History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 3 (of 12)Maspero, G. (Gaston)
History
History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 3 (of 12)
Maspero, G. (Gaston)
Civilization, Ancient; Egypt -- History -- To 640 A.D.; History, Ancient; Middle East -- History
in every land.’--Bamman, the supreme, the son of Anu, was called, and
Anu himself gave to him his orders;--yea, Bamman, the supreme, the son
of Anu, was called, and Anu himself gave to him his orders.--‘Go, my son
Kamman, the valiant, since nothing resists thy attack;--conquer Zu by
thine arm, and thy name shall be great among the great gods,--among the
gods, thy brothers, thou shalt have no equal: sanctuaries shall be built
to thee, and if thou buildest for thyself thy cities in the “four houses
of the world,” * --thy cities shall extend over all the terrestrial
mountain! ‘Be valiant, then, in the sight of the gods, and may thy
name be strong.’ Bamman answers, he addresses this bpeech to Anu his
father:--‘Father, who will go to the inaccessible mountains? Who is the
equal of Zu among the gods, thy offspring? He has carried off in his
hand the fatal tablets,--he has seized power and authority to give forth
decrees,--Zu thereupon flew away and hid himself in his mountain.--Now,
the word of his mouth is like that of the god who unites heaven and
earth;---my power is no more than clay,--and all the gods must bow
before him.’” Anu sent for the god Bara, the son of Ishtar, to help him,
and exhorted him in the same language he had addressed to Ramman: Bara
refused to attempt the enterprise. Shamash, called in his turn, at
length consented to set out for Mount Sabu: he triumphed over the
storm-bird, tore the fatal tablets from him, and brought him before Ea
as a prisoner.
* Literally, “Construct thy cities in the four regions of
the world (cf. pp. 12, 13 of the present work), and thy
cities will extend to the mountain of the earth.” Anu would
appear to have promised to Ramman a monopoly; if he wished
to build cities which would recognize him as their patron,
these cities will cover the entire earth.
[Illustration: 186.jpg SHAMASH FIGHTS WITH ZU AND THE STORM BIRDS.]
Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard.
[Illustration: 186a.jpg The Plenisphere taken from the Temple of
Tentyra]
[Illustration: 186b.jpg Text of The Plenisphere]
The sun of the complete day, the sun in the full possession of his
strength, could alone win back the attributes of power which the morning
sun had allowed himself to be despoiled of. From that time forth the
privilege of delivering immortal decrees to mortals was never taken out
of the hands of the gods of light.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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