o her full height, and
planted her feet firmly on the earth. She pronounced an incantation,
recited her formula, and called to her aid the gods of the combat,
both them and their weapons. They drew near one to another, Tiamat and
Marduk, wisest of the gods: They flung themselves into the combat, they
met one another in the struggle. Then the master unfolded his net and
seized her; he caused the hurricane which waited behind him to pass
in front of him, and, when Tiamat opened her mouth to swallow him, he
thrust the hurricane into it so that the monster could not close her
jaws again. The mighty wind filled her paunch, her breast swelled, her
maw was split. Marduk gave a straight thrust with his lance, burst
open the paunch, pierced the interior, tore the breast, then bound the
monster and deprived her of life. When he had vanquished Tiamat, who had
been their leader, her army was disbanded, her host was scattered, and
the gods, her allies, who had marched beside her, trembled, were scared,
and fled." He seized hold of them, and of Kingu their chief, and brought
them bound in chains before the throne of his father.

He had saved the gods from ruin, but this was the least part of
his task; he had still to sweep out of space the huge carcase which
encumbered it, and to separate its ill-assorted elements, and arrange
them afresh for the benefit of the conquerors. He returned to Tiamat
whom he had bound in chains. He placed his foot upon her, with his
unerring knife he cut into the upper part of her; then he cut the
blood-vessels, and caused the blood to be carried by the north wind to
the hidden places. And the gods saw his face, they rejoiced, they gave
themselves up to gladness, and sent him a present, a tribute of peace;
then he recovered his calm, he contemplated the corpse, raised it and
wrought marvels.

[Illustration: 010.jpg A KUFA LADEN WITH STONES, AND MANNED BY A CREW OF
FOUR MEN.]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a bas-relief at Koyunjik.
Behind the _kufa_ may be seen a fisherman seated astride on
an inflated skin with his fish-basket attached to his neck.

He split it in two as one does a fish for drying; then he hung up one of
the halves on high, which became the heavens; the other half he spread
out under his feet to form the earth, and made the universe such as
men have since known it. As in Egypt, the world was a kind of enclosed
chamber balanced on the bosom of the eternal waters.* The eart