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THE SEVEN EVIL SPIRITS
R.C. Thompson, translator [The Devils and Evil
Spirits of Babylonia, London 1903].[1]
Raging storms, evil
gods are they
Ruthless demons, who in heaven's vault were created, are
they,
Workers of evil are they,
They lift up the head to evil, every day
to evil
Destruction to work.
Of these seven the first is the South
wind...
The second is a dragon, whose mouth is opened...
That none can
measure.
The third is a grim leopard, which carries off the young ...
The
fourth is a terrible Shibbu ...
The fifth is a furious Wolf, who knoweth not
to flee,
The sixth is a rampant ... which marches against god and
king.
The seventh is a storm, an evil wind, which takes vengeance,
Seven
are they, messengers to King Anu are they,
From city to city darkness work
they,
A hurricane, which mightily hunts in the heavens, are they
Thick
clouds, that bring darkness in heaven, are they,
Gusts of wind rising, which
cast gloom over the bright day, are they,
With the Imkhullu [2] the evil
wind, forcing their way, are they,
The overflowing of Adad [3] mighty
destroyers, are they,
At the right of Adad stalking, are they,
In the
height of heaven, like lightning flashing, are they,
To wreak destruction
forward go they ,
In the broad heaven, the home of Anu, the King, evilly do
they arise, and none to oppose.
When Enlil heard these tidings, a plan in his
heart he pondered,
With Ea, exalted Massu of the gods, be took counsel. Sin,
Shamash, and Ishtar, whom he had set to order the vault of heaven,
With Anu
he divided the lordship of the whole heaven,
To these three gods, his
offspring
Day and night, without ceasing, he ordained to stand,
When the
seven evil gods stormed the vault of heaven,
Before the gleaming Sin, they
set themselves angrily, [4]
The mighty Shamash, Adad the warrior, they
brought on their side,
Ishtar, with Anu the King, moved into a shining
dwelling, exercising dominion over the heavens,
[Nearly ten lines here
are unreadable.]
Day and night he was dark (i.e., Sin), in the dwelling
of his dominion he sat not down,
The evil gods, the messengers of Anu, the
King, are they,
Raising their evil heads, in the night shaking themselves,
are they,
Evil searching out, are they,
From the heaven, like a wind, over
the land rush they.
Enlil saw the darkening of the hero Sin in heaven,
The
lord spoke to his minister Nusku,
O My minister Nusku, my message unto the
ocean bring,
The tidings of my son Sin, who in heaven has been sadly
darkened,
Unto Ea, in the ocean, announce it."
Nusku exalted the word of
his lord,
To Ea, in the ocean, he went quickly,
To the prince, the exalted
Massu the lord Nudimmud.[5]
Nusku, the word of his lord there announced Ea in
the ocean heard that word,
He bit his lip and filled his mouth with
wailing;
Ea called his son Marduk, and gave him the message:
"Go, my son
Marduk,
Son of a prince, the gleaming Sin has been sadly darkened in
heaven,
His darkening is seen in the heavens,
The seven evil gods,
death-dealing, fearless are they,
The seven evil gods, like a flood, rush on,
the land they fall upon, do they,
Against the land, like a storm, they rise,
do they,
Before the gleaming Sin, they set themselves angrily;
The mighty
Shamash, Adad the warrior, they brought on their side."
NOTES:
[1]
This story is the sixteenth tablet of a series called the "Evil Demon Series,"
of which we have an Assyrian with a parallel Sumerian text. Presumably,
therefore, it was a very ancient legend.
[2] The Imkhullu appears also in the
Creation Epic.
[3] Adad is god of storm, Anu of heaven, Enlil of storm, Sin
of the Moon, Shamash of the Sun, and Ishtar of love and fruitfulness. The
meaning of Massu is unknown; but Ea was long the chief ruler.
[4] The evil
gods darken the moon by an eclipse, Shamash helping them by withdrawing his
light from the moon, and Adad by sending cloudy weather.
[5] A name for
Ea.
DESCRIPTIONS OF "THE SEVEN"
I
Destructive storms and evil
winds are they,
A storm of evil, presaging the baneful storm,
A storm of
evil, forerunner of the baneful storm.
Mighty children, mightv sons are
they,
Messengers of Namtar are they,
Throne-bearers of Ereshkigal.
[1]
The flood driving through the land are they.
Seven gods of the wide
heavens,
Seven gods of the broad earth,
Seven robber-gods are
they.
Seven gods of universal sway,
Seven evil gods,
Seven evil
demons,
Seven evil and violent demons,
Seven in heaven, seven on
earth.
II
Neither male nor female are they.
Destructive whirlwinds
they,
Having neither wife nor offspring.
Compassion and mercy they do not
know.
Prayer and supplication they do not hear.
Horses reared in the
mountains, Hostile to Ea.
Throne-bearers of the gods are they.
Standing on
the highway, befouling the street. Evil are they, evil are they,
Seven they
are, seven they are, Twice seven they are.
III
The high enclosures,
the broad enclosures like a flood they pass through.
From house to house they
dash along.
No door can shut them out,
No bolt can turn them
back.
Through the door, like a snake, they glide,
Through the hinge, like
the wind, they storm.
Tearing the wife from the embrace of the
man,
Snatching the child from the knees of a man,
Driving the freedman
from his family home.
[1 ]The mistress of the netherworld, while Namtar
is the god of pestilence.
CHARM AGAINST THE SEVEN EVIL
SPIRITS
Seven are they, seven are they!
In the channel of the deep
seven are they!
In the radiance of heaven seven are they!
In the channel
of the deep in a palace grew they up.
Male they are not, female they are
not.
In the midst of the deep are their paths.
Wife they have not, son
they have not.
Order and kindness know they not.
Prayer and supplication
hear they not.
The cavern in the mountain they enter.
Unto Hea are they
hostile.
The throne-bearers of the gods are they.
Disturbing the lily in
the torrents are they set.
Baleful are they, baleful are they.
Seven are
they, seven are they, seven twice again are they.
May the spirits of heaven
remember, may the spirits of earth remember.
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MESOPOTAMIA