Some Neo-Babylonian Legal Decisions

c. 555-427 BC

Judgment of False & Malicious Prosecution, First year of Nabonidus, 555 B.C.

It is clear from this case that a false suit did not (according to Babylonian law), result in a simple dismissal. A fine, equal to the sum unjustly sued for, was imposed on the plaintiff and paid to the defendant. This must have been a powerful deterrent to unjust claims, since they were likely to result in benefiting the defendant by as much as the plaintiff sought to injure him.

BELILIT, daughter of Bel-ushezib, son of the road-master (?), deposed to the judges of Nabonidus King of Babylon, saying: "In the month Ab, of the first year of Neriglissar, King of Babylon, I sold Bazuzu, my slave, for half a mana five shekels of money to Nabu-akhi-iddin, son of Shula, son of Egibi; I took his note, but he has not paid the money." The judges of the king heard, and they summoned Nabu-akhi-iddin and set him before them. Nabu-akhi-iddin produced the receipt, which Belilit had given, that she had received the money, the price of Bazuzu, and showed it to the judges. Ziriya, Nabu-shum-lishir, and Ebilu had embezzled the money of Belilit, their mother; he established it before the judges. The judges deliberated and they took from Belilit one half mana five shekels of money, as much as he had paid, and gave it to Nabu-akhi-iddin. (This decision, which is signed by six judges and the clerk of the court, is dated) at Babylon, in the accession year of Nabonidus

Judgment of an Estate in Borsippa, Ninth year of Nabonidus, 546 B.C. The record of this suit, which bears the date of the ninth year of Nabonidus, received the signatures of six judges and two clerks. None of the judges are the same as those who signed the record of Belilit's suit except Nergal-banunu, who was then clerk of the court, but at the time of Bunanit's suit become chief justice.

Bunanit, daughter of the Kharizite, deposed to the judges of Nabonidus, King of Babylon, saying: "Ben-Hadad-natan, son of Nikbata, took me as his wife, and received three manas of money as my dowry. I bore him one daughter. I and Ben-Hadad-natan, my husband, gained by selling and buying with the money of my dowry, and we bought eight gin of an estate, land not far beyond the midst of Borsippa, for nine and two-thirds manas of money, including two and a half manas of money which was borrowed from Iddin-Marduk, son of Basha, son of Nur-sin; we added to the other, and paid for the price of that estate; and we traded together in the fourth year of Nabonidus, King of Babylon. Since my dowry was with Ben-Hadad-natan my husband, I asked for it, and Ben-Hadad-natan in the kindness of his heart, sealed and devised to me for the future the eight gin of that estate which is in Borsippa, and declared it on my tablet, saying: Two and a half manas of money which Ben-Hadad-natan and Bunanit from Iddin-Marduk borrowed was paid toward the price of that estate; they transacted it together.' That tablet he sealed, and wrote upon it the curse of the great gods. In the fifth year of Nabonidus, King of Babylon, I and Ben-Hadad-natan, my husband, adopted Ben-Hadad-amara. We wrote the tablet of his adoption, and we announced the dowry of Nubta, my daughter, two manas ten shekels of money, and the furniture of a house. Fate took my husband, and now Iqbi-ilu, the son of my father-in-law, has laid a claim to the estate and all which he had sealed and devised to me and upon Nabu-nur-ilani, whom we purchased through the agency of Nabu-akhi-iddin. I have brought it before you; make a decision. The judges heard their complaint; they discussed the tablets and documents which Bunanit brought before them and they granted Iqbi-ilu no power over the house in Borsippa, which instead of her dowry had been devised unto Bunanit, over Nabu-nur-ilani, whom she and her husband had bought for silver, nor over anything belonging to Ben-Hadad-natan. To Bunanit and Ben-Hadad-amara they established them in consequence of their tablets. Iddin-Marduk is paid and receives his two and a half manas of money, which they paid on the price of that estate. Afterward Bunanit shall receive the three and a half manas of her dowry, and besides her share Nubta shall receive Nabu-nur-ilani, according to the will of her father.

Judgment for Breach of Contract, Twelfth year of Nabonidus, 543 B.C.

Three manas fifty shekels of money, which the judges wrote on the tablet and gave to Bel-rimanni, son of Labashi-Marduk, son of Ina-Ramman-takallal, and concerning the tablet of Arad-gula and Damqana, his wife, and concerning the slaves and house which he pledged, Bel-rimanni asked. Nergal-uballit the full claim against Arad-Gula allowed, saying: "I grant the full claim, all of it, which Arad-Gula has not met, to Bel-rimanni. Upon the slaves and house, which were pledged. Bel-rimmani has brought before the judges of the king Ana-Tashmit-atkal, Amtiya, Nana-ana-biti-shu, and Zamama-iddin, the people of the house of Arad-Gula, the house which was pledged, the slaves which they had mortgaged to Bel-rimanni, according to his tablet, instead of three manas fifty shekels money, the full price, are given, received, taken; there is nothing further." And in order that there may be renewal and an appeal be made concerning those slaves to the judges, they have written a tablet, sealed it with seals, and have given it to Bel-rimanni. (The names of the judges follow, together with the date:) Babylon, Shebat twenty-sixth, twelfth year of Nabonidus.

A Case of Battery, Breaking & Entering, and Robbery, Eighth year of Cyrus, 529 B.C.

This document bears the names of four witnesses and a scribe; it is dated Adar twenty-eighth, eighth year of Cyrus. This was not the end of the matter, as the next tablet will show.

NABU-AKHI-UBALLIT, son of Shu-_____, the inspector of the city Shakhrin-_____, on the twenty-eighth day of Adar, in the eighth year of Cyrus, King of Babylon, king of countries, deposed to Bel-uballit, the notary of Sippar, saying: 'I took Nana-iddin, son of Bau-ulid, into my house, saying: 'Am I the brother of your father and the inspector of the city? Why have you raised your hand against me? ' Ramman-sharra-usur, son of Nabu-ushezib; Lulgiya and Irba, his brothers; Kutka-ili, son of Bau-ulid; Bel-uballit, son of Bariki-ili; Bel-akhi-uqur, son of Ramman-ushallim; and Iqisha-apla, son of Shamash-sharra-usur, have broken open my door like demons; and from my house, when they had forced an entrance, they took one mana of my money.' The judges came and they saw the fracture (?) of the door and the rending of the threshold. Shamash-iddin, son of Ziriya, assembled the elders of the city, and then he placed Nana-iddin under bonds to Nabu-akhi-bullit, together with Nabu-iddin, son of Pir'a, Nabu-etir-nap-shati, son of Rimut, son of _____, Iqibu, son of Pir'a, son of the priest of Gula, Shamash-lama', son of Submadu, Bel-ushallim, son of Bel-akhi-iddin, son of Shigua, Nabu-ushezib, son of Nabu-ukin-akhi, Ramman-sharra-usur, son of Abu-nu-epish, _____, son of _____. (Their hands) against him they raised, (the door of his house) (they broke), into his house (they entered). (Under the law concerning the house) they are gui(lty). Shamash-iddin, son of Ziriya, when he was rigorously examining them concerning the house, declared, saying---also Ramman-sharra-usur, son of Nabu-ushezib, Nabu-uballit, son of Bariki-ili, Irba, son of Bau-ulid, Lulgia, son of Nabu-ushezib, Bel-akhi-uqur, son of Ramman-ushallim, declared, saying---also Kutka-ili, son of Bau-ulid, Bel-Uballit, son of Bariki-ili, declared, saying: 'I was there when we drew near the door.' Ramman-sharra-usur, son of Nabu-ushezib, also declared, saying: 'I _____. Adar thirtieth, eighth year of (Cyrus, King of Babylon).

Pledge of Surety, Thirty-seventh year of Artaxerxes, 427 B.C.

This is clearly the record of a bond by which a man went bail for his nephew.

Bel-akhi-iddin, son of Bel-na'id, of his own free-will spoke to Bel-shum-iddin, son of Murashu, saying: 'Deliver unto me Nidintum-Bel, son of Eshi-etir, my brother, who is held in prison. I will become his surety that he does not go from Nippur to another place.' Whereupon Bel-shum-iddin, son of Murashu, hearkened to him, and delivered unto him Nidintum-Bel, son of Eshi-etir, his brother, who was held in prison. On the day when Nidintum-Bel, son of Eshi-etir, shall go without the judge's permit from Nippur to another place, Bel-akhi-iddin shall pay to Bel-shum-iddin ten manas of money. (Dated) at Nippur in the thirty-seventh year of Artaxerxes I.

Source:

From: George Aaron Barton, 'Contracts,' in Assyrian and Babylonian Literature: Selected Transactions, With a Critical Introduction by Robert Francis Harper (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1904), pp. 276-281.

Scanned by: J. S. Arkenberg, Dept. of History, Cal. State Fullerton. Prof. Arkenberg may have modernized the text.

Ancient Babylon

with thanks to http://www.theology.edu/lec22.htm

Historically and ethically, Babylonia was the product of the union of the Acadians and the Sumerians. At the outset of this history stands the figure of Hamurrappi (Hammurabi c. 2123-2081 BC), the conqueror and lawgiver through a reign of forty-three years. Under him, the petty waring states of the lower Tigris-Euphrates valley were forced into unity and peace, and disciplined into order and security by a historic code of laws.

The famous Code of Hamurrappi (Hammurabi) was unearthed at Susa in 1902, engraved on a diorite cylinder which had been carried from Babylon to Elam about 1100 BC:

When the lofty Anu, King of the Anunnaki and Bel, Lord of Heaven and Earth, he who determines the destiny of the land, committed the rule of all mankind to Marduk; ... when they pronounced the lofty name of Babylon; when they made it famous among the quarters of the world and in its midst established an everlasting kingdom whose foundations were firm as heaven and earth -- at that time, Anu and Bel called me, Hamurrappi, the exalted prince, the worshipper of the gods, to cause justice to prevail in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil, to prevent the strong from oppressing the weak, ...to enlighten the land and to further the welfare of the people.

Hamurrappi, the governor named by Bel, am I, who brought about plenty and abundance; who made everything for Nippu and Durilu complete; ... who gave life to the city of Uruk; who supplied water in abundance to its inhabitants; ... who made the city of Borsippa beautiful; ... who stored up grain for the mighty Urash; ... who helped his people in time of need; who establishes in security their property in Babylon; the governor of the people, the servant, whose deeds are pleasing to Anunit.

The Code of Hamurrappi is of a composite and heterogeneous character. It mingles the most enlightened of laws with the most barbarous punishments, and sets trial by ordeal right next to elaborate judicial procedures. Yet, taken as a whole, the two hundred eight-five laws, arranged in a somewhat haphazard order, form a law code more advanced that of the Assyrians, a thousand years later.

This famous law code was only one of Hamurrappi's accomplishments. At his command a great canal was dug between Kish and the Persian Gulf, thereby irrigating a large area of land, and protecting the cities of the south from the destructive floods which the Tigris had the habit of birthing.

He built temples and forts. At Babylon, he constructed a huge sanctuary for Marduk and his Wife. They were the national deities.

From taxes imposed on the people, he financed the forces of law and order, and had enough left over to beautify his capital. Palaces and temples went up frequently. A bridge spanned the Euphrates to let Babylon spread itself along both banks of the river. Ships manned by ninety plied up and down the river.

Babylon at this time was on of the richest cities the world had ever known up till then. Its people were Semitic, with dark hair and features. Most men wore beards. Both sexes had long hair. Both men and women wore perfume. The common dress for both sexes was a white linen tunic reaching to the feet. Women tended to leave one shoulder bare. Men would often wear a mantal and robe with their tunic. As wealth grew, the people developed a taste for color, dying their garments red on blue or blue on red in stripes, circles, checks and dots. Men wore turbans, carried walking sticks, and wore seals to sign their letters and other documents.

But this same wealth which generated a high civilization also contributed to its decline, inviting stronger arms and hungrier mouths to invade.

Kassites

Eight years after Hamurrappi's death, the Kassites, a mountain tribe to the north of Babylonia invaded the land, plundered it, retreated, and raided it again and again. Finally, they settled down in it as conquerors and rulers. They were a non-Semitic people, perhaps Indo-European.

The Kassites ruled for six hundred years. It was during their rule that the Amarna letters were written in which the kinglets of Babylonia and Syria, having sent modest tribute to imperial Egypt after the victories of Thutmose III, beg for aid against rebels and invaders, and quarrel about the value of the gifts that they exchange with the disdainful Amenhotep III and the absorbed and negligent Akhenaten (Echnaton). It may have been during this time, too, that the Israelites invaded Canaan (a scenario dependant upon an early dating for the Exodus, which is not widely assumed likely).

At long last the Kassites were expelled, but disorder continued in Babylonia for another four hundred years under a series of obscure rulers with long names that you don't want to know, until the rising power of Assyria in the north stretched down and brought Babylonia under the power of the Nineveh kings.

When Babylon rebelled, Sennacherib destroyed it nearly completely; but then his successor Esarhaddon restored it to prosperity.

The rise of the Medes weakened Assyria and with their help, Nabopolassar liberated Babylonia, set up an independent dynasty, and after his death (Aug. 15, 605 BC), bequeathed this second Babylonian kingdom to his son, Nebuchadnezzar II -- the Nebuchadnezzar of Daniel (Daniel was taken captive to Babylon during the summer of 605 BC).

Nebuchadnezzar was to become the most powerful ruler of his time in the Near East; he was the greatest warrior, statesman, and builder of all the Babylonian monarchs after Hamurrappi himself.

When Egypt conspired with Assyria to reduce Babylon to a vassal again, Nebuchadnezzar met the Egyptian hosts at Carchemesh and almost annihilated them Palestine and Syria then fell under his dominion and Babylonian merchants controlled the trade that flowed across western Asia from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean.

Nebuchadnezzar spent the money collected in tolls, tribute, and taxes in the beautification of his capital and to keep the priests happy. He resisted the temptation of most conquerors to be ever conquering; except for the occasional need to remind subject peoples that they were still subject, he mostly stayed home, focussing his attentions on making Babylon the unraveled capital of the Near East, and the largest and most magnificent metropolis of the ancient world. It is not surprising that he admired the city and asked "is this not the great Babylon that I built?"

Herodotus, who saw Babylon a century and a half after Nebuchadnezzar was dead, described it as "standing upon a spacious plain", surrounded by a wall fifty-six miles long, so wise that a four horse chariot could be driven along the top. The wall enclosed an area of two hundred square miles. Compared to the Old City of Jerusalem, surrounded by a wall and enclosing an area of one square mile, Babylon is enormous. Compared to a major modern city, it is of course not so impressive.

Through the center of Babylon flowed the palm-fringed Euphrates, busy with commerce. Most of the buildings of Babylon were brick, since stone was rare in Mesopotamia. But the bricks were not bare. Rather, they were faced with enamled tiles of blue, yellow, or white, which were adorned with animal and other figures in glazed relief. Almost every brick recovered from Babylon bears an inscription announcing: "Built by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon."

The most prominent building in Babylon was the ziggurat, rising in seven stages of gleaming enamel six hundred fifty feet into the air. It was crowned with a shrine containing a massive table of solid gold, and an ornate bed on which each night, some woman slept to await the pleasure of the god (or his representative).

South of the ziggurat stood the gigantic temple of Marduk, chief deity of Babylon. Around and below this temple the city spread itself out in narrow, winding streets, alive with traffic and bargains, and smells of garbage and humanity. Connecting the temples were asphalt covered bricks overlaid with flags of limestone and red beccia. Over this the gods could pass without muddying their feet. This broad avenue was flanked by walls of colored tiles on which stood, in low relief, one hundred twenty brightly enamelled lions. At one end of the Sacred Way, as it was called, stood the Ishtar Gate, a massive double portal of tiles, adorned with enamelled flowers and animals. Six hundred yards north of the great ziggurat rose a mound called Kasr, on which Nebuchadnezzar built the most imposing of his palaces.

Nearby, supported on a succession of superimposed circular colonnades, were the famous Hanging Gardens. Nebuchadnezzar is reported to have built them for one of his wives, the daughter of Cyaxares, the King of the Medes. This princess, so the story goes, unaccustomed to the hot sun and dust of Babylon, pined away for the green of her native land. So, Nebuchadnezzar made this beautiful and lush garden to ease her homesickness.

The topmost terrace was covered with rich soil to a depth of many feet, providing space and nourishment not mearly for various flowering plants, but for large trees. Hydraulic machines, manned by slaves, carried water from the Euphrates to the highest tier of the gardens. There, seventy-five feet above the ground, in the cool shade of tall trees, and surrounded by exotic shrubs and fragrant flowers, the women of the royal harem walked unveiled, secure from the common eye, while in the plains below, the common man and woman plowed, wove, built, carried burdens and reproduced their kind, unable to partake of the luxury afforded kings and their wives.

