Babylonian and Assyrian Literature | Page 3

library of King Assurbanipal in the
palace at Dur-Sargina, must bear the date of 600 B.C. The hero is
supposed to be a solar personification, and the epic is interesting to
modern writers not only on account of its description of the Deluge, but
also for the pomp and dignity of its style, and for its noble delineation
of heroic character.
[Signature: Epiphanius Wilson]
CONTENTS
THE EPIC OF ISHTAR AND IZDUBAR:
The Invocation.
The Fall of Erech.

The Rescue of Erech.
Coronation of Izdubar.
Ishtar and Her Maids.
Izdubar Falls in Love with Ishtar.
Ishtar's Midnight Courtship.
The King's Second Dream.
Izdubar Relates His Second Dream.
Heabani, the Hermit Seer.
Expedition of Zaidu.
Heabani Resolves to Return.
Heabani's Wisdom.
In Praise of Izdubar and Heabani.
Zaidu's Return.
The Two Maidens Entice the Seer.
Festival in Honor of Heabani.
Izdubar Slays the Midannu.
Annual Sale of the Maidens of Babylon.
Council in the Palace.
The King at the Shrine of Ishtar.
The King at the Temple of Samas.

Expedition against Khumbaba.
Conflict of the Rival Giants.
Coronation of Izdubar.
The King's Answer and Ishtar's Rage.
Ishtar Complains to Anu.
Fight with the Winged Bull of Anu.
The Curse of Ishtar.
Ishtar Weaves a Spell Over Izdubar.
Ishtar's Descent to Hades.
Effect of Ishtar's Imprisonment in Hades.
Papsukul Intercedes for Ishtar.
Release of Ishtar.
Tammuz Restored to Life.
Escape of Tammuz from Hades.
The King and the Seer Converse.
Contest with the Dragons.
Heabani Reveals Visions to the King.
Grief of the King Over Heabani.
Burial of the Seer.
Izdubar Enters Hades.

The King's Adventure.
The King Meets Ur-hea.
Mua Welcomes Izdubar.
The King Becomes Immortal.
Izdubar Falls in Love with Mua.
Mua's Answer.
TABLETS AND CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS:
Babylonian Exorcisms.
Accadian Hymn to Istar.
Annals of Assur-Nasi-Pal.
Assyrian Sacred Poetry.
Assyrian Talismans and Exorcisms.
Ancient Babylonian Charms.
Inscription of Tiglath Pileser I.
The Revolt in Heaven.
The Legend of the Tower of Babel.
An Accadian Penitential Psalm.
The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser II.
Inscription of Nebuchadnezzar.
Accadian Poem on the Seven Evil Spirits.

Chaldean Hymns to the Sun.
Two Accadian Hymns.
Accadian Proverbs and Songs.
Babylonian Public Documents.
Babylonian Private Contracts.
Great Inscription of Khorsabad.
ISHTAR AND IZDUBAR
[Translated by Leonidas Le Cenci Hamilton, M.A.]
ALCOVE I
TABLET I: COLUMN I
INVOCATION
O love, my queen and goddess, come to me;
My soul shall never
cease to worship thee;
Come pillow here thy head upon my breast,

And whisper in my lyre thy softest, best.
And sweetest melodies of
bright Sami,[1]
Our Happy Fields[2] above dear Subartu;[3]
Come
nestle closely with those lips of love
And balmy breath, and I with
thee shall rove
Through Sari[4] past ere life on earth was known,

And Time unconscious sped not, nor had flown.
Thou art our all in
this impassioned life:
How sweetly comes thy presence ending strife,

Thou god of peace and Heaven's undying joy,
Oh, hast thou ever
left one pain or cloy
Upon this beauteous world to us so dear?
To
all mankind thou art their goddess here.
To thee we sing, our holiest,
fairest god,
The One who in that awful chaos trod
And woke the
Elements by Law of Love
To teeming worlds in harmony to move.

From chaos thou hast led us by thy hand,
[5]Thus spoke to man upon
that budding land:
"The Queen of Heaven, of the dawn am I,
The

goddess of all wide immensity,
For thee I open wide the golden gate

Of happiness, and for thee love create
To glorify the heavens and
fill with joy
The earth, its children with sweet love employ."
Thou
gavest then the noblest melody
And highest bliss--grand nature's
harmony.
With love the finest particle is rife,
And deftly woven in
the woof of life,
In throbbing dust or clasping grains of sand,
In
globes of glistening dew that shining stand
On each pure petal, Love's
own legacies
Of flowering verdure, Earth's sweet panoplies;
By
love those atoms sip their sweets and pass
To other atoms, join and
keep the mass
With mighty forces moving through all space,
Tis
thus on earth all life has found its place.
Through Kisar,[6] Love
came formless through the air
In countless forms behold her
everywhere!
Oh, could we hear those whispering roses sweet,
Three
beauties bending till their petals meet,
And blushing, mingling their
sweet fragrance there
In language yet unknown to mortal ear.
Their
whisperings of love from morn till night
Would teach us tenderly to
love the right.
O Love, here stay! Let chaos not return!
With hate
each atom would its lover spurn
In air above, on land, or in the sea,

O World, undone and lost that loseth thee!
For love we briefly come,
and pass away
For other men and maids; thus bring the day
Of love
continuous through this glorious life.
Oh, hurl away those weapons
fierce of strife!
We here a moment, point of time but live,
Too short
is life for throbbing hearts to grieve.
Thrice holy is that form that love
hath kissed,
And happy is that man with heart thus blessed.
Oh, let
not curses fall upon that head
Whom love hath cradled on the
welcome bed

Of