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    Gilgamesh (Zongo Classics)
    Gilgamesh (Zongo Classics)
    Gilgamesh (Zongo Classics)
    Ebook226 pages2 hours

    Gilgamesh (Zongo Classics)

    By Stephen Mitchell

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    About this ebook

    The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia. Dating from the Third Dynasty of Ur (circa 2100 BC), it is often regarded as the first great work of literature. This seminal tale of gods, kings, battles, friendship, loss, the fear of death, the search for immortality and advice on how one should live life
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherZongo
    Release dateApr 6, 2017
    ISBN9780743261692
    Gilgamesh (Zongo Classics)
    Author

    Stephen Mitchell

    Stephen Mitchell's many books include the bestselling Tao Te Ching, Gilgamesh, and The Second Book of the Tao, as well as The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, The Gospel According to Jesus, Bhagavad Gita, The Book of Job, and Meetings with the Archangel.

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    Reviews for Gilgamesh (Zongo Classics)

    4/5

    371 ratings75 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Very easy to read, and accompanied by an introduction explaining the sequence of discovery of the different texts, and the gaps (although I recommend skipping straight to the story, and coming back for the scholastic details, as they do tend to detract from the enjoyment of the story for itself). Excellent, accessible translation, and a great old story. One comment, I notice some of the previous reviews include quotations from different translations? This translation is to me, very clear and straightforward, as are Stephen Mitchell's other translatons.
    • 3/5
      Zeer interessante inleiding. Prozavertaling, bewerkt, van het gedicht, zowat het oudste fictiegeschrift dat bewaard is gebleven.
    • 5/5
      This was my first experience of Gilgamesh, the ancient Sumerian epic that predates Homer's Odyssey by about 1500 years. What a brilliant, simple story; no wonder it has survived. I found Herbert Mason's verse narrative brief and easy to read, but deeply impactful. Gilgamesh is a king of Uruk (historically, fifth in line after the Great Flood, which the poem mentions). He lives a self-absorbed life, driving his people harshly or neglecting them, using the women, building the walls, but mostly just being idle. He awakens from this life when he meets Enkidu, a man from the wild who has been tamed by a prostitute. Enkidu and Gilgamesh become friends in the most inseparable sense, equals in all. When Gilgamash is possessed by a desire to destroy the brutish god Humbaba, Enkidu is seized with fear. He knows from his time in the forest of Humbaba's dark power, and pleads with his friend not to go. But Gilgamesh is resolved, and Enkidu accompanies him. Enkidu is killed, and Gilgamesh finally discovers what human sorrow is. Spent with grief, he embarks on a winding quest to bring his friend back to life. What will be the end?I love the prayer of Ninsun, Gilgamesh's mother who was a minor goddess. She says to the god Shamash, ...Why did you give my sonA restless heart, and now you touch himWith this passion to destroy Humbaba,And you send him on a journey to a battleHe may never understand, to a doorHe cannot open. You inspire him to endThe evil of the world which you abhorAnd yet he is a man for all his powerAnd cannot do your work. You must protectMy son from danger. (33)It captures the futility of humanity in our quest for transcendence, our spiritual discontent which we cannot remedy. All our good deeds come to nothing, and the last appeal is always to the deity. Striking also to me was the monotheism of Utnapishtim, the wise man Gilgamesh seeks out to save his friend. Mason hints in the afterword that this expression of monotheism may cause some controversy among