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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/2069-0.txt b/2069-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ab89315 --- /dev/null +++ b/2069-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3309 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, by +Theophilus G. Pinches + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria + +Author: Theophilus G. Pinches + +Posting Date: January 30, 2009 [EBook #2069] +Release Date: February, 2000 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RELIGION OF BABYLONIA, ASSYRIA *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers and Dagny + + + + + + + + + +THE RELIGION OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA +By Theophilus G. Pinches, LL.D. + +First Published 1906 by Archibald Constable & Co. Ltd. + + + + + THE RELIGION OF + BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA + + BY + + THEOPHILUS G. PINCHES, LL.D. + + Lecturer in Assyrian at University College, London, + Author of "The Old Testament in the Light of the + Records of Assyria and Babylonia"; "The Bronze + Ornaments of the Palace Gates of Balewat" etc. etc. + + + + PREPARER'S NOTE + + The original text contains a number of characters that are not + available even in 8-bit Windows text, such as H with a breve below + it in Hammurabi, S with a breve, S and T with a dot below them, U + with macron, and superscript M in TaÅ¡mêtum. These have been left + in the e-text as the base letter. + + The 8-bit version of this text includes Windows font characters + like S with a caron above it (pronounced /sh/) as in Å amaÅ¡, etc. + These may be lost in 7-bit versions of the text, or when viewed + with different fonts. + + Greek text has been transliterated within brackets "{}" using an + Oxford English Dictionary alphabet table. Diacritical marks have + been lost. + + + + + + THE RELIGION OF THE + BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + + + + CHAPTER I + + FOREWORD + + + Position, and Period. + +The religion of the Babylonians and Assyrians was the polytheistic +faith professed by the peoples inhabiting the Tigris and Euphrates +valleys from what may be regarded as the dawn of history until the +Christian era began, or, at least, until the inhabitants were brought +under the influence of Christianity. The chronological period covered +may be roughly estimated at about 5000 years. The belief of the +people, at the end of that time, being Babylonian heathenism leavened +with Judaism, the country was probably ripe for the reception of the +new faith. Christianity, however, by no means replaced the earlier +polytheism, as is evidenced by the fact, that the worship of Nebo and +the gods associated with him continued until the fourth century of the +Christian era. + + + By whom followed. + +It was the faith of two distinct peoples--the Sumero-Akkadians, and +the Assyro-Babylonians. In what country it had its beginnings is +unknown--it comes before us, even at the earliest period, as a faith +already well-developed, and from that fact, as well as from the names +of the numerous deities, it is clear that it began with the former +race--the Sumero-Akkadians--who spoke a non-Semitic language largely +affected by phonetic decay, and in which the grammatical forms had in +certain cases become confused to such an extent that those who study +it ask themselves whether the people who spoke it were able to +understand each other without recourse to devices such as the "tones" +to which the Chinese resort. With few exceptions, the names of the +gods which the inscriptions reveal to us are all derived from this +non-Semitic language, which furnishes us with satisfactory etymologies +for such names as Merodach, Nergal, Sin, and the divinities mentioned +in Berosus and Damascius, as well as those of hundreds of deities +revealed to us by the tablets and slabs of Babylonia and Assyria. + + + The documents. + +Outside the inscriptions of Babylonia and Assyria, there is but little +bearing upon the religion of those countries, the most important +fragment being the extracts from Berosus and Damascius referred to +above. Among the Babylonian and Assyrian remains, however, we have an +extensive and valuable mass of material, dating from the fourth or +fifth millennium before Christ until the disappearance of the +Babylonian system of writing about the beginning of the Christian era. +The earlier inscriptions are mostly of the nature of records, and give +information about the deities and the religion of the people in the +course of descriptions of the building and rebuilding of temples, the +making of offerings, the performance of ceremonies, etc. Purely +religious inscriptions are found near the end of the third millennium +before Christ, and occur in considerable numbers, either in the +original Sumerian text, or in translations, or both, until about the +third century before Christ. Among the more recent inscriptions--those +from the library of the Assyrian king AÅ¡Å¡ur-bani-âpli and the later +Babylonian temple archives,--there are many lists of deities, with +numerous identifications with each other and with the heavenly bodies, +and explanations of their natures. It is needless to say that all this +material is of enormous value for the study of the religion of the +Babylonians and Assyrians, and enables us to reconstruct at first hand +their mythological system, and note the changes which took place in +the course of their long national existence. Many interesting and +entertaining legends illustrate and supplement the information given +by the bilingual lists of gods, the bilingual incantations and hymns, +and the references contained in the historical and other documents. A +trilingual list of gods enables us also to recognise, in some cases, +the dialectic forms of their names. + + + The importance of the subject. + +Of equal antiquity with the religion of Egypt, that of Babylonia and +Assyria possesses some marked differences as to its development. +Beginning among the non-Semitic Sumero-Akkadian population, it +maintained for a long time its uninterrupted development, affected +mainly by influences from within, namely, the homogeneous local cults +which acted and reacted upon each other. The religious systems of +other nations did not greatly affect the development of the early +non-Semitic religious system of Babylonia. A time at last came, +however, when the influence of the Semitic inhabitants of Babylonia +and Assyria was not to be gainsaid, and from that moment, the +development of their religion took another turn. In all probably this +augmentation of Semitic religious influence was due to the increased +numbers of the Semitic population, and at the same period the +Sumero-Akkadian language began to give way to the Semitic idiom which +they spoke. When at last the Semitic Babylonian language came to be used +for official documents, we find that, although the non-Semitic divine +names are in the main preserved, a certain number of them have been +displaced by the Semitic equivalent names, such as Å amaÅ¡ for the +sun-god, with Kittu and Mêšaru ("justice and righteousness") his +attendants; Nabú ("the teacher" = Nebo) with his consort TaÅ¡mêtu ("the +hearer"); Addu, Adad, or Dadu, and Rammanu, Ramimu, or Ragimu = Hadad +or Rimmon ("the thunderer"); Bêl and Bêltu (Beltis = "the lord" and +"the lady" /par excellence/), with some others of inferior rank. In +place of the chief divinity of each state at the head of each separate +pantheon, the tendency was to make Merodach, the god of the capital +city Babylon, the head of the pantheon, and he seems to have been +universally accepted in Babylonia, like AÅ¡Å¡ur in Assyria, about 2000 +B.C. or earlier. + + + The uniting of two pantheons. + +We thus find two pantheons, the Sumero-Akkadian with its many gods, +and the Semitic Babylonian with its comparatively few, united, and +forming one apparently homogeneous whole. But the creed had taken a +fresh tendency. It was no longer a series of small, and to a certain +extent antagonistic, pantheons composed of the chief god, his consort, +attendants, children, and servants, but a pantheon of considerable +extent, containing all the elements of the primitive but smaller +pantheons, with a number of great gods who had raised Merodach to be +their king. + + + In Assyria. + +Whilst accepting the religion of Babylonia, Assyria nevertheless kept +herself distinct from her southern neighbour by a very simple device, +by placing at the head of the pantheon the god AÅ¡Å¡ur, who became for +her the chief of the gods, and at the same time the emblem of her +distinct national aspirations--for Assyria had no intention whatever +of casting in her lot with her southern neighbour. Nevertheless, +Assyria possessed, along with the language of Babylonia, all the +literature of that country--indeed, it is from the libraries of her +kings that we obtain the best copies of the Babylonian religious +texts, treasured and preserved by her with all the veneration of which +her religious mind was capable,--and the religious fervour of the +Oriental in most cases leaves that of the European, or at least of the +ordinary Briton, far behind. + + + The later period in Assyria. + +Assyria went to her downfall at the end of the seventh century before +Christ worshipping her national god AÅ¡Å¡ur, whose cult did not cease +with the destruction of her national independence. In fact, the city +of AÅ¡Å¡ur, the centre of that worship, continued to exist for a +considerable period; but for the history of the religion of Assyria, +as preserved there, we wait for the result of the excavations being +carried on by the Germans, should they be fortunate enough to obtain +texts belonging to the period following the fall of Nineveh. + + + In Babylonia. + +Babylonia, on the other hand, continued the even tenor of her way. +More successful at the end of her independent political career than +her northern rival had been, she retained her faith, and remained the +unswerving worshipper of Merodach, the great god of Babylon, to whom +her priests attributed yet greater powers, and with whom all the other +gods were to all appearance identified. This tendency to monotheism, +however, never reached the culminating point--never became +absolute--except, naturally, in the minds of those who, dissociating +themselves, for philosophical reasons, from the superstitious teaching +of the priests of Babylonia, decided for themselves that there was but +one God, and worshipped Him. That orthodox Jews at that period may have +found, in consequence of this monotheistic tendency, converts, is not +by any means improbable--indeed, the names met with during the later +period imply that converts to Judaism were made. + + + The picture presented by the study. + +Thus we see, from the various inscriptions, both Babylonian and +Assyrian--the former of an extremely early period--the growth and +development, with at least one branching off, of one of the most +important religious systems of the ancient world. It is not so +important for modern religion as the development of the beliefs of the +Hebrews, but as the creed of the people from which the Hebrew nation +sprang, and from which, therefore, it had its beginnings, both +corporeal and spiritual, it is such as no student of modern religious +systems can afford to neglect. Its legends, and therefore its +teachings, as will be seen in these pages, ultimately permeated the +Semitic West, and may in some cases even had penetrated Europe, not +only through heathen Greece, but also through the early Christians, +who, being so many centuries nearer the time of the +Assyro-Babylonians, and also nearer the territory which they anciently +occupied, than we are, were far better acquainted than the people of +the present day with the legends and ideas which they possessed. + + + + CHAPTER II + + THE RELIGION OF THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + + + The Sumero-Akkadians and the Semites. + +For the history of the development of the religion of the Babylonians +and Assyrians much naturally depends upon the composition of the +population of early Babylonia. There is hardly any doubt that the +Sumero-Akkadians were non-Semites of a fairly pure race, but the +country of their origin is still unknown, though a certain +relationship with the Mongolian and Turkish nationalities, probably +reaching back many centuries--perhaps thousands of years--before the +earliest accepted date, may be regarded as equally likely. Equally +uncertain is the date of the entry of the Semites, whose language +ultimately displaced the non-Semitic Sumero-Akkadian idioms, and +whose kings finally ruled over the land. During the third millennium +before Christ Semites, bearing Semitic names, and called Amorites, +appear, and probably formed the last considerable stratum of tribes of +that race which entered the land. The name Martu, the Sumero-Akkadian +equivalent of Amurru, "Amorite", is of frequent occurrence also before +this period. The eastern Mediterranean coast district, including +Palestine and the neighbouring tracts, was known by the Babylonians +and Assyrians as the land of the Amorites, a term which stood for the +West in general even when these regions no longer bore that name. The +Babylonians maintained their claim to sovereignty over that part as +long as they possessed the power to do so, and naturally exercised +considerable influence there. The existence in Palestine, Syria, and +the neighbouring states, of creeds containing the names of many +Babylonian divinities is therefore not to be wondered at, and the +presence of West Semitic divinities in the religion of the Babylonians +need not cause us any surprise. + + + The Babylonian script and its evidence. + +In consequence of the determinative prefix for a god or a goddess +being, in the oldest form, a picture of an eight-rayed star, it has +been assumed that Assyro-Babylonian mythology is, either wholly or +partly, astral in origin. This, however, is by no means certain, the +character for "star" in the inscriptions being a combination of three +such pictures, and not a single sign. The probability therefore is, +that the use of the single star to indicate the name of a divinity +arises merely from the fact that the character in question stands for +/ana/, "heaven." Deities were evidently thus distinguished by the +Babylonians because they regarded them as inhabitants of the realms +above--indeed, the heavens being the place where the stars are seen, a +picture of a star was the only way of indicating heavenly things. That +the gods of the Babylonians were in many cases identified with the +stars and planets is certain, but these identifications seem to have +taken place at a comparatively late date. An exception has naturally +to be made in the case of the sun and moon, but the god Merodach, if +he be, as seems certain, a deified Babylonian king, must have been +identified with the stars which bear his name after his worshippers +began to pay him divine honours as the supreme deity, and naturally +what is true for him may also be so for the other gods whom they +worshipped. The identification of some of the deities with stars or +planets is, moreover, impossible, and if Êa, the god of the deep, and +Anu, the god of the heavens, have their representatives among the +heavenly bodies, this is probably the result of later development.[1] + +[1] If there be any historical foundation for the statement that + Merodach arranged the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars, + assigning to them their proper places and duties--a tradition + which would make him the founder of the science of astronomy + during his life upon earth--this, too, would tend to the + probability that the origin of the gods of the Babylonians was not + astral, as has been suggested, but that their identification with + the heavenly bodies was introduced during the period of his reign. + + + Ancestor and hero-worship. The deification of kings. + +Though there is no proof that ancestor-worship in general prevailed at +any time in Babylonia, it would seem that the worship of heroes and +prominent men was common, at least in early times. The tenth chapter +of Genesis tells us of the story of Nimrod, who cannot be any other +than the Merodach of the Assyro-Babylonian inscriptions; and other +examples, occurring in semi-mythological times, are /En-we-dur-an-ki/, +the Greek Edoreschos, and /GilgameÅ¡/, the Greek Gilgamos, though +Aelian's story of the latter does not fit in with the account as given +by the inscriptions. In later times, the divine prefix is found before +the names of many a Babylonian ruler--Sargon of Agadé,[1] Dungi of Ur +(about 2500 B.C.), Rim-Sin or Eri-Aku (Arioch of Ellasar, about 2100 +B.C.), and others. It was doubtless a kind of flattery to deify and +pay these rulers divine honours during their lifetime, and on account +of this, it is very probable that their godhood was utterly forgotten, +in the case of those who were strictly historical, after their death. +The deification of the kings of Babylonia and Assyria is probably due +to the fact, that they were regarded as the representatives of God +upon earth, and being his chief priests as well as his offspring (the +personal names show that it was a common thing to regard children as +the gifts of the gods whom their father worshipped), the divine +fatherhood thus attributed to them naturally could, in the case of +those of royal rank, give them a real claim to divine birth and +honours. An exception is the deification of the Babylonian Noah, +Ut-napiÅ¡tim, who, as the legend of the Flood relates, was raised and +made one of the gods by Aa or Ea, for his faithfulness after the great +catastrophe, when he and his wife were translated to the "remote place +at the mouth of the rivers." The hero GilgameÅ¡, on the other hand, was +half divine by birth, though it is not exactly known through whom his +divinity came. + +[1] According to Nabonidus's date 3800 B.C., though many + Assyriologists regard this as being a millennium too early. + + + The earliest form of the Babylonian religion. + +The state of development to which the religious system of the +Babylonians had attained at the earliest period to which the +inscriptions refer naturally precludes the possibility of a +trustworthy history of its origin and early growth. There is no doubt, +however, that it may be regarded as having reached the stage at which +we find it in consequence of there being a number of states in ancient +Babylonia (which was at that time like the Heptarchy in England) each +possessing its own divinity--who, in its district, was regarded as +supreme--with a number of lesser gods forming his court. It was the +adding together of all these small pantheons which ultimately made +that of Babylonia as a whole so exceedingly extensive. Thus the chief +divinity of Babylon, as has already been stated, as Merodach; at +Sippar and Larsa the sun-god Å amaÅ¡ was worshipped; at Ur the moon-god +Sin or Nannar; at Erech and Dêr the god of the heavens, Anu; at Muru, +Ennigi, and Kakru, the god of the atmosphere, Hadad or Rimmon; at +Êridu, the god of the deep, Aa or Êa; at Niffur[1] the god Bel; at +Cuthah the god of war, Nergal; at Dailem the god UraÅ¡; at KiÅ¡ the god +of battle, Zagaga; Lugal-Amarda, the king of Marad, as the city so +called; at Opis Zakar, one of the gods of dreams; at Agadé, Nineveh, +and Arbela, IÅ¡tar, goddess of love and of war; Nina at the city Nina +in Babylonia, etc. When the chief deities were masculine, they were +naturally all identified with each other, just as the Greeks called +the Babylonian Merodach by the name of Zeus; and as Zer-panîtum, the +consort of Merodach, was identified with Juno, so the consorts, divine +attendants, and children of each chief divinity, as far as they +possessed them, could also be regarded as the same, though possibly +distinct in their different attributes. + +[1] Noufar at present, according to the latest explorers. Layard + (1856) has Niffer, Loftus (1857) Niffar. The native spelling is + Noufer, due to the French system of phonetics. + + + How the religion of the Babylonians developed. + +The fact that the rise of Merodach to the position of king of the gods +was due to the attainment, by the city of Babylon, of the position of +capital of all Babylonia, leads one to suspect that the kingly rank of +his father Êa, at an earlier period, was due to a somewhat similar +cause, and if so, the still earlier kingship of Anu, the god of the +heavens, may be in like manner explained. This leads to the question +whether the first state to attain to supremacy was Dêr, Anu's seat, +and whether Dêr was succeeded by Êridu, of which city Êa was the +patron--concerning the importance of Babylon, Merodach's city, later +on, there is no doubt whatever. The rise of Anu and Êa to divine +overlordship, however, may not have been due to the political +supremacy of the cities where they were worshipped--it may have come +about simply on account of renown gained through religious enthusiasm +due to wonders said to have been performed where they were worshipped, +or to the reported discovery of new records concerning their temples, +or to the influence of some renowned high-priest, like En-we-dur-an-ki +of Sippar, whose devotion undoubtedly brought great renown to the city +of his dominion. + + + Was Animism its original form? + +But the question naturally arises, can we go back beyond the +indications of the inscriptions? The Babylonians attributed life, in +certain not very numerous cases, to such things as trees and plants, +and naturally to the winds, and the heavenly bodies. Whether they +regarded stones, rocks, mountains, storms, and rain in the same way, +however, is doubtful, but it may be taken for granted, that the sea, +with all its rivers and streams, was regarded as animated with the +spirit of Êa and his children, whilst the great cities and +temple-towers were pervaded with the spirit of the god whose abode +they were. Innumerable good and evil spirits were believed in, such as +the spirit of the mountain, the sea, the plain, and the grave. These +spirits were of various kinds, and bore names which do not always +reveal their real character--such as the /edimmu/, /utukku/, /šêdu/, +/aÅ¡akku/ (spirit of fevers), /namtaru/ (spirit of fate), /âlû/ +(regarded as the spirit of the south wind), /gallu/, /rabisu/, +/labartu/, /labasu/, /ahhazu/ (the seizer), /lilu/ and /lilithu/ (male +and female spirits of the mist), with their attendants. + +All this points to animism as the pervading idea of the worship of the +peoples of the Babylonian states in the prehistoric period--the +attribution of life to every appearance of nature. The question is, +however, Is the evidence of the inscriptions sufficient to make this +absolutely certain? It is hard to believe that such intelligent +people, as the primitive Babylonians naturally were, believed that +such things as stones, rocks, mountains, storms, and rain were, in +themselves, and apart from the divinity which they regarded as +presiding over them, living things. A stone might be a /bît îli/ or +bethel--a "house of god," and almost invested with the status of a +living thing, but that does not prove that the Babylonians thought of +every stone as being endowed with life, even in prehistoric times. +Whilst, therefore, there are traces of a belief similar to that which +an animistic creed might be regarded as possessing, it must be +admitted that these seemingly animistic doctrines may have originated +in another way, and be due to later developments. The power of the +gods to create living things naturally makes possible the belief that +they had also power to endow with a soul, and therefore with life and +intelligence, any seemingly inanimate object. Such was probably the +nature of Babylonian animism, if it may be so called. The legend of +Tiawthu (Tiawath) may with great probability be regarded as the +remains of a primitive animism which was the creed of the original and +comparatively uncivilised Babylonians, who saw in the sea the producer +and creator of all the monstrous shapes which are found therein; but +any development of this idea in other directions was probably cut +short by the priests, who must have realised, under the influence of +the doctrine of the divine rise to perfection, that animism in general +was altogether incompatible with the creed which they professed. + + + Image-worship and Sacred Stones. + +Whether image-worship was original among the Babylonians and Assyrians +is uncertain, and improbable; the tendency among the people in early +times being to venerate sacred stones and other inanimate objects. As +has been already pointed out, the {diopetres} of the Greeks was +probably a meteorite, and stones marking the position of the Semitic +bethels were probably, in their origin, the same. The boulders which +were sometimes used for boundary-stones may have been the +representations of these meteorites in later times, and it is +noteworthy that the Sumerian group for "iron," /an-bar/, implies that +the early Babylonians only knew of that metal from meteoric ironstone. +The name of the god Nirig or Ênu-rêštu (Ninip) is generally written +with the same group, implying some kind of connection between the +two--the god and the iron. In a well-known hymn to that deity certain +stones are mentioned, one of them being described as the "poison-tooth"[1] +coming forth on the mountain, recalling the sacred rocks at +Jerusalem and Mecca. Boundary-stones in Babylonia were not sacred +objects except in so far as they were sculptured with the signs of the +gods.[2] With regard to the Babylonian bethels, very little can be +said, their true nature being uncertain, and their number, to all +appearance, small. Gifts were made to them, and from this fact it +would seem that they were temples--true "houses of god," in +fact--probably containing an image of the deity, rather than a stone +similar to those referred to in the Old Testament. + +[1] So called, probably, not because it sent forth poison, but on + account of its likeness to a serpent's fang. + +[2] Notwithstanding medical opinion, their phallic origin is doubtful. + One is sculptured in the form of an Eastern castellated fortress. + + + Idols. + +With the Babylonians, the gods were represented by means of stone +images at a very early date, and it is possible that wood was also +used. The tendency of the human mind being to attribute to the Deity a +human form, the Babylonians were no exception to the rule. Human +thoughts and feelings would naturally accompany the human form with +which the minds of men endowed them. Whether the gross human passions +attributed to the gods of Babylonia in Herodotus be of early date or +not is uncertain--a late period, when the religion began to +degenerate, would seem to be the more probable. + + + The adoration of sacred objects. + +It is probable that objects belonging to or dedicated to deities were +not originally worshipped--they were held as divine in consequence of +their being possessed or used by a deity, like the bow of Merodach, +placed in the heavens as a constellation, etc. The cities where the +gods dwelt on earth, their temples, their couches, the chariot of the +sun in his temple-cities, and everything existing in connection with +their worship, were in all probability regarded as divine simply in so +far as they belonged to a god. Sacrifices offered to them, and +invocations made to them, were in all likelihood regarded as having +been made to the deity himself, the possessions of the divinity being, +in the minds of the Babylonians, pervaded with his spirit. In the case +of rivers, these were divine as being the children and offspring of +Enki (Aa or Êa), the god of the ocean. + + + Holy places. + +In a country which was originally divided into many small states, each +having its own deities, and, to a certain extent, its own religious +system, holy places were naturally numerous. As the spot where they +placed Paradise, Babylonia was itself a holy place, but in all +probability this idea is late, and only came into existence after the +legends of the creation and the rise of Merodach to the kingship of +heaven had become elaborated into one homogeneous whole. + + + An interesting list. + +One of the most interesting documents referring to the holy places of +Babylonia is a tiny tablet found at Nineveh, and preserved in the +British Museum. This text begins with the word Tiawthu "the sea," and +goes on to enumerate, in turn, Tilmun (identified with the island of +Bahrein in the Persian Gulf); Engurra (the Abyss, the abode of Enki or +Êa), with numerous temples and shrines, including "the holy house," +"the temple of the seer of heaven and earth," "the abode of +Zer-panîtum," consort of Merodach, "the throne of the holy place," "the +temple of the region of Hades," "the supreme temple of life," "the +temple of the ear of the corn-deity," with many others, the whole list +containing what may be regarded as the chief sanctuaries of the land, +to the number of thirty-one. Numerous other similar and more extensive +lists, enumerating every shrine and temple in the country, also exist, +though in a very imperfect state, and in addition to these, many holy +places are referred to in the bilingual, historical, and other +inscriptions. All the great cities of Babylonia, moreover, were sacred +places, the chief in renown and importance in later days being the +great city of Babylon, where Ê-sagila, "the temple of the high head," +in which was apparently the shrine called "the temple of the +foundation of heaven and earth," held the first place. This building +is called by Nebuchadnezzar "the temple-tower of Babylon," and may +better be regarded as the site of the Biblical "Tower of Babel" than +the traditional foundation, Ê-zida, "the everlasting temple," in +Borsippa (the Birs Nimroud)--notwithstanding that Borsippa was called +the "second Babylon," and its temple-tower "the supreme house of +life." + + + The Tower of Babel. + +Though quite close to Babylon, there is no doubt that Borsippa was a +most important religious centre, and this leads to the possibility, +that its great temple may have disputed with "the house of the high +head," Ê-sagila in Babylon, the honour of being the site of the +confusion of tongues and the dispersion of mankind. There is no doubt, +however, that Ê-sagila has the prior claim, it being the temple of the +supreme god of the later Babylonian pantheon, the counterpart of the +God of the Hebrews who commanded the changing of the speech of the +people assembled there. Supposing the confusion of tongues to have +been a Babylonian legend as well as a Hebrew one (as is possible) it +would be by command of Merodach rather than that of Nebo that such a +thing would have taken place. Ê-sagila, which is now the ruin known as +the mount of Amran ibn Ali, is the celebrated temple of Belus which +Alexander and Philip attempted to restore. + +In addition to the legend of the confusion of tongues, it is probable +that there were many similar traditions attached to the great temples +of Babylonia, and as time goes on, and the excavations bring more +material, a large number of them will probably be recovered. Already +we have an interesting and poetical record of the entry of Bel and +Beltis into the great temple at Niffer, probably copied from some +ancient source, and Gudea, a king of LagaÅ¡ (Telloh), who reigned about +2700 B.C., gives an account of the dream which he saw, in which he was +instructed by the gods to build or rebuild the temple of Nin-Girsu in +his capital city. + + + Ê-sagila according to Herodotus. + +As the chief fane in the land after Babylon became the capital, and +the type of many similar erections, Ê-sagila, the temple of Belus, +merits just a short notice. According to Herodotus, it was a massive +tower within an enclosure measuring 400 yards each way, and provided +with gates of brass, or rather bronze. The tower within consisted of a +kind of step-pyramid, the stages being seven in number (omitting the +lowest, which was the platform forming the foundation of the +structure). A winding ascent gave access to the top, where was a +chapel or shrine, containing no statue, but regarded by the +Babylonians as the abode of the god. Lower down was another shrine, in +which was placed a great statue of Zeus (Bel-Merodach) sitting, with a +large table before it. Both statue and table are said to have been of +gold, as were also the throne and the steps. Outside the sanctuary (on +the ramp, apparently) were two altars, one small and made of gold, +whereon only unweaned lambs were sacrificed, and the other larger, for +full-grown victims. + + + A Babylonian description. + +In 1876 the well-known Assyriologist, Mr. George Smith, was fortunate +enough to discover a Babylonian description of this temple, of which +he published a /précis/. According to this document, there were two +courts of considerable extent, the smaller within the larger--neither +of them was square, but oblong. Six gates admitted to the temple-area +surrounding the platform upon which the tower was built. The platform +is stated to have been square and walled, with four gates facing the +cardinal points. Within this wall was a building connected with the +great /zikkurat/ or tower--the principal edifice--round which were +chapels or temples to the principal gods, on all four sides, and +facing the cardinal points--that to Nebo and TaÅ¡mît being on the east, +to Aa or Êa and Nusku on the north, Anu and Bel on the south, and the +series of buildings on the west, consisting of a double house--a small +court between two wings, was evidently the shrine of Merodach (Belos). +In these western chambers stood the couch of the god, and the golden +throne mentioned by Herodotus, besides other furniture of great value. +The couch was given as being 9 cubits long by 4 broad, about as many +feet in each case, or rather more. + +The centre of these buildings was the great /zikkurat/, or temple-tower, +square on its plan, and with the sides facing the cardinal +points. The lowest stage was 15 /gar/ square by 5 1/2 high (Smith, 300 +feet by 110), and the wall, in accordance with the usual Babylonian +custom, seems to have been ornamented with recessed groovings. The +second stage was 13 /gar/ square by 3 in height (Smith, 260 by 60 +feet). He conjectured, from the expression used, that it had sloping +sides. Stages three to five were each one /gar/ (Smith, 20 feet) high, +and respectively 10 /gar/ (Smith, 200 feet), 8 1/2 /gar/ (170 feet), +and 7 /gar/ (140 feet) square. The dimensions of the sixth stage are +omitted, probably by accident, but Smith conjectures that they were in +proportion to those which precede. His description omits also the +dimensions of the seventh stage, but he gives those of the sanctuary +of Belus, which was built upon it. This was 4 /gar/ long, 3 1/2 /gar/ +broad, and 2 1/2 /gar/ high (Smith, 80 x 70 x 50 feet). He points out, +that the total height was, therefore, 15 /gar/, the same as the +dimensions of the base, i.e., the lowest platform, which would make +the total height of this world-renowned building rather more than 300 +feet above the plains. + + + Other temple-towers. + +Towers of a similar nature were to be found in all the great cities of +Babylonia, and it is probable that in most cases slight differences of +form were to be found. That at Niffer, for instance, seems to have had +a causeway on each side, making four approaches in the form of a +cross. But it was not every city which had a tower of seven stages in +addition to the platform on which it was erected, and some of the +smaller ones at least seem to have had sloping or rounded sides to the +basement-portion, as is indicated by an Assyrian bas-relief. Naturally +small temples, with hardly more than the rooms on the ground floor, +were to be found, but these temple-towers were a speciality of the +country. + + + Their origin. + +There is some probability that, as indicated in the tenth chapter of +Genesis, the desire in building these towers was to get nearer the +Deity, or to the divine inhabitants of the heavens in general--it +would be easier there to gain attention than on the surface of the +earth. Then there was the belief, that the god to whom the place was +dedicated would come down to such a sanctuary, which thus became, as +it were, the stepping-stone between heaven and earth. Sacrifices were +also offered at these temple-towers (whether on the highest point or +not is not quite certain), in imitation of the Chaldæan Noah, +Ut-napiÅ¡tim, who, on coming out of the ark, made an offering /ina +zikkurat Å¡adê/, "on the peak of the mountain," in which passage, it is +to be noted, the word /zikkurat/ occurs with what is probably a more +original meaning. + + + + CHAPTER III + + THE BABYLONIAN STORY OF THE CREATION + +This is the final development of the Babylonian creed. It has already +been pointed out that the religion of the Babylonians in all +probability had two stages before arriving at that in which the god +Merodach occupied the position of chief of the pantheon, the two +preceding heads having been, seemingly, Anu, the god of the heavens, +and Êa or Aa, also called Enki, the god of the abyss and of deep +wisdom. In order to show this, and at the same time to give an idea of +their theory of the beginning of things, a short paraphrase of the +contents of the seven tablets will be found in the following pages. + + + An Embodiment of doctrine. + +As far as our knowledge goes, the doctrines incorporated in this +legend would seem to show the final official development of the +beliefs held by the Babylonians, due, in all probability, to the +priests of Babylon after that city became the capital of the federated +states. Modifications of their creed probably took place, but nothing +seriously affecting it, until after the abandonment of Babylon in the +time of Seleucus Nicator, 300 B.C. or thereabouts, when the deity at +the head of the pantheon seems not to have been Merodach, but Anu-Bêl. +This legend is therefore the most important document bearing upon the +beliefs of the Babylonians from the end of the third millennium B.C. +until that time, and the philosophical ideas which it contains seem to +have been held, in a more or less modified form, among the remnants +who still retained the old Babylonian faith, until the sixth century +of the present era, as the record by Damascius implies. Properly +speaking, it is not a record of the creation, but the story of the +fight between Bel and the Dragon, to which the account of the creation +is prefixed by way of introduction. + + + Water the first creator. + +The legend begins by stating that, when