OF THE BABYLONIAN CREATION AND FLOOD STORIES. 319 



of the Babylonians, whether Sumerians or Akkadians, from 

 exceedingly early times. In consequence of the change in the 

 phraseology, Professor Langdon infers that man was forbidden 

 to eat of the plant or plants which had not been included in 

 these seven classes. As far as preserved, the lines following 

 these do not seem to differ in sense — it is the same formula 

 which they contain, practically — but the author of the paper 

 which I quote, and who has seen the original text, translates as 

 follows : — 



" [My king] the cassia plant approached, 

 He plucked, he ate. 



. . . . the plant, its fate she had determined ; therein she 



came upon it. 

 Nin-hursag in the name of Enki uttered a curse. 

 ' The face of life until he dies shall he not see.' 

 The Ammimaki in the dust sat down (to weep). — 

 Angrily to Enlila she spoke : 



' I, Nin-hursag, begat thee children, and what is my reward 1 ' 

 Enlila the begetter angrily replied : 

 ' Thou, Nin-hursag, hast begotten children, and 

 " In thy city two creatures I will make for thee," shall thy name 

 be caned.'" 



It is difficult to follow the sequence of these lines, which, 

 although I have verified them as far as is possible upon a half- 

 tone reproduction, apparently leave something to be desired. 

 The following, however, is apparently the explanation in fewer 

 words and in plainer English. For " my king " we may read 

 Tag-tug, who, in the above rendering, approaches and eats the 

 amharu-^hmt, identified by Professor Langdon with the cassia. 

 Upon this plant, however, Nin-Jaursag (or the god Enki) had 

 placed a certain fate, namely, that it was not to be touched by 

 man and used as food. Nin-hursag, therefore, in the name of 

 Enki, the god of the fertilizing waters, uttered a curse, and 

 announced that he, Tagtug, or mankind in general, which he 

 seems to have represented, should not see life — that is, real life 

 — until after death. Why Nin-hursag vents her anger upon the 

 god Enlil, " the older Bel," is not clear, and one does not see any 

 anger in his answer. I suspect a misreading somewhere, but 

 perhaps Enlil was the instigator of the temptation. 



Commenting upon this passage, Professor Langdon corrects 

 his previous opinion. He points out that here there is no 

 question of a tree of life or of knowledge. It is simply the 

 cassia plant which is referred to and the prohibition to eat it 



