Chapter 12

A dazzling pillared vista round him shines, Where golden columns bear the bowering shrines, With gemmèd domes that clustering round him rise, 'Mid fruit-trees, flashing splendors to the skies. He goes through silver grots along a zone, And now he passes yonder blazing throne, O'er diamond pavements, passes shining seats Whereon the high and holy conclave meets To rule the empires vast that spread away To utmost bounds in all their vast array. Around the whole expanse grand cestes spread O'er paths sidereal unending lead. As circling wheels within a wheel they shine, Enveloping the Fields with light divine. A noontide glorious of shining stars, Where humming music rings from myriad cars, Where pinioned multitudes their harps may tune, And in their holy sanctity commune.

And see! here Mua comes! she stops and waits Within a _gesdin_ bower beside its gates. Around, above her spreads a flowering vine, And o'er a ruby fountain almandine. And on a graven garnet table grand, Carved cups of solid pearl and tilpe[1] stand. A Zadu[2] reservoir stands near, which rounds The fount wherein the fragrant nectar bounds. The ground is strewn with pari[3] gems and pearls, Wherefrom the light now softly backward hurls Its rays o'er couches of paruti[4] stone, Soft cushioned, circling in the inner zone Beside the shining kami-sadi way,[5] Where nectar fountains in their splendor play. The path leads far along Life's beauteous stream, That ever through this World of Joy doth gleam.

And see! the hero comes! and now doth near The maiden, where with Love she waits him here. She flings a flowering garland, weaves it round His form as he comes by! He turns around, And she enwraps his breast and arms, and says:

"Dear Izdubar! and thus my lover strays! I'll bind thee with this fragrant chain to keep Thee ever by my side! thy pleasant sleep Hath kept my lover from my side too long!"

"O thou sweet spirit, like a warbling song Thy words are to my heart! I sought for thee, And thy bright face and presence did not see; I come to tell thee that I must return, When from thy father all the past shall learn."

"And wilt thou go from me to earth again? No! no! dear Izdubar, I thee enchain!"

"'Tis true, my love, I must return to men; My duty calls me to my throne again."

"Dear Izdubar! my friend! my love! my heart! I cannot let thee from my soul depart! Thou shinest in my breast as some bright star! And shall I let thee from me go afar?"

"But Mua, we immortal are, and we There might return; and thou on earth shalt see The glories of my kingdom,--be my queen! Upon a couch I'll seat thee, there to reign With me, my beauteous queen,--beside me sit; And kings will come to us and kiss thy feet. With all my wealth I'll clothe thee, ever love Thee, fairest of these glorious souls that move Within this Happy World. My people there Shall love us,--ever drive away all care!"

When Mua heard him offer thus his hand, She then unbinds him,--thoughtful now doth stand.

[Footnote 1: "Tilpe," a precious gem known only to the Babylonians.]

[Footnote 2: "Zadu," a precious gem known only to the Babylonians.]

[Footnote 3: "Pari," an unknown gem.]

[Footnote 4: "Paruti," an unknown gem.]

[Footnote 5: "Kami-sadi" way, a path paved with unknown gems. These precious stones are mentioned on the various inscriptions in the list of precious jewels with gold, diamonds, pearls, etc., taken as spoils from their enemies.]

COLUMN VI

MUA'S ANSWER

Sweet Mua lifts her eyes toward the heights That glow afar beneath the softened lights That rest upon the mountain's crystalline. And see! they change their hues incarnadine To gold, and emerald, and opaline; Swift changing to a softened festucine Before the eye. And thus they change their hues To please the sight of every soul that views Them in that Land; but she heeds not the skies, Or glorious splendor of her home; her eyes Have that far look of spirits viewing men On earth, from the invisible mane, That erstwhile rests upon the mortal eye,-- A longing for that home beyond the sky; A yearning for that bliss that love imparts, Where pain and sorrow reach no mortal hearts.

A light now breaks across her beauteous face; She, turning, says to him with Heavenly grace:

"Dear Izdubar, thou knowest how I love Thee, how my heart my love doth daily prove; And, oh, I cannot let thee go alone. I know not what awaits each soul there gone. Our spirits often leave this glorious land, Invisible return on earth, and stand Amidst its flowerets, 'neath its glorious skies. Thou knowest every spirit here oft flies From earth, but none its secrets to us tell, Lest some dark sorrow might here work its spell. And, oh, I could not see dark suffering, woe There spread, with power none to stop its flow!

"I saw thee coming to us struck with fire, Oh, how to aid thee did my heart desire! Our tablets tell us how dread sorrow spreads Upon that world and mars its glowing meads. But, oh, so happy am I, here to know That they with us here end all sorrow, woe. O precious Izdubar! its sights would strike Me there with sadness, and my heart would break! And yet I learn that it is glorious, sweet! To there enjoy its happiness,--so fleet It speeds to sorrowing hearts to turn their tears To joy! How sweet to them when it appears, And sends a gleam of Heaven through their lives!

"No! no! dear heart! I cannot go! It grieves Thee! come, my dear one! quick to us return; We here again will pair our love, and learn How sweet it is to meet with joy again; How happy will sweet love come to us then!"

She rests her head upon his breast, and lifts Her face for Love's sweet kiss, and from them drifts A halo o'er the shining gesdin-trees And spreads around them Heaven's holy rays. He kisses her sweet lips, and brow, and eyes, Then turns his gaze toward the glowing skies:

"I bless thee, for thy sweetest spirit here! I bless this glorious land, that brings me near To one that wafts sweet Heaven in my heart; From thy dear plains how can my soul depart? O Mua, Mua! how my heart now sings! Thy love is sweeter than all earthly things! I would I were not crowned a king!--away From this bright land--here would I ever stay! As thou hast said, I soon will here return; The earth cannot withhold me from this bourne, And soon my time allotted there will end, And hitherward how happy I will wend!"

"And when thou goest, how my love shall there Guard thee, and keep thy heart with Mua here. Another kiss!"

Her form doth disappear Within the garden, gliding through the air. He seats himself upon a couch and rests His head upon his hand, and thought invests Him round. His memory returns again To Erech's throne, and all the haunts of men. He rises, turns his footsteps to the halls, And thoughtful disappears within its walls.

CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS

[_Translated by various Babylonian and Assyrian Scholars_]

CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS

BABYLONIAN EXORCISMS

TRANSLATED BY REV. A.H. SAYCE, M.A.

The charms translated below will illustrate the superstition of the Assyrians and Babylonians. Like the Jews of the Talmud, they believed that the world was swarming with noxious spirits who produced the various diseases to which man is liable, and might be swallowed with the food and the drink that support life. They counted no less than 300 spirits of heaven and 600 spirits of earth. All this, with the rest of their mythology, was borrowed by the Assyrians from the primitive population of Babylonia, who spoke an agglutinative language akin to the dialects of the Finnic or Tatar tribes. The charms are written in this ancient language, but Assyrian translations are appended in a column to the right of the tablet. The legends are lithographed in the "Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia," Vol. II, plates 17 and 18. They have been translated by M. Oppert in the "_Journal Asiatique_" of January, 1873, and an analytical rendering of them is given by M. Fr. Lenormant in his "_Etudes Accadiennes_" II, I (1874).

TRANSLATION OF THE EXORCISMS

TABLET I

The noxious god, the noxious spirit of the neck, the neck-spirit of the desert, the neck-spirit of the mountains, the neck-spirit of the sea, the neck-spirit of the morass, the noxious cherub of the city, this noxious wind which seizes the body (and) the health of the body. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth remember.

TABLET II

The burning spirit of the neck which seizes the man, the burning spirit of the neck which seizes the man, the spirit of the neck which works evil, the creation of an evil spirit. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth remember.

TABLET III

Wasting, want of health, the evil spirit of the ulcer, spreading quinsy of the gullet, the violent ulcer, the noxious ulcer. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth remember.

TABLET IV

Sickness of the entrails, sickness of the heart, the palpitation of a sick heart, sickness of bile, sickness of the head, noxious colic, the _agitation_ of terror, flatulency[1] of the entrails, noxious illness, lingering sickness, nightmare. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth remember.

[Footnote 1: Literally, "opposition."]

TABLET V

He who makes an image (which) injures the man,[1] an evil face, an evil eye, an evil mouth, an evil tongue, evil lips, an evil poison. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth remember.

[Footnote 1: Here we have a reference to a custom well known in the Middle Ages. A waxen figure was made, and as it melted before the fire the person represented by it was supposed, similarly to waste away. It will be remembered that Horace ("Sat." i, 8, 30 sq.) speaks of the waxen figure made by the witch Canidia in order that the lover might consume away in the fires of love. Roman and mediæval sorcery had its origin in that of ancient Accad.]

TABLET VI

The cruel spirit, the strong spirit of the head, the head-spirit that departs not, the head-spirit that goes not forth, the head-spirit that will not go, the noxious head-spirit. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth remember.

TABLET VII

The poisonous spittle of the mouth[1] which is noxious to the voice, the phlegm which is destructive to the ..., the pustules of the _lungs_, the pustule of the body, the loss of the nails, the removal (and) dissolving of old _excrement_, the _skin_ which is _stripped off_, the recurrent ague of the body, the food which hardens in a man's body, the food which returns after being eaten, the drink which distends after drinking, death by poison, from the swallowing of the mouth which distends, the unreturning wind from the desert. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth remember.

[Footnote 1: That would be consumption.]

TABLET VIII

May Nin-cigal,[1] the wife of Nin-a'su, turn her face toward another place; may the noxious spirit go forth and seize another; may the propitious cherub and the propitious genie settle upon his body. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth remember.

[Footnote 1: "Nin-cigal" ("The Lady of the Mighty Earth") was Queen of Hades and a form of "Allat" or "Istar." She is also identified with Gula or Bahu (the Bohu or "Chaos" of Gen. i. 2), "The Lady of the House of Death," and wife of Hea or Nin-a'su.]

TABLET IX

May Nebo, the great steward, the recliner (or _incubus_) supreme among the gods, like the god who has begotten him, seize upon his head; against his life may he not break forth. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth remember.

TABLET X

(On) the sick man by the sacrifice of mercy may perfect health shine like bronze; may the Sun-god give this man life; may Merodach, the eldest son of the deep (give him) strength, prosperity, (and) health. Spirit of heaven remember, spirit of earth remember.

ACCADIAN HYMN TO ISTAR

TRANSLATED BY REV. A.H. SAYCE, M.A.

The following is one of the many early Chaldean hymns that were incorporated into a collection which M. Lenormant has aptly compared with the Rig-Veda of India. The concluding lines show that it originally belonged to the city of Erech (now Warka). The date of its composition must be exceedingly remote, and this increases the interest of the astronomical allusions contained in it. The original Accadian text is given, with an interlinear Assyrian translation, as is usually the case with hymns of this kind. The terra-cotta tablet on which it is found is numbered S, 954, being one of those that have been recently brought back from Assyria by Mr. George Smith, who has translated the Reverse in his "Assyrian Discoveries," pp. 392, 393. I owe a copy of the text to the kindness of Mr. Boscawen. It is of considerable importance for the study of Assyrian grammar.

ACCADIAN HYMN TO ISTAR

OBVERSE

1 Light of heaven, who like the fire dawnest on the world, (art) thou. 2 Goddess in the earth, in thy fixed abode, 3 who dawnest[1] like the earth, (art) thou. 4 (As for) thee, prosperity approaches thee. 5 To the house of men in thy descending (thou goest). 6 A hyena, which as they go in warlike strength are made to march, (art) thou. 7 A lion, which into the midst is wont to march, (art) thou. 8 Day (is thy) servant, heaven (thy) canopy. 9 The servant of Istar;[2] heaven (is thy) canopy. 10 Princess of the four cities, head of the sea,[3] heaven (is thy) canopy. 11 The exalted of the Sun-god, heaven (is thy) canopy. 12 For the revolver of the seasons sanctuaries I build, a temple I build. 13 For my father the Moon-god, the revolver of the seasons, sanctuaries I build, a temple I build. 14 For my brother the Sun-god, the revolver of the seasons, sanctuaries I build, a temple I build. 15 (As for) me, for Nannaru[4] I build the precinct, for the revolver of seasons sanctuaries I build, a temple I build. 16 In heaven _he laid the hand_; for the revolver of seasons sanctuaries I build, a temple I build. 17 In the beginning (thou art) my begetter; in the beginning (thou art) my begetter. 18 In the beginning the goddess _spoke thus to men_: 19 The Lady of heaven,[5] the divinity of the zenith, (am) I. 20 The Lady of heaven, the divinity of the dawn, (am) I. 21 The Queen of heaven, the opener of the locks of the high heaven, my begetter. 22 Heaven she benefits, earth she enlightens;[6] my begetter. 23 The benefiter of heaven, the enlightener[7] of earth; my begetter.

[Footnote 1: The Assyrian rendering has, "art caused to journey."]

[Footnote 2: The Assyrian mistranslates, "A servant (is) Istar."]

[Footnote 3: The translation given in the text is extremely doubtful.]

[Footnote 4: Literally, "the brilliant one," a title of the moon-god, which gave rise to the classical legend of Nannarus.]

[Footnote 5: The Assyrian renders this by "Istar."]

[Footnote 6: Or perhaps "smites."]

[Footnote 7: Or perhaps "smiter."]

REVERSE

1 Thou who on the axis of heaven dawnest, in the dwellings of the earth her name revolves; my begetter. 2 (As) Queen of heaven above and below may she be invoked; my begetter. 3 The mountains fiercely she hurls-into-the-deep;[1] my begetter. 4 As to the mountains, their goodly stronghold (art) thou, their mighty lock (art) thou;[2] my begetter. 5 May thy heart rest; may thy liver be magnified. 6 O Lord Anu, the mighty, may thy heart rest. 7 O Lord, the mighty Prince[3] Bel, may thy liver be magnified. 8 O Istar, the Lady of heaven, may thy heart rest. 9 O Lady, Queen of heaven, may thy liver (be magnified). 10 O Lady, Queen of the House of heaven, may thy heart (rest). 11 O Lady, Queen of the land of Erech, may thy liver (be magnified). 12 O Lady, Queen of the land of the four rivers of Erech,[4] may thy heart (rest). 13 O Lady, Queen of the Mountain of the World,[5] may thy liver (be magnified). 14 O Lady, Queen of the Temple of the Resting-place of the world, may thy heart (rest). 15 O Lady, Queen of Babylon, may thy liver (be magnified). 16 O Lady, Queen of the Memorial of Nan'a, may thy heart (rest). 17 O Queen of the Temple, Queen of the gods, may thy liver (be magnified).

18 Prayer of the heart to Istar.

19 Like its original[6] written and translated. 20 Palace of Assur-bani-pal, King of Assyria; 21 Son of Esar-haddon, King of multitudes, King of Assyria, high-priest of Babylon, 22 King of Sumer and Accad, King of the Kings of Cush and Egypt, 23 King of the four zones; Son of Sennacherib, 24 King of multitudes, King of Assyria; 25 who to Assur and Beltis, Nebo and Tasmit trusts. 26 Thy kingdom, O light of the gods.

[Footnote 1: The Assyrian mistranslates, "I hurl into the deep."]

[Footnote 2: The Assyrian mistranslates "I" for "thou."]

[Footnote 3: "Sadi" in Assyrian, literally "mountain" or "rock," and apparently connected with the Hebrew "Shaddai," as in the phrase "El Shad-dai," "God Almighty."]

[Footnote 4: Possibly the four rivers of Paradise.]

[Footnote 5: Also called the "Mountain of the East," Mount Elwand on which the ark rested.]

[Footnote 6: That is the text from which the Assyrian copy was made for the library of Assurbanipal.]

ANNALS OF ASSUR-NASIR-PAL (SOMETIMES CALLED SARDANAPALUS)

TRANSLATED, WITH NOTES, BY REV. J.M. RODWELL, M.A.

Concerning Assur-nasir-habal or Assur-nasir-pal (_i.e._, "Assur preserves the son") we possess fuller historical records than of any other of the Assyrian monarchs, and among these the following inscription is the most important. From it, and from the inscription upon his statue discovered by Mr. Layard [Footnote: Now in the British Museum.] in the ruins of one of the Nimroud temples, we learn that he was the son of Tuklat-Adar or Tuklat-Ninip, that he reigned over a territory extending from the "Tigris to the Lebanon, and that he brought the great sea and all countries from the sunrise to the sunset under his sway." These inscriptions are published in the "Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia," Vol. I, plates 17 to 27, and were partially translated by Professor Oppert, "_Histoire des Empires de Chaldée et d'Assyrie,_," page 73 and following "_Extrait des Annales de philosophie chrétienne_" tom. IX, 1865.

There is considerable difficulty and a consequent divergence of opinion as to the precise date when Assur-nasir-pal ascended the throne. But he most probably reigned from 883 to 858 B.C.

It need scarcely be remarked that Assur-nasir-pal is a different person from the well-known Sardanapalus of classic writers, or Assur-bani-pal, the son of Esar-haddon, who reigned from about B.C. 668 to 625.

It will be seen from the inscription that the campaigns of Assur-nasir-pal took place in the mountains of Armenia, in Commagene and the provinces of the Pontus, inhabited by the Moschi [Footnote: The Mesek of Psalm cxx. 5.] and other tribes. He probably advanced into Media and a portion of western Persia. The countries on the banks of the Euphrates submitted to his arms, and in one of his expeditions he vanquished Nabu-bal-iddin, King of Babylon. Westward, he reduced the southern part of Syria, and advanced to the mountain chains of the Amanus and Lebanon, but though he penetrated as far as to Tyre and Sidon and exacted tribute from both as well as from Byblus and Aradus, he did not subdue Phoenicia. The kingdoms of Israel and Judah, under the sway of Ahab and Jehosaphat, were no doubt too powerful, as is evinced by the armies which they must have maintained for their struggle with the Syrians, [Footnote: See 2 Chron. xvii. and following chapters.] for Assur-nasir-pal to have ventured upon attacking them. This feat was reserved for his successors on the throne of Assyria.

The inscription was found in the ruins of the Temple at the foot of the Pyramid at Nimroud (Calach).

ANNALS OF ASSUR-NASIR-PAL