Tamarisk and Palm

The cosmogonical prologue of the text traces from the beginning of creation to the occasion that led to the rivalry between the two plants, when a king decides to plant a tamarisk and a date palm into his garden. It reads as follows according to the Emar recension:In those distant days, in those distant nights, in those far-away years, When the gods established the land, They built the cities for the far-away people, When they piled up the mountains And excavated the rivers, the (grantor) of life for the land, The gods of the land held a counsel, The god[s …] (5) were pondering with each other. Šamaš was sitting among them, And [the great Lady of the Gods] took a seat. Before then, there had been no monarchy in the land, And [sovereignty] had remained [with the god]s (alone). (But) the gods had mercy on the black-headed people (And) gave a king to the people of the land of Kiš, [The king planted a palm in his palace,] And grew a tamarisk nearby. In the shade of the tamari[sk banquets were laid out,] (…) (10) In the shade of the palm [the drum] res[ounded]. (…) Both trees were enemies, and would constantly vie with each other.In the poem, they both seek to establish their superiority by describing their utility to and the commodities that they provide humans. Palm cites the inability of Tamarisk to produce fruit, whereas it produces fruits served to royalty. Tamarisk by contrast cites its high-quality wood which is used to build divine statues. Provoked further, Tamarisk proceeds to list many appliances found in palaces that are made of its wood. Tamarisk argues:Tamarisk answered and spake unto Palm, / "Consider what is yours among the palace equipment! / "On my table the king eats, / "And from my basket, the warriors eat. / "[I am a we]aver—I warp the threads, / I clothe the troops and brighten [the king]. / "I am an exorcist—I purify the temple, / "[I am truly superior]—I have no rival!"Palm cites the ignoble use of Tamarisk by beer brewers; Tamarisk counters with its use by smiths and then cites the ignoble use of Palm by butchers. The back-and-forths continue, as Palm rebuts by mentioning that the woodworkers who fashion wood from Tamarisk rely on Palm for shade, but Tamarisk begins to describe its agricultural utility. Palm is infuriated by this argument: Palm lists the abundant manner of uses that rope fashioned from it is put to work by farmers. The last speech by Tamarisk and Palm is too fragmentary to reconstruct, and after that, the remaining text breaks off. The winner of the dispute is not recorded by extant manuscripts. One suggestion holds that Palm may have won because in later Babylonian literature, it receives the epithet šar iṣṣī, "king of the trees". == Manuscripts ==