scholars... interesting. Casual readers like me always wonder, when we pick up a work like this of which there are so many versions and translations, if we have chosen The Right One. If we have maximized our reading experience, if we have latched on to something of which those who know would approve. I have to let worries like this go and simply enjoy the book, whichever version it is, that has fallen to me. I don't know what other translations are like, but I found this one intensely human and accessible. Strangely powerful, from across thousands of years Gilgamesh draws us into its story and remains with us. It is, of course, the universality of loss, the desperation of sorrow, and the long road home of acceptance that make Gilgamesh's journey ours. Recommended.
    • 5/5
      I am taking on the subject of Babylonian Civilization this summer. To get started, I'm rereading the oldest story ever written by humans. How old? Try 4000 years old. Not only is it the oldest, but it is written in a dead language and it was buried for a couple thousand years before some British archaeologists dug it up in the Iraqi desert in the mid 1800's. It took another 50 years before it was translated into English. I've read an adaptation of Gilgamesh before but never a scholarly translation that was directly translated from the cuneiform tablets. Andrew George's translation is considered one of the standards and I found it very readable even though there are gaps here and there to represent where the tablets are broken. In a sense, this made the work of translation more apparent and interesting. In fact, there is a whole system in place that emphasizes when and where certainty and speculation are used in the story. Italics and brackets are all over the place, but once you figure out the code, it adds a lot to the reading experience. In addition to the standard Gilgamesh tablets, there are older Sumerian tablets that are translated and included in this Penguin edition. The Sumerian tablets are older but translated from Sumerian and not Akkadian. They tend to be less standardized, with characters switching names or roles here and there. The notes help sort all this out. The introduction is also very interesting and helps lay some crucial groundwork for placing this story in context to the history of the Babylonian Empire. If you are like me and love Homer and all the other early epics you will want to familiarize yourself with this most excellent story. Just as interesting is the story of its discovery. Check out The Buried Book by David Damrosch to learn more about that. If you want to learn more about the ancient history of the area in audio format, check out Dan Carlin's podcast "Hardcore History -King of Kings" series.
    • 4/5
      This is the grandmama of all written epic stories. Its influence can be read in Judeo-Christian and Roman stories. The Flood story is of particular interest to many since the bible story very nearly mirrors every detail as found in Gilgamesh.Gilgamesh goes on a quest to find eternal life and commits heroic deeds, only to discover there is no such thing as eternal life to those not fully gods.Worth reading if you really like epic stories. Also worth reading for the historical influence on literature through the ages.
    • 4/5
      When I was a student teacher, I actually taught my students the Gilgamesh Epic. I used it to then go into the various creation and flood stories of various world religions. In fact, when I was in high school, my tenth grade English teacher also taught Gilgamesh, which is probably why I decided to follow his lead. Of course, every version I've ever seen is a simple breakdown of each section of the story, not the actual translation of the poem that this is (or, at least, the translation of what has been found of it so far). So, this particular version was a first time read for me.The Epic of Gilgamesh presents one of the earliest recorded tales. It includes the first known