single accented word or phrase. This is proved by tablet Spartali ii,
265A, where the scribe writes his lines and spaces the words in such a
way as to show the subdivision of the lines. Thus we have:--

_enuma_ | _elish_ || _la nabu_| _shamamu_
_shaplish_| _ammatum_|| _shuma_ | _la zakrat_

Here there is clearly a rhythm which resembles that found in the poems
of the Syrians and Arabs, but there are many instances of its
inconsistent use in several parts of the text. Both rhyme and
alliteration appear to be used occasionally.




THE SEVEN TABLETS OF CREATION.--TRANSLATION.



FIRST TABLET.[1]

[Footnote 1: This translation is made from transcripts of the British
Museum fragments (_Cuneiform Texts_, Part XIII), and transcripts
of the Berlin fragments (Ebeling, _Keilschrifttexte aus Assur_,
Nos. 117, 118).]

1. When the heavens above were yet unnamed,[1]

[Footnote 1: The name of an object was the object itself, and it was
believed that nothing could exist apart from its name.]