CHAPTER XXI.

[1]Rawlinson: Persia.

[2]Ragozin: Media and Persia.

[3]Jackson: Persia, the Land and Its History.

"We worship Ahura Mazda (Ormuzd), the pure, the master of purity.

"We praise all good thoughts, all good words, all good deeds which are or shall be; and we likewise keep clean, and pure all that is good.

"O Ormuzd, thou true, happy being! We strive to think, to speak, and to do only such actions as may be best fitted to promote the two lives (the life of the body and of the soul).

"We beseech the spirit of earth for the sake of these our best works to grant us beautiful and fertile fields, to the believer as well as to the unbeliever, to him who has riches as well as to him who has no possessions."

"O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the first place where the Earth feels most happy?"

Ahura Mazda, the Good Principle, answered: "It is the place whereon one of the faithful steps forward, O Zoroaster, with the holy wood in his hand,[1]the baresma in his hand,[2]the holy meat in his hand,[3]the holy mortar in his hand,[4]fulfilling the law with love, and beseeching aloud Mithra.[5]"

"O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the second place where the Earth feels most happy?"

Ahura Mazda answered: "It is the place whereon one of the faithful erects a house with a priest therein, with cattle, with a wife, with children, and good herds within; and wherein afterwards the cattle go on thriving, holiness is thriving, fodder is thriving, the dog is thriving, the wife is thriving, the child is thriving, the fire is thriving, and every blessing of life is thriving."

"O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the third place where the Earth feels most happy?"

Ahura Mazda answered: "It is the place where one of the faithful cultivates most corn, grass and fruit, O Zoroaster! where he waters ground that is too dry, and dries ground that is too wet."

"O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the fourth place where the Earth feels most happy?"

Ahura Mazda answered: "It is the place where there is most increase of flocks and herds."

"O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the first place where the Earth feels sorest grief?"

Ahura Mazda answered: "It is the neck of Arezura,[6]whereon the hosts of fiends rush forth to the burrow of the Drug.[7]"

"O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the second place where the Earth feels sorest grief?"

Ahura Mazda answered: "It is the place where most corpses of dogs and of men lie buried."

"O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Which is the fifth place where the Earth feels sorest grief?"

Ahura Mazda answered: "It is the place whereon the wife and children of the faithful, O Zoroaster, are driven along the way of captivity, the dry, the dusty way, and lift up a voice of wailing."

"O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! Who is the first that rejoices the Earth with greatest joy?"

Ahura Mazda answered: "It is he who digs out of it most corpses of dogs and men."

[1]Food for the altar fire.

[2]Sacred twigs held by the priest while reciting prayers.

[3]Meat for sacrifice.

[4]Used for crushing the Haoma, an intoxicating plant, whose juice is used by the faithful.

[5]God of good fields and pastures.

[6]Mount at the gate of hell whence demons rush forth.

[7]Hell.

"I am the Keeper; I am the Creator and the Maintainer; I am the Discerner; I am the most beneficent Spirit.

My name is the bestower of health; my name is the best bestower of health.

My name is the Holy; my name is the most Holy.

My name is the Glorious; my name is the most Glorious.

My name is the far-seeing; my name is the Farthest-seeing.

My name is Holiness; my name is the Great one; my name is the good Sovereign; my name is the best of Sovereigns.

My name is the Wise One; my name is the Wisest of the Wise; my name is He who does good for a long time.

These are my names.

And he who in this material world, O Zoroaster! shall recite and pronounce these names of mine either by day or by night;

He who shall pronounce them when he rises up or when he lays him down; when he lays him down or when he rises up; when he binds on the sacred girdle, or when he unbinds the sacred girdle; when he goes out of his dwelling-place, or when he goes out of his town, or when he goes out of his country and comes into another country;

Thatman, neither in that day nor in that night shall be wounded by the weapons of the foe...; not the knife, not the cross-bow, not the arrow, not the sword, not the club, not the sling-stone shall reach him and wound him.

But these names shall come in to keep him from behind and to keep him in front ... from the evil ones, bent on mischief, and from that fiend which is all death—Angra Mainyu.

It will be as if there were a thousand men watching over one man."

—Trans. Zend-Avesta: Sacred Books of the East.Max Muller, ed. V.4, 23, 31.

PART OF ARCHER'S FRIEZE IN AN ANCIENT PERSIAN PALACE.PART OF ARCHER'S FRIEZE IN AN ANCIENT PERSIAN PALACE.

It is often difficult to correctly estimate the power exerted by a statesman upon his country. The movements he has espoused, the reforms he may have championed, the institutions he helped to call into being, all stand as monuments to his memory. But the subtle effects of his influence, his personality and character upon his own generation and others still to come, are seldom understood or adequately judged. In the case of a nation the task becomes still more complicated, and we cannot today know how many of our ideas, inventions, and attainments have been shaped by nations whose light went out long centuries ago. Nevertheless, our inability to estimate these various inheritances aright need not deter us from an attempt to classify such bequeathments as are universally acknowledged, and we may be sure that the present world owes much to the earliest nations of Western Asia. Their contributions, however, have not come down to us directly, but have been passed along, like legends, from one people to another, until their present form scarcely suggests their origins.