example of a written creation story, a flood story, and even a version of the temptation of man by woman and a betrayal by a serpent. The Biblical parallels are so many that it can't be mere coincidence, especially when you learn that the early Semites (who would become the Jewish people) were at one time indoctrinated by Babylonian religion, which copied many of their stories from the Sumerian, including Gilgamesh, already an historical figure turned mythic hero by the time Babylon became a power.To me though, the most important element of the Gilgamesh epic, is that it's not only the first "on the road" story, but also the first buddy story. Gilgamesh literally has a best friend made for him by the gods, and the two go on amazing adventures together. As a fan of the road movie and the buddy picture, this is something that always stayed with me about Gilgamesh and Enkidu. This brand of buddy adventure has always been around and has always been popular, since the literal beginnings of civilization.
    • 3/5
      It was interesting, but not my thing. I liked that it dealt a lot with dreams and how they are interpreted (or misinterpreted), because I know a lot of cultures hold dreams as a sort of communication power.
    • 4/5
      A classic tale of a hero in ancient Akkad. Perhaps not all tablets have been found, yet its a story worth reading for anyone interested in the stories of thousands of years ago.
    • 2/5
      I need to reread this - last time I read this I was in 5th grade and didn't really understand it.
    • 5/5
      This book reignited my nostalgia for ziggurats and reminded me of how much I actually enjoy the deities of Mesopotamia. They really don't make gods like they used to.I found it amazingly readable, for a 4,000 year old item. The first portion, with it's fun and hi-jinks, slaying of the ogre Humbaba and all that, had me giggling merrily away in Starbucks. Then something terrible happened, but by then I was invested. Funfact not included in this book: According to my mythological dictionary, Humbaba had a beard made of entrails.
    • 5/5
      Part of the fascination of this book lies simply with reading one of the oldest surviving stories that goes back to the very beginning of civilization. I got these dates and comments regarding some of the earliest surviving written works from the Wiki:800 BCE Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey1440-1400 BCE Hebrew Torah, also called the Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses with a final redaction between 900-450 BC. Some give an alternate date of 1320-1280. [And others think the Bible is much younger--dating from the time of the Babylonian Exile circa 600 BC]1550 BCE Egyptian Book of the Dead1700-1100 BCE Approximate date of the composition of the Hindu Veda Rigveda in Sanskrit. 1780 BCE Akkadian Code of Hammurabi stele1900 Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh2250-2000 BCE Sumerian Earliest stories in the Epic of Gilgamesh.This, folks, is a work older than the Bible by a thousand years--and has a global flood story complete with ark. Compared to the The Epic of Gilgamesh, Homer is a green newcomer: Gilgamesh is a millennium and a half older. Only a few surviving Egyptian and Sumerian texts are older. And amazingly, this isn't just one of the oldest works of literature, but a great work of literature. Timeless in the way it speaks of grief and friendship and mortality. It's incredible this work was lost for so many centuries and only gained a wide audience after World War II. The poem itself is a short work, only taking up about 60 pages of the paperback book. The Penguin edition I have translated by Sandars has a fascinating account of their rediscovery.
    • 3/5
      What I learned from this ancient epic is how much The Bible and Homer cribbed from it. The entire flood story is here in its original Sumerian form, complete with the cubits and the ark and the animals and the dove.

