the old palace I left. With earth from the river-bed I filled it up. The lower ground I raised 200 tipJci 40 above the level. In a favorable month on an auspicious day I built on this foundation according to the wisdom of my heart a palace of pilu stone and cedar-wood, in the style of the Hittites, and a great palace in the Assyrian style, which far exceeded the former in adaptation, 45 size, and artistic excellence, through the work of the wise builders of my royal rule. Great cedar-beams from Khamanu,^^ a snow-capped mountain, I brought hither. The doors of liari wood I surrounded with a cover 50 of gleaming bronze, and I put in the doors. With white pilu stones, which were found in the 19 Mount Amanus. 412 THE SACRED BOOKS environs of Buladai, I made great bull colossi and placed them by the doors on the left and right. For the equipment of the black-headed men, for the receiving 55 of horses, mules, calves, asses, chariots, bow-strings, quivers, bows and arrows, every sort of tool for war, the harness for horses and mules, which have great power when yoked, 60 I made rooms and greatly enlarged them. I built that palace from foundation to roof and finished it. My inscription I brought into it. For future days, whoever — among the kings, my successors, whom Ashur and Ishtar 65 shall call to rule over the land and people — the prince may be, if this palace becomes old and ruined, who builds it anew may he preserve my inscription, anoint it with oil, offer sacrifices, return it to its place ; YO then will Ashur and Ishtar hear his prayer. Whoever alters my writing and name him may Ashur, the great lord, the father of gods, afflict like an enemy and take scepter and throne from him and destroy his rule. Dated the month Adar of the archonate of Bel-imurani, 75 prefect of Carchemish. THE GREAT AGE OF ASSYRIA (889-626 B.C.) PRAYERS AND MAGIC INCANTATIONS Let health of body and joy of heart he my daily portion." — ASSYRIAN PRAYER PRAYERS AND MAGIC INCANTATIONS (INTRODUCTION) THE religion of the Assyrians seems to have been a mat- ter of formulas and ceremonials, without much active thought. Perhaps with such savage monarchs, and so war- like a nation, this was inevitable. There was only one among all the kings of Assyria's period of power who turned wholly from war to fill his days with the life of thought. This was Ashur-banipal, of whose great library and of whose eager searching into ancient knowledge we have already spoken. And it is noteworthy that, immediately after Ashur-banipal's reign, came the Assyrian downfall. The wild, surrounding tribes, whom his ancestors had kept sternly underfoot, had, during his reign, become so strong that they were able to turn upon his successors and destroy them. Possibly this would have happened no matter what Ashur-banipal had been, but the fact remains that the gathering of his great library marked the ending of his nation. In a way it thus seems strangely providential that all the old Babylonian literature was thus garnered and preserved for our own day at the very last moment when it could still be saved. That Ashur-banipal was a religious as well as a learned ruler we know from the large number of prayers found among his texts. The prayers given in this section are all from the Assyrian tongue ; though some of them, we know, had Baby- lonian originals, and possibly all of them are founded on Babylonian thought. Even Ashur-banipal, the most intel- lectual of the Assyrians, was only a collector, not a creator of learning. He brought into much prominence a god of whom earlier ages had little to say, Nabu, the god of wisdom. But Nabu was even more definitely the god of the actual handi- craft of writing; and it is in this light, rather than that of 415 416 THE SACRED BOOKS any broader wisdom, that he was the true god of King Ashur- banipal. Hence these Assyrian prayers are of a somewhat self-seek- ing shallowness; and it is only when they turn to magic, to incantations, that they become vigorously in earnest. Magic seems, indeed, the stronghold of Assyrian religious faith. Whatever of a higher spirit the Babylonians had evolved seems now to have sunk into formalism. Most of our prayers in this section are really magic formulas. They belong to a large, loosely connected group, called by the Assyrians " The Lifting of the Hand," a title which referred less to the up- raising of the hand in prayer than to removing of some god's heavy hand of calamity, which weighed upon its victim. Hence directions accompanying many of the prayers, telling what sacrifices are to be offered, what rites, both of purifica- tion and of magic, are to be performed, so as to compel the " lifting of the hand," whether its clutch be that of god or demon. PRAYERS AND MAGIC INCANTATIONS A PRAYER TO MARDUK O mighty, powerful, strong one of Asliur ! O noble, exalted, first-born of Ea ! O Marduk, the mighty, who causeth Itura to rejoice ! Lord of Isagila, help of Babylon, lover of Izida ! 