Let us consider first our indebtedness to Babylonia. In recent years discoveries in the Euphrates valley and the mastery of the cuneiform style of writing have given us masses of material wherefrom to reconstruct the past. Not only has light thus been thrown upon the early history of Babylonia and Assyria, but aid has been rendered biblical study. The tribal life of the Hebrews, and the civilization of other contemporary peoples has been better understood because of these revelations. However, acquisitions of the last century have had no part in molding modern civilization, and we pass on to matters of earlier significance.

No people could have worked as diligently in the field of science as the Babylonians did and failed to leave important results of their investigations. "InGeometrythe Chaldeans made about the same progress as the Egyptians; inArithmeticmore. Their notation combined the decimal and duodecimal systems. Sixty was a favorite unit, used as the hundred is by us. ScientificMedicinewas hindered by the belief in charms and amulets; and evenAstronomywas studied chiefly as a means of fortune-telling by the stars,—so that in Europe through the Middle Ages an astrologer was known as a Chaldean. However, the level plains and clear skies, as in Egypt, invited to an early study of the constellations, and some important progress was made. As we get from the Egyptians our year and months, so from the Chaldeans we get the week, with its 'day of rest for the heart,' as they called the seventh day, and the division of day and night into twelve hours each, with the subdivisions into minutes. They also invented the water clock and the sundial. They foretold eclipses, made star maps, and marked out on the heavens the apparent yearly path of the sun. The zodiacal 'signs' of our almanacs commemorate these early astronomers. Every great city had its lofty observatory and its royal astronomer; and in Babylon, in 331B.C., Alexander the Great found a continuous series of observations running back nineteen hundred and three years.

"To a degree peculiar among the ancients, the men of the Euphrates made practical use of their science. They understood the lever and pulley, and used the arch in vaulted drains and aqueducts. They invented the potter's wheel, and an excellent system of weights and measures. Their treatises on agriculture passed on their knowledge in that subject to the later Greeks and Arabs. They had surpassing skill in cutting gems, and in enameling and inlaying; and their looms produced the finest of muslins and of fleecy woolens, to which the dyer gave the most brilliant colors. In many such industries little advance has been made since, so far as results are concerned."[1]

Certain unfortunate bequests were left by them. Babylonian belief in demons was handed down through the Hebrews, and in the Middle Ages took the form of the devil, with horns and a cloven foot. Their faith in magic and incantations also descended to Mediæval times, and as scientific interest superseded religious fervor, inspired men to search for the "philosopher's stone."

The intensely practical turn of mind in Mesopotamia revealed itself in the literature, which was bare of imagery. Material beauty—artistic carpets, tapestries, and rugs, was developed, but for beauty of conceptions, we must turn to the Greeks.

What did the war-loving, blood-thirsting Assyrians leave for future ages? At first the question seems not to be easily answered. One calls to mind their ravaging raids and unparalleled carnage, and remembering that their palaces and stores of inscribed tablets were recovered only within the last fifty years, their contributions are not so apparent. Yet, having studied the government enforced by Darius upon his empire, we are compelled to admit that he but improved upon the system evolved by the Assyrian kings, unknown before their time in Asia. Again, the very conquests themselves were helpful, in spite of their cruelty, for they brought the best civilization of their day to half-barbarous tribes who otherwise might have passed century after century before reaching the degree of progress so rudely thrust upon them. These conquests opened up routes of commerce, and trade has always exceeded all other factors as a civilizing force.

To science the Assyrians appear to have made no contributions whatever.

Coming to ancient Persia, we find a wholly different culture. The people of this country lacked the practical turn of mind so characteristic of the Babylonian, and his mercenary point of view was quite unknown to them. Persian literature, while scanty, embodied poetical conceptions, and several of the ancient poems possess much art. "The Persians had fancy and imagination, a relish for poetry and art, and they were not without a certain power of political combination. Yet we cannot justly ascribe to them any high degree of intellectual excellence. If the great work of Firdausi represents to us, as it probably does, the true spirit of their ancient poetry, their efforts were but of moderate merit. A tone of exaggeration, an imagination exuberant and unrestrained, a preference for glitter over solid excellence, a love of far-fetched conceits, characterize the Shahnameh; and, though we may ascribe something of this to the individuality of the poet, still the conviction presses upon us that there was a childishand grotesque character in the mass of old Persian poetry, which marked it as the creation of moderate rather than of high intellectual power, and prevents us from regarding it with the respect with which we view the labors of the Greeks and Romans, or again, of the Hebrews, in this department. A want of seriousness, a want of reality, and, again, a want of depth, characterize the poetry of Iran, whose bards do not touch the chords which rouse what is noblest and highest in our nature. They give us sparkle, prettiness, quaint and ingenious fancies, grotesque marvels, an inflated kind of human heroism; but they have none of the higher excellences of the poetic art, none of the divine fire which renders the true poet, and the true prophet, one."[2]

The Persian religion was both noble and sublime, and its teaching concerning the two opposing forces of good and evil, affected the philosophy of the Greeks, and indirectly, the thought of the later Christian world.