      Also, the storytelling style we later came to associate with Homer is here. I'm thinking about the way Homer would have a character deliver some paragraph-long pronouncement to someone, who delivers it to someone else using the exact same spiel, and so on.

      And epic? It's only a bit longer than an ambitiously extended short story! I thought an epic was supposed to be long! I guess back then, when you had to carve all those cuneiform letters out longhand (and by that I mean on stone tablets), anything seemed long.
    • 5/5
      I knew very little about Gilgamesh before I picked up this book in the library. I knew I wanted to read it, and I had a vague idea it was one of the oldest works of literature, but other than that, I was relatively ignorant. This edition helped a lot with that, since it has an informative introduction. It's not exactly a new translation, being based on (if I remember rightly) seven earlier literal translations, but it is lovely and clear and also, where the story needs it, tender and touching.

      I really love the poem itself. The relationship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu is touching and heart-rending, and the descriptions of Gilgamesh's grief feel so real. It's amazing how readable and relevant it is -- partly due to the translation, I'm sure, but in general it seems closer to a modern reader's interests than other ancient stories, even ones a lot closer to us in time.
    • 4/5
      I knew the Biblical flood story felt like a cheap rip-off. Can't Hollywood come up with any original ideas?
    • 4/5
      I love how relevant the themes remain to today's world. I love seeing the obvious influence this story had on the Bible and other ancient works (but not as ancient as Gilgamesh ). I love the gorgeous lines like "You will be left alone, unable to understand in a world where nothing lives anymore as you thought it did" (Enkidu telling Gilgamesh what will happen upon his death) and "The only nourishment he knew was grief, endless in its hidden source yet never ending hunger." Worth a reread for its beautiful simplicity.
    • 3/5
      This is enjoyable if you like mythology and poetry. I actually listened to the audio version, performed by British theater actor George Guidall. It has a rhythm that you may not catch in the reading. I was especially struck by the flood story that so closely parallels that of the Biblical flood. I wonder what fundamentalist Christian-ists would think of a story like this, written a thousand years before Genesis. Though I don't see a fundamentalist Christian-ist finding any interest in mythology.
    • 3/5
      Rated: C+The New Lifetime Reading Plan: Number 1Mesopotamian mythological version of the biblical account the Noah's flood.
    • 2/5
      I grabbed this for free in the department one day, and I picked it up to read because of a short story in the January 2011 issue of Fantasy and SF that re-told the story from a soldier's p.o.v. This was probably not the translation for me to read: the introduction criticizes other translations for getting bogged down in "philological uncertainties." I *like* philological uncertainties and want them made explicit. I also want to know just what liberties the translator is taking: the use of Latin, Bengali, Amharic, Gaelic, and Hebrew at the end of Gilgamesh's lament for Enkidu on pp.51-2 was very problematic for me. Having said that, it didn't ruin the story for me, and I was able to spot a major difference between the story here and how it was re-told in the F&SF short story. But I did find my mind wandering quite often while reading sections.
    • 5/5
      This makes for a quick and illuminating read. Gilgamesh (the city boy and King of Uruk)and Enkidu (the child of the wilderness who becomes domesticated by the introduction of the Harlot who is most likely a Priestess of the Temple of Ishtar) kill the Guardian of the Cedar Forest, Humbaba, kill the Heavenly Bull (most certainly marking the end of the age of Taurus), and become legendary in turn. Enkidu dies leaving Gilgamesh to ponder over his own mortality. This is where it gets interesting. In the last tablet, tablet 11, we are witness to Utanapishtim's story of the Flood and we hear of the Anunnaki, which those of you who have delved into the world of Zacharia Sitchin will recognize. There are many Sumerian Gods that you will learn about in these texts. Their incompleteness is a bit annoying, but today we have a much more completed version than in the past. Indeed Gilgamesh, even in the ancient world, was a widely recieved work. Perhaps soon we will have a completed text.
    • 3/5
      Gilgamesh is a real illustration of progress. It's the world's oldest story--about a thousand years before The Iliad and even longer before the Bible. Which makes it a fascinating historical document. But, to me, much of it read like immature nonsense. Sure there were neat parts, battles, floods, etc. And sure it was interesting that the mind thousands of years ago went through many of the same emotions and issues that we go through today. And sure it is an interesting historical document. But much of it is also a slog. It's possible the experience would have been different if, like Greek Mythology or the Bible, one had a grounding and came into it knowing who Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim and Enkidu. But I didn't
    • 4/5