Economy

The government in Mesopotamia never succeeded in establishing such economic order as that which the pharaohs achieved in Egypt. Commerce was harassed with a multiplicity of dangers and tolls. The merchant did not know which to fear more: the robbers that might attack him along the road, or the towns and baronies which exacted heavy fees from him for the privilege of using their less than safe roads.

It was safer, where possible, to take the great national highway, the Euphrates, which Nebuchadnezzar had made navigable from the Persian Gulf all the way to Thapsacus.

The Babylonians had no coinage, but even before Hamurrappi they used, besides barley and wheat, ingots of gold and silver as standards of value and mediums of exchange. The metal was unstamped and had to be weighed for each transaction.

Loans were made in goods or precious metals, at a very high rate of interest, even worse than most modern credit card rates: twenty percent for loans of gold or silver and thirty-three percent for loans of goods to be repaid in kind. Although there were no banks, certain powerful families carried on from generation to generation in the business of lending money. They were, in some respects, like modern loan sharks.

Babylonia was essentially a commercial civilization. Most of the documents that have survived are business related: sales, loans, contracts, partnerships, commissions, exchanges, agreements, promissory notes, etc. They apparently were prospering, and they were filled with the spirit of materialism.

On a darker note, slavery was an important part of Babylonian life (as it was for most nations through the eighteenth century and even into the nineteenth century AD). Slaves were acquired from captives taken in battle, slave raids carried out upon foreign states by marauding Bedouins, and from the reproductive enthusiasm of the slaves themselves. Slaves were inexpensive, running the equivalent of twenty to sixty-five dollars for women and fifty to a hundred dollars for men. Most physical labor was performed by slaves; female slaves, of course, were used as breeders and sex objects.

Slaves and whatever property they might have belonged entirely to their masters. A slave might be sold or pledged for debt; he might be put to death if his master simply thought him or her less valuable alive than dead. If a slave escaped, no one could legally harbor him or her and there were usually nice rewards posted for his or her capture.

Kings and Priests of Babylon

The power of the king was limited by the law, the aristocracy, and the clergy. The king was the agent of the city's god. Taxation was in the name of that god, and the money went into the treasuries of the temple.

The king became king when he was invested with royal authority by the priests. All the glamor of the supernatural hedged about the throne and made rebellion a colossal impiety which risked not only life, but also the eternal soul.

The wealth of the temples grew from generation to generation, as the rich shared their dividends with the gods. The kings, feeling a special need for divine forgiveness, built temples, equipped them with furniture, food, and slaves, deeded to them great tracts of land, and assigned them an annual income from the state. The concept of separating church and state was not even imagined and would have been dismissed as idiotic if ever broached.

Poor as well as rich turned over to the temples as much as they thought profitable of their earthly gains. As the priests could not directly use or consume this wealth, they turned it into productive or investment capital. Unsurprisingly, much of the agricultural, manufacturing, and financing of Babylonia became the pervue of the priests.

Not only did they have huge land holdings, they held vast quantities of slaves and controlled hundreds of paid laborers. These people, slave and free, were put to work at various trades ranging from the performance of music to the brewing of beer.

The Gods Themselves

Who were the divinities of this empire? An official census of the gods late in the ninth century placed their number at around 65,000. You will not be required to memorize all of them for the exam. Why so many gods? Every town had one, as did most professions and daily tasks.

The gods were derived from the Sumerian pantheon. Transcendence was not a pronounced part of the Babylonians' concept of deity. Rather, immanence dominated. Most of the gods lived on earth in the temples, had large appetites for food and drink, and made nocturnal visits to pious women, giving them unexpected children.

The oldest gods in the Babylonian pantheon were the astronomical deities:

1. Anu -- the immovable firmament

2. Shamash -- the sun

3. Nannar -- the moon

4. Baal -- the earth, into whose bosom all Babylonians returned upon death.

Additionally, each family had its own household gods, to whom prayers might be said and to whom libations were poured each morning and evening. Every individual had a protective deity to keep him or her from harm and to give him or her joy; this concept, of course, passed ultimately into the Zoroastrian (a Persian, dualistic religion) concept of guardian angels, which then passed on to popular Christianity's concept of guardian angels.

The multiplicity of gods created some confusion, and so periodically reform movements would simplify the system by interpreting minor gods as forms or attributes of major deities, thus reducing the total number of divine beings. In this way the chief god of the city of Babylon, Marduk (a sun god), was turned into the chief of all Babylonian deities.

Another deity of importance was Ishtar (also called Astarte by the Greeks and Asherah or Astoreth by the Jewish people). She was very similar to the Egyptian goddess Isis, the Greek goddess Aphrodite, and the Roman Venus. Herodotus writes of Ishtar:

There is one custom amongst these people which is wholly shameful: every woman who is a native of the country must once in her life go and sit in the temple of Aphrodite [that is, Ishtar] and there give herself to a strange man. Many of the rich women, who are too proud to mix with the rest, drive to the temple in covered carriages with a whole host of servants following behind, and there wait; most however, sit in the precinct of the temple with a band of plait string round their heads -- a a great crowd they are, what with some sitting there, others arriving, others going away -- and through them all gangways are marked off running in every direction for the men to pass along and make their choice. Once a woman has taken her seat she is not allowed to go home until a man has thrown a silver coin into her lap and taken her outside to lie with her. As he throws the coin, the man has to say, "In the name of the goddess Myllita" -- that being the Assyrian name for Aphrodite. The value of the coin is of no consequence; once thrown it becomes sacred, and the law forbids that it should ever be refused. The woman has no privilege of choice -- she must go with the first man who throws her the money. When she has lain with him, her duty to the goddess is discharged and she may go home, after which it will be impossible to seduce her by any offer, however large. Tall, handsome women soon manage to get home again, but the ugly ones stay a long time before they can fulfil the condition which the law demands, some of them, indeed, as much as three or four years. There is a custom similar to this in parts of Cyprus. (Herodotus, The Histories, translated by Aubrey de Selincourt. Baltimore: Penguine Books, 1954, pp. 94-95)

Language and Writing

The language of the Babylonians was Semitic, making it not too difficult to learn. But the writing system, however, was something else entirely. Derived from the Sumerians, it is a nightmarish thing; the symbols stand for syllables or entire words, and worse, they are polyvalent, meaning that they can usually be read more than one way, depending on context, genre, and time period. Reading a Babylonian text is like trying to do a rebus. What's a rebus? Here's an example in English:

Putting this in normal English orthography, you would write: "I believe you are a great manager of men."

The Babylonian cuneiform writing system is a combination of signs, some of which are Sumerian logograms representing an entire Babylonian word; some are symbols representing a syllable within a word. And any one symbol can have a different sound or meaning simply depending upon the context, as in our example above, the "eye" could also stand for an eye, just as easily as it stands for an "I", and the "bee" could be the insect, a verb, or a part of some other word.

The End of Babylon

Nebuchadnezzar, after a long reign of victory and prosperity, after beautifying his city with roads and palaces and erecting fifty-four temples to the gods, became ill with a strange insanity. Thinking himself an animal, he walked on all fours and ate grass.

In the annals of Babylonia, his name disappears from the records for four years. It reappears for a moment, and then, in 562 BC, he died.

Within thirty years of his death, his empire crumbled to pieces.

Nabonidus, who held the throne seventeen years, much preferred archaeology to government, and devoted himself to excavating the antiquities of Sumer while his own realm went to ruin. The army fell into disorder; people were devoted to business, trade and pleasure, and forgot the art of war. The priests usurped more and more of the royal power. Babylon became ever richer, making it a tempting target for invaders. Unfortunately, they did not adequately protect themselves.

When Cyrus and the Persian Empire stood a the gates, the anti-clericals of Babylon connived to open the gates of the city to him and wealcomed his domination. Nabonidus' son, Belshazzar, left in charge of the Babylonian government was busy at the time the Persians came; he was having a party. The Persians crashed his party and killed him. The date: October 12, 539 BC. For two centuries thereafter, Persia ruled Babylonia as part of the greatest empire that history had known up to that moment.

Then Alexander the Great captured the Persian Empire, creating an even greater kingdom -- which lasted only briefly, until he drank himself to death at the age of thirty in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar. The date: June 13, 323 BC.

It was from Babylon that the Greeks brought to their city-states and then to Rome and ultimately us, the foundations of mathematics, astronomy, medicine, grammar, lexicography, archaeology, history, and philosophy. The Greek names for the metals and constellations, for weights and measures, for musical instruments, and many drugs, are translations -- and often, just transliterations -- of Babylonian terms.

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Translated by Maureen Gallery Kovacs

Electronic Edition by Wolf Carnahan, I998

The Epic of Gilgamesh is, perhaps, the oldest written story on Earth. It comes to us from Ancient Sumeria, and was originally written on 12 clay tablets in cunieform script. It is about the adventures of the historical King of Uruk (somewhere between 2750 and 2500 BC).

The translator chose to eliminate Tablet XII for personal reasons, with support from many literary, archaeological, and linguistic experts because it appears to be more of a sequel to the first 11 tablets, containing a story about Enkidu volunteering to retrieve some objects that Gilgamesh dropped into the Netherworld.

This translation is based on the "standard" Akkadian "edition", but is filled in with excerpts from the Old Babylonian where necessary.

Tablet I

He who has seen everything, I will make known (?) to the lands.
I will teach (?) about him who experienced all things,... alike, Anu granted him the totality of knowledge of all.
He saw the Secret, discovered the Hidden, he brought information of (the time) before the Flood.
He went on a distant journey, pushing himself to exhaustion, but then was brought to peace.
He carved on a stone stela all of his toils, and built the wall of Uruk-Haven, the wall of the sacred Eanna Temple, the holy sanctuary.
Look at its wall which gleams like copper(?), inspect its inner wall, the likes of which no one can equal!
Take hold of the threshold stone--it dates from ancient times!
Go close to the Eanna Temple, the residence of Ishtar, such as no later king or man ever equaled!
Go up on the wall of Uruk and walk around, examine its foundation, inspect its brickwork thoroughly.
Is not (even the core of) the brick structure made of kiln-fired brick, and did not the Seven Sages themselves lay out its plans?
One league city, one league palm gardens, one league lowlands, the open area(?) of the Ishtar Temple, three leagues and the open area(?) of Uruk it (the wall) encloses.
Find the copper tablet box, open the ... of its lock of bronze, undo the fastening of its secret opening.
Take and read out from the lapis lazuli tablet how Gilgamesh went through every hardship.
Supreme over other kings, lordly in appearance, he is the hero, born of Uruk, the goring wild bull.
He walks out in front, the leader, and walks at the rear, trusted by his companions.
Mighty net, protector of his people, raging flood-wave who destroys even walls of stone!
Offspring of Lugalbanda, Gilgamesh is strong to perfection, son of the august cow, Rimat-Ninsun;... Gilgamesh is awesome to perfection.
It was he who opened the mountain passes, who dug wells on the flank of the mountain.
It was he who crossed the ocean, the vast seas, to the rising sun, who explored the world regions, seeking life.
It was he who reached by his own sheer strength Utanapishtim, the Faraway, who restored the sanctuaries (or: cities) that the Flood had destroyed!
... for teeming mankind.
Who can compare with him in kingliness?
Who can say like Gilgamesh: "I am King!"?
Whose name, from the day of his birth, was called "Gilgamesh"?
Two-thirds of him is god, one-third of him is human.
The Great Goddess [Aruru] designed(?) the model for his body, she prepared his form ...
... beautiful, handsomest of men, ... perfect
...
He walks around in the enclosure of Uruk, Like a wild bull he makes himself mighty, head raised (over others).
There is no rival who can raise his weapon against him.
His fellows stand (at the alert), attentive to his (orders ?), and the men of Uruk become anxious in ...
Gilgamesh does not leave a son to his father, day and night he arrogant[y(?) ...

[The following lines are interpreted as rhetorical, perhaps spoken by the oppressed citizens of Uruk.]