5 Preserver of life, prince of I-mah-til-la, renewer of life! Shadow of the land, protector of distant peoples ! Forever the sovereign of shrines ! Forever is thy name good in the mouth of the peoples ! O Marduk, mighty lord, . . ., 10 At thy exalted command let me live, let me be perfect and let me behold thy divinity ! When I plan, let me attain my purpose ! Cause righteousness to dwell in my mouth ! . . . mercy in my heart ! 15 Return and be established! May they command mercy! May my god stand at my right hand ! May my goddess stand at my left hand ! May my god, who is favorable, stand firmly at my side, To give utterance, to command, to barken and show favor ! 20 Let the word I speak, when I speak, be propitious ! O Marduk, mighty lord, command life ! The life of my life do thou command ! Before thee brightly have I bowed myself, let me be satis- fied! May Bel be thy light, may Ea shout with joy unto thee ! 25 May the gods of the world be favorable to thee ! May the great gods delight thy heart ! VOL. I.— 27. 417 418 THE SACRED BOOKS PRAYER TO ISHTAR i . . . good is thy supplication when the spirit of thy name is propitious ! Thy regard is prosperity, thy command is light ! Have mercy on me, O Ishtar ! Command abundance ! Truly pity me and take away my sighing ! Thy . . . have I held : let me bring joy of heart ! I have borne thy yoke : do thou give consolation ! I have . . . thy head : let me enjoy success and favor ! I have protected thy splendor: let there be good fortune and prosperity ! 10 I have sought thy light : let my brightness shine ! I have turned toward thy power: let there be life and peace ! Propitious be the favorable sidu who is before thee : may the lamassu that goeth behind thee be propitious ! That which is on thy right hand increase good fortune: that which is on thy left hand attain favor ! Speak and let the word be heard ! 15 Let the word I speak, when I speak, be propitious ! Let health of body and joy of heart be my daily portion ! My days prolong, life bestow : let me live, let me be per- fect, let me behold thy divinity ! When I plan, let me attain my purpose : Heaven be thy joy, may the Abyss hail thee ! 1 The lines are addressed to the goddess Ishtar, and only the begin- ning is missing, in which the goddess is addressed by name. Lines 6 to 11 are regularly divided, the first half of each stating some attention or observance on the part of the suppliant toward his goddess, which balances and justifies the petitions contained in the second half of the line. The coJossi whose favor is invoked in lines 12 and 13 evidently surround the goddess on all sides and possibly flanked the entrances to her shrine. Then follow various petitions couched in general terms for prosperity, life, and length of days, and the prayer concludes with a formula of benediction. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 419 A PRAYER TO OTNIB (GOD OF BATTLE) O mighty son, first born of Bel ! Powerful, perfect, offspring of Esara, Who art clothed with terror, who art full of fury ! O Utgallu, whose onslaught is unopposed! Mighty is thy place among the great gods ! In Ekur, the house of decisions, exalted are thy heads, And Bel thy father has granted thee That the law of all the gods thy hand should hold ! Thou judgest the judgment of mankind ! Thou leadest him that is without a leader, the man that is in need! Thou holdest the hand of the weak, thou exaltest him that is not strong ! The body of the man that to the lower world has been brought down, thou dost restore ! From him who sin possesses, the sin thou dost remove ! Thou art quick to favor the man with whom his god is angry ! Ninib, prince of the gods, a hero art thou ! 1 [so and so, son of so and so,] whose god is [so and so,] whose goddess is [so and so,] Have bound for thee a cord, . . . have I offered thee ; I have offered thee tarrinnu, a pleasant odor ; I have poured out for thee mead, a drink from corn. With thee may there stand the gods of Bel ! With thee may there stand the gods of Ekur ! Truly pity me and barken to my cries ! My sighing remove and accept my supplication ! Let my cry find acceptance before thee ! Deal favorably with me who fear thee ! Thy face have I beheld, let me have prosperity ! Thou art pitiful ! Truly pity me ! Take away my sin, my iniquity remove ! 