her captain, she recited over him a certain spell or incantation, and
then she gave him the TABLET OF DESTINIES and fastened it to his breast,
saying, "Whatsoever goeth forth from thy mouth shall be established."
Armed with all the magical powers conferred upon him by this Tablet, and
heartened by all the laudatory epithets which his wife Tiamat heaped
upon him, Kingu went forth at the head of his devils.

When Ea heard that Tiamat had collected her forces and Was determined
to continue the fight against the gods which Apsu and Mummu had begun,
and that she had made her husband Kingu her champion, he was
"afflicted" and "sat in sorrow." He felt unable to renew the fight
against the powers of darkness, and he therefore went and reported the
new happenings to Anshar, representative of the "host of heaven," and
took counsel with him. When Anshar heard the matter he was greatly
disturbed in mind and bit his lips, for he saw that the real
difficulty was to find a worthy antagonist for Kingu and Tiamat. A gap
in the text here prevents us from knowing exactly what Anshar said and
did, but the context suggests that he summoned Anu, the Sky-god, to
his assistance. Then, having given him certain instructions, he sent
him on an embassy to Tiamat with the view of conciliating her. When
Anu reached the place where she was he found her in a very wrathful
state, and she was muttering angrily; Anu was so appalled at the sight
of her that he turned and fled. It is impossible at present to explain
this interlude, or to find any parallel to it in other ancient
Oriental literature.

[Illustration: Shamash the Sun-god rising on the horizon, flames of
fire ascending from his shoulder. The two portals of the dawn, each
surmounted by a lion, are being drawn open by attendant gods. From a
Babylonian seal cylinder in the British Museum. [No. 89,110.]]