the heavens were unnamed and +the earth bore no name, the primæval ocean was the producer of all +things, and Mummu Tiawath (the sea) she who brought forth everything +existing. Their waters (that is, of the primæval ocean and of the sea) +were all united in one, and neither plains nor marshes were to be +seen; the gods likewise did not exist, even in name, and the fates +were undetermined--nothing had been decided as to the future of +things. Then arose the great gods. Lahmu and Lahame came first, +followed, after a long period, by AnÅ¡ar and KiÅ¡ar, generally +identified with the "host of heaven" and the "host of earth," these +being the meanings of the component parts of their names. After a +further long period of days, there came forth their son Anu, the god +of the heavens. + + + The gods. + +Here the narrative is defective, and is continued by Damascius in his +/Doubts and Solutions of the First Principles/, in which he states +that, after Anos (Anu), come Illinos (Ellila or Bel, "the lord" /par +excellence/) and Aos (Aa, Ae, or Êa), the god of Eridu. Of Aos and +Dauké (the Babylonian Aa and Damkina) is born, he says, a son called +Belos (Bel-Merodach), who, they (apparently the Babylonians) say, is +the fabricator of the world--the creator. + + + The designs against them. + +At this point Damascius ends his extract, and the Babylonian tablet +also becomes extremely defective. The next deity to come into +existence, however, would seem to have been Nudimmud, who was +apparently the deity Aa or Êa (the god of the sea and of rivers) as +the god of creation. Among the children of Tauthé (Tiawath) enumerated +by Damascius is one named Moumis, who was evidently referred to in the +document at that philosopher's disposal. If this be correct, his name, +under the form of Mummu, probably existed in one of the defective +lines of the first portion of this legend--in any case, his name +occurs later on, with those of Tiawath and Apsu (the Deep), his +parents, and the three seem to be compared, to their disadvantage, +with the progeny of Lahmu and Lahame, the gods on high. As the ways of +these last were not those of Tiawath's brood, and Apsu complained that +he had no peace by day nor rest by night on account of their +proceedings, the three representatives of the chaotic deep, Tiawath, +Apsu, and Mummu, discussed how they might get rid the beings who +wished to rise to higher things. Mummu was apparently the prime mover +in the plot, and the face of Apsu grew bright at the thought of the +evil plan which they had devised against "the gods their sons." The +inscription being very mutilated here, its full drift cannot be +gathered, but from the complete portions which come later it would +seem that Mummu's plan was not a remarkably cunning one, being simply +to make war upon and destroy the gods of heaven. + + + Tiawath's preparations. + +The preparations made for this were elaborate. Restlessly, day and +night, the powers of evil raged and toiled, and assembled for the +fight. "Mother Hubur," as Tiawath is named in this passage, called her +creative powers into action, and gave her followers irresistible +weapons. She brought into being also various monsters--giant serpents, +sharp of tooth, bearing stings, and with poison filling their bodies +like blood; terrible dragons endowed with brilliance, and of enormous +stature, reared on high, raging dogs, scorpion-men, fish-men, and many +other terrible beings, were created and equipped, the whole being +placed under the command of a deity named Kingu, whom she calls her +"only husband," and to whom she delivers the tablets of fate, which +conferred upon him the godhead of Anu (the heavens), and enabled their +possessor to determine the gates among the gods her sons. + + + Kingu replaces Absu. + +The change in the narrative which comes in here suggests that this is +the point at which two legends current in Babylonia were united. +Henceforward we hear nothing more of Apsu, the begetter of all things, +Tiawath's spouse, nor of Mummu, their son. In all probability there is +good reason for this, and inscriptions will doubtless ultimately be +found which will explain it, but until then it is only natural to +suppose that two different legends have been pieced together to form a +harmonious whole. + + + Tiawath's aim. + +As will be gathered from the above, the story centres in the wish of +the goddess of the powers of evil and her kindred to retain creation--the +forming of all living things--in her own hands. As Tiawath means +"the sea," and Apsu "the deep," it is probable that this is a kind of +allegory personifying the productive power seen in the teeming life of +the ocean, and typifying the strange and wonderful forms found +therein, which were symbolical, to the Babylonian mind, of chaos and +confusion, as well as of evil. + + + The gods hear of the conspiracy. + +Aa, or Êa, having learned of the plot of Tiawath and her followers +against the gods of heaven, naturally became filled with anger, and +went and told the whole to AnÅ¡ar, his father, who in his turn gave way +to his wrath, and uttered cries of the deepest grief. After +considering what they would do, AnÅ¡ar applied to his son Anu, "the +mighty and brave," saying that, if he would only speak to her, the +great dragon's anger would be assuaged, and her rage disappear. In +obedience to this behest, Anu went to try his power with the monster, +but on beholding her snarling face, feared to approach her, and turned +back. Nudimmud was next called upon to become the representative of +the gods against their foe, but his success was as that of Anu, and it +became needful to seek another champion. + + + And choose Merodach as their champion. + +The choice fell upon Merodach, the Belus (Bel-Merodach) of Damascius's +paraphrase, and at once met with an enthusiastic reception. The god +asked simply that an "unchangeable command" might be given to him--that +whatever he ordained should without fail come to pass, in order +that he might destroy the common enemy. Invitations were sent to the +gods asking them to a festival, where, having met together, they ate +and drank, and "decided the fate" for Merodach their avenger, +apparently meaning that he was decreed their defender in the conflict +with Tiawath, and that the power of creating and annihilating by the +word of his mouth was his. Honours were then conferred upon him; +princely chambers were erected for him, wherein he sat as judge "in +the presence of his fathers," and the rule over the whole universe was +given to him. The testing of his newly acquired power followed. A +garment was placed in their midst: + + "He spake with his mouth, and the garment was destroyed, + He spake to it again, and the garment was reproduced." + + + Merodach proclaimed king. + +On this proof of the reality of the powers conferred on him, all the +gods shouted "Merodach is king!" and handed to him sceptre, throne, +and insignia of royalty. An irresistible weapon, which should shatter +all his enemies, was then given to him, and he armed himself also with +spear or dart, bow, and quiver; lightning flashed before him, and +flaming fire filled his body. Anu, the god of the heavens, had given +him a great net, and this he set at the four cardinal points, in order +that nothing of the dragon, when he had defeated her, should escape. +Seven winds he then created to accompany him, and the great weapon +called /Abubu/, "the Flood," completed his equipment. All being ready, +he mounted his dreadful, irresistible chariot, to which four steeds +were yoked--steeds unsparing, rushing forward, rapid in flight, their +teeth full of venom, foam-covered, experienced in galloping, schooled +in overthrowing. Being now ready for the fray, Merodach fared forth to +meet Tiawath, accompanied by the fervent good wishes of "the gods his +fathers." + + + The fight with Tiawath. + +Advancing, he regarded Tiawath's retreat, but the sight of the enemy +was so menacing that even the great Merodach (if we understand the +text rightly) began to falter. This, however, was not for long, and +the king of the gods stood before Tiawath, who, on her side, remained +firm and undaunted. In a somewhat long speech, in which he reproaches +Tiawath for her rebellion, he challenges her to battle, and the two +meet in fiercest fight. To all appearance the type of all evil did not +make use of honest weapons, but sought to overcome the king of the +gods with incantations and charms. These, however, had not the +slightest effect, for she found herself at once enclosed in Merodach's +net, and on opening her mouth to resist and free herself, the evil +wind, which Merodach had sent on before him, entered, so that she +could not close her lips, and thus inflated, her heart was +overpowered, and she became a prey to her conqueror. Having cut her +asunder and taken out her heart, thus destroying her life, he threw +her body down and stood thereon. Her followers then attempted to +escape, but found themselves surrounded and unable to get forth. Like +their mistress, they were thrown into the net, and sat in bonds, being +afterwards shut up in prison. As for Kingu, he was raised up, bound, +and delivered to be with Ugga, the god of death. The tablets of fate, +which Tiawath had delivered to Kingu, were taken from him by Merodach, +who pressed his seal upon them, and placed them in his breast. The +deity AnÅ¡ar, who had been, as it would seem, deprived of his rightful +power by Tiawath, received that power again on the death of the common +foe, and Nudimmud "saw his desire upon his enemy." + + + Tiawath's fate. + +The dismemberment of Tiawath then followed, and her veins having been +cut through, the north wind was caused by the deity to carry her blood +away into secret places, a statement which probably typifies the +opening of obstructions which prevent the rivers flowing from the +north from running into the southern seas, helped thereto by the north +wind. Finally her body was divided, like "a /maÅ¡dê/-fish," into two +parts, one of which was made into a covering for the heavens--the +"waters above the firmament" of Genesis i. 7. + + + Merodach orders the world anew. + +Then came the ordering of the universe anew. Having made a covering +for the heavens with half the body of the defeated Dragon of Chaos, +Merodach set the Abyss, the abode of Nudimmud, in front, and made a +corresponding edifice above--the heavens--where he founded stations +for the gods Anu, Bel, and Ae. Stations for the great gods in the +likeness of constellations, together with what is regarded as the +Zodiac, were his next work. He then designated the year, setting three +constellations for each month, and made a station for +Nibiru--Merodach's own star--as the overseer of all the lights in the +firmament. He then caused the new moon, Nannaru, to shine, and made +him the ruler of the night, indicating his phases, one of which was on +the seventh day, and the other, a /Å¡abattu/, or day of rest, in the +middle of the month. Directions with regard to the moon's movements +seem to follow, but the record is mutilated, and their real nature +consequently doubtful. With regard to other works which were performed +we have no information, as a gap prevents their being ascertained. +Something, however, seems to have been done with Merodach's +net--probably it was placed in the heavens as a constellation, as was his +bow, to which several names were given. Later on, the winds were bound +and assigned to their places, but the account of the arrangement of +other things is mutilated and obscure, though it can be recognised +that the details in this place were of considerable interest. + + + The creation of man. + +To all appearance the gods, after he had ordered the universe and the +things then existing, urged Merodach to further works of wonder. +Taking up their suggestion, he considered what he should do, and then +communicated to his father Ae his plan for the creation of man with +his own blood, in order that the service and worship of the gods might +be established. This portion is also unfortunately very imperfect, and +the details of the carrying out of the plan are entirely wanting. + + + Berosus' narrative fills the gap. + +It is noteworthy that this portion of the narrative has been preserved +by Abydenus, George the Syncellus, and Eusebius, in their quotations +from Berosus. According to this Chaldæan writer, there was a woman +named Omoroca, or, in Chaldæan, Thalatth (apparently a mistake for +Thauatth, i.e. Tiawath), whose name was equivalent to the Greek +Thalassa, the sea. It was she who had in her charge all the strange +creatures then existing. At this period, Belus (Bel-Merodach) came, +and cut the woman asunder, forming out of one half the earth, and of +the other the heavens, at the same time destroying all the creatures +which were within her--all this being an allegory, for the whole +universe consists of moisture, and creatures are constantly generated +therein. The deity then cut off his own head, and the other gods mixed +the blood, as it gushed out, with the earth, and from this men were +formed. Hence it is that men are rational, and partake of divine +knowledge. + + + A second creation. + +This Belsus, "who is called Zeus," divided the darkness, separated the +heavens from the earth, and reduced the universe to order. The animals +which had been created, however, not being able to bear the light, +died. Belus then, seeing the void thus made, ordered one of the gods +to take off his head, and mix the blood with the soil, forming other +men and animals which should be able to bear the light. He also formed +the stars, the sun, the moon, and the five planets. It would thus seem +that there were two creations, the first having been a failure because +Belus had not foreseen that it was needful to produce beings which +should be able to bear the light. Whether this repetition was really +in the Babylonian legend, or whether Berosus (or those who quote him) +has merely inserted and united two varying accounts, will only be +known when the cuneiform text is completed. + + + The concluding tablet. + +The tablet of the fifty-one names completes the record of the tablets +found at Nineveh and Babylon. In this Merodach receives the titles of +all the other gods, thus identifying him with them, and leading to +that tendency to monotheism of which something will be said later on. +In this text, which is written, like the rest of the legend, in +poetical form, Merodach is repeatedly called /Tutu/, a mystic word +meaning "creator," and "begetter," from the reduplicate root /tu/ or +/utu/--which was to all appearances his name when it was desired to +refer to him especially in that character. Noteworthy in this portion +is the reference to Merodach's creation of mankind:-- + +Line 25. "Tuto: Aga-azaga (the glorious crown)--may he make the crowns + glorious. + 26. The lord of the glorious incantation bringing the dead to + life; + 27. He who had mercy on the gods who had been overpowered; + 28. Made heavy the yoke which he had laid on the gods who were + his enemies, + 29. (And) to redeem(?) them, created mankind. + 30. 'The merciful one,' 'he with whom is salvation,' + 31. May his word be established, and not forgotten, + 32. In the mouth of the black-headed ones[1] whom his hands have + made." + +[1] I.e. mankind. + + + Man the redeemer. + +The phrase "to redeem them" is, in the original, /ana padi-Å¡unu/, the +verb being from /padû/, "to spare," "set free," and if this rendering +be correct, as seems probable, the Babylonian reasons for the creation +of mankind would be, that they might carry on the service and worship +of the gods, and by their righteousness redeem those enemies of the +gods who were undergoing punishment for their hostility. Whether by +this Tiawath, Apsu, Mummu, Kingu, and the monsters whom she had +created were included, or only the gods of heaven who had joined her, +the record does not say. Naturally, this doctrine depends entirely +upon the correctness of the translation of the words quoted. Jensen, +who first proposed this rendering, makes no attempt to explain it, and +simply asks: "Does 'them' in 'to redeem(?) them' refer to the gods +named in line 28 or to mankind and then to a future--how +meant?--redemption? Eschatology? Zimmern's 'in their place' unprovable. +Delitzsch refrains from an explanation." + + + The bilingual account of the creation. Aruru aids Merodach. + +Whilst dealing with this part of the religious beliefs of the +Babylonians, a few words are needed concerning the creation-story +which is prefixed to an incantation used in a purification ceremony. +The original text is Sumerian (dialectic), and is provided with a +Semitic translation. In this inscription, after stating that nothing +(in the beginning) existed, and even the great cities and temples of +Babylonia were as yet unbuilt, the condition of the world is briefly +indicated by the statement that "All the lands were sea." The renowned +cities of Babylonia seem to have been regarded as being as much +creations of Merodach as the world and its inhabitants--indeed, it is +apparently for the glorification of those cities by attributing their +origin to Merodach, that the bilingual account of the creation was +composed.. "When within the sea there was a stream"--that is, when the +veins of Tiawath had been cut through--Êridu (probably = Paradise) and +the temple Ê-sagila within the Abyss were constructed, and after that +Babylon and the earthly temple of Ê-sagila within it. Then he made the +gods and the Annunnaki (the gods of the earth), proclaimed a glorious +city as the seat of the joy of their hearts, and afterwards made a +pleasant place in which the gods might dwell. The creation of mankind +followed, in which Merodach was aided by the goddess Aruru, who made +mankind's seed. Finally, plants, trees, and the animals, were +produced, after which Merodach constructed bricks, beams, houses, and +cities, including Niffer and Erech with their renowned temples. + +We see here a change in the teaching with regard to Merodach--the gods +are no longer spoken of as "his fathers," but he is the creator of the +gods, as well as of mankind. + + + The order of the gods in the principal lists. + +It is unfortunate that no lists of gods have been found in a +sufficiently complete state to allow of the scheme after which they +were drawn up to be determined without uncertainty. It may, +nevertheless, be regarded as probable that these lists, at least in +some cases, are arranged in conformity (to a certain extent) with the +appearance of the deities in the so-called creation-story. Some of +them begin with Anu, and give him various names, among them being +AnÅ¡ar and KiÅ¡ar, Lahmu and Lahame, etc. More specially interesting, +however, is a well-known trilingual list of gods, which contains the +names of the various deities in the following order:-- + + EXTRACTS FROM THE TRILINGUAL LIST + /Obverse/ + + Sumer. Dialect Sumer. Standard Common Explanation + (Semit. or Sumer.) + + 1. Dimmer Dingir ÃŽlu God. + 2. U-ki En-ki Ê-a Êa or Aa. + 3. GaÅ¡an(?)-ki Nin-ki Dawkina Dauké, the consort of Êa. + 4. Mu-ul-lil En-lil-la Bêl The God Bel. + 5. E-lum A-lim Bêl + 6. GaÅ¡an(?)-lil Nin-lil-la dam-bi sal Bel's consort. + 7. U-lu-a Ni-rig Ênu-rêštu The god of Niffer. + 8. U-lib-a Ni-rig Ênu-rêštu + + 9-12 have Ênu-rêštu's consort, sister, and attendant. + + 13. U-Å¡ab-sib En-Å¡ag-duga Nusku Nusku + + 14-19 have two other names of Nusku, followed by three names of his + consort. A number of names of minor divinities then follow. At + line 43 five names of Êa are given, followed by four of + Merodach:-- + + 48. U-bi-lu-lu En-bi-lu-lu Marduk Merodach + 49. U-Tin-dir ki En-Tin-dir ki Marduk Merodach as "lord of Babylon." + 50. U-dimmer-an-kia En-dinger-an-kia Marduk Merodach as "lord god of heaven and earth." + 51. U-ab-Å¡ar-u En-ab-Å¡ar-u Marduk Merodach, apparently as "lord of the 36,000 steers." + 52. U-bar-gi-si Nin-bar-gi-si Zer-panîtum Merodach's consort. + 53. GaÅ¡an-abzu Nin-abzu dam-bi sal "the Lady of the Abyss," his consort. + +The remainder of the obverse is mutilated, but gave the names of Nebo +in Sumerian, and apparently also of TaÅ¡mêtum, his consort. The +beginning of the reverse also is mutilated, but seems to have given +the names of the sun-god, Å amaÅ¡, and his consort, followed by those of +Kîttu and Mêšarum, "justice and righteousness," his attendants. Other +interesting names are: + + /Reverse/ + + 8. U-libir-si En-ubar-si Dumu-zi Tammuz + 9. Sir-tumu Sir-du ama Dumuzi-gi the mother of Tammuz + 12. GaÅ¡an-anna Innanna IÅ¡tar IÅ¡tar (Venus) as "lady of heaven." + 20. Nin-si-anna Innanna mul IÅ¡tar the star (the planet Venus). + 21. Nin Nin-tag-taga Nanaa a goddess identified with IÅ¡tar. + 23. U-Å¡ah Nina-Å¡ah Pap-sukal the gods' messenger. + 24. U-banda Lugal-banda Lugal-banda + 26. U-Mersi Nin-Girsu Nin-Girsu the chief god of LagaÅ¡. + 27. Ma-sib-sib Ga-tum-duga Bau Bau, a goddess identified with Gula. + +Four non-Semitic names of Gula follow, of which that in line 31 is the +most interesting:-- + + 31. GaÅ¡an-ti-dibba Nin-tin-guua Gula "the lady saving from death." + 33. GaÅ¡an-ki-gal EreÅ¡-ki-gala Allatu Persephone. + 36. U-mu-zi-da Nin-giÅ¡-zi-da Nin-giÅ¡-zida "the lord of the everlasting tree." + 37. U-urugal Ne-eri-gal Nerigal Nergal. + 42. Mulu-hursag Galu-hursag Amurru the Amorite god. + 43. GaÅ¡an-gu-edina Nin-gu-edina (apparently the consort of Amurru). + +In all probability this list is one of comparatively late date, though +its chronological position with regard to the others is wholly +uncertain--it may not be later, and may even be earlier, than those +beginning with Anu, the god of the heavens. The important thing about +it is, that it begins with /îlu/, god, in general, which is written, +in the standard dialect (that of the second column) with the same +character as that used for the name of Anu. After this comes Aa or Êa, +the god of the earth, and his consort, followed by En-lilla, the older +Bel--Illinos in Damascius. The name of Êa is repeated again in line 43 +and following, where he is apparently re-introduced as the father of +Merodach, whose names immediately follow. This peculiarity is also +found in other lists of gods and is undoubtedly a reflection of the +history of the Babylonian religion. As this list replaces Anu by +/îlu/, it indicates the rule of Enki or Êa, followed by that of +Merodach, who, as has been shown, became the chief divinity of the +Babylonian pantheon in consequence of Babylon having become the +capital of the country. + + + + CHAPTER IV + + THE PRINCIPAL GODS OF THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + + + Anu. + +The name of this divinity is derived from the Sumero-Akkadian /ana/, +"heaven," of which he was the principal deity. He is called the father +of the great gods, though, in the creation-story, he seems to be +described as the son of AnÅ¡ar and KiÅ¡ar. In early names he is +described as the father, creator, and god, probably meaning the +supreme being. His consort was Anatu, and the pair are regarded in the +lists as the same as the Lahmu and Lahame of the creation-story, who, +with other deities, are also described as gods of the heavens. Anu was +worshipped at Erech, along with IÅ¡tar. + + + Ea. + +Is given as if it were the /Semitic/ equivalent of /Enki/, "the lord +of the earth," but it would seem to be really a Sumerian word, later +written /Ae/, and certain inscriptions suggest that the true reading +was /Aa/. His titles are "king of the Abyss, creator of everything, +lord of all," the first being seemingly due to the fact that Aa is a +word which may, in its reduplicate form, mean "waters," or if read +/Êa/, "house of water." He also, like Anu, is called "father of the +gods." As this god was likewise "lord of deep wisdom," it was to him +that his son Merodach went for advice whenever he was in doubt. On +account of his knowledge, he was the god of artisans in general--potters, +blacksmiths, sailors, builders, stone-cutters, gardeners, +seers, barbers, farmers, etc. This is the Aos (a form which confirms +the reading Aa) of Damascius, and the Oannes of the extracts from +Berosus, who states that he was "a creature endowed with reason, with +a body like that of a fish, and under the fish's head another head, +with feet below, like those of a man, with a fish's tail." This +description applies fairly well to certain bas-reliefs from Nimroud in +the British Museum. The creature described by Berosus lived in the +Persian Gulf, landing during the day to teach the inhabitants the +building of houses and temples, the cultivation of useful plants, the +gathering of fruits, and also geometry, law, and letters. From him, +too, came the account of the beginning of things referred to in +chapter III. which, in the original Greek, is preceded by a +description of the composite monsters said to have existed before +Merodach assumed the rule of the universe. + +The name of his consort, Damkina or Dawkina, probably means "the +eternal spouse," and her other names, /GaÅ¡an-ki/ (Sumerian dialectic) +and /Nin-ki/ (non-dialectic), "Lady of the earth," sufficiently +indicates her province. She is often mentioned in the incantations +with Êa. + +The forsaking of the worship of Êa as chief god for that of Merodach +seems to have caused considerable heartburning in Babylonia, if we may +judge from the story of the Flood, for it was on account of his +faithfulness that UtnipiÅ¡tim, the Babylonian Noah, attained to +salvation from the Flood and immortality afterwards. All through this +adventure it was the god Êa who favoured him, and afterwards gave him +immortality like that of the gods. There is an interesting Sumerian +text in which the ship of Êa seems to be described, the woods of which +its various parts were formed being named, and in it, apparently, were +Enki (Êa), Damgal-nunna (Damkina), his consort, Asari-lu-duga +(Merodach), In-ab (or IneÅ¡), the pilot of Êridu (Êa's city), and +Nin-igi-nagar-sir, "the great architect of heaven":-- + + "May the ship before thee bring fertility, + May the ship after thee bring joy, + In thy heart may it make joy of heart . . . ." + +Êa was the god of fertility, hence this ending to the poetical +description of the ship of Êa. + + + Bel. + +The deity who is mentioned next in order in the list given above is +the "older Bel," so called to distinguish him from Bel-Merodach. His +principal names were /Mullil/ (dialectic) or /En-lilla/[1] (standard +speech), the /Illinos/ of Damascius. His name is generally translated +"lord of mist," so-called as god of the underworld, his consort being +/GaÅ¡an-lil/ or /Nan-lilla/, "the lady of the mist," in Semitic +Babylonian /Bêltu/, "the Lady," par excellence. Bel, whose name means +"the lord," was so called because he was regarded as chief of the +gods. As there was considerable confusion in consequence of the title +Bel having been given to Merodach, Tiglath-pileser I. (about 1200 +B.C.) refers to him as the "older Bel" in describing the temple which +he built for him at AÅ¡Å¡ur. Numerous names of men compounded with his +occur until the latest times, implying that, though the favourite god +was Merodach, the worship of Bel was not forgotten, even at Babylon--that +he should have been adored at his own city, Niffur, and at +Dur-Kuri-galzu, where Kuri-galzu I. built a temple for "Bel, the lord of +the lands," was naturally to be expected. Being, like Êa, a god of the +earth, he is regarded as having formed a trinity with Anu, the god of +heaven, and Êa, the god of the deep, and prayer to these three was as +good as invoking all the gods of the universe. Classification of the +gods according to the domain of their power would naturally take place +in a religious system in which they were all identified with each +other, and this classification indicates, as Jastrow says, a deep +knowledge of the powers of nature, and a more than average +intelligence among the Babylonians--indeed, he holds it as a proof +that, at the period of the older empire, there were schools and +students who had devoted themselves to religious speculation upon this +point. He also conjectures that the third commandment of the Law of +Moses was directed against this doctrine held by the Babylonians. + +[1] Ordinarily pronounced /Illila/, as certain glosses and Damascius's + /Illinos/ (for /Illilos/) show. + + + Beltis. + +This goddess was properly only the spouse of the older Bel, but as +/Bêltu/, her Babylonian name, simply meant "lady" in general (just as +/Bêl/ or /bêlu/ meant "lord"), it became a title which could be given +to any goddess, and was in fact borne by Zer-panîtum, IÅ¡tar, Nanaa, +and others. It was therefore often needful to add the name of the city +over which the special /Bêltu/ presided, in order to make clear which +of them was meant. Besides being the title of the spouse of the older +Bel, having her earthly seat with him in Niffur and other less +important shrines, the Assyrians sometimes name Bêltu the spouse of +AÅ¡Å¡ur, their national god, suggesting an identification, in the minds +of the priests, with that deity. + + + Ênu-rêštu or Nirig.[1] + +Whether /Ênu-rêštu/ be a translation of /Nirig/ or not, is uncertain, +but not improbable, the meaning being "primeval lord," or something +similar, and "lord" that of the first element, /ni/, in the Sumerian +form. In support of this reading and rendering may be quoted the fact, +that one of the descriptions of this divinity is /aÅ¡sarid îlani +âhê-Å¡u/, "the eldest of the gods his brothers." It is noteworthy that +this deity was a special favourite among the Assyrians, many of whose +kings, to say nothing of private persons, bore his name as a component +part of theirs. In the bilingual poem entitled /Ana-kime gimma/ +("Formed like Anu"), he is described as being the son of Bel (hence +his appearance after Bel in the list printed above), and in the +likeness of Anu, for which reason, perhaps, his divinity is called +"Anuship." Beginning with words praising him, it seems to refer to his +attitude towards the gods of hostile lands, against whom, apparently, +he rode in a chariot of the sacred lapis-lazuli. Anu having endowed +him with terrible glory, the gods of the earth feared to attack him, +and his onrush was as that of a storm-flood. By the command of Bel, +his course was directed towards Ê-kur, the temple of Bel at Niffur. +Here he was met by Nusku, the supreme messenger of Bel, who, with +words of respect and of praise, asks him not to disturb the god Bel, +his father, in his seat, nor make the gods of the earth tremble in +UpÅ¡ukennaku (the heavenly festival-hall of the gods), and offers him a +gift.[2] It will thus be seen that Ênu-rêštu was a rival to the older +Bel, whose temple was the great tower in stages called Ê-kura, in +which, in all probability, Ê-Å¡u-me-du, the shrine of Ênu-rêštu, was +likewise situated. The inscriptions call him "god of war," though, +unlike Nergal, he was not at the same time god of disease and +pestilence. To all appearance he was the god of the various kinds of +stones, of which another legend states that he "determined their +fate." He was "the hero, whose net overthrows the enemy, who summons +his army to plunder the hostile land, the royal son who caused his +father to bow down to him from afar." "The son who sat not with the +nurse, and eschewed(?) the strength of milk," "the offspring who did +not know his father." "He rode over the mountains and scattered +seed--unanimously the plants proclaimed his name to their dominion, +among them like a great wild bull he raises his horns." + +[1] /Ênu-rêštu/ is the reading which I have adopted as the Semitic + Babylonian equivalent of the name of this divinity, in consequence + of the Aramaic transcription given by certain contract-tablets + discovered by the American expedition to Niffer, and published by + Prof. Clay of Philadelphia. + +[2] The result of this request is not known, in consequence of the + defective state of the tablets. + +Many other interesting descriptions of the deity Nirig (generally read +Nin-ip) occur, and show, with those quoted here, that his story was +one of more than ordinary interest. + + + Nusku. + +This deity was especially invoked by the Assyrian kings, but was in no +wise exclusively Assyrian, as is shown by the fact that his name +occurs in many Babylonian inscriptions. He was the great messenger of +the gods, and is variously given as "the offspring of the abyss, the +creation of Êa," and "the likeness of his father, the first-born of +Bel." As Gibil, the fire-god, has likewise the same diverse parentage, +it is regarded as likely that these two gods were identical. Nusku was +the god whose command is supreme, the counsellor of the great gods, +the protector of the Igigi (the gods of the heavens), the great and +powerful one, the glorious day, the burning one, the founder of +cities, the renewer of sanctuaries, the provider of feasts for all the +Igigi, without whom no feast took place in Ê-kura. Like Nebo, he bore +the glorious spectre, and it was said of him that he attacked mightily +in battle. Without him the sun-god, the judge, could not give +judgment. + +All this points to the probability, that Nusku may not have been the +fire-god, but the brother of the fire-god, i.e. either flame, or the +light of fire. The sun-god, without light, could not see, and +therefore could not give judgment: no feast could be prepared without +fire and its flame. As the evidence of the presence of the shining +orbs in the heavens--the light of their fires--he was the messenger of +the gods, and was honoured accordingly. From this idea, too, he became +their messenger in general, especially of Bel-Merodach, the younger +Bel, whose requests he carried to the god Êa in the Deep. In one +inscription he is identified with Nirig or Ênu-rêštu, who is described +above. + + + Merodach. + +Concerning this god, and how he arose to the position of king of all +the gods of heaven, has been fully shown in chapter III. Though there +is but little in his attributes to indicate any connection with Å amaÅ¡, +there is hardly any doubt that he was originally a sun-god, as is +shown by the etymology of his name. The form, as it has been handed +down to us, is somewhat shortened, the original pronunciation having +been /Amar-uduk/, "the young steer of day," a name which suggests that +he was the morning sun. Of the four names given at the end of chapter +III., two--"lord of Babylon," and "lord god of heaven and earth,"--may +be regarded as expressing his more well-known attributes. /En-ab-Å¡ar-u/, +however, is a provisional, though not impossible, reading and +rendering, and if correct, the "36,000 wild bulls" would be a +metaphorical way of speaking of "the 36,000 heroes," probably meaning +the gods of heaven in all their grades. The signification of +/En-bilulu/ is unknown. Like most of the other gods of the Babylonian +pantheon, however, Merodach had many other names, among which may be +mentioned /Asari/, which has been compared with the Egyptian Osiris, +/Asari-lu-duga/, "/Asari/ who is good," compared with Osiris Unnefer; +/Namtila/, "life", /Tutu/, "begetter (of the gods), renewer (of the +gods)," /Å ar-azaga/, "the glorious incantation," /Mu-azaga/, "the +glorious charm," and many others. The last two refer to his being the +god who, by his kindness, obtained from his father Êa, dwelling in the +abyss, those charms and incantations which benefited mankind, and +restored the sick to health. In this connection, a frequent title +given to him is "the merciful one," but most merciful was he in that +he spared the lives of the gods who, having sided with Taiwath, were +his enemies, as is related in the tablet of the fifty-one names. In +connection with the fight he bore also the names, "annihilator of the +enemy," "rooter out of all evil," "troubler of the evil ones," "life +of the whole of the gods." From these names it is clear that Merodach, +in defeating Tiawath, annihilated, at the same time, the spirit of +evil, Satan, the accuser, of which she was, probably, the Babylonian +type. But unlike the Saviour in the Christian creed, he saved not only +man, at that time uncreated, but the gods of heaven also. As "king of +the heavens," he was identified with the largest of the planets, +Jupiter, as well as with other heavenly bodies. Traversing the sky in +great zigzags, Jupiter seemed to the Babylonians to superintend the +stars, and this was regarded as emblematic of Merodach shepherding +them--"pasturing the gods like sheep," as the tablet has it. + +A long list of gods gives as it were the court of Merodach, held in +what was apparently a heavenly /Ê-sagila/, and among the spiritual +beings mentioned are /Minâ-îkul-bêli/ and /Minâ-iÅ¡tî-bêli/, "what my +lord has eaten," and "what has my lord drunk," /Nadin-mê-gati/, "he +who gives water for the hands," also the two door-keepers, and the +four dogs of Merodach, wherein people are inclined to see the four +satellites of Jupiter, which, it is thought, were probably visible to +certain of the more sharp-sighted stargazers of ancient Babylonia. +These dogs were called /Ukkumu/, /Akkulu/, /IkÅ¡suda/, and /Iltebu/, +"Seizer," "Eater," "Grasper," and "Holder." Images of these beings +were probably kept in the temple of Ê-sagila at Babylon. + + + Zer-panîtum. + +This was the name of the consort of Merodach, and is generally read +Sarp(b)anitum--a transcription which is against the native orthography +and etymology, namely, "seed-creatress" (Zer-banîtum). The meaning +attributed to this word is partly confirmed by another name which +Lehmann has pointed out that she possessed, namely, /Erua/ or /Aru'a/, +who, in an inscription of Antiochus Soter (280-260 B.C.) is called +"the queen who produces birth," but more especially by the +circumstance, that she must be identical with Aruru, who created the +seed of mankind along with Merodach. Why she was called "the lady of +the abyss," and elsewhere "the voice of the abyss" (/Me-abzu/) is not +known. Zer-panîtum was no mere reflection of Merodach, but one of the +most important goddesses in the Babylonian pantheon. The tendency of +scholars has been to identify her with the moon, Merodach being a +solar deity and the meaning "silvery"--/Sarpanitum/, from /sarpu/, one +of the words for "silver," was regarded as supporting this idea. She +was identified with the Elamite goddess named Elagu, and with the +Lahamum of the island of Bahrein, the Babylonian Tilmun. + + + Nebo and TaÅ¡mêtum. + +As "the teacher" and "the hearer" these were among the most popular of +the deities of Babylonia and Assyria. Nebo (in Semitic Babylonian +Nabû) was worshipped at the temple-tower known as Ê-zida, "the +ever-lasting house," at Borsippa, now the Birs Nimroud, traditionally +regarded as the site