420 THE SACRED BOOKS A KING'S PRAYER TO THE MOON-GOD O Sin ! O Nannar ! mighty one . . . O Sin, who art unique, thou that brightenest . . . That givest light unto the nations . . . That unto the black-headed race art favorable . . . 5 Bright is thy light, in heaven ... Brilliant is thy torch, like the Fire-god . . . Thy brightness fills the broad earth ! The brightness of the nation he gathers, in thy sight . . . Anu of the sky, whose purpose no man learns ! 10 Overwhelming is thy light like the Sun-god, thy first-born ! Before thy face the great gods bow down, the fate of the world is set before thee ! In the evil of an eclipse of the Moon which, in such and such a month on such and such a day, has taken place, In the evil of the powers, of the portents, evil and not good, which are in my palace and my land, The great gods beseech thee and thou givest counsel ! 15 They take their stand, all of them, they petition at thy feet! O Sin, glorious one of Ekur ! they beseech thee and thou givest the oracle of the gods ! The end of the month is the day of thy oracle, the decision of the great gods ; The thirtieth day is thy festival, a day of prayer to thy divinity ! God of the New Moon, in might unrivaled, whose pur- pose no man learns, 20 I have poured thee a libation of the night with wailing, I have offered thee with shouts of joy a drink-offering of . . . 1 am bowed down ! I have taken my stand ! I have sought for thee ! Do thou set favor and righteousness upon me ! LITERATURE OF THE EAST 421 TO THE STAR REGULUS » O Sibziana . . . Thou that changest the ... In the heavens . . . They bow down before thee . . . 5 The great gods beseech thee and . . . Without thee Anu . . . Bel the arbiter . . . Ishkar the prince of heaven and earth . . . At thy command mankind was named ! 10 Give thou the word and with thee let the great gods stand ! Give thou my judgment, make my decision ! I, thy servant, Ashur-banipal, the son of his god. Whose god is Ashur, whose goddess is Ashuritu, In the evil of the eclipse of the moon which in the month on the day has taken place, 15 In the evil of the powers, of the portents, evil and not good. Which are in my palace and my land, Because of the evil magic, the disease that is not good, the iniquity. The transgression, the sin that is in my body . . ., Because of the evil specter that is bound to me and . . ., 20 Have petitioned thee, I have glorified thee ! The raising of my hand accept ! Harken to my prayer ! Free me from my bewitchment ! Loosen my sin ! Let there be torn away whatsoever evil may come to cut off my life ! May the favorable sidu be ever at my head ! 25 May the god, the goddess of mankind grant me favor ! At thy command let me live ! Let me bow down and extol thy greatness ! 3 The prayer is inscribed to the star Sibziana or Regulus, addressed as a male deity, and invoked in lines 1 to 9 in somewhat extravagant terms. The object of the prayer is to induce Sibziana to remove the evil spells, bewitchments, possession by specters, etc., that have followed in the train of the lunar eclipse. 422 THE SACRED BOOKS AN INCANTATION TO ISHTAR ^ I pray unto thee, lady of ladies, goddess of goddesses ! ^ O Ishtar, queen of all peoples, directress of mankind ! O Irnini, thou art raised on high, mistress of the Spirits of heaven ; Thou art mighty, thou hast sovereign power, exalted is thy name ! 5 Thou art the light of heaven and earth, O valiant daugh- ter of the Moon-god. Euler of weapons, arbitress of the battle! Framer of all decrees, wearer of the crown of dominion ! O lady, majestic is thy rank, over all the gods is it exalted ! Thou art the cause of lamentation, thou sowest hostility among brethren who are at peace ; 10 Thou art the bestower of strength ! Thou art strong, O lady of victory, thou canst violently attain my desire! O Gutira, who art girt with battle, who art clothed with terror. Thou wieldest the scepter and the decision, the control of earth and heaven 1 4 Ishtar, to whom the prayer is oflfered (line 106), is in this line and in line 105 addressed by the title Irnini; in line 12 she is addressed as Gutira. It is well knowTi that in course of time Ishtar was identified by the Babylonians and Assyrians with other goddesses, e.g., Ninni, Nana, Anunitum, and Belit; and when so identified she absorbed their names, titles, and attributes. In these passages we have two additional instances of her identification with other deities. 