3. his child whom he has hated he strikes,
4. the destruction of the earth takes him.
5. Ninazu, of darkness the mother of darkness, of darkness!
6. Her illustrious stature as a mantle covers him,
9. The plague-demon did not take him, fever did not take him, the earth took him.
10. The resting-place of Nergal the unconquered did not take him, the earth took him.
11. The place of the battle of heroes did not strike him, the earth took him.
12. Lo! .... ni son of the goddess Ninsun[32] for his servant Hea-bani wept;
14. “Father Bel, a gad-fly to the earth struck me,
15. a deadly wound to the earth struck me,”
1. Hea-bani who to rest (was not admitted),
2. the plague-demon did not take him, (the earth took him);
3. the resting-place of Nergal the unconquered did not take him, (the earth took him).
4. In the place of the battle of heroes they did not (strike him, the earth took him).
5. Father Bel, a judgment did not take him.
7. a deadly wound (to the earth struck him).
8. Hea-bani who to rest (was not admitted),
9. the plague-demon did not take him, (the earth took him);
10. the resting-place of Nergal (the unconquered did not take him).
(About 12 lines lost, containing a repetition of this passage.)
24. the resting-place of Nergal the unconquered (did not take him);
25. the place of the battle of heroes did not (take him).
32. the heroic warrior Merodach (son of Hea)
33. created him the word, the earth opened, and
34. the spirit (or ghost) of Hea-bani like dust from the earth (arose):
2. the secrets of the earth which thou hast seen, tell (me).
3. I cannot tell thee, my friend, I cannot tell thee,
4. (how) can I tell thee the secrets of the earth which I have seen?
7. ..... of growth and thy heart rejoiced
8. ..... thou growest old, the worm entered
Here there is a serious blank in the inscription, about twenty lines being lost, and Mr. Smith has conjecturally inserted a fragment which appears to belong to this part of the narrative. It is very curious from the geographical names it contains.
6. .... may he mourn for him and for ....
7. .... Kisu and Kharsak-kalama, may he mourn .....
The rest of Column IV. is lost, and of the next column there are only remains of the first two lines.
Here there are about thirty lines missing, the story recommencing with Column VI., which is perfect.