By carrying the plan of Assyrian conquest further, the Persians opened districts remote from social centers and helped the course of civilization. Their systematic government improved upon the one developed by Assyria in this particular: each governor was made supreme in his province under Assyrian administration, none other being accountable to the king for conditions in his territory. An opportunity thus offered for the governor to seize any favorable moment to shake off allegiance to the state and attempt to establish his own supremacy. Darius, on the other hand, posted troops in each satrapy, and both the commander of these troops and the governor were required to submit reports, and to act jointly in certain matters. In this way, one served as a check upon the other.

Fine roads were built to allow rapid communication between the capital and distant provinces; these naturally facilitated commerce, and made travel safe—as one has graphically expressed it, "helped set the world a-mixing."

A new day was dawning for humanity, and an age coming when one might look back to the infancy of the world, likening its progress to that of a man who has gained some perceptions, some ideas and experiences in childhood days which unconsciously but surely, influence his later life, illuminated by wider experiences and deeper truths.

[1]West: Ancient History.[2]Rawlinson: Persia.

[1]West: Ancient History.

[2]Rawlinson: Persia.

Assurbanipal, or, as the Greeks called him, Sardanapalus, is supposed to have stored in his palace at Nineveh not less than 30,000 tablets. Upon every work in his library his ownership was stamped as follows:

The Palace of Assurbanipal, King of Regions, King of Multitudes, King of Assyria, to whom the God Nebo and the Goddess Tasmeti have granted attentive ears and open eyes to discover the Writings of the Scribes of my Kingdom, whom the Kings my Predecessors have employed. In my respect for Nebo, the God of Intelligence, I have collected these tablets; I have had them copied; I have marked them with my name; and I have deposited them in my Palace.

This account was first translated by George Smith from the eleventh of a series of tablets describing the adventures of the mythical hero, Izdubar (or Gilgamish), supposed to be the same as Nimrod. The whole series of tablets relates his early life and exploits in hunting, his friendship with the faun Iabani, his victory over the tyrant Humbaba, the love of the Goddess Ishtar, his illness, the death of Iabani, his wanderings to find his ancestor, Hasisadra (or Pir-napishtim), who for his piety had been translated to the fellowship of the gods. This ancestor relates to Gilgamish the story of a great flood resembling in general outline the narrative in Genesis, but stamped with the impress of the Chaldean religion. Shamas was the Sun-god.

The early literature of many nations contains stories of a universal flood, from which a favored family or individual alone escapes. None is more striking than the one deciphered from the clay tablets of Chaldea, or more nearly parallel to that of the Hebrew Scriptures.

TABLET XI. OF THE GILGAMISH EPIC.

The following translation is from Professor Craig:

The Babylonian Story of the Deluge.

