ABSTRACT
Inordertoplacethereaderatonceinthemidst ofthestrangeworldintowhichIaskhimtofollow me,Ishallnowreproduceinitsentiretytheformulre ofthistablet,thoseatleastwhichitispossibleto interpret,fortherearestillsomephraseswhichdefy explanation,andIshallaccompanymytranslation withshortnotes.Ihavebeenprecededinthis undertakingbyM.Oppert,withwhominmostcases Iagreeperfectly.Shouldanyone,however,wishto compareourtwotranslations,hewillfindsome differences,whichalmostallresultfromthefact, thatthelearnedProfessoroftheCollegeofFrance hastranslatedfromtheAssyrianversion,whileI
havepreferredtoadheretotheoriginalAccadian text.TheAssyrianversionisbynomeansalways aliteralone;andofthisthereadermayjudgefor himself,asIhaveannotatedallthepassagesin whichitdiffersfromtheearlieroriginal.The Accadiantextappearstobedividedintorhythmical verses,eachofwhichformsaseparatelineuponthe tablet;Ihavemarkedthesedivisionscarefully.