      Amazingly modern. Or perhaps, amazing that the same things are still to the fore.
    • 4/5
      This is a review of The Epic of Gilgamesh (Penguin Epics) published 2006, a prose translation by N.K. Sandars, first published in Penguin's 1960 edition, re-printed here under the "Penguin Epics" series, without the book-length editors introduction and notes. Just the meat, no potatoes or desert. It took me about 2 hours to read as an average reader, was clear and easy to understand. The book is physically tiny, 4x8 inches and a quarter-inch thick, it would disappear on a book shelf.I purchased this at the same time as The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh, however I wished I had waited, as 'Buried Book' has a good overview of more recent translations available. However I am not disappointed as Sandar's translation is good and easy and understandable - it may not be scholarly level, but perfectly acceptable for most readers who just want to read the epic and enjoy it in prose format.
    • 4/5
      The Epic Of Gilgamesh - this is the second time I've read this, but since the first time was 12 years ago as a doe-eyed freshman in college, it was like a new read. The Penguin Classics version by N.K. Sanders comes with a map of ancient Mesopotamia and begins with a history of the epic and various background info such as: discovery of the Sumerian tablets, literary background, principle gods, survival and diction of the epic (among many others). The story itself is compiled from Sumerian, Akkadian, Hurrian, Hittite, Assyrian and Babylonian tablets to fill in the holes from all of the definciences of each others versions. A good, quick and informative read...and much better the second time around when reading for pleasure with the mind of a grown man.
    • 5/5
      The last work which Garner completed before his untimely death in a motorcycle accident. Ironically, this translation work develops the coiled truth: that death is inevitable, but works may gain a kind of immortality. Henshaw and Meier had worked on the project for 10 years, lifting the story from the Akkadian cuneiform and comparing other translations of the fragmented Ashurbanipal Library materials. Gilgamesh is a man searching for meaning, against constant remonstrations that the search is futile. After losing his close friend, Enkidu, to an arbitrary death, he compares and interviews men with alternative possibilities -- a Heraklion "heroic" figure, a Noah-like flood-spared "pious" figure, and an Odesseian "cunning" character. By the end of the quest, Gilgamesh is confronted by the fact that Enkidu will not return, and death cannot be escaped. Even though mankind is saved from extermination in the Flood, he must live in a hostile place-- facing immediate threat from wolf and lion, famine, and plague. Gilgamesh, does, however, cast off his primitive skins and returns to civilization to don the raimants of King. He gives obeisance to his goddess Ishtar. The Gilgamesh Epic dates back to 2600 B.C. Writing had not developed until 3000 B.C. This is the rich poetry of the first Epic, with subtleties, lullabies, riddles, and a strong story. The religion is dominated by the Queen of Heaven, a consort of Yahweh [23; compare Jeremiah 44:16-19, Revelation 17:3-6]. Gilgamesh is The One Who Saw the Abyss.
    • 5/5
      This is an excellent translation that provides alot of interesting background on the how the cuniform was translated, the story/myth itself and the culture that produced it. It is also easily accessible to the lay reader, who can jump unto the English prose without having to read all the notes, and still be able to enjoy the story.
    • 5/5
      I fell in love with this new translation of the Gilgamesh Epic. It is by far the most vibrant and accessible translation of an epic that I have yet read. I can't speak to the purity of the translation (I don't know cuneiform) but it is just so fresh, so alive, so newly relevant in these troubled martial times. Read it; you won't regret it.
    • 3/5
      A good translation. Included is an essay which helps flesh out the history behind the Epic.
    • 5/5
      From the dust jacket flap: Gilgamesh is the great epic of Mesopotamia, one of the oldest works in Western literature, contemporary with the oldest parts of the Bible.This is one of those books that shows how little humans have changed since we began to record our stories. And it shows bisexuality as an aspect of a heroic life. An amazing book to have on the shelf, and one to return to.
    • 4/5
      This cycle of poems, which pre-date Homer by over a thousand years, came to light in the middle of the c19th when clay tablets impressed with cuneiform were excavated from Nineveh in Mesapotamia. This English edition has a scholarly but very readable introduction by N.K.Saunders. The introduction is essential to getting the most from reading the epic. It is a lively story that the 'poet' tells, and the legend of the Flood which is included in it made me think about how the Old Testament has been interpreted by various religions. Even now, more than five thousand years after this was written, man is still seeking immortality just as Gilgamesh did.
    • 4/5
      Pre-Greek legends from the civilization that carved those wonderful winged lions with bearded men's heads in the British Museum. Also, the source material for Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash."

