Tablet IV.
Column I.
- 1. .... mu ....
- 2. .... thy ....
- 3. .... me, return
- 4. .... the birds shall rend him
- 5. .... in thy presence
- 6. .... of the forest of pine trees
- 7. .... all the battle
- 8. .... may the birds of prey surround him
- 9. .... that, his carcass may they destroy
- 10. .... to me and we will appoint thee king,
- 11. .... thou shalt direct after the manner of a
king
—–———–———–———– - 12. [Izdubar] opened his mouth and spake,
- 13. and said to Hea-bani:
- 14. ... he goes to the great palace
- 15. .... the breast of the great queen
- 16. ..... knowledge, everything he knows
- 17. ...... establish to our feet
- 18. ....... his hand
- 19. ....... I to the great palace
- 20. ......... the great queen
- (Probably over twenty lines lost here.)
Column II.
- 1. .... enter
- 2. .... he raised
- 3. .... the ornaments of her ....
- 4. .... the ornaments of her breast
- 5. .... and her crown I divided
- 6. .... of the earth he opened
- 7. he .... he ascended to the city
- 8. he went up to the presence of Samas he made a sacrifice?
- 9. he built an altar. In the presence of Samas he lifted his hands:
- 10. Why hast thou established Izdubar, in thy heart thou hast given him protection,
- 11. when the son .... and he goes
- 12. on the remote path to Khumbaba.
- 13. A battle he knows not he will confront,
- 14. an expedition he knows not he will ride to,
- 15. for long he will go and will return,
- 16. to take the course to the forest of pine trees,
- 17. to Khumbaba of [whom his city may] he destroy,
- 18. and every one who is evil whom thou hatest ...
- 19. In the day of the year he will ....
- 20. May she not return at all, may she not ...
- 21. him to fix ....
(About ten lines lost here.)
Here we see that Izdubar, impressed with the magnitude of the task he had undertaken, makes a prayer and sacrifice to Samas to aid him in his task. The next fragment appears also to belong to this column, and may refer to preliminaries for sacrificing to Istar, with a view also to gain her aid in the enterprise.
This fragment of Column II. reads
- 1. .... neighbourhood of Erech ....
- 2. .... strong and ...
- 3. he burst open the road ....
- 4. and that city ....
- 5. and the collection ....
- 6. placed the people together ....
- 7. the people were ended ....
- 8. like of a king ....
- 9. which for a long time had been made ....
- 10. to the goddess Istar the bed ....
- 11. to Izdubar like the god Sakim ....
- 12. Hea-bani opened the great gate of the house of assembly ....
- 13. for Izdubar to enter ....
- 14. .... in the gate of the house ............
Column III.