Page:The Chaldean Account of Genesis (1876).djvu/224

 21. . . . . he slew 22. . . . . me 23. . . . . over me 24. . . . . corpse. . ..

The first part of this fragment appears to contain the honours offered by Izdubar to any one who should interpret the dream. These included the ennobling of his family, his recognition in assemblies, his being invested with jewels of honour, and his wives being increased. A description of the dream of the hero, much mutilated, follows. The conduct of Nebuchadnezzar in the Book of Daniel, with reference to his dreams, bears some resemblance to that of Izdubar.

After this fragment we have again a blank in the story, and it would appear that in this interval application was made to a hermit named Heabani that he would go to the city of Erech and interpret the dream of Izdubar.

Heabani appears, from the representations on seals and other objects on which he is figured, to have been a satyr or faun. He is always drawn with the feet and tail of an ox, and with horns on his head. He is said to have lived in a cave among the wild animals of the forest, and was supposed to possess wonderful knowledge both of nature and human affairs. Heabani was angry at the request that he should abandon his solitary life for the friendship of Izdubar, and where our narrative reopens the god Samas is persuading him to accept the offer.