Tablet VIII.
It is again uncertain if any of this tablet has been discovered; provisionally some fragments of the first, second, third, and sixth columns of a tablet which may belong to it are placed here, but the only fragment worth translating at present is one given in Mr. Smith’s “Assyrian Discoveries,” p. 176. In some portions of these fragments there are references to the story of Khumbaba, but as the fragment appears to refer to the illness of Izdubar it probably belongs here.
K. 3588.
Column I.
- 1. ....
—–———–———–———– - 2. Hea-bani (his mouth opened and spake and)
- 3. said to ....
- 4. I went (?) ....
- 5. in the ....
- 6. the door ....
- 7. of ....
- 8 and 9. ....
- 10. in ....
- 11. Hea-bani ..........
- 12. with the door .... thy ...
- 13. the door on its sides does not ...
- 14. the creation of her ears they are not ...
- 15. for twenty kaspu (140 miles) I climbed up ...
- 16. as far as the pine tree a shrub (?) I had seen ...
- 17. thy tree (?) has not another ...
- 18. Six gars (120 feet) is thy height, two gars (40 feet) is thy breadth ....
- 19. thy street, thy blackness (?) thy rain ...
- 20. I made thee, I raised thee in the city of Nipur ....
- 21. yea I knew thy door like this ...
- 22. and this ...
- 23. I raised its face, I ...
- 24. I will fill thy bank (?) .....
- 25. .....
- 26. for he took ...
- 27. the pine tree, the cedar, ...
- 28. in its cover ...
- 29. thou also ....
- 30. may take ...
- 31. in the collection of everything ...
- 32. a great destruction ...
- 33. the whole of the trees ..
- 34. in thy land of the tree manubani ...
- 35. thy bush? is not strong ...
- 36. thy shadow is not great ...
- 37. and thy smell is not agreeable ...
—–———–———–———– - 38. The manubani tree was angry ...
- 39. made a likeness?
- 40. like the tree ...
- ......
The second, third, fourth and fifth columns appear to be entirely absent, the inscription reappearing on a fragment of the sixth column.
Column II.
(Many lines lost.)
- 1. The dream which I saw ....
- 2. the tops of the mountain ....
- 3. ... he struck ....
- 4. he struck when thy royal raiment ....
- 5. he begat also in ....
- 6. He recounted to his friend Hea-bani the dream ...
- 7. My friend, the good omen of the dream ....
- 8. the dream was deceptive ....
- 9. My friend, the mountain which thou didst see ....
- 10. when I captured Khumbaba we ....
- 11. ... of his helpers Nitakh-garri ....
- 12. at the time of dawn ....
—–———–———–———– - 13. For twenty kaspu they journeyed a stage
- 14. at thirty kaspu they fixed
- 15. in the presence of Samas they dug out a pit (?) ....
- 16. Izdubar ascended also over ....
- 17. by the side of his house he crossed over ....
- 18. ... he brought the dream ....
- 19. he made it and the god ....
Column III.
- 1. ... he brought the dream ....
- 2. he made it and the god ....
- 3. ... turban? ....
- 4. he cast him down and ....
- 5. the mountain like corn of the field ....
- 6. Izdubar at the destruction (?) set up ....
- 7. Anatu the troubler of men upon him struck,
- 8. and in the struggle his going he stayed.
- 9. He spake and said to his friend:
- 10. My friend thou dost not ask me why I am naked,
- 11. thou dost not inquire of me why I am spoiled,
- 12. because the god passed over, wherefore my limbs are hot.
- 13. My friend I saw a third dream;
- 14. that dream which I saw entirely disappeared.
- 15. They prayed; the god thunders on the ground.
- 16. He burnt up the exit of the darkness;
- 17. the lightning struck; a fire was kindled;
- 18. .... they took away; it rained death.
- 19. The glow also (disappeared), the fire sank,
- 20. .... they struck; it turned to a palm tree,
- 21. in the desert also thy lord took (his) path (?).
- 22. And Hea-bani his dream considered; he said to Izdubar:
- 23. .... Samas thy lord, the creator ....
The fourth and fifth columns of this tablet are lost. This part of the legend appears to refer to the illness of Izdubar.
Column VI.
- 1. My friend ... the dream which is not ...
- 2. the day he dreamed the dream, the end ...
—–———–———–———– - 3. Hea-bani lay down also one day ...
- 4. which Hea-bani on (his) bed ...
- 5. the third day and the fourth day which ...
- 6. the fifth, and sixth, and seventh (days) ...
- 7. the eighth (and ninth, and tenth days) ....
- 8. when Hea-bani was sick ...
- 9. the eleventh and twelfth (days) ...
- 10. Hea-bani on (his) bed ...
- 11. Izdubar read also ...
- 12. Did my friend defend me ...
- 13. whenever in the midst of fight ...
- 14. I turn (?) to battle and ...
- 15. my friend who in battle ...
- 16. I in ......
It must here be noted that Mr. Smith’s grounds for making this the eighth tablet were extremely doubtful, and it is possible that the fragments are of different tablets; but they fill up an evident blank in the story here, and they are consequently inserted pending further discoveries as to their true position.
In the first column Hea-bani appears to be addressing certain trees, and they are supposed to have the power of hearing and answering him. Hea-bani praises one tree and sneers at another, but from the mutilation of the text it does not appear why he acts so. We may conjecture he was seeking a charm to open a door he mentions, and that according to the story this charm was known to the trees. The fragment of the sixth column shows Hea-bani unable to interpret a dream, while Izdubar asks his friend to fight.
After this happened the violent death of Hea-bani, which added to the misfortunes of Izdubar; but no fragment of this part of the story is preserved.