THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS.
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Jastrow, Morris
Then come in a body,
In Ubshu-kenna,[716] let yourselves down joyfully,
My authority instead of yours will assume control,
Unchangeable shall be whatever I do,
Irrevocable and irresistible, be the command of my lips.
The declaration foreshadows the result.
The third tablet is taken up with the preliminaries for the great contest, and is interesting chiefly because of the insight it affords us into Babylonian methods of literary composition. Anshar sends Gaga[717] to the hostile camp with the formal announcement of Marduk's readiness to take up the cause of the gods. Gaga does not face Tiâmat directly, but leaves the message with Lakhmu and Lakhamu:
Go Gaga, messenger (?) joy of my liver,
To Lakhmu and Lakhamu I will send thee.
The message proper begins as follows:
Anshar your son has sent me,
The desire of his heart he has entrusted to me.
Tiâmat, our mother is full of hate towards us,
With all her might she is bitterly enraged.
The eleven associates that Tiâmat has ranged on her side are again enumerated, together with the appointment of Kingu as chief of the terror-inspiring army. Gaga comes to Lakhmu and Lakhamu and delivers the message verbatim, so that altogether this portion of the narrative is repeated no less than four times.[718] The same tendency towards repetition is met with in the Gilgamesh epic and in the best of the literary productions of Babylonia. It may be ascribed to the influence exerted by the religious hymns and incantations where repetition, as we have seen, is also common, though serving a good purpose.
The message concludes:
I sent Anu, he could not endure her[719] presence.
Ea[720] was afraid and took to flight.
Marduk has stepped forward, the chief of the gods, your son,
To proceed against Tiâmat, he has set his mind.
Marduk's declaration is then repeated.
Upon hearing the message Lakhmu and Lakhamu and "all the Igigi"[721] are distressed, but are powerless to avert the coming disaster. The formal declaration of war having been sent, the followers of Anshar assemble at a meal which is realistically described:
They ate bread, they drank wine.
The sweet wine took away their senses.
They became drunk, and their bodies swelled up.
With this description the third tablet closes.
The meal symbolizes the solemn gathering of the gods. At its conclusion, so it would seem, Marduk is formally installed as the leader to proceed against Tiâmat. The gods vie with one another in showering honors upon Marduk. They encourage him for the fight by praising his unique powers:
Thou art honored among the great gods,
Thy destiny is unique, thy command is Anu.[722]
Marduk, thou art honored among the great gods,
Thy destiny is unique, thy command is Anu,
Henceforth thy order is absolute.
To elevate and to lower is in thy hands,
What issues from thee is fixed, thy order cannot be opposed,
None among the gods may trespass upon thy dominion.
Thy weapons will never be vanquished; they will shatter thy enemies.
O lord! grant life to him who trusts in thee,
But destroy the life of the god who plots evil.
As a proof of the power thus entrusted to Marduk, the gods give the latter a 'sign.' Marduk performs a miracle. A garment is placed in the midst of the gods.
Command that the dress disappear!