Babylonian and Assyrian Literature | Page 6

of Erech with a measured stroke:
O Erech! dear Erech, my beautiful home,?Accadia's pride, O bright land of the bard,?Come back to my vision, dear Erech, oh, come!?Fair land of my birth, how thy beauty is marred!?The horsemen of Elam, her spearsmen and bows,
Thy treasures have ravished, thy towers thrown down, And Accad is fallen, trod down by her foes.?Oh, where are thy temples of ancient renown?
Gone are her brave heroes beneath the red tide,?Gone are her white vessels that rode o'er the main,?No more on the river her pennon shall ride,?Gargan-na is fallen, her people are slain.?Wild asses[23] shall gallop across thy grand floors,?And wild bulls shall paw them and hurl the dust high?Upon the wild cattle that flee through her doors,?And doves shall continue her mournful slave's cry.
Oh, where are the gods of our Erech so proud,?As flies they are swarming away from her halls,?The Sedu[24] of Erech are gone as a cloud,?As wild fowl are flying away from her walls.?Three years did she suffer, besieged by her foes,?Her gates were thrown down and defiled by the feet?Who brought to poor Erech her tears and her woes,?In vain to our Ishtar with prayers we entreat.
To Ishtar bowed down doth our Bel thus reply,?"Come, Ishtar, my queenly one, hide all thy tears,?Our hero, Tar-u-man-i izzu Sar-ri,[25]?In Kipur is fortified with his strong spears.?The hope of Kardunia,[26] land of my delight,?Shall come to thy rescue, upheld by my hands,?Deliverer of peoples, whose heart is aright,?Protector of temples, shall lead his brave bands."
Awake then, brave Accad, to welcome the day!?Behold thy bright banners yet flaming on high,?Triumphant are streaming on land and the sea!?Arise, then, O Accad! behold the Sami![27]?Arranged in their glory the mighty gods come?In purple and gold the grand Tam-u[8] doth shine?Over Erech, mine Erech, my beautiful home,?Above thy dear ashes, behold thy god's sign!
[Footnote 1: "O Moon-god, hear my cry!" ("Siu lici unnini!") the name of the author of the Izdubar epic upon which our poem is based.]
[Footnote 2: "Khar-sak-kur-ra," the Deluge mountain on which the ark of Khasisadra (the Accadian Noah) rested.]
[Footnote 3: "Khar-sak-kal-ama" is a city mentioned in the Izdubar epic, and was probably situated at the base of Khar-sak-kur-ra, now called Mount Elwend. The same mountain is sometimes called the "Mountain of the World" in the inscriptions, where the gods were supposed to sometimes reside.]
[Footnote 4: "Pit-u-dal-ti," openers of the gates.]
[Footnote 5: "Masari," guards of the great gates of the city, etc.]
[Footnote 6: "Ellat-gula," the queen of Erech, the capital of Babylonia.]
[Footnote 7: "Tur-tan-u" was the army officer or general who in the absence of the sovereign took the supreme command of the army, and held the highest rank next to the queen or king.]
[Footnote 8: "Dannat" (the "Powerful Lady") was a title applied to the Queen, the mother of Izdubar (Sayce's ed. Smith's "Chal. Acc. of Gen.," p. 184). We have here identified her with Ellat-gula, the Queen of Babylon, who preceded Ham-murabi or Nammurabi, whom the inscriptions indicate was an Accadian. The latter we have identified with Nimrod, following the suggestion of Mr. George Smith.]
[Footnote 9: "Khumbaba" was the giant Elamitic king whom Izdubar overthrew. We identify him with the King of the Elamites who, allied with Rimsin or Rimagu, was overthrown by Nammurabi or Izdubar.]
[Footnote 10: "Rim-siu," above referred to, who overthrew Uruk, or Karrak, or Erech. He was King of Larsa, immediately south of Erech.]
[Footnote 11: "Nap-pa-khu," war-trumpet.]
[Footnote 12: "Bar-ru," army officer.]
[Footnote 13: "Samas," the sun-god.]
[Footnote 14: "Subartu" is derived from the Accadian "subar" ("high"), applied by the Accadians to the highlands of Aram or Syria. It is probable that all these countries, viz., Subartu, Goim, Lullubu, Kharsak-kalama, Eridu, and Duran, were at one time inhabited by the Accadians, until driven out by the Semites.]
[Footnote 15: "Sutu" is supposed to refer to the Arabians.]
[Footnote 16: "Kassi," the Kassites or Elamites. The Kassi inhabited the northern part of Elam.]
[Footnote 17: "Goim," or "Gutium," supposed by Sir Henry Rawlinson to be the Goyim of Gen. xiv, ruled by Tidal or Turgal ("the Great Son").]
[Footnote 18: "Lul-lu-bu," a country northward of Mesopotamia and Nizir.]
[Footnote 19: "Kharsak-kala-ma," the city supposed to lie at the base of Kharsak-kurra, or Mount Nizir, or Mount Elwend. The same city was afterward called Echatana.]
[Footnote 20: "Eridu," the land of Ur, or Erech.]
[Footnote 21: "Duran," Babylonia.]
[Footnote 22: "Masari," guards of the palace, etc.]
[Footnote 23: See Sayce's translation in the "Chal. Acc. of Gen.," by Smith, p. 193.]
[Footnote 24: "Sedu," spirits of prosperity.]
[Footnote 25: "Tar-u-mani izzu Sarri," son of the faith, the fire of kings, or fire-king.]
[Footnote 26: "Kardunia," the ancient name of Babylon.]
[Footnote 27: "Sami," heavens (plural).]
[Footnote 28: "Tamu," dawn or sunrise, day.]
COLUMN III
THE RESCUE OF ERECH BY IZDUBAR
Heabani, weary, eyes his native land,?And on his harp now lays his trembling hand;?The song has ended in a joyous lay,?And yet,