5 The text is addressed to Ishtar in her character as the goddess of battle. Lines 1-41 contain addresses to the goddess, descriptive of her power and splendor, and at line 42 the suppliant begins to make his own personal petitions, describing his state of affliction and praying for deliverance. A rubric occurs at the end of the text (lines beginning 107), giving directions for the performance of certain ceremonies and for the due recital of the prayer. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 423 Holy chambers, shrines, divine dwellings, and temples worship thee ! 15 Where is thy name not heard ? Where is thy decree not obeyed ? Where are thine images not made 'I Where are thy tem- ples not founded ? Where art thou not great ? Where art thou not exalted ? Anu, Bel, and Ea have raised thee on high ; among the gods have they made great thy dominion ; They have exalted thee among all the Spirits of heaven, they have made thy rank pre-eminent. 20 At the thought of thy name the heaven and the earth quake, The gods tremble, the Spirits of the earth falter. Mankind payeth homage unto thy mighty name, For thou art great, and thou art exalted. All mankind,** the whole human race, boweth down be- fore thy power. 25 Thou judgest the cause of men with justice and right- eousness ; Thou lookest with mercy on the violent man, and thou settest right the unruly every morning. How long wilt thou tarry, O lady of heaven and earth, shepherdess of those that dwell in human habita- tions ? How long wilt thou tarry, O lady of the holy E-anna,^ the pure Storehouse ? How long wilt thou tarry, O lady, whose feet are un- wearied, whose knees have not lost their vigor ? 30 How long wilt thou tarry, O lady of all fights and of the battle ? O thou glorious one, that ragest among the Spirits of heaven, that subduest angry gods. That hast power over all princes, that controllest the scepter of kings, That openest the bonds of all handmaids, 6 Literally, "the black-headed"; i.e., mankind. 7 I.e., the temple of Ishtar in the city of Uruk. 424. THE SACRED BOOKS That art raised on high, that art firmly established — valiant Ishtar, great is thy might ! 35 Bright torch of heaven and earth, light of all dwellings, Terrible in the fight, one who can not be opposed, strong in the battle ! O whirlwind, that roarest against the foe and cuttest off the mighty ! O furious Ishtar, summoner of armies ! O goddess of men, O goddess of women, thou whose coun- sel none may learn ! 40 Where thou lookest in pity, the dead man lives again, the sick is healed ; The afflicted is saved from his affliction, when he behold- eth thy face ! I, thy servant, sorrowful, sighing, and in distress cry unto thee, Look upon me, O my lady, and accept my supplication. Truly pity me, and harken unto my prayer ! 45 Cry unto me " It is enough ! " and let thy spirit be appeased ! How long shall my body lament, which is full of restless- ness and confusion? How long shall my heart be afflicted, which is full of sorrow and sighing ? How long shall my omens be grievous in restlessness and confusion ? How long shall my house be troubled, which mourneth bitterly ? 50 How long shall my spirit be troubled, which aboundeth in sorrow and sighing? O . . . Irnini, fierce lioness, may thy heart have rest! Is anger mercy ? Then let thy spirit be appeased ! May thine eyes rest with favor upon me ; With thy glorious regard, truly in mercy look upon me ! 55 Put an end to the evil bewitchments of my body ; let me behold thy clear light ! How long, O my lady, shall mine enemies persecute me ? LITERATURE OF THE EAST 425 How long shall they devise evil in rebellion and wicked- ness, And in my pursuits and my pleasures shall they rage against me ? How long, O my lady, shall the ravenous demon pursue me? 60 They have caused me continuous affliction, but I have praised thee. The weak have become strong, but I am weak ; I am sated like a flood which the evil wind maketh to rage. My heart hath taken wing, and hath flown away like a bird of the heavens; I moan like a dove, night and day. 65 I am made desolate, and I weep bitterly ; With grief and woe my spirit is distressed. What have I done, O my god and my goddess ? Is it because I feared not my god or my goddess that trouble hath befallen me ? Sickness, disease, ruin, and destruction are come upon me; 70 Troubles, turning away of the countenance, and fulness of anger are my lot, And the indignation and the wrath of all gods and men. I have beheld, O my lady, days of affliction, months of sorrow, years of misfortune ; I have beheld, O my lady, slaughter, turmoil, and rebel- lion. Death and misery have made an end of me ! 