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I: The Tablet of the First

I sing of the first
Servants of the fallen
Servants of the children
Keepers of the holy names

I sing of the first
Who made sacrifices to the fallen
Who sacrificed their enemies
Who sacrificed cattle
Who sacrificed prisoners
Who sacrificed slaves
Who sacrificed themselves

I sing of the first
Who disgraced Abzu's eye
Who disturbed Abzu's rest
Who incurred Abzu's wrath
Abzu appeared to them
The fallen did not help
Abzu appeared to them
The children did not help
Abzu appeared to them
The holy names did not help
Abzu slew the first
Threw them into the abyss
To the dead flesh of their victims

I sing of the first
Beaten and dismembered
Waiting in the abyss
When Abzu shed blood and tears
When he saw what he had done
His blood and his tears
Into the abyss

I sing of the first
They drank Abzu's blood
They drank Abzu's tears
They were created anew
Three of them were created anew
And Abzu took them unto himself

I sing of the first
Three arose
Three wrestled each other
Three parted company
Andramelech awoke
Nergal awoke
The crone awoke
They parted company
Andramelech flew from the sun
Nergal searched the sun
The crone took to the sun

I sing of the greatest among the first
I sing of the lord of pestilence
I sing of the lord of flies
I sing of Nergal
Searching the sun
And finding the dark

I sing of the city of Nergal
I sing of the beautiful city
I sing of the wonderful city
I sing of the city of Nergal
And of its fall
Nergal called the name
Nergal called the holy name
And the name called back
Nergal sacrificed the city
Nergal sacrificed the dwellers in the city
Nergal sacrificed the life of the city
But the fallen one slept
But the child slept
But the name went unheard

I sing of the gods
The gods were wrathful
The gods were angry

The gods heard the noise
The noise of the dying city
The call of Nergal
The echo of the name
The gods arose
And cast Nergal down
And burned the city
And destroyed the city
And drowned the city
And all within
I sing of the fall of Nergal
The fall into the dark
The fall into the dust
The fall into the stale water
He fell through the seven gates
Unheeded by the guardians
He fell before the throne of the queen
Ereshkigal, queen of the night
Ereshkigal, queen of the dead
Ereshkigal, empress of the darkness

I sing of Ereshkigal
The queen of the night
The queen of the dead
The empress of the darkness
And the fallen god
Nergal stood before the throne
The throne of Ereshkigal
And he saw her beauty
And he saw her wonderful body
And they made love
Seven days and seven nights
They made love
But Nergal arose again
And Ereshkigal cried
Ereshkigal pleaded
Ereshkigal cursed
If Nergal did not return to her
She would send out the dead
She would send out the dead
And make the dead outnumber the living
And make the dead destroy the living
And make the dead devour the living
This was her curse

III: The Tablet of Creation

When the heaven bore no name
When the earth bore no name
When Apsu, creator, united
His waters with those of Tiamat
When no gods had been named
When no gods knew their fate
The gods were born from them

Lahmu and Lahamu were born
Their names were spoken
They grew for times
In age and form

They created Anshar and Kishar
They were brothers
They were greater than those
Who preceeded them
They extended the days
They extended the years
They extended the ages
They served Apsu
They served Tiamat
They served Lahmu and Lahamu

Before the other gods were called by name
Before the other gods knew their fate
The brothers served the elder ones
And did their work
Anshar was good in the eyes of the gods
Kishar was evil in the eyes of the gods
The gods loved Anshar
The gods loved Anshar's gifts
The gods loved Anshar's deeds
The gods hated Kishar
The gods hated Kishar's gifts
The gods hated Kishar's deeds

Kishar arose
Raging Kishar arose
Raging Kishar turned against his brother
Raging he slew his brother

The gods were abhorred by this deed
They cursed Kishar
They marked Kishar
They exiled their flesh
They exiled it from the waters
Kishar walked in solitude

Kishar stole Anshar's heart
Kishar stole Anshar's blood
Kishar stole Anshar's eye
From these he formed animals
To give to him solace in his solitude

