. . . fetch water from the mouth of the two streams, into this water put thy pure spell, and consecrate it with thy pure spell, sprinkle [with the same water] man, the child of his god." Another passage runs: " Pure water [. . .], water of the Euphrates, that in the [. . .] place, water that is well hidden in the ocean, the pure mouth of Ea has purified it, the sons of the deep, the seven, they have made the water pure, clear and sparkling." According to a ritual text edited for the Assyrian royal worship the priest, clad in linen of Eridu, meets the king on the threshold of the "house of purification" and greets him in words that recall the blessing of Aaron!
Damkina, queen of the deep, illumine thee with her countenance,
Marduk, the mighty overseer of the Igigi (heavenly spirits), exalt thy head."
Then the priest continued: "Their deeds endure on earth who take the holy message of Ea for their guide; the great gods of heaven come to his side, in the great sanctuaries of heaven and earth they come to his side; those chambers are pure and shining; in Ea's clear and shining water bathe the Anunaki, the great gods themselves purify their faces in it." Side by side with Ea, his son Marduk has command of the
