* Aft R jii<liriiu-nt on the pins of ttio hilmbitniits of SuHppAlc. Thtft Is clfiir from the close of tlio Dclucestory, t.ff. Hues IS^i-.^ (or, ftcc. to nnollicr rcckoninjf, I. l"ii). where we reiwl. ' I'poii the jtiniior iel lils sin He, mid upon the Irnnftpresmor his trnns- fcr^^Mon, liitUel no titmd come an 1/ mure asapuni«hment uj/on man ' (rf. (ho pnrnllil In On s"!.
the area was divided into 9 parts (3 on each side of a square?). fSince the length is not specified, we are probably to think of the Bab. ark as square- shaped, thus forming a cube. On the 7th day the vessel was ready ; then for 6 days on end the rain fell in torrents, till on the 7th day again the storm abated. After other 7 days, during the whole of which the ark had been in sight of Mt. Nisir ('rescue'), Sit-napisti sent forth a dove. 'The dove flew hither and thither, but since it found no resting-place, it returned. Then 1 sent forth a swallow,' so proceeds the .story, 'and let it go ; the swallow flew hither and thither, but since there was no resting-place, it returned. Then I sent forth a raven, and let it go ; the raven flew away, saw the abating of the waters, approached wading and croaking, but returned not.' On the top of Mt. Ni.sir, S. of Lake Ur- mia and E. of Assyria,* and thus between Media and Armenia (Ararat), the ark stranded. The gods smelt with pleasure the odour of the seven vessels of inceii.se offered by Sit-napisti ; especially gratified was Istar, the goddess of the bow ; and Ea besought Bel never more to send a flood upon the earth. Bel suffered himself to be persuaded, t took STt-napisli and his wife by the hand, blessed them (cf. Gn '.('), and traii.slated them to Paradise.
We have to note finally that here, as in the case of the Creation-epos, both the OT writers, the .Tahwist (J) and the Elohist (P), have a surprising number of points of contact with the details of the Bab. text, from which it is evident that these coincidences carry us back to a very early date.
{(1) Istar's descent to Hades. Istar determines to descend to Hades to free the dead who dwell there. As she passes through the seven gates of the under-world, all her garments and ornaments are taken from her, and Nin-ki-gal or AUatu (for Aralatu), the goddess of Hades, orders her servant Namtar the plague-demon, to smite Istar with disease. Meanwhile in the upper - world all ))rocreation ceases, owing to the absence of the goddess of love, until the gods send Fddusu- namir ('his brightness is fair,' a transposition of the name Namra-uddu or Ninirod) to AUat with the request that she would allow Istar to return to earth.
(e) The Namtar-Iegend. The gods are holding a banquet, and send to their sister Nin-ki-gal (Al- latu), who had been carried off by Nergal, a message desiring that she would send for the portion of food meant for her. Thereupon she sends luv herald Namtar to heaven. Nergal's distrust is awakened by this intercourse between his wife and the heavenly powers, and he imagines that she is planning flight. Accordingly, although he loves lier dearly, yet, tortured by jealousy, he resolves to have her put to death. He stations the four- teen watchers of the under-world as sentinels at the gates, and orders Namtar to strike off the head of Nin-ki-gal. The latter pleads with her husband to spare her life, and she will submit to any ton- ditions, nay, will give to him the sovereignty over the earth. Nergal wee|)s for joy, kisses his wife, and wipes away her tears. Unfortunately, the other parts of this legend, which has come down to us ill a copy written in Egypt amongst the Tel el- Amarna correspondence, are of so fragmentary a character that it is impossible to extract from them a connected story.
(/) The Adapa-legend (also derived from Tel el- Amarna). Merodach, the son of Ea, appears here
• Tlie Assyr. klnj; .\fotur-nnzlr-pnl mentions this mountain In connexion with no expeJltlun tu the liind of Zamua. 8ce AssYKl.1 (p. IS'tb).
t It Is wortli notliifr that Rel, upon a similar occasion, namely, after ills conc|uost of Tlhi'uimt. elves up his bow to Anu. who solemnly. In the presence of ali the jftnls. hanps it up in heaven (cf. the ttow of (Jn 'J" which God sets 'In the cloud').
BABYLONIA
BABYLONIA
under the name of Adnpa as the progenitor of man.* Adapa, who had broken tlie wings of the south wind, is cited before the god of heaven to justify himself. His father, Ea, coun.sels liim not to accept of the food offered him there, as it will cause death. Adapa follows this advice, but finds that by his refusal he has forfeited immortality, since it was really the 'food of life' which Ann offered him.
(r/) The Etana-legend. Etana (t?'!* 1 K 5" ?) applies to the sun-god for something to mitigate the pains of parturition for his wife. He is referred to the Eagle, which can furni.sh him with the requisite ' birth-plant.' As Elaiia relates to the Eagle how in a dream (?) lie had seeii the gate of Anu and that of Istar, the Eagle offers to carry him up to heaven. 'I'he enterprise succeeds in the first instance, and the two arrive at the gate of Aim, but in flying to the gate of Istar the strength of the Eagle gives way. he falls headlong, and Etana atcmes for his presumption by his death. He is transferred as a demi-god ti> the under-world. Shortly afterwards the Eagle also loses his life through the cunning of a serpent whose young he had devoured.