    Book preview

    Gilgamesh (Zongo Classics) - Stephen Mitchell

    Anonymous

    Alcove I

    Tablet I 

    Column I - Invocation

    O LOVE, my queen and goddess, come to me;

    My soul shall never cease to worship thee;

    Come pillow here thy head upon my breast,

    And whisper in my lyre thy softest, best,

    And sweetest melodies of bright Sami, 

    Our Happy Fields above dear Subartu;

    Come nestle closely with those lips of love

    And balmy breath, and I with thee shall rove

    Through Sari past ere life on earth was known,

    And Time unconscious sped not, nor had flown.

    Thou art our all in this impassioned life:

    How sweetly comes thy presence ending strife,

    Thou god of peace and Heaven's undying joy,

    Oh, hast thou ever left one pain or cloy

    Upon this beauteous world to us so dear?

    To all mankind thou art their goddess here.

    To thee we sing, our holiest, fairest god,

    The One who in that awful chaos trod

    And woke the Elements by Law of Love

    To teeming worlds in harmony to move.

    From chaos thou hast led us by thy hand,

    Thus spoke to man upon that budding land:

    "The Queen of Heaven, of the dawn am I,

    The goddess of all wide immensity,

    For thee I open wide the golden gate

    Of happiness, and for thee love create

    To glorify the heavens and fill with joy

    The earth, its children with sweet love employ."

    Thou gavest then the noblest melody

    And highest bliss--grand nature's harmony.

    With love the finest particle is rife,

    And deftly woven in the woof of life,

    In throbbing dust or clasping grains of sand,

    In globes of glistening dew that shining stand

    On each pure petal, Love's own legacies

    Of flowering verdure, Earth's sweet panoplies;

    By love those atoms sip their sweets and pass

    To other atoms, join and keep the mass

    With mighty forces moving through all space,

    'Tis thus on earth all life has found its place.

    Through Kisar,  Love came formless through the air

    In countless forms behold her everywhere!

    Oh, could we hear those whispering roses sweet,

    Three beauties bending till their petals meet,

    And blushing, mingling their sweet fragrance there

    In language yet unknown to mortal ear.

    Their whisperings of love from morn till night

    Would teach us tenderly to love the right.

    O Love, here stay! Let chaos not return!

    With hate each atom would its lover spurn

    In air above, on land, or in the sea,

    O World, undone and lost that loseth thee!

    For love we briefly come, and pass away

    For other men and maids; thus bring the day

    Of love continuous through this glorious life.

    Oh, hurl away those weapons fierce of strife!

    We here a moment, point of time but live,

    Too short is life for throbbing hearts to grieve.

    Thrice holy is that form that love hath kissed,

    And happy is that man with heart thus blessed.

    Oh, let not curses fall upon that head

    Whom love hath cradled on the welcome bed

    Of bliss, the bosom of our fairest god,

    Or hand of love e'er grasp the venging rod.

    Oh, come, dear Zir-ri,  tune your lyres and lutes,

    And sing of love with chastest, sweetest notes,

    Of Accad's goddess Ishtar, Queen of Love,

    And Izdubar, with softest measure move;

    Great Samas'  son, of him dear Zir-ri sing!

    Of him whom goddess Ishtar warmly wooed,

    Of him whose breast with virtue was imbued.

    He as a giant towered, lofty grown,

    As Babil's  great pa-te-si was he known,

    His armèd fleet commanded on the seas

    And erstwhile travelled on the foreign leas;

    His mother Ellat-gula on the throne

    From Erech all Kardunia ruled alone.

    Column II - The Fall Of Erech

    O Moon-god, hear my cry! With thy pure light

    Oh, take my spirit through that awful night

    That hovers o'er the long-forgotten years,

    To sing Accadia's songs and weep her tears!

    'Twas thus I prayed, when lo! my spirit rose

    On fleecy clouds, enwrapt in soft repose;

    And I beheld beneath me nations glide

    In swift succession by, in all their pride:

    The earth was filled with cities of mankind,

    And empires fell beneath a summer wind.

    The soil and clay walked forth upon the plains

    In forms of life, and every atom gains

    A place in man or breathes in animals;

    And flesh and blood and bones become the walls

    Of palaces and cities, which soon fall

    To unknown dust beneath some ancient wall.

    All this I saw while guided by the stroke

    Of unseen pinions:

                           Then amid the smoke

    That rose o'er burning cities, I beheld

    White Khar-sak-kur-ra's brow arise that held

    The secrets of the gods--that felt the prore

    Of Khasisadra's ark; I heard the roar

    Of battling elements, and saw the waves

    That tossed above mankind's commingled graves.