Pir-napishtim saith to him, even to Gilgamish;I will relate to thee, Gilgamish, a secret story,And the decision of the gods I will tell thee.The city Shurippak, which thou knowest,Is situated on the shore of the Euphrates.This city was old when the gods within itWere moved to produce a flood, even the great gods.They were Anu, their father,The warrior Bel, their counsellor,Their throne-bearer, Ninib,Their leader, Ennugi,Ninigiazag (the god Ea) had spoken with themAnd their decree he repeated to the reed-house (saying):"Reed-house! reed-house! house-wall! house-wall![1]Reed-house, hear! and house-wall, consider!O man of Shurippak, son of Ubar-Tutu!Construct a house, build a ship,Abandon possessions, seek life,Property despise, and life save,Put seed of life of every kind into the ship.The ship which thou shalt build, even thou,Let be measured her dimensions:Let her breadth and length be equal,Upon the ocean launch her."I understood, and said to Ea, my lord:"Behold, my lord, what thou hast commandedI hold in reverence, I shall do.(But what) shall I answer the city, the people, and the elders?"Ea opened his mouth and speaketh,Saith unto his servant, unto me:"O man! Thus shalt thou say unto them:Bel has rejected me and cursed me.I shall dwell no more in your city,And upon Bel's ground I shall not set my face.But to the ocean shall I descend; with Ea, my lord, I shall dwell.Upon you he shall cause to pour out abundance,Game of birds and game of fishes,(Animals of all kinds); field-fruits in plenty,When in the evening the ruler of the darkness (?)Shall cause to rain upon you a heavy rain."As soon as dawn began to appear,(Five or six lines wanting)The weak (?) . . . . . . . . .The strong brought to (the building-place) what was necessary.On the fifth day I laid down her form.Ina Kar-Hi-Saone hundred and twenty cubits high were her walls,One hundred and twenty cubits likewise was the extent of her roof.Its outer frame I constructed, enclosed it.[2]I . . . . . her six times.I divided . . . . seven times.Its interior I divided nine times.Water plugs I beat into it on its inside.I provided a rudder (?) and what was needed I added.Sixsarsof bitumen I spread on the outside (?).Threesarsof pitch (I spread) on the inside.Threesarsof basket-bearers brought oil.I left onesarof oil which the offering consumed,Twosarsof oil the shipman stowed away.For the people I slaughtered oxen,I killed . . . . every day.New w(ine, sesame) wine, oil and wine,Like the waters of the river (I gave the people to drink)And (held) a religious feast like unto the New-Year's Feast.I opened (?) ... of anointing oil, my hand applied (it).(In the month) of Shamash, the great god, the ship was completed.Because . . . . were difficult(Untranslatable) they brought above and below.. . . . . two-thirds of it.All that I had I put on board of it.All that I had of silver I put on board of it.All that I had of gold I put on board of it.All that I had of seed of life of every kind I put on board of it.I caused to go up into the ship all my family and relatives.Cattle of the field, beasts of the field, all the craftsmen, I caused to go up.A definite time the god Shamash had appointed:The ruler of the darkness (?) at even-tide shall cause to rain a heavy rain,Enter thou (then) within the ship and close thy door."That appointed time came.The ruler of the darkness (?) at eventide rained a heavy rain.The appearance of that day I (fore)saw.To behold the day I had fear.I entered into the ship and closed my door.For the control of the ship to Puzur-BelThe great-house I gave over together with its store.With the first appearing of dawnThere rises from the foundation of the heavens a black cloud,Ramman within it thunders.Nebo and Marduk march in front;Over mountain and plain march the throne-bearers.Thetar-kul-lithe great Dibbarra tore away.Ninib advances, ruin he pours out.The Anunnaki bear aloft torches,With their brightness they set the land aflame.The dread of Ramman reaches to heaven.Everything bright he turneth to darkness.. . . the land like . . . he covered (?)One day the hurricane (raged),Violently it blew, the waters (covered?) the mountains.Like the (onslaught of) battle over mankind (they) came.Brother sees not (his) brother.Men are not discerned in heaven (i. e., by the gods).The gods were terrified by the flood, andWithdrew and ascended to the heaven of Anu.The gods dog-like cower, crouch on the wall (of heaven).Ishtar screams like a woman in travail.She cries aloud the lady of the gods, the sweet-voiced:"Verily the former race is turned to clay.Just as I in the assembly of the gods proclaimed evil,As I proclaimed in the assembly of the gods evilFor the destruction of my people war I foretold,So, verily, will I bring forth my peopleTho' like the fry of fishes they fill the sea."The gods, the highest of the Anunnaki weep with her.The gods are downcast, sit, and weep,Covered were their lips . . . .Six days and nightsThe wind prevailed, flood and storm overwhelmed the land.When the seventh day came the storm abated, the flood was overcome,Which had battled like a warring host;The sea calmed, the hurricane ceased, the flood was restrained,I beheld the sea, uttering a lamentation,Seeing that all mankind was turned to clay.When the light had fully dawned I prayed.I opened an airhole and light fell upon my cheeks.I bowed myself, I sat down, I wept.Over my cheeks ran my tears.I looked upon the far-spread waters of the sea.After twelve double-hours a peak arose,Towards the mountain of Nitsir the ship took its course.The mountain of Nitsir held the ship and let it not rise.One day, a second day, the mountain of Nitsir,dittoA third day, a fourth day the " " " "A fifth day, a sixth day " " " " "When the seventh day arrivedI brought forth adoveand let it go.The dove went forth, flew to and fro, butA resting-place there was not, so it returned.Then I brought forth aswallowand let it go,The swallow went forth, flew to and fro, butA resting-place there was not so it returned.(Then) I brought forth aravenand let it go.The raven went forth, the disappearance of the waters he saw,He eats, caws, flies to and fro, and returns not.(Then) I brought forth to the four winds, I offered a sacrifice.I made an incense-offering on the top-most peak of the mountain.Seven and sevenadagur-vessels I placed.Into them I cast reeds, cedar-wood, andThe gods inhaled the good odour.The gods like flies swarmed about the offerer.As soon as the mistress of the gods arrivedShe lifted up the great jewels (?) that the god Anu had devised and made for her (and said)"These gods, by mylapis lazulinecklace I shall not forget.These days, verily I shall reflect upon and never forget.The gods, let them go to the incense-offering.(But) let not Bel go to the incense-offering,Seeing that he did not reflect but caused the flood.And my people he counted for destruction.As soon as Bel arrivedHe saw the ship and Bel was sore angry,He waxed wroth against the gods, the Igigi."Some soul has escaped" (he said),"Let no man survive the destruction."Ninib openeth his mouth and speaketh,He speaks to the warrior Bel:"Who but Ea doeth (this) thing?But Ea is wise in every undertaking."Ea openeth his mouth and speaketh,Saith to the warrior Bel:"Thou sage of the gods, warrior!Verily, verily, thou didst not reflect, and didst make a flood:Upon the sinner lay his sins,Upon the impious his impiety.[3]Spare, let him not be cut off, have mercy, let him (not be utterly destroyed).Instead of bringing on a flood,Let the lion come and reduce mankind.Instead of bringing on a flood,Let the hyaena come and reduce mankind.Instead of bringing on a flood,Let famine be sent and the land (reduced).Instead of bringing on a flood,Let the Pest-god come and destroy the land.As for me, I have not revealed the secret of the gods.I caused Atrahasis to see a vision and thus he learned the secret of the gods."Thereupon his counsel was takenAnd Bel ascended within the ship. Seized me by the hands and brought me up (to a point still higher).He brought up and made to bow beside me my wife,Turned us face to face, stood between us and blessed us:"In former times Pir-napishtim was humanBut henceforth Pir-napishtim and his wife shall be like us godsAnd Pir-napishtim shall dwell afar off at the mouth of the rivers."Then they took me and afar off at the mouth of the rivers they caused me to dwell.