75 My need is grievous, grievous is my humiliation ; Over my house, my gate, and my fields is affliction poured forth. As for my god, his face is turned elsewhere ; My strength is brought to naught, my power is broken ! But unto thee, O my lady, do I give heed, I have kept thee in my mind ; 80 Unto thee therefore do I pray, dissolve my ban ! 426 THE SACRED BOOKS Dissolve my sin, my iniquity, my transgression, and my offense ! Forgive my transgression, accept my supplication ! Secure my deliverance, and let me be loved and carefully tended ! Guide my footsteps in the light, that among men I may gloriously seek my way ! 85 Say the word, that at thy command my angry god may have mercy, And that my goddess, who is wroth, may turn again ! The darkness hath settled dovTu, so let my brazier be bright ; Thou art the ruler, let then my torch flame forth ! May my scattered strength be collected ; 90 May the fold be wide, and may my pen be bolted fast! Eeceive the abasement of my countenance, give ear unto my prayer. Truly pity me, and accept my supplication ! How long, O my lady, wilt thou be angry and thy face be turned away ? How long, O my lady, wilt thou rage and thy spirit be full of wrath ? 95 Incline thy neck, which is turned away from my affairs, and set prosperity before thy face ; As by the solving waters of the river may thine anger be dissolved ! My mighty foes may I trample like the ground ; And those who are wroth with me mayest thou force into submission and crush beneath my feet ! Let my prayer and my supplication come unto thee, 100 And let thy great mercy be upon me, That those who behold me in the street may magnify thy name, And that I may glorify thy godhead and thy might before mankind ! Ishtar is exalted ! Ishtar is queen ! My lady is exalted ! My lady is queen ! LITERATURE OF THE EAST 427 105 Iriiini, the valiant daughter of the Moon-god, hath not a rival ! PBAYKR OF THE RAISING OF THE HAND TO ISHTAR ^ This shalt thou do . . . a green bough shalt thou sprin- kle with pure water ; four bricks from a ruin ^ shalt thou set in place ; a lamb shalt thou take; with sarhatu-wood shalt thou fill the censer, and thou shalt set fire thereto ; sweet- scented woods, some upuntu-^lsmt and some cypress- wood shalt thou heap up ; a drink-offering shalt thou offer, but thou shalt not bow thyself down. This incantation before the goddess Ishtar 110 three times shalt thou recite, . . . and thou shalt not look behind thee. " O exalted Ishtar, that givest light unto the four quar- ters of the world ! " i*^ This copy from Borsippa, made like unto its original, hath Nergal-balatsu-ikbi, the son of Atarad-kalme, the magician, written for the preservation of his life, and he hath revised it, and hath deposited it within the temple of E-sagila. 8 This line gives the title of the prayer ; then follows a rubric of four lines giving directions for the performance of certain ceremonies and for the due recital of the prayer. 9 In the four bricks, which, if the suggested rendering is correct, are here directed to be brought from a ruin, we may perhaps see a symbolical offering to Ishtar in her character of the goddess of battle and destruction. 10 This line gives the catch-line for the next tablet. 4a8 THE SACRED BOOKS AN INCANTATION IN SICKNESS" (TO MAKDUK) O Marduk, lord of lands, the mighty . . . Powerful, unique, perfect . . . The exalted hero, who suffers no change . . . 20 The strong one, the king who . . . O Marduk the illustrious, the great one who . . . The mighty ... the illustrious ! The storm of the weapons, the battle . . . O . , . ! the perfect . . . ! 25 . . . the great . . . ! . . . Marduk, the lord . . . O Marduk, the lord . . . O Marduk, the lord ... 11 The first line of the tablet forms a sort of heading or introduction, and, while stating the occasion of the prayer, contains a general direc- tion to the eflfect that when the sickness has fallen on the man nothing evil or inauspicious is to be allowed to approach him. Then follows the first section on the tablet containing 14 lines of directions for cere- monies, which commence as follows : " Perform the following. In the night sprinkle a green bough with pure water. Before Marduk the . . . drink-offering shalt thou set. Dates and . . . shalt thou heap up. A sa of oil, a drink-offering, water, honey, and butter shalt thou offer; thou shalt set there an incense-burner, corn . . . shalt