“I’ve been here so many years and still have no answers. I’ve given up asking for them. Ea didn’t grant me knowledge, only a life that never ends. And the sages who sometimes visit me, the Apkallu, the Holy Carp, do they have the answers? I have my doubts. Perhaps they think the world is not made to give answers.”

“I know you’ll be leaving soon. It’s what you’ve always done. And I, too, shall go on doing what I’ve always done: staying alive.”

INDEX OF NAMES AND PLACES

The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your e-book. Please use the search function on your e-reading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.

A

• Ahiqar
• Amuru
• Anshar
• Anu
• Anunnaki
• Anzu
• Apkallu; see also Holy Carp; Seven Sages
• Apsu
• Apsu Goat, The
• Aratta
• Assyria
• Atrahasis; see also Utnapishtim

B

• Babylon
• Baghdad
• Basra
• Beletili
• Black Heads
• Boat of Heaven
• Borsippa
• Bull of Heaven

C

• Cedar Forest
• Children of Heaven; see also Anunnaki
• City of Brass

D

• Damkina
• Deep; see also Great Below; Underworld
• Demon Girl
• Dilmun
• Dimpimeku
• Double (of Ishtar); see also Saltu
• Dumuzi
• Durmahu

E

• Ea; see also Enki
• Eanna
• Elam
• Eminent House; see also Esagil
• Emir Musa
• Emmebaragni
• Enheduanna
• Enki; see also Ea
• Enkidu
• Enlil
• Enmerkar
• Enmesharra
• Ereshkigal
• Eridu
• Erra; see also Nergal
• Esagil; see also Eminent House
• Esharra
• Euphrates

F

• Fish Man
• Flood

G

• Galla
• Geshtinanna
• Geshtue
• Gilgamesh
• Great Above
• Great Apple Tree
• Great Below; see also Deep; Underworld
• Great City
• Great Dog
• Great Gods

H

• Harun al-Rashid
• Holy Carp; see also Apkallu; Seven Sages
• House of the Sea
• Humbaba; see also Living One
• hunter, one-legged
• Hushbisha
• Hydra

I

• Igigi
• Inanna; see also Ishtar; Venus
• Invincible Tempest
• Ishtar; see also Inanna; Venus
• Ishum

K

• King of the World
• Kingu
• Knowing Serpent
• Kulaba

L

• Living One; see also Humbaba
• Lugalanne
• Lulal

M

• Mami
• Marduk
• Milky Way
• moon, see Nanna
• Mullissu
• Mummu

N

• Nabu
• Nadin
• Namtar
• Nanna
• Nergal; see also Erra
• Nigulla
• Nimush
• Ninagirsig
• Ninazimue
• Ninlil
• Ninshubur
• Nintu
• Ninurta; see also Sirius
• Nippur
• Nisaba

O

• Ocean
• Old Man of the Sea
• Orion

P

• Peshtur
• Powerful Bull

Q

• Quarrel

S

• Saltu
• Sargon
• Scorpion Man
• Sebittu
• seven gods of fate, see Sebittu
• Seven Sages; see also Apkallu; Holy Carp
• Shamhat
• Shara
• Sheepfold; see also Uruk
• Shukaletuda
• Shuruppak
• Siduri
• Sindbad the Porter
• Sindbad the Sailor
• Sippar
• Sirius; see also Ninurta
• Subir
• Sun, see Utu

T

• Tablet of Destinies
• Tablet of the Bright Heavens
• Thunderbird
• Tiamat
• Tigris
• Tropics

U

• Ubartutu
• Umsu
• Underworld; see also Deep; Great Below
• Ur
• Ursa Major
• Urshanabi
• Uruk; see also Sheepfold
• Utnapishtim; see also Atrahasis
• Utu

V

• Venus; see also Inanna; Ishtar

BY ROBERTO CALASSO

I. The Ruin of Kasch

II. The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony

III. Ka

IV. K.

V. Tiepolo Pink

VI. La Folie Baudelaire

VII. Ardor

VIII. The Celestial Hunter

IX. The Unnamable Present

X. The Book of All Books

XI. The Tablet of Destinies