Tablet V
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He constructed
stations for the great gods,
Fixing their astral
likenesses as constellations.
He determined the
year by designating the zones:
He set up three
constellations for each of the twelve
months.
After defining the
days of the year [by means] of
(heavenly)
figures,
He founded the
station of Nebiru" to determine their
(heavenly)
bands,
That none might
transgress or fall short.
Alongside it he set
up the stations of Enlil and Ea.
Having opened up the
gates on both sides,
He strengthened the
locks to the left
and the right.
(10)
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79 God of
death.
80 This was an
essential act of attestation in Mesopotamian society.
81 For this rendering
cf. A. Schott, ZA, XLII (I934), 137.
82 i.e. the planet
Jupiter. This station was taken to lie between the band
(riksu; cf.
1. 6) of the
north, which belonged to Enlil, and the band of the south,
which belonged to Ea.
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In her" belly he
established the zenith.
The Moon he caused to
shine, the night (to him) entrusting.
He appointed him a
creature of the night to signify the
days:
"Monthly, without
cease, form designs with a crown. At the month's very start,
rising over the land, Thou shalt have luminous horns to
signify six days, On the seventh day reaching a [half
]-crown. At full moon" stand in opposition" in mid-month.
When the sun [overtakes] thee at the base of heaven,
Diminish
[thy crown]
and retrogress in light. (20) [At the time of disappearance] approach thou
the course of the sun,
And [on the
twenty-ninth] thou shalt again stand in
opposition to the
sun."
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(The remainder of
this tablet is broken away or too
fragmentary for
translation.)
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