thou heap up ; a sa-na of incanse shalt thou offer. The . . . -drink shalt thou pour out." The rites in the next line and a half are obscure; at line 7 offerings of flesh are prescribed, three preparations of flesh being specified. In line 8 the command is given to take the oil of certain woods, and the next two lines contain a list of substances that are to be cast into the oil, including gold, fragments of various kinds of wood and plants, and in- cense. Beginning with line 11 certain offerings are specified in honor of the An-hul-mish, the offerings consisting of one piece of alabaster, one piece of gold, one piece of lapis lazuli, and one seal. In the prin- cipal prayer of the tablet reference is made to each of these four offer- ings (lines 69-73), and, as the prayer is addressed throughout to Mar- duk, it is obvious that An-hul-mish is merely a title of the god Marduk. The ceremonies conclude with an injunction to the officiating priest to hold the hand of the sick man and recite the incantation. The in- cantation then begins with line 17. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 429 Lord of the heavens, of mountains and of oceans, who . . . the hills! Lord of . . . and fortresses, who guideth the rivers ! 30 Who bestoweth com and grain, who createth wheat and barley, who reneweth the green herb ! Who createth the handiwork of god and goddess; in the midst of their ... art thou ! The ruler of the Anunnaki, the director of the Igigi ! The wise, the first-born of Ea, the creator of the whole of mankind ! Thou art lord, and like my father and my mother among the ... art thou ! 35 Thou art like the Sun-god also : their darkness thou dost lighten ! A cry and a shout of joy . . . Thou guidest him that is in need . . . Their wisdom . . . Lands and distant peoples . . . 40 Thou art compassionate . . . ... I am weak . . . Thou boldest his hand . . . [At line 45 the suppliant makes a formal statement of his own name along with that of his father, after which the tablet continues broken for several lines, only disconnected words having been preserved. When the lines once more become connected we find the suppliant imploring that the life of his body may be restored, the disease from which he is suffering being put down to the influence of magic. He concludes a description of his symptoms with the words : "^ My powers and my soul are bewitched and there is no righteous de- cision ! " He therefore makes a direct appeal to the god in the following words:] O lord, at this time stand beside me and barken to my cries, give judgment, make my decision ! 430 THE SACRED BOOKS 60 The sickness ... do thou destroy, and take thou away the disease of my body ! O my god and goddess, judge ye mankind, and possess me ! By the command of thy mouth may there never approach anything evil, the magic of the sorcerer and of the sorceress ! May there never approach me the poisons of the evil . . . of men ! May there never approach the evil of dreams, of powers and portents of heaven and of earth ! 65 Never may the evil of the portent of city and land over- take me ! In spite of the evil mouth, the evil tongue of men, in thy sight let me be perfect ! Let nothing evil ever restrain the plant of the god of joy that is placed upon my neck ! The evil curse, the mouth that is unfavorable, let it cast aside ! Like alabaster let my light shine, let me never have afflic- tion ! REVERSE OF TABLET 70 Like lapis lazuli may my life be precious in the sight, let it establish mercy ! Like gold, O my god and my goddess, may prosperity be with me ! In the mouth of the peoples may I be blessed ! Like a seal may my sins be torn away ! May the evil curse, that is unfavorable, never draw nigh, may it never be oppressive ! 75 Before thee may my name and posterity prosper ! May the plants and . . . that are set before thee loosen my sin ! K"ever may there approach me the wrath or anger of the god, With miser\\ disgrace and sin ; from the curse May the raising of my hand, the invocation of the great gods, give release! LITERATURE OF THE EAST 431 80 At thy mighty command let me approach ! Command thou life ! Like heaven may I shine among the enchantments that possess me ! Like the earth may I be bright in the midst of spells that are not good ! Like the heart of heaven may I be bright ; may the power of my sins be destroyed ! May the 6mw-wood purify me, may the . . . -plant de- liver me, may the ukuru-wood remove my sin ! 