    The mighty mountain as some sentinel

    Stood on the plains alone; and o'er it fell

    A halo, bright, divine; its summit crowned

    With sunbeams, shining on the earth around

    And o'er the wide expanse of plains;--below

    Lay Khar-sak-kal-ama with light aglow,

    And nestling far away within my view

    Stood Erech, Nipur, Marad, Eridu,

    And Babylon, the tower-city old,

    In her own splendor shone like burnished gold.

    And lo! grand Erech in her glorious days

    Lies at my feet. I see a wondrous maze

    Of vistas, groups, and clustering columns round,

    Within, without the palace;--from the ground

    Of outer staircases, massive, grand,

    Stretch to the portals where the pillars stand.

    A thousand carvèd columns reaching high

    To silver rafters in an azure sky,

    And palaces and temples round it rise

    With lofty turrets glowing to the skies,

    And massive walls far spreading o'er the plains,

    Here live and move Accadia's courtly trains,

    And see! the pit-u-dal-ti  at the gates,

    And masari  patrol and guard the streets!

    And yonder comes a kis-ib, nobleman,

    With a young prince; and see! a caravan

    Winds through the gates! With men the streets are filled!

    And chariots, a people wise and skilled

    In things terrestrial, what science, art,

    Here reign! With laden ships from every mart

    The docks are filled, and foreign fabrics bring

    From peoples, lands, where many an empire, king,

    Have lived and passed away, and naught have left

    In. history or song. Dread Time hath cleft

    Us far apart; their kings and kingdoms, priests

    And bards are gone, and o'er them sweep the mists

    Of darkness backward spreading through all time,

    Their records swept away in every clime.

    Those alabaster stairs let us ascend,

    And through this lofty portal we will wend.

    See! richest Sumir rugs amassed, subdue

    The tilèd pavement with its varied hue,

    Upon the turquoise ceiling sprinkled stars

    Of gold and silver crescents in bright pairs!

    And gold-fringed scarlet curtains grace each door,

    And from the inlaid columns reach the floor:

    From golden rods extending round the halls,

    Bright silken hangings drape the sculptured walls.

    But part those scarlet hangings at the door

    Of yon grand chamber! tread the antique floor!

    Behold the sovereign on her throne of bronze,

    While crouching at her feet a lion fawns;

    The glittering court with gold and gems ablaze

    With ancient splendor of the glorious days

    Of Accad's sovereignty. Behold the ring

    Of dancing beauties circling while they sing

    With amorous forms in moving melody,

    The measure keep to music's harmony.

    Hear! how the music swells from silver lute

    And golden-stringèd lyres and softest flute

    And harps and tinkling cymbals, measured drums,

    While a soft echo from the chamber comes.

    But see! the sovereign lifts her jewelled hand,

    The music ceases at the Queen's command;

    And lo! two chiefs in warrior's array,

    With golden helmets plumed with colors gay,

    And golden shields, and silver coats of mail,

    Obeisance make to her with faces pale,

    Prostrate themselves before their sovereign's throne;

    In silence brief remain with faces prone,

    Till Ellat-gula  speaks: "My chiefs, arise!

    What word have ye for me? what new surprise?

    Tur-tau-u,  rising, says, "O Dannat  Queen!

    Thine enemy, Khum-baba  with Rim-siu 

    With clanging shields, appears upon the hills,

    And Elam's host the land of Sumir fills."

    "Away, ye chiefs! sound loud the nappa-khu! 

    Send to their post each warrior bar-ru!" 

    The gray embattlements rose in the light

    That lingered yet from Samas'  rays, ere Night

    Her sable folds had spread across the sky.

    Thus Erech stood, where in her infancy

    The huts of wandering Accads had been built

    Of soil, and rudely roofed by woolly pelt

    O'erlaid upon the shepherd's worn-out staves,

    And yonder lay their fathers' unmarked graves.

