Seventh Tablet

O Asari, giver of plantations, the one who sets the season for sowing, you who bring forth grain and fibrous plants, and make the garden herbs spring up. O Asaru-Alim, weighty in the council chamber and rich in counsel, the one whom the gods honour with reverence. O Asaru-Alim-Nuna, the beloved light of the Father who begat him, you who set straight the course appointed by Anu, Bel, and Ea. He is their patron, the one who fixed their order; his drink is abundance, and he goes forth in plenty.

O Tutu, creator of renewed life, provider of what the gods require, so that they may be satisfied. Let Tutu speak an incantation and the gods are stilled; let them rise against him in anger and he withstands them. Let him be raised high upon a throne in the assembly of the gods, for none among the gods is like him. O Tutu, called Zi-Ukkina, the life of the host of the gods, who established the shining heavens for them, who founded their paths and fixed their courses. Among men his deeds shall not be forgotten.

O Tutu, called Zi-Azag, holder of holiness, god of the favourable wind, lord of adoration and grace, creator of fullness and abundance, establisher of plenty. He turns what is little into what is much; in hard straits his favouring breeze has been felt. Let the gods declare it, let them magnify it, let them sing his praises. O Tutu, called Aga-Azag, let men exult. He is lord of the holy incantation, the one who makes the dead live. He had compassion on the gods who were held fast, and he set upon his enemies the yoke that had weighed on them. In mercy towards them he created mankind, the merciful one who has power to give life. His words endure; they are not forgotten from the mouths of those he has made.

O Tutu, called Mu-Azag, let mouths recite a holy incantation to him, for by his own holy incantation he destroyed the evil ones. O Shazu, wise heart of the gods, you who search the inward parts, who do not allow the worker of evil to go forth at your side, establisher of the company of the gods and setter of their hearts, reducer of the disobedient.

Truly, he holds their beginning and their end. They said: the one who entered the midst of Tiamat does not rest. His name shall be Nibiru, the one who seizes the middle. He shall set the courses of the stars of heaven; he shall gather the whole company of the gods like sheep. He shall take Tiamat captive, split open her treasure, and lay her open.

For men who come after, long after, let these words be heard without ceasing, and let them endure for all time, because he made the heavenly places and shaped the stable earth. Father Bel proclaimed his name, Lord of the Lands, and all the Igigi repeated the title. Ea heard and rejoiced, saying that the one whose title delighted his fathers shall be as Ea is, and his name shall be Ea. He shall command the benefits of Ea’s rites, and make Ea’s instructions take effect. By the title of Fifty the great gods proclaimed his names fifty times, and magnified his going.

Let whoever comes first take these names and repeat them. Let the wise and the learned reflect on them all. Let the father repeat them to his son, so that he may hold them fast. Let these names open the ears of shepherd and herdsman. Let people rejoice in Marduk, the Lord of the Gods, so that the land may be fertile and they may live in safety. His word is true; his command does not change. No god has ever brought down what goes forth from his mouth. Though they treated him with contempt, he did not turn back. No god can withstand his wrath at its height. His heart is large, and his mercy is great. Before him sin and wickedness cannot stand; and the one who comes first speaks his complaint of humiliation before him.