392 The Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babyloniadealt so fully with the story of Tammuz in the various forms it
assumed, as well as with the myth of Istar's pursuit of him in the
world below, that I need not dwell upon it now. All I need do
is to insist upon the caution with which we should build upon it
theories about the Babylonian's conception of the other world,
and the existence he expected to lead after death.
The description of Hades with which the poem begins was
borrowed from some older work. We meet with it again almost
word for word in what is probably one of the books of the
[427] Epic of Gilgames. The fact illustrates the way in which the
poets and epic-writers of Babylonia freely borrowed from older
sources, and how the classical works of Chaldæa were built up
out of earlier materials. Perhaps if reproached with plagiarism,
their authors would have made the same answer as Vergil, that
they had but picked out the pearls from the dunghill of their
predecessors. At all events the description of Hades is striking,
though it must be remembered that it represents only one of the
many ideas that were entertained of it in Babylonia—
“To the land from which there is no return, the home of
[darkness],
Istar, the daughter of Sin, [turned] her mind,
yea, the daughter of Sin set her mind [to go];
to the house of gloom, the dwelling of Irkalla,
to the house from which those who enter depart not,
the road from whose path there is no return;
to the house where they who enter are deprived of light;
a place where dust is their nourishment, clay their food;
the light they behold not, in thick darkness they dwell;
they are clad like bats in a garb of wings;
on door and bolt the dust is laid.”Through the seven gates of the infernal regions did Istar
descend, leaving at each some one of her adornments, until at
last, stripped and helpless, she stood before the goddess of the