45. He brought her through the second gate, he made it wide, he took the ornaments from her ears. "Why, O keeper, hast thou taken the ornaments from my ears?" He brought her through the third gate, he made it wide, he took the "Why, O keeper, hast thou taken the necklace from my neck?" 50. "Enter, O lady, for such are the commands of Allat." He brought her through the fourth gate, he made it wide, he took the ornaments from her breasts. "Why, O keeper, hast thou taken the ornaments from my breast?” "Enter, my lady, for such are the commands of Allat." He brought her through the fifth gate, he made it wide, he took the girdle with birth-stones from her waist. 55. "Why, O keeper, hast thou taken the girdle with birth-stones from my waist?" "Enter, my lady, for such are the commands of Allat." He brought her through the sixth gate, he made it wide, he took the bracelets from her hands and feet. "Why, O keeper, hast thou taken the bracelets from my hands and feet?" "Enter, my lady, for such are the commands of Allat." 60. He brought her through the seventh gate, he made it wide, he took the breech-cloth from her body. "Why, O keeper, hast thou taken the breech-cloth from my body?” "Enter, my lady, for such are the commands of Allat." When Ishtar had gone down to the land of No-return, Allat saw her and became enraged at her. 65. Ishtar took no heed; she sat down above her. Allat opened her mouth and spake, Ishtar, To Namtar, her messenger, she addressed a word: 75. Against her altogether.. After Ishtar, the lady, [went down to the land of No-return] The bull with the cow did not unite, nor the ass approach the she-ass; The man in the street no more approached the maid; The man slept in his chamber, 80. The maid slept by her oven. Papsukal, messenger of the great gods, was sad of countenance before [Shamash], Clad in mourning, wearing foul garments. Then went Shamash into the presence of Sin, his father; he wept, Before Ea, the king, his tears flowed: 85. "Ishtar has gone down into the earth; she has not come up. Since Ishtar went down to the land of No-return, The bull with the cow does not unite, nor the ass approach the she ass; The man no more approaches the maid in the street; The man sleeps in his chamber, 90. The maid sleeps by her oven. Then Ea in the wisdom of his heart created a man, He created Asushunamir, the priest. "Go, Asushunamir, to the gate of the land without return set thy face, The seven gates of the land without return shall be opened before thee, 95. Allat shall behold thee, and shall rejoice in thy presence. When her heart has been appeased, and her soul revived, Conjure her also by the name of the great gods. Turn thy thoughts to the skin which pours forth life: 'O lady, give me the skin which pours forth life, that I may drink water from it.' 100. When Allat heard this, She beat upon her thigh, she bit her finger: "Thou hast uttered a wish not to be wished. Go, Asushunamir; I curse thee with a great curse. The sewage of the gutters of the city shall be thy food, 105. The cesspools of the city shall be thy drink, The shadow of the walls shall be thy dwelling, The thresholds shall be thy habitation, Confinement and privation shall shatter thy strength." 110. To Namtar, her messenger, she addressed the word: Tap at the thresholds of gleaming (?) stones, Bring out the Annunaki,1 seat them on golden thrones, Sprinkle Ishtar with the water of life and bring her before me." 115. Namtar went, he knocked at the palace of justice, He tapped at the thresholds of gleaming (?) stones, He brought forth the Annunaki, he seated them on golden thrones, He brought her out of the first gate, he restored to her the breech-cloth 120. He brought her through the second gate, he restored to her the bracelets of her hands and feet; He brought her through the third gate, he restored to her the girdle with birth-stones for her waist; He brought her through the fourth gate, he restored to her the ornaments of her breasts; He brought her through the fifth gate, he restored to her the necklace of her neck; He brought her through the sixth gate, he restored to her the ornaments of her ears; 125. He brought her through the seventh gate, he restored to her the crown of her head. (End of legend. The priest begins:) "If she does not grant to thee her release, turn to her again; To Tammuz, the beloved of her youth, Pour out water, offer good oil, With red clothing clothe him, let him play a flute of lapis lazuli. 