Page:The Chaldean Account of Genesis (1876).djvu/268

 of the Deluge tablets will be found in "Les Premières Civilisations" of Francois Lenormant, Paris, 1874, a small pamphlet on the Descent of Ishtar, by Professor Oppert, and various papers on these subjects by Mr. Fox Talbot, in the "Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archæology," vols. i., ii., and iii., and my own translation in the "Daily Telegraph," August 19, 1873.

The story of the descent of Ishtar into Hades is one of the most beautiful myths in the Assyrian inscriptions; it has, however, received so much attention, and been so fully commented upon by various scholars, that little need be said on the subject here.

It is evident that we are dealing with the same goddess as the Ishtar, daughter of Anu, in the Izdubar legends, although she is here called daughter of Sin (the moon god).

The description of the region of Hades is most graphic, and vividly portrays the sufferings of the prisoners there; but there are several difficulties in the story, as there is no indication in some cases as to who acts or speaks. Uddusu-namir, created by Hea to deliver Ishtar, is described as a composite animal, half bitch and half man, with more than one head, and appears to correspond, in some respects, to the Cerberus of the classics, which had three heads according to some, fifty heads according to others.

The latter part of the tablet is obscure, and appears to refer to the custom of lamenting for Dumuzi or Tammuz.