I understood, and said to Ea, my lord:"Behold, my lord, what thou hast commandedI hold in reverence, I shall do.(But what) shall I answer the city, the people, and the elders?"

Ea opened his mouth and speaketh,Saith unto his servant, unto me:"O man! Thus shalt thou say unto them:Bel has rejected me and cursed me.I shall dwell no more in your city,And upon Bel's ground I shall not set my face.But to the ocean shall I descend; with Ea, my lord, I shall dwell.Upon you he shall cause to pour out abundance,Game of birds and game of fishes,(Animals of all kinds); field-fruits in plenty,When in the evening the ruler of the darkness (?)Shall cause to rain upon you a heavy rain."

As soon as dawn began to appear,(Five or six lines wanting)The weak (?) . . . . . . . . .The strong brought to (the building-place) what was necessary.On the fifth day I laid down her form.Ina Kar-Hi-Saone hundred and twenty cubits high were her walls,One hundred and twenty cubits likewise was the extent of her roof.Its outer frame I constructed, enclosed it.[2]I . . . . . her six times.I divided . . . . seven times.Its interior I divided nine times.Water plugs I beat into it on its inside.I provided a rudder (?) and what was needed I added.Sixsarsof bitumen I spread on the outside (?).Threesarsof pitch (I spread) on the inside.Threesarsof basket-bearers brought oil.I left onesarof oil which the offering consumed,Twosarsof oil the shipman stowed away.For the people I slaughtered oxen,I killed . . . . every day.New w(ine, sesame) wine, oil and wine,Like the waters of the river (I gave the people to drink)And (held) a religious feast like unto the New-Year's Feast.I opened (?) ... of anointing oil, my hand applied (it).(In the month) of Shamash, the great god, the ship was completed.Because . . . . were difficult(Untranslatable) they brought above and below.. . . . . two-thirds of it.

All that I had I put on board of it.All that I had of silver I put on board of it.All that I had of gold I put on board of it.All that I had of seed of life of every kind I put on board of it.I caused to go up into the ship all my family and relatives.Cattle of the field, beasts of the field, all the craftsmen, I caused to go up.

A definite time the god Shamash had appointed:The ruler of the darkness (?) at even-tide shall cause to rain a heavy rain,Enter thou (then) within the ship and close thy door."That appointed time came.The ruler of the darkness (?) at eventide rained a heavy rain.The appearance of that day I (fore)saw.To behold the day I had fear.I entered into the ship and closed my door.For the control of the ship to Puzur-BelThe great-house I gave over together with its store.With the first appearing of dawnThere rises from the foundation of the heavens a black cloud,Ramman within it thunders.Nebo and Marduk march in front;Over mountain and plain march the throne-bearers.Thetar-kul-lithe great Dibbarra tore away.Ninib advances, ruin he pours out.The Anunnaki bear aloft torches,With their brightness they set the land aflame.The dread of Ramman reaches to heaven.Everything bright he turneth to darkness.. . . the land like . . . he covered (?)One day the hurricane (raged),Violently it blew, the waters (covered?) the mountains.Like the (onslaught of) battle over mankind (they) came.Brother sees not (his) brother.Men are not discerned in heaven (i. e., by the gods).The gods were terrified by the flood, andWithdrew and ascended to the heaven of Anu.The gods dog-like cower, crouch on the wall (of heaven).Ishtar screams like a woman in travail.She cries aloud the lady of the gods, the sweet-voiced:"Verily the former race is turned to clay.Just as I in the assembly of the gods proclaimed evil,As I proclaimed in the assembly of the gods evilFor the destruction of my people war I foretold,So, verily, will I bring forth my peopleTho' like the fry of fishes they fill the sea."The gods, the highest of the Anunnaki weep with her.