130. Let the joyful maidens turn,.. When Belili has established her ritual, With precious stones her bosom is filled." The wailing for her brother she heard; Belili interrupted the ritual of.... 1 The spirits of earth. (Voice from the dead.) 135. "My only brother, harm me not; On the day of Tammuz, play for me the lapis lazuli flute, play the Santuflute with it, When the wailing men and women play with it, Let the dead return, let them smell incense." The description of the darkness of the under-world and the sad conditions of life with which this poem begins, shows that the Babylonians shared the gloomy views of Sheol which Isa. 14:9-11 and Ezek. 32:21-31 express. The middle of the poem expresses the view of the ancient Semites, that the goddess of love once went down to the under-world, and that as a result all propagation of life ceased on the earth. The end of it alludes to the later belief that the goddess went down every year for her beloved Tammuz who had died, and the wailing alluded to is that spoken of by Ezekiel in Ezek. 8:14, where the prophet says he saw women wailing for Tammuz. The kind of sentiment uttered in this wailing the next extract will illustrate. 5. A Lamentation for Tammuz.1 The lord of destiny (?) lives no more, the lord of destiny (?) lives no more. The bewailed one (?) lives no more, the lord of destiny (?) lives no more. 5. My son lives no more. Dagalushumgalanna lives no more. The lord of Arallu lives no more. The lord of Durgurgurru lives no more. The shepherd, the lord Tammuz lives no more. The brother of the mother of wine lives no more. 15. The powerful lord of the land lives no more. When he slumbers the sheep and lambs slumber also. When he slumbers the goats and kids slumber also. As for me, to the abode of the deep will I turn my thoughts, To the abode of the great ones I turn my thoughts. 20. "O hero, my lord, ah me," I will say, "Food I eat not," I will say, "Water I drink not," I will say, "My good husbandman," I will say, 25. “Thy lord, the exalted one, to the nether world has taken his way, Thy lord, the exalted one, to the nether world has taken his way." 1 Translated from Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets, &c., in the British Museum, Part XV, 18. On account of the exalted one of the nether world, him of the radiant face, yea, radiant, On account of the exalted one of the nether world, him of the dovelike voice, yea, dovelike, On account of the exalted one, the lord, on account of the lord, 30. Food I eat not on account of the lord, Water I drink not, on account of the lord. "My good maiden, because of the lord, My good husbandman, on account of the lord, The hero, your lord has been destroyed, 35. The god of grain, the child, your lord, has been destroyed." His kindly look gives peace no more, His kindly voice imparts cheer (?) no more; in his place, like a dog he sleeps; My lord in his... 40. Alone is he, himself, slumbers like a raven My lord, for whom the wail is raised. (Forty-one lines-a psalm on the flute to Tammuz.) This poem illustrates what Ezekiel may have heard in vision, when in spirit he was brought to the northern gate of the temple, and heard women wailing for Tammuz (Ezek. 8:14). CHAPTER XXV REPUTED SAYINGS OF JESUS FOUND IN EGYPT EARLY COLLECTIONS OF THE WORDS OF JESUS. TRANSLATION OF SAYINGS FOUND IN 1897. COMMENTS. TRANSLATION OF A LEAF FOUND IN 1904. COMMENTS. OPINIONS AS TO THESE SAYINGS. THE Gospel of Luke begins with the words: "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us,"-words which imply that there were in the early Church many attempts at Gospel writing. Some of these attempts apparently took the form of collecting the sayings of Jesus. At Oxyrhynchus in Egypt two different leaves of papyrus have been found on which such sayings are written. The first of these was found by Grenfell and Hunt in 1897; (Fig. 301). It begins in the middle of a sentence, but it is a sentence the beginning of which can be supplied from Matt. 7:5. When complete the sentence runs thus:1 [Jesus saith, Cast out first the beam from thine own eye], and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brother's eye. On this saying compare Matt. 7:5; Luke 6:42. The second one runs: Jesus saith, Except ye fast to the world, ye shall in no wise find the kingdom of God; and except ye keep the sabbath, ye shall not see the Father. This saying does not occur in the Gospels, and has given rise to wide discussion among scholars. The third is as follows: 1 These sayings are translated from Grenfell and Hunt's Sayings of Our Lord, 1897, with a comparison of Lock and Sanday's Two Lectures on the Sayings of Jesus Recently Discovered at Oxyrhynchus, 1897. |