85 May Marduk's vessel of purification bestow favor ! May the flaming censer of the god . . . make me bright ! At the command of la, king of the Abyss, father of the gods, the lord of wisdom. At the raising of my hand may thy heart have rest, O Marduk, the priest of the great gods, the arbiter of the Igigi ! The word of Ea let me glorify, and, O queen Damkina, let me have dominion ! 90 May I thy servant [so and so, the son of so and so,] live, let me be perfect, Let me revere thy divinity, and let me bow in humility before thee! O my god, let me revere thy power ! O my goddess, let me tell of thy greatness ! And may I the priest, thy servant, bow in humility before thee! 12 12 On the conclusion of the prayer there follow three short sections of ceremonies, an incantation of ten lines, and a final section of ceremonial directions. After the first of these sections the sick man himself ceases to take part in the ritual, for the section concludes with the injunction that he shall go straight to his house without looking behind him. The remainder of the tablet deals with the due disposal of some of the of- ferings and objects that have been used in the ceremonies at the com- mencement of the obverse and in the course of the incantation. 432 THE SACRED BOOKS A PRAYER TO NABU IN SICKNESS (GOD OF WEITING AND OF WISDOM) hero, prince, first-born of Maxduk ! O prudent ruler, offspring of Zarpanitu ! O Nabu, bearer of the tablet of the destiny of the gods, director of Esagila ! Lord of Ezida, shadow of Borsippa ! 5 Darling of Ea, giver of life ! Prince of Babylon, protector of the living ! God of the hill of dwelling, the fortress of the nations, the lord of temples! Thy name is ... in the mouth of the peoples, O sidu ! son of the mighty prince Marduk, in thy mouth is jus- tice! 10 In thy illustrious name, at the command of thy mighty godhead, 1 [so and so, the son of so and so,] who am smitten with disease, thy servant. Whom the hand of the demon and the breath of the . . . May I live, may I be perfect . . . Set justice in my mouth ! 15 . . . mercy in my heart! Return and be established ! May they command mercy ! May my god stand at my right hand ! May my goddess stand at my left hand ! May the favorable sidu, the favorable lamassu . . . with me! 13 13 On the conclusion of the prayer there follows a section of four lines containing directions for the making of certain offerings. LITERATURE OF THE EAST 4S3 PRAYER IX SICKNESS TO TASMITU (THE CONSORT OF NABU) . . . O goddess . . . Who causeth her word to be obeyed, who estab- lisheth . . . ! Who appeaseth the anger of God and . . . ! Who heareth prayer and supplication ! 5 Who accepteth petition and sighing ! . . . [Lines 6 and 7 are broken.] seed of Ezida, the house of the living creature of the great gods ! Queen of Borsippa, lady of the dwelling ! 10 O lady Tasmitu, whose command is mighty ! [The next few lines are broken. After stating (line 14) that he is crying before the goddess, the suppliant describes her merciful character, as the giver of peace and prosperity. At line 20 he once more addresses her by name and proceeds to make his request] 20 O Tasmitu, goddess of supplication and love, lady of ... ! 1 [so and so, the son of so and so], whose god is [so and so], whose goddess is [so and so], have turned toward thee, O lady! Harken to my suppli- cation ! Before Nabu thy spouse, the lord, the prince, the first- bom son Of Esagila, intercede for me ! 25 May he harken to my cry at the word of thy mouth ! May he remove my sighing, may he learn my supplica- tion! VOL. I.— 28. 434 THE SACRED BOOKS At his mighty word may god and goddess deal graciously with me ! May the sickness of my body be torn away ! May the groaning of my flesh be consumed ! 30 May the consumption of my muscles be removed ! . . . sorcery, poison, . . . May the ban be torn away, may the . . . be consumed May . . . May mercy be established among men and their habita- tions ! 35 May god and king ordain favor At thy mighty command that is not altered, and thy true mercy, O lady Tasmitu.i* 14 Of the two ceremonial sections a few phrases only have been pre served. The first prescribes that the sprinkling of pure water and the offering of incense of harru-wood shall accompany the recital of the in- cantation, wliile the second apparently deals, among other matters, with the rite of the knotted cord. THE NEO-BABYLONIAN AGE (625-539 B.C.) NEBUCHADREZZAR AND BELSHAZZAR " 75 not this great Babylon, thai I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty?" — DANIEL IV. 30. THE NEO-BABYLONIAN AGE (INTRODUCTION) WHEN Assyria fell, a revolting viceroy of Babylon joined in the attack upon her. As