The gods are downcast, sit, and weep,Covered were their lips . . . .Six days and nightsThe wind prevailed, flood and storm overwhelmed the land.When the seventh day came the storm abated, the flood was overcome,Which had battled like a warring host;The sea calmed, the hurricane ceased, the flood was restrained,I beheld the sea, uttering a lamentation,Seeing that all mankind was turned to clay.When the light had fully dawned I prayed.I opened an airhole and light fell upon my cheeks.I bowed myself, I sat down, I wept.Over my cheeks ran my tears.I looked upon the far-spread waters of the sea.After twelve double-hours a peak arose,Towards the mountain of Nitsir the ship took its course.The mountain of Nitsir held the ship and let it not rise.One day, a second day, the mountain of Nitsir,dittoA third day, a fourth day the " " " "A fifth day, a sixth day " " " " "When the seventh day arrivedI brought forth adoveand let it go.The dove went forth, flew to and fro, butA resting-place there was not, so it returned.Then I brought forth aswallowand let it go,The swallow went forth, flew to and fro, butA resting-place there was not so it returned.(Then) I brought forth aravenand let it go.The raven went forth, the disappearance of the waters he saw,He eats, caws, flies to and fro, and returns not.(Then) I brought forth to the four winds, I offered a sacrifice.I made an incense-offering on the top-most peak of the mountain.Seven and sevenadagur-vessels I placed.Into them I cast reeds, cedar-wood, andThe gods inhaled the good odour.The gods like flies swarmed about the offerer.As soon as the mistress of the gods arrivedShe lifted up the great jewels (?) that the god Anu had devised and made for her (and said)"These gods, by mylapis lazulinecklace I shall not forget.These days, verily I shall reflect upon and never forget.The gods, let them go to the incense-offering.(But) let not Bel go to the incense-offering,Seeing that he did not reflect but caused the flood.And my people he counted for destruction.As soon as Bel arrivedHe saw the ship and Bel was sore angry,He waxed wroth against the gods, the Igigi."Some soul has escaped" (he said),"Let no man survive the destruction."Ninib openeth his mouth and speaketh,He speaks to the warrior Bel:"Who but Ea doeth (this) thing?But Ea is wise in every undertaking."Ea openeth his mouth and speaketh,Saith to the warrior Bel:"Thou sage of the gods, warrior!Verily, verily, thou didst not reflect, and didst make a flood:Upon the sinner lay his sins,Upon the impious his impiety.[3]Spare, let him not be cut off, have mercy, let him (not be utterly destroyed).Instead of bringing on a flood,Let the lion come and reduce mankind.Instead of bringing on a flood,Let the hyaena come and reduce mankind.Instead of bringing on a flood,Let famine be sent and the land (reduced).Instead of bringing on a flood,Let the Pest-god come and destroy the land.As for me, I have not revealed the secret of the gods.I caused Atrahasis to see a vision and thus he learned the secret of the gods."Thereupon his counsel was takenAnd Bel ascended within the ship. Seized me by the hands and brought me up (to a point still higher).

He brought up and made to bow beside me my wife,Turned us face to face, stood between us and blessed us:"In former times Pir-napishtim was humanBut henceforth Pir-napishtim and his wife shall be like us godsAnd Pir-napishtim shall dwell afar off at the mouth of the rivers."Then they took me and afar off at the mouth of the rivers they caused me to dwell.

[1]The house for its inhabitants. Compare Isaiah 1, 2: Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth.

[2]The meaning here and in the next four lines is not clear.

[3]This is evidence that the deluge, as in the Old Testament, was a punishment for sin, which some writers (not Assyriologists) have denied in the interest of an outgrown view of the Bible.

Ishtar was the Babylonian Venus or goddess of love. The story of her descent to Hades and return to the world of the living is found on a tablet now in the British Museum, and is perhaps the most poetical legend of the recovered Assyrian literature. It has been suggested that the story is the text of a religious drama, resembling the miracle-plays of mediaeval Europe. The legend shows no reason for Ishtar's desire to enter Hades, but it is easy to suppose that she went thither to rescue some beloved person. This supplies a connection with the familiar story of Venus and Adonis (or Tammuz), which the Greek writers declare to be of Syrian origin. The drama, if such it were, was probably part of the annual celebration of the return of Spring. Ninkigal, the Queen of Hades, corresponds to the Greek Persephone, and Latin Proserpina, the wife of Pluto. In like manner, Ea, the king of the gods, corresponds to Zeus or Jupiter, and the divine messenger to Hermes or Mercury.

A Babylonian Epic—Ishtar's Descent to Hades.

(Translation by Professor Craig.)

