March 1, 1895.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



53 



Hades, returned to her her garments and jewels, beginning 

 witli " the robe of the nakedness of her body," and ending 

 with "the great crown of her head." The end of the 

 inscription consists of a lamentation for Tammuz, her 

 spouse, whom she had failed to release, and had left in the 

 gloom of the Underworld. " Sprinkle thou the glorious 

 waters, [pour thou out] the sweet oil for Tammuz, the 

 husband of [my] youth," she seems to say, and then 

 she appears to call upon her worshippers, and the male 

 and female mourners who mourned for Tammuz, to play 

 for her " the flute of lapis-stone," upon the day of 

 Tammuz, whom she affectionately calls her brother — " my 

 only brother" — as was the custom in Babylonia iu ancient 

 times."- 



Such is the story of Istar, daughter of the god Sin, 

 when she descended into Hades. 



.-<- M<< is the monogram for the god Sin (the moon) as 

 god of the thirty (<<< = XXX) days of the month. 



Another legend referring to "the daughter of Sin," 

 however, has recently come 

 to light. Unfortunately, it is 

 very imperfect, but sufficient 

 remains to make it a literary 

 fragment of great interest. 

 What we have of it is inscribed 

 on a piece forming the lower 

 part of the obverse and the 

 upper part of the back of a 

 large tablet of baked clay found 

 by either Layard or Rassam at 

 Nineveh. When complete, 

 this document must have con- 

 tained four columns of writing, 

 in the Babylonian cuneiform 

 character, of about sixty lines 

 each. Of these possible two 

 hundred and forty lines, how- 

 ever, only eighty-two remain, 

 many of them very incomplete, 

 and as the text is given in two 

 languages, Sumerian and Se- 

 mitic Babylonian, the portion 

 of the legend which remains 

 is, as may be imagined, a 

 mere fragment, though, from its 

 regarded as an important one. 



In the first column (which has only fifteen incomplete 

 lines — that is to say, eight real lines, when we take into 

 consideration that the text is bilingual), the heroine (for 

 it is she who seems to be the narrator) tells of some person 

 who caused evil, who had plundered the land, and who had 

 carried ofl' "the fair son." This person seems to have 

 prevented something from being completed (perhaps the 

 temple of the city), and, judging from the remains of the 

 inscription in that place, the person spoken of seems to 

 have imprisoned one of the inhabitants of the land, and 

 caused others, possibly his own followers, to settle in the 

 region. 



The fracture of the tablet has broken away the upper 

 part of column II. Where the text becomes legible, the 

 heroine is speaking of a journey made in a ship, and of 

 the treatment she had received at the hands of " the 

 enemy " — apparently the person spoken of in the first 

 column as having spoiled the land, and carried ofi' " the 



* " Brother " and "sister" seem to liare been given as tenus of 

 endearment even to such as were not of that relationship. Thvis a 

 father would call Lis son AJchia, *' My brother," and the name 

 Akhat-abi-sa, " Her father's sister," is also found. 



fair son." As this part of the text is fairly complete, and 

 very poetically written, I give it here in the words of the 

 original ; — 



" I rode in the ship. 



It was the enemy ! — The shoe was placed upon liis foot, and he 



descended to my sanctuary — 

 It was tlie enemy ! — He laid his unclean hands upon me, 

 He laid his hands upon me, and he drove me forth. 

 It was the enemy ! — He laid his hands upon me, and made me bow 



down in fear 

 I was in trouble, and as for him, he feared me not — 

 He tore my clothes off fro.n me and clothed therewith his wife. 

 It was the enemy!— He plucked off from me my lapis-stone, and 



gave it to his daughter. 

 I will make desolate his domain ! 

 [As for?] myself, I will seek (desertf) places. 

 [In] my [refuge] he has worried me, he lias disturbed me iu my 



enclosed place." 



Column III. 

 '' Like a lonely (?) dove I rest upon a beam — 

 Like a wounded (?) xndinniiAnnX I perch in a Imllow place. 





n 



, >*/r"i '**i^ 1^- /-%* **i^ \.^ 







i.. i < 





Fragment of a Tablet in the Babylonian Character from Nineveh 



natiu-e, it must be 



(Obverse.) 



He frighteneth me like a bird in my house— 

 He frigliteneth me like a bird in my city. 

 My house behind me constantly repeateth (that) 

 ' I'am tlie lady '—My city bchiiid me constantly repeateth (the same). 

 I have said thus to my house : ' Thou art not my house ' — 

 I have said thus to my city : ' Thou art not my city." 

 ' I will not enter it,' I said, ' for its magnificence will eat me up.' 

 'I will not ap[proach] it,' I said, 'for its lamentation will make me 

 sad.' " 



(The enemy then seems to say : — ) 



" Like the ground, thus hast thou destroyed it, thus hast thou ruhjcd 



thvself I- 

 Ladv, thus hast tho\i destroyed thy sanctuary, thus hast thou ruuied 



thyself 

 [thou] hast given. ' 



An extensive gap follows, and then we have some frag- 

 ments of lines of column IV., in which the heroine asks : 

 " Who hath driven forth the darling of mine eye ■.' Who 

 hath overthrown [my sanctuary] '? I am [the honoured 

 one •?] of the god Bel ; I am [the beloved ?] of my father 

 Sin ; I am [the handmaid ?] of the god Ba. [My lord] 



hath taken away, my king hath taken away 



he hath caused to be taken away I will 



f Perhaps, however, " (holy) places " are meant. 

 t I.e. : "Level with the ground, thus hast thou destroyed it, and 

 in like wise hast thou ruined t)\yself,' 



' &c. 