of the Tower of Babel, though that title, as has +already been shown, would best suit the similar structure known as +Ê-sagila, "the house of the high head," in Babylon itself. In +composition with men's names, this deity occurs more than any other, +even including Merodach himself--a clear indication of the estimation +in which the Babylonians and Assyrians held the possession of +knowledge. The character with which his name is written means, with +the pronunciation of /ak/, "to make," "to create," "to receive," "to +proclaim," and with the pronunciation of /me/, "to be wise," "wisdom," +"open of ear," "broad of ear," and "to make, of a house," the last +probably referring to the design rather than to the actual building. +Under the name of /Dim-Å¡ara/ he was "the creator of the writing of the +scribes," as /Ni-zu/, "the god who knows" (/zu/, "to know"), as +/Mermer/, "the speeder(?) of the command of the gods"--on the Sumerian +side indicating some connection with Addu or Rimmon, the thunderer, +and on the Semitic side with Ênu-rêštu, who was one of the gods' +messengers. A small fragment in the British Museum gave his attributes +as god of the various cities of Babylonia, but unfortunately their +names are lost or incomplete. From what remains, however, we see that +Nebo was god of ditching(?), commerce(?), granaries(?), fasting(?), +and food; it was he who overthrew the land of the enemy, and who +protected planting; and, lastly, he was god of Borsippa. + +The worship of Nebo was not always as popular as it became in the +later days of the Babylonian empire and after its fall, and Jastrow is +of opinion that Hammurabi intentionally ignored this deity, giving the +preference to Merodach, though he did not suppress the worship. Why +this should have taken place is not by any means certain, for Nebo was +a deity adored far and wide, as may be gathered from the fact that +there was a mountain bearing his name in Moab, upon which Moses--also +an "announcer," adds Jastrow--died. Besides the mountain, there was a +city in Moab so named, and another in Judæa. That it was the +Babylonian Nebo originally is implied by the form--the Hebrew +corresponding word is /nabi/. + +How old the worship of TaÅ¡mêtum, his consort, is, is doubtful, but her +name first occurs in a date of the reign of Hammurabi. Details +concerning her attributes are rare, and Jastrow regards this goddess +as the result of Babylonian religious speculations. It is noteworthy +that her worship appears more especially in later times, but it may be +doubted whether it is a product of those late times, especially when +we bear in mind the remarkable seal-impression on an early tablet of +3500-4500 B.C., belonging to Lord Amherst of Hackney, in which we see +a male figure with wide-open mouth seizing a stag by his horns, and a +female figure with no mouth at all, but with very prominent ears, +holding a bull in a similar manner. Here we have the "teacher" and the +"hearer" personified in a very remarkable manner, and it may well be +that this primitive picture shows the idea then prevailing with regard +to these two deities. It is to be noted that the name of TaÅ¡mêtum has +a Sumerian equivalent, namely, /Kurnun/, and that the ideograph by +which it is represented is one whose general meaning seems to be "to +bind," perhaps with the additional signification of "to accomplish," +in which case "she who hears" would also be "she who obeys." + + + Å amaÅ¡ and his consort. + +At all times the worship of the sun in Babylonia and Assyria was +exceedingly popular, as, indeed, was to be expected from his +importance as the greatest of the heavenly bodies and the brightest, +without whose help men could not live, and it is an exceedingly +noteworthy fact that this deity did not become, like Ra in Egypt, the +head of the pantheon. This place was reserved for Merodach, also a +sun-god, but possessing attributes of a far wider scope. Å amaÅ¡ is +mentioned as early as the reign of Ê-anna-tum, whose date is set at +about 4200 B.C., and at this period his Semitic name does not, +naturally, occur, the character used being /Utu/, or, in its longer +form, /Utuki/. + +It is worthy of note that, in consequence of the Babylonian idea of +evolution in the creation of the world, less perfect beings brought +forth those which were more perfect, and the sun was therefore the +offspring of Nannara or Sin, the moon. In accordance with the same +idea, the day, with the Semites, began with the evening, the time when +the moon became visible, and thus becomes the offspring of the night. +In the inscriptions Å amaÅ¡ is described as "the light of things above +and things below, the illuminator of the regions," "the supreme judge +of heaven and earth," "the lord of living creatures, the gracious one +of the lands." Dawning in the foundation of the sky, he opened the +locks and threw wide the gates of the high heavens, and raised his +head, covering heaven and earth with his splendour. He was the +constantly righteous in heaven, the truth within the ears of the +lands, the god knowing justice and injustice, righteousness he +supported upon his shoulders, unrighteousness he burst asunder like a +leather bond, etc. It will thus be seen, that the sun-god was the +great god of judgment and justice--indeed, he is constantly alluded to +as "the judge," the reason in all probability being, that as the sun +shines upon the earth all day long, and his light penetrates +everywhere, he was regarded as the god who knew and investigated +everything, and was therefore best in a position to judge aright, and +deliver a just decision. It is for this reason that his image appears +at the head of the stele inscribed with Hammurabi's laws, and legal +ceremonies were performed within the precincts of his temples. The +chief seats of his worship were the great temples called Ê-babbara, +"the house of great light," in the cities of Larsa and Sippar. + +The consort of Å amaÅ¡ was Aa, whose chief seat was at Sippar, side by +side with Å amaÅ¡. Though only a weak reflex of the sun-god, her worship +was exceedingly ancient, being mentioned in an inscription of +Man-iÅ¡tusu, who is regarded as having reigned before Sargon of Agadé. +From the fact that, in one of the lists, she has names formed by +reduplicating the name of the sun-god, /Utu/, she would seem once to +have been identical with him, in which case it may be supposed that +she personified the setting sun--"the double sun" from the magnified +disc which he presents at sunset, when, according to a hymn to the +setting sun sung at the temple at Borsippa, Aa, in the Sumerian line +Kur-nirda, was accustomed to go to receive him. According to the list +referred to above, Aa, with the name of Burida in Sumerian, was more +especially the consort of Å a-zu, "him who knows the heart," one of the +names of Merodach, who was probably the morning sun, and therefore the +exact counterpart of the sun at evening. + +Besides Å amaÅ¡ and Utu, the latter his ordinary Sumerian name, the +sun-god had several other non-Semitic names, including /GiÅ¡nu/,[*] "the +light," /Ma-banda-anna/, "the bark of heaven," /U-ê/, "the rising +sun," /Mitra/, apparently the Persian Mithra; /Ume-Å¡imaÅ¡/ and Nahunda, +Elamite names, and Sahi, the Kassite name of the sun. He also +sometimes bears the names of his attendants Kittu and Mêšaru, "Truth" +and "Righteousness," who guided him upon his path as judge of the +earth. + +[*] It is the group expressing this word which is used for Å amaÅ¡ in + the name of Å amaÅ¡-Å¡um-ukîn (Saosduchinos), the brother of + AÅ¡Å¡ur-bani-âpli (Assurbanipal). The Greek equivalent implies the + pronunciation /Å awaÅ¡/, as well as /Å amaÅ¡/. + + + Tammuz and IÅ¡tar. + +The date of the rise of the myth of Tammuz is uncertain, but as the +name of this god is found on tablets of the time of Lugal-anda and +Uru-ka-gina (about 3500 B.C.), it can hardly be of later date than +4000 B.C., and may be much earlier. As he is repeatedly called "the +shepherd," and had a domain where he pastured his flock, Professor +Sayce sees in Tammuz "Daonus or Daos, the shepherd of Pantibibla," +who, according to Berosus, ruled in Babylonia for 10 /sari/, or 36,000 +years, and was the sixth king of the mythical period. According to the +classic story, the mother of Tammuz had unnatural intercourse with her +own father, being urged thereto by Aphrodite whom she had offended, +and who had decided thus to avenge herself. Being pursued by her +father, who wished to kill her for this crime, she prayed to the gods, +and was turned into a tree, from whose trunk Adonis was afterwards +born. Aphrodite was so charmed with the infant that, placing him in a +chest, she gave him into the care of Persephone, who, however, when +she discovered what a treasure she had in her keeping, refused to part +with him again. Zeus was appealed to, and decided that for four months +in the year Adonis should be left to himself, four should be spent +with Aphrodite, and four with Persephone, and six with Aphrodite on +earth. He was afterwards slain, whilst hunting, by a wild boar. + +Nothing has come down to us as yet concerning this legend except the +incident of his dwelling in Hades, whither IÅ¡tar, the Babylonian +Venus, went in search of him. It is not by any means unlikely, +however, that the whole story existed in Babylonia, and thence spread +to PhÅ“nicia, and afterwards to Greece. In PhÅ“nicia it was adapted to +the physical conditions of the country, and the place of Tammuz's +encounter with the boar was said to be the mountains of Lebanon, +whilst the river named after him, Adonis (now the Nahr Ibrahim), which +ran red with the earth washed down by the autumn rains, was said to be +so coloured in consequence of being mingled with his blood. The +descent of Tammuz to the underworld, typified by the flowing down of +the earth-laden waters of the rivers to the sea, was not only +celebrated by the PhÅ“nicians, but also by the Babylonians, who had at +least two series of lamentations which were used on this occasion, and +were probably the originals of those chanted by the Hebrew women in +the time of Ezekiel (about 597 B.C.). Whilst on earth, he was the one +who nourished the ewe and her lamb, the goat and her kid, and also +caused them to be slain--probably in sacrifice. "He has gone, he has +gone to the bosom of the earth," the mourners cried, "he will make +plenty to overflow for the land of the dead, for its lamentations for +the day of his fall, in the unpropitious month of his year." There was +also lamentation for the cessation of the growth of vegetation, and +one of these hymns, after addressing him as the shepherd and husband +of IÅ¡tar, "lord of the underworld," and "lord of the shepherd's seat," +goes on to liken him to a germ which has not absorbed water in the +furrow, whose bud has not blossomed in the meadow; to the sapling +which has not been planted by the watercourse, and to the sapling +whose root has been removed. In the "Lamentations" in the Manchester +Museum, IÅ¡tar, or one of her devotees, seems to call for Tammuz, +saying, "Return, my husband," as she makes her way to the region of +gloom in quest of him. EreÅ¡-ê-gala, "the lady of the great house" +(Persephone), is also referred to, and the text seems to imply that +IÅ¡tar entered her domain in spite of her. In this text other names are +given to him, namely, /Tumu-giba/, "son of the flute," /Ama-elaggi/, +and /Å i-umunnagi/, "life of the people." + +The reference to sheep and goats in the British Museum fragment +recalls the fact that in an incantation for purification the person +using it is told to get the milk of a yellow goat which has been +brought forth in the sheep-fold of Tammuz, recalling the flocks of the +Greek sun-god Helios. These were the clouds illuminated by the sun, +which were likened to sheep--indeed, one of the early Sumerian +expressions for "fleece" was "sheep of the sky." The name of Tammuz in +Sumerian is Dumu-zi, or in its rare fullest form, Dumu-zida, meaning +"true" or "faithful son." There is probably some legend attached to +this which is at present unknown. + +In all probability IÅ¡tar, the spouse of Tammuz, is best known from her +descent into Hades in quest of him when with Persephone (EreÅ¡-ki-gal) +in the underworld. In this she had to pass through seven gates, and an +article of clothing was taken from her at each, until she arrived in +the underworld quite naked, typifying the teaching, that man can take +nothing away with him when he departs this life. During her absence, +things naturally began to go wrong upon the earth, and the gods were +obliged to intervene, and demand her release, which was ultimately +granted, and at each gate, as she returned, the adornments which she +had left were given back to her. It is uncertain whether the husband +whom she sought to release was set free, but the end of the +inscription seems to imply that IÅ¡tar was successful in her mission. + +In this story she typifies the faithful wife, but other legends show +another side of her character, as in that of GilgameÅ¡, ruler of her +city Erech, to whom she makes love. GilgameÅ¡, however, knowing the +character of the divine queen of his city too well, reproaches her +with her treatment of her husband and her other lovers--Tammuz, to +whom, from year to year, she caused bitter weeping; the bright +coloured Allala bird, whom she smote and broke his wings; the lion +perfect in strength, in whom she cut wounds "by sevens"; the horse +glorious in war, to whom she caused hardship and distress, and to his +mother Silili bitter weeping; the shepherd who provided for her things +which she liked, whom she smote and changed to a jackal; IÅ¡ullanu, her +father's gardener, whom she tried, apparently, to poison, but failing, +she smote him, and changed him to a statue(?). On being thus reminded +of her misdeeds, IÅ¡tar was naturally angry, and, ascending to heaven, +complained to her father Anu and her mother Anatu, the result being, +that a divine bull was sent against GilgameÅ¡ and Enki-du, his friend +and helper. The bull, however, was killed, and a portion of the animal +having been cut off, Enki-du threw it at the goddess, saying at the +same time that, if he could only get hold of her, he would treat her +similarly. Apparently IÅ¡tar recognised that there was nothing further +to be done in the matter, so, gathering the hand-maidens, pleasure-women +and whores, in their presence she wept over the portion of the +divine bull which had been thrown at her. + +The worship of IÅ¡tar, she being the goddess of love and war, was +considerably more popular than that of her spouse, Tammuz, who, as +among the western Semitic nations, was adored rather by the women than +the men. Her worship was in all probability of equal antiquity, and +branched out, so to say, in several directions, as may be judged by +her many names, each of which had a tendency to become a distinct +personality. Thus the syllabaries give the character which represents +her name as having also been pronounced /Innanna/, /Ennen/, and /Nin/, +whilst a not uncommon name in other inscriptions is /Ama-Innanna/, +"mother IÅ¡tar." The principal seat of her worship in Babylonia was at +Erech, and in Assyria at Nineveh--also at Arbela, and many other +places. She was also honoured (at Erech and elsewhere) under the +Elamite names of TiÅ¡pak and Å uÅ¡inak, "the Susian goddess." + + + Nina. + +From the name /Nin/, which IÅ¡tar bore, there is hardly any doubt that +she acquired the identification with Nina, which is provable as early +as the time of the LagaÅ¡ite kings, Lugal-anda and Uru-ka-gina. As +identified with Aruru, the goddess who helped Merodach to create +mankind, IÅ¡tar was also regarded as the mother of all, and in the +Babylonian story of the Flood, she is made to say that she had +begotten man, but like "the sons of the fishes," he filled the sea. +Nina, then, as another form of IÅ¡tar, was a goddess of creation, +typified in the teeming life of the ocean, and her name is written +with a character standing for a house or receptacle, with the sign for +"fish" within. Her earliest seat was the city of Nina in southern +Babylonia, from which place, in all probability, colonists went +northwards, and founded another shrine at Nineveh in Assyria, which +afterwards became the great centre of her worship, and on this account +the city was called after her Ninaa or Ninua. As their tutelary +goddess, the fishermen in the neighbourhood of the Babylonian Nina and +LagaÅ¡ were accustomed to make to her, as well as to Innanna or IÅ¡tar, +large offerings of fish. + +As the masculine deities had feminine forms, so it is not by any means +improbable that the goddesses had masculine forms, and if that be the +case, we may suppose that it was a masculine counterpart of Nina who +founded Nineveh, which, as is well known, is attributed to Ninos, the +same name as Nina with the Greek masculine termination. + + + Nin-Gursu. + +This deity is principally of importance in connection with the ancient +Babylonian state of LagaÅ¡, the home of an old and important line of +kings and viceroys, among the latter being the celebrated Gudea, whose +statues and inscribed cylinders now adorn the Babylonian galleries of +the Louvre at Paris. His name means "Lord of Girsu," which was +probably one of the suburbs, and the oldest part, of LagaÅ¡. This deity +was son of En-lila or Bêl, and was identified with Nirig or Ênu-rêštu. +To all appearance he was a sun-deity. The dialectic form of his name +was /U-Mersi/, of which a variant, /En-Mersi/, occurs in an +incantation published in the fourth volume of the /Cuneiform +Inscriptions of Western Asia/, pl. 27, where, for the Sumerian "Take a +white kid of En-Mersi," the Semitic translation is "of Tammuz," +showing that he was identified with the latter god. In the second +volume of the same work Nin-Girsu is given as the pronunciation of the +name of the god of agriculturalists, confirming this identification, +Tammuz being also god of agriculture. + + + Bau. + +This goddess at all times played a prominent part in ancient +Babylonian religion, especially with the rulers before the dynasty of +Hammurabi. She was the "mother" of LagaÅ¡, and her temple was at +Uru-azaga, a district of LagaÅ¡, the chief city of Nin-Girsu, whose +spouse she was. Like Nin-Girsu, she planted (not only grain and +vegetation, but also the seed of men). In her character of the goddess +who gave life to men, and healed their bodies in sickness, she was +identified with Gula, one of those titles is "the lady saving from +death". Ga-tum-duga, whose name probably means "making and producing +good," was also exceedingly popular in ancient times, and though +identified with Bau, is regarded by Jastrow has having been originally +distinct from her. + + + EreÅ¡-ki-gal or Allatu. + +As the prototype of Persephone, this goddess is one of much importance +for comparative mythology, and there is a legend concerning her of +considerable interest. The text is one of those found at Tel-el-Armana, +in Egypt, and states that the gods once made a feast, and sent +to EreÅ¡-ki-gal, saying that, though they could go down to her, she +could not ascend to them, and asking her to send a messenger to fetch +away the food destined for her. This she did, and all the gods stood +up to receive her messenger, except one, who seems to have withheld +this token of respect. The messenger, when he returned, apparently +related to EreÅ¡-ki-gal what had happened, and angered thereat, she +sent him back to the presence of the gods, asking for the delinquent +to be delivered to her, that she might kill him. The gods then +discussed the question of death with the messenger, and told him to +take to his mistress the god who had not stood up in his presence. +When the gods were brought together, that the culprit might be +recognised, one of them remained in the background, and on the +messenger asking who it was who did not stand up, it was found to be +Nerigal. This god was duly sent, but was not at all inclined to be +submissive, for instead of killing him, as she had threatened, +EreÅ¡-ki-gal found herself seized by the hair and dragged from her throne, +whilst the death-dealing god made ready to cut off her head. "Do not +kill me, my brother, let me speak to thee," she cried, and on his +loosing his hold upon her hair, she continued, "thou shalt be my +husband, and I will be thy wife--I will cause you to take dominion in +the wide earth. I will place the tablet of wisdom in thine hand--thou +shalt be lord, I will be lady." Nerigal thereupon took her, kissed +her, and wiped away her tears, saying, "Whatever thou hast asked me +for months past now receives assent." + +EreÅ¡-ki-gal did not treat her rival in the affections of Tammuz so +gently when IÅ¡tar descended to Hades in search of the "husband of her +youth." According to the story, not only was IÅ¡tar deprived of her +garments and ornaments, but by the orders of EreÅ¡-ki-gal, Namtar smote +her with disease in all her members. It was not until the gods +intervened that IÅ¡tar was set free. The meaning of her name is "lady +of the great region," a description which is supposed to apply to +Hades, and of which a variant, EreÅ¡-ki-gal, "lady of the great house," +occurs in the Hymns to Tammuz in the Manchester Museum. + + + Nergal. + +This name is supposed to mean "lord of the great habitation," which +would be a parallel to that of his spouse EreÅ¡-ki-gal. He was the +ruler of Hades, and at the same time god of war and of disease and +pestilence. As warrior, he naturally fought on the side of those who +worshipped him, as in the phrase which describes him as "the warrior, +the fierce storm-flood overthrowing the land of the enemy." As pointed +out by Jastrow, he differs from Nirig, who was also a god of war, in +that he symbolises, as god of disease and death, the misery and +destruction which accompany the strife of nations. It is in +consequence of this side of his character that he appears also as god +of fire, the destroying element, and Jensen says that Nerigal was god +of the midday or of the summer sun, and therefore of all the +misfortunes caused by an excess of his heat. + +The chief centre of his worship was Cuthah (/Kutû/, Sumerian /Gudua/) +near Babylon, now represented by the mounds of Tel Ibrahim. The +identity with the Greek Aries and the Roman Mars is proved by the fact +that his planet was /MuÅ¡tabarrû-mûtanu/, "the death-spreader," which +is probably the name of Mars in Semitic Babylonian. + + + Amurru. + +Although this is not by any means a frequent name among the deities +worshipped in Babylonia, it is worthy of notice on account of its +bearing upon the date of the compilation of the tablet which has been +taken as a basis of this list of gods. He was known as "Lord of the +mountains," and his worship became very popular during the period of +the dynasty to which Hammurabi belonged--say from 2200 to 1937 B.C., +when Amurru was much combined with the names of men, and is found both +on tablets and cylinder-seals. The ideographic manner of writing it is +/Mar-tu/, a word that is used for /Amurru/, the land of the Amorites, +which stood for the West in general. Amorites had entered Babylonia in +considerable numbers during this period, so that there is but little +doubt that his popularity was largely due to their influence, and the +tablet containing these names was probably drawn up, or at least had +the Semitic equivalents added, towards the beginning of that period. + + + Sin or Nannara. + +The cult of the moon-god was one of the most popular in Babylonia, the +chief seat of his worship being at Uru (now Muqayyar) the Biblical Ur +of the Chaldees. The origin of the name Sin is unknown, but it is +thought that it may be a corruption of Zu-ena, "knowledge-lord," as +the compound ideograph expressing his name may be read and translated. +Besides this compound ideograph, the name of the god Sin was also +expressed by the character for "30," provided with the prefix of +divinity, an ideograph which is due to the thirty days of the month, +and is thought to be of late date. With regard to Nannar, Jastrow +explains it as being for Narnar, and renders it "light-producer." In a +long hymn to this god he is described in many lines as "the lord, +prince of the gods, who in heaven alone is supreme," and as "father +Nannar." Among his other descriptive titles are "great Anu" (Sum. /ana +gale/, Semitic Bab. /Anu rabû/)--another instance of the +identification of two deities. He was also "lord of Ur," "lord of the +temple GiÅ¡nu-gala," "lord of the shining crown," etc. He is also said +to be "the mighty steer whose horns are strong, whose limbs are +perfect, who is bearded with a beard of lapis-stone,[*] who is filled +with beauty and fullness (of splendour)." + +[*] Probably of the colour of lapis only, not made of the stone + itself. + +Besides Babylonia and Assyria, he was also worshipped in other parts +of the Semitic east, especially at Harran, to which city Abraham +migrated, scholars say, in consequence of the patron-deity being the +same as at Ur of the Chaldees, where he had passed the earlier years +of his life. The Mountain of Sinai and the Desert of Sin, both bear +his name. + +According to king Dungi (about 2700 B.C.), the spouse of Sin or +Nannara was Nin-Uruwa, "the lady of Ur." Sargon of Assyria (722-705 +B.C.) calls her Nin-gala. + + + Addu or Rammanu. + +The numerous names which Hadad bears in the inscriptions, both +non-Semitic and Semitic, testify to the popularity which this god +enjoyed at all times in Babylonia. Among his non-Semitic names may be +mentioned Mer, Mermer, Muru, all, it may be imagined, imitative. Addu +is explained as being his name in the Amorite language, and a variant +form, apparently, which has lost its first syllable, namely, Dadu, +also appears--the Assyrians seem always to have used the +terminationless form of Addu, namely, Adad. In all probability Addu, +Adad, and Dadu are derived from the West Semitic Hadad, but the other +name, Rammanu, is native Babylonian, and cognate with Rimmon, which is +thus shown by the Babylonian form to mean "the thunderer," or +something similar. He was the god of winds, storms, and rain, feared +on account of the former, and worshipped, and his favour sought, on +account of the last. In his name Birqu, he appears as the god of +lightning, and Jastrow is of opinion, that he is sometimes associated +on that account with Å amaÅ¡, both of them being (although in different +degrees) gods of light, and this is confirmed by the fact that, in +common with the sun-god, he was called "god of justice." In the +Assyrian inscriptions he appears as a god of war, and the kings +constantly compare the destruction which their armies had wrought with +that of "Adad the inundator." For them he was "the mighty one, +inundating the regions of the enemy, lands and houses," and was prayed +to strike the land of the person who showed hostility to the Assyrian +king, with evil-working lightning, to throw want, famine, drought, and +corpses therein, to order that he should not live one day longer, and +to destroy his name and his seed in the land. + +The original seat of his worship was Muru in South Babylonia, to which +the patesi of Girsu in the time of Ibi-Sin sent grain as an offering. +Its site is unknown. Other places (or are they other names of the +same?) where he was worshipped were Ennigi and Kakru. The consort of +Addu was Å ala, whose worship was likewise very popular, and to whom +there were temples, not only in Babylonia and Assyria, but also in +Elam, seemingly always in connection with Addu. + + + AÅ¡Å¡ur. + +In all the deities treated of above, we see the chief gods of the +Babylonian and Assyrian pantheon, which were worshipped by both +peoples extensively, none of them being specifically Assyrian, though +worshipped by the Assyrians. There was one deity, however, whose name +will not be found in the Babylonian lists of gods, namely, AÅ¡Å¡ur, the +national god of Assyria, who was worshipped in the city of AÅ¡Å¡ur, the +old capital of the country. + +From this circumstance, it may be regarded as certain, that AÅ¡Å¡ur was +the local god of the city whose name he bore, and that he attained to +the position of chief god of the Assyrian pantheon in the same way as +Merodach became king of the gods in Babylonia--namely, because AÅ¡Å¡ur +was the capital of the country. His acceptance as chief divinity, +however, was much more general than that of Merodach, as temples to +him were to be found all over the Assyrian kingdom--a circumstance +which was probably due to Assyria being more closely united in itself +than Babylonia, causing his name to arouse patriotic feelings wherever +it might be referred to. This was probably partly due to the fact, +that the king in Assyria was more the representative of the god than +in Babylonia, and that the god followed him on warlike expeditions, +and when engaged in religious ceremonies--indeed, it is not by any +means improbable that he was thought to follow him wherever he went. +On the sculptures he is seen accompanying him in the form of a circle +provided with wings, in which is shown sometimes a full-length figure +of the god in human form, sometimes the upper part only, facing +towards and drawing his bow against the foe. In consequence of its +general appearance, the image of the god has been likened to the sun +in eclipse, the far-stretching wings being thought to resemble the +long streamers visible at the moment of totality, and it must be +admitted as probable that this may have given the idea of the symbol +shown on the sculptures. As a sun-god, and at the same time not the +god Å amaÅ¡, he resembled the Babylonian Merodach, and was possibly +identified with him, especially as, in at least one text, Bêltu +(Bêltis) is described as his consort, which would possibly identify +AÅ¡Å¡ur's spouse with Zer-panîtum. The original form of his name would +seem to have been AuÅ¡ar, "water-field," probably from the tract where +the city of AÅ¡Å¡ur was built. His identification with Merodach, if that +was ever accepted, may have been due to the likeness of the word to +Asari, one of that deity's names. The pronunciation AÅ¡Å¡ur, however, +seems to have led to a comparison with the AnÅ¡ar of the first tablet +of the Creation-story, though it may seem strange that the Assyrians +should have thought that their patron-god was a deity symbolising the +"host of heaven." Nevertheless, the Greek transcription of AnÅ¡ar, +namely, /Assoros/, given by Damascius, certainly strengthens the +indications of the ideograph in this matter. Delitzsch regards the +word AÅ¡Å¡ur, or AÅ¡ur, as he reads it, as meaning "holy," and quotes a +list of the gods of the city of Nineveh, where the word AÅ¡Å¡ur occurs +three times, suggesting the exclamation "holy, holy, holy," or "the +holy, holy, holy one." In all probability, however, the repetition of +the name three times simply means that there were three temples +dedicated to AÅ¡Å¡ur in the cities in question.[*] Jastrow agrees with +Delitzsch in regarding AÅ¡ur as another form of AÅ¡ir (found in early +Cappadocian names), but he translates it rather as "overseer" or +"guardian" of the land and the people--the terminationless form of +/aÅ¡iru/, which has this meaning, and is applied to Merodach. + +[*] Or there may have been three shrines to AÅ¡Å¡ur in each temple + referred to. + +As the use of the characters /An-Å¡ar/ for the god AÅ¡Å¡ur only appears +at a late date (Jastrow says the eighth century B.C.), this would seem +to have been the work of the scribes, who wished to read into the name +the earlier signification of AnÅ¡ar, "the host of heaven," an +explanation fully in accord with Jastrow's reasonings with regard to +the nature of the deity. As he represented no personification or power +of nature, he says, but the general protecting spirit of the land, the +king, the army, and the people, the capital of the country could be +transferred from AÅ¡Å¡ur to Calah, from there back to AÅ¡Å¡ur, and finally +to Nineveh, without affecting the position of the protecting god of +the land in any way. He needed no temple--though such things were +erected to him--he had no need to fear that he should suffer in esteem +by the preference for some other god. As the embodiment of the spirit +of the Assyrian people the personal side of his being remained to a +certain extent in the background. If he was the "host of heaven," all +the deities might be regarded as having their being in him. + +Such was the chief deity of the Assyrians--a national god, grafted on +to, but always distinct from, the rest of the pantheon, which, as has +been shown, was of Babylonian origin, and always maintained the +characteristics and stamp of its origin. + +The spouse of AÅ¡Å¡ur does not appear in the historical texts, and her +mention elsewhere under the title of Bêltu, "the lady," does not allow +of any identification being made. In one inscription, however, +AÅ¡Å¡uritu is called the goddess, and AÅ¡Å¡ur the god, of the star Sib-zi-anna, +identified by Jensen with Regulus, which was apparently the star +of Merodach in Babylonia. This, however, brings us no nearer, for +AÅ¡Å¡uritu would simply mean "the Assurite (goddess)." + + + The minor divinities. + +Among the hundreds of names which the lists furnish, a few are worthy +of mention, either because of more than ordinary interest, or in +consequence of their furnishing the name of some deity, chief in its +locality, but identified elsewhere with one of the greater gods. + +Aa.--This may be regarded either as the god Êa (though the name is +written differently), or as the sun-god assuming the name of his +consort; or (what is, perhaps, more probable) as a way of writing A'u +or Ya'u (the Hebrew Jah), without the ending of the nominative. This +last is also found under the form /Aa'u/, /ya'u/, /yau/, and /ya/. + +Abil-addu.--This deity seems to have attained a certain popularity in +later times, especially among immigrants from the West. As "the son of +Hadad," he was the equivalent of the Syrian Ben-Hadad. A tablet in New +York shows that his name was weakened in form to /Ablada/. + +Aku, the moon-god among the heavenly bodies. It is this name which is +regarded as occurring in the name of the Babylonian king Eri-Aku, +"servant of the moon-god," the biblical Arioch (Gen. xiv.). + +Amma-an-ki, Êa or Aa as lord of heaven and earth. + +Amna.--A name only found in a syllabary, and assigned to the sun-god, +from which it would seem that it is a form of the Egyptian Ammon. + +Anunitum, the goddess of one of the two Sippars, called Sippar of +Anunitum, who was worshipped in the temple Ê-ulmaÅ¡ within the city of +Agadé (Akkad). Sayce identifies, on this account, these two places as +being the same. In a list of stars, Anunitum is coupled with +Å inunutum, which are explained as (the stars of) the Tigris and +Euphrates. These were probably names of Venus as the morning and +evening (or evening and morning) star. + +Apsu.--The deep dissociated from the evil connection with Tiawath, and +regarded as "the house of deep wisdom," i.e. the home of the god Êa or +Aa. + +Aruru.--One of the deities of Sippar and Aruru (in the time of the +dynasty of Hammurabi called Ya'ruru), of which she was the chief +goddess. Aruru was one of the names of the "lady of the gods," and +aided Merodach to make the seed of mankind. + +Bêl.--As this name means "lord," it could be applied, like the +PhÅ“nician Baal, to the chief god of any city, as Bêl of Niffur, Bêl of +Hursag-kalama, Bêl of Aratta, Bêl of Babylon, etc. This often +indicates also the star which represented the chief god of a place. + +Bêltu.--In the same way Bêltu, meaning "lady," meant also the chief +goddess of any place, as "Aruru, lady of the gods of Sippar of Aruru," +"Nin-mah, lady of the gods of Ê-mah," a celebrated temple within +Babylon, recently excavated by the Germans, "Nin-hur-saga, lady of the +gods of Kêš," etc. + +Bunene.--A god associated with Å amaÅ¡ and IÅ¡tar at Sippar and +elsewhere. He "gave" and "renewed" to his worshippers. + +Dagan.--This deity, whose worship extends back to an exceedingly early +date, is generally identified with the PhÅ“nician Dagon. Hammurabi +seems to speak of the Euphrates as being "the boundary of Dagan," whom +he calls his creator. In later inscriptions the form Daguna, which +approaches nearer to the West Semitic form, is found in a few personal +names. The PhÅ“nician statues of this deity showed him with the lower +part of his body in the form of a fish (see 1 Sam. v. 4). Whether the +deities clothed in a fish's skin in the Nimroud gallery be Dagon or +not is uncertain--they may be intended for Êa or Aa, the Oannes of +Berosus, who was represented in this way. Probably the two deities +were regarded as identical. + +Damu.--a goddess regarded as equivalent to Gula by the Babylonians and +Assyrians. She was goddess of healing, and made one's dreams happy. + +Dumu-zi-abzu, "Tammuz of the Abyss."--This was one of the six sons of +Êa or Aa, according to the lists. His worship is exceedingly ancient, +and goes back to the time of E-anna-tum of LagaÅ¡ (about 4000 B.C.). +What connection, if any, he may have with Tammuz, the spouse of IÅ¡tar, +is unknown. Jastrow apparently regards him as a distinct deity, and +translates his name "the child of the life of the water-deep." + +Elali.--A deity identified with the Hebrew Helal, the new moon. Only +found in names of the time of the Hammurabi dynasty, in one of which +he appears as "a creator." + +En-nugi is described as "lord of streams and canals," and "lord of the +earth, lord of no-return." This last description, which gives the +meaning of his name, suggests that he was one of the gods of the realm +of EreÅ¡-ki-gal, though he may have borne that name simply as god of +streams, which always flow down, never the reverse. + +Gibil.--One of the names of the god of fire, sometimes transcribed +Girru by Assyriologists, the meaning apparently being "the fire-bearer" +or "light-bearer." Girru is another name of this deity, and +translates an ideographic group, rendered by Delitzsch "great" or +"highest decider," suggesting the custom of trial by ordeal. He was +identified with Nirig, in Semitic Ênu-rêštu. + +GuÅ¡qi-banda or Kuski-banda, one of the names of Êa, probably as god of +gold-workers. + +IÅ¡um, "the glorious sacrificer," seemingly a name of the fire-god as a +means whereby burnt offerings were made. Nûr-IÅ¡um, "light of IÅ¡um," is +found as a man's name. + +Kâawanu, the planet Saturn. + +Lagamal.--A god identified with the Elamite Lagamar, whose name is +regarded as existing in Chedorlaomer (cf. Gen. xiv. 2). He was the +chief god of Mair, "the ship-city." + +Lugal-Amarada or Lugal-Marad.