    Their chieftains in those early days oft meet

    Upon the mountains where they Samas greet,

    With their rude sacrifice upon a tree

    High-raised that their sun-god may shilling see

    Their offering divine; invoking pray

    For aid, protection, blessing through the day.

    Beneath these walls and palaces abode

    The spirit of their country--each man trod

    As if his soul to Erech's weal belonged,

    And heeded not the enemy which thronged

    Before the gates, that now were closed with bars

    Of bronze thrice fastened.

                                    See the thousand cars

    And chariots arrayed across the plains!

    The marching hosts of Elam's armèd trains,

    The archers, slingers in advance amassed,

    With black battalions in the centre placed,

    With chariots before them drawn in line,

    Bedecked with brightest trappings iridine.,

    While gorgeous plumes of Elam's horses nod

    Beneath the awful sign of Elam's god.

    On either side the mounted spearsmen far

    Extend; and all the enginery of war

    Are brought around the walls with fiercest shouts,

    And from behind their shields each archer shoots.

    Thus Erech is besieged by her dread foes,

    And she at last must feel Accadia's woes,

    And feed the vanity of conquerors,

    Who boast o'er victories in all their wars.

    Great Subartu  has fallen by Sutu 

    And Kassi,  Goim  fell with Lul-lu-bu, 

    Thus Khar-sak-kal-a-ma  all Eridu 

    O'erran with Larsa's allies; Subartu

    With Duran  thus was conquered by these sons

    Of mighty Shem and strewn was Accad's bones

    Throughout her plains, and mountains, valleys fair,

    Unburied lay in many a wolf's lair.

    Oh, where is Accad's chieftain Izdubar,

    Her mightiest unrivalled prince of war?

    The turrets on the battlemented walls

    Swarm with skilled bowmen, archers--from them falls

    A cloud of wingèd missiles on their foes,

    Who swift reply with shouts and twanging bows;

    And now amidst the raining death appears

    The scaling ladder, lined with glistening spears,

    But see! the ponderous catapults now crush

    The ladder, spearsmen, with their mighty rush

    Of rocks and beams, nor in their fury slacked

    As if a toppling wall came down intact

    Upon the maddened mass of men below.

    But other ladders rise, and up them flow

    The tides of armèd spearsmen with their shields;

    From others bowmen shoot, and each man wields,

    A weapon, never yielding to his foe,

    For death alone he aims with furious blow.

    At last upon the wall two soldiers spring,

    A score of spears their corses backward fling.

    But others take their place, and man to man,

    And spear to spear, and sword to sword, till ran

    The walls with slippery gore; but Erech's men

    Are brave and hurl them from their walls again.

    And now the battering-rams with swinging power

    Commence their thunders, shaking every tower;

    And miners work beneath the crumbling walls,

    Alas! before her foemen Erech falls.

    Vain are suspended chains against the blows

    Of dire assaulting engines.

                                     Ho! there goes

    The eastern wall with Erech's strongest tower!

    And through the breach her furious foemen pour:

    A wall of steel withstands the onset fierce,

    But thronging Elam's spears the lines soon pierce,

    A band of chosen men there fight to die,

    Before their enemies disdain to fly;

    The masari  within the breach thus died,

    And with their dying shout the foe defied.

    The foes swarm through the breach and o'er the walls,

    And Erech in extremity loud calls

    Upon the gods for aid, but prays for naught,

    While Elam's soldiers, to a frenzy wrought,

    Pursue and slay, and sack the city old

    With fiendish shouts for blood and yellow gold.

    Each man that falls the foe decapitates,

    And bears the reeking death to Erech's gates.

    The gates are hidden 'neath the pile of heads

    That climbs above the walls, and outward spreads

    A heap of ghastly plunder bathed in blood.

    Beside them

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