he had thus made friends with the invading savage tribes, he was able to restore Babylon's independence, and he and his successors held brief rule over a new or ]^eo-Babylonian kingdom. This Neo- Babylonian era lasted for only about eighty years before it was destroyed by the Persians, the next world-conquerors to appear. Yet over this brief kingdom ruled two monarchs who, because of their dramatic pictures in the Bible, are among the best known of all ancient rulers. These are Nebuchadrezzar, the conqueror and destroyer of Jerusalem, and Belshazzar, in whose fall the Jews saw a divine provi- dence intervening to avenge them. Of Nebuchadrezzar's reign (604-561 b.c.) we have several records, of which the most noted is given here. And it is perhaps worth noting that the destruction of Jerusalem, which meant so much to its inhabitants and — through them — to the world, meant very little to Nebuchadrezzar. He had destroyed so many cities, enslaved so many peoples, that he barely mentions Jerusalem, indeed he seems to feel that he had been particularly lenient with these rebellious folk. Reverend Doctor Ball, in translating this inscription, speaks of it as follows : " Whether we suppose that this famous relic of the past embodies the ipsissima verba of the great king, in whose name and by whose orders, at all events, it was written and graven on imperishable stone ; or that it is the set panegyrical composition of some one of the literary men of his brilliant court, will make little difference to the deep interest which such a monument must always inspire in the minds of thoughtful readers of the prophecies of Jeremiah and the picturesque traditions of the book of Daniel. Here 437 438 THE SACRED BOOKS we have an unquestionable relic of the age of the fall of the Jewish monarchy and the brilliant sunset of Hebrew prophecy : an authentic record, preserved almost intact in its original shape, of the very sovereign whom Jeremiah declared to be Jehovah's chosen servant, and whom, consequently, it was Judah's duty as well as highest political wisdom to obey. And not only this. The inscription paints for us in unfading colors a portrait of the man Nebuchadrezzar; it exhibits in the vivid light of actuality his pride of place and power and greatness, his strong conviction of his own divine call to uni- versal empire, his passionate devotion to his gods, his untir- ing labors for their glory and the aggrandizement of that peerless capital which was their chosen dwelling-place. The style of the inscription is elevated almost to the level of poetry ; and the phraseology often recalls familiar expressions of the Old Testament." Of Belshazzar, unlike his great predecessor, we have little clear record. He seems never to have been really king, but was the son of King Nabonidos, and the actual ruler in his father's name. It was ISTabonidos who was captured at the fall of Babylon (539 B.C.), but it was Belshazzar who, as his father's general, fought all the hopeless battles against the conquering Persians. Nabonidos, in one of the prayers which he placed within the comer-stones of his builded tem- ples, prays for his son. " And as for Belshazzar, the first- bom son, the issue of my body, do thou implant in his heart the fear of thy great divinity. Let him not turn unto sin- ning. Let him be satisfied with fulness of life." So, per- chance, Belshazzar needed to be reformed by prayer. The section closes with the record of Cyrus, the Persian conqueror, telling how he overthrew this ancient civilization. With the coming of Cyrus, the dominion of the Semite races passed and the present age, that of the dominion of the Aryan races, be- gan. We shall turn again in a later volume to trace the civilization of Cyrus and his Persians. THE NEO-BABYLONIAN AGE THE INDIA HOUSE i INSCRIPTION OF NEBUCHADREZZAR COLUMN I Nebuch adrezzar King of Babylon, the prince exalted, the favorite of Marduk, 5 the pontiff supreme, the beloved of Nabu, the serene, the possessor of wisdom, who the way of their godhead regardeth, 10 who feareth their lordship; the servant unwearied, who for the maintenance of Esagilla and Ezida ^ daily bethought him, and 15 the weal of Babylon and Borsippa regardeth ever ; the wise, the prayerful, the maintainer of Esagilla and Ezida, 20 the chiefest son of Nabopalassar, King of Babylon, am I. After that the lord my god had created mc, that Marduk had framed 1 So called because it is preserved in tlie " India House " of the Lrit- ish {government in London. 2 The chief temples of Babylon and Borsippa. E-sa