--This name means "king of Marad," a city +as yet unidentified. The king of this place seems to have been +Nerigal, of whom, therefore, Lugal-Marad is another name. + +Lugal-banda.--This name means "the powerful king," or something +similar, and the god bearing it is supposed to be the same as Nerigal. +His consort, however, was named Nin-sun (or Nin-gul). + +Lugal-Du-azaga, "the king of the glorious seat."--The founder of +Êridu, "the good city within the Abyss," probably the paradise (or a +paradise) of the world to come. As it was the aim of every good +Babylonian to dwell hereafter with the god whom he had worshipped upon +earth, it may be conjectured that this was the paradise in the domain +of Êa or Aa. + +Mama, Mami.--Names of "the lady of the gods," and creatress of the +seed of mankind, Aruru. Probably so called as the "mother" of all +things. Another name of this goddess is Ama, "mother." + +Mammitum, Mamitum, goddess of fate. + +Mur, one of the names of Addu or Rammanu (Hadad or Rimmon). + +Nanâ or Nanaa was the consort of Nebo at Borsippa, but appears as a +form of IÅ¡tar, worshipped, with Anu her father, at Erech. + +Nin-aha-kuku, a name of Êa or Aa and of his daughter as deity of the +rivers, and therefore of gardens and plantations, which were watered +by means of the small canals leading therefrom. As daughter of Êa, +this deity was also "lady of the incantation." + +Nin-azu, the consort of EreÅ¡-ki-gal, probably as "lord physician." He +is probably to be identified with Nerigal. + +Nin-igi-nagar-si, a name somewhat more doubtful as to its reading than +the others, designates Êa or Aa as "the god of the carpenter." He +seems to have borne this as "the great constructor of heaven" or "of +Anu." + +Nin-mah, chief goddess of the temple Ê-mah in Babylon. Probably to be +identified with Aruru, and therefore with Zer-panîtum. + +Nin-Å¡ah, a deity whose name is conjectured to mean "lord of the wild +boar." He seems to have been a god of war, and was identified with +Nirig or Ênu-rêštu and Pap-sukal. + +Nin-sirsir, Êa as the god of sailors. + +Nin-sun, as pointed out by Jastrow, was probably the same as IÅ¡tar or +Nanâ of Erech, where she had a shrine, with them, in Ê-anna, "the +house of Anu." He renders her name "the annihilating lady,"[*] +"appropriate for the consort of a sun-god," for such he regards +Lugal-banda her spouse. King Sin-gasid of Erech (about 3000 B.C.) refers +to her as his mother. + +[*] This is due to the second element of the name having, with another + pronunciation, the meaning of "to destroy." + +Nun-urra.--Êa, as the god of potters. + +Pap-sukal.--A name of Nin-Å¡ah as the "divine messenger," who is also +described as god "of decisions." Nin-Å¡ah would seem to have been one +of the names of Pap-sukal rather than the reverse. + +Qarradu, "strong," "mighty," "brave."--This word, which was formerly +translated "warrior," is applied to several deities, among them being +Bêl, Nergal, Nirig (Ênu-rêštu), and Å amaÅ¡, the sun-god. + +Ragimu and Ramimu, names of Rimmon or Hadad as "the thunderer." The +second comes from the same root as Rammanu (Rimmon). + +Å uqamunu.--A deity regarded as "lord of watercourses," probably the +artificial channels dug for the irrigation of fields. + +Ura-gala, a name of Nerigal. + +UraÅ¡, a name of Nirig, under which he was worshipped at Dailem, near +Babylon. + +Zagaga, dialectic Zamama.--This deity, who was a god of war, was +identified with Nirig. One of this titles was /bêl parakki/, "lord of +the royal chamber," or "throne-room." + +Zaraqu or Zariqu.--As the root of this name means "to sprinkle," he +was probably also a god of irrigation, and may have presided over +ceremonial purification. He is mentioned in names as the "giver of +seed" and "giver of a name" (i.e. offspring). + +These are only a small proportion of the names found in the +inscriptions, but short as the list necessarily is, the nature, if not +the full composition, of the Babylonian pantheon will easily be +estimated therefrom. + +It will be seen that besides the identifications of the deities of all +the local pantheons with each other, each divinity had almost as many +names as attributes and titles, hence their exceeding multiplicity. In +such an extensive pantheon, many of the gods composing it necessarily +overlap, and identification of each other, to which the faith, in its +primitive form, was a stranger, were inevitable. The tendency to +monotheism which this caused will be referred to later on. + + + The gods and the heavenly bodies. + +It has already been pointed out that, from the evidence of the +Babylonian syllabary, the deities of the Babylonians were not astral +in their origin, the only gods certainly originating in heavenly +bodies being the sun and the moon. This leads to the supposition that +the Babylonians, bearing these two deities in mind, may have asked +themselves why, if these two were represented by heavenly bodies, the +others should not be so represented also. Be this as it may, the other +deities of the pantheon were so represented, and the full planetary +scheme, as given by a bilingual list in the British Museum, was as +follows: + + Aku Sin the moon Sin + BiÅ¡ebi Å amaÅ¡ the sun Å amaÅ¡ + Dapinu Umun-sig-êa Jupiter Merodach + Zib[*] Dele-bat Venus IÅ¡tar + Lu-lim Lu-bat-sag-uÅ¡ Saturn Nirig (acc. to Jensen) + Bibbu Lubat-gud Mercury Nebo + Simutu MuÅ¡tabarru Mars Nergal + mûtanu + +All the above names of planets have the prefix of divinity, but in +other inscriptions the determinative prefix is that for "star," +/kakkabu/. + +[*] This is apparently a Sumerian dialectic form, the original word +having seemingly been Zig. + + + Moon and Sun. + +Unfortunately, all the above identifications of the planets with the +deities in the fourth column are not certain, namely, those +corresponding with Saturn, Mercury, and Mars. With regard to the +others, however, there is no doubt whatever. The reason why the moon +is placed before the sun is that the sun, as already explained, was +regarded as his son. It was noteworthy also that the moon was +accredited with two other offspring, namely, Mâšu and Mâštu--son and +daughter respectively. As /mâšu/ means "twin," these names must +symbolise the two halves, or, as we say, "quarters" of the moon, who +were thus regarded, in Babylonian mythology, as his "twin children." + + + Jupiter and Saturn. + +Concerning Jupiter, who is in the above called Dapinu (Semitic), and +Umun-sig-êa (Sumerian), it has already been noted that he was called +Nibiru--according to Jensen, Merodach as he who went about among the +stars "pasturing" them like sheep, as stated in the Babylonian story +of the Creation (or Bel and the Dragon). This is explained by him as +being due to the comparatively rapid and extensive path of Jupiter on +the ecliptic, and it would seem probable that the names of Saturn, +/Kâawanu/ and /Sag-uÅ¡/ (the former, which is Semitic Babylonian, +meaning "steadfast," or something similar, and the latter, in +Sumerian, "head-firm" or "steadfast"--"phlegmatic"), to all appearance +indicate in like manner the deliberation of his movements compared +with those of the planet dedicated to the king of the gods. + + + Venus at sunrise and sunset. + +A fragment of a tablet published in 1870 gives some interesting +particulars concerning the planet Venus, probably explaining some as +yet unknown mythological story concerning her. According to this, she +was a female at sunset, and a male at sunrise; IÅ¡tar of Agadé (Akad or +Akkad) at sunrise, and IÅ¡tar of Erech at sunset: IÅ¡tar of the stars at +sunrise, and the lady of the gods at sunset. + + + And in the various months. + +IÅ¡tar was identified with Nin-si-anna in the first month of the year +(Nisan = March-April), with the star of the bow in Ab (August-September), +etc. In Sebat (January-February) she was the star of the +water-channel, Ikû, which was Merodach's star in Sivan (May-June), and +in Marcheswan her star was Rabbu, which also belonged to Merodach in +the same month. It will thus be seen, that Babylonian astronomy is far +from being as clear as would be desired, but doubtless many +difficulties will disappear when further inscriptions are available. + + + Stars identified with Merodach. + +The same fragment gives the celestial names of Merodach for every +month of the year, from which it would appear, that the astrologers +called him Umun-sig-êa in Nisan (March-April), Dapinu in Tammuz +(June-July), Nibiru in Tisri (September-October), Å arru (the star +Regulus), in Tebet (December-January), etc. The first three are names +by which the planet Jupiter was known. + +As for the planets and stars, so also for the constellations, which +are identified with many gods and divine beings, and probably contain +references, in their names and descriptions, to many legends. In the +sixth tablet of the Creation-series, it is related of Merodach that, +after creating the heavens and the stations for Anu, Bêl, and Ae, + + "He built firmly the stations of the great gods-- + Stars their likeness--he set up the /Lumali/, + He designated the year, he outlined the (heavenly) forms. + He set for the twelve months three stars each, + From the day when the year begins, . . . for signs." + +As pointed out by Mr. Robert Brown, jr., who has made a study of these +things, the "three stars" for each month occur on one of the remains +of planispheres in the British Museum, and are completed by a tablet +which gives them in list-form, in one case with explanations. Until +these are properly identified, however, it will be impossible to +estimate their real value. The signs of the Zodiac, which are given by +another tablet, are of greater interest, as they are the originals of +those which are in use at the present time:-- + + Month Sign Equivalent + + Nisan (Mar.-Apr.) The Labourer The Ram + Iyyar (Apr.-May) /Mulmula/ and the Bull of heaven The Bull + Sivan (May-June) /Sib-zi-anna/ and the great Twins The Twins + Tammuz (June-July) /Allul/ or /Nagar/ The Crab + Ab (July.-Aug.) The Lion (or dog) The Lion + Elul (Aug.-Sep.) The Ear of corn(?) The ear of Corn (Virgo) + Tisri (Sep.-Oct.) The Scales The Scales + Marcheswan (Oct.-Nov.) The Scorpion The Scorpion + Chisleu (Nov.-Dec.) /Pa-bil-sag/ The Archer + Tebet (Dec.-Jan.) /Sahar-maÅ¡/, the Fish-kid The Goat + Sebat (Jan.-Feb.) /Gula/ The Water-bearer + Adar (Feb.-Mar.) The Water Channel and the Tails The Fishes + + + Parallels in Babylonian legends. + +The "bull of heaven" probably refers to some legend such as that of +the story of GilgameÅ¡ in his conflict with the goddess IÅ¡tar when the +divine bull was killed; /Sib-zi-anna/, "the faithful shepherd of +heaven," suggests that this constellation may refer to Tammuz, the +divine shepherd; whilst "the scorpion" reminds us of the scorpion-men +who guarded the gate of the sun (Å amaÅ¡), when GilgameÅ¡ was journeying +to gain information concerning his friend Enki-du, who had departed to +the place of the dead. Sir Henry Rawlinson many years ago pointed out +that the story of the Flood occupied the eleventh tablet of the +GilgameÅ¡ series, corresponding with the eleventh sign of the Zodiac, +Aquarius, or the Water-bearer. + + + Other star-names. + +Other names of stars or constellations include "the weapon of +Merodach's hand," probably that with which he slew the dragon of +Chaos; "the Horse," which is described as "the god Zû," Rimmon's +storm-bird--Pegasus; "the Serpent," explained as EreÅ¡-ki-gal, the +queen of Hades, who would therefore seem to have been conceived in +that form; "the Scorpion," which is given as /IÅ¡hara tântim/, "IÅ¡hara +of the sea," a description difficult to explain, unless it refer to +her as the goddess of the PhÅ“nician coast. Many other identifications, +exceedingly interesting, await solution. + + + How the gods were represented. On cylinder-seals. + +Many representations of the gods occur, both on bas-reliefs, +boundary-stones, and cylindrical and ordinary seals. Unfortunately, their +identification generally presents more or less difficulty, on account +of the absence of indications of their identity. On a small cylinder-seal +in the possession of the Rev. Dr. W. Hayes Ward, Merodach is +shown striding along the serpentine body of Tiawath, who turns her +head to attack him, whilst the god threatens her with a pointed weapon +which he carries. Another, published by the same scholar, shows a +deity, whom he regards as being Merodach, driven in a chariot drawn by +a winged lion, upon whose shoulders stands a naked goddess, holding +thunderbolts in each hand, whom he describes as Zer-panîtum. Another +cylinder-seal shows the corn-deity, probably Nisaba, seated in +flounced robe and horned hat, with corn-stalks springing out from his +shoulders, and holding a twofold ear of corn in his hand, whilst an +attendant introduces, and another with a threefold ear of corn +follows, a man carrying a plough, apparently as an offering. On +another, a beautiful specimen from Assyria, IÅ¡tar is shown standing on +an Assyrian lion, which turns his head as if to caress her feet. As +goddess of war, she is armed with bow and arrows, and her star is +represented upon the crown of her tiara. + + + On boundary-stones, etc. + +On the boundary-stones of Babylonia and the royal monoliths of Assyria +the emblems of the gods are nearly always seen. Most prominent are +three horned tiaras, emblematic, probably, of Merodach, Anu, and Bêl +(the older). A column ending in a ram's head is used for Êa or Ae, a +crescent for Sin or Nannar, the moon-god; a disc with rays for Å amaÅ¡, +the sun-god; a thunderbolt for Rimmon or Hadad, the god of thunder, +lightning, wind, and storms; a lamp for Nusku, etc. A bird, perhaps a +hawk, stood for Utu-giÅ¡gallu, a deity whose name has been translated +"the southern sun," and is explained in the bilingual inscriptions as +Å amaÅ¡, the sun-god, and Nirig, one of the gods of war. The emblem of +Gal-alim, who is identified with the older Bêl, is a snarling dragon's +head forming the termination of a pole, and that of Dun-aÅ¡aga is a +bird's head similarly posed. On a boundary-stone of the time of +Nebuchadnezzar I., about 1120 B.C., one of the signs of the gods shows +a horse's head in a kind of shrine, probably the emblem of Rimmon's +storm-bird, Zû, the Babylonian Pegasus. + + + Other divine figures. + +One of the finest of all the representations of divinities is that of +the "Sun-god-stone," found by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam at Abu-habbah (the +ancient Sippar), which was one of the chief seats of his worship. It +represents him, seated in his shrine, holding in his hand a staff and +a ring, his usual emblems, typifying his position as judge of the +world and his endless course. The position of Merodach as sun-god is +confirmed by the small lapis-lazuli relief found by the German +expedition at the mound known as Amran ibn 'Ali, as he also carries a +staff and a ring, and his robe is covered with ornamental circles, +showing, in all probability, his solar nature. In the same place +another small relief representing Rimmon or Hadad was found. His robe +has discs emblematical of the five planets, and he holds in each hand +a thunderbolt, one of which he is about to launch forth. Merodach is +accompanied by a large two-horned dragon, whilst Hadad has a small +winged dragon, typifying the swiftness of his course, and another +animal, both of which he holds with cords. + + + + CHAPTER V + + THE DEMONS: EXORCISMS AND CEREMONIES + +Good and evil spirits, gods and demons, were fully believed in by the +Babylonians and Assyrians, and many texts referring to them exist. +Naturally it is not in some cases easy to distinguish well between the +special functions of these supernatural appearances which they +supposed to exist, but their nature is, in most cases, easily +ascertained from the inscriptions. + +To all appearance, the Babylonians imagined that spirits resided +everywhere, and lay in wait to attack mankind, and to each class, +apparently, a special province in bringing misfortune, or tormenting, +or causing pain and sickness, was assigned. All the spirits, however, +were not evil, even those whose names would suggest that their +character was such--there were good "liers in wait," for instance, as +well as evil ones, whose attitude towards mankind was beneficent. + +The /utukku/. This was a spirit which was supposed to do the will of +Anu, the god of the heavens. There was the /utukku/ of the plain, the +mountains, the sea, and the grave. + +The /âlû/. Regarded as the demon of the storm, and possibly, in its +origin, the same as the divine bull sent by IÅ¡tar to attack GilgameÅ¡, +and killed by Enki-du. It spread itself over a man, overpowering him +upon his bed, and attacking his breast. + +The /êdimmu/. This is generally, but wrongly, read /êkimmu/, and +translated "the seizer," from /êkemu/, "to seize." In reality, +however, it was an ordinary spirit, and the word is used for the +wraiths of the departed. The "evil /êdimmu/" was apparently regarded +as attacking the middle part of a man. + +The /gallu/. As this word is borrowed from the Sumerian /galla/, which +has a dialectic form, /mulla/, it is not improbable that it may be +connected with the word /mula/, meaning "star," and suggesting +something which is visible by the light it gives--possibly a +will-o'-the-wisp,--though others are inclined to regard the word as being +connected with /gala/, "great." In any case, its meaning seems to have +become very similar to "evil spirit" or "devil" in general, and is an +epithet applied by the Assyrian king AÅ¡Å¡ur-bani-âpli to Te-umman, the +Elamite king against whom he fought. + +The /îlu limnu/, "evil god," was probably originally one of the +deities of Tiawath's brood, upon whom Merodach's redemption had had no +effect. + +The /rabisu/ is regarded as a spirit which lay in wait to pounce upon +his prey. + +The /labartu/, in Sumerian /dimme/, was a female demon. There were +seven evil spirits of this kind, who were apparently regarded as being +daughters of Anu, the god of the heavens. + +The /labasu/, in Sumerian /dimmea/, was apparently a spirit which +overthrew, that being the meaning of the root from which the word +comes. + +The /âhhazu/, in Sumerian /dimme-kur/, was apparently so called as +"the seizer," that being the meaning indicated by the root. + +The /lilu/, in Sumerian /lila/, is generally regarded as "the +night-monster," the word being referred to the Semitic root /lîl/ or +/layl/, whence the Hebrew /layil/, Arabic /layl/, "night." Its origin, +however, is Sumerian, from /lila/, regarded as meaning "mist." To the +word /lilu/ the ancient Babylonians formed a feminine, /lilîthu/, +which entered the Hebrew language under the form of /lilith/, which +was, according to the rabbins, a beautiful woman, who lay in wait for +children by night. The /lilu/ had a companion who is called his +handmaid or servant. + +The /namtaru/ was apparently the spirit of fate, and therefore of +greater importance than those already mentioned. This being was +regarded as the beloved son of Bêl, and offspring of /EreÅ¡-ki-gal/ or +Persephone, and he had a spouse named /HuÅ¡-bi-Å¡aga/. Apparently he +executed the instructions given him concerning the fate of men, and +could also have power over certain of the gods. + +The /šêdu/ were apparently deities in the form of bulls. They were +destructive, of enormous power, and unsparing. In a good sense the +/šêdu/ was a protecting deity, guarding against hostile attacks. Erech +and the temple Ê-kura were protected by spirits such as these, and to +one of them IÅ¡um, "the glorious sacrificer," was likened. + +The /lamassu/, from the Sumerian /lama/, was similar in character to +the /šêdu/, but is thought to have been of the nature of a colossus--a +winged man-headed bull or lion. It is these creatures which the kings +placed at the sides of the doors of their palaces, to protect the +king's footsteps. In early Babylonian times a god named Lama was one +of the most popular deities of the Babylonian pantheon. + + + A specimen incantation. + +Numerous inscriptions, which may be regarded as dating, in their +origin, from about the middle of the third millennium before Christ, +speak of these supernatural beings, and also of others similar. One of +the most perfect of these inscriptions is a large bilingual tablet of +which a duplicate written during the period of the dynasty of +Hammurabi (before 2000 B.C.) exists, and which was afterwards provided +with a Semitic Babylonian translation. This inscription refers to the +evil god, the evil /utukku/, the /utukku/ of the plain, of the +mountain, of the sea, and of the grave; the evil /šêdu/, the glorious +/âlû/, or divine bull, and the evil unsparing wind. There was also +that which takes the form of a man, the evil face, the evil eye, the +evil mouth, the evil tongue, the evil lip, the evil breath; also the +afflicting /asakku/ (regarded as the demon of fever), the /asakku/ +which does not leave a man: the afflicting /namtaru/ (fate), the +severe /namtaru/, the /namtaru/ which does not quit a man. After this +are mentioned various diseases, bodily pains, annoyances, such as "the +old shoe, the broken shoe-lace, the food which afflicts the body of a +man, the food which turns in eating, the water which chokes in +drinking," etc. Other things to be exorcised included the spirit of +death, people who had died of hunger, thirst, or in other ways; the +handmaid of the /lilu/ who had no husband, the prince of the /lilu/ +who had no wife, whether his name had been recorded or unrecorded. + +The method of exorcising the demons causing all these things is +curious. White and black yarn was spun, and fastened to the side and +canopy of the afflicted person's bed--the white to the side and the +top or canopy, the black to the left hand--and then, apparently, the +following words were said:-- + +"Evil /utukku/, evil /âlû/, evil /êdimmu/, evil /gallu/, evil god, +evil /rabisu/, /labartu/, /labasu/, /âhhazu/, /lilu/, /lilithu/, +handmaid of /lilu/, sorcery, enchantment, magic, disaster, machination +which is not good--may they not set their head to his head, their hand +to his hand, their foot to his foot--may they not draw near. Spirit of +heaven, mayest thou exorcise, spirit of earth, mayest thou exorcise." + +But this was only the beginning of the real ceremony. The god +Asari-alim-nunna (Merodach), "eldest son of Êridu," was asked to wash +him in pure and bright water twice seven times, and then would the evil +lier-in-wait depart, and stand aside, and a propitious /šêdu/ and a +propitious /labartu/ reside in his body. The gates right and left +having been thus, so to say, shut close, the evil gods, demons, and +spirits would be unable to approach him, wherever he might be. "Spirit +of heaven, exorcise, spirit of earth, exorcise." Then, after an +invocation of Êrêš-ki-gal and IÅ¡um, the final paragraph was +pronounced:-- + + "The afflicted man, by an offering of grace + In health like shining bronze shall be made bright. + As for that man, + Å amaÅ¡ shall give him life. + Merodach, first-born son of the Abyss, + It is thine to purify and glorify. + Spirit of heaven, mayest thou exorcise, spirit of + earth, mayest thou exorcise." + + + Rites and ceremonies. + +As may be expected, the Babylonians and Assyrians had numerous rites +and ceremonies, the due carrying out of which was necessary for the +attainment of the grace demanded, or for the efficacy of the thanks +tendered for favours received. + +Perhaps the oldest ceremony recorded is that which Ut-napiÅ¡tim, the +Chaldæan Noah, made on the /zikkurat/ or peak of the mountain after +the coming forth from the ship which had saved him and his from the +Flood. The Patriarch's description of this ceremony is short:-- + + "I sent forth to the four winds, I poured out a libation + I made an offering on the peak of the mountain: + Seven and seven I set incense-vases there, + Into their depths I poured cane, cedar, and scented wood(?). + The gods smelled a savour, + The gods smelled a sweet savour, + The gods gathered like flies over the sacrificer." + +Following in the footsteps of their great progenitor, the Babylonians +and Assyrians became a most pious race, constantly rendering to their +gods the glory for everything which they succeeded in bringing to a +successful issue. Prayer, supplication, and self-abasement before +their gods seem to have been with them a duty and a pleasure:-- + + "The time for the worship of the gods was my heart's delight, + The time of the offering to IÅ¡tar was profit and riches," + +sings Ludlul the sage, and all the people of his land were one with +him in that opinion. + +It is noteworthy that the offering of the Chaldæan Noah consisted of +vegetable produce only, and there are many inscriptions referring to +similar bloodless sacrifices, and detailing the ritual used in +connection therewith. Sacrifices of animals, however, seem to have +been constantly made--in any case, offerings of cattle and fowl, in +list-form, are fairly numerous. Many a cylinder-seal has a +representation of the owner bringing a young animal--a kid or a +lamb--as an offering to the deity whom he worshipped, and in the +inscriptions the sacrifice of animals is frequently referred to. One +of the bilingual texts refers to the offering of a kid or some other +young animal, apparently on behalf of a sick man. The text of this, +where complete, runs as follows:-- + + "The fatling which is the 'head-raiser' of mankind-- + He has given the fatling for his life. + He has given the head of the fatling for his head, + He has given the neck of the fatling for his neck, + He has given the breast of the fatling for his breast." + +Whether human sacrifices were common or not is a doubtful point. Many +cylinder-seals exist in which the slaying of a man is depicted, and +the French Assyriologist Menant was of opinion that they represented a +human offering to the gods. Hayes Ward, however, is inclined to doubt +this explanation, and more evidence would seem, therefore, to be +needed. He is inclined to think that, in the majority of cases, the +designs referred to show merely the victims of divine anger or +vengeance, punished by the deity for some misdeed or sin, either +knowingly or unknowingly committed. + +In the Assyrian galleries of the British Museum, AÅ¡Å¡ur-nasir-âpli, +king of Assyria, is several times shown engaged in religious +ceremonies--either worshipping before the sacred tree, or about to +pour out, apparently, a libation to the gods before departing upon +some expedition, and priests bringing offerings, either animal or +vegetable, are also represented. AÅ¡Å¡ur-banî-âpli, who is identified +with "the great and noble Asnapper," is shown, in bas-reliefs of the +Assyrian Saloon, pouring out a thank-offering over the lions which he +has killed, after his return from the hunt. + + + + CHAPTER VI + + PROBLEMS WHICH THE STUDY OFFERS + + + Monotheism. + +As the matter of Babylonian monotheism has been publicly touched upon +by Fried. Delitzsch in his "Babel und Bibel" lectures, a few words +upon that important point will be regarded in all probability as +appropriate. It has already been indicated that the giving of the +names of "the gods his fathers" to Merodach practically identified +them with him, thus leading to a tendency to monotheism. That tendency +is, perhaps, hinted at in a letter of AÅ¡Å¡ur-banî-âpli to the +Babylonians, in which he frequently mentions the Deity, but in doing +so, uses either the word /îlu/, "God," Merodach, the god of Babylon, +or Bêl, which may be regarded as one of his names. The most important +document for this monotheistic tendency, however (confirming as it +does the tablet of the fifty-one names), is that in which at least +thirteen of the Babylonian deities are identified with Merodach, and +that in such a way as to make them merely forms in which he manifested +himself to men. The text of this inscription is as follows:-- + + ". . . is Merodach of planting. + Lugal-aki-. . . is Merodach of the water-course. + Nirig is Merodach of strength. + Nergal is Merodach of war. + Zagaga is Merodach of battle. + Bêl is Merodach of lordship and domination. + Nebo is Merodach of trading(?). + Sin is Merodach the illuminator of the night. + Å amaÅ¡ is Merodach of righteous things. + Addu is Merodach of rain. + TiÅ¡pak is Merodach of frost(?). + Sig is Merodach of green things(?). + Å uqamunu is Merodach of the irrigation-channel." + +Here the text breaks off, but must have contained several more similar +identifications, showing how at least the more thoughtful of the +Babylonians of old looked upon the host of gods whom they worshipped. +What may be the date of this document is uncertain, but as the +colophon seems to describe it as a copy of an older inscription, it +may go back as far as 2000 years B.C. This is the period at which the +name /Yaum-îlu/ "Jah is God," is found, together with numerous +references to /îlu/ as the name for the one great god, and is also, +roughly, the date of Abraham, who, it may be noted, was a Babylonian +of Ur of the Chaldees. It will probably not be thought too venturesome +to say that his monotheism was possibly the result of the religious +trend of thought in his time. + + + Dualism. + +Damascius, in his valuable account of the belief of the Babylonians +concerning the Creation, states that, like the other barbarians, they +reject the doctrine of the one origin of the universe, and constitute +two, Tauthé (Tiawath) and Apason (Apsu). This twofold principle, +however, is only applicable to the system in that it makes of the sea +and the deep (for such are the meanings of the two words) two +personages--the female and the male personifications of primæval +matter, from which all creation sprang, and which gave birth to the +gods of heaven themselves. As far as the physical constituents of +these two principals are concerned, their tenets might be described as +having "materialistic monism" as their basis, but inasmuch as they +believed that each of these two principals had a mind, the description +"idealistic monism" cannot be applied to it--it is distinctly a +dualism. + + + And Monism. + +Divested of its idealistic side, however, there would seem to be no +escape from regarding the Babylonian idea of the origin of things as +monistic.[*] This idea has its reflection, though not its +reproduction, in the first chapter of Genesis, in which, verses 2, 6, +and 7, water is represented as the first thing existing, though not +the first abode of life. This divergency from the Babylonian view was +inevitable with a monotheistic nation, such as the Jews were, +regarding as they did the Deity as the great source of everything +existing. What effect the moving of the Spirit of God upon the face of +the waters (v.2) was supposed by them to have had, is uncertain, but +it is to be noted that it was the land (vv. 11, 12) which first +brought forth, at the command of God. + +[*] Monism. The doctrine which holds that in the universe there is + only a single element or principle from which everything is + developed, this single principle being either mind (/idealistic + monism/) or matter (/materialistic monism/). (Annandale.) + + + The future life. + +The belief in a future life is the natural outcome of a religious +belief such as the Babylonians, Assyrians, and many of the surrounding +nations possessed. As has been shown, a portion of their creed +consisted in hero-worship, which pre-supposes that the heroes in +question continued to exist, in a state of still greater power and +glory, after the conclusion of their life here upon earth. + +"The god Bêl hates me--I cannot dwell in this land, and in the +territory of Bêl I cannot set my face. I shall descend then to the +Abyss; with Aa my lord shall I constantly dwell." It is with these +words that, by the counsel of the god Aa, Ut-napiÅ¡tim explained to +those who questioned him the reason why he was building the ship or +ark which was to save him and his from the Flood, and there is but +little doubt that the author of the story implied that he announced +thereby his approaching death, or his departure to dwell with his god +without passing the dread portals of the great leveller. This belief +in the life beyond the grave seems to have been that which was current +during the final centuries of the third millennium before Christ--when +a man died, it was said that his god took him to himself, and we may +therefore suppose, that there were as many heavens--places of +contentment and bliss--as there were gods, and that every good man was +regarded as going and dwelling evermore with the deity which he had +worshipped and served faithfully during his lifetime. + +GilgameÅ¡, the half-divine king of Erech, who reigned during the +half-mythical period, on losing his friend and counsellor, Enki-du, set +out to find him, and to bring him back, if possible, from the underworld +where he was supposed to dwell. His death, however, had not been like +that of an ordinary man; it was not Namtaru, the spirit of fate, who +had taken him, nor a misfortune such as befalls ordinary men, but +Nerigal's unsparing lier-in-wait--yet though Nerigal was the god of +war, Enki-du had not fallen on the battlefield of men, but had been +seized by the earth (apparently the underworld where the wicked are is +meant) in consequence, seemingly, of some trick or trap which had been +laid for him. + +The gods were therefore prayed, in turn, to bring him back, but none +of them listened except Êa, who begged him of Nerigal, whereupon the +latter opened the entrance to the place where he was--the hole of the +earth--and brought forth "the spirit (/utukku/) of Enki-du like mist." +Immediately after this come the words, "Tell, my friend, tell, my +friend--the law of the land which thou sawest, tell," and the answer, +"I will not tell thee, friend, I will not tell thee--if I tell thee +the law of the land which I saw, . . . sit down, weep." Ultimately, +however, the person appealed to--apparently the disembodied +Enki-du--reveals something concerning the condition of the souls in +the place of his sojourn after death, as follows:-- + + "Whom thou sawest [die] the death(?) [of][*] . . . [I see]-- + In the resting-place of . . . reposing, pure waters he drinketh. + Whom in the battle thou sawest killed, I see-- + His father and his mother raise his head, + And his wife upon [him leaneth?]. + Whose corpse thou hast seen thrown down in the plain, I see-- + His /edimmu/ in the earth reposeth not. + Whose /edimmu/ thou sawest without a caretaker, I see-- + The leavings of the dish, the remains of the food, + Which in the street is thrown, he eateth." + +[*] (?)"The death of the righteous," or something similar? + +It is naturally difficult to decide in a passage like this, the +difference existing between a man's /utukku/ and his /edimmu/, but the +probability is, that the former means his spiritual essence, whilst +the latter stands for the ghostly shadow of his body, resembling in +meaning the /ka/ of the Egyptians. To all appearance the abode +described above is not the place of the punishment of the wicked, but +the dwelling of those accounted good, who, if lucky in the manner of +their death, and the disposal of their bodies, enjoyed the highest +happiness in the habitation of the blest. The other place, however, is +otherwise described (it occurs in the account of IÅ¡tar's descent into +Hades, and in the seventh tablet of the GilgameÅ¡ series--the latter +differing somewhat):-- + + "Upon the land of No-return, the region of . . ., + [Set] Istar, daughter of Sin, her ear. + The daughter of Sin set then her ear . . . + Upon the house of gloom, the seat of Irkalla--[1] + Upon the house whose entrance hath no exit,[2] + Upon the path whose way hath no return, + Upon the house whose enterers are deprived of light, + Where dust is their nourishment, their food mud, + Light they see not, in darkness they dwell, + Clothed also, like a bird, in a dress of feathers. + Upon the door and bolt the dust hath blown." + +[1] One of the names of Nergal. + +[2] Or "whose enterer goeth not forth." + +Seven gates gave access to this place of gloom, and the porter, as he +let the visitor in, took from her (the goddess IÅ¡tar in the narrative) +at each an article of clothing, until, at the last, she entered quite +naked, apparently typifying the fact that a man can take nothing with +him when he dieth, and also, in this case, that he has not even his +good deeds wherewith to clothe himself, for had they outweighed his +evil ones, he would not have found himself in that dread abode. + +On the arrival of IÅ¡tar in Hades, Erêš-ki-gal commanded Namtaru, the +god of fate, to smite IÅ¡tar with disease in all her members--eyes, +sides, feet, heart, and head. As things went wrong on the earth in +consequence of the absence of the goddess of love, the gods sent a +messenger to effect her release. When he reached the land of +No-return, the queen of the region threatened him with all kinds of +torments--the food of the gutters of the city were to be his food, the +oil-jars of the city (naptha?) his drink, the gloom of the castle his +resting-place, a stone slab his seat, and hunger and thirst were to +shatter his strength. These were evidently the punishments inflicted +there, but as the messenger threatened was a divine one, they were +probably not put into execution, and he obtained his demand, for IÅ¡tar +was set free, receiving back at each gate, in reverse order, the +clothing and ornaments which had been taken from her when she had +descended thither. It is uncertain whether Tammuz, for whom she had +gone down, was set free also, but as he is referred to, it is not +improbable that this was the case. + + + + WORKS BEARING UPON THE RELIGION OF THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + +Hibbert Lectures, 1887. The Religion of the Ancient Babylonians, by +Professor A. H. Sayce. + +The Religious Ideas of the Babylonians, by the Author, 1895 (Journal +of the Victoria Institute, also separately). + +The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, by Morris Jastrow, jun., 1898. +(German edition, vol. i. 1905, vol. ii. in progress.) + +Babylonian Religion and Mythology, by L. W. King, M.A., 1899. + +Gifford Lectures, 1902. Religions of Egypt and Babylonia, by Professor +A. H. Sayce. + +The O.T. in the Light of the Records of Assyria and Babylonia, by the +Author, 1903. (The portions referring to Babylonian Mythology.) + +The Hymns to Tammuz in the Manchester Museum, Owens College, by the +Author, 1904. + + + + ARTICLES UPON THE ASSYRIAN AND BABYLONIAN DEITIES, + AND THE RELIGION OF THREE NATIONS, IN + + Dictionary of the Bible, edited by Dr. James Hastings, and + Encyclopædia Biblica, edited by Professor Cheyne. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, by +Theophilus G. Pinches + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RELIGION OF BABYLONIA, ASSYRIA *** + +***** This file should be named 2069-0.txt or 2069-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/6/2069/ + +Produced by John Bickers and Dagny + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/2069-0.zip b/2069-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a66b930 --- /dev/null +++ b/2069-0.zip diff --git a/2069-8.txt b/2069-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..287b75f --- /dev/null +++ b/2069-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3309 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, by +Theophilus G. Pinches + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria + +Author: Theophilus G. Pinches + +Posting Date: January 30, 2009 [EBook #2069] +Release Date: February, 2000 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RELIGION OF BABYLONIA, ASSYRIA *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers and Dagny + + + + + + + + + +THE RELIGION OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA +By Theophilus G. Pinches, LL.D. + +First Published 1906 by Archibald Constable & Co. Ltd. + + + + + THE RELIGION OF + BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA + + BY + + THEOPHILUS G. PINCHES, LL.D. + + Lecturer in Assyrian at University College, London, + Author of "The Old Testament in the Light of the + Records of Assyria and Babylonia"; "The Bronze + Ornaments of the Palace Gates of Balewat" etc. etc. + + + + PREPARER'S NOTE + + The original text contains a number of characters that are not + available even in 8-bit Windows text, such as H with a breve below + it in Hammurabi, S with a breve, S and T with a dot below them, U + with macron, and superscript M in Tasmêtum. These have been left + in the e-text as the base letter. + + The 8-bit version of this text includes Windows font characters + like S with a caron above it (pronounced /sh/) as in Samas, etc. + These may be lost in 7-bit versions of the text, or when viewed + with different fonts. + + Greek text has been transliterated within brackets "{}" using an + Oxford English Dictionary alphabet table. Diacritical marks have + been lost. + + + + + + THE RELIGION OF THE + BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + + + + CHAPTER I + + FOREWORD + + + Position, and Period. + +The religion of the Babylonians and Assyrians was the polytheistic +faith professed by the peoples inhabiting the Tigris and Euphrates +valleys from what may be regarded as the dawn of history until the +Christian era began, or, at least, until the inhabitants were brought +under the influence of Christianity. The chronological period covered +may be roughly estimated at about 5000 years. The belief of the +people, at the end of that time, being Babylonian heathenism leavened +with Judaism, the country was probably ripe for the reception of the +new faith. Christianity, however, by no means replaced the earlier +polytheism, as is evidenced by the fact, that the worship of Nebo and +the gods associated with him continued until the fourth century of the +Christian era. + + + By whom followed. + +It was the faith of two distinct peoples--the Sumero-Akkadians, and +the Assyro-Babylonians. In what country it had its beginnings is +unknown--it comes before us, even at the earliest period, as a faith +already well-developed, and from that fact, as well as from the names +of the numerous deities, it is clear that it began with the former +race--the Sumero-Akkadians--who spoke a non-Semitic language largely +affected by phonetic decay, and in which the grammatical forms had in +certain cases become confused to such an extent that those who study +it ask themselves whether the people who spoke it were able to +understand each other without recourse to devices such as the "tones" +to which the Chinese resort. With few exceptions, the names of the +gods which the inscriptions reveal to us are all derived from this +non-Semitic language, which furnishes us with satisfactory etymologies +for such names as Merodach, Nergal, Sin, and the divinities mentioned +in Berosus and Damascius, as well as those of hundreds of deities +revealed to us by the tablets and slabs of Babylonia and Assyria. + + + The documents. + +Outside the inscriptions of Babylonia and Assyria, there is but little +bearing upon the religion of those countries, the most important +fragment being the extracts from Berosus and Damascius referred to +above. Among the Babylonian and Assyrian remains, however, we have an +extensive and valuable mass of material, dating from the fourth or +fifth millennium before Christ until the disappearance of the +Babylonian system of writing about the beginning of the Christian era. +The earlier inscriptions are mostly of the nature of records, and give +information about the deities and the religion of the people in the +course of descriptions of the building and rebuilding of temples, the +making of offerings, the performance of ceremonies, etc. Purely +religious inscriptions are found near the end of the third millennium +before Christ, and occur in considerable numbers, either in the +original Sumerian text, or in translations, or both, until about the +third century before Christ. Among the more recent inscriptions--those +from the library of the Assyrian king Assur-bani-âpli and the later +Babylonian temple archives,--there are many lists of deities, with +numerous identifications with each other and with the heavenly bodies, +and explanations of their natures. It is needless to say that all this +material is of enormous value for the study of the religion of the +Babylonians and Assyrians, and enables us to reconstruct at first hand +their mythological system, and note the changes which took place in +the course of their long national existence. Many interesting and +entertaining legends illustrate and supplement the information given +by the bilingual lists of gods, the bilingual incantations and hymns, +and the references contained in the historical and other documents. A +trilingual list of gods enables us also to recognise, in some cases, +the dialectic forms of their names. + + + The importance of the subject. + +Of equal antiquity with the religion of Egypt, that of Babylonia and +Assyria possesses some marked differences as to its development. +Beginning among the non-Semitic Sumero-Akkadian population, it +maintained for a long time its uninterrupted development, affected +mainly by influences from within, namely, the homogeneous local cults +which acted and reacted upon each other. The religious systems of +other nations did not greatly affect the development of the early +non-Semitic religious system of Babylonia. A time at last came, +however, when the influence of the Semitic inhabitants of Babylonia +and Assyria was not to be gainsaid, and from that moment, the +development of their religion took another turn. In all probably this +augmentation of Semitic religious influence was due to the increased +numbers of the Semitic population, and at the same period the +Sumero-Akkadian language began to give way to the Semitic idiom which +they spoke. When at last the Semitic Babylonian language came to be used +for official documents, we find that, although the non-Semitic divine +names are in the main preserved, a certain number of them have been +displaced by the Semitic equivalent names, such as Samas for the +sun-god, with Kittu and Mêsaru ("justice and righteousness") his +attendants; Nabú ("the teacher" = Nebo) with his consort Tasmêtu ("the +hearer"); Addu, Adad, or Dadu, and Rammanu, Ramimu, or Ragimu = Hadad +or Rimmon ("the thunderer"); Bêl and Bêltu (Beltis = "the lord" and +"the lady" /par excellence/), with some others of inferior rank. In +place of the chief divinity of each state at the head of each separate +pantheon, the tendency was to make Merodach, the god of the capital +city Babylon, the head of the pantheon, and he seems to have been +universally accepted in Babylonia, like Assur in Assyria, about 2000 +B.C. or earlier. + + + The uniting of two pantheons. + +We thus find two pantheons, the Sumero-Akkadian with its many gods, +and the Semitic Babylonian with its comparatively few, united, and +forming one apparently homogeneous whole. But the creed had taken a +fresh tendency. It was no longer a series of small, and to a certain +extent antagonistic, pantheons composed of the chief god, his consort, +attendants, children, and servants, but a pantheon of considerable +extent, containing all the elements of the primitive but smaller +pantheons, with a number of great gods who had raised Merodach to be +their king. + + + In Assyria. + +Whilst accepting the religion of Babylonia, Assyria nevertheless kept +herself distinct from her southern neighbour by a very simple device, +by placing at the head of the pantheon the god Assur, who became for +her the chief of the gods, and at the same time the emblem of her +distinct national aspirations--for Assyria had no intention whatever +of casting in her lot with her southern neighbour. Nevertheless, +Assyria possessed, along with the language of Babylonia, all the +literature of that country--indeed, it is from the libraries of her +kings that we obtain the best copies of the Babylonian religious +texts, treasured and preserved by her with all the veneration of which +her religious mind was capable,--and the religious fervour of the +Oriental in most cases leaves that of the European, or at least of the +ordinary Briton, far behind. + + + The later period in Assyria. + +Assyria went to her downfall at the end of the seventh century before +Christ worshipping her national god Assur, whose cult did not cease +with the destruction of her national independence. In fact, the city +of Assur, the centre of that worship, continued to exist for a +considerable period; but for the history of the religion of Assyria, +as preserved there, we wait for the result of the excavations being +carried on by the Germans, should they be fortunate enough to obtain +texts belonging to the period following the fall of Nineveh. + + + In Babylonia. + +Babylonia, on the other hand, continued the even tenor of her way. +More successful at the end of her independent political career than +her northern rival had been, she retained her faith, and remained the +unswerving worshipper of Merodach, the great god of Babylon, to whom +her priests attributed yet greater powers, and with whom all the other +gods were to all appearance identified. This tendency to monotheism, +however, never reached the culminating point--never became +absolute--except, naturally, in the minds of those who, dissociating +themselves, for philosophical reasons, from the superstitious teaching +of the priests of Babylonia, decided for themselves that there was but +one God, and worshipped Him. That orthodox Jews at that period may have +found, in consequence of this monotheistic tendency, converts, is not +by any means improbable--indeed, the names met with during the later +period imply that converts to Judaism were made. + + + The picture presented by the study. + +Thus we see, from the various inscriptions, both Babylonian and +Assyrian--the former of an extremely early period--the growth and +development, with at least one branching off, of one of the most +important religious systems of the ancient world. It is not so +important for modern religion as the development of the beliefs of the +Hebrews, but as the creed of the people from which the Hebrew nation +sprang, and from which, therefore, it had its beginnings, both +corporeal and spiritual, it is such as no student of modern religious +systems can afford to neglect. Its legends, and therefore its +teachings, as will be seen in these pages, ultimately permeated the +Semitic West, and may in some cases even had penetrated Europe, not +only through heathen Greece, but also through the early Christians, +who, being so many centuries nearer the time of the +Assyro-Babylonians, and also nearer the territory which they anciently +occupied, than we are, were far better acquainted than the people of +the present day with the legends and ideas which they possessed. + + + + CHAPTER II + + THE RELIGION OF THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + + + The Sumero-Akkadians and the Semites. + +For the history of the development of the religion of the Babylonians +and Assyrians much naturally depends upon the composition of the +population of early Babylonia. There is hardly any doubt that the +Sumero-Akkadians were non-Semites of a fairly pure race, but the +country of their origin is still unknown, though a certain +relationship with the Mongolian and Turkish nationalities, probably +reaching back many centuries--perhaps thousands of years--before the +earliest accepted date, may be regarded as equally likely. Equally +uncertain is the date of the entry of the Semites, whose language +ultimately displaced the non-Semitic Sumero-Akkadian idioms, and +whose kings finally ruled over the land. During the third millennium +before Christ Semites, bearing Semitic names, and called Amorites, +appear, and probably formed the last considerable stratum of tribes of +that race which entered the land. The name Martu, the Sumero-Akkadian +equivalent of Amurru, "Amorite", is of frequent occurrence also before +this period. The eastern Mediterranean coast district, including +Palestine and the neighbouring tracts, was known by the Babylonians +and Assyrians as the land of the Amorites, a term which stood for the +West in general even when these regions no longer bore that name. The +Babylonians maintained their claim to sovereignty over that part as +long as they possessed the power to do so, and naturally exercised +considerable influence there. The existence in Palestine, Syria, and +the neighbouring states, of creeds containing the names of many +Babylonian divinities is therefore not to be wondered at, and the +presence of West Semitic divinities in the religion of the Babylonians +need not cause us any surprise. + + + The Babylonian script and its evidence. + +In consequence of the determinative prefix for a god or a goddess +being, in the oldest form, a picture of an eight-rayed star, it has +been assumed that Assyro-Babylonian mythology is, either wholly or +partly, astral in origin. This, however, is by no means certain, the +character for "star" in the inscriptions being a combination of three +such pictures, and not a single sign. The probability therefore is, +that the use of the single star to indicate the name of a divinity +arises merely from the fact that the character in question stands for +/ana/, "heaven." Deities were evidently thus distinguished by the +Babylonians because they regarded them as inhabitants of the realms +above--indeed, the heavens being the place where the stars are seen, a +picture of a star was the only way of indicating heavenly things. That +the gods of the Babylonians were in many cases identified with the +stars and planets is certain, but these identifications seem to have +taken place at a comparatively late date. An exception has naturally +to be made in the case of the sun and moon, but the god Merodach, if +he be, as seems certain, a deified Babylonian king, must have been +identified with the stars which bear his name after his worshippers +began to pay him divine honours as the supreme deity, and naturally +what is true for him may also be so for the other gods whom they +worshipped. The identification of some of the deities with stars or +planets is, moreover, impossible, and if Êa, the god of the deep, and +Anu, the god of the heavens, have their representatives among the +heavenly bodies, this is probably the result of later development.[1] + +[1] If there be any historical foundation for the statement that + Merodach arranged the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars, + assigning to them their proper places and duties--a tradition + which would make him the founder of the science of astronomy + during his life upon earth--this, too, would tend to the + probability that the origin of the gods of the Babylonians was not + astral, as has been suggested, but that their identification with + the heavenly bodies was introduced during the period of his reign. + + + Ancestor and hero-worship. The deification of kings. + +Though there is no proof that ancestor-worship in general prevailed at +any time in Babylonia, it would seem that the worship of heroes and +prominent men was common, at least in early times. The tenth chapter +of Genesis tells us of the story of Nimrod, who cannot be any other +than the Merodach of the Assyro-Babylonian inscriptions; and other +examples, occurring in semi-mythological times, are /En-we-dur-an-ki/, +the Greek Edoreschos, and /Gilgames/, the Greek Gilgamos, though +Aelian's story of the latter does not fit in with the account as given +by the inscriptions. In later times, the divine prefix is found before +the names of many a Babylonian ruler--Sargon of Agadé,[1] Dungi of Ur +(about 2500 B.C.), Rim-Sin or Eri-Aku (Arioch of Ellasar, about 2100 +B.C.), and others. It was doubtless a kind of flattery to deify and +pay these rulers divine honours during their lifetime, and on account +of this, it is very probable that their godhood was utterly forgotten, +in the case of those who were strictly historical, after their death. +The deification of the kings of Babylonia and Assyria is probably due +to the fact, that they were regarded as the representatives of God +upon earth, and being his chief priests as well as his offspring (the +personal names show that it was a common thing to regard children as +the gifts of the gods whom their father worshipped), the divine +fatherhood thus attributed to them naturally could, in the case of +those of royal rank, give them a real claim to divine birth and +honours. An exception is the deification of the Babylonian Noah, +Ut-napistim, who, as the legend of the Flood relates, was raised and +made one of the gods by Aa or Ea, for his faithfulness after the great +catastrophe, when he and his wife were translated to the "remote place +at the mouth of the rivers." The hero Gilgames, on the other hand, was +half divine by birth, though it is not exactly known through whom his +divinity came. + +[1] According to Nabonidus's date 3800 B.C., though many + Assyriologists regard this as being a millennium too early. + + + The earliest form of the Babylonian religion. + +The state of development to which the religious system of the +Babylonians had attained at the earliest period to which the +inscriptions refer naturally precludes the possibility of a +trustworthy history of its origin and early growth. There is no doubt, +however, that it may be regarded as having reached the stage at which +we find it in consequence of there being a number of states in ancient +Babylonia (which was at that time like the Heptarchy in England) each +possessing its own divinity--who, in its district, was regarded as +supreme--with a number of lesser gods forming his court. It was the +adding together of all these small pantheons which ultimately made +that of Babylonia as a whole so exceedingly extensive. Thus the chief +divinity of Babylon, as has already been stated, as Merodach; at +Sippar and Larsa the sun-god Samas was worshipped; at Ur the moon-god +Sin or Nannar; at Erech and Dêr the god of the heavens, Anu; at Muru, +Ennigi, and Kakru, the god of the atmosphere, Hadad or Rimmon; at +Êridu, the god of the deep, Aa or Êa; at Niffur[1] the god Bel; at +Cuthah the god of war, Nergal; at Dailem the god Uras; at Kis the god +of battle, Zagaga; Lugal-Amarda, the king of Marad, as the city so +called; at Opis Zakar, one of the gods of dreams; at Agadé, Nineveh, +and Arbela, Istar, goddess of love and of war; Nina at the city Nina +in Babylonia, etc. When the chief deities were masculine, they were +naturally all identified with each other, just as the Greeks called +the Babylonian Merodach by the name of Zeus; and as Zer-panîtum, the +consort of Merodach, was identified with Juno, so the consorts, divine +attendants, and children of each chief divinity, as far as they +possessed them, could also be regarded as the same, though possibly +distinct in their different attributes. + +[1] Noufar at present, according to the latest explorers. Layard + (1856) has Niffer, Loftus (1857) Niffar. The native spelling is + Noufer, due to the French system of phonetics. + + + How the religion of the Babylonians developed. + +The fact that the rise of Merodach to the position of king of the gods +was due to the attainment, by the city of Babylon, of the position of +capital of all Babylonia, leads one to suspect that the kingly rank of +his father Êa, at an earlier period, was due to a somewhat similar +cause, and if so, the still earlier kingship of Anu, the god of the +heavens, may be in like manner explained. This leads to the question +whether the first state to attain to supremacy was Dêr, Anu's seat, +and whether Dêr was succeeded by Êridu, of which city Êa was the +patron--concerning the importance of Babylon, Merodach's city, later +on, there is no doubt whatever. The rise of Anu and Êa to divine +overlordship, however, may not have been due to the political +supremacy of the cities where they were worshipped--it may have come +about simply on account of renown gained through religious enthusiasm +due to wonders said to have been performed where they were worshipped, +or to the reported discovery of new records concerning their temples, +or to the influence of some renowned high-priest, like En-we-dur-an-ki +of Sippar, whose devotion undoubtedly brought great renown to the city +of his dominion. + + + Was Animism its original form? + +But the question naturally arises, can we go back beyond the +indications of the inscriptions? The Babylonians attributed life, in +certain not very numerous cases, to such things as trees and plants, +and naturally to the winds, and the heavenly bodies. Whether they +regarded stones, rocks, mountains, storms, and rain in the same way, +however, is doubtful, but it may be taken for granted, that the sea, +with all its rivers and streams, was regarded as animated with the +spirit of Êa and his children, whilst the great cities and +temple-towers were pervaded with the spirit of the god whose abode +they were. Innumerable good and evil spirits were believed in, such as +the spirit of the mountain, the sea, the plain, and the grave. These +spirits were of various kinds, and bore names which do not always +reveal their real character--such as the /edimmu/, /utukku/, /sêdu/, +/asakku/ (spirit of fevers), /namtaru/ (spirit of fate), /âlû/ +(regarded as the spirit of the south wind), /gallu/, /rabisu/, +/labartu/, /labasu/, /ahhazu/ (the seizer), /lilu/ and /lilithu/ (male +and female spirits of the mist), with their attendants. + +All this points to animism as the pervading idea of the worship of the +peoples of the Babylonian states in the prehistoric period--the +attribution of life to every appearance of nature. The question is, +however, Is the evidence of the inscriptions sufficient to make this +absolutely certain? It is hard to believe that such intelligent +people, as the primitive Babylonians naturally were, believed that +such things as stones, rocks, mountains, storms, and rain were, in +themselves, and apart from the divinity which they regarded as +presiding over them, living things. A stone might be a /bît îli/ or +bethel--a "house of god," and almost invested with the status of a +living thing, but that does not prove that the Babylonians thought of +every stone as being endowed with life, even in prehistoric times. +Whilst, therefore, there are traces of a belief similar to that which +an animistic creed might be regarded as possessing, it must be +admitted that these seemingly animistic doctrines may have originated +in another way, and be due to later developments. The power of the +gods to create living things naturally makes possible the belief that +they had also power to endow with a soul, and therefore with life and +intelligence, any seemingly inanimate object. Such was probably the +nature of Babylonian animism, if it may be so called. The legend of +Tiawthu (Tiawath) may with great probability be regarded as the +remains of a primitive animism which was the creed of the original and +comparatively uncivilised Babylonians, who saw in the sea the producer +and creator of all the monstrous shapes which are found therein; but +any development of this idea in other directions was probably cut +short by the priests, who must have realised, under the influence of +the doctrine of the divine rise to perfection, that animism in general +was altogether incompatible with the creed which they professed. + + + Image-worship and Sacred Stones. + +Whether image-worship was original among the Babylonians and Assyrians +is uncertain, and improbable; the tendency among the people in early +times being to venerate sacred stones and other inanimate objects. As +has been already pointed out, the {diopetres} of the Greeks was +probably a meteorite, and stones marking the position of the Semitic +bethels were probably, in their origin, the same. The boulders which +were sometimes used for boundary-stones may have been the +representations of these meteorites in later times, and it is +noteworthy that the Sumerian group for "iron," /an-bar/, implies that +the early Babylonians only knew of that metal from meteoric ironstone. +The name of the god Nirig or Ênu-rêstu (Ninip) is generally written +with the same group, implying some kind of connection between the +two--the god and the iron. In a well-known hymn to that deity certain +stones are mentioned, one of them being described as the "poison-tooth"[1] +coming forth on the mountain, recalling the sacred rocks at +Jerusalem and Mecca. Boundary-stones in Babylonia were not sacred +objects except in so far as they were sculptured with the signs of the +gods.[2] With regard to the Babylonian bethels, very little can be +said, their true nature being uncertain, and their number, to all +appearance, small. Gifts were made to them, and from this fact it +would seem that they were temples--true "houses of god," in +fact--probably containing an image of the deity, rather than a stone +similar to those referred to in the Old Testament. + +[1] So called, probably, not because it sent forth poison, but on + account of its likeness to a serpent's fang. + +[2] Notwithstanding medical opinion, their phallic origin is doubtful. + One is sculptured in the form of an Eastern castellated fortress. + + + Idols. + +With the Babylonians, the gods were represented by means of stone +images at a very early date, and it is possible that wood was also +used. The tendency of the human mind being to attribute to the Deity a +human form, the Babylonians were no exception to the rule. Human +thoughts and feelings would naturally accompany the human form with +which the minds of men endowed them. Whether the gross human passions +attributed to the gods of Babylonia in Herodotus be of early date or +not is uncertain--a late period, when the religion began to +degenerate, would seem to be the more probable. + + + The adoration of sacred objects. + +It is probable that objects belonging to or dedicated to deities were +not originally worshipped--they were held as divine in consequence of +their being possessed or used by a deity, like the bow of Merodach, +placed in the heavens as a constellation, etc. The cities where the +gods dwelt on earth, their temples, their couches, the chariot of the +sun in his temple-cities, and everything existing in connection with +their worship, were in all probability regarded as divine simply in so +far as they belonged to a god. Sacrifices offered to them, and +invocations made to them, were in all likelihood regarded as having +been made to the deity himself, the possessions of the divinity being, +in the minds of the Babylonians, pervaded with his spirit. In the case +of rivers, these were divine as being the children and offspring of +Enki (Aa or Êa), the god of the ocean. + + + Holy places. + +In a country which was originally divided into many small states, each +having its own deities, and, to a certain extent, its own religious +system, holy places were naturally numerous. As the spot where they +placed Paradise, Babylonia was itself a holy place, but in all +probability this idea is late, and only came into existence after the +legends of the creation and the rise of Merodach to the kingship of +heaven had become elaborated into one homogeneous whole. + + + An interesting list. + +One of the most interesting documents referring to the holy places of +Babylonia is a tiny tablet found at Nineveh, and preserved in the +British Museum. This text begins with the word Tiawthu "the sea," and +goes on to enumerate, in turn, Tilmun (identified with the island of +Bahrein in the Persian Gulf); Engurra (the Abyss, the abode of Enki or +Êa), with numerous temples and shrines, including "the holy house," +"the temple of the seer of heaven and earth," "the abode of +Zer-panîtum," consort of Merodach, "the throne of the holy place," "the +temple of the region of Hades," "the supreme temple of life," "the +temple of the ear of the corn-deity," with many others, the whole list +containing what may be regarded as the chief sanctuaries of the land, +to the number of thirty-one. Numerous other similar and more extensive +lists, enumerating every shrine and temple in the country, also exist, +though in a very imperfect state, and in addition to these, many holy +places are referred to in the bilingual, historical, and other +inscriptions. All the great cities of Babylonia, moreover, were sacred +places, the chief in renown and importance in later days being the +great city of Babylon, where Ê-sagila, "the temple of the high head," +in which was apparently the shrine called "the temple of the +foundation of heaven and earth," held the first place. This building +is called by Nebuchadnezzar "the temple-tower of Babylon," and may +better be regarded as the site of the Biblical "Tower of Babel" than +the traditional foundation, Ê-zida, "the everlasting temple," in +Borsippa (the Birs Nimroud)--notwithstanding that Borsippa was called +the "second Babylon," and its temple-tower "the supreme house of +life." + + + The Tower of Babel. + +Though quite close to Babylon, there is no doubt that Borsippa was a +most important religious centre, and this leads to the possibility, +that its great temple may have disputed with "the house of the high +head," Ê-sagila in Babylon, the honour of being the site of the +confusion of tongues and the dispersion of mankind. There is no doubt, +however, that Ê-sagila has the prior claim, it being the temple of the +supreme god of the later Babylonian pantheon, the counterpart of the +God of the Hebrews who commanded the changing of the speech of the +people assembled there. Supposing the confusion of tongues to have +been a Babylonian legend as well as a Hebrew one (as is possible) it +would be by command of Merodach rather than that of Nebo that such a +thing would have taken place. Ê-sagila, which is now the ruin known as +the mount of Amran ibn Ali, is the celebrated temple of Belus which +Alexander and Philip attempted to restore. + +In addition to the legend of the confusion of tongues, it is probable +that there were many similar traditions attached to the great temples +of Babylonia, and as time goes on, and the excavations bring more +material, a large number of them will probably be recovered. Already +we have an interesting and poetical record of the entry of Bel and +Beltis into the great temple at Niffer, probably copied from some +ancient source, and Gudea, a king of Lagas (Telloh), who reigned about +2700 B.C., gives an account of the dream which he saw, in which he was +instructed by the gods to build or rebuild the temple of Nin-Girsu in +his capital city. + + + Ê-sagila according to Herodotus. + +As the chief fane in the land after Babylon became the capital, and +the type of many similar erections, Ê-sagila, the temple of Belus, +merits just a short notice. According to Herodotus, it was a massive +tower within an enclosure measuring 400 yards each way, and provided +with gates of brass, or rather bronze. The tower within consisted of a +kind of step-pyramid, the stages being seven in number (omitting the +lowest, which was the platform forming the foundation of the +structure). A winding ascent gave access to the top, where was a +chapel or shrine, containing no statue, but regarded by the +Babylonians as the abode of the god. Lower down was another shrine, in +which was placed a great statue of Zeus (Bel-Merodach) sitting, with a +large table before it. Both statue and table are said to have been of +gold, as were also the throne and the steps. Outside the sanctuary (on +the ramp, apparently) were two altars, one small and made of gold, +whereon only unweaned lambs were sacrificed, and the other larger, for +full-grown victims. + + + A Babylonian description. + +In 1876 the well-known Assyriologist, Mr. George Smith, was fortunate +enough to discover a Babylonian description of this temple, of which +he published a /précis/. According to this document, there were two +courts of considerable extent, the smaller within the larger--neither +of them was square, but oblong. Six gates admitted to the temple-area +surrounding the platform upon which the tower was built. The platform +is stated to have been square and walled, with four gates facing the +cardinal points. Within this wall was a building connected with the +great /zikkurat/ or tower--the principal edifice--round which were +chapels or temples to the principal gods, on all four sides, and +facing the cardinal points--that to Nebo and Tasmît being on the east, +to Aa or Êa and Nusku on the north, Anu and Bel on the south, and the +series of buildings on the west, consisting of a double house--a small +court between two wings, was evidently the shrine of Merodach (Belos). +In these western chambers stood the couch of the god, and the golden +throne mentioned by Herodotus, besides other furniture of great value. +The couch was given as being 9 cubits long by 4 broad, about as many +feet in each case, or rather more. + +The centre of these buildings was the great /zikkurat/, or temple-tower, +square on its plan, and with the sides facing the cardinal +points. The lowest stage was 15 /gar/ square by 5 1/2 high (Smith, 300 +feet by 110), and the wall, in accordance with the usual Babylonian +custom, seems to have been ornamented with recessed groovings. The +second stage was 13 /gar/ square by 3 in height (Smith, 260 by 60 +feet). He conjectured, from the expression used, that it had sloping +sides. Stages three to five were each one /gar/ (Smith, 20 feet) high, +and respectively 10 /gar/ (Smith, 200 feet), 8 1/2 /gar/ (170 feet), +and 7 /gar/ (140 feet) square. The dimensions of the sixth stage are +omitted, probably by accident, but Smith conjectures that they were in +proportion to those which precede. His description omits also the +dimensions of the seventh stage, but he gives those of the sanctuary +of Belus, which was built upon it. This was 4 /gar/ long, 3 1/2 /gar/ +broad, and 2 1/2 /gar/ high (Smith, 80 x 70 x 50 feet). He points out, +that the total height was, therefore, 15 /gar/, the same as the +dimensions of the base, i.e., the lowest platform, which would make +the total height of this world-renowned building rather more than 300 +feet above the plains. + + + Other temple-towers. + +Towers of a similar nature were to be found in all the great cities of +Babylonia, and it is probable that in most cases slight differences of +form were to be found. That at Niffer, for instance, seems to have had +a causeway on each side, making four approaches in the form of a +cross. But it was not every city which had a tower of seven stages in +addition to the platform on which it was erected, and some of the +smaller ones at least seem to have had sloping or rounded sides to the +basement-portion, as is indicated by an Assyrian bas-relief. Naturally +small temples, with hardly more than the rooms on the ground floor, +were to be found, but these temple-towers were a speciality of the +country. + + + Their origin. + +There is some probability that, as indicated in the tenth chapter of +Genesis, the desire in building these towers was to get nearer the +Deity, or to the divine inhabitants of the heavens in general--it +would be easier there to gain attention than on the surface of the +earth. Then there was the belief, that the god to whom the place was +dedicated would come down to such a sanctuary, which thus became, as +it were, the stepping-stone between heaven and earth. Sacrifices were +also offered at these temple-towers (whether on the highest point or +not is not quite certain), in imitation of the Chaldæan Noah, +Ut-napistim, who, on coming out of the ark, made an offering /ina +zikkurat sadê/, "on the peak of the mountain," in which passage, it is +to be noted, the word /zikkurat/ occurs with what is probably a more +original meaning. + + + + CHAPTER III + + THE BABYLONIAN STORY OF THE CREATION + +This is the final development of the Babylonian creed. It has already +been pointed out that the religion of the Babylonians in all +probability had two stages before arriving at that in which the god +Merodach occupied the position of chief of the pantheon, the two +preceding heads having been, seemingly, Anu, the god of the heavens, +and Êa or Aa, also called Enki, the god of the abyss and of deep +wisdom. In order to show this, and at the same time to give an idea of +their theory of the beginning of things, a short paraphrase of the +contents of the seven tablets will be found in the following pages. + + + An Embodiment of doctrine. + +As far as our knowledge goes, the doctrines incorporated in this +legend would seem to show the final official development of the +beliefs held by the Babylonians, due, in all probability, to the +priests of Babylon after that city became the capital of the federated +states. Modifications of their creed probably took place, but nothing +seriously affecting it, until after the abandonment of Babylon in the +time of Seleucus Nicator, 300 B.C. or thereabouts, when the deity at +the head of the pantheon seems not to have been Merodach, but Anu-Bêl. +This legend is therefore the most important document bearing upon the +beliefs of the Babylonians from the end of the third millennium B.C. +until that time, and the philosophical ideas which it contains seem to +have been held, in a more or less modified form, among the remnants +who still retained the old Babylonian faith, until the sixth century +of the present era, as the