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223 To the place of reverence, by the river, with him who was accused they stepped. In truth they made the enemies stand aside. In sentencing Marduk the mystery of Dumuzi's death posed a problem. That Marduk was responsible for his death there was no doubt. But was it premeditated or accidental? Marduk deserved a death sentence, but what if his crime was not deliberate? Standing there, in sight of the pyramids, with Marduk fresh out of his hiding place, the solution dawned on Inanna, and she pro- ceeded to address the gods: On this day, the Lady herself, She who speaks truth. The accuser of Azag. the great princess. An awesome judgment uttered. There was a way to sentence Marduk to death without actually executing him, she said: Let him be buried alive within the Great Pyramid! Let him be sealed there as in a gigantic envelope: In a great envelope that is sealed. With no one to offer him nourishment: The judging gods accepted her suggestions: "The mistress art thou. . . The fate thou decreest: let it be so!" Assuming that Anu would go along with the verdict, "the gods then placed the com- mand to Heaven and Earth." The Ekur, the Great Pyramid, had become a prison; and one of the epithets of its mistress was. there- after, "Mistress of the Prison." It was then, we believe, that the sealing of the Great Pyramid was completed. Leaving Marduk alone in the King's Chamber, the arresting gods released behind them the granite plugs of the As- cending Passage, irrevocably blocking tight all access to the upper chambers and passages. Through the channels leading from the "King's Chamber" to the north and south faces of the pyramid. Marduk had air to Sr re a Pe a yr ta The Prisoner in the Pyramid Justice was performed. Alone to suffer, The potable watersource to be cut off. breathe: but he had neither food nor ‘water. He was buried alive, doomed to die in agony.