life, which occurred not only before Moses lay cradled on the waters of an
Egyptian canal, but before Egypt had a single temple or pyramid, three
millenniums before the very dawn of history in the valley of the Nile.

But the interest of Assyrian Literature is not confined to hymns, or even
to inscriptions. A nameless poet has left in the imperishable tablets of a
Babylonian library an epic poem of great power and beauty. This is the
Epic of Izdubar.

At Dur-Sargina, the city where stood the palace of Assyrian monarchs three
thousand years ago, were two gigantic human figures, standing between the
winged bulls, carved in high relief, at the entrance of the royal
residence. These human figures are exactly alike, and represent the same
personage--a Colossus with swelling thews, and dressed in a robe of
dignity. He strangles a lion by pressing it with brawny arm against his
side, as if it were no more than a cat. This figure is that of Izdubar, or
Gisdubar, the great central character of Assyrian poetry and sculpture,
the theme of minstrels, the typical hero of his land, the favored of the
gods. What is called the Epic of Izdubar relates the exploits of this
hero, who was born the son of a king in Ourouk of Chaldea. His father was
dethroned by the Elamites, and Izdubar was driven into the wilderness and
became a mighty hunter. In the half-peopled earth, so lately created, wild
beasts had multiplied and threatened the extermination of mankind. The
hunter found himself at war with monsters more formidable than even the
lion or the wild bull. There were half-human scorpions, bulls with the
head of man, fierce satyrs and winged griffins. Deadly war did Izdubar
wage with them, till as his period of exile drew near to a close he said
to his mother, "I have dreamed a dream; the stars rained from heaven upon
me; then a creature, fierce-faced and taloned like a lion, rose up against
me, and I smote and slew him."