a sanctuary of the gods is decorated, the place where they shall give their oracles shall be thy place.*** Marduk, it is thou who art our avenger!  We bestow on thee the attributes of a king; the whole of all that exists, thou hast it, and everywhere thy word shall be exalted.  Thy weapons shall not be turned aside, they shall strike thy enemy.  O master, who trusts in thee, spare thou, his life; but the god who hath done evil, put out his life like water.  They clad their champion in a garment, and thus addressed him:  ’Thy will, master, shall be that of the gods.  Speak the word, ‘Let it be so,’ it shall be so.  Thus open thy mouth, this garment shall disappear; say unto it, ‘Return,’ and the garment shall be there.”  He spoke with his lips, the garment disappeared; he said unto it, “Return,” and the garment was restored.

* The Assyrian runs, “thy destiny is second to none.”  This refers not to the destiny of the god himself, but to the fate which he allots to others.  I have substituted, here and elsewhere, for the word “destiny,” the special meaning of which would not have been understood, the word “will,” which, though it does not exactly reproduce the Assyrian expression, avoids the necessity for paraphrases or formulas calculated to puzzle the modern reader.

     ** Or, to put it less concisely, “When thou commandest, it
     is Anu himself who commands,” and the same blind obedience
     must be paid to thee as to Anu.

     *** The meaning is uncertain.  The sentence seems to convey
     that henceforth Merodach would be at home in all temples
     that were constructed in honour of the other gods.

Merodach having been once convinced by this evidence that he had the power of doing everything and of undoing everything at his pleasure, the gods handed to him the sceptre, the throne, the crown, the insignia of supreme rule, and greeted him with their acclamations:  “Be King!—­Go!  Cut short the life of Tiamat, and let the wind carry her blood to the hidden extremities of the universe."* He equipped himself carefully for the struggle.  “He made a bow and placed his mark upon it;"** he had a spear brought to him and fitted a point to it; the god lifted the lance, brandished it in his right hand, then hung the bow and quiver at his side.  He placed a thunderbolt before him, filled his body with a devouring flame, then made a net in which to catch the anarchic Tiamat; he placed the four winds in such a way that she could not escape, south and north, east and west, and with his own hand he brought them the net, the gift of his father Anu.  “He created the hurricane, the evil wind, the storm, the tempest, the four winds, the seven winds, the waterspout, the wind that is second to none; then he let loose the winds he had created, all seven of them, in order to bewilder the anarchic Tiamat by charging behind her.  And the master of the waterspout raised his mighty weapon, he mounted his chariot, a work without its equal, formidable; he installed himself therein, tied the four reins to the side, and darted forth, pitiless, torrent-like, swift.”