Oh, where are thy temples of ancient renown?

Gone are her brave heroes beneath the red tide,
Gone are her white vessels that rode o'er the main,
No more on the river her pennon shall ride,
Gargan-na is fallen, her people are slain.
Wild asses[23] shall gallop across thy grand floors,
And wild bulls shall paw them and hurl the dust high
Upon the wild cattle that flee through her doors,
And doves shall continue her mournful slave's cry.

Oh, where are the gods of our Erech so proud,
As flies they are swarming away from her halls,
The Sedu[24] of Erech are gone as a cloud,
As wild fowl are flying away from her walls.
Three years did she suffer, besieged by her foes,
Her gates were thrown down and defiled by the feet
Who brought to poor Erech her tears and her woes,
In vain to our Ishtar with prayers we entreat.

To Ishtar bowed down doth our Bel thus reply,
"Come, Ishtar, my queenly one, hide all thy tears,
Our hero, Tar-u-man-i izzu Sar-ri,[25]
In Kipur is fortified with his strong spears.
The hope of Kardunia,[26] land of my delight,
Shall come to thy rescue, upheld by my hands,
Deliverer of peoples, whose heart is aright,
Protector of temples, shall lead his brave bands."

Awake then, brave Accad, to welcome the day!
Behold thy bright banners yet flaming on high,
Triumphant are streaming on land and the sea!
Arise, then, O Accad! behold the Sami![27]
Arranged in their glory the mighty gods come
In purple and gold the grand Tam-u[8] doth shine
Over Erech, mine Erech, my beautiful home,
Above thy dear ashes, behold thy god's sign!

[Footnote 1: "O Moon-god, hear my cry!" ("Siu lici unnini!") the name of
the author of the Izdubar epic upon which our poem is based.]

[Footnote 2: "Khar-sak-kur-ra," the Deluge mountain on which the ark of
Khasisadra (the Accadian Noah) rested.]

[Footnote 3: "Khar-sak-kal-ama" is a city mentioned in the Izdubar epic,
and was probably situated at the base of Khar-sak-kur-ra, now called Mount
Elwend. The same mountain is sometimes called the "Mountain of the World"
in the inscriptions, where the gods were supposed to sometimes reside.]

[Footnote 4: "Pit-u-dal-ti," openers of the gates.]

[Footnote 5: "Masari," guards of the great gates of the city, etc.]

[Footnote 6: "Ellat-gula," the queen of Erech, the capital