eluge fragment from Nippur, where the boat in which
Ut-napishtim escapes is assigned the very similar title "Preserver of
Life".(1) But _niggilma_ is not the word used in the Sumerian Version
of Ziusudu's boat, and I am inclined to suggest a meaning for it in
connexion with the magical element in the text, of the existence of
which there is other evidence. On that assumption, the prominence given
to its creation may be paralleled in the introduction to a later magical
text, which described, probably in connexion with an incantation,
the creation of two small creatures, one white and one black, by
Nin-igi-azag, "The Lord of Clear Vision", one of the titles borne by
Enki or Ea. The time of their creation is indicated as after that
of "cattle, beasts of the field and creatures of the city", and the
composition opens in a way which is very like the opening of the present
passage in our text.(2) In neither text is there any idea of giving
a complete account of the creation of the world, only so much of the
original myth being included in each case as suffices for the writer's
purpose. Here we may assume that the creation of mankind and of animals
is recorded because they were to be saved from the Flood, and that of
the _niggilma_ because of the part it played in ensuring their survival.

(1) See Hilprecht, _Babylonian Expedition_, Series D, Vol.
V, Fasc. 1, plate, Rev., l. 8; the photographic reproduction
clearly shows, as Dr. Poebel suggests (_Hist. Texts_, p. 61
n 3), that the line should read: _((isu)elippu) si-i lu
(isu)ma-gur-gur-ma sum-sa lu na-si-rat na-pis-tim_, "That
ship shall be a _magurgurru_ (giant boat), and its name
shall be 'Preserver of Life' (lit. 'She that preserves
life')."

(2) See _Seven Tablets of Creation_, Vol. I, pp. 122 ff. The
text opens with the words "When the gods in their assembly
had made (the world), and had created the heavens, and had
formed the earth, and had brought living creatures into
being . . .", the lines forming an introduction to the
special act of creation with which the composition was
concerned.

The discussion of the meaning of _niggilma_ may best be postponed till
the Sixth Column, where we find other references to the word. Meanwhile
it may be noted that in the present passage the creation of man precedes
that of animals, as it did in the earlier Hebrew Version of Creation,
and probably also in t