On the land without regress, the land (that thou knowest),Ishtar, Sin's daughter, did fix her attention,The daughter of Sin did fix her attention,On the dwelling of darkness, the abode of Irkalla,On the dwelling whose inhabitant comes no more out,On the road whose advancing knows no returning,On the house whose inhabitants removed from the light,Where they're nourished with dust and clay is their food,Where they see not the light, but in darkness are dwelling,And are clad like the birds with a covering of wings;On door and on bars lies the dust thickly gathered.Arrived at the door of the land without regress,To the porter in keeping, this order she giveth:Thou watcher of waters, throw open thy portal!Throw open thy portal, within will I enter!If the door be not opened that I may pass through it,The door will I shatter, its bolt break in pieces,Its sills will I burst, its doors tear asunder,The dead will I raise up, devourers and living,Even more than the living the dead will I raise up.The porter then opened his mouth and made answer,To the great goddess Ishtar, made answer the porter:"Withhold! O my lady, do not break it away,I go to Allatu, thy name to announce."The porter announced to the queen, to Allatu:"Thy sister, Ishtar, is come over these waters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."When Allatu these tidings received (from the porter),Like a tamarisk cut she (bowed herself down) (?).Like a reed that is broken she (bent to the ground) (?)."What bringeth her heart to me, pray? What trouble?With this one forsooth (shall I share my dwelling?)As food eat the clay and as wine drink the water,Weep over men who their wives have abandoned,O'er maidens who mourn the embrace of their lovers,Weep o'er the infants destroyed e'er their day?Go! porter, throw open thy door—open to her!And treat her according to olden-time law."The porter departed, threw open his door;"O enter, my lady, a welcome in Hades!Palace of the land, that knows no returning,O let it rejoice in thy presence."The first door he caused her to enter, and halting,Removed the great crown from her head."Why tak'st thou the great crown from my head, O porter?""O enter, my lady, 'tis the law of Allatu."The next door he caused her to enter, and halting,The rings were removed from her ears."Why tak'st thou the rings from my ears, O porter?""O enter, my lady, 'tis the law of Allatu."The third door he caused her to enter, and halting,The necklace removed from her neck."Why tak'st thou from my neck the necklace, O porter?""O enter, my lady, 'tis the law of Allatu."The fourth door he caused her to enter, and halting,Her jewels removed from her breast."Why tak'st thou from my breast the jewels, O porter?""O enter, my lady, 'tis the law of Allatu."The fifth door he caused her to enter, and halting,The bearing-stone girdle he took off from her waist."Why tak'st thou from my waist my gemmed-girdle, O porter?""O enter, my lady, 'tis the law of Allatu."The sixth door he caused her to enter, and halting,Took the rings from her hands and her feet."Why from hands and from feet take the rings, pray, O porter?""O enter, my lady, 'tis the law of Allatu."The seventh door he caused her to enter, and halting,From her body her cincture removed."Why take from my body my cincture, O porter?""O enter, my lady, 'tis the law of Allatu."To the land without regress when Ishtar descended,Allatu beheld her and raged in her presence;Imprudently, boldly, did Ishtar attack her.Then opened Allatu her mouth and commanded,To Namtar, her servant, the order was given:"Go Namtar, confine her....With disease of the eye, and the hip, and the foot,With disease of the heart, and the scalp, go smite Ishtar,Afflict her whole person!"After Ishtar, the goddess, had (been thus afflicted) (?)The bull no more covered the cow, nor ass gendered;No more in the street lay the man with the maiden;The man went asleep in his place,In her place slept the maiden.The god's-servant, Pap-su-kal, face down and sad-visaged,Was clothed in the garb of deep mourning.Shamash went, sorely wept before Sin, his father,His tears ran down before the king, Ea,Saying: "Ishtar's gone down to the land, and returns not.Since Ishtar's descent to the land without regressThe bull no more covers the cow, nor ass genders;No more in the street lies the man with the maiden.The man falls asleep in his place,In her place sleeps the maiden."Then Ea created a male in his wisdom,The god's-servant, Uddushu-namir, created."Go! Uddushu-namir, to land without regress,Seven doors of the land without regress be opened!Allatu behold thee, rejoice in thy presence!Her heart when at ease, and her spirit when joyful;In name of the great gods do thou adjure her:'Thy head raise, to Hal-skin direct thy attention,O lady, I pray thee, Halziqu-skin give me;I desire to drink of the waters within it.'"This hearing, Allatu her sides smote, her nails bit."Of me thou hast asked an impossible favor.Hence! Uddushu-namir, with curse will I curse thee;Thy food it shall be the foul mud of the city,From drains of the city shalt thou drink the water,The shade of the wall shall be thy dwelling,Thy place of abiding a stone-block shall build it.Confinement, privation, thy strength let them shatter."Allatu then opened her mouth and commanded,To Namtar, her servant, the order was given:"Go! Namtar, beat on the palace eternal!Go! rap on the stone slabs, those made out ofpa-stone.Go! lead forth the spirits, on golden thrones set them,With water-of-life sprinkle Ishtar, the goddess,Lead her forth from my presence."Then went Namtar, beat on the palace eternal,And shook the stone slabs those made out ofpa-stone;He led forth the spirits, on golden thrones set them,With water-of-life sprinkled Ishtar the goddess.Led her forth from her presence.Through first door he led her, gave to her her cincture.Through second door he led her, her rings he gave to her.Through third door he led her, gave back her gemmed-girdle.Through fourth door he led her, gave back her breast-jewels.Through fifth door he led her, gave to her her necklace.Through sixth door he led her, gave to her her ear-rings.Through seventh door he led her, the great crown gave to her.

Arrived at the door of the land without regress,To the porter in keeping, this order she giveth:Thou watcher of waters, throw open thy portal!Throw open thy portal, within will I enter!If the door be not opened that I may pass through it,The door will I shatter, its bolt break in pieces,Its sills will I burst, its doors tear asunder,The dead will I raise up, devourers and living,Even more than the living the dead will I raise up.