Tiamat shed tears
Tiamat shed salty tears
For among the gods
She alone loved Kishar
She alone loved Kishar more than Anshar
Tiamat followed Kishar into the land
Which Kishar traversed
She searched for him for days
She searched for him for years
She searched for him for ages

Tiamat found Kishar among the animals
Kishar lived among the animals
Kishar lived alone among the animals
She went near him
Tiamat went near him
And she gave solace to Kishar
And she awakened Kishar's blood
And she taught him the power of the blood
And she taught him the bond of the blood
And she taught him the curse of the blood
And Kishar learned

When Tiamat left Kishar
Kishar knew the power of the blood
Kishar knew the bond of the blood
Kishar knew the curse of the blood

Kishar turned towards the animals
He called the animals to himself
And he chose those animals
Who were dearest to him
And he gave them his blood
They shared the power of the blood
They shared the bond of the blood
They shared the curse of the blood
Together they departed

Kishar took rocks
And piled them up
Piled them up to become a wall
Kishar built a city
Kishar built a mighty city
In which he lived
In which his children lived
In which they ruled mankind

Kishar spoke to his children
He spoke to the children of his children
About the gods
They wanted to become like them
They wanted to become like unto the gods
And they called themselves gods
They showed themselves to mankind as gods
And they accepted their sacrifice

Apsu and Tiamat were enraged
Enraged by the gods
Enraged by the children of Kishar
And they increased
Their bodies increased
Their rage inflamed the gods
Their rage burnt the gods
And the gods turned against each other
And the waters swallowed the city

V: The Tablet of Doom

When the heavens above had not been named
When the earth below had not been named
When Abzu the sweet water
When Tiamat the salty water
When their waters united
The gods were begat
Lahmu and Lahamu
From them Anshar and Kishar
From them Anu
From him Enki
From him the gods

Their clamor disturbed Tiamat
Their clamor disturbed Abzu
Abzu arose to kill the gods
But Enki saw through his plan
Enki slew Abzu
And placed his body in the empty space
Laid him into the cave of heaven
But his blood screamed for Tiamat
And Tiamat arose, enraged

Tiamat created monsters
Tiamat created demons
Tiamat created dragons
And she sent them against the gods
But Enki slew the monsters
But Enki banned the demons
But Enki destroyed the dragons
Then Tiamat turned against Enki
Tiamat cast herself against Enki
But Enki wrestled her down
Enki slew her
Enki parted her body
He raised one half
And formed the sky
He lowered one half
And formed the earth
He took the flesh of the dragon Kingu
He took the blood of the dragon Kingu
He took the eye of the dragon Kingu
And formed man from them
Formed man
To serve the gods

Man served the gods
But his clamor disturbed the gods
The gods drowned the men
Only one man would live
Only one man would live forever
The new men had to die
They were not to live forever
So that their clamor
Was not to disturb the gods

The gods collected the men
They collected them in cities
To know their numbers
They left their city
And moved into the cities of men
They left their bodies
And moved into the bodies of men
They sent their bodies among them
And accepted their sacrifices

So the men work
So the men serve the gods
So the gods guard the men

But there will be a time
A horrible time
A time of pestilence
A time of war
A time of grief
A time will come
When the dead will rise
When the dead gods will rise
When the war will rage anew
When the gods will fight among themselves
And the men die

It will be a time
When the gods leave us
When the gods accept no more sacrifices
When the gods turn away
When the gods ascend to the heavens

They will leave the men
And the men will not cry
The men will not know
What they have lost
But they will know
When the gods are gone

A people will fall
A people will not see the sun again
The sun itself will turn against them
Shammash will turn against them
The gods will turn against them
For they heed the old call
For they follow the old gods
For they call the names

The battle will rage
The gods will quarrel
The men will quarrel
The people will be swallowed
But the gods will not return
No god will return
For their time has ended
Their time has passed
Their time will not return

The war will be waged
The war will be waged in silence
The men will not see it
They will no longer see the gods
But the war will not end
The war will go on