‘If I, your avenger, Bind Tiamat and save your life, Call an assembly, declare the pre-eminence of my fate. In Upshukkinaku + gather together in joy, Let my utterance, like yours, decree fates. May whatever I do remain unalterable ! May my orders be unchangeable and irrevocable Me
In speeches like these-the purpose of the priests of Nippur and Babylon to justify the position accorded in their system to Bel-Marduk as the decreer of fates is revealed.
The third tablet is taken up with the summon- ing of the gods by Gaga, the messenger of Anshar, in order to procure their consent to the condition exacted by Bel-Marduk. The vagueness and con- tradictions resulting from the attempt to combine in the narrative conflicting traditions are illus- trated by the position accorded in this tablet to Lakhmu and Lakhamu as leaders of the hosts of gods sometimes referred to as Igigi, and again as Annunaki, though in the perfected theological system the former embody the group of ‘ heavenly’ gods, while the Annunaki represent the group of ‘earthly’ or rather subterranean gods.{ _Else- where in the narrative Lakhamu is introduced along with the monsters who constitute the fol- lowers of Tiamat.§ The gods obey the summons, enter into the presence of Anshar, and sit down. to a feast, in the course of which, as the narrative states, they fill themselves with wine, and then
* See above, p. 567; and, further, King, Creation Tablets, pp. 197-200, and the authorities there referred to. ty
+ The sacred chamber in which the gods assemble, originally localized in Bel’s temple E-kur in Nippur, and afterwards trans- ferred to Marduk’s temple E-sagila in Babylon.
{ See Zimmern, Keilinschriften u. d. Alte Testament, p. 451 ff.
§ Tablet ii. 27, and parallel passages, iii. 31, 89.
formally do homage to Bel-Marduk.
The fourth tablet begins—
* They fitted out for him a lordly chamber, Before his fathers to reign supreme. Thou art the honoured one among the great gods. ay, fate is unrivalled, thy utterance—supreme.* O ane uk! thou art the honoured one among the great
gods ;
Thy fate is unrivalled, thy utterance—supreme.* From this day onward, thy order shall be irrevocable. Lifting up and abasing shall be in thy hand ; Thy utterance is fixed, thy command unalterable. None among the gods shall transgress thy boundary.
O Marduk, thou art our avenger.
We give thee sovereignty over the entire Universe.
Thou shalt preside in the assembly, thy word is supreme.
Mey un weapon never become blunt; may it strike down y foe!
O lord, spare the life of him who trusts in thee,
And pour out the life of the god who seized hold of evil.’
As a token of the power assigned to him, Marduk is asked to make a garment disappear and appear again by the mere force residing in his word—again an intimation that Marduk, like Ea, rules by the power of the word. Sceptre, throne, and ring are bestowed on him as symbols of royalty, and he is given the invincible weapon that strikes down the foe. They salute him, ‘Marduk is king,’ and encourage him for the attack—
© Go and cut off the life of Tiamat. Let the wind carry her blood into secret places.’
- An interesting description follows of the manner in which the god proceeds to equip himself for the fray. Bow, quiver, spear, and club are his weapons. He places the lightning in front of him, and fills his body with flaming fire. From his ‘father Anu’ he receives a net wherewith to entrap Tiamat. The four winds he assigns to their stations, so as to intercept the escape of Tiamat. Evil winds, tempests, and hurricanes are created by him—in all, seven kinds of winds—that follow behind his ‘storm’ chariot, on which, drawn by four swift and ferocious horses, he now mounts, brandishing the thunderbolt.
The picture thus drawn of the god making straight for Tiamat is most impressive, and ad- mirably served the purpose of illustrating the terror which Bel-Marduk was supposed to inspire. The picture evidently fits an atmospheric ‘storm’ god, such as was the old En-lil of Nippur, but is hardly suitable for Marduk, who is distinctly a solar deity, though the transfer of Bel’s réle to Marduk appeared to be justified by the considera- tion that it is the sun which eventually triumphs over the storms of the rainy season, which, as we have seen, suggested the conceptions formed of Tiamat.
Kingu, the leader of the host of Tiamat, is utterly dumbfounded at the sight of the terrible Bel. His mental and physical paralysis is effec- tively portrayed, and his followers fall back in terror. Tiamat alone is not dismayed, and, en- raged at the challenge—‘Stand! I and thou, let us join battle’—which he utters, boldly meets Marduk. The narrative proceeds—
* When Tiamat heard those words, She became like one possessed, bereft of reason. Tiamat shrieked with piercing cries, She trembled and shook to her very foundations. She pronounced an incantation, she uttered her spell, And the gods of the battle took to their weapons. Then Tiamat and Marduk, the leader of the gods, stood up, They advanced to the fray, drew nigh to the fight. The lord spread out his net and caught her, The evil wind behind him he let loose in her face. As Tiamat opened her mouth to its full extent, He drove in the evil wind before she closed her lips. The mighty winds filled her stomach, Her heart failed her, and she opened wide her mouth 5