record by Damascius implies. Properly +speaking, it is not a record of the creation, but the story of the +fight between Bel and the Dragon, to which the account of the creation +is prefixed by way of introduction. + + + Water the first creator. + +The legend begins by stating that, when the heavens were unnamed and +the earth bore no name, the primæval ocean was the producer of all +things, and Mummu Tiawath (the sea) she who brought forth everything +existing. Their waters (that is, of the primæval ocean and of the sea) +were all united in one, and neither plains nor marshes were to be +seen; the gods likewise did not exist, even in name, and the fates +were undetermined--nothing had been decided as to the future of +things. Then arose the great gods. Lahmu and Lahame came first, +followed, after a long period, by Ansar and Kisar, generally +identified with the "host of heaven" and the "host of earth," these +being the meanings of the component parts of their names. After a +further long period of days, there came forth their son Anu, the god +of the heavens. + + + The gods. + +Here the narrative is defective, and is continued by Damascius in his +/Doubts and Solutions of the First Principles/, in which he states +that, after Anos (Anu), come Illinos (Ellila or Bel, "the lord" /par +excellence/) and Aos (Aa, Ae, or Êa), the god of Eridu. Of Aos and +Dauké (the Babylonian Aa and Damkina) is born, he says, a son called +Belos (Bel-Merodach), who, they (apparently the Babylonians) say, is +the fabricator of the world--the creator. + + + The designs against them. + +At this point Damascius ends his extract, and the Babylonian tablet +also becomes extremely defective. The next deity to come into +existence, however, would seem to have been Nudimmud, who was +apparently the deity Aa or Êa (the god of the sea and of rivers) as +the god of creation. Among the children of Tauthé (Tiawath) enumerated +by Damascius is one named Moumis, who was evidently referred to in the +document at that philosopher's disposal. If this be correct, his name, +under the form of Mummu, probably existed in one of the defective +lines of the first portion of this legend--in any case, his name +occurs later on, with those of Tiawath and Apsu (the Deep), his +parents, and the three seem to be compared, to their disadvantage, +with the progeny of Lahmu and Lahame, the gods on high. As the ways of +these last were not those of Tiawath's brood, and Apsu complained that +he had no peace by day nor rest by night on account of their +proceedings, the three representatives of the chaotic deep, Tiawath, +Apsu, and Mummu, discussed how they might get rid the beings who +wished to rise to higher things. Mummu was apparently the prime mover +in the plot, and the face of Apsu grew bright at the thought of the +evil plan which they had devised against "the gods their sons." The +inscription being very mutilated here, its full drift cannot be +gathered, but from the complete portions which come later it would +seem that Mummu's plan was not a remarkably cunning one, being simply +to make war upon and destroy the gods of heaven. + + + Tiawath's preparations. + +The preparations made for this were elaborate. Restlessly, day and +night, the powers of evil raged and toiled, and assembled for the +fight. "Mother Hubur," as Tiawath is named in this passage, called her +creative powers into action, and gave her followers irresistible +weapons. She brought into being also various monsters--giant serpents, +sharp of tooth, bearing stings, and with poison filling their bodies +like blood; terrible dragons endowed with brilliance, and of enormous +stature, reared on high, raging dogs, scorpion-men, fish-men, and many +other terrible beings, were created and equipped, the whole being +placed under the command of a deity named Kingu, whom she calls her +"only husband," and to whom she delivers the tablets of fate, which +conferred upon him the godhead of Anu (the heavens), and enabled their +possessor to determine the gates among the gods her sons. + + + Kingu replaces Absu. + +The change in the narrative which comes in here suggests that this is +the point at which two legends current in Babylonia were united. +Henceforward we hear nothing more of Apsu, the begetter of all things, +Tiawath's spouse, nor of Mummu, their son. In all probability there is +good reason for this, and inscriptions will doubtless ultimately be +found which will explain it, but until then it is only natural to +suppose that two different legends have been pieced together to form a +harmonious whole. + + + Tiawath's aim. + +As will be gathered from the above, the story centres in the wish of +the goddess of the powers of evil and her kindred to retain creation--the +forming of all living things--in her own hands. As Tiawath means +"the sea," and Apsu "the deep," it is probable that this is a kind of +allegory personifying the productive power seen in the teeming life of +the ocean, and typifying the strange and wonderful forms found +therein, which were symbolical, to the Babylonian mind, of chaos and +confusion, as well as of evil. + + + The gods hear of the conspiracy. + +Aa, or Êa, having learned of the plot of Tiawath and her followers +against the gods of heaven, naturally became filled with anger, and +went and told the whole to Ansar, his father, who in his turn gave way +to his wrath, and uttered cries of the deepest grief. After +considering what they would do, Ansar applied to his son Anu, "the +mighty and brave," saying that, if he would only speak to her, the +great dragon's anger would be assuaged, and her rage disappear. In +obedience to this behest, Anu went to try his power with the monster, +but on beholding her snarling face, feared to approach her, and turned +back. Nudimmud was next called upon to become the representative of +the gods against their foe, but his success was as that of Anu, and it +became needful to seek another champion. + + + And choose Merodach as their champion. + +The choice fell upon Merodach, the Belus (Bel-Merodach) of Damascius's +paraphrase, and at once met with an enthusiastic reception. The god +asked simply that an "unchangeable command" might be given to him--that +whatever he ordained should without fail come to pass, in order +that he might destroy the common enemy. Invitations were sent to the +gods asking them to a festival, where, having met together, they ate +and drank, and "decided the fate" for Merodach their avenger, +apparently meaning that he was decreed their defender in the conflict +with Tiawath, and that the power of creating and annihilating by the +word of his mouth was his. Honours were then conferred upon him; +princely chambers were erected for him, wherein he sat as judge "in +the presence of his fathers," and the rule over the whole universe was +given to him. The testing of his newly acquired power followed. A +garment was placed in their midst: + + "He spake with his mouth, and the garment was destroyed, + He spake to it again, and the garment was reproduced." + + + Merodach proclaimed king. + +On this proof of the reality of the powers conferred on him, all the +gods shouted "Merodach is king!" and handed to him sceptre, throne, +and insignia of royalty. An irresistible weapon, which should shatter +all his enemies, was then given to him, and he armed himself also with +spear or dart, bow, and quiver; lightning flashed before him, and +flaming fire filled his body. Anu, the god of the heavens, had given +him a great net, and this he set at the four cardinal points, in order +that nothing of the dragon, when he had defeated her, should escape. +Seven winds he then created to accompany him, and the great weapon +called /Abubu/, "the Flood," completed his equipment. All being ready, +he mounted his dreadful, irresistible chariot, to which four steeds +were yoked--steeds unsparing, rushing forward, rapid in flight, their +teeth full of venom, foam-covered, experienced in galloping, schooled +in overthrowing. Being now ready for the fray, Merodach fared forth to +meet Tiawath, accompanied by the fervent good wishes of "the gods his +fathers." + + + The fight with Tiawath. + +Advancing, he regarded Tiawath's retreat, but the sight of the enemy +was so menacing that even the great Merodach (if we understand the +text rightly) began to falter. This, however, was not for long, and +the king of the gods stood before Tiawath, who, on her side, remained +firm and undaunted. In a somewhat long speech, in which he reproaches +Tiawath for her rebellion, he challenges her to battle, and the two +meet in fiercest fight. To all appearance the type of all evil did not +make use of honest weapons, but sought to overcome the king of the +gods with incantations and charms. These, however, had not the +slightest effect, for she found herself at once enclosed in Merodach's +net, and on opening her mouth to resist and free herself, the evil +wind, which Merodach had sent on before him, entered, so that she +could not close her lips, and thus inflated, her heart was +overpowered, and she became a prey to her conqueror. Having cut her +asunder and taken out her heart, thus destroying her life, he threw +her body down and stood thereon. Her followers then attempted to +escape, but found themselves surrounded and unable to get forth. Like +their mistress, they were thrown into the net, and sat in bonds, being +afterwards shut up in prison. As for Kingu, he was raised up, bound, +and delivered to be with Ugga, the god of death. The tablets of fate, +which Tiawath had delivered to Kingu, were taken from him by Merodach, +who pressed his seal upon them, and placed them in his breast. The +deity Ansar, who had been, as it would seem, deprived of his rightful +power by Tiawath, received that power again on the death of the common +foe, and Nudimmud "saw his desire upon his enemy." + + + Tiawath's fate. + +The dismemberment of Tiawath then followed, and her veins having been +cut through, the north wind was caused by the deity to carry her blood +away into secret places, a statement which probably typifies the +opening of obstructions which prevent the rivers flowing from the +north from running into the southern seas, helped thereto by the north +wind. Finally her body was divided, like "a /masdê/-fish," into two +parts, one of which was made into a covering for the heavens--the +"waters above the firmament" of Genesis i. 7. + + + Merodach orders the world anew. + +Then came the ordering of the universe anew. Having made a covering +for the heavens with half the body of the defeated Dragon of Chaos, +Merodach set the Abyss, the abode of Nudimmud, in front, and made a +corresponding edifice above--the heavens--where he founded stations +for the gods Anu, Bel, and Ae. Stations for the great gods in the +likeness of constellations, together with what is regarded as the +Zodiac, were his next work. He then designated the year, setting three +constellations for each month, and made a station for +Nibiru--Merodach's own star--as the overseer of all the lights in the +firmament. He then caused the new moon, Nannaru, to shine, and made +him the ruler of the night, indicating his phases, one of which was on +the seventh day, and the other, a /sabattu/, or day of rest, in the +middle of the month. Directions with regard to the moon's movements +seem to follow, but the record is mutilated, and their real nature +consequently doubtful. With regard to other works which were performed +we have no information, as a gap prevents their being ascertained. +Something, however, seems to have been done with Merodach's +net--probably it was placed in the heavens as a constellation, as was his +bow, to which several names were given. Later on, the winds were bound +and assigned to their places, but the account of the arrangement of +other things is mutilated and obscure, though it can be recognised +that the details in this place were of considerable interest. + + + The creation of man. + +To all appearance the gods, after he had ordered the universe and the +things then existing, urged Merodach to further works of wonder. +Taking up their suggestion, he considered what he should do, and then +communicated to his father Ae his plan for the creation of man with +his own blood, in order that the service and worship of the gods might +be established. This portion is also unfortunately very imperfect, and +the details of the carrying out of the plan are entirely wanting. + + + Berosus' narrative fills the gap. + +It is noteworthy that this portion of the narrative has been preserved +by Abydenus, George the Syncellus, and Eusebius, in their quotations +from Berosus. According to this Chaldæan writer, there was a woman +named Omoroca, or, in Chaldæan, Thalatth (apparently a mistake for +Thauatth, i.e. Tiawath), whose name was equivalent to the Greek +Thalassa, the sea. It was she who had in her charge all the strange +creatures then existing. At this period, Belus (Bel-Merodach) came, +and cut the woman asunder, forming out of one half the earth, and of +the other the heavens, at the same time destroying all the creatures +which were within her--all this being an allegory, for the whole +universe consists of moisture, and creatures are constantly generated +therein. The deity then cut off his own head, and the other gods mixed +the blood, as it gushed out, with the earth, and from this men were +formed. Hence it is that men are rational, and partake of divine +knowledge. + + + A second creation. + +This Belsus, "who is called Zeus," divided the darkness, separated the +heavens from the earth, and reduced the universe to order. The animals +which had been created, however, not being able to bear the light, +died. Belus then, seeing the void thus made, ordered one of the gods +to take off his head, and mix the blood with the soil, forming other +men and animals which should be able to bear the light. He also formed +the stars, the sun, the moon, and the five planets. It would thus seem +that there were two creations, the first having been a failure because +Belus had not foreseen that it was needful to produce beings which +should be able to bear the light. Whether this repetition was really +in the Babylonian legend, or whether Berosus (or those who quote him) +has merely inserted and united two varying accounts, will only be +known when the cuneiform text is completed. + + + The concluding tablet. + +The tablet of the fifty-one names completes the record of the tablets +found at Nineveh and Babylon. In this Merodach receives the titles of +all the other gods, thus identifying him with them, and leading to +that tendency to monotheism of which something will be said later on. +In this text, which is written, like the rest of the legend, in +poetical form, Merodach is repeatedly called /Tutu/, a mystic word +meaning "creator," and "begetter," from the reduplicate root /tu/ or +/utu/--which was to all appearances his name when it was desired to +refer to him especially in that character. Noteworthy in this portion +is the reference to Merodach's creation of mankind:-- + +Line 25. "Tuto: Aga-azaga (the glorious crown)--may he make the crowns + glorious. + 26. The lord of the glorious incantation bringing the dead to + life; + 27. He who had mercy on the gods who had been overpowered; + 28. Made heavy the yoke which he had laid on the gods who were + his enemies, + 29. (And) to redeem(?) them, created mankind. + 30. 'The merciful one,' 'he with whom is salvation,' + 31. May his word be established, and not forgotten, + 32. In the mouth of the black-headed ones[1] whom his hands have + made." + +[1] I.e. mankind. + + + Man the redeemer. + +The phrase "to redeem them" is, in the original, /ana padi-sunu/, the +verb being from /padû/, "to spare," "set free," and if this rendering +be correct, as seems probable, the Babylonian reasons for the creation +of mankind would be, that they might carry on the service and worship +of the gods, and by their righteousness redeem those enemies of the +gods who were undergoing punishment for their hostility. Whether by +this Tiawath, Apsu, Mummu, Kingu, and the monsters whom she had +created were included, or only the gods of heaven who had joined her, +the record does not say. Naturally, this doctrine depends entirely +upon the correctness of the translation of the words quoted. Jensen, +who first proposed this rendering, makes no attempt to explain it, and +simply asks: "Does 'them' in 'to redeem(?) them' refer to the gods +named in line 28 or to mankind and then to a future--how +meant?--redemption? Eschatology? Zimmern's 'in their place' unprovable. +Delitzsch refrains from an explanation." + + + The bilingual account of the creation. Aruru aids Merodach. + +Whilst dealing with this part of the religious beliefs of the +Babylonians, a few words are needed concerning the creation-story +which is prefixed to an incantation used in a purification ceremony. +The original text is Sumerian (dialectic), and is provided with a +Semitic translation. In this inscription, after stating that nothing +(in the beginning) existed, and even the great cities and temples of +Babylonia were as yet unbuilt, the condition of the world is briefly +indicated by the statement that "All the lands were sea." The renowned +cities of Babylonia seem to have been regarded as being as much +creations of Merodach as the world and its inhabitants--indeed, it is +apparently for the glorification of those cities by attributing their +origin to Merodach, that the bilingual account of the creation was +composed.. "When within the sea there was a stream"--that is, when the +veins of Tiawath had been cut through--Êridu (probably = Paradise) and +the temple Ê-sagila within the Abyss were constructed, and after that +Babylon and the earthly temple of Ê-sagila within it. Then he made the +gods and the Annunnaki (the gods of the earth), proclaimed a glorious +city as the seat of the joy of their hearts, and afterwards made a +pleasant place in which the gods might dwell. The creation of mankind +followed, in which Merodach was aided by the goddess Aruru, who made +mankind's seed. Finally, plants, trees, and the animals, were +produced, after which Merodach constructed bricks, beams, houses, and +cities, including Niffer and Erech with their renowned temples. + +We see here a change in the teaching with regard to Merodach--the gods +are no longer spoken of as "his fathers," but he is the creator of the +gods, as well as of mankind. + + + The order of the gods in the principal lists. + +It is unfortunate that no lists of gods have been found in a +sufficiently complete state to allow of the scheme after which they +were drawn up to be determined without uncertainty. It may, +nevertheless, be regarded as probable that these lists, at least in +some cases, are arranged in conformity (to a certain extent) with the +appearance of the deities in the so-called creation-story. Some of +them begin with Anu, and give him various names, among them being +Ansar and Kisar, Lahmu and Lahame, etc. More specially interesting, +however, is a well-known trilingual list of gods, which contains the +names of the various deities in the following order:-- + + EXTRACTS FROM THE TRILINGUAL LIST + /Obverse/ + + Sumer. Dialect Sumer. Standard Common Explanation + (Semit. or Sumer.) + + 1. Dimmer Dingir Îlu God. + 2. U-ki En-ki Ê-a Êa or Aa. + 3. Gasan(?)-ki Nin-ki Dawkina Dauké, the consort of Êa. + 4. Mu-ul-lil En-lil-la Bêl The God Bel. + 5. E-lum A-lim Bêl + 6. Gasan(?)-lil Nin-lil-la dam-bi sal Bel's consort. + 7. U-lu-a Ni-rig Ênu-rêstu The god of Niffer. + 8. U-lib-a Ni-rig Ênu-rêstu + + 9-12 have Ênu-rêstu's consort, sister, and attendant. + + 13. U-sab-sib En-sag-duga Nusku Nusku + + 14-19 have two other names of Nusku, followed by three names of his + consort. A number of names of minor divinities then follow. At + line 43 five names of Êa are given, followed by four of + Merodach:-- + + 48. U-bi-lu-lu En-bi-lu-lu Marduk Merodach + 49. U-Tin-dir ki En-Tin-dir ki Marduk Merodach as "lord of Babylon." + 50. U-dimmer-an-kia En-dinger-an-kia Marduk Merodach as "lord god of heaven and earth." + 51. U-ab-sar-u En-ab-sar-u Marduk Merodach, apparently as "lord of the 36,000 steers." + 52. U-bar-gi-si Nin-bar-gi-si Zer-panîtum Merodach's consort. + 53. Gasan-abzu Nin-abzu dam-bi sal "the Lady of the Abyss," his consort. + +The remainder of the obverse is mutilated, but gave the names of Nebo +in Sumerian, and apparently also of Tasmêtum, his consort. The +beginning of the reverse also is mutilated, but seems to have given +the names of the sun-god, Samas, and his consort, followed by those of +Kîttu and Mêsarum, "justice and righteousness," his attendants. Other +interesting names are: + + /Reverse/ + + 8. U-libir-si En-ubar-si Dumu-zi Tammuz + 9. Sir-tumu Sir-du ama Dumuzi-gi the mother of Tammuz + 12. Gasan-anna Innanna Istar Istar (Venus) as "lady of heaven." + 20. Nin-si-anna Innanna mul Istar the star (the planet Venus). + 21. Nin Nin-tag-taga Nanaa a goddess identified with Istar. + 23. U-sah Nina-sah Pap-sukal the gods' messenger. + 24. U-banda Lugal-banda Lugal-banda + 26. U-Mersi Nin-Girsu Nin-Girsu the chief god of Lagas. + 27. Ma-sib-sib Ga-tum-duga Bau Bau, a goddess identified with Gula. + +Four non-Semitic names of Gula follow, of which that in line 31 is the +most interesting:-- + + 31. Gasan-ti-dibba Nin-tin-guua Gula "the lady saving from death." + 33. Gasan-ki-gal Eres-ki-gala Allatu Persephone. + 36. U-mu-zi-da Nin-gis-zi-da Nin-gis-zida "the lord of the everlasting tree." + 37. U-urugal Ne-eri-gal Nerigal Nergal. + 42. Mulu-hursag Galu-hursag Amurru the Amorite god. + 43. Gasan-gu-edina Nin-gu-edina (apparently the consort of Amurru). + +In all probability this list is one of comparatively late date, though +its chronological position with regard to the others is wholly +uncertain--it may not be later, and may even be earlier, than those +beginning with Anu, the god of the heavens. The important thing about +it is, that it begins with /îlu/, god, in general, which is written, +in the standard dialect (that of the second column) with the same +character as that used for the name of Anu. After this comes Aa or Êa, +the god of the earth, and his consort, followed by En-lilla, the older +Bel--Illinos in Damascius. The name of Êa is repeated again in line 43 +and following, where he is apparently re-introduced as the father of +Merodach, whose names immediately follow. This peculiarity is also +found in other lists of gods and is undoubtedly a reflection of the +history of the Babylonian religion. As this list replaces Anu by +/îlu/, it indicates the rule of Enki or Êa, followed by that of +Merodach, who, as has been shown, became the chief divinity of the +Babylonian pantheon in consequence of Babylon having become the +capital of the country. + + + + CHAPTER IV + + THE PRINCIPAL GODS OF THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + + + Anu. + +The name of this divinity is derived from the Sumero-Akkadian /ana/, +"heaven," of which he was the principal deity. He is called the father +of the great gods, though, in the creation-story, he seems to be +described as the son of Ansar and Kisar. In early names he is +described as the father, creator, and god, probably meaning the +supreme being. His consort was Anatu, and the pair are regarded in the +lists as the same as the Lahmu and Lahame of the creation-story, who, +with other deities, are also described as gods of the heavens. Anu was +worshipped at Erech, along with Istar. + + + Ea. + +Is given as if it were the /Semitic/ equivalent of /Enki/, "the lord +of the earth," but it would seem to be really a Sumerian word, later +written /Ae/, and certain inscriptions suggest that the true reading +was /Aa/. His titles are "king of the Abyss, creator of everything, +lord of all," the first being seemingly due to the fact that Aa is a +word which may, in its reduplicate form, mean "waters," or if read +/Êa/, "house of water." He also, like Anu, is called "father of the +gods." As this god was likewise "lord of deep wisdom," it was to him +that his son Merodach went for advice whenever he was in doubt. On +account of his knowledge, he was the god of artisans in general--potters, +blacksmiths, sailors, builders, stone-cutters, gardeners, +seers, barbers, farmers, etc. This is the Aos (a form which confirms +the reading Aa) of Damascius, and the Oannes of the extracts from +Berosus, who states that he was "a creature endowed with reason, with +a body like that of a fish, and under the fish's head another head, +with feet below, like those of a man, with a fish's tail." This +description applies fairly well to certain bas-reliefs from Nimroud in +the British Museum. The creature described by Berosus lived in the +Persian Gulf, landing during the day to teach the inhabitants the +building of houses and temples, the cultivation of useful plants, the +gathering of fruits, and also geometry, law, and letters. From him, +too, came the account of the beginning of things referred to in +chapter III. which, in the original Greek, is preceded by a +description of the composite monsters said to have existed before +Merodach assumed the rule of the universe. + +The name of his consort, Damkina or Dawkina, probably means "the +eternal spouse," and her other names, /Gasan-ki/ (Sumerian dialectic) +and /Nin-ki/ (non-dialectic), "Lady of the earth," sufficiently +indicates her province. She is often mentioned in the incantations +with Êa. + +The forsaking of the worship of Êa as chief god for that of Merodach +seems to have caused considerable heartburning in Babylonia, if we may +judge from the story of the Flood, for it was on account of his +faithfulness that Utnipistim, the Babylonian Noah, attained to +salvation from the Flood and immortality afterwards. All through this +adventure it was the god Êa who favoured him, and afterwards gave him +immortality like that of the gods. There is an interesting Sumerian +text in which the ship of Êa seems to be described, the woods of which +its various parts were formed being named, and in it, apparently, were +Enki (Êa), Damgal-nunna (Damkina), his consort, Asari-lu-duga +(Merodach), In-ab (or Ines), the pilot of Êridu (Êa's city), and +Nin-igi-nagar-sir, "the great architect of heaven":-- + + "May the ship before thee bring fertility, + May the ship after thee bring joy, + In thy heart may it make joy of heart . . . ." + +Êa was the god of fertility, hence this ending to the poetical +description of the ship of Êa. + + + Bel. + +The deity who is mentioned next in order in the list given above is +the "older Bel," so called to distinguish him from Bel-Merodach. His +principal names were /Mullil/ (dialectic) or /En-lilla/[1] (standard +speech), the /Illinos/ of Damascius. His name is generally translated +"lord of mist," so-called as god of the underworld, his consort being +/Gasan-lil/ or /Nan-lilla/, "the lady of the mist," in Semitic +Babylonian /Bêltu/, "the Lady," par excellence. Bel, whose name means +"the lord," was so called because he was regarded as chief of the +gods. As there was considerable confusion in consequence of the title +Bel having been given to Merodach, Tiglath-pileser I. (about 1200 +B.C.) refers to him as the "older Bel" in describing the temple which +he built for him at Assur. Numerous names of men compounded with his +occur until the latest times, implying that, though the favourite god +was Merodach, the worship of Bel was not forgotten, even at Babylon--that +he should have been adored at his own city, Niffur, and at +Dur-Kuri-galzu, where Kuri-galzu I. built a temple for "Bel, the lord of +the lands," was naturally to be expected. Being, like Êa, a god of the +earth, he is regarded as having formed a trinity with Anu, the god of +heaven, and Êa, the god of the deep, and prayer to these three was as +good as invoking all the gods of the universe. Classification of the +gods according to the domain of their power would naturally take place +in a religious system in which they were all identified with each +other, and this classification indicates, as Jastrow says, a deep +knowledge of the powers of nature, and a more than average +intelligence among the Babylonians--indeed, he holds it as a proof +that, at the period of the older empire, there were schools and +students who had devoted themselves to religious speculation upon this +point. He also conjectures that the third commandment of the Law of +Moses was directed against this doctrine held by the Babylonians. + +[1] Ordinarily pronounced /Illila/, as certain glosses and Damascius's + /Illinos/ (for /Illilos/) show. + + + Beltis. + +This goddess was properly only the spouse of the older Bel, but as +/Bêltu/, her Babylonian name, simply meant "lady" in general (just as +/Bêl/ or /bêlu/ meant "lord"), it became a title which could be given +to any goddess, and was in fact borne by Zer-panîtum, Istar, Nanaa, +and others. It was therefore often needful to add the name of the city +over which the special /Bêltu/ presided, in order to make clear which +of them was meant. Besides being the title of the spouse of the older +Bel, having her earthly seat with him in Niffur and other less +important shrines, the Assyrians sometimes name Bêltu the spouse of +Assur, their national god, suggesting an identification, in the minds +of the priests, with that deity. + + + Ênu-rêstu or Nirig.[1] + +Whether /Ênu-rêstu/ be a translation of /Nirig/ or not, is uncertain, +but not improbable, the meaning being "primeval lord," or something +similar, and "lord" that of the first element, /ni/, in the Sumerian +form. In support of this reading and rendering may be quoted the fact, +that one of the descriptions of this divinity is /assarid îlani +âhê-su/, "the eldest of the gods his brothers." It is noteworthy that +this deity was a special favourite among the Assyrians, many of whose +kings, to say nothing of private persons, bore his name as a component +part of theirs. In the bilingual poem entitled /Ana-kime gimma/ +("Formed like Anu"), he is described as being the son of Bel (hence +his appearance after Bel in the list printed above), and in the +likeness of Anu, for which reason, perhaps, his divinity is called +"Anuship." Beginning with words praising him, it seems to refer to his +attitude towards the gods of hostile lands, against whom, apparently, +he rode in a chariot of the sacred lapis-lazuli. Anu having endowed +him with terrible glory, the gods of the earth feared to attack him, +and his onrush was as that of a storm-flood. By the command of Bel, +his course was directed towards Ê-kur, the temple of Bel at Niffur. +Here he was met by Nusku, the supreme messenger of Bel, who, with +words of respect and of praise, asks him not to disturb the god Bel, +his father, in his seat, nor make the gods of the earth tremble in +Upsukennaku (the heavenly festival-hall of the gods), and offers him a +gift.[2] It will thus be seen that Ênu-rêstu was a rival to the older +Bel, whose temple was the great tower in stages called Ê-kura, in +which, in all probability, Ê-su-me-du, the shrine of Ênu-rêstu, was +likewise situated. The inscriptions call him "god of war," though, +unlike Nergal, he was not at the same time god of disease and +pestilence. To all appearance he was the god of the various kinds of +stones, of which another legend states that he "determined their +fate." He was "the hero, whose net overthrows the enemy, who summons +his army to plunder the hostile land, the royal son who caused his +father to bow down to him from afar." "The son who sat not with the +nurse, and eschewed(?) the strength of milk," "the offspring who did +not know his father." "He rode over the mountains and scattered +seed--unanimously the plants proclaimed his name to their dominion, +among them like a great wild bull he raises his horns." + +[1] /Ênu-rêstu/ is the reading which I have adopted as the Semitic + Babylonian equivalent of the name of this divinity, in consequence + of the Aramaic transcription given by certain contract-tablets + discovered by the American expedition to Niffer, and published by + Prof. Clay of Philadelphia. + +[2] The result of this request is not known, in consequence of the + defective state of the tablets. + +Many other interesting descriptions of the deity Nirig (generally read +Nin-ip) occur, and show, with those quoted here, that his story was +one of more than ordinary interest. + + + Nusku. + +This deity was especially invoked by the Assyrian kings, but was in no +wise exclusively Assyrian, as is shown by the fact that his name +occurs in many Babylonian inscriptions. He was the great messenger of +the gods, and is variously given as "the offspring of the abyss, the +creation of Êa," and "the likeness of his father, the first-born of +Bel." As Gibil, the fire-god, has likewise the same diverse parentage, +it is regarded as likely that these two gods were identical. Nusku was +the god whose command is supreme, the counsellor of the great gods, +the protector of the Igigi (the gods of the heavens), the great and +powerful one, the glorious day, the burning one, the founder of +cities, the renewer of sanctuaries, the provider of feasts for all the +Igigi, without whom no feast took place in Ê-kura. Like Nebo, he bore +the glorious spectre, and it was said of him that he attacked mightily +in battle. Without him the sun-god, the judge, could not give +judgment. + +All this points to the probability, that Nusku may not have been the +fire-god, but the brother of the fire-god, i.e. either flame, or the +light of fire. The sun-god, without light, could not see, and +therefore could not give judgment: no feast could be prepared without +fire and its flame. As the evidence of the presence of the shining +orbs in the heavens--the light of their fires--he was the messenger of +the gods, and was honoured accordingly. From this idea, too, he became +their messenger in general, especially of Bel-Merodach, the younger +Bel, whose requests he carried to the god Êa in the Deep. In one +inscription he is identified with Nirig or Ênu-rêstu, who is described +above. + + + Merodach. + +Concerning this god, and how he arose to the position of king of all +the gods of heaven, has been fully shown in chapter III. Though there +is but little in his attributes to indicate any connection with Samas, +there is hardly any doubt that he was originally a sun-god, as is +shown by the etymology of his name. The form, as it has been handed +down to us, is somewhat shortened, the original pronunciation having +been /Amar-uduk/, "the young steer of day," a name which suggests that +he was the morning sun. Of the four names given at the end of chapter +III., two--"lord of Babylon," and "lord god of heaven and earth,"--may +be regarded as expressing his more well-known attributes. /En-ab-sar-u/, +however, is a provisional, though not impossible, reading and +rendering, and if correct, the "36,000 wild bulls" would be a +metaphorical way of speaking of "the 36,000 heroes," probably meaning +the gods of heaven in all their grades. The signification of +/En-bilulu/ is unknown. Like most of the other gods of the Babylonian +pantheon, however, Merodach had many other names, among which may be +mentioned /Asari/, which has been compared with the Egyptian Osiris, +/Asari-lu-duga/, "/Asari/ who is good," compared with Osiris Unnefer; +/Namtila/, "life", /Tutu/, "begetter (of the gods), renewer (of the +gods)," /Sar-azaga/, "the glorious incantation," /Mu-azaga/, "the +glorious charm," and many others. The last two refer to his being the +god who, by his kindness, obtained from his father Êa, dwelling in the +abyss, those charms and incantations which benefited mankind, and +restored the sick to health. In this connection, a frequent title +given to him is "the merciful one," but most merciful was he in that +he spared the lives of the gods who, having sided with Taiwath, were +his enemies, as is related in the tablet of the fifty-one names. In +connection with the fight he bore also the names, "annihilator of the +enemy," "rooter out of all evil," "troubler of the evil ones," "life +of the whole of the gods." From these names it is clear that Merodach, +in defeating Tiawath, annihilated, at the same time, the spirit of +evil, Satan, the accuser, of which she was, probably, the Babylonian +type. But unlike the Saviour in the Christian creed, he saved not only +man, at that time uncreated, but the gods of heaven also. As "king of +the heavens," he was identified with the largest of the planets, +Jupiter, as well as with other heavenly bodies. Traversing the sky in +great zigzags, Jupiter seemed to the Babylonians to superintend the +stars, and this was regarded as emblematic of Merodach shepherding +them--"pasturing the gods like sheep," as the tablet has it. + +A long list of gods gives as it were the court of Merodach, held in +what was apparently a heavenly /Ê-sagila/, and among the spiritual +beings mentioned are /Minâ-îkul-bêli/ and /Minâ-istî-bêli/, "what my +lord has eaten," and "what has my lord drunk," /Nadin-mê-gati/, "he +who gives water for the hands," also the two door-keepers, and the +four dogs of Merodach, wherein people are inclined to see the four +satellites of Jupiter, which, it is thought, were probably visible to +certain of the more sharp-sighted stargazers of ancient Babylonia. +These dogs were called /Ukkumu/, /Akkulu/, /Ikssuda/, and /Iltebu/, +"Seizer," "Eater," "Grasper," and "Holder." Images of these beings +were probably kept in the temple of Ê-sagila at Babylon. + + + Zer-panîtum. + +This was the name of the consort of Merodach, and is generally read +Sarp(b)anitum--a transcription which is against the native orthography +and etymology, namely, "seed-creatress" (Zer-banîtum). The meaning +attributed to this word is partly confirmed by another name which +Lehmann has pointed out that she possessed, namely, /Erua/ or /Aru'a/, +who, in an inscription of Antiochus Soter (280-260 B.C.) is called +"the queen who produces birth," but more especially by the +circumstance, that she must be identical with Aruru, who created the +seed of mankind along with Merodach. Why she was called "the lady of +the abyss," and elsewhere "the voice of the abyss" (/Me-abzu/) is not +known. Zer-panîtum was no mere reflection of Merodach, but one of the +most important goddesses in the Babylonian pantheon. The tendency of +scholars has been to identify her with the moon, Merodach being a +solar deity and the meaning "silvery"--/Sarpanitum/, from /sarpu/, one +of the words for "silver," was regarded as supporting this idea. She +was identified with the Elamite goddess named Elagu, and with the +Lahamum of the island of Bahrein, the Babylonian Tilmun. + + + Nebo and Tasmêtum. + +As "the teacher" and "the hearer" these were among the most