The porter then opened his mouth and made answer,To the great goddess Ishtar, made answer the porter:"Withhold! O my lady, do not break it away,I go to Allatu, thy name to announce."The porter announced to the queen, to Allatu:"Thy sister, Ishtar, is come over these waters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."

When Allatu these tidings received (from the porter),Like a tamarisk cut she (bowed herself down) (?).Like a reed that is broken she (bent to the ground) (?)."What bringeth her heart to me, pray? What trouble?With this one forsooth (shall I share my dwelling?)As food eat the clay and as wine drink the water,Weep over men who their wives have abandoned,O'er maidens who mourn the embrace of their lovers,Weep o'er the infants destroyed e'er their day?Go! porter, throw open thy door—open to her!And treat her according to olden-time law."The porter departed, threw open his door;"O enter, my lady, a welcome in Hades!Palace of the land, that knows no returning,O let it rejoice in thy presence."

The first door he caused her to enter, and halting,Removed the great crown from her head."Why tak'st thou the great crown from my head, O porter?""O enter, my lady, 'tis the law of Allatu."The next door he caused her to enter, and halting,The rings were removed from her ears."Why tak'st thou the rings from my ears, O porter?""O enter, my lady, 'tis the law of Allatu."The third door he caused her to enter, and halting,The necklace removed from her neck."Why tak'st thou from my neck the necklace, O porter?""O enter, my lady, 'tis the law of Allatu."The fourth door he caused her to enter, and halting,Her jewels removed from her breast."Why tak'st thou from my breast the jewels, O porter?""O enter, my lady, 'tis the law of Allatu."The fifth door he caused her to enter, and halting,The bearing-stone girdle he took off from her waist."Why tak'st thou from my waist my gemmed-girdle, O porter?""O enter, my lady, 'tis the law of Allatu."The sixth door he caused her to enter, and halting,Took the rings from her hands and her feet."Why from hands and from feet take the rings, pray, O porter?""O enter, my lady, 'tis the law of Allatu."The seventh door he caused her to enter, and halting,From her body her cincture removed."Why take from my body my cincture, O porter?""O enter, my lady, 'tis the law of Allatu."To the land without regress when Ishtar descended,Allatu beheld her and raged in her presence;Imprudently, boldly, did Ishtar attack her.Then opened Allatu her mouth and commanded,To Namtar, her servant, the order was given:"Go Namtar, confine her....With disease of the eye, and the hip, and the foot,With disease of the heart, and the scalp, go smite Ishtar,Afflict her whole person!"

After Ishtar, the goddess, had (been thus afflicted) (?)The bull no more covered the cow, nor ass gendered;No more in the street lay the man with the maiden;The man went asleep in his place,In her place slept the maiden.

The god's-servant, Pap-su-kal, face down and sad-visaged,Was clothed in the garb of deep mourning.Shamash went, sorely wept before Sin, his father,His tears ran down before the king, Ea,Saying: "Ishtar's gone down to the land, and returns not.Since Ishtar's descent to the land without regressThe bull no more covers the cow, nor ass genders;No more in the street lies the man with the maiden.The man falls asleep in his place,In her place sleeps the maiden."

Then Ea created a male in his wisdom,The god's-servant, Uddushu-namir, created."Go! Uddushu-namir, to land without regress,Seven doors of the land without regress be opened!Allatu behold thee, rejoice in thy presence!Her heart when at ease, and her spirit when joyful;In name of the great gods do thou adjure her:'Thy head raise, to Hal-skin direct thy attention,O lady, I pray thee, Halziqu-skin give me;I desire to drink of the waters within it.'"

This hearing, Allatu her sides smote, her nails bit."Of me thou hast asked an impossible favor.Hence! Uddushu-namir, with curse will I curse thee;Thy food it shall be the foul mud of the city,From drains of the city shalt thou drink the water,The shade of the wall shall be thy dwelling,Thy place of abiding a stone-block shall build it.Confinement, privation, thy strength let them shatter."

Allatu then opened her mouth and commanded,To Namtar, her servant, the order was given:"Go! Namtar, beat on the palace eternal!Go! rap on the stone slabs, those made out ofpa-stone.Go! lead forth the spirits, on golden thrones set them,With water-of-life sprinkle Ishtar, the goddess,Lead her forth from my presence."

Then went Namtar, beat on the palace eternal,And shook the stone slabs those made out ofpa-stone;He led forth the spirits, on golden thrones set them,With water-of-life sprinkled Ishtar the goddess.Led her forth from her presence.Through first door he led her, gave to her her cincture.Through second door he led her, her rings he gave to her.Through third door he led her, gave back her gemmed-girdle.Through fourth door he led her, gave back her breast-jewels.Through fifth door he led her, gave to her her necklace.Through sixth door he led her, gave to her her ear-rings.Through seventh door he led her, the great crown gave to her.

Here ends the descent of Ishtar. The priest continues:

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