And I will go to Elli-tar-du-si,
Great Anu's seat and Ishtar's where with thee,
I will behold the giant Izdubar,
Whose fame is known to me as king of war;
And I will meet him there, and test the power
Of him whose fame above all men doth tower.
A _mid-dan-nu_[4] to Erech I will take,
To see if he its mighty strength can break.
In these wild caves its strength has mighty grown;
If he the beast destroys, I will make known
His dream to him--e'en all the seer doth know;
And now with thee to Erech I will go.

[Footnote 1: "Bhu-ri," wild-beasts, pets of the hermit seer.]

[Footnote 2: "Su-bu-ri," the lofty.]

[Footnote 3: "Sam-kha-tu" or "Samkha."]

[Transcriber's Note: Footnote 3 looks like it should be two lines down
from where it is; this is probably an error.]

[Footnote 4: "Mid-dan-nu," a carnivorous animal, supposed to be a tiger;
the Khorsabad sculpture, however, portrays it as a lion.]



COLUMN V

FESTIVAL IN HONOR OF HEABANI, WHO ARRIVES AT ERECH--INTERPRETATION OF THE