Is Gilgamesh the shepherd of Uruk-Haven, is he the shepherd. ...
bold, eminent, knowing, and wise!
Gilgamesh does not leave a girl to her mother(?)
The daughter of the warrior, the bride of the young man, the gods kept hearing their complaints, so
the gods of the heavens implored the Lord of Uruk [Anu]
"You have indeed brought into being a mighty wild bull, head raised!
"There is no rival who can raise a weapon against him.
"His fellows stand (at the alert), attentive to his (orders !), "Gilgamesh does not leave a son to his father, "day and night he arrogantly ...
"Is he the shepherd of Uruk-Haven, "is he their shepherd...
"bold, eminent, knowing, and wise, "Gilgamesh does not leave a girl to her mother(?)!"
The daughter of the warrior, the bride of the young man, Anu listened to their complaints, and (the gods) called out to Aruru:
"it was you, Aruru, who created mankind(?), now create a zikru to it/him.
Let him be equal to his (Gilgamesh's) stormy heart, let them be a match for each other so that Uruk may find peace!"
When Aruru heard this she created within herself the zikru of Anu.
Aruru washed her hands, she pinched off some clay, and threw it into the wilderness.
In the wildness(?) she created valiant Enkidu, born of Silence, endowed with strength by Ninurta.
His whole body was shaggy with hair, he had a full head of hair like a woman, his locks billowed in profusion like Ashnan.
He knew neither people nor settled living, but wore a garment like Sumukan."
He ate grasses with the gazelles, and jostled at the watering hole with the animals; as with animals, his thirst was slaked with (mere) water.
A notorious trapper came face-to-face with him opposite the watering hole.
A first, a second, and a third day he came face-to-face with him opposite the watering hole.
On seeing him the trapper's face went stark with fear, and he (Enkidu?) and his animals drew back home.
He was rigid with fear; though stock-still his heart pounded and his face drained of color.
He was miserable to the core, and his face looked like one who had made a long journey.
The trapper addressed his father saying:"
"Father, a certain fellow has come from the mountains.
He is the mightiest in the land, his strength is as mighty as the meteorite(?) of Anu!
He continually goes over the mountains, he continually jostles at the watering place with the animals, he continually plants his feet opposite the watering place.
I was afraid, so I did not go up to him.
He filled in the pits that I had dug, wrenched out my traps that I had spread, released from my grasp the wild animals.
He does not let me make my rounds in the wilderness!"
The trapper's father spoke to him saying:
"My son, there lives in Uruk a certain Gilgamesh.
There is no one stronger than he, he is as strong as the meteorite(?) of Anu.
Go, set off to Uruk, tell Gilgamesh of this Man of Might.
He will give you the harlot Shamhat, take her with you.
The woman will overcome the fellow (?) as if she were strong.
When the animals are drinking at the watering place have her take off her robe and expose her sex.
When he sees her he will draw near to her, and his animals, who grew up in his wilderness, will be alien to him."
He heeded his father's advice.
The trapper went off to Uruk, he made the journey, stood inside of Uruk, and declared to ... Gilgamesh:
"There is a certain fellow who has come from the mountains he is the mightiest in the land, his strength is as mighty as the meteorite(?) of Anu!
He continually goes over the mountains, he continually jostles at the watering place with the animals, he continually plants his feet opposite the watering place.
I was afraid, so I did not go up to him.
He filled in the pits that I had dug, wrenched out my traps that I had spread, released from my grasp the wild animals.
He does not let me make my rounds in the wilderness!"
Gilgamesh said to the trapper:
"Go, trapper, bring the harlot, Shamhat, with you.
When the animals are drinking at the watering place have her take off her robe and expose her sex.
When he sees her he will draw near to her, and his animals, who grew up in his wilderness, will be alien to him."
The trapper went, bringing the harlot, Shamhat, with him.
They set off on the journey, making direct way.
On the third day they arrived at the appointed place, and the trapper and the harlot sat down at their posts(?).
A first day and a second they sat opposite the watering hole.
The animals arrived and drank at the watering hole, the wild beasts arrived and slaked their thirst with water.
Then he, Enkidu, offspring of the mountains, who eats grasses with the gazelles, came to drink at the watering hole with the animals, with the wild beasts he slaked his thirst with water.
Then Shamhat saw him--a primitive, a savage fellow from the depths of the wilderness!
"That is he, Shamhat! Release your clenched arms, expose your sex so he can take in your voluptuousness.
Do not be restrained--take his energy!
When he sees you he will draw near to you.
Spread out your robe so he can lie upon you, and perform for this primitive the task of womankind!
His animals, who grew up in his wilderness, will become alien to him, and his lust will groan over you."
Shamhat unclutched her bosom, exposed her sex, and he took in her voluptuousness.
She was not restrained, but took his energy.
She spread out her robe and he lay upon her, she performed for the primitive the task of womankind.
His lust groaned over her; for six days and seven nights Enkidu stayed aroused, and had intercourse with the harlot until he was sated with her charms.
But when he turned his attention to his animals, the gazelles saw Enkidu and darted off, the wild animals distanced themselves from his body.
Enkidu ... his utterly depleted(?) body, his knees that wanted to go off with his animals went rigid;
Enkidu was diminished, his running was not as before.
But then he drew himself up, for his understanding had broadened.
Turning around, he sat down at the harlot's feet, gazing into her face, his ears attentive as the harlot spoke.
The harlot said to Enkidu:
"You are beautiful," Enkidu, you are become like a god.
Why do you gallop around the wilderness with the wild beasts?
Come, let me bring you into Uruk-Haven, to the Holy Temple, the residence of Anu and Ishtar, the place of Gilgamesh, who is wise to perfection, but who struts his power over the people like a wild bull."
What she kept saying found favor with him.
Becoming aware of himself, he sought a friend.
Enkidu spoke to the harlot:
"Come, Shamhat, take me away with you to the sacred Holy Temple, the residence of Anu and Ishtar, the place of Gilgamesh, who is wise to perfection, but who struts his power over the people like a wild bull.
I will challenge him ...
Let me shout out in Uruk: I am the mighty one!'
Lead me in and I will change the order of things; he whose strength is mightiest is the one born in the wilderness!"
[Shamhat to Enkidu:]
"Come, let us go, so he may see your face.
I will lead you to Gilgamesh--I know where he will be.
Look about, Enkidu, inside Uruk-Haven, where the people show off in skirted finery, where every day is a day for some festival, where the lyre(?) and drum play continually, where harlots stand about prettily, exuding voluptuousness, full of laughter and on the couch of night the sheets are spread (!)."
Enkidu, you who do not know, how to live, I will show you Gilgamesh, a man of extreme feelings (!).
Look at him, gaze at his face he is a handsome youth, with freshness(!), his entire body exudes voluptuousness
He has mightier strength than you, without sleeping day or night!
Enkidu, it is your wrong thoughts you must change!
It is Gilgamesh whom Shamhat loves, and Anu, Enlil, and La have enlarged his mind."
Even before you came from the mountain
Gilgamesh in Uruk had dreams about you.""
Gilgamesh got up and revealed the dream, saying to his mother:
"Mother, I had a dream last night.
Stars of the sky appeared, and some kind of meteorite(?) of Anu fell next to me.
I tried to lift it but it was too mighty for me, I tried to turn it over but I could not budge it.
The Land of Uruk was standing around it, the whole land had assembled about it, the populace was thronging around it, the Men clustered about it, and kissed its feet as if it were a little baby (!).
I loved it and embraced it as a wife.
I laid it down at your feet, and you made it compete with me."
The mother of Gilgamesh, the wise, all-knowing, said to her Lord;
Rimat-Ninsun, the wise, all-knowing, said to Gilgamesh:
"As for the stars of the sky that appeared and the meteorite(?) of Anu which fell next to you, you tried to lift but it was too mighty for you, you tried to turn it over but were unable to budge it, you laid it down at my feet, and I made it compete with you, and you loved and embraced it as a wife."
"There will come to you a mighty man, a comrade who saves his friend he is the mightiest in the land, he is strongest, his strength is mighty as the meteorite(!) of Anu!
You loved him and embraced him as a wife; and it is he who will repeatedly save you.
Your dream is good and propitious!"
A second time Gilgamesh said to his mother: "Mother, I have had another dream:
"At the gate of my marital chamber there lay an axe, "and people had collected about it.
"The Land of Uruk was standing around it, "the whole land had assembled about it, "the populace was thronging around it.
"I laid it down at your feet, "I loved it and embraced it as a wife, "and you made it compete with me."
The mother of Gilgamesh, the wise, all-knowing, said to her son;
Rimat-Ninsun, the wise, all-knowing, said to Gilgamesh:
""The axe that you saw (is) a man. "... (that) you love him and embrace as a wife, "but (that) I have compete with you."
"" There will come to you a mighty man, "" a comrade who saves his friend "he is the mightiest in the land, he is strongest, "he is as mighty as the meteorite(!) of Anu!"
Gilgamesh spoke to his mother saying:
""By the command of Enlil, the Great Counselor, so may it to pass!
"May I have a friend and adviser, a friend and adviser may I have!
"You have interpreted for me the dreams about him!"
After the harlot recounted the dreams of Gilgamesh to Enkidu the two of them made love.

Tablet II

[The next 30 lines are missing; some of the fragmentary lines from 35 on are restored from parallels in the Old Babylonian.]

"Why ..."(?)
His own counsel ...
At his instruction ...
Who knows his heart...
Shamhat pulled off her clothing, and clothed him with one piece while she clothed herself with a second.
She took hold of him as the gods do' and brought him to the hut of the shepherds.
The shepherds gathered all around about him, they marveled to themselves:
"How the youth resembles Gilgamesh tall in stature, towering up to the battlements over the wall!
Surely he was born in the mountains; his strength is as mighty as the meteorite(!) of Anu!"
They placed food in front of him, they placed beer in front of him;
Enkidu knew nothing about eating bread for food, and of drinking beer he had not been taught.
The harlot spoke to Enkidu, saying:
"Eat the food, Enkidu, it ii the way one lives.
Drink the beer, as is the custom of the land."
Enkidu ate the food until he was sated, he drank the beer-seven jugs!-- and became expansive and sang with joy!
He was elated and his face glowed.
He splashed his shaggy body with water, and rubbed himself with oil, and turned into a human.
He put on some clothing and became like a warrior(!).
He took up his weapon and chased lions so that the shepherds could eat
He routed the wolves, and chased the lions.
With Enkidu as their guard, the herders could lie down.
A wakeful man, a singular youth, he was twice as tall (?) (as normal men

[The next 33 lines are missing in the Standard Version; lines 57-86 are taken from the Old Babylonian.]

Then he raised his eyes and saw a man.
He said to the harlot:
"Shamhat, have that man go away!
Why has he come'? I will call out his name!"
The harlot called out to the man and went over to him and spoke with him.
"Young man, where are you hurrying!
Why this arduous pace!"
The young man spoke, saying to Enkidu:
"They have invited me to a wedding, as is the custom of the people.
... the selection(!) of brides(!) ..
I have heaped up tasty delights for the wedding on the ceremonial(!) platter.
For the King of Broad-Marted Uruk, open is the veil(!) of the people for choosing (a girl).
For Gilgamesh, the King of Broad-Marted Uruk, open is the veil(?) of the people for choosing.
He will have intercourse with the 'destined wife,' he first, the husband afterward.
This is ordered by the counsel of Anu, from the severing of his umbilical cord it has been destined for him."
At the young man's speech his (Enkidu's) face flushed (with anger).
[Several lines are missing.]
Enkidu walked in front, and Shamhat after him.
[The Standard Version resumes.]
He (Enkidu) walked down the street of Uruk-Haven, ... mighty...
He blocked the way through Uruk the Sheepfold.
The land of Uruk stood around him, the whole land assembled about him, the populace was thronging around him, the men were clustered about him, and kissed his feet as if he were a little baby(!).
Suddenly a handsome young man ...
For Ishara the bed of night(?)/marriage(?) is ready, for Gilgamesh as for a god a counterpart(!) is set up.
Enkidu blocked the entry to the marital chamber, and would not allow Gilgamreh to be brought in.
They grappled with each other at the entry to the marital chamber, in the street they attacked each other, the public square of the land.
The doorposts trembled and the wall shook,

[About 42 lines are missing from the Standard Version; lines 103-129 are taken from the Old Babylonian version.]

Gilgamesh bent his knees, with his other foot on the ground, his anger abated and he turned his chest away.
After he turned his chest Enkidu said to Gilgamesh:
"Your mother bore you ever unique(!), the Wild Cow of the Enclosure, Ninsun, your head is elevated over (other) men, Enlil has destined for you the kingship over the people."

[19 lines are missing here.]

They kissed each other and became friends.

[The Old Babylonian becomes fragmentary. The Standard Version resumes]

"His strength is the mightiest in the land!
His strength is as mighty as the meteorite(?) of Anu, The mother of Gilgamesh spoke to Gilgamesh, saying;
Rimat-Ninsun said to her son:
"(I!), Rimar-Ninsun...
My son...
Plaintively ...
She went up into his (Shamash's) gateway, plaintively she implored ...:
"Enkidu has no father or mother, his shaggy hair no one cuts.
He was born in the wilderness, no one raised him."
Enkidu was standing there, and heard the speech.
He ... and sat down and wept, his eyes filled with tears, his arms felt limp, his strength weakened.
They took each other by the hand, and.., their hands like ...
Enkidu made a declaration to (Gilgamesh').

[32 lines are missing here.]

"in order to protect the Cedar Forest
Enlil assigned (Humbaba) as a terror to human beings, Humbaba's roar is a Flood, his mouth is Fire, and his breath is Death!
He can hear 100 leagues away any rustling(?) in his forest!
Who would go down into his forest!
Enlil assigned him as a terror to human beings, and whoever goes down into his forest paralysis(?) will strike!"
Gilgamesh spoke to Enkidu saying:
"What you say .. ."

[About 42 lines are missing here in the Standard Version; lines 228-249 are taken from the Old Babylonian.]

"Who, my Friend, can ascend to the heavens!"
(Only) the gods can dwell forever with Shamash.
As for human beings, their days are numbered, and whatever they keep trying to achieve is but wind!
Now you are afraid of death what has become of your bold strength!
I will go in front of you, and your mouth can call out: 'Go on closer, do not be afraid!'
Should I fall, I will have established my fame.
(They will say:)'It was Gilgamesh who locked in battle with Humbaba the Terrible!'
You were born and raised in the wilderness, a lion leaped up on you, so you have experienced it all!'

[5 lines are fragmentary]

I will undertake it and I will cut down the Cedar. It is I who will establish fame for eternity!
Come, my friend, I will go over to the forge and have them cast the weapons in our presence!"
Holding each other by the hand they went over to the forge.
[The Standard Version resumes at this point.]
The craftsmen sat and discussed with one another.
"We should fashion the axe...
The hatchet should he one talent in weight ...
Their swords should be one talent...
Their armor one talent, their armor ..."
Gilgamesh said to the men of Uruk:
"Listen to me, men...

[5 lines are missing here].

You, men of Uruk, who know ...
I want to make myself more mighty, and will go on a distant(!) journey!
I will face fighting such as I have never known, I will set out on a road I have never traveled!
Give me your blessings! ...
I will enter the city gate of Uruk ...
I will devote(?) myself to the New Year's Festival.
I will perform the New Year's (ceremonies) in...
The New Year's Festival will take place, celebrations ...
They will keep shouting 'Hurrah!' in...""
Enkidu spoke to the Elders:
"What the men of Uruk...
Say to him that he must nor go to the Cedar Forest the journey is not to be made!
A man who...
The Guardian of the Cedar Forest ...
The Noble Counselors of Uruk arose and delivered their advice to Gilgamesh:
"You are young, Gilgamesh, your heart carries you off you do not know what you are talking about!
...gave birth to you.
Humbaba's roar is a Flood, his mouth is Fire, his breath Death!
He can hear any rustling(!) in his forest 100 leagues away!
Who would go down into his forest!
Who among (even!) the Igigi gods can confront him?
In order to keep the Cedar safe, Enlil assigned him as a terror to human beings."
Gilgamesh listened to the statement of his Noble Counselors.

[About 5 lines are missing to the end of Tablet II.]

Tablet III

The Elders spoke to Gilgamesh, saying: "Gilgamesh, do not put your trust in (just) your vast strength, but keep a sharp eye out, make each blow strike in mark!
'The one who goes on ahead saves the comrade."
'The one who knows the route protects his friend.'
Let Enkidu go ahead of you; he knows the road to the Cedar Forest, he has seen fighting, has experienced battle.
Enkidu will protect the friend, will keep the comrade safe.
Let his body urge him back to the wives ())."
"in our Assembly we have entrusted the King to you (Enkidu), and on your return you must entrust the King back to us!"
Gilgamesh spoke to Enkidu, raying: "Come on, my friend, let us go to the Egalmah Temple, to Ninsun, the Great Queen;
Ninsun is wise, all-knowing.
She will put the advisable path at our feet."
Taking each other by the hand, Gilgamesh and Enkidu walked to the Egalmah ("Great Palace"), to Ninsun, the Great Queen.
Gilgamesh arose and went to her.
"Ninsun, (even though) I am extraordinarily strong (!)...
I must now travel a long way to where Humbaba is, I must face fighting such as I have not known, and I must travel on a road that I do not know!
Until the time that I go and return, until I reach the Cedar Forest, until I kill Humbaba the Terrible, and eradicate from the land something baneful that Shamash hates, intercede with Shamash on my behalf' (!)
If I kill Humbaba and cut his Cedarlet there be rejoicing all over the land , and I will erect a monument of the victory (?) before you!"
The... words of Gilgamesh, her son, grieving, Queen Ninsun heard over and over.
Ninsun went into her living quarters.
She washed herself with the purity plant, she donned a robe worthy of her body, she donned jewels worthy of her chest, she donned her sash, and put on her crown.
She sprinkled water from a bowl onto the ground.
She... and went up to the roof.
She went up to the roof and set incense in front of Shamash, .I she offered fragrant cuttings, and raised her arms to Shamash.
"Why have you imposed--nay, inflicted!--a restless heart on my son, Gilgamesh!
Now you have touched him so that he wants to travel a long way to where Humbaba is!
He will face fighting such as he has not known, and will travel on a road that he does not know!
Until he goes away and returns, until he reaches the Cedar Forest, until he kills Humbaba the Terrible, and eradicates from the land something baneful that you hate, on the day that you see him on the road(?) may Aja, the Bride, without fear remind you, and command also the Watchmen of the Night, the stars, and at night your father, Sin."
She banked up the incense and uttered the ritual words.'
She called to Enkidu and would give him instructions:
"Enkidu the Mighty, you are not of my womb, but now I speak to you along with the sacred votaries of Gilgamesh, the high priestesses, the holy women, the temple servers."
She laid a pendant(?) on Enkidu's neck, the high-priestesses took... and the "daughters-of-the-gods" ...
"I have taken ... Enkidu...
Enkidu to... Gilgamesh I have taken."
"Until he goes and returns, until he reaches the Cedar Forest, be it a month ... be it a year.. ."

[About 11 lines are missing here, and the placement of the following fragment is uncertain.]

... the gate of cedar...
Enkidu ... in the Temple of Shamash, (and) Gilgamesh in the Egalmah.
He made an offering of cuttings ...
... the sons of the king(!) ...

[Perhaps some 60 lines are missing here.]

"Enkidu will protect the friend, will keep the comrade safe, Let his body urge him back to the wives (?).
In our Assembly we have entrusted the King to you, and on your return you must entrust the King back to us!"
Enkidu spoke to Gilgamesh saying:
"My Friend, turn back!...
The road..."

[The last lines are missing.]