popular of +the deities of Babylonia and Assyria. Nebo (in Semitic Babylonian +Nabû) was worshipped at the temple-tower known as Ê-zida, "the +ever-lasting house," at Borsippa, now the Birs Nimroud, traditionally +regarded as the site of the Tower of Babel, though that title, as has +already been shown, would best suit the similar structure known as +Ê-sagila, "the house of the high head," in Babylon itself. In +composition with men's names, this deity occurs more than any other, +even including Merodach himself--a clear indication of the estimation +in which the Babylonians and Assyrians held the possession of +knowledge. The character with which his name is written means, with +the pronunciation of /ak/, "to make," "to create," "to receive," "to +proclaim," and with the pronunciation of /me/, "to be wise," "wisdom," +"open of ear," "broad of ear," and "to make, of a house," the last +probably referring to the design rather than to the actual building. +Under the name of /Dim-sara/ he was "the creator of the writing of the +scribes," as /Ni-zu/, "the god who knows" (/zu/, "to know"), as +/Mermer/, "the speeder(?) of the command of the gods"--on the Sumerian +side indicating some connection with Addu or Rimmon, the thunderer, +and on the Semitic side with Ênu-rêstu, who was one of the gods' +messengers. A small fragment in the British Museum gave his attributes +as god of the various cities of Babylonia, but unfortunately their +names are lost or incomplete. From what remains, however, we see that +Nebo was god of ditching(?), commerce(?), granaries(?), fasting(?), +and food; it was he who overthrew the land of the enemy, and who +protected planting; and, lastly, he was god of Borsippa. + +The worship of Nebo was not always as popular as it became in the +later days of the Babylonian empire and after its fall, and Jastrow is +of opinion that Hammurabi intentionally ignored this deity, giving the +preference to Merodach, though he did not suppress the worship. Why +this should have taken place is not by any means certain, for Nebo was +a deity adored far and wide, as may be gathered from the fact that +there was a mountain bearing his name in Moab, upon which Moses--also +an "announcer," adds Jastrow--died. Besides the mountain, there was a +city in Moab so named, and another in Judæa. That it was the +Babylonian Nebo originally is implied by the form--the Hebrew +corresponding word is /nabi/. + +How old the worship of Tasmêtum, his consort, is, is doubtful, but her +name first occurs in a date of the reign of Hammurabi. Details +concerning her attributes are rare, and Jastrow regards this goddess +as the result of Babylonian religious speculations. It is noteworthy +that her worship appears more especially in later times, but it may be +doubted whether it is a product of those late times, especially when +we bear in mind the remarkable seal-impression on an early tablet of +3500-4500 B.C., belonging to Lord Amherst of Hackney, in which we see +a male figure with wide-open mouth seizing a stag by his horns, and a +female figure with no mouth at all, but with very prominent ears, +holding a bull in a similar manner. Here we have the "teacher" and the +"hearer" personified in a very remarkable manner, and it may well be +that this primitive picture shows the idea then prevailing with regard +to these two deities. It is to be noted that the name of Tasmêtum has +a Sumerian equivalent, namely, /Kurnun/, and that the ideograph by +which it is represented is one whose general meaning seems to be "to +bind," perhaps with the additional signification of "to accomplish," +in which case "she who hears" would also be "she who obeys." + + + Samas and his consort. + +At all times the worship of the sun in Babylonia and Assyria was +exceedingly popular, as, indeed, was to be expected from his +importance as the greatest of the heavenly bodies and the brightest, +without whose help men could not live, and it is an exceedingly +noteworthy fact that this deity did not become, like Ra in Egypt, the +head of the pantheon. This place was reserved for Merodach, also a +sun-god, but possessing attributes of a far wider scope. Samas is +mentioned as early as the reign of Ê-anna-tum, whose date is set at +about 4200 B.C., and at this period his Semitic name does not, +naturally, occur, the character used being /Utu/, or, in its longer +form, /Utuki/. + +It is worthy of note that, in consequence of the Babylonian idea of +evolution in the creation of the world, less perfect beings brought +forth those which were more perfect, and the sun was therefore the +offspring of Nannara or Sin, the moon. In accordance with the same +idea, the day, with the Semites, began with the evening, the time when +the moon became visible, and thus becomes the offspring of the night. +In the inscriptions Samas is described as "the light of things above +and things below, the illuminator of the regions," "the supreme judge +of heaven and earth," "the lord of living creatures, the gracious one +of the lands." Dawning in the foundation of the sky, he opened the +locks and threw wide the gates of the high heavens, and raised his +head, covering heaven and earth with his splendour. He was the +constantly righteous in heaven, the truth within the ears of the +lands, the god knowing justice and injustice, righteousness he +supported upon his shoulders, unrighteousness he burst asunder like a +leather bond, etc. It will thus be seen, that the sun-god was the +great god of judgment and justice--indeed, he is constantly alluded to +as "the judge," the reason in all probability being, that as the sun +shines upon the earth all day long, and his light penetrates +everywhere, he was regarded as the god who knew and investigated +everything, and was therefore best in a position to judge aright, and +deliver a just decision. It is for this reason that his image appears +at the head of the stele inscribed with Hammurabi's laws, and legal +ceremonies were performed within the precincts of his temples. The +chief seats of his worship were the great temples called Ê-babbara, +"the house of great light," in the cities of Larsa and Sippar. + +The consort of Samas was Aa, whose chief seat was at Sippar, side by +side with Samas. Though only a weak reflex of the sun-god, her worship +was exceedingly ancient, being mentioned in an inscription of +Man-istusu, who is regarded as having reigned before Sargon of Agadé. +From the fact that, in one of the lists, she has names formed by +reduplicating the name of the sun-god, /Utu/, she would seem once to +have been identical with him, in which case it may be supposed that +she personified the setting sun--"the double sun" from the magnified +disc which he presents at sunset, when, according to a hymn to the +setting sun sung at the temple at Borsippa, Aa, in the Sumerian line +Kur-nirda, was accustomed to go to receive him. According to the list +referred to above, Aa, with the name of Burida in Sumerian, was more +especially the consort of Sa-zu, "him who knows the heart," one of the +names of Merodach, who was probably the morning sun, and therefore the +exact counterpart of the sun at evening. + +Besides Samas and Utu, the latter his ordinary Sumerian name, the +sun-god had several other non-Semitic names, including /Gisnu/,[*] "the +light," /Ma-banda-anna/, "the bark of heaven," /U-ê/, "the rising +sun," /Mitra/, apparently the Persian Mithra; /Ume-simas/ and Nahunda, +Elamite names, and Sahi, the Kassite name of the sun. He also +sometimes bears the names of his attendants Kittu and Mêsaru, "Truth" +and "Righteousness," who guided him upon his path as judge of the +earth. + +[*] It is the group expressing this word which is used for Samas in + the name of Samas-sum-ukîn (Saosduchinos), the brother of + Assur-bani-âpli (Assurbanipal). The Greek equivalent implies the + pronunciation /Sawas/, as well as /Samas/. + + + Tammuz and Istar. + +The date of the rise of the myth of Tammuz is uncertain, but as the +name of this god is found on tablets of the time of Lugal-anda and +Uru-ka-gina (about 3500 B.C.), it can hardly be of later date than +4000 B.C., and may be much earlier. As he is repeatedly called "the +shepherd," and had a domain where he pastured his flock, Professor +Sayce sees in Tammuz "Daonus or Daos, the shepherd of Pantibibla," +who, according to Berosus, ruled in Babylonia for 10 /sari/, or 36,000 +years, and was the sixth king of the mythical period. According to the +classic story, the mother of Tammuz had unnatural intercourse with her +own father, being urged thereto by Aphrodite whom she had offended, +and who had decided thus to avenge herself. Being pursued by her +father, who wished to kill her for this crime, she prayed to the gods, +and was turned into a tree, from whose trunk Adonis was afterwards +born. Aphrodite was so charmed with the infant that, placing him in a +chest, she gave him into the care of Persephone, who, however, when +she discovered what a treasure she had in her keeping, refused to part +with him again. Zeus was appealed to, and decided that for four months +in the year Adonis should be left to himself, four should be spent +with Aphrodite, and four with Persephone, and six with Aphrodite on +earth. He was afterwards slain, whilst hunting, by a wild boar. + +Nothing has come down to us as yet concerning this legend except the +incident of his dwelling in Hades, whither Istar, the Babylonian +Venus, went in search of him. It is not by any means unlikely, +however, that the whole story existed in Babylonia, and thence spread +to Phoenicia, and afterwards to Greece. In Phoenicia it was adapted to +the physical conditions of the country, and the place of Tammuz's +encounter with the boar was said to be the mountains of Lebanon, +whilst the river named after him, Adonis (now the Nahr Ibrahim), which +ran red with the earth washed down by the autumn rains, was said to be +so coloured in consequence of being mingled with his blood. The +descent of Tammuz to the underworld, typified by the flowing down of +the earth-laden waters of the rivers to the sea, was not only +celebrated by the Phoenicians, but also by the Babylonians, who had at +least two series of lamentations which were used on this occasion, and +were probably the originals of those chanted by the Hebrew women in +the time of Ezekiel (about 597 B.C.). Whilst on earth, he was the one +who nourished the ewe and her lamb, the goat and her kid, and also +caused them to be slain--probably in sacrifice. "He has gone, he has +gone to the bosom of the earth," the mourners cried, "he will make +plenty to overflow for the land of the dead, for its lamentations for +the day of his fall, in the unpropitious month of his year." There was +also lamentation for the cessation of the growth of vegetation, and +one of these hymns, after addressing him as the shepherd and husband +of Istar, "lord of the underworld," and "lord of the shepherd's seat," +goes on to liken him to a germ which has not absorbed water in the +furrow, whose bud has not blossomed in the meadow; to the sapling +which has not been planted by the watercourse, and to the sapling +whose root has been removed. In the "Lamentations" in the Manchester +Museum, Istar, or one of her devotees, seems to call for Tammuz, +saying, "Return, my husband," as she makes her way to the region of +gloom in quest of him. Eres-ê-gala, "the lady of the great house" +(Persephone), is also referred to, and the text seems to imply that +Istar entered her domain in spite of her. In this text other names are +given to him, namely, /Tumu-giba/, "son of the flute," /Ama-elaggi/, +and /Si-umunnagi/, "life of the people." + +The reference to sheep and goats in the British Museum fragment +recalls the fact that in an incantation for purification the person +using it is told to get the milk of a yellow goat which has been +brought forth in the sheep-fold of Tammuz, recalling the flocks of the +Greek sun-god Helios. These were the clouds illuminated by the sun, +which were likened to sheep--indeed, one of the early Sumerian +expressions for "fleece" was "sheep of the sky." The name of Tammuz in +Sumerian is Dumu-zi, or in its rare fullest form, Dumu-zida, meaning +"true" or "faithful son." There is probably some legend attached to +this which is at present unknown. + +In all probability Istar, the spouse of Tammuz, is best known from her +descent into Hades in quest of him when with Persephone (Eres-ki-gal) +in the underworld. In this she had to pass through seven gates, and an +article of clothing was taken from her at each, until she arrived in +the underworld quite naked, typifying the teaching, that man can take +nothing away with him when he departs this life. During her absence, +things naturally began to go wrong upon the earth, and the gods were +obliged to intervene, and demand her release, which was ultimately +granted, and at each gate, as she returned, the adornments which she +had left were given back to her. It is uncertain whether the husband +whom she sought to release was set free, but the end of the +inscription seems to imply that Istar was successful in her mission. + +In this story she typifies the faithful wife, but other legends show +another side of her character, as in that of Gilgames, ruler of her +city Erech, to whom she makes love. Gilgames, however, knowing the +character of the divine queen of his city too well, reproaches her +with her treatment of her husband and her other lovers--Tammuz, to +whom, from year to year, she caused bitter weeping; the bright +coloured Allala bird, whom she smote and broke his wings; the lion +perfect in strength, in whom she cut wounds "by sevens"; the horse +glorious in war, to whom she caused hardship and distress, and to his +mother Silili bitter weeping; the shepherd who provided for her things +which she liked, whom she smote and changed to a jackal; Isullanu, her +father's gardener, whom she tried, apparently, to poison, but failing, +she smote him, and changed him to a statue(?). On being thus reminded +of her misdeeds, Istar was naturally angry, and, ascending to heaven, +complained to her father Anu and her mother Anatu, the result being, +that a divine bull was sent against Gilgames and Enki-du, his friend +and helper. The bull, however, was killed, and a portion of the animal +having been cut off, Enki-du threw it at the goddess, saying at the +same time that, if he could only get hold of her, he would treat her +similarly. Apparently Istar recognised that there was nothing further +to be done in the matter, so, gathering the hand-maidens, pleasure-women +and whores, in their presence she wept over the portion of the +divine bull which had been thrown at her. + +The worship of Istar, she being the goddess of love and war, was +considerably more popular than that of her spouse, Tammuz, who, as +among the western Semitic nations, was adored rather by the women than +the men. Her worship was in all probability of equal antiquity, and +branched out, so to say, in several directions, as may be judged by +her many names, each of which had a tendency to become a distinct +personality. Thus the syllabaries give the character which represents +her name as having also been pronounced /Innanna/, /Ennen/, and /Nin/, +whilst a not uncommon name in other inscriptions is /Ama-Innanna/, +"mother Istar." The principal seat of her worship in Babylonia was at +Erech, and in Assyria at Nineveh--also at Arbela, and many other +places. She was also honoured (at Erech and elsewhere) under the +Elamite names of Tispak and Susinak, "the Susian goddess." + + + Nina. + +From the name /Nin/, which Istar bore, there is hardly any doubt that +she acquired the identification with Nina, which is provable as early +as the time of the Lagasite kings, Lugal-anda and Uru-ka-gina. As +identified with Aruru, the goddess who helped Merodach to create +mankind, Istar was also regarded as the mother of all, and in the +Babylonian story of the Flood, she is made to say that she had +begotten man, but like "the sons of the fishes," he filled the sea. +Nina, then, as another form of Istar, was a goddess of creation, +typified in the teeming life of the ocean, and her name is written +with a character standing for a house or receptacle, with the sign for +"fish" within. Her earliest seat was the city of Nina in southern +Babylonia, from which place, in all probability, colonists went +northwards, and founded another shrine at Nineveh in Assyria, which +afterwards became the great centre of her worship, and on this account +the city was called after her Ninaa or Ninua. As their tutelary +goddess, the fishermen in the neighbourhood of the Babylonian Nina and +Lagas were accustomed to make to her, as well as to Innanna or Istar, +large offerings of fish. + +As the masculine deities had feminine forms, so it is not by any means +improbable that the goddesses had masculine forms, and if that be the +case, we may suppose that it was a masculine counterpart of Nina who +founded Nineveh, which, as is well known, is attributed to Ninos, the +same name as Nina with the Greek masculine termination. + + + Nin-Gursu. + +This deity is principally of importance in connection with the ancient +Babylonian state of Lagas, the home of an old and important line of +kings and viceroys, among the latter being the celebrated Gudea, whose +statues and inscribed cylinders now adorn the Babylonian galleries of +the Louvre at Paris. His name means "Lord of Girsu," which was +probably one of the suburbs, and the oldest part, of Lagas. This deity +was son of En-lila or Bêl, and was identified with Nirig or Ênu-rêstu. +To all appearance he was a sun-deity. The dialectic form of his name +was /U-Mersi/, of which a variant, /En-Mersi/, occurs in an +incantation published in the fourth volume of the /Cuneiform +Inscriptions of Western Asia/, pl. 27, where, for the Sumerian "Take a +white kid of En-Mersi," the Semitic translation is "of Tammuz," +showing that he was identified with the latter god. In the second +volume of the same work Nin-Girsu is given as the pronunciation of the +name of the god of agriculturalists, confirming this identification, +Tammuz being also god of agriculture. + + + Bau. + +This goddess at all times played a prominent part in ancient +Babylonian religion, especially with the rulers before the dynasty of +Hammurabi. She was the "mother" of Lagas, and her temple was at +Uru-azaga, a district of Lagas, the chief city of Nin-Girsu, whose +spouse she was. Like Nin-Girsu, she planted (not only grain and +vegetation, but also the seed of men). In her character of the goddess +who gave life to men, and healed their bodies in sickness, she was +identified with Gula, one of those titles is "the lady saving from +death". Ga-tum-duga, whose name probably means "making and producing +good," was also exceedingly popular in ancient times, and though +identified with Bau, is regarded by Jastrow has having been originally +distinct from her. + + + Eres-ki-gal or Allatu. + +As the prototype of Persephone, this goddess is one of much importance +for comparative mythology, and there is a legend concerning her of +considerable interest. The text is one of those found at Tel-el-Armana, +in Egypt, and states that the gods once made a feast, and sent +to Eres-ki-gal, saying that, though they could go down to her, she +could not ascend to them, and asking her to send a messenger to fetch +away the food destined for her. This she did, and all the gods stood +up to receive her messenger, except one, who seems to have withheld +this token of respect. The messenger, when he returned, apparently +related to Eres-ki-gal what had happened, and angered thereat, she +sent him back to the presence of the gods, asking for the delinquent +to be delivered to her, that she might kill him. The gods then +discussed the question of death with the messenger, and told him to +take to his mistress the god who had not stood up in his presence. +When the gods were brought together, that the culprit might be +recognised, one of them remained in the background, and on the +messenger asking who it was who did not stand up, it was found to be +Nerigal. This god was duly sent, but was not at all inclined to be +submissive, for instead of killing him, as she had threatened, +Eres-ki-gal found herself seized by the hair and dragged from her throne, +whilst the death-dealing god made ready to cut off her head. "Do not +kill me, my brother, let me speak to thee," she cried, and on his +loosing his hold upon her hair, she continued, "thou shalt be my +husband, and I will be thy wife--I will cause you to take dominion in +the wide earth. I will place the tablet of wisdom in thine hand--thou +shalt be lord, I will be lady." Nerigal thereupon took her, kissed +her, and wiped away her tears, saying, "Whatever thou hast asked me +for months past now receives assent." + +Eres-ki-gal did not treat her rival in the affections of Tammuz so +gently when Istar descended to Hades in search of the "husband of her +youth." According to the story, not only was Istar deprived of her +garments and ornaments, but by the orders of Eres-ki-gal, Namtar smote +her with disease in all her members. It was not until the gods +intervened that Istar was set free. The meaning of her name is "lady +of the great region," a description which is supposed to apply to +Hades, and of which a variant, Eres-ki-gal, "lady of the great house," +occurs in the Hymns to Tammuz in the Manchester Museum. + + + Nergal. + +This name is supposed to mean "lord of the great habitation," which +would be a parallel to that of his spouse Eres-ki-gal. He was the +ruler of Hades, and at the same time god of war and of disease and +pestilence. As warrior, he naturally fought on the side of those who +worshipped him, as in the phrase which describes him as "the warrior, +the fierce storm-flood overthrowing the land of the enemy." As pointed +out by Jastrow, he differs from Nirig, who was also a god of war, in +that he symbolises, as god of disease and death, the misery and +destruction which accompany the strife of nations. It is in +consequence of this side of his character that he appears also as god +of fire, the destroying element, and Jensen says that Nerigal was god +of the midday or of the summer sun, and therefore of all the +misfortunes caused by an excess of his heat. + +The chief centre of his worship was Cuthah (/Kutû/, Sumerian /Gudua/) +near Babylon, now represented by the mounds of Tel Ibrahim. The +identity with the Greek Aries and the Roman Mars is proved by the fact +that his planet was /Mustabarrû-mûtanu/, "the death-spreader," which +is probably the name of Mars in Semitic Babylonian. + + + Amurru. + +Although this is not by any means a frequent name among the deities +worshipped in Babylonia, it is worthy of notice on account of its +bearing upon the date of the compilation of the tablet which has been +taken as a basis of this list of gods. He was known as "Lord of the +mountains," and his worship became very popular during the period of +the dynasty to which Hammurabi belonged--say from 2200 to 1937 B.C., +when Amurru was much combined with the names of men, and is found both +on tablets and cylinder-seals. The ideographic manner of writing it is +/Mar-tu/, a word that is used for /Amurru/, the land of the Amorites, +which stood for the West in general. Amorites had entered Babylonia in +considerable numbers during this period, so that there is but little +doubt that his popularity was largely due to their influence, and the +tablet containing these names was probably drawn up, or at least had +the Semitic equivalents added, towards the beginning of that period. + + + Sin or Nannara. + +The cult of the moon-god was one of the most popular in Babylonia, the +chief seat of his worship being at Uru (now Muqayyar) the Biblical Ur +of the Chaldees. The origin of the name Sin is unknown, but it is +thought that it may be a corruption of Zu-ena, "knowledge-lord," as +the compound ideograph expressing his name may be read and translated. +Besides this compound ideograph, the name of the god Sin was also +expressed by the character for "30," provided with the prefix of +divinity, an ideograph which is due to the thirty days of the month, +and is thought to be of late date. With regard to Nannar, Jastrow +explains it as being for Narnar, and renders it "light-producer." In a +long hymn to this god he is described in many lines as "the lord, +prince of the gods, who in heaven alone is supreme," and as "father +Nannar." Among his other descriptive titles are "great Anu" (Sum. /ana +gale/, Semitic Bab. /Anu rabû/)--another instance of the +identification of two deities. He was also "lord of Ur," "lord of the +temple Gisnu-gala," "lord of the shining crown," etc. He is also said +to be "the mighty steer whose horns are strong, whose limbs are +perfect, who is bearded with a beard of lapis-stone,[*] who is filled +with beauty and fullness (of splendour)." + +[*] Probably of the colour of lapis only, not made of the stone + itself. + +Besides Babylonia and Assyria, he was also worshipped in other parts +of the Semitic east, especially at Harran, to which city Abraham +migrated, scholars say, in consequence of the patron-deity being the +same as at Ur of the Chaldees, where he had passed the earlier years +of his life. The Mountain of Sinai and the Desert of Sin, both bear +his name. + +According to king Dungi (about 2700 B.C.), the spouse of Sin or +Nannara was Nin-Uruwa, "the lady of Ur." Sargon of Assyria (722-705 +B.C.) calls her Nin-gala. + + + Addu or Rammanu. + +The numerous names which Hadad bears in the inscriptions, both +non-Semitic and Semitic, testify to the popularity which this god +enjoyed at all times in Babylonia. Among his non-Semitic names may be +mentioned Mer, Mermer, Muru, all, it may be imagined, imitative. Addu +is explained as being his name in the Amorite language, and a variant +form, apparently, which has lost its first syllable, namely, Dadu, +also appears--the Assyrians seem always to have used the +terminationless form of Addu, namely, Adad. In all probability Addu, +Adad, and Dadu are derived from the West Semitic Hadad, but the other +name, Rammanu, is native Babylonian, and cognate with Rimmon, which is +thus shown by the Babylonian form to mean "the thunderer," or +something similar. He was the god of winds, storms, and rain, feared +on account of the former, and worshipped, and his favour sought, on +account of the last. In his name Birqu, he appears as the god of +lightning, and Jastrow is of opinion, that he is sometimes associated +on that account with Samas, both of them being (although in different +degrees) gods of light, and this is confirmed by the fact that, in +common with the sun-god, he was called "god of justice." In the +Assyrian inscriptions he appears as a god of war, and the kings +constantly compare the destruction which their armies had wrought with +that of "Adad the inundator." For them he was "the mighty one, +inundating the regions of the enemy, lands and houses," and was prayed +to strike the land of the person who showed hostility to the Assyrian +king, with evil-working lightning, to throw want, famine, drought, and +corpses therein, to order that he should not live one day longer, and +to destroy his name and his seed in the land. + +The original seat of his worship was Muru in South Babylonia, to which +the patesi of Girsu in the time of Ibi-Sin sent grain as an offering. +Its site is unknown. Other places (or are they other names of the +same?) where he was worshipped were Ennigi and Kakru. The consort of +Addu was Sala, whose worship was likewise very popular, and to whom +there were temples, not only in Babylonia and Assyria, but also in +Elam, seemingly always in connection with Addu. + + + Assur. + +In all the deities treated of above, we see the chief gods of the +Babylonian and Assyrian pantheon, which were worshipped by both +peoples extensively, none of them being specifically Assyrian, though +worshipped by the Assyrians. There was one deity, however, whose name +will not be found in the Babylonian lists of gods, namely, Assur, the +national god of Assyria, who was worshipped in the city of Assur, the +old capital of the country. + +From this circumstance, it may be regarded as certain, that Assur was +the local god of the city whose name he bore, and that he attained to +the position of chief god of the Assyrian pantheon in the same way as +Merodach became king of the gods in Babylonia--namely, because Assur +was the capital of the country. His acceptance as chief divinity, +however, was much more general than that of Merodach, as temples to +him were to be found all over the Assyrian kingdom--a circumstance +which was probably due to Assyria being more closely united in itself +than Babylonia, causing his name to arouse patriotic feelings wherever +it might be referred to. This was probably partly due to the fact, +that the king in Assyria was more the representative of the god than +in Babylonia, and that the god followed him on warlike expeditions, +and when engaged in religious ceremonies--indeed, it is not by any +means improbable that he was thought to follow him wherever he went. +On the sculptures he is seen accompanying him in the form of a circle +provided with wings, in which is shown sometimes a full-length figure +of the god in human form, sometimes the upper part only, facing +towards and drawing his bow against the foe. In consequence of its +general appearance, the image of the god has been likened to the sun +in eclipse, the far-stretching wings being thought to resemble the +long streamers visible at the moment of totality, and it must be +admitted as probable that this may have given the idea of the symbol +shown on the sculptures. As a sun-god, and at the same time not the +god Samas, he resembled the Babylonian Merodach, and was possibly +identified with him, especially as, in at least one text, Bêltu +(Bêltis) is described as his consort, which would possibly identify +Assur's spouse with Zer-panîtum. The original form of his name would +seem to have been Ausar, "water-field," probably from the tract where +the city of Assur was built. His identification with Merodach, if that +was ever accepted, may have been due to the likeness of the word to +Asari, one of that deity's names. The pronunciation Assur, however, +seems to have led to a comparison with the Ansar of the first tablet +of the Creation-story, though it may seem strange that the Assyrians +should have thought that their patron-god was a deity symbolising the +"host of heaven." Nevertheless, the Greek transcription of Ansar, +namely, /Assoros/, given by Damascius, certainly strengthens the +indications of the ideograph in this matter. Delitzsch regards the +word Assur, or Asur, as he reads it, as meaning "holy," and quotes a +list of the gods of the city of Nineveh, where the word Assur occurs +three times, suggesting the exclamation "holy, holy, holy," or "the +holy, holy, holy one." In all probability, however, the repetition of +the name three times simply means that there were three temples +dedicated to Assur in the cities in question.[*] Jastrow agrees with +Delitzsch in regarding Asur as another form of Asir (found in early +Cappadocian names), but he translates it rather as "overseer" or +"guardian" of the land and the people--the terminationless form of +/asiru/, which has this meaning, and is applied to Merodach. + +[*] Or there may have been three shrines to Assur in each temple + referred to. + +As the use of the characters /An-sar/ for the god Assur only appears +at a late date (Jastrow says the eighth century B.C.), this would seem +to have been the work of the scribes, who wished to read into the name +the earlier signification of Ansar, "the host of heaven," an +explanation fully in accord with Jastrow's reasonings with regard to +the nature of the deity. As he represented no personification or power +of nature, he says, but the general protecting spirit of the land, the +king, the army, and the people, the capital of the country could be +transferred from Assur to Calah, from there back to Assur, and finally +to Nineveh, without affecting the position of the protecting god of +the land in any way. He needed no temple--though such things were +erected to him--he had no need to fear that he should suffer in esteem +by the preference for some other god. As the embodiment of the spirit +of the Assyrian people the personal side of his being remained to a +certain extent in the background. If he was the "host of heaven," all +the deities might be regarded as having their being in him. + +Such was the chief deity of the Assyrians--a national god, grafted on +to, but always distinct from, the rest of the pantheon, which, as has +been shown, was of Babylonian origin, and always maintained the +characteristics and stamp of its origin. + +The spouse of Assur does not appear in the historical texts, and her +mention elsewhere under the title of Bêltu, "the lady," does not allow +of any identification being made. In one inscription, however, +Assuritu is called the goddess, and Assur the god, of the star Sib-zi-anna, +identified by Jensen with Regulus, which was apparently the star +of Merodach in Babylonia. This, however, brings us no nearer, for +Assuritu would simply mean "the Assurite (goddess)." + + + The minor divinities. + +Among the hundreds of names which the lists furnish, a few are worthy +of mention, either because of more than ordinary interest, or in +consequence of their furnishing the name of some deity, chief in its +locality, but identified elsewhere with one of the greater gods. + +Aa.--This may be regarded either as the god Êa (though the name is +written differently), or as the sun-god assuming the name of his +consort; or (what is, perhaps, more probable) as a way of writing A'u +or Ya'u (the Hebrew Jah), without the ending of the nominative. This +last is also found under the form /Aa'u/, /ya'u/, /yau/, and /ya/. + +Abil-addu.--This deity seems to have attained a certain popularity in +later times, especially among immigrants from the West. As "the son of +Hadad," he was the equivalent of the Syrian Ben-Hadad. A tablet in New +York shows that his name was weakened in form to /Ablada/. + +Aku, the moon-god among the heavenly bodies. It is this name which is +regarded as occurring in the name of the Babylonian king Eri-Aku, +"servant of the moon-god," the biblical Arioch (Gen. xiv.). + +Amma-an-ki, Êa or Aa as lord of heaven and earth. + +Amna.--A name only found in a syllabary, and assigned to the sun-god, +from which it would seem that it is a form of the Egyptian Ammon. + +Anunitum, the goddess of one of the two Sippars, called Sippar of +Anunitum, who was worshipped in the temple Ê-ulmas within the city of +Agadé (Akkad). Sayce identifies, on this account, these two places as +being the same. In a list of stars, Anunitum is coupled with +Sinunutum, which are explained as (the stars of) the Tigris and +Euphrates. These were probably names of Venus as the morning and +evening (or evening and morning) star. + +Apsu.--The deep dissociated from the evil connection with Tiawath, and +regarded as "the house of deep wisdom," i.e. the home of the god Êa or +Aa. + +Aruru.--One of the deities of Sippar and Aruru (in the time of the +dynasty of Hammurabi called Ya'ruru), of which she was the chief +goddess. Aruru was one of the names of the "lady of the gods," and +aided Merodach to make the seed of mankind. + +Bêl.--As this name means "lord," it could be applied, like the +Phoenician Baal, to the chief god of any city, as Bêl of Niffur, Bêl of +Hursag-kalama, Bêl of Aratta, Bêl of Babylon, etc. This often +indicates also the star which represented the chief god of a place. + +Bêltu.--In the same way Bêltu, meaning "lady," meant also the chief +goddess of any place, as "Aruru, lady of the gods of Sippar of Aruru," +"Nin-mah, lady of the gods of Ê-mah," a celebrated temple within +Babylon, recently excavated by the Germans, "Nin-hur-saga, lady of the +gods of Kês," etc. + +Bunene.--A god associated with Samas and Istar at Sippar and +elsewhere. He "gave" and "renewed" to his worshippers. + +Dagan.--This deity, whose worship extends back to an exceedingly early +date, is generally identified with the Phoenician Dagon. Hammurabi +seems to speak of the Euphrates as being "the boundary of Dagan," whom +he calls his creator. In later inscriptions the form Daguna, which +approaches nearer to the West Semitic form, is found in a few personal +names. The Phoenician statues of this deity showed him with the lower +part of his body in the form of a fish (see 1 Sam. v. 4). Whether the +deities clothed in a fish's skin in the Nimroud gallery be Dagon or +not is uncertain--they may be intended for Êa or Aa, the Oannes of +Berosus, who was represented in this way. Probably the two deities +were regarded as identical. + +Damu.--a goddess regarded as equivalent to Gula by the Babylonians and +Assyrians. She was goddess of healing, and made one's dreams happy. + +Dumu-zi-abzu, "Tammuz of the Abyss."--This was one of the six sons of +Êa or Aa, according to the lists. His worship is exceedingly ancient, +and goes back to the time of E-anna-tum of Lagas (about 4000 B.C.). +What connection, if any, he may have with Tammuz, the spouse of Istar, +is unknown. Jastrow apparently regards him as a distinct deity, and +translates his name "the child of the life of the water-deep." + +Elali.--A deity identified with the Hebrew Helal, the new moon. Only +found in names of the time of the Hammurabi dynasty, in one of which +he appears as "a creator." + +En-nugi is described as "lord of streams and canals," and "lord of the +earth, lord of no-return." This last description, which gives the +meaning of his name, suggests that he was one of the gods of the realm +of Eres-ki-gal, though he may have borne that name simply as god of +streams, which always flow down, never the reverse. + +Gibil.--One of the names of the god of fire, sometimes transcribed +Girru by Assyriologists, the meaning apparently being "the fire-bearer" +or "light-bearer." Girru is another name of this deity, and +translates an ideographic group, rendered by Delitzsch "great" or +"highest decider," suggesting the custom of trial by ordeal. He was +identified with Nirig, in Semitic Ênu-rêstu. + +Gusqi-banda or Kuski-banda, one of the names of Êa, probably as god of +gold-workers. + +Isum, "the glorious sacrificer," seemingly a name of the fire-god as a +means whereby burnt offerings were made. Nûr-Isum, "light of Isum," is +found as a man's name. + +Kâawanu, the planet Saturn. + +Lagamal.--A god identified with the Elamite Lagamar, whose name is +regarded as existing in Chedorlaomer (cf. Gen. xiv. 2). He was the +chief god of Mair, "the ship-city." + +Lugal-Amarada or Lugal-Marad.