25. may the chastising sword not touch him whose face thou establishest. 26. That song for ever may they establish and may they fix the part .... 27. may all the world hear, and glorify my heroism; 28. may the men of all nations see, and exalt my name. Fifth tablet of the exploits of the god (Dibbara). —–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–———–— Here we see a picture of Oriental feeling with reference to natural phenomenon or disaster to mankind. It is supposed that some deity or angel stands with a sword over the devoted people and sweeps them into eternity. The first fragment shows the anger of Anu at the sin of some doomed race, and his command to Dibbara to take his weapon, slay the people, and desolate the land like the god Ner. This god Ner was one of the mythical kings of Babylon who reigned after the flood, and is mentioned as having a terrible name and being with Etana a dweller in Hades. The allusion to him in this passage seems to imply that he was believed to have once rescued Babylon from a hostile attack. The next fragment exhibits the goddess of Karrak as healing the illness of some of the people, 4,102 being mentioned as struck with disease. In the next and largest fragment the story becomes a little more connected; it commences with a description of preparation for battle, and goes on through speeches and actions to describe the course of Dibbara and his plague that he inflicts upon Babylon, and its besiegers where he spares neither chief nor slave, and enters even the palace. It would seem that the sin of the Babylonians arose from the chief priest or governor of the city arming the troops and sending them out to plunder the enemy. For this the plague is sent, and its progress is graphically described. Merodach the special protector of Babylon at last interferes, and the god of pestilence is checked in his course. The next city visited belongs to Samas, being either Larsa, or Sippara, and then the plague reaches Erech. The character of this city is described, the worship of Venus, with her handmaids Samkhati and Kharimati, or “Joy” and “Seduction,” the priests and ceremonies, and the progress of the plague over the place. Then the great god the deity of Duran comes forward and pleads for his city, calling to mind its uprightness and justice, and praying for its exemption from the plague. In the third column mention is made of Gutium, under which name the Accadians designated the whole tract of country which extended from the Tigris to the eastern borders of Media, including the district afterwards known as Assyria. The land of Nizir, in which rose the mountain of Elwend, on the top of which the Accadians supposed the ark to have rested, also formed part of this vast tract. Sir Henry Rawlinson long ago pointed out that Gutium must be the Goyim of the 14th chapter of Genesis, ruled by Tidal, or rather, according to the reading of the Septuagint, Tur-gal “the great Son.”