ENDORSEMENT

Your Contract or Certificate is hereby amended as follows:

SECTION 5.01 DEATH BENEFIT. This section is replaced with the following:

Unless your surviving spouse becomes the Annuitant under Section 5.02, upon
receipt of due proof of the Annuitant's death and the other payment information,
we will pay a death benefit to the beneficiary named under Section 5.03. Due
proof means satisfactory proof of the Annuitant's death as evidenced by a
certified copy of the death certificate, and other payment information means
beneficiary entitlement, tax information required under the Code, and any other
form we require. Death of the Annuitant generally terminates the Contract or
Certificate. No transfers of Annuity Account Value are permitted prior to
payment of the death benefit.

The amount of the death benefit is equal to the greater of (a) the Annuity
Account Value or (b) the minimum death benefit. The minimum death benefit is the
sum of all Contributions made less any tax charges that apply and less the total
of any withdrawals made as described in Section 4.01. Less the total of any
withdrawal means any withdrawal will reduce the minimum death benefit on a
pro-rata basis. Reduction of the minimum death benefit on a pro-rata basis means
that we calculate the percentage of your current Annuity Account Value that is
being withdrawn and we reduce your current minimum death benefit by that same
percentage.

We will pay the death benefit to the beneficiary in the form of an Annuity
Benefit if you have chosen the form described in the last paragraph of Section
5.03. Also pursuant to the last paragraph of Section 5.03, if no such choice has
been made at the Annuitant's death, we will pay the death benefit to the
beneficiary in a single sum.

However, the beneficiary may instead choose before we pay the death benefit to
apply the death benefit to provide (i) a form of an Annuity Benefit, (ii) any
other form of benefit payment, or (iii) any combination of forms of benefit
payment. All choices will be subject to the forms we then offer, our rules then
in effect, and any requirements under the Code.

THE EQUITABLE LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES



/s/ Christopher M. Condron               /s/ Pauline Sherman
---------------------------              -------------------
Christopher M. Condron                   Pauline Sherman
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer     Senior Vice President,
                                         Secretary and Associate General Counsel


2003PRO-RATA