--This name means "king of Marad," a city +as yet unidentified. The king of this place seems to have been +Nerigal, of whom, therefore, Lugal-Marad is another name. + +Lugal-banda.--This name means "the powerful king," or something +similar, and the god bearing it is supposed to be the same as Nerigal. +His consort, however, was named Nin-sun (or Nin-gul). + +Lugal-Du-azaga, "the king of the glorious seat."--The founder of +Êridu, "the good city within the Abyss," probably the paradise (or a +paradise) of the world to come. As it was the aim of every good +Babylonian to dwell hereafter with the god whom he had worshipped upon +earth, it may be conjectured that this was the paradise in the domain +of Êa or Aa. + +Mama, Mami.--Names of "the lady of the gods," and creatress of the +seed of mankind, Aruru. Probably so called as the "mother" of all +things. Another name of this goddess is Ama, "mother." + +Mammitum, Mamitum, goddess of fate. + +Mur, one of the names of Addu or Rammanu (Hadad or Rimmon). + +Nanâ or Nanaa was the consort of Nebo at Borsippa, but appears as a +form of Istar, worshipped, with Anu her father, at Erech. + +Nin-aha-kuku, a name of Êa or Aa and of his daughter as deity of the +rivers, and therefore of gardens and plantations, which were watered +by means of the small canals leading therefrom. As daughter of Êa, +this deity was also "lady of the incantation." + +Nin-azu, the consort of Eres-ki-gal, probably as "lord physician." He +is probably to be identified with Nerigal. + +Nin-igi-nagar-si, a name somewhat more doubtful as to its reading than +the others, designates Êa or Aa as "the god of the carpenter." He +seems to have borne this as "the great constructor of heaven" or "of +Anu." + +Nin-mah, chief goddess of the temple Ê-mah in Babylon. Probably to be +identified with Aruru, and therefore with Zer-panîtum. + +Nin-sah, a deity whose name is conjectured to mean "lord of the wild +boar." He seems to have been a god of war, and was identified with +Nirig or Ênu-rêstu and Pap-sukal. + +Nin-sirsir, Êa as the god of sailors. + +Nin-sun, as pointed out by Jastrow, was probably the same as Istar or +Nanâ of Erech, where she had a shrine, with them, in Ê-anna, "the +house of Anu." He renders her name "the annihilating lady,"[*] +"appropriate for the consort of a sun-god," for such he regards +Lugal-banda her spouse. King Sin-gasid of Erech (about 3000 B.C.) refers +to her as his mother. + +[*] This is due to the second element of the name having, with another + pronunciation, the meaning of "to destroy." + +Nun-urra.--Êa, as the god of potters. + +Pap-sukal.--A name of Nin-sah as the "divine messenger," who is also +described as god "of decisions." Nin-sah would seem to have been one +of the names of Pap-sukal rather than the reverse. + +Qarradu, "strong," "mighty," "brave."--This word, which was formerly +translated "warrior," is applied to several deities, among them being +Bêl, Nergal, Nirig (Ênu-rêstu), and Samas, the sun-god. + +Ragimu and Ramimu, names of Rimmon or Hadad as "the thunderer." The +second comes from the same root as Rammanu (Rimmon). + +Suqamunu.--A deity regarded as "lord of watercourses," probably the +artificial channels dug for the irrigation of fields. + +Ura-gala, a name of Nerigal. + +Uras, a name of Nirig, under which he was worshipped at Dailem, near +Babylon. + +Zagaga, dialectic Zamama.--This deity, who was a god of war, was +identified with Nirig. One of this titles was /bêl parakki/, "lord of +the royal chamber," or "throne-room." + +Zaraqu or Zariqu.--As the root of this name means "to sprinkle," he +was probably also a god of irrigation, and may have presided over +ceremonial purification. He is mentioned in names as the "giver of +seed" and "giver of a name" (i.e. offspring). + +These are only a small proportion of the names found in the +inscriptions, but short as the list necessarily is, the nature, if not +the full composition, of the Babylonian pantheon will easily be +estimated therefrom. + +It will be seen that besides the identifications of the deities of all +the local pantheons with each other, each divinity had almost as many +names as attributes and titles, hence their exceeding multiplicity. In +such an extensive pantheon, many of the gods composing it necessarily +overlap, and identification of each other, to which the faith, in its +primitive form, was a stranger, were inevitable. The tendency to +monotheism which this caused will be referred to later on. + + + The gods and the heavenly bodies. + +It has already been pointed out that, from the evidence of the +Babylonian syllabary, the deities of the Babylonians were not astral +in their origin, the only gods certainly originating in heavenly +bodies being the sun and the moon. This leads to the supposition that +the Babylonians, bearing these two deities in mind, may have asked +themselves why, if these two were represented by heavenly bodies, the +others should not be so represented also. Be this as it may, the other +deities of the pantheon were so represented, and the full planetary +scheme, as given by a bilingual list in the British Museum, was as +follows: + + Aku Sin the moon Sin + Bisebi Samas the sun Samas + Dapinu Umun-sig-êa Jupiter Merodach + Zib[*] Dele-bat Venus Istar + Lu-lim Lu-bat-sag-us Saturn Nirig (acc. to Jensen) + Bibbu Lubat-gud Mercury Nebo + Simutu Mustabarru Mars Nergal + mûtanu + +All the above names of planets have the prefix of divinity, but in +other inscriptions the determinative prefix is that for "star," +/kakkabu/. + +[*] This is apparently a Sumerian dialectic form, the original word +having seemingly been Zig. + + + Moon and Sun. + +Unfortunately, all the above identifications of the planets with the +deities in the fourth column are not certain, namely, those +corresponding with Saturn, Mercury, and Mars. With regard to the +others, however, there is no doubt whatever. The reason why the moon +is placed before the sun is that the sun, as already explained, was +regarded as his son. It was noteworthy also that the moon was +accredited with two other offspring, namely, Mâsu and Mâstu--son and +daughter respectively. As /mâsu/ means "twin," these names must +symbolise the two halves, or, as we say, "quarters" of the moon, who +were thus regarded, in Babylonian mythology, as his "twin children." + + + Jupiter and Saturn. + +Concerning Jupiter, who is in the above called Dapinu (Semitic), and +Umun-sig-êa (Sumerian), it has already been noted that he was called +Nibiru--according to Jensen, Merodach as he who went about among the +stars "pasturing" them like sheep, as stated in the Babylonian story +of the Creation (or Bel and the Dragon). This is explained by him as +being due to the comparatively rapid and extensive path of Jupiter on +the ecliptic, and it would seem probable that the names of Saturn, +/Kâawanu/ and /Sag-us/ (the former, which is Semitic Babylonian, +meaning "steadfast," or something similar, and the latter, in +Sumerian, "head-firm" or "steadfast"--"phlegmatic"), to all appearance +indicate in like manner the deliberation of his movements compared +with those of the planet dedicated to the king of the gods. + + + Venus at sunrise and sunset. + +A fragment of a tablet published in 1870 gives some interesting +particulars concerning the planet Venus, probably explaining some as +yet unknown mythological story concerning her. According to this, she +was a female at sunset, and a male at sunrise; Istar of Agadé (Akad or +Akkad) at sunrise, and Istar of Erech at sunset: Istar of the stars at +sunrise, and the lady of the gods at sunset. + + + And in the various months. + +Istar was identified with Nin-si-anna in the first month of the year +(Nisan = March-April), with the star of the bow in Ab (August-September), +etc. In Sebat (January-February) she was the star of the +water-channel, Ikû, which was Merodach's star in Sivan (May-June), and +in Marcheswan her star was Rabbu, which also belonged to Merodach in +the same month. It will thus be seen, that Babylonian astronomy is far +from being as clear as would be desired, but doubtless many +difficulties will disappear when further inscriptions are available. + + + Stars identified with Merodach. + +The same fragment gives the celestial names of Merodach for every +month of the year, from which it would appear, that the astrologers +called him Umun-sig-êa in Nisan (March-April), Dapinu in Tammuz +(June-July), Nibiru in Tisri (September-October), Sarru (the star +Regulus), in Tebet (December-January), etc. The first three are names +by which the planet Jupiter was known. + +As for the planets and stars, so also for the constellations, which +are identified with many gods and divine beings, and probably contain +references, in their names and descriptions, to many legends. In the +sixth tablet of the Creation-series, it is related of Merodach that, +after creating the heavens and the stations for Anu, Bêl, and Ae, + + "He built firmly the stations of the great gods-- + Stars their likeness--he set up the /Lumali/, + He designated the year, he outlined the (heavenly) forms. + He set for the twelve months three stars each, + From the day when the year begins, . . . for signs." + +As pointed out by Mr. Robert Brown, jr., who has made a study of these +things, the "three stars" for each month occur on one of the remains +of planispheres in the British Museum, and are completed by a tablet +which gives them in list-form, in one case with explanations. Until +these are properly identified, however, it will be impossible to +estimate their real value. The signs of the Zodiac, which are given by +another tablet, are of greater interest, as they are the originals of +those which are in use at the present time:-- + + Month Sign Equivalent + + Nisan (Mar.-Apr.) The Labourer The Ram + Iyyar (Apr.-May) /Mulmula/ and the Bull of heaven The Bull + Sivan (May-June) /Sib-zi-anna/ and the great Twins The Twins + Tammuz (June-July) /Allul/ or /Nagar/ The Crab + Ab (July.-Aug.) The Lion (or dog) The Lion + Elul (Aug.-Sep.) The Ear of corn(?) The ear of Corn (Virgo) + Tisri (Sep.-Oct.) The Scales The Scales + Marcheswan (Oct.-Nov.) The Scorpion The Scorpion + Chisleu (Nov.-Dec.) /Pa-bil-sag/ The Archer + Tebet (Dec.-Jan.) /Sahar-mas/, the Fish-kid The Goat + Sebat (Jan.-Feb.) /Gula/ The Water-bearer + Adar (Feb.-Mar.) The Water Channel and the Tails The Fishes + + + Parallels in Babylonian legends. + +The "bull of heaven" probably refers to some legend such as that of +the story of Gilgames in his conflict with the goddess Istar when the +divine bull was killed; /Sib-zi-anna/, "the faithful shepherd of +heaven," suggests that this constellation may refer to Tammuz, the +divine shepherd; whilst "the scorpion" reminds us of the scorpion-men +who guarded the gate of the sun (Samas), when Gilgames was journeying +to gain information concerning his friend Enki-du, who had departed to +the place of the dead. Sir Henry Rawlinson many years ago pointed out +that the story of the Flood occupied the eleventh tablet of the +Gilgames series, corresponding with the eleventh sign of the Zodiac, +Aquarius, or the Water-bearer. + + + Other star-names. + +Other names of stars or constellations include "the weapon of +Merodach's hand," probably that with which he slew the dragon of +Chaos; "the Horse," which is described as "the god Zû," Rimmon's +storm-bird--Pegasus; "the Serpent," explained as Eres-ki-gal, the +queen of Hades, who would therefore seem to have been conceived in +that form; "the Scorpion," which is given as /Ishara tântim/, "Ishara +of the sea," a description difficult to explain, unless it refer to +her as the goddess of the Phoenician coast. Many other identifications, +exceedingly interesting, await solution. + + + How the gods were represented. On cylinder-seals. + +Many representations of the gods occur, both on bas-reliefs, +boundary-stones, and cylindrical and ordinary seals. Unfortunately, their +identification generally presents more or less difficulty, on account +of the absence of indications of their identity. On a small cylinder-seal +in the possession of the Rev. Dr. W. Hayes Ward, Merodach is +shown striding along the serpentine body of Tiawath, who turns her +head to attack him, whilst the god threatens her with a pointed weapon +which he carries. Another, published by the same scholar, shows a +deity, whom he regards as being Merodach, driven in a chariot drawn by +a winged lion, upon whose shoulders stands a naked goddess, holding +thunderbolts in each hand, whom he describes as Zer-panîtum. Another +cylinder-seal shows the corn-deity, probably Nisaba, seated in +flounced robe and horned hat, with corn-stalks springing out from his +shoulders, and holding a twofold ear of corn in his hand, whilst an +attendant introduces, and another with a threefold ear of corn +follows, a man carrying a plough, apparently as an offering. On +another, a beautiful specimen from Assyria, Istar is shown standing on +an Assyrian lion, which turns his head as if to caress her feet. As +goddess of war, she is armed with bow and arrows, and her star is +represented upon the crown of her tiara. + + + On boundary-stones, etc. + +On the boundary-stones of Babylonia and the royal monoliths of Assyria +the emblems of the gods are nearly always seen. Most prominent are +three horned tiaras, emblematic, probably, of Merodach, Anu, and Bêl +(the older). A column ending in a ram's head is used for Êa or Ae, a +crescent for Sin or Nannar, the moon-god; a disc with rays for Samas, +the sun-god; a thunderbolt for Rimmon or Hadad, the god of thunder, +lightning, wind, and storms; a lamp for Nusku, etc. A bird, perhaps a +hawk, stood for Utu-gisgallu, a deity whose name has been translated +"the southern sun," and is explained in the bilingual inscriptions as +Samas, the sun-god, and Nirig, one of the gods of war. The emblem of +Gal-alim, who is identified with the older Bêl, is a snarling dragon's +head forming the termination of a pole, and that of Dun-asaga is a +bird's head similarly posed. On a boundary-stone of the time of +Nebuchadnezzar I., about 1120 B.C., one of the signs of the gods shows +a horse's head in a kind of shrine, probably the emblem of Rimmon's +storm-bird, Zû, the Babylonian Pegasus. + + + Other divine figures. + +One of the finest of all the representations of divinities is that of +the "Sun-god-stone," found by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam at Abu-habbah (the +ancient Sippar), which was one of the chief seats of his worship. It +represents him, seated in his shrine, holding in his hand a staff and +a ring, his usual emblems, typifying his position as judge of the +world and his endless course. The position of Merodach as sun-god is +confirmed by the small lapis-lazuli relief found by the German +expedition at the mound known as Amran ibn 'Ali, as he also carries a +staff and a ring, and his robe is covered with ornamental circles, +showing, in all probability, his solar nature. In the same place +another small relief representing Rimmon or Hadad was found. His robe +has discs emblematical of the five planets, and he holds in each hand +a thunderbolt, one of which he is about to launch forth. Merodach is +accompanied by a large two-horned dragon, whilst Hadad has a small +winged dragon, typifying the swiftness of his course, and another +animal, both of which he holds with cords. + + + + CHAPTER V + + THE DEMONS: EXORCISMS AND CEREMONIES + +Good and evil spirits, gods and demons, were fully believed in by the +Babylonians and Assyrians, and many texts referring to them exist. +Naturally it is not in some cases easy to distinguish well between the +special functions of these supernatural appearances which they +supposed to exist, but their nature is, in most cases, easily +ascertained from the inscriptions. + +To all appearance, the Babylonians imagined that spirits resided +everywhere, and lay in wait to attack mankind, and to each class, +apparently, a special province in bringing misfortune, or tormenting, +or causing pain and sickness, was assigned. All the spirits, however, +were not evil, even those whose names would suggest that their +character was such--there were good "liers in wait," for instance, as +well as evil ones, whose attitude towards mankind was beneficent. + +The /utukku/. This was a spirit which was supposed to do the will of +Anu, the god of the heavens. There was the /utukku/ of the plain, the +mountains, the sea, and the grave. + +The /âlû/. Regarded as the demon of the storm, and possibly, in its +origin, the same as the divine bull sent by Istar to attack Gilgames, +and killed by Enki-du. It spread itself over a man, overpowering him +upon his bed, and attacking his breast. + +The /êdimmu/. This is generally, but wrongly, read /êkimmu/, and +translated "the seizer," from /êkemu/, "to seize." In reality, +however, it was an ordinary spirit, and the word is used for the +wraiths of the departed. The "evil /êdimmu/" was apparently regarded +as attacking the middle part of a man. + +The /gallu/. As this word is borrowed from the Sumerian /galla/, which +has a dialectic form, /mulla/, it is not improbable that it may be +connected with the word /mula/, meaning "star," and suggesting +something which is visible by the light it gives--possibly a +will-o'-the-wisp,--though others are inclined to regard the word as being +connected with /gala/, "great." In any case, its meaning seems to have +become very similar to "evil spirit" or "devil" in general, and is an +epithet applied by the Assyrian king Assur-bani-âpli to Te-umman, the +Elamite king against whom he fought. + +The /îlu limnu/, "evil god," was probably originally one of the +deities of Tiawath's brood, upon whom Merodach's redemption had had no +effect. + +The /rabisu/ is regarded as a spirit which lay in wait to pounce upon +his prey. + +The /labartu/, in Sumerian /dimme/, was a female demon. There were +seven evil spirits of this kind, who were apparently regarded as being +daughters of Anu, the god of the heavens. + +The /labasu/, in Sumerian /dimmea/, was apparently a spirit which +overthrew, that being the meaning of the root from which the word +comes. + +The /âhhazu/, in Sumerian /dimme-kur/, was apparently so called as +"the seizer," that being the meaning indicated by the root. + +The /lilu/, in Sumerian /lila/, is generally regarded as "the +night-monster," the word being referred to the Semitic root /lîl/ or +/layl/, whence the Hebrew /layil/, Arabic /layl/, "night." Its origin, +however, is Sumerian, from /lila/, regarded as meaning "mist." To the +word /lilu/ the ancient Babylonians formed a feminine, /lilîthu/, +which entered the Hebrew language under the form of /lilith/, which +was, according to the rabbins, a beautiful woman, who lay in wait for +children by night. The /lilu/ had a companion who is called his +handmaid or servant. + +The /namtaru/ was apparently the spirit of fate, and therefore of +greater importance than those already mentioned. This being was +regarded as the beloved son of Bêl, and offspring of /Eres-ki-gal/ or +Persephone, and he had a spouse named /Hus-bi-saga/. Apparently he +executed the instructions given him concerning the fate of men, and +could also have power over certain of the gods. + +The /sêdu/ were apparently deities in the form of bulls. They were +destructive, of enormous power, and unsparing. In a good sense the +/sêdu/ was a protecting deity, guarding against hostile attacks. Erech +and the temple Ê-kura were protected by spirits such as these, and to +one of them Isum, "the glorious sacrificer," was likened. + +The /lamassu/, from the Sumerian /lama/, was similar in character to +the /sêdu/, but is thought to have been of the nature of a colossus--a +winged man-headed bull or lion. It is these creatures which the kings +placed at the sides of the doors of their palaces, to protect the +king's footsteps. In early Babylonian times a god named Lama was one +of the most popular deities of the Babylonian pantheon. + + + A specimen incantation. + +Numerous inscriptions, which may be regarded as dating, in their +origin, from about the middle of the third millennium before Christ, +speak of these supernatural beings, and also of others similar. One of +the most perfect of these inscriptions is a large bilingual tablet of +which a duplicate written during the period of the dynasty of +Hammurabi (before 2000 B.C.) exists, and which was afterwards provided +with a Semitic Babylonian translation. This inscription refers to the +evil god, the evil /utukku/, the /utukku/ of the plain, of the +mountain, of the sea, and of the grave; the evil /sêdu/, the glorious +/âlû/, or divine bull, and the evil unsparing wind. There was also +that which takes the form of a man, the evil face, the evil eye, the +evil mouth, the evil tongue, the evil lip, the evil breath; also the +afflicting /asakku/ (regarded as the demon of fever), the /asakku/ +which does not leave a man: the afflicting /namtaru/ (fate), the +severe /namtaru/, the /namtaru/ which does not quit a man. After this +are mentioned various diseases, bodily pains, annoyances, such as "the +old shoe, the broken shoe-lace, the food which afflicts the body of a +man, the food which turns in eating, the water which chokes in +drinking," etc. Other things to be exorcised included the spirit of +death, people who had died of hunger, thirst, or in other ways; the +handmaid of the /lilu/ who had no husband, the prince of the /lilu/ +who had no wife, whether his name had been recorded or unrecorded. + +The method of exorcising the demons causing all these things is +curious. White and black yarn was spun, and fastened to the side and +canopy of the afflicted person's bed--the white to the side and the +top or canopy, the black to the left hand--and then, apparently, the +following words were said:-- + +"Evil /utukku/, evil /âlû/, evil /êdimmu/, evil /gallu/, evil god, +evil /rabisu/, /labartu/, /labasu/, /âhhazu/, /lilu/, /lilithu/, +handmaid of /lilu/, sorcery, enchantment, magic, disaster, machination +which is not good--may they not set their head to his head, their hand +to his hand, their foot to his foot--may they not draw near. Spirit of +heaven, mayest thou exorcise, spirit of earth, mayest thou exorcise." + +But this was only the beginning of the real ceremony. The god +Asari-alim-nunna (Merodach), "eldest son of Êridu," was asked to wash +him in pure and bright water twice seven times, and then would the evil +lier-in-wait depart, and stand aside, and a propitious /sêdu/ and a +propitious /labartu/ reside in his body. The gates right and left +having been thus, so to say, shut close, the evil gods, demons, and +spirits would be unable to approach him, wherever he might be. "Spirit +of heaven, exorcise, spirit of earth, exorcise." Then, after an +invocation of Êrês-ki-gal and Isum, the final paragraph was +pronounced:-- + + "The afflicted man, by an offering of grace + In health like shining bronze shall be made bright. + As for that man, + Samas shall give him life. + Merodach, first-born son of the Abyss, + It is thine to purify and glorify. + Spirit of heaven, mayest thou exorcise, spirit of + earth, mayest thou exorcise." + + + Rites and ceremonies. + +As may be expected, the Babylonians and Assyrians had numerous rites +and ceremonies, the due carrying out of which was necessary for the +attainment of the grace demanded, or for the efficacy of the thanks +tendered for favours received. + +Perhaps the oldest ceremony recorded is that which Ut-napistim, the +Chaldæan Noah, made on the /zikkurat/ or peak of the mountain after +the coming forth from the ship which had saved him and his from the +Flood. The Patriarch's description of this ceremony is short:-- + + "I sent forth to the four winds, I poured out a libation + I made an offering on the peak of the mountain: + Seven and seven I set incense-vases there, + Into their depths I poured cane, cedar, and scented wood(?). + The gods smelled a savour, + The gods smelled a sweet savour, + The gods gathered like flies over the sacrificer." + +Following in the footsteps of their great progenitor, the Babylonians +and Assyrians became a most pious race, constantly rendering to their +gods the glory for everything which they succeeded in bringing to a +successful issue. Prayer, supplication, and self-abasement before +their gods seem to have been with them a duty and a pleasure:-- + + "The time for the worship of the gods was my heart's delight, + The time of the offering to Istar was profit and riches," + +sings Ludlul the sage, and all the people of his land were one with +him in that opinion. + +It is noteworthy that the offering of the Chaldæan Noah consisted of +vegetable produce only, and there are many inscriptions referring to +similar bloodless sacrifices, and detailing the ritual used in +connection therewith. Sacrifices of animals, however, seem to have +been constantly made--in any case, offerings of cattle and fowl, in +list-form, are fairly numerous. Many a cylinder-seal has a +representation of the owner bringing a young animal--a kid or a +lamb--as an offering to the deity whom he worshipped, and in the +inscriptions the sacrifice of animals is frequently referred to. One +of the bilingual texts refers to the offering of a kid or some other +young animal, apparently on behalf of a sick man. The text of this, +where complete, runs as follows:-- + + "The fatling which is the 'head-raiser' of mankind-- + He has given the fatling for his life. + He has given the head of the fatling for his head, + He has given the neck of the fatling for his neck, + He has given the breast of the fatling for his breast." + +Whether human sacrifices were common or not is a doubtful point. Many +cylinder-seals exist in which the slaying of a man is depicted, and +the French Assyriologist Menant was of opinion that they represented a +human offering to the gods. Hayes Ward, however, is inclined to doubt +this explanation, and more evidence would seem, therefore, to be +needed. He is inclined to think that, in the majority of cases, the +designs referred to show merely the victims of divine anger or +vengeance, punished by the deity for some misdeed or sin, either +knowingly or unknowingly committed. + +In the Assyrian galleries of the British Museum, Assur-nasir-âpli, +king of Assyria, is several times shown engaged in religious +ceremonies--either worshipping before the sacred tree, or about to +pour out, apparently, a libation to the gods before departing upon +some expedition, and priests bringing offerings, either animal or +vegetable, are also represented. Assur-banî-âpli, who is identified +with "the great and noble Asnapper," is shown, in bas-reliefs of the +Assyrian Saloon, pouring out a thank-offering over the lions which he +has killed, after his return from the hunt. + + + + CHAPTER VI + + PROBLEMS WHICH THE STUDY OFFERS + + + Monotheism. + +As the matter of Babylonian monotheism has been publicly touched upon +by Fried. Delitzsch in his "Babel und Bibel" lectures, a few words +upon that important point will be regarded in all probability as +appropriate. It has already been indicated that the giving of the +names of "the gods his fathers" to Merodach practically identified +them with him, thus leading to a tendency to monotheism. That tendency +is, perhaps, hinted at in a letter of Assur-banî-âpli to the +Babylonians, in which he frequently mentions the Deity, but in doing +so, uses either the word /îlu/, "God," Merodach, the god of Babylon, +or Bêl, which may be regarded as one of his names. The most important +document for this monotheistic tendency, however (confirming as it +does the tablet of the fifty-one names), is that in which at least +thirteen of the Babylonian deities are identified with Merodach, and +that in such a way as to make them merely forms in which he manifested +himself to men. The text of this inscription is as follows:-- + + ". . . is Merodach of planting. + Lugal-aki-. . . is Merodach of the water-course. + Nirig is Merodach of strength. + Nergal is Merodach of war. + Zagaga is Merodach of battle. + Bêl is Merodach of lordship and domination. + Nebo is Merodach of trading(?). + Sin is Merodach the illuminator of the night. + Samas is Merodach of righteous things. + Addu is Merodach of rain. + Tispak is Merodach of frost(?). + Sig is Merodach of green things(?). + Suqamunu is Merodach of the irrigation-channel." + +Here the text breaks off, but must have contained several more similar +identifications, showing how at least the more thoughtful of the +Babylonians of old looked upon the host of gods whom they worshipped. +What may be the date of this document is uncertain, but as the +colophon seems to describe it as a copy of an older inscription, it +may go back as far as 2000 years B.C. This is the period at which the +name /Yaum-îlu/ "Jah is God," is found, together with numerous +references to /îlu/ as the name for the one great god, and is also, +roughly, the date of Abraham, who, it may be noted, was a Babylonian +of Ur of the Chaldees. It will probably not be thought too venturesome +to say that his monotheism was possibly the result of the religious +trend of thought in his time. + + + Dualism. + +Damascius, in his valuable account of the belief of the Babylonians +concerning the Creation, states that, like the other barbarians, they +reject the doctrine of the one origin of the universe, and constitute +two, Tauthé (Tiawath) and Apason (Apsu). This twofold principle, +however, is only applicable to the system in that it makes of the sea +and the deep (for such are the meanings of the two words) two +personages--the female and the male personifications of primæval +matter, from which all creation sprang, and which gave birth to the +gods of heaven themselves. As far as the physical constituents of +these two principals are concerned, their tenets might be described as +having "materialistic monism" as their basis, but inasmuch as they +believed that each of these two principals had a mind, the description +"idealistic monism" cannot be applied to it--it is distinctly a +dualism. + + + And Monism. + +Divested of its idealistic side, however, there would seem to be no +escape from regarding the Babylonian idea of the origin of things as +monistic.[*] This idea has its reflection, though not its +reproduction, in the first chapter of Genesis, in which, verses 2, 6, +and 7, water is represented as the first thing existing, though not +the first abode of life. This divergency from the Babylonian view was +inevitable with a monotheistic nation, such as the Jews were, +regarding as they did the Deity as the great source of everything +existing. What effect the moving of the Spirit of God upon the face of +the waters (v.2) was supposed by them to have had, is uncertain, but +it is to be noted that it was the land (vv. 11, 12) which first +brought forth, at the command of God. + +[*] Monism. The doctrine which holds that in the universe there is + only a single element or principle from which everything is + developed, this single principle being either mind (/idealistic + monism/) or matter (/materialistic monism/). (Annandale.) + + + The future life. + +The belief in a future life is the natural outcome of a religious +belief such as the Babylonians, Assyrians, and many of the surrounding +nations possessed. As has been shown, a portion of their creed +consisted in hero-worship, which pre-supposes that the heroes in +question continued to exist, in a state of still greater power and +glory, after the conclusion of their life here upon earth. + +"The god Bêl hates me--I cannot dwell in this land, and in the +territory of Bêl I cannot set my face. I shall descend then to the +Abyss; with Aa my lord shall I constantly dwell." It is with these +words that, by the counsel of the god Aa, Ut-napistim explained to +those who questioned him the reason why he was building the ship or +ark which was to save him and his from the Flood, and there is but +little doubt that the author of the story implied that he announced +thereby his approaching death, or his departure to dwell with his god +without passing the dread portals of the great leveller. This belief +in the life beyond the grave seems to have been that which was current +during the final centuries of the third millennium before Christ--when +a man died, it was said that his god took him to himself, and we may +therefore suppose, that there were as many heavens--places of +contentment and bliss--as there were gods, and that every good man was +regarded as going and dwelling evermore with the deity which he had +worshipped and served faithfully during his lifetime. + +Gilgames, the half-divine king of Erech, who reigned during the +half-mythical period, on losing his friend and counsellor, Enki-du, set +out to find him, and to bring him back, if possible, from the underworld +where he was supposed to dwell. His death, however, had not been like +that of an ordinary man; it was not Namtaru, the spirit of fate, who +had taken him, nor a misfortune such as befalls ordinary men, but +Nerigal's unsparing lier-in-wait--yet though Nerigal was the god of +war, Enki-du had not fallen on the battlefield of men, but had been +seized by the earth (apparently the underworld where the wicked are is +meant) in consequence, seemingly, of some trick or trap which had been +laid for him. + +The gods were therefore prayed, in turn, to bring him back, but none +of them listened except Êa, who begged him of Nerigal, whereupon the +latter opened the entrance to the place where he was--the hole of the +earth--and brought forth "the spirit (/utukku/) of Enki-du like mist." +Immediately after this come the words, "Tell, my friend, tell, my +friend--the law of the land which thou sawest, tell," and the answer, +"I will not tell thee, friend, I will not tell thee--if I tell thee +the law of the land which I saw, . . . sit down, weep." Ultimately, +however, the person appealed to--apparently the disembodied +Enki-du--reveals something concerning the condition of the souls in +the place of his sojourn after death, as follows:-- + + "Whom thou sawest [die] the death(?) [of][*] . . . [I see]-- + In the resting-place of . . . reposing, pure waters he drinketh. + Whom in the battle thou sawest killed, I see-- + His father and his mother raise his head, + And his wife upon [him leaneth?]. + Whose corpse thou hast seen thrown down in the plain, I see-- + His /edimmu/ in the earth reposeth not. + Whose /edimmu/ thou sawest without a caretaker, I see-- + The leavings of the dish, the remains of the food, + Which in the street is thrown, he eateth." + +[*] (?)"The death of the righteous," or something similar? + +It is naturally difficult to decide in a passage like this, the +difference existing between a man's /utukku/ and his /edimmu/, but the +probability is, that the former means his spiritual essence, whilst +the latter stands for the ghostly shadow of his body, resembling in +meaning the /ka/ of the Egyptians. To all appearance the abode +described above is not the place of the punishment of the wicked, but +the dwelling of those accounted good, who, if lucky in the manner of +their death, and the disposal of their bodies, enjoyed the highest +happiness in the habitation of the blest. The other place, however, is +otherwise described (it occurs in the account of Istar's descent into +Hades, and in the seventh tablet of the Gilgames series--the latter +differing somewhat):-- + + "Upon the land of No-return, the region of . . ., + [Set] Istar, daughter of Sin, her ear. + The daughter of Sin set then her ear . . . + Upon the house of gloom, the seat of Irkalla--[1] + Upon the house whose entrance hath no exit,[2] + Upon the path whose way hath no return, + Upon the house whose enterers are deprived of light, + Where dust is their nourishment, their food mud, + Light they see not, in darkness they dwell, + Clothed also, like a bird, in a dress of feathers. + Upon the door and bolt the dust hath blown." + +[1] One of the names of Nergal. + +[2] Or "whose enterer goeth not forth." + +Seven gates gave access to this place of gloom, and the porter, as he +let the visitor in, took from her (the goddess Istar in the narrative) +at each an article of clothing, until, at the last, she entered quite +naked, apparently typifying the fact that a man can take nothing with +him when he dieth, and also, in this case, that he has not even his +good deeds wherewith to clothe himself, for had they outweighed his +evil ones, he would not have found himself in that dread abode. + +On the arrival of Istar in Hades, Erês-ki-gal commanded Namtaru, the +god of fate, to smite Istar with disease in all her members--eyes, +sides, feet, heart, and head. As things went wrong on the earth in +consequence of the absence of the goddess of love, the gods sent a +messenger to effect her release. When he reached the land of +No-return, the queen of the region threatened him with all kinds of +torments--the food of the gutters of the city were to be his food, the +oil-jars of the city (naptha?) his drink, the gloom of the castle his +resting-place, a stone slab his seat, and hunger and thirst were to +shatter his strength. These were evidently the punishments inflicted +there, but as the messenger threatened was a divine one, they were +probably not put into execution, and he obtained his demand, for Istar +was set free, receiving back at each gate, in reverse order, the +clothing and ornaments which had been taken from her when she had +descended thither. It is uncertain whether Tammuz, for whom she had +gone down, was set free also, but as he is referred to, it is not +improbable that this was the case. + + + + WORKS BEARING UPON THE RELIGION OF THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + +Hibbert Lectures, 1887. The Religion of the Ancient Babylonians, by +Professor A. H. Sayce. + +The Religious Ideas of the Babylonians, by the Author, 1895 (Journal +of the Victoria Institute, also separately). + +The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, by Morris Jastrow, jun., 1898. +(German edition, vol. i. 1905, vol. ii. in progress.) + +Babylonian Religion and Mythology, by L. W. King, M.A., 1899. + +Gifford Lectures, 1902. Religions of Egypt and Babylonia, by Professor +A. H. Sayce. + +The O.T. in the Light of the Records of Assyria and Babylonia, by the +Author, 1903. (The portions referring to Babylonian Mythology.) + +The Hymns to Tammuz in the Manchester Museum, Owens College, by the +Author, 1904. + + + + ARTICLES UPON THE ASSYRIAN AND BABYLONIAN DEITIES, + AND THE RELIGION OF THREE NATIONS, IN + + Dictionary of the Bible, edited by Dr. James Hastings, and + Encyclopædia Biblica, edited by Professor Cheyne. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, by +