ion of the ocean[448] is thine,
Mankind, the black-headed race,[449]
The living creatures, as many as there are, and exist on earth,
As many as there are in the four quarters,
The Igigi of the legions of heaven and earth,
As many as there are,
To thee do they incline (?).
Thou art the _shedu_, thou art the _lamassu_.
Thou restorest the dead to life, thou bringest things to
completeness (?).
O merciful one among the gods!

One scarcely detects any difference between such a hymn and those to Sin
and Nebo. The lines are adapted, like the other specimens, for
recitation by two parties. The last line forms a solemn close to a
section of this hymn. In the section that follows, the same character is
maintained till we approach the close, when the exorciser steps in and
asks Marduk to

Expel the disease of the sick man,
The plague, the wasting disease ...

and the various classes of demons, _utukku, alu,_ etc., are introduced.

Compare this now with some passages in a prayer addressed to
Marduk:[450]

A resting-place for the lord (of E-sagila) is thy house.
A resting-place for the lord of E-makh-tila is thy house.
E-sagila, the house of thy sovereignty, is thy house.
May the city speak 'rest'[451] to thee--thy house.
May Babylon speak peace to thee[452]--thy house.
May the great Anu, the father of the gods, tell thee when there will
be rest.
May the great mountain, the father of the gods,[453] tell thee when
there will be rest.

...

Look favorably upon thy house,
Look favorably upon the city, O lord of rest!
May he restore to his place the bolt Babylon, the enclosure E-sagila,
the edifice E-zida,[454]
May the gods of heaven and earth speak to thee, O lord of rest.

Here we have specific references to Marduk. Everything about the city of
Babylon is associated with the god. The great gods pay homage to Marduk.
The whole hymn, conceived as a royal prayer to the god, clearly formed
part of the ritual prepared for the great Marduk temple at Babylon. The
hymn closes, as so many others, with a prayer on behalf of the king. The
god is asked

To establish firmly the foundation of the throne of his sovereignty,
So that he may nourish (?) mankind to distant days.

'Rest,' in the liturgical language, implied cessation of anger. Marduk,
as the 'lord of rest,' was the pacified deity; and since it was a
necessary condition in obtaining an answer to petition