Tablet IV

At twenty leagues they broke for some food, at thirty leagues they stopped for the night, walking Fifty leagues in a whole day, a walk of a month and a half.
On the third day they drew near to the Lebanon.
They dug a well facing Shamash (the setting sun), Gilgamesh climbed up a mountain peak, made a libation of flour, and said:
"Mountain, bring me a dream, a favorable message from Shamash."
Enkidu prepared a sleeping place for him for the night; a violent wind passed through so he attached a covering.
He made him lie down, and... in a circle.
they... like grain from the mountain...
While Gilgamesh rested his chin on his knees, sleep that pours over mankind overtook him.
In the middle of the night his sleep came to an end, so he got up and said to his friend:
"My friend, did you not call out to me? Why did I wake up?
Did you not touch me? Why am I so disturbed?
Did a god pass by? Why are my muscles trembling?
Enkidu, my friend, I have had a dream and the dream I had was deeply disturbing(?) in the mountain gorges... the mountain fell down on me (us?) ...
Wet(?)... like flies(?)...
He who was born in the wilderness,
Enkidu, interpreted the dream for his friend:
"My friend, your dream is favorable.
The dream is extremely important.
My friend, the mountain which you saw in the dream is
Humbaba.
"It means we will capture Humbaba, and kill him and throw his corpse into the wasteland.
In the morning there will be a favorable message from Shamash.
At twenty leagues they broke for some food, at thirty leagues they stopped for the night, walking fifty leagues in a whole day, a walk of a month and a half.
They dug a well facing Shamash
Gilgamesh climbed up a mountain peak, made a libation of flour, and said, "Mountain, bring me a dream, a favorable message from
Shamash."
Enkidu prepared a sleeping place for him for the night; a violent wind passed through so he attached a covering.
He made him lie down, and... in a circle.
They ... like grain from the mountain...
While Gilgamesh rested his chin on his knees, sleep that pours over mankind overtook him.
,, in the middle of the night his sleep came to an end, so he got up and said to his friend:
My friend, did you not call out to me? Why did I wake up?
Did you not touch me? Why am I so disturbed?
Did a god pass by? Why are my muscles trembling?
Enkidu, my friend, I have had a dream, besides my first dream, a second.
And the dream I had--so striking, so...,so disturbing!' I was grappling with a wild bull of the wilderness, with his bellow he split the ground, a cloud of dust...to the sky.
I sank to my knees in front of him.
He holds... that encircled(?) my arm.
(My?) tongue(?) hung out(?) ...
My temples throbbed(?) ...
He gave me water to drink from his waterskin."
"My friend, the god to whom we go is not the wild bull? He is totally different?
The wild bull that you saw is Shamash, the protector, in difficulties he holds our hand.
The one who gave you water to drink from his waterskin is your personal) god, who brings honor to you, Lugalbanda.
We should join together and do one thing, a deed such as has never (before) been done in the land."
At twenty leagues they broke for some food, at thirty leagues they stopped for the night, walking fifty leagues in a whole day, a walk of a month and a half.
They dug a well facing Shamash, Gilgamesh climbed up a mountain peak, made a libation of flour, and said:
"Mountain, bring me a dream, a favorable message from
Shamash."
Enkidu prepared a sleeping place for him for the night; a violent wind passed through so he attached a covering.
He made him lie down, and... in a circle.
They... like grain from the mountain...
While Gilgamesh rested his chin on his knees, sleep that pours over mankind overtook him.
In the middle of the night his sleep came to an end, so he got up and said to his friend:
"My friend, did you nor call out to me? Why did I wake up?
Did you not touch me? Why am I so disturbed?
Did a god pass by) Why are my muscles trembling?
Enkidu, my friend, I have had a third dream, and the dream I had was deeply disturbing.
,, The heavens roared and the earth rumbled; (then) it became deathly still, and darkness loomed.
A bolt of lightning cracked and a fire broke out, and where(?) it kept thickening, there rained death.
Then the white-hot name dimmed, and the fire went out, and everything that had been falling around turned to ash.
Let us go down into the plain so we can talk it over."
,,, Enkidu heard the dream that he had presented and said to Gilgamesh

(About 40 lines are missing here.)

At twenty leagues they broke for some food, at thirty leagues they stopped for the night, walking fifty leagues in a whole day, a walk of a month and a half.
They dug a well facing Shamash, Gilgamesh climbed up a mountain peak, made a libation of flour, and said:
"Mountain, bring me a dream, a favorable message from
Shamash."
Enkidu prepared a sleeping place for him for the night; a violent wind passed through so he attached a covering.
He made him lie down, and... in a circle.
They... like grain from the mountain...
While Gilgamesh rested his chin on his knees, sleep that pours over mankind overtook him.
In the middle of the night his sleep came to an end, so he got up and said to his friend:
"My friend, did you not call out to me? Why did I wake up?
Did you nor touch me? Why am I so disturbed?
Did a god pass by? Why are my muscles trembling)
Enkidu, my friend, I have had a fourth dream, and the dream I had was deeply disturbing (?).

(About 11 lines are missing)

"He was... cubits tall...
... Gilgamesh
Enkidu listened to his dream
"The dream that you had is favorable, it is extremely important? My friend, this...
Humbaba Eke...
Before it becomes light...
We will achieve (victory?) over him, Humbaba, against whom we rage, we will.., and triumph over him.
In the morning there will be a favorable message from Shamash.
At twenty leagues they broke for some food, at thirty leagues they stopped for the night, walking fifty leagues in a whole day, a walk of a month and a half.
They dug a well facing Shamash, Gilgamesh climbed up a mountain peak, made a libation of flour, and said:
"Mountain, bring me a dream, a favorable message from Shamash."
Enkidu prepared a sleeping place for him for the night; a violent wind passed through so he attached a covering.
He made him lie down, and... in a circle. They... like grain from the mountain ...
While Gilgamerh rested his chin on his knees, sleep that pours over mankind overtook him.
In the middle of the night his sleep came to an end, so he got up and said to his friend:
"My friend, did you not call out to me? Why did I wake up? Did you not touch me? Why am I so disturbed?
Did a god pass by? Why are my muscles trembling?
Enkidu, my friend, I had a fifth(?) dream, and the dream I had was deeply disturbing (?).
...His tears were running in the presence of Shamash. 'What you said in Uruk..., be mindful of it, stand by me... ?"
Gilgamesh, the offspring of Uruk-Haven, Shamash heard what issued from his mouth, and suddenly there resounded a warning sound from the sky.
"Hurry, stand by him so that he (Humbaba) does nor enter the forest, and does not go down into the thickets and hide (?)
He has not put on his seven coats of armor(?) he is wearing only one, but has taken off six."
,,, They(Gilgamesh and Enkidu ')...
They lunge at each other like raging wild bulls...
One name he bellowed full of...
The Guardian of the Forest bellowed ...Humbaha like...
..."'One alone cannot
'Strangers ...
'A slippery path is not feared by two people who help each other.'
'Twice three times...
'A three-ply rope cannot be cut.'
'The mighty lioness cubs can roll him over."'
Enkidu spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
"As soon as we have gone down into the Cedar Forest, let us split open the tree (?) and strip off its branches(?)."
Gilgamesh spoke to Enkidu, saying:
"Why, my friend, we...so wretchedly (?)
We have crossed over all the mountarns together, in front of us, before we have cut down the Cedar.
My friend, you who are so experienced in battle, who... fighting, you...' and (need) not fear death.
Let your voice bellow forth like the kettledrum, let the stiffness in your arms depart, let the paralysis in your legs go away.
Take my hand, my friend, we will go on together.
Your heart should burn to do battle pay no heed to death, do not lose heart!
The one who watches from the side is a careful man, but the one who walks in front protects himself and saves his comrade, and through their fighting they establish fame'"
As the two of them reached the evergreen forest they cut off their talk, and stood still.

Tablet V

... They stood at the forest's edge, gazing at the top of the Cedar Tree, gazing at the entrance to the forest.
Where Humbaba would walk there was a trail, the roads led straight on, the path was excellent.
Then they saw the Cedar Mountain, the Dwelling of the Gods, the throne dais of Imini.
Across the face of the mountain the Cedar brought forth luxurious foliage, its shade was good, extremely pleasant.
The thornbushes were matted together, the woods(?) were a thicket ... among the Cedars,... the boxwood, the forest was surrounded by a ravine two leagues long, ... and again for two-thirds (of that distance), ...Suddenly the swords..., and after the sheaths ..., the axes were smeared... dagger and sword... alone ...
Humbaba spoke to Gilgamesh saying:"He does not come (?) ... ...
Enlil.. ."
Enkidu spoke to Humbaba, saying:
"Humbaba...'One alone..
'Strangers ...
'A slippery path is not feared by two people who help each other.
'Twice three times...
'A three-ply rope cannot be cut.
'The mighty lion--two cubs can roll him over."' ...
Humbaba spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
..An idiot' and a moron should give advice to each other, but you, Gilgamesh, why have you come to me!
Give advice, Enkidu, you 'son of a fish,' who does not even know his own father, to the large and small turtles which do not suck their mother's milk!
When you were still young I saw you but did not go over to you; ... you,... in my belly.
...,you have brought Gilgamesh into my presence, ... you stand.., an enemy, a stranger.
... Gilgamesh, throat and neck, I would feed your flesh to the screeching vulture, the eagle, and the vulture!"
Gilgamerh spoke to Enkidu, saying: "My Friend, Humbaba's face keeps changing!
Enkidu spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:'
"Why, my friend, are you whining so pitiably, hiding behind your whimpering?
Now there, my friend,... in the coppersmith's channel ..., again to blow (the bellows) for an hour, the glowing (metal)(?) ...for an hour.
To send the Flood, to crack the Whip."
Do not snatch your feet away, do not turn your back, ... strike even harder!" ... may they be expelled.... head fell ... and it/he confronted him...
The ground split open with the heels of their feet, as they whirled around in circles Mt. Hermon and Lebanon split.
The white clouds darkened, death rained down on them like fog.
Shamash raised up against Humbaba mighty tempests' Southwind, Northwind, Eastwind, Westwind, Whistling Wind, Piercing Wind, Blizzard, Bad Wind, Wind of Simurru, Demon Wind, Ice Wind, Storm, Sandstorm thirteen winds rose up against him and covered Humbaba's face.
He could nor butt through the front, and could not scramble out the back, so that Gilgamesh'a weapons were in reach of Humbaba.
Humbaba begged for his life, saying to Gilgamesh:
"You are young yet, Gilgamesh, your mother gave birth to you, and you are the offspring of Rimnt-Nlnsun (?) ...
(It was) at the word of Shamash, Lord of the Mountain, that you were roused (to this expedition).
O scion of the heart of Uruk, King Gilgamesh!
... Gilgamesh...
Gilgamesh, let me go (?), I will dwell with you as your servant (?)
As many trees as you command me I will cut down for you, I will guard for you myrtle wood..., wood fine enough for your palace!"
Enkidu addressed Gilgamesh, saying:
"My friend, do not listen to Humbaba, [io lines are misring Apparently Humbaba sees thar Gilgamrsh is influenced by Enkidu, and moves to dissuade Enkidu.]
"You understand the rules of my forest, the rules..., further, you are aware of all the things so ordered (by Enlil)."
I should have carried you up, and killed you at the very entrance to the branches of my forest.
I should have fed your flesh to the screeching vulture, the eagle, and the vulture.
So now, Enkidu, clemency is up to you.
Speak to Gilgamesh to spare my life!"
Enkidu addressed Gilgamesh, saying:
My friend, Humbaba, Guardian of the Cedar Forest, grind up, kill, pulverize(?), and destroy him!
Humbaba, Guardian of the Forest, grind up, kill, pulverize(?), and destroy him!
Before the Preeminent God Enlil hears... and the ...gods be filled with rage against us.
Enlil is in Nippur, Shamash is in Sippar.
Erect an eternal monument proclaiming... how Gilgamesh killed(?) Humbaba."
When Humbaba heard...

[About l0 lines are missing.]

... the forest. and denunciations(?) have been made.
But you are sitting there like a shepherd... and like a 'hireling of his mouth.'
Now, Enkidu, clemency is up to you.
Speak to Gilgamesh that he spare my life!"
Enkidu spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
"My friend, Humbaba, Guardian of the Forest, grind up, kill, pulverize(?), and destroy him!
Before the Preeminent God Enlil hears, and the ... gods are full of rage at us.
Enlil is in Nippur, Shamash is in Sippar.
Erect an eternal monument proclaiming... how Gilgamesh killed(?) Humbaba." Humbaba heard ...

[About 10 lines are missing.]

"May he not live the longer of the two, may Enkidu not have any 'share'(?) more than his friend Gilgamesh!"
Enkidu spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
"My friend, 1 have been talking to you but you have not been listening to me,"
You have been listening to the curse of Humbaba!" ... his friend ... by his side .. they pulled out his insides including his tongue. ... he jumped(?
...abundance fell over the mountain, ...abundance fell over the mountain.
They cut through the Cedar, While Gilgamesh cuts down the trees, Enkidu searches through the urmazallu.
Enkidu addressed Gilgamesh, saying:
"My friend, we have cut down the towering Cedar whose top scrapes the sky.
Make from it a door 72 cubits high, 24 cubits wide, one cubit thick, its fixture, its lower and upper pivots will be out of one piece.
Let them carry it to Nippur, the Euphrates will carry it down, Nippur will rejoice. ..."
They tied together a raft... Enkidu steered it... while Gilgamesh held the head of Humbaba.

Tablet VI

He washed out his marred hair and cleaned up his equipment(?), shaking out his locks down over his back, throwing off his dirty clothes and putting on clean ones.
He wrapped himself in regal garments and fastened the sash.
When Gilgamesh placed his crown on his head, a princess Ishtar raised her eyes to the beauty of Gilgamesh.
"Come along, Gilgamesh, be you my husband, to me grant your lusciousness.'
Be you my husband, and I will be your wife.
I will have harnessed for you a chariot of lapis lazuli and gold, with wheels of gold and 'horns' of electrum(?).
It will he harnessed with great storming mountain mules!
Come into our house, with the fragrance of cedar.
And when you come into our house the doorpost(?) and throne dais(?)'will kiss your feet.
Bowed down beneath you will be kings, lords, and princes.
The Lullubu people' will bring you the produce of the mountains and countryside as tribute.
Your she-goats will bear triplets, your ewes twins, your donkey under burden will overtake the mule, your steed at the chariot will be bristling to gallop, your ax at the yoke will have no match."
Gilgamesh addressed Princess Ishtar saying:
"What would I have to give you if I married you!
Do you need oil or garments for your body! Do you lack anything for food or drink!
I would gladly feed you food fit for a god, I would gladly give you wine fit for a king, ... may the street(?) be your home(?), may you be clothed in a garment, and may any lusting man (?) marry you!
...an oven who... ice, a half-door that keeps out neither breeze nor blast, a palace that crushes down valiant warriors, an elephant who devours its own covering, pitch that blackens the hands of its bearer, a waterskin that soaks its bearer through, limestone that buckles out the stone wall, a battering ram that attracts the enemy land, a shoe that bites its owner's feet!
Where are your bridegrooms that you keep forever'
Where is your 'Little Shepherd' bird that went up over you!
See here now, I will recite the list of your lovers.
Of the shoulder (?) ... his hand, Tammuz, the lover of your earliest youth, for him you have ordained lamentations year upon year!
You loved the colorful 'Little Shepherd' bird and then hit him, breaking his wing, so now he stands in the forest crying 'My Wing'!
You loved the supremely mighty lion, yet you dug for him seven and again seven pits.
You loved the stallion, famed in battle, yet you ordained for him the whip, the goad, and the lash, ordained for him to gallop for seven and seven hours, ordained for him drinking from muddled waters,' you ordained far his mother Silili to wail continually.
You loved the Shepherd, the Master Herder, who continually presented you with bread baked in embers, and who daily slaughtered for you a kid.
Yet you struck him, and turned him into a wolf, so his own shepherds now chase him and his own dogs snap at his shins.
You loved Ishullanu, your father's date gardener, who continually brought you baskets of dates, and brightened your table daily.
You raised your eyes to him, and you went to him:
'Oh my Ishullanu, let us taste of your strength, stretch out your hand to me, and touch our vulva.
Ishullanu said to you:
'Me! What is it you want from me!
Has my mother not baked, and have I not eaten that I should now eat food under contempt and curses and that alfalfa grass should be my only cover against the cold?
As you listened to these his words you struck him, turning him into a dwarf(?), and made him live in the middle of his (garden of) labors, where the mihhu do not go up, nor the bucket of dates (?) down.
And now me! It is me you love, and you will ordain for me as for them!"
When Ishtar heard this, in a fury she went up to the heavens, going to Anu, her father, and crying, going to Anrum, her mother, and weeping:
"Father, Gilgamesh has insulted me over and over, Gilgamesh has recounted despicable deeds about me, despicable deeds and curses!"
Anu addressed Princess Ishtar, saying: "What is the matter?
Was it not you who provoked King Gilgamesh?
So Gilgamesh recounted despicable deeds about you, despicable deeds and curses!"
Ishtar spoke to her father, Anu, saying:
"Father, give me the Bull of Heaven, so he can kill Gilgamesh in his dwelling.
If you do not give me the Bull of Heaven, I will knock down the Gates of the Netherworld, I will smash the door posts, and leave the doors flat down, and will let the dead go up to eat the living!
And the dead will outnumber the living!"
Anu addressed princess Ishtar, saying:
"If you demand the Bull of Heaven from me, there will be seven years of empty husks for the land of Uruk.
Have you collected grain for the people!
Have you made grasses grow for the animals?"
Ishtar addressed Anu, her father, saying:
"I have heaped grain in the granaries for the people, I made grasses grow for the animals, in order that they might eat in the seven years of empty husks.
I have collected grain for the people, I have made grasses grow for the animals."
When Anu heard her words, he placed the noserope of the Bull of Heaven in her hand.
Ishtar led the Bull of Heaven down to the earth.
When it reached Uruk It climbed down to the Euphrates...
At the snort of the Bull of Heaven a huge pit opened up, and 100 Young Men of Uruk fell in.
At his second snort a huge pit opened up, and 200 Young Men of Uruk fell in.
At his third snort a huge pit opened up, and Enkidu fell in up to his waist.
Then Enkidu jumped out and seized the Bull of Heaven by its horns.
the Bull spewed his spittle in front of him, with his thick tail he flung his dung behind him (?).
Enkidu addressed Gilgamesh, saying:
"My friend, we can be bold(?) ...
How shall we respond...
My friend, I saw...
And my strength...
I will rip out...
I and you, we must share (?)
I shall grasp the Bull
I will fill my hands (?) ..
In front...
... between the nape, the horns, and... thrust your sword."
Enkidu stalked and hunted down the Bull of Heaven.
He grasped it by the thick of its tail and held onto it with both his hands (?), while Gilgamesh, like an expert butcher, boldly and surely approached the Bull of Heaven.
Between the nape, the horns, and... he thrust his sword.
After they had killed the Bull of Heaven, they ripped out its heart and presented it to Shamash.
They withdrew bowing down humbly to Shamash.
Then the brothers sat down together.
Ishtar went up onto the top of the Wall of Uruk-Haven, cast herself into the pose of mourning, and hurled her woeful curse:
"Woe unto Gilgamesh who slandered me and killed the Bull of Heaven!"
When Enkidu heard this pronouncement of Ishtar, he wrenched off the Bull's hindquarter and flung it in her face:
"If I could only get at you I would do the same to you!
I would drape his innards over your arms!"
Ishtar assembled the (cultic women) of lovely-locks, joy-girls, and harlots, and set them to mourning over the hindquarter of the Bull.
Gilgamesh summoned all the artisans and craftsmen.
(All) the artisans admired the thickness of its horns, each fashioned from 30 minas of lapis lazuli!
Two fingers thick is their casing(?).
Six vats of oil the contents of the two he gave as ointment to his (personal) god Lugalbanda.
He brought the horns in and hung them in the bedroom of the family head (Lugalbanda?).
They washed their hands in the Euphrates, and proceeded hand in hand, striding through the streets of Uruk.
The men of Uruk gathered together, staring at them.
Gilgamesh said to the palace retainers:
"Who is the bravest of the men)
Who is the boldest of the males!
Gilgamesh is the bravest of the men, the boldest of the males!
She at whom we flung the hindquarter of the Bull of Heaven in anger, Ishtar has no one that pleases her... in the street (?)
Gilgamesh held a celebration in his palace.
The Young Men dozed off, sleeping on the couches of the night.
Enkidu was sleeping, and had a dream.
He woke up and revealed his dream to his friend.

Tablet VII

"My friend, why are the Great Gods in conference?
(In my dream) Anu, Enlil, and Shamash held a council, and Anu spoke to Enlil:
'Because they killed the Bull of Heaven and have also slain
Humbaba, the one of them who pulled up the Cedar of the Mountain must die!'
Enlil said:'Let Enkidu die, but Gilgamesh must not die!'
Bur the Sun God of Heavenl replied to valiant Enlil:
'Was it not at my command that they killed the Bull of
Heaven and Humbaba!
Should now innocent Enkidu die!'
Then Enlil became angry at Shamash, saying:
'it is you who are responsible because you traveled daily with them as their friend!"'
Enkidu was lying (sick) in front of Gilgamesh.
His tears flowing like canals, he (Gilgamesh) said:
"O brother, dear brother, why are they absolving me instead of my brother)"
Then Enkidu said:) "So now must 1 become a ghost, to sit with the ghosts of the dead, to see my dear brother nevermore!"
In the Cedar Forest where the Great (Gods dwell, I did not kill the Cedar."
Enkidu addressed Gilgamesh, saying to Gilgamesh, his Friend:
"Come, Friend,...
The door...
Enkidu raised his eyes,...and spoke to the door as if it were human:
"You stupid wooden door, with no ability to understand... !
Already at 10 leagues I selected the wood for you, until I saw the towering Cedar ...
Your wood was without compare in my eyes.
Seventy-two cubits was your height, 14 cubits your width, one cubit your thickness, your door post, pivot stone, and post cap ...
I fashioned you, and I carried you; to Nippur...
Had I known, O door, that this would he your gratitude
and this your gratitude..., I would have taken an axe and chopped you up, and lashed your planks into... in its ... I erected the... and in Uruk...they heard
But yet, O door, I fashioned you, and I carried you to Nippur!
May a king who comes after me reject you, may the god... may he remove my name and set his own name there!"
He ripped out.., threw down.
He (Gilgamesh) kept listening to his words, and retorted quickly, Gilgamesh listened to the words of Enkidu, his Friend, and his tears flowed.
Gilgamesh addressed Enkidu, raying:
'Friend, the gods have given you a mind broad and ...
Though it behooves you to be sensible, you keep uttering improper things!
Why, my Friend, does your mind utter improper things?
The dream is important but very frightening, your lips are buzzing like flies.
Though there is much fear, the dream is very important.
To the living they (the gods) leave sorrow, to the living the dream leaves pain.
I will pray, and beseech the Great Gods, I will seek..., and appeal to your god.
... Enlil, the Father of the Gods, ...Enlil the Counselor...you.
I will fashion a statue of you of gold without measure, do nor worry..., gold...
What Enlil says is not...
What he has said cannot go back, cannot ..., What... he has laid down cannot go back, cannot...
My friend,... of fate goes to mankind."
Just as dawn began to glow, Enkidu raised his head and cried out to Shamash, at the (first) gleam of the sun his tears poured forth.
"I appeal to you, O Shamash, on behalf of my precious life (?), because of that notorious trapper who did not let me attain the same as my friend
May the trapper not get enough to feed himself .
May his profit be slashed, and his wages decrease, may... be his share before you, may he not enter ... but go out of it like vapor(?)!"
After he had cursed the trapper to his satisfaction, his heart prompted him to curse the Harlot.
"Come now, Harlot, I am going to decree your fate, a fate that will never come to an end for eternity!
I will curse you with a Great Curse, may my curses overwhelm you suddenly, in an instant!
May you not be able to make a household, and not be able to love a child of your own (?)!
May you not dwell in the ... of girls, may dregs of beer (?) stain your beautiful lap, may a drunk soil your festal robe with vomit(?), ... the beautiful (?) ... of the potter.
May you never acquire anything of bright alabaster, may the judge. .. may shining silver(?), man's delight, not be cast into your house, may a gateway be where you rake your pleasure,' may a crossroad be your home may a wasteland be your sleeping place, may the shadow of the city wall be your place to stand, may the thorns and briars skin your feet, may both the drunk and the dry slap you on the cheek, ... in your city's streets (?), may owls nest in the cracks of your walls! may no parties take place... ... present(?).
and your filthy "lap" ... may.., be his(?)
Because of me... while I, blameless, you have... against me.
When Shamash heard what his mouth had uttered, he suddenly called out to him from the sky:
"Enkidu, why are you cursing the harlot, Shamhat, she who fed you bread fit for a god, she who gave you wine fit for a king, she who dressed you in grand garments, and she who allowed you to make beautiful Gilgamesh your comrade!
Now Gilgamesh is your beloved brother-friend!
He will have you lie on a grand couch, will have you lie on a couch of honor.
He will seat you in the seat of ease, the seat at his left, so that the princes of the world kiss your feet.
He will have the people of Uruk go into mourning and moaning over you, will fill the happy people with woe over you.
And after you he will let his body bear a filthy mat of hair, will don the skin of a lion and roam the wilderness."
As soon as Enkidu heard the words of valiant Shamash, his agitated heart grew calm, his anger abated.
Enkidu spoke to the harlot, saying:
"Come, Shamhat, I will decree your fate for you.
Let my mouth which has cursed you, now turn to bless you!
May governors and nobles love you, May he who is one league away bite his lip (in anticipation of you), may he who is two leagues away shake our his locks (in preparation)!
May the soldier not refuse you, but undo his buckle for you, may he give you rock crystal(!), lapis lazuli, and gold, may his gift to you be earrings of filigree(?).
May... his supplies be heaped up.
May he bring you into the ... of the gods.
May the wife, the mother of seven (children), be abandoned because of you!"
Enkidu's innards were churning, lying there so alone.
He spoke everything he felt, saying to his friend:
"Listen, my friend, to the dream that I had last night.
The heavens cried out and the earth replied, and I was standing between them.
There appeared a man of dark visage his face resembled the Anzu," his hands were the paws of a lion, his nails the talons of an eagle! he seized me by my hair and overpowered me.
I struck him a blow, but he skipped about like a jump rope, and then he struck me and capsizcd me like a raft, and trampled on me like a wild bull.
He encircled my whole body in a clamp.
'Help me, my friend" (I cried), but you did not rescue me, you were afraid and did not.. ."
"Then he... and turned me into a dove, so that my arms were feathered like a bird.
Seizing me, he led me down to the House of Darkness, the dwelling of Irkalla, to the house where those who enter do not come out, along the road of no return, to the house where those who dwell, do without light, where dirt is their drink, their food is of clay, where, like a bird, they wear garments of feathers, and light cannot be seen, they dwell in the dark, and upon the door and bolt, there lies dust.
On entering the House of Dust, everywhere I looked there were royal crowns gathered in heaps, everywhere I listened, it was the bearers of crowns, who, in the past, had ruled the land, but who now served Anu and Enlil cooked meats, served confections, and poured cool water from waterskins.
In the house of Dust that I entered there sat the high priest and acolyte, there sat the purification priest and ecstatic, there sat the anointed priests of the Great Gods.
There sat Etana, there sat Sumukan, there sat Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Netherworld.
Beletseri, the Scribe of the Netherworld, knelt before her, she was holding the tablet and was reading it out to her Ereshkigal.
She raised her head when she saw me-- 'Who has taken this man?'

[50 lines are missing here]

...I (?) who went through every difficulty, remember me and forget(?) not all that I went through with you.
"My friend has had a dream that bodes ill?"
The day he had the dream ... came to an end.
Enkidu lies down a first day, a second day, that Enkidu ... in his bed;
a third day and fourth day, that Enkidu ... in his bed;
a fifth, a sixth, and seventh, that Enkidu ... in his bed;
an eighth, a ninth, a tenth, that Enkidu ... in his bed.
Enkidu's illness grew ever worse.
Enkidu drew up from his bed, and called out to Gilgamesh ...:
"My friend hates me ... while he talked with me in Uruk as I was afraid of the battle he encouraged me.
My friend who saved me in battle has now abandoned me!
I and you ...

[About 20 lines are missing]

At his noises Gilgamesh was roused ...
Like a dove he moaned ...
"May he not be held, in death ...
O preeminent among men ..."
To his friend ...
"I will mourn him (?)
I at his side ..."

Tablet VIII

Just as day began to dawn
Gilgamesh addressed his friend, saying:
"Enkidu, your mother, the gazelle, and your father, the wild donkey, engendered you, four wild asses raised you on their milk, and the herds taught you all the grazing lands.
May the Roads of Enkidu to the Cedar Forest mourn you and not fall silent night or day.
May the Elders of the broad city of Uruk-Haven mourn you.
May the peoples who gave their blessing after us mourn you.
May the men of the mountains and hills mourn you.
May the...
May the pasture lands shriek in mourning as if it were your mother.
May the ..., the cypress, and the cedar which we destroyed (?) in our anger mourn you.
May the bear, hyena, panther, tiger, water buffalo(?), jackal, lion, wild bull, stag, ibex, all the creatures of the plains mourn you.
May the holy River Ulaja, along whose banks we grandly used to stroll, mourn you.
May the pure Euphrates, to which we would libate water from our waterskins, mourn you.
May the men of Uruk-Haven, whom we saw in our battle when
we killed the Bull of Heaven, mourn you.
May the farmer ...,who extols your name in his sweet work song, mourn you.
May the ... of the broad city, who ... exalted your name, mourn you.
May the herder ..., who prepared butter and light beer for your mouth, mourn you.
May ..., who put ointments on your back, mourn you.
May ..., who prepared fine beer for your mouth, mourn you.
May the harlot, ... you rubbed yourself with oil and felt good, mourn you.
May ...,... of the wife placed(!) a ring on you ..., mourn you
May the brothers go into mourning over you like sisters;
... the lamentation priests, may their hair be shorn off on your behalf.
Enkidu, your mother and your father are in the wastelands, I mourn you ..."
"Hear me, O Elders of Uruk, hear me, O men!
I mourn for Enkidu, my friend, I shriek in anguish like a mourner.
You, axe at my side, so trusty at my hand you, sword at my waist, shield in front of me, you, my festal garment, a sash over my loins an evil demon!) appeared and took him away from me!
My friend, the swift mule, fleet wild ass of the mountain, panther of the wilderness, Enkidu, my friend, the swift mule, fleet wild ass of the mountain, panther of the wilderness, after we joined together and went up into the mountain, fought the Bull of Heaven and killed it, and overwhelmed Humbaba, who lived in the Cedar Forest, now what is this sleep which has seized you?
You have turned dark and do not hear me!"
But his (Enkidu's) eyes do not move, he touched his heart, but it beat no longer.
He covered his friend's face like a bride, swooping down over him like an eagle, and like a lioness deprived of her cubs he keeps pacing to and fro.
He shears off his curls and heaps them onto the ground, ripping off his finery and casting it away as an abomination.
Just as day began to dawn, Gilgamesh ... and issued a call to the land:
"You, blacksmith! You, lapidary! You, coppersmith!
You, goldsmith! You, jeweler!
Create 'My Friend,' fashion a statue of him.
... he fashioned a statue of his friend.
His features ...
...,your chest will be of lapis lazuli, your skin will be of gold."

[10 lines are missing here.']

"I had you recline on the great couch, indeed, on the couch of honor I let you recline, 1 had you sit in the position of ease, the seat at the left, so the princes of the world kissed your feet.
I had the people of Uruk mourn and moan for you, I filled happy people with woe over you, and after you (died) I let a filthy mat of hair grow over my body, and donned the skin of a lion and roamed the wilderness."
Just as day began to dawn, he undid his straps ...
I... carnelian,

[85 lines are missing here.']

...to my friend.
... your dagger
to Bibbi ..."

[40 lines are missing here.]

" ... the judge of the Anunnaki."
When Gilgamesh heard this the zikru of the river(!) he created'...
Just as day began to dawn Gilgamesh opened(!) ... and brought out a big table of sissoo wood.
A carnelian bowl he filled with honey, a lapis lazuli bowl he filled with butter.
He provided ... and displayed it before Shamash.

[All of the last column, some 40-50 lines, is missing.]

Tablet IX

Over his friend, Enkidu, Gilgamesh cried bitterly, roaming the wilderness.
"I am going to die!--am I not like Enkidu?!
Deep sadness penetrates my core, I fear death, and now roam the wilderness I will set out to the region of Utanapishtim, son of Ubartutu, and will go with utmost dispatch!
When I arrived at mountain passes at nightfall,'
I saw lions, and I was terrified!
I raised my head in prayer to Sin, to ... the Great Lady of the gods my supplications poured forth, 'Save me from... !"'
He was sleeping in the night, but awoke with a start with a dream:
A warrior(!) enjoyed his life he raised his axe in his hand, drew the dagger from his sheath, and fell into their midst like an arrow.
He struck ... and he scattered them, The name of the former ...
The name of the second ...

(26 lines are missing here, telling of the beginning of his quest.]

The Scorpion-Beings
The mountain is called Mashu.
Then he reached Mount Mashu, which daily guards the rising and setting of the Sun, above which only the dome of the heavens reaches, and whose flank reaches as far as the Netherworld below, there were Scorpion-beings watching over its gate.
Trembling terror they inspire, the sight of them is death, their frightening aura sweeps over the mountains.
At the rising and setting they watch over the Sun.
When Gilgamesh saw them, trembling terror blanketed his face, but he pulled himself together and drew near to them.
The scorpion-being called out to his female:
"He who comes to us, his body is the flesh of gods!"
The scorpion-being, his female, answered him:
"(Only) two-thirds of him is a god, one-third is human."
The male scorpion-being called out, saying to the offspring of the gods:
"Why have you traveled so distant a journey?
Why have you come here to me, over rivers whose crossing is treacherous!
I want to learn your ...
I want to learn ..."

[16 lines are missing here. When the text resumes Gilgamesh is speaking.]

"I have come on account of my ancestor Utanapishtim, who joined the Assembly of the Gods, and was given eternal life.
About Death and Life I must ask him!"
The scorpion-being spoke to Gilgamesh ..., saying:
"Never has there been, Gilgamesh, a mortal man who could do that(?).
No one has crossed through the mountains, for twelve leagues it is darkness throughout dense is the darkness, and light there is none.
To the rising of the sun ...
To the setting of the sun ...
To the setting of the sun ...
They caused to go out..."

[67 lines are missing, in which Gilgamesh convinces the scorpion-being to allow him passage.]

"Though it be in deep sadness and pain, in cold or heat ... gasping after breath ... I will go on!
Now! Open the Gate!"
The scorpion-being spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
"Go on, Gilgamesh, fear not!
The Mashu mountains I give to you freely (!), the mountains, the ranges, you may traverse ...
In safety may your feet carry you.
The gate of the mountain ..."
To the rising of the sun ...
To the setting of the sun ...
To the setting of the sun ...
They caused to go out..."

[67 lines are missing, in which Gilgamesh convinces the scorpion-being to allow him passage.]

"Though it be in deep sadness and pain, in cold or heat ... gasping after breath ... I will go on!
Now! Open the Gate!"
The scorpion-being spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
"Go on, Gilgamesh, fear not!
The Mashu mountains I give to you freely (!), the mountains, the ranges, you may traverse ...
In safety may your feet carry you.
The gate of the mountain ..."
As soon as Gilgamesh heard this he heeded the utterances of the scorpion-being.
Along the Road of the Sun L he journeyed one league he traveled ..., dense was the darkness, light there was none.
Neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see.
Two leagues he traveled ..., dense was the darkness, light there was none, neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see.

[22 lines are missing here.]

Four leagues he traveled ..., dense was the darkness, light there was none, neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see.
Five leagues he traveled ..., dense was the darkness, light there was none, neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see.
Six leagues he traveled ..., dense was the darkness, light there was none, neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see.
Seven leagues he traveled .. dense was the darkness, light there was none, neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see.
Eight leagues he traveled and cried out (!), dense was the darkness, light there was none, neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see.
Nine leagues he traveled ... the North Wind.
It licked at his face, dense was the darkness, light there was none, neither what lies ahead nor behind does it allow him to see.
Ten leagues he traveled ... ... is near, ... four leagues.
Eleven leagues he traveled and came out before the sun(rise).
Twelve leagues he traveled and it grew brilliant.
...it bears lapis lazuli as foliage, bearing fruit, a delight to look upon.

(25 lines are missing here, describing the garden in detail.]

... cedar
... agate
... of the sea ... lapis lazuli, like thorns and briars ... carnelian, rubies, hematite,...
like... emeralds (!)
... of the sea, Gilgamesh ... on walking onward, raised his eyes and saw ...

Tablet X

The tavern-keeper Siduri who lives by the seashore, she lives...
the pot-stand was made for her, the golden fermenting vat was made for her.
She is covered with a veil ...
Gilgamesh was roving about...
wearing a skin,...
having the flesh of the gods in his body, but sadness deep within him, looking like one who has been traveling a long distance.
The tavern-keeper was gazing off into the distance, puzzling to herself, she said, wondering to herself:
"That fellow is surely a murderer(!)!
Where is he heading! ..."
As soon as the tavern-keeper saw him, she bolted her door, bolted her gate, bolted the lock.
But at her noise Gilgamesh pricked up his ears, lifted his chin (to look about) and then laid his eyes on her.
Gilgamesh spoke to the tavern-keeper, saying:
"Tavern-keeper, what have you seen that made you bolt your door, bolt your gate, bolt the lock!
if you do not let me in I will break your door, and smash the lock!
... the wilderness."
... Gilgamesh
The tavern-keeper Siduri who lives by the seashore, she lives...
the pot-stand was made for her, the golden fermenting vat was made for her.
She is covered with a veil ...
Gilgamesh was roving about...
wearing a skin,...
having the flesh of the gods in his body, but sadness deep within him, looking like one who has been traveling a long distance.
The tavern-keeper was gazing off into the distance, puzzling to herself, she said, wondering to herself:
"That fellow is surely a murderer(!)!
Where is he heading! ..."
As soon as the tavern-keeper saw him, she bolted her door, bolted her gate, bolted the lock.
But at her noise Gilgamesh pricked up his ears, lifted his chin (to look about) and then laid his eyes on her.
Gilgamesh spoke to the tavern-keeper, saying:
"Tavern-keeper, what have you seen that made you bolt your door, bolt your gate, bolt the lock!
if you do not let me in I will break your door, and smash
the lock!
... the wilderness."
... Gilgamesh
... gate
Gilgamesh said to the tavern-keeper:
"I am Gilgamesh, I killed the Guardian!
I destroyed Humbaba who lived in the Cedar Forest, I slew lions in the mountain passes!
I grappled with the Bull that came down from heaven, and killed him."
The tavern-keeper spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
"lf you are Gilgamesh, who killed the Guardian, who destroyed Humbaba who lived in the Cedar Forest, who slew lions in the mountain passes, who grappled with the Bull that came down from heaven, and killed him, why are your cheeks emaciated, your expression desolate!
Why is your heart so wretched, your features so haggard!
Why is there such sadness deep within you!
Why do you look like one who has been traveling a long distance so that ice and heat have seared your face!
... you roam the wilderness!"
Gilgamesh spoke to her, to the tavern-keeper he said:
"Tavern-keeper, should not my cheeks be emaciated?
Should my heart not be wretched, my features not haggard?
Should there not be sadness deep within me!
Should I not look like one who has been traveling a long distance, and should ice and heat not have seared my face!
..., should I not roam the wilderness?
My friend, the wild ass who chased the wild donkey, panther of the wilderness, Enkidu, the wild ass who chased the wild donkey, panther of the wilderness, we joined together, and went up into the mountain.
We grappled with and killed the Bull of Heaven, we destroyed Humbaba who lived in the Cedar Forest, we slew lions in the mountain passes!
My friend, whom I love deeply, who went through every hardship with me, Enkidu, whom I love deeply, who went through every hardship with me, the fate of mankind has overtaken him.
Six days and seven nights I mourned over him and would not allow him to be buried until a maggot fell out of his nose.
I was terrified by his appearance(!), I began to fear death, and so roam the wilderness.
The issue of my friend oppresses me, so I have been roaming long trails through the wilderness.
The issue of Enkidu, my friend, oppresses me, so I have been roaming long roads through the wilderness.
How can I stay silent, how can 1 be still!
My friend whom I love has turned to clay.
Am I not like him? Will I lie down, never to get up again?"'
Gilgamesh spoke to the tavern-keeper, saying:
"So now, tavern-keeper, what is the way to Utanapishtim!
What are its markers Give them to me! Give me the markers!
If possible, I will cross the sea; if not, I will roam through the wilderness."
The tavern-keeper spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
"There has never been, Gilgamesh, any passage whatever, there has never been anyone since days of yore who crossed the sea.
The (only) one who crosses the sea is valiant Shamash, except for him who can cross!
The crossing is difficult, its ways are treacherous and in between are the Waters of Death that bar its approaches!
And even if, Gilgamesh, you should cross the sea, when you reach the Waters of Death what would you do!
Gilgamesh, over there is Urshanabi, the ferryman of Utanapishtim.
'The stone things' L are with him, he is in the woods picking mint( !).
Go on, let him see your face. If possible, cross with him; if not, you should turn back."
When Gilgamesh heard this he raised the axe in his hand, drew the dagger from his belt, and slipped stealthily away after them.
Like an arrow he fell among them ("the stone things").
From the middle of the woods their noise could be heard.
Urshanabi, the sharp-eyed, saw...
When he heard the axe, he ran toward it.
He struck his head ... Gilgamesh.'
He clapped his hands and ... his chest, while "the stone things" ... the boat
... Waters of Death
... broad sea
in the Waters of Death ...
... to the river
... the boat
... on the shore.
Gilgamesh spoke to Urshanabi (?), the ferryman, ... you."
Urshanabi spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:'
"Why are your cheeks emaciated, your expression desolate!
Why is your heart so wretched, your features so haggard?
Why is there such sadness deep within you!
Why do you look like one who has been traveling a long distance so that ice and heat have seared your face!
Why ... you roam the wilderness!"
Gilgamesh spoke to Urshanabi, saying:
"Urshanabi, should not my cheeks be emaciated, my expression desolate!
Should my heart not be wretched, my features not haggard
Should there not be sadness deep within me?
Should I not look like one who has been traveling a long distance, and should ice and heat not have seared my face!
... should I not roam the wilderness?
My friend who chased wild asses in the mountain, the panther
of the wilderness, Enkidu, my friend, who chased wild asses in the mountain, the panther of the wilderness, we joined together, and went up into the mountain.
We grappled with and killed the Bull of Heaven, we destroyed Humbaba who dwelled in the Cedar Forest, we slew lions in the mountain passes!
My friend, whom I love deeply, who went through every hardship with me, Enkidu, my friend, whom I love deeply, who went through every hardship with me, the fate of mankind has overtaken him.
Six days and seven nights I mourned over him and would not allow him to be buried until a maggot fell out of his nose.
I was terrified by his appearance(!), I began to fear death, and so roam the wilderness.
The issue of my friend oppresses me, so I have been roaming long trails through the wilderness.
The issue of Enkidu, my friend, oppresses me, so 1 have been roaming long roads through the wilderness.
How can I stay silent, how can I be still!
My friend whom I love has turned to clay;
Enkidu, my friend whom I love, has turned to clay!
Am I not like him! Will I lie down, never to get up again!"
Gilgamesh spoke to Urshanabi, saying:
"Now, Urshanabi! What is the way to Utanapishtim?
What are its markers! Give them to me! Give me the markers!
If possible, I will cross the sea; if not, I will roam through the wilderness!"
Urshanabi spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
"It is your hands, Gilgamesh, that prevent the crossing!
You have smashed the stone things,' you have pulled out their retaining ropes (?).
'The stone things' have been smashed, their retaining ropes (!) pulled out!
Gilgamesh, take the axe in your hand, go down into the woods, and cut down 300 punting poles each 60 cubits in length.
Strip them, attach caps(?), and bring them to the boat!"
When Gilgamesh heard this he took up the axe in his hand, drew the dagger from his belt, and went down into the woods, and cut 300 punting poles each 60 cubits in length.
He stripped them and attached caps(!), and brought them to the boat.
Gilgamesh and Urshanabi bearded the boat, Gilgamesh launched the magillu-boat' and they sailed away.
By the third day they had traveled a stretch of a month and a half, and Urshanabi arrived at the Waters of Death.
Urshanabi said to Gilgamesh:
"Hold back, Gilgamesh, take a punting pole, but your hand must not pass over the Waters of Death ... !
Take a second, Gilgamesh, a third, and a fourth pole, take a fifth, Gilgamesh, a sixth, and a seventh pole, take an eighth, Gilgamesh, a ninth, and a tenth pole, take an eleventh, Gilgamesh, and a twelfth pole!"
In twice 60 rods Gilgamesh had used up the punting poles.
Then he loosened his waist-cloth(?) for...
Gilgamesh stripped off his garment and held it up on the mast(!) with his arms.
Utanapishtim was gazing off into the distance, puzzling to himself he said, wondering to himself:
"Why are 'the stone things' of the boat smashed to pieces!
And why is someone not its master sailing on it?
The one who is coming is not a man of mine, ...
I keep looking but not...
I keep looking but not ...
I keep looking..."

lines are missing here.]

Utanapishtim said to Gilgamesh:
"Why are your cheeks emaciated, your expression desolate!
Why is your heart so wretched, your features so haggard!
Why is there such sadness deep within you!
Why do you look like one who has been traveling a long distance so that ice and heat have seared your face!
... you roam the wilderness!"
Gilgamesh spoke to Utanapishtim saying:
"Should not my cheeks be emaciated, my expression desolate!
Should my heart not be wretched, my features not haggard!
Should there not be sadness deep within me!
Should I not look like one who has been traveling a long distance, and should ice and heat not have seared my face!
... should I not roam the wilderness)
My friend who chased wild asses in the mountain, the panther of the wilderness, Enkidu, my friend, who chased wild asses in the mountain, the panther of the wilderness, we joined together, and went up into the mountain.
We grappled with and killed the Bull of Heaven, we destroyed Humbaba who dwelled in the Cedar Forest, we slew lions in the mountain passes!
My friend, whom I love deeply, who went through every hardship with me Enkidu, my friend, whom I love deeply, who went through every hardship with me, the fate of mankind has overtaken him.
Six days and seven nights I mourned over him and would not allow him to be buried until a maggot fell out of his nose.
I was terrified by his appearance(!), I began to fear death, and so roam the wilderness.
The issue of my friend oppresses me, so I have been roaming long trails through the wilderness.
The issue of Enkidu, my friend, oppresses me, so I have been roaming long roads through the wilderness.
How can I stay silent, how can I be still!
My friend whom I love has turned to clay;
Enkidu, my friend whom I love, has turned to clay!
Am I not like him! Will I lie down never to get up again!"
Gilgamesh spoke to Utanapishtim, saying:
"That is why (?) I must go on, to see Utanapishtim whom they call 'The Faraway.'"
I went circling through all the mountains, I traversed treacherous mountains, and crossed all the seas that is why (!) sweet sleep has not mellowed my face, through sleepless striving I am strained, my muscles are filled with pain.
I had not yet reached the tavern-keeper's area before my clothing gave out.
I killed bear, hyena, lion, panther, tiger, stag, red-stag, and beasts of the wilderness; I ate their meat and wrapped their skins around me.'
The gate of grief must be bolted shut, sealed with pitch and bitumen !
As for me, dancing...
For me unfortunate(!) it(?) will root out..."
Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
"Why, Gilgamesh, do you ... sadness?
You who were created (!) from the flesh of gods and mankind who made ... like your father and mother?
Have you ever... Gilgamesh ... to the fool ...
They placed a chair in the Assembly, ...
But to the fool they gave beer dregs instead of butter, bran and cheap flour which like ...
Clothed with a loincloth (!) like ...
And ... in place of a sash, because he does not have ... does not have words of counsel ...
Take care about it, Gilgamesh, ... their master...
... Sin... ... eclipse of the moon ...
The gods are sleepless ...
They are troubled, restless(!) ...
Long ago it has been established...
You trouble yourself... ... your help ...
If Gilgamesh ... the temple of the gods
... the temple of the holy gods, ... the gods ...
... mankind, they took ... for his fate.
You have toiled without cease, and what have you got!
Through toil you wear yourself out, you fill your body with grief, your long lifetime you are bringing near (to a premature end)!
Mankind, whose offshoot is snapped off like a reed in a
canebreak, the fine youth and lovely girl ... death.
No one can see death, no one can see the face of death, no one can hear the voice of death, yet there is savage death that snaps off mankind.
For how long do we build a household?
For how long do we seal a document!
For how long do brothers share the inheritance?
For how long is there to be jealousy in the land(!)!
For how long has the river risen and brought the overflowing waters, so that dragonflies drift down the river!'
The face that could gaze upon the face of the Sun has never existed ever.
How alike are the sleeping(!) and the dead.
The image of Death cannot be depicted.
(Yes, you are a) human being, a man (?)!
After Enlil had pronounced the blessing,'" the Anunnaki, the Great Gods, assembled.
Mammetum, she who forms destiny, determined destiny with them.
They established Death and Life, but they did not make known 'the days of death'".

