Page:The Chaldean Account of Genesis (1876).djvu/307

 8. The bow from the ground thou dost not lift,

9. what the bow has struck escapes thee:

10. The mace in thy hand thou dost not grasp,

11. the spoil defies thee:

12. Shoes on thy feet thou dost not wear,

13. the slain on the ground thou dost not stretch.

14. Thy wife whom thou lovest thou dost not kiss,

15. thy wife whom thou hatest thou dost not strike;

16. Thy child whom thou lovest thou dost not kiss,

17. thy child whom thou hatest thou dost not strike;

18. The arms of the earth have taken thee.

19. O darkness, O darkness, mother Ninazu, O darkness.

20. Her noble stature as his mantle covers him

21. her feet like a deep well enclose him.

This is the bottom of the first column. The next column has lost all the upper part, it appears to have contained the remainder of this lament, an appeal to one of the gods on behalf of Heabani, and a repetition of the lamentation, the third person being used instead of the second. The fragments commence at the middle of this:

1. his wife whom he hated he struck,

2. his child whom he loved he kissed;

3. his child whom he hated he struck,

4. the might of the earth has taken him.

5. O darkness, O darkness, mother Ninazu, O darkness

6. Her noble stature as his mantle covers him,

7. her feet like a deep well enclose him.