Manchester Memoirs, Vol. xlviii. (1904), No. 35. 7 



text, implying a change in the subject ; and, in fact, 

 'the voice afar off' now seems to be that of Istar, calling 

 Gi, miitna-mu, ' Return, my husband.' He, too, would 

 like nothing better, and asks her to direct, to arrange his 

 release, not resting until it is accomplished. The word 

 which I have translated 'release' is jz^, meaning ' hand,' 

 and, secondarily, 'preservation.' To all appearance this 

 meaning arises from the idea of the hand as ' the helper,' 

 and is an interesting example of the evolution of the 

 signification of a word in Sumerian. In the mutilated 

 part which follows, there would seem to be a conflict with 

 the voice of Istar, and some 'evil voice' which called 

 Tammuz away, but upon this point there is anything but 

 certainty. At the end of the column the goddess seems 

 to be represented as on the journey to the underworld, 

 travelling in darkness, and not seeing the unbroken 

 barrier before her, preventing her advance. 



Column II, 



Istar enters the Domain of Eres-e-gala, the ^ Lady of the 

 Great House.^ 



1. Istar obeyeth not Eres-e-galla : 



2. ' She who knoweth, she who entereth, am I. 



3. She knoweth not (my) breaking through — let her not 



know it — 

 4- Istar, she who knoweth, she who entereth, am I. 



5. She knoweth not — seeing, seeing, I know it — 



6. Eres-e-galla knoweth not that I enter. 



7. A barrier hindereth, but this land I know — 



8. Istar, she who knoweth it, she who entereth, am I. 



9. The barrier is high, but this land I know — 



10. Eres-e-galla, she who knoweth, she who entereth, am I.' 



11. In night surrounded, surrounded, in gloom surrounded, 



12. Lost am I, in night surrounded, in gloom surrounded, 



13. Lost is he, surrounded, in gloom surrounded. 