Tablet XI

The Story of the Flood

Gilgamesh spoke to Utanapishtim, the Faraway:
"I have been looking at you, but your appearance is not strange--you are like me!
You yourself are not different--you are like me!
My mind was resolved to fight with you, (but instead?) my arm lies useless over you.
Tell me, how is it that you stand in the Assembly of the Gods, and have found life!"
Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
"I will reveal to you, Gilgamesh, a thing that is hidden, a secret of the gods I will tell you!
Shuruppak, a city that you surely know, situated on the banks of the Euphrates, that city was very old, and there were gods inside it.
The hearts of the Great Gods moved them to inflict the Flood.
Their Father Anu uttered the oath (of secrecy), Valiant Enlil was their Adviser, Ninurta was their Chamberlain, Ennugi was their Minister of Canals.
Ea, the Clever Prince(?), was under oath with them so he repeated their talk to the reed house:
'Reed house, reed house! Wall, wall!
O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubartutu:
Tear down the house and build a boat!
Abandon wealth and seek living beings!
Spurn possessions and keep alive living beings!
Make all living beings go up into the boat.
The boat which you are to build, its dimensions must measure equal to each other:
its length must correspond to its width.
Roof it over like the Apsu.
I understood and spoke to my lord, Ea:
'My lord, thus is the command which you have uttered I will heed and will do it.
But what shall I answer the city, the populace, and the Elders!'
Ea spoke, commanding me, his servant:
'You, well then, this is what you must say to them:
"It appears that Enlil is rejecting me so I cannot reside in your city (?), nor set foot on Enlil's earth.
I will go down to the Apsu to live with my lord, Ea, and upon you he will rain down abundance, a profusion of fowl, myriad(!) fishes.
He will bring to you a harvest of wealth, in the morning he will let loaves of bread shower down, and in the evening a rain of wheat!"'
Just as dawn began to glow the land assembled around me the carpenter carried his hatchet, the reed worker carried his (flattening) stone, ... the men ...
The child carried the pitch, the weak brought whatever else was needed.
On the fifth day I laid out her exterior.
It was a field in area, its walls were each 10 times 12 cubits in height, the sides of its top were of equal length, 10 times 12 cubits each.
I laid out its (interior) structure and drew a picture of it (?).
I provided it with six decks, thus dividing it into seven (levels).
The inside of it I divided into nine (compartments).
I drove plugs (to keep out) water in its middle part.
I saw to the punting poles and laid in what was necessary.
Three times 3,600 (units) of raw bitumen I poured into the
bitumen kiln, three times 3,600 (units of) pitch ...into it, there were three times 3,600 porters of casks who carried (vege-
table) oil, apart from the 3,600 (units of) oil which they consumed (!)
and two times 3,600 (units of) oil which the boatman stored away.
I butchered oxen for the meat(!), and day upon day I slaughtered sheep.
I gave the workmen(?) ale, beer, oil, and wine, as if it were river water, so they could make a party like the New Year's Festival.
... and I set my hand to the oiling(!).
The boat was finished by sunset.
The launching was very difficult.
They had to keep carrying a runway of poles front to back, until two-thirds of it had gone into the water(?).
Whatever I had I loaded on it: whatever silver I had 1 loaded on it, whatever gold I had I loaded on it.
All the living beings that I had I loaded on it, I had all my kith and kin go up into the boat, all the beasts and animals of the field and the craftsmen I had go up.
Shamash had set a stated time:
'In the morning I will let loaves of bread shower down, and in the evening a rain of wheat!
Go inside the boat, seal the entry!'
That stated time had arrived.
In the morning he let loaves of bread shower down, and in the evening a rain of wheat.
I watched the appearance of the weather the weather was frightful to behold!
I went into the boat and sealed the entry.
For the caulking of the boat, to Puzuramurri, the boatman, I gave the palace together with its contents.
Just as dawn began to glow
there arose from the horizon a black cloud.
Adad rumbled inside of it, before him went Shullat and Hanish, heralds going over mountain and land.
Erragal pulled out the mooring poles, forth went Ninurta and made the dikes overflow.
The Anunnaki lifted up the torches, setting the land ablaze with their flare.
Stunned shock over Adad's deeds overtook the heavens, and turned to blackness all that had been light.
The... land shattered like a... pot.
All day long the South Wind blew ..., blowing fast, submerging the mountain in water, overwhelming the people like an attack.
No one could see his fellow, they could not recognize each other in the torrent.
The gods were frightened by the Flood, and retreated, ascending to the heaven of Anu.
The gods were cowering like dogs, crouching by the outer wall.
Ishtar shrieked like a woman in childbirth, the sweet-voiced Mistress of the Gods wailed:
'The olden days have alas turned to clay, because I said evil things in the Assembly of the Gods!
How could I say evil things in the Assembly of the Gods, ordering a catastrophe to destroy my people!!
No sooner have I given birth to my dear people than they fill the sea like so many fish!'
The gods--those of the Anunnaki--were weeping with her, the gods humbly sat weeping, sobbing with grief(?), their lips burning, parched with thirst.
Six days and seven nights came the wind and flood, the storm flattening the land.
When the seventh day arrived, the storm was pounding, the flood was a war--struggling with itself like a woman writhing (in labor).
The sea calmed, fell still, the whirlwind (and) flood stopped up.
I looked around all day long--quiet had set in and all the human beings had turned to clay!
The terrain was as flat as a roof.
I opened a vent and fresh air (daylight!) fell upon the side of my nose.
I fell to my knees and sat weeping, tears streaming down the side of my nose.
I looked around for coastlines in the expanse of the sea, and at twelve leagues there emerged a region (of land).
On Mt. Nimush the boat lodged firm, Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing no sway.
One day and a second Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing no sway.
A third day, a fourth, Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing no sway.
A fifth day, a sixth, Mt. Nimush held the boat, allowing no sway.
When a seventh day arrived
I sent forth a dove and released it.
The dove went off, but came back to me;
no perch was visible so it circled back to me.
I sent forth a swallow and released it.
The swallow went off, but came back to me;
no perch was visible so it circled back to me.
I sent forth a raven and released it.
The raven went off, and saw the waters slither back.
It eats, it scratches, it bobs, but does not circle back to me.
Then I sent out everything in all directions and sacrificed
(a sheep).
I offered incense in front of the mountain-ziggurat.
Seven and seven cult vessels I put in place, and (into the fire) underneath (or: into their bowls) I poured reeds, cedar, and myrtle.
The gods smelled the savor, the gods smelled the sweet savor, and collected like flies over a (sheep) sacrifice.
Just then Beletili arrived.
She lifted up the large flies (beads) which Anu had made for his enjoyment(!):
'You gods, as surely as I shall not forget this lapis lazuli
around my neck, may I be mindful of these days, and never forget them!
The gods may come to the incense offering, but Enlil may not come to the incense offering, because without considering he brought about the Flood
and consigned my people to annihilation.'
Just then Enlil arrived.
He saw the boat and became furious, he was filled with rage at the Igigi gods:
'Where did a living being escape?
No man was to survive the annihilation!'
Ninurta spoke to Valiant Enlil, saying:
'Who else but Ea could devise such a thing?
It is Ea who knows every machination!'
La spoke to Valiant Enlil, saying:
'It is yours, O Valiant One, who is the Sage of the Gods.
How, how could you bring about a Flood without consideration
Charge the violation to the violator, charge the offense to the offender, but be compassionate lest (mankind) be cut off, be patient lest they be killed.
Instead of your bringing on the Flood, would that a lion had appeared to diminish the people!
Instead of your bringing on the Flood, would that a wolf had appeared to diminish the people!
Instead of your bringing on the Flood, would that famine had occurred to slay the land!
Instead of your bringing on the Flood, would that (Pestilent) Erra had appeared to ravage the land!
It was not I who revealed the secret of the Great Gods, I (only) made a dream appear to Atrahasis, and (thus) he heard the secret of the gods.
Now then! The deliberation should be about him!'
Enlil went up inside the boat and, grasping my hand, made me go up.
He had my wife go up and kneel by my side.
He touched our forehead and, standing between us, he blessed us:
'Previously Utanapishtim was a human being.
But now let Utanapishtim and his wife become like us, the gods!
Let Utanapishtim reside far away, at the Mouth of the Rivers.'
They took us far away and settled us at the Mouth of the Rivers."
"Now then, who will convene the gods on your behalf, that you may find the life that you are seeking!
Wait! You must not lie down for six days and seven nights."
soon as he sat down (with his head) between his legs sleep, like a fog, blew upon him.
Utanapishtim said to his wife:
"Look there! The man, the youth who wanted (eternal) life!
Sleep, like a fog, blew over him."
his wife said to Utanapishtim the Faraway:
"Touch him, let the man awaken.
Let him return safely by the way he came.
Let him return to his land by the gate through which he left."
Utanapishtim said to his wife:
"Mankind is deceptive, and will deceive you.
Come, bake leaves for him and keep setting them by his head
and draw on the wall each day that he lay down."
She baked his leaves and placed them by his head
and marked on the wall the day that he lay down.
The first loaf was dessicated, the second stale, the third moist(?), the fourth turned white, its ..., the fifth sprouted gray (mold), the sixth is still fresh.
the seventh--suddenly he touched him and the man awoke.
Gilgamesh said to Utanapishtim:
"The very moment sleep was pouring over me you touched me and alerted me!"
Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
"Look over here, Gilgamesh, count your loaves!
You should be aware of what is marked on the wall!
Your first loaf is dessicated, the second stale, the third moist, your fourth turned white, its ...
the fifth sprouted gray (mold), the sixth is still fresh.
The seventh--suddenly he touched him and the man awoke.
Gilgamesh said to Utanapishtim:
"The very moment sleep was pouring over me you touched me and alerted me!"
Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
"Look over here, Gilgamesh, count your leaves!
You should be aware of what is marked on the wall!
Your first loaf is dessicated, the second stale, the third moist, your fourth turned white, its ...
the fifth sprouted gray (mold), the sixth is still fresh.
The seventh--at that instant you awoke!"
Gilgamesh said to Utanapishtim the Faraway:
"O woe! What shall I do, Utanapishtim, where shall I go!
The Snatcher has taken hold of my flesh, in my bedroom Death dwells, and wherever I set foot there too is Death!"
Home Empty-Handed
Utanapishtim said to Urshanabi, the ferryman:
"May the harbor reject you, may the ferry landing reject you!
May you who used to walk its shores be denied its shores!
The man in front of whom you walk, matted hair chains his body, animal skins have ruined his beautiful skin.
Take him away, Urshanabi, bring him to the washing place.
Let him wash his matted hair in water like ellu.
Let him cast away his animal skin and have the sea carry it off, let his body be moistened with fine oil, let the wrap around his head be made new, let him wear royal robes worthy of him!
Until he goes off to his city, until he sets off on his way, let his royal robe not become spotted, let it be perfectly new!"
Urshanabi took him away and brought him to the washing place.
He washed his matted hair with water like ellu.
He cast off his animal skin and the sea carried it oh.
He moistened his body with fine oil, and made a new wrap for his head.
He put on a royal robe worthy of him.
Until he went away to his city, until he set off on his way, his royal robe remained unspotted, it was perfectly clean.
Gilgamesh and Urshanabi bearded the boat, they cast off the magillu-boat, and sailed away.
The wife of Utanapishtim the Faraway said to him:
"Gilgamesh came here exhausted and worn out.
What can you give him so that he can return to his land (with honor) !"
Then Gilgamesh raised a punting pole and drew the boat to shore.
Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:
"Gilgamesh, you came here exhausted and worn out.
What can I give you so you can return to your land?
I will disclose to you a thing that is hidden, Gilgamesh, a... I will tell you.
There is a plant... like a boxthorn, whose thorns will prick your hand like a rose.
If your hands reach that plant you will become a young man again."
Hearing this, Gilgamesh opened a conduit(!) (to the Apsu) and attached heavy stones to his feet.
They dragged him down, to the Apsu they pulled him.
He took the plant, though it pricked his hand, and cut the heavy stones from his feet, letting the waves(?) throw him onto its shores.
Gilgamesh spoke to Urshanabi, the ferryman, saying:
"Urshanabi, this plant is a plant against decay(!)
by which a man can attain his survival(!).
I will bring it to Uruk-Haven, and have an old man eat the plant to test it.
The plant's name is 'The Old Man Becomes a Young Man.'"
Then I will eat it and return to the condition of my youth."
At twenty leagues they broke for some food, at thirty leagues they stopped for the night.
Seeing a spring and how cool its waters were, Gilgamesh went down and was bathing in the water.
A snake smelled the fragrance of the plant, silently came up and carried off the plant.
While going back it sloughed off its casing.'
At that point Gilgamesh sat down, weeping, his tears streaming over the side of his nose.
"Counsel me, O ferryman Urshanabi!
For whom have my arms labored, Urshanabi!
For whom has my heart's blood roiled!
I have not secured any good deed for myself, but done a good deed for the 'lion of the ground'!"
Now the high waters are coursing twenty leagues distant,'
as I was opening the conduit(?) I turned my equipment over into it (!).
What can I find (to serve) as a marker(?) for me!
I will turn back (from the journey by sea) and leave the boat by the shore!"
At twenty leagues they broke for some food, at thirty leagues they stopped for the night.
They arrived in Uruk-Haven.
Gilgamesh said to Urshanabi, the ferryman:
"Go up, Urshanabi, onto the wall of Uruk and walk around.
Examine its foundation, inspect its brickwork thoroughly is not (even the core of) the brick structure of kiln-fired brick, and did not the Seven Sages themselves lay out its plan!
One league city, one league palm gardens, one league lowlands, the open area(?) of the Ishtar Temple, three leagues and the open area(?) of Uruk it encloses.

Greek Reports of Babylonia, Chaldea, and Assyria

Herodotus: from The History of the Persian Wars, c. 430 BC

I.178: Assyria possesses a vast number of great cities, whereof the most renowned and strongest at this time was Babylon, where, after the fall of Nineveh, the seat of government had been removed.

The following is a description of the place: The city stands on a broad plain, and is an exact square, a hundred and twenty furlongs in length each way, so that the entire circuit is four hundred and eighty furlongs. While such is its size, in magnificence there is no other city that approaches to it. It is surrounded, in the first place, by a broad and deep moat, full of water, behind which rises a wall fifty royal cubits in width, and two hundred in height. (The royal cubit is longer by three fingers' breadth than the common cubit.)

I.179: And here I may not omit to tell the use to which the mold dug out of the great moat as turned, nor the manner wherein the wall was wrought. As fast as they dug the moat the soil which they got from the cutting was made into bricks, and when a sufficient number were completed they baked the bricks in kilns. Then they set to building, and began with bricking the borders of the moat, after which they proceeded to construct the wall itself, using throughout for their cement hot bitumen, and interposing a layer of wattled reeds at every thirtieth course of the bricks. On the top, along the edges of the wall, they constructed buildings of a single chamber facing one another, leaving between them room for a four-horse chariot to turn. In the circuit of the wall are a hundred gates, all of brass, with brazen lintels and side-posts. The bitumen used in the work was brought to Babylon from the Is, a small stream which flows into the Euphrates at the point where the city of the same name stands, eight days' journey from Babylon. Lumps of bitumen are found in great abundance in this river.

I.180: The city is divided into two portions by the river which runs through the midst of it. This river is the Euphrates, a broad, deep, swift stream, which rises in Armenia, and empties itself into the Erythraean sea. The city wall is brought down on both sides to the edge of the stream: thence, from thecorners of the wall, there is carried along each bank of the river a fence of burnt bricks. The houses are mostly three and four stories high; the streets all run in straight lines, not only those parallel to the river, but also the cross streets which lead down to the water-side. At the river end of these cross streets are low gates in the fence that skirts the stream, which are, like the great gates in the outer wall, of brass, and open on the water.

I.181: The outer wall is the main defense of the city. There is, however, a second inner wall, of less thickness than the first, but very little inferior to it in strength. The center of each division of the town was occupied by a fortress. In the one stood the palace of the kings, surrounded by a wall of great strength and size: in the other was the sacred precinct of Jupiter Belus [Bel], a square enclosure two furlongs each way, with gates of solid brass; which was also remaining in my time. In the middle of the precinct there was a tower of solid masonry, a furlong in length and breadth, upon which was raised a second tower, and on that a third, and so on up to eight. The ascent to the top is on the outside, by a path which winds round all the towers. When one is about half-way up, one finds a resting-place and seats, where persons are wont to sit some time on their way to the summit. On the topmost tower there is a spacious temple, and inside the temple stands a couch of unusual size, richly adorned, with a golden table by its side. There is no statue of any kind set up in the place, nor is the chamber occupied of nights by any one but a single native woman, who, as the Chaldaeans, the priests of this god, affirm, is chosen for himself by the deity out of all the women of the land.

I.182: They also declare---but I for my part do not credit it---that the god comes down in person into this chamber, and sleeps upon the couch. This is like the story told by the Egyptians of what takes place in their city of Thebes, where a woman always passes the night in the temple of the Theban Jupiter [Amon-Ra]. In each case the woman is said to be debarred all intercourse with men. It is also like the custom of Patara, in Lycia, where the priestess who delivers the oracles, during the time that she is so employed---for at Patara there is not always an oracle---is shut up in the temple every night.

I.183: Below, in the same precinct, there is a second temple, in which is a sitting figure of Jupiter [Marduk], all of gold. Before the figure stands a large golden table, and the throne whereon it sits, and the base on which the throne is placed, are likewise of gold. The Chaldaeans told me that all the gold together was eight hundred talents' weight. Outside the temple are two altars, one of solid gold, on which it is only lawful to offer sucklings; the other a common altar, but of great size, on which the full-grown animals are sacrificed. It is also on the great altar that the Chaldaeans burn the frankincense, which is offered to the amount of a thousand talents' weight, every year, at the festival of the God. In the time of Cyrus there was likewise in this temple a figure of a man, twelve cubits high, entirely of solid gold. I myself did not see this figure, but I relate what the Chaldaeans report concerning it. Darius, the son of Hystaspes, plotted to carry the statue off, but had not the hardihood to lay his hands upon it. Xerxes, however, the son of Darius, killed the priest who forbade him to move the statue, and took it away. Besides the ornaments which I have mentioned, there are a large number of private offerings in this holy precinct.

I.184: Many sovereigns have ruled over this city of Babylon, and lent their aid to the building of its walls and the adornment of its temples, of whom I shall make mention in my Assyrian history. Among them two were women. Of these, the earlier, called Semiramis, held the throne five generations before the later princess. She raised certain embankments well worthy of inspection, in the plain near Babylon, to control the river, which, till then, used to overflow, and flood the whole country round about.

I.185: The later of the two queens, whose name was Nitocris, a wiser princess than her predecessor, not only left behind her, as memorials of her occupancy of the throne, the works which I shall presently describe, but also, observing the great power and restless enterprise of the Medes, who had taken so large a number of cities, and among them Nineveh, and expecting to be attacked in her turn, made all possible exertions to increase the defenses of her empire. And first, whereas the river Euphrates, which traverses the city, ran formerly with a straight course to Babylon, she, by certain excavations which she made at some distance up the stream, rendered it so winding that it comes three several times in sight of the same village, a village in Assyria, which is called Ardericea; and to this day, they who would go from our sea to Babylon, on descending to the river touch three times, and on three different days, at this very place.

She also made an embankment along each side of the Euphrates, wonderful both for breadth and height, and dug a basin for a lake a great way above Babylon, close alongside of the stream, which was sunk everywhere to the point where they came to water, and was of such breadth that the whole circuit measured four hundred and twenty furlongs. The soil dug out of this basin was made use of in the embankments along the waterside. When the excavation was finished, she had stones brought, and bordered with them the entire margin of the reservoir. These two things were done, the river made to wind, and the lake excavated, that the stream might be slacker by reason of the number of curves, and the voyage be rendered circuitous, and that at the end of the voyage it might be necessary to skirt the lake and so make a long round. All these works were on that side of Babylon where the passes lay, and the roads into Media were the straightest, and the aim of the queen in making them was to prevent the Medes from holding intercourse with the Babylonians, and so to keep them in ignorance of her affairs.

I.186: While the soil from the excavation was being thus used for the defense of the city, Nitocris engaged also in another undertaking, a mere by-work compared with those we have already mentioned. The city, as I said, was divided by the river into two distinct portions. Under the former kings, if a man wanted to pass from one of these divisions to the other, he had to cross in a boat; which must, it seems to me, have been very troublesome. Accordingly, while she was digging the lake, Nitocris be. thought herself of turning it to a use which should at once remove this inconvenience, and enable her to leave another monument of her reign over Babylon. She gave orders for the hewing of immense blocks of stone, and when they were ready and the basin was excavated, she turned the entire stream of the Euphrates into the cutting, and thus for a time, while the basin was filling, the natural channel of the river was left dry. Forthwith she set to work, and in the first place lined the banks of the stream within the city with quays of burnt brick, and also bricked the landing-places opposite the river-gates, adopting throughout the same fashion of brickwork which had been used in the town wall; after which, with the materials which had been prepared, she built, as near the middle of the town as possible, a stone bridge, the blocks whereof were bound together with iron and lead. In the daytime square wooden platforms were laid along from pier to pier, on which the inhabitants crossed the stream; but at night they were withdrawn, to prevent people passing from side to side in the dark to commit robberies. When the river had filled the cutting, and the bridge was finished, the Euphrates was turned back again into its ancient bed; and thus the basin, transformed suddenly into a lake, was seen to answer the purpose for which it was made, and the inhabitants, by help of the basin, obtained the advantage of a bridge.

I.187: It was this same princess by whom a remarkable deception was planned. She had her tomb constructed in the upper part of one of the principal gateways of the city, high above the heads of the passers by, with this inscription cut upon it: "If there be one among my successors on the throne of Babylon who is in want of treasure, let him open my tomb, and take as much as he chooses---not, however, unless he be truly in want, for it will not be for his good." This tomb continued untouched until Darius came to the kingdom. To him it seemed a monstrous thing that he should be unable to use one of the gates of the town, and that a sum of money should be lying idle, and moreover inviting his grasp, and he not seize upon it. Now he could not use the gate, because, as he drove through, the dead body would have been over his head. Accordingly he opened the tomb; but instead of money, found only the dead body, and a writing which said: "Had you not been insatiate of money, and careless how you got it, you would not have broken open the sepulchers of the dead."

I.188: The expedition of Cyrus was undertaken against the son of this princess, who bore the same name as his father Labynetus, and was king of the Assyrians. The Great King, when he goes to the wars, is always supplied with provisions carefully prepared at home, and with cattle of his own. Water too from the river Choaspes, which flows by Susa, is taken with him for his drink, as that is the only water which the kings of Persia taste. Wherever he travels, he is attended by a number of four-wheeled cars drawn by mules, in which the Choaspes water, ready boiled for use, and stored in flagons of silver, is moved with him from place to place.

I.189: Cyrus on his way to Babylon came to the banks of the Gyndes, a stream which, rising in the Matienian mountains, runs through the country of the Dardanians, and empties itself into the river Tigris. The Tigris, after receiving the Gyndes, flows on by the city of Opis, and discharges its waters into the Erythraean sea. When Cyrus reached this stream, which could only be passed in boats, one of the sacred white horses accompanying his march, full of spirit and high mettle, walked into the water, and tried to cross by himself; but the current seized him, swept him along with it, and drowned him in its depths. Cyrus, enraged at the insolence of the river, threatened so to break its strength that in future even women should cross it easily without wetting their knees. Accordingly he put off for a time his attack on Babylon, and, dividing his army into two parts, he marked out by ropes one hundred and eighty trenches on each side of the Gyndes, leading off from it in all directions, and setting his army to dig, some on one side of the river, some on the other, he accomplished his threat by the aid of so great a number of hands, but not without losing thereby the whole summer season.

I.190: Having, however, thus wreaked his vengeance on the Gyndes, by dispersing it through three hundred and sixty channels, Cyrus, with the first approach of the ensuing spring, marched forward against Babylon. The Babylonians, encamped without their walls, awaited his coming. A battle was fought at a short distance from the city, in which the Babylonians were defeated by the Persian king, whereupon they withdrew within their defenses. Here they shut themselves up, and made light of his siege, having laid in a store of provisions for many years in preparation against this attack; for when they saw Cyrus conquering nation after nation, they were convinced that he would never stop, and that their turn would come at last.

I.191: Cyrus was now reduced to great perplexity, as time went on and he made no progress against the place. In this distress either some one made the suggestion to him, or he thought to himself of a plan, which he proceeded to put in execution. He placed a portion of his army at the point where the river enters the city, and another body at the back of the place where it issues forth, with orders to march into the town by the bed of the stream, as soon as the water became shallow enough: he then himself drew off with the unwarlike portion of his host, and made for the place where Nitocris dug the basin for the river, where he did exactly what she had done formerly: he turned the Euphrates by a canal into the basin, which was then a marsh, on which the river sank to such an extent that the natural bed of the stream became fordable.

Hereupon the Persians who had been left for the purpose at Babylon by the, river-side, entered the stream, which had now sunk so as to reach about midway up a man's thigh, and thus got into the town. Had the Babylonians been apprised of what Cyrus was about, or had they noticed their danger, they would never have allowed the Persians to enter the city, but would have destroyed them utterly; for they would have made fast all the street-gates which gave upon the river, and mounting upon the walls along both sides of the stream, would so have caught the enemy, as it were, in a trap. But, as it was, the Persians came upon them by surprise and so took the city. Owing to the vast size of the place, the inhabitants of the central parts (as the residents at Babylon declare) long after the outer portions of the town were taken, knew nothing of what had chanced, but as they were engaged in a festival, continued dancing and reveling until they learnt the capture but too certainly. Such, then, were the circumstances of the first taking of Babylon.

I.192: Among many proofs which I shall bring forward of the power and resources of the Babylonians, the following is of special account. The whole country under the dominion of the Persians, besides paying a fixed tribute, is parceled out into divisions, which have to supply food to the Great King and his army during different portions of the year. Now out of the twelve months which go to a year, the district of Babylon furnishes food during four, the other of Asia during eight; by the which it appears that Assyria, in respect of resources, is one-third of the whole of Asia. Of all the Persian governments, or satrapies as they are called by the natives, this is by far the best. When Tritantaechmes, son of Artabazus, held it of the king, it brought him in an artaba of silver every day. The artaba is a Persian measure, and holds three choenixes more than the medimnus of the Athenians. He also had, belonging to his own private stud, besides war horses, eight hundred stallions and sixteen thousand mares, twenty to each stallion. Besides which he kept so great a number of Indian hounds, that four large villages of the plain were exempted from all other charges on condition of finding them in food.

I.193: But little rain falls in Assyria, enough, however, to make the corn begin to sprout, after which the plant is nourished and the ears formed by means of irrigation from the river. For the river does not, as in Egypt, overflow the corn-lands of its own accord, but is spread over them by the hand, or by the help of engines. The whole of Babylonia is, like Egypt, intersected with canals. The largest of them all, which runs towards the winter sun, and is impassable except in boats, is carried from the Euphrates into another stream, called the Tigris, the river upon which the town of Nineveh formerly stood. Of all the countries that we know there is none which is so fruitful in grain. It makes no pretension indeed of growing the fig, the olive, the vine, or any other tree of the kind; but in grain it is so fruitful as to yield commonly two-hundred-fold, and when the production is the greatest, even three-hundred-fold. The blade of the wheat-plant and barley-plant is often four fingers in breadth. As for the millet and the sesame, I shall not say to what height they grow, though within my own knowledge; for I am not ignorant that what I have already written concerning the fruitfulness of Babylonia must seem incredible to those who have never visited the country. The only oil they use is made from the sesame-plant. Palm-trees grow in great numbers over the whole of the flat country, mostly of the kind which bears fruit, and this fruit supplies them with bread, wine, and honey. They are cultivated like the fig-tree in all respects, among others in this. The natives tie the fruit of the male-palms, as they are called by the Hellenes, to the branches of the date-bearing palm, to let the gall-fly enter the dates and ripen them, and to prevent the fruit from falling off. The male-palms, like the wild fig-trees, have usually the gall-fly in their fruit.

I.194: But that which surprises me most in the land, after the city itself, I will now proceed to mention. The boats which come down the river to Babylon are circular, and made of skins. The frames, which are of willow, are cut in the country of the Armenians above Assyria, and on these, which serve for hulls, a covering of skins is stretched outside, and thus the boats are made, without either stem or stern, quite round like a shield. They are then entirely filled with straw, and their cargo is put on board, after which they are suffered to float down the stream. Their chief freight is wine, stored in casks made of the wood of the palm-tree. They are managed by two men who stand upright in them, each plying an oar, one pulling and the other pushing. The boats are of various sizes, some larger, some smaller; the biggest reach as high as five thousand talents' burthen. Each vessel has a live ass on board; those of larger size have more than one. When they reach Babylon, the cargo is landed and offered for sale; after which the men break up their boats, sell the straw and the frames, and loading their asses with the skins, set off on their way back to Armenia. The current is too strong to allow a boat to return upstream, for which reason they make their boats of skins rather than wood. On their return to Armenia they build fresh boats for the next voyage.

I.195: The dress of the Babylonians is a linen tunic reaching to the feet, and above it another tunic made in wool, besides which they have a short white cloak thrown round them, and shoes of a peculiar fashion, not unlike those worn by the Boiotians. They have long hair, wear turbans on their heads, and anoint their whole body with perfumes. Every one carries a seal, and a walking-stick, carved at the top into the form of an apple, a rose, a lily, an eagle, or something similar; for it is not their habit to use a stick without an ornament.

I.196: Of their customs, whereof I shall now proceed to give an account, the following (which I understand belongs to them in common with the Illyrian tribe of the Eneti) is the wisest in my judgment. Once a year in each village the maidens of age to marry were collected all together into one place; while the men stood round them in a circle. Then a herald called up the damsels one by one, and offered them for sale. He began with the most beautiful. When she was sold for no small sum of money, he offered for sale the one who came next to her in beauty. All of them were sold to be wives. The richest of the Babylonians who wished to wed bid against each other for the loveliest maidens, while the humbler wife-seekers, who were indifferent about beauty, took the more homely damsels with marriage-portions.

For the custom was that when the herald had gone through the whole number of the beautiful damsels, he should then call up the ugliest---a cripple, if there chanced to be one---and offer her to the men, asking who would agree to take her with the smallest marriage-portion. And the man who offered to take the smallest sum had her assigned to him. The marriage-portions were furnished by the money paid for the beautiful damsels, and thus the fairer maidens portioned out the uglier. No one was allowed to give his daughter in marriage to the man of his choice, nor might any one carry away the damsel whom he had purchased without finding bail really and truly to make her his wife; if, however, it turned out that they did not agree, the money might be paid back. All who liked might come even from distant villages and bid for the women. This was the best of all their customs, but it has now fallen into disuse. They have lately hit upon a very different plan to save their maidens from violence, and prevent their being torn from them and carried to distant cities, which is to bring up their daughters to be courtesans. This is now done by all the poorer of the common people, who since the conquest have been maltreated by their lords, and have had ruin brought upon their families.

I.197: The following custom seems to me the wisest of their institutions next to the one lately praised. They have no physicians, but when a man is ill, they lay him in the public square, and the passers-by come up to him, and if they have ever had his disease themselves or have known any one who has suffered from it, they give him advice, recommending him to do whatever they found good in their own case, or in the case known to them; and no one is allowed to pass the sick man in silence without asking him what his ailment is.

I.198: They bury their dead in honey, and have funeral lamentations like the Egyptians. When a Babylonian has consorted with his wife, he sits down before a censer of burning incense, and the woman sits opposite to him. At dawn of day they wash; for till they are washed they will not touch any of their common vessels. This practice is observed also by the Arabians.

I.199: The Babylonians have one most shameful custom. Every woman born in the country must once in her life go and sit down in the precinct of Venus [Ishtar], and there consort with a stranger. Many of the wealthier sort, who are too proud to mix with the others, drive in covered carriages to the precinct, followed by a goodly train of attendants, and there take their station. But the larger number seat themselves within the holy enclosure with wreaths of string about their heads---and here there is always a great crowd, some coming and others going; lines of cord mark out paths in all directions the women, and the strangers pass along them to make their choice. A woman who has once taken her seat is not allowed to return home till one of the strangers throws a silver coin into her lap, and takes her with him beyond the holy ground. When he throws the coin he says these words: "The goddess Mylitta prosper you" (Venus is called Mylitta by the Assyrians.) The silver coin may be of any size; it cannot be refused, for that is forbidden by the law, since once thrown it is sacred. The woman goes with the first man who throws her money, and rejects no one. When she has gone with him, and so satisfied the goddess, she returns home, and from that time forth no gift however great will prevail with her. Such of the women as are tall and beautiful are soon released, but others who are ugly have to stay a long time before they can fulfil the law. Some have waited three or four years in the precinct. A custom very much like this is found also in certain parts of the island of Cyprus.

I.200: Such are the customs of the Babylonians generally. There are likewise three tribes among them who eat nothing but fish. These are caught and dried in the sun, after which they are brayed in a mortar, and strained through a linen sieve. Some prefer to make cakes of this material, while others bake it into a kind of bread.

VII.63: The Assyrians went to war with helmets upon their heads made of brass, and plaited in a strange fashion which is not easy to describe. They carried shields, lances, and daggers very like the Egyptian; but in addition they had wooden clubs knotted with iron, and linen corselets. This people, whom the Hellenes call Syrians, are called Assyrians by the barbarians. The Chaldeans served in their ranks, and they had for commander Otaspes, the son of Artachaeus. .

Source:

From: Herodotus, The History, George Rawlinson, trans., (New York: Dutton & Co., 1862)

Scanned by: J. S. Arkenberg, Dept. of History, Cal. State Fullerton. Prof. Arkenberg has modernized the text.