4 THEO. G. PINCHES, ESQ., ON 



Let your powerful enemy come and advance.' 



The god Gaga went, he hastened along his road : 



At the place of Lahmu and Lahame, the gods, his fathers 



he stood, and he kissed the ground beneath them." 

 Gaga tells Lahmu and Lahame of Tiawat's rebellion in 

 the same words as Ansar had used at the beginning, reporting 

 the failure of Nudimmut and Anu, and Merodach's magnani- 

 mous offer to come to the rescue. Lahmu and Lahame 

 heard, suckling the while "the Igigi,* all of them." They 



asked: " Who is the enemy? loe do not know who 



Tiawat is ! " Apparently, Lahmu and Lahame had some- 

 thing else to think of, for, as far as one can see from the 

 mutilation of the text in this place, they make no suggestion, 

 and the gods settle that Merodach shall be their avenger. 



The next (the 4th) tablet begins with a description of 

 the honours conferred upon Merodach. Princely habitations 

 were made for him, and he was set as ruler in the presence 

 of his fathers (as the tablet has it). Miraculous powers were 

 given to him, and when Merodach tested them successfully, 

 the gods rejoiced and gave him blessing, and proclaimed him 

 king. Merodach then armed himself for his struggle with 

 Tiawat, the Dragon of Chaos, taking spear, bow, and arrows. 

 He made lightning before him, filled his body with darting 

 flames, and set his net ready to catch and entangle his evil 

 opponent. He placed the four winds so that she should not 

 escape, and roused every other kind of wind, with storms, to 

 attack her. Kingu, her husband, was soon disposed of, and 

 then she herself was challenged to do battle. She cried 

 aloud in her rage, uttered incantations and charms, and 

 begged weapons of the gods of battle. The combatants, 

 after this, drew near to each other to begin the fight, and 

 Avith the help of the net, a friendly hurricane, and his spear, 

 Merodach soon put an end to her. All her followers, Kingu 

 her husband included, were captured, though their lives 

 were spared. The body of Tiawat, who personified the great 

 waste or chaos of wateis, was then divided, one portion 

 being made into a covering for the heavens — " the waters 

 above the firmament " — whilst the other remained below — 

 " the waters under the firmament." Chaos and confusion 

 having thus been ended, Merodach set about ordering the 



* The gods of the heavens. The original text is : '->f- Tr^ Jl J^^? -<^^ 



K*:^ ^^ *:if~ ^^^^) D-P I^ig^', naphar-sunu, inichc, "Tlie Igigi, all of 

 them, they Huckled." 



