Babylonian and Assyrian Literature Part 60

May Marduk, the great Lord of eternity without limits, fetter him with inextricable bonds.

May Nebo, the supreme minister, overthrow the surface, circ.u.mference, and limits of his properties.

May Bin, the great Lord of heaven and earth, cause the streams of his river to overflow[14] ... have his progeny circ.u.mcised, and load his feet with a heavy chain.

May Sin, who turns around heaven, envelop his body with leprosy as in a garment.

May Samas, the bright Judge of heaven and earth, judge his lawsuit, and have him seized in deed doing.

May Istar, the G.o.ddess of heaven and earth, deliver him to the vengeance of the G.o.ds and of the King.

May Gula, the Sovereign Lady, the great wife of Ninip, infilter into his bowels with a poison that will not leave him, and may he void pus and blood like water.

May Ninip, the G.o.d of boundaries, _filium camelas inire cogat_.[15]

May Nergal, the G.o.d of arms and bows, break his arrows.

May Zamal, the King of battles, prevent him in the midst of the fray from taking a prisoner.

May t.u.r.da, the Keeper of the images of the great G.o.ds, walking in the right ways of the G.o.ds, besiege his door during the night.

May Iskhara, the G.o.ddess of the ancient customs, not hear him in the battles.

May Malik, the great Master of Heaven,[16] while he sins cause him to be slain in the act.

May all the G.o.ds that are on this stone, whose name is commemorated, curse him with irrevocable curses.

(The lines at the end of the first column read as follows:)

[17]If anybody swears thus: This head is not a head ...[17] or inst.i.tutes here an outlaw or a causer of mischief, immerse them in the waters, bury them in the earth, hide them under a heap of stones, destroy them by fire.

(On the edge of the second column:)

May the G.o.ds whose image is on this table, and whose name is invoked, curse him with irrevocable curses.

(On the edge of the fourth column:)

The horses ...[18] the Master of the house of Ada may dispose of them after him. 30 horses, 25 buffaloes, 3 mares in the fields are not inclosed in the decree of the King of Babylon; Bin-zir-basa has ascribed it for the benefit of Mahanitu, after Marduk-ilusu, son of Ina-e-saggatu-irbu.

The Chief of the _rubar_ of the house of Ada has said it (named and p.r.o.nounced) to Marduk-ilusu, son of the Scribe of Marduk-idin-akhe, King of Babylon, and Ina-e-saggatu-irbu, the Scribe, the field, this one has[19] ... owner of the house of Ada, has given it for the days to come, and has yielded it up.

(A great many short inscriptions are placed over the ba.s.so-relievos.

1. The smallest of them is placed over a kind of lyre. It reads:

In sum, an epha and a half.

2. Entangled between the branches of an object difficult to design and the horns of a goat, occurs a sentence which has not been translated.

3. The word "_nase_" is written between and the altar supporting a triangular object.

4. A legend of three lines is engraved between the mentioned altar, and a horned animal.)

So that he may not devastate the land of Zunire, nor the dwellings which are belonging to the Governor of Zunire.

5. Under an undetermined object, opposite to the nose of the above-mentioned fantastical animal is written a sentence composed of a perpendicular line and four lines parallel to the circ.u.mference.)

That he will not acknowledge either the _kisirtu_ or the tribute of this house, or the Prefect, or the _hazan_ of the house of Ada.

6. Below the preceding one.

Either the author of the treaty, or the _hazan_ of the land of Zunire.

7. Included between the roost and the back of the dog occurs another sentence which has not been translated.

8. Across the symbolical figures [commencement obscure]:

That he might not watch upon the streets of Bit-Ada.

9. Between the scorpion and the back of the snake.

That he may pay the rent of the land.

10. Over the head of the snake.

That in his abode, there may not be any power, any judge, any implorer.

[Footnote 1: Twenty hins are equal to 60 litres, 13-1/4 gallons.]

[Footnote 2: Great U, the standard agrarian measure.]

[Footnote 3: The country is unknown; the river Zirzirri is also mentioned elsewhere.]

[Footnote 4: This name signifies, "In the Pyramid he will increase."]

[Footnote 5: The valuations of the estates are made by the quant.i.ty of corn required to seed them, as it is the case in rabbinical literature, where the unity is a beth-sea, or the surface seeded by a sea. Therefore the epha of the king (royal epha) is quite in its place: the epha is varying from 32 to 36 pints.

The text itself states the royal endowment of a perhaps conquered land.]

[Footnote 6: There is no valuation of the field. An error crept into the French transliteration; "us" is not "a stade," but the word "length."]

[Footnote 7: This is the city generally read "Agade."]

[Footnote 8: Person already mentioned in the Za-aleh Stone.]

[Footnote 9: The G.o.d Sukamanu occurs elsewhere.]

[Footnote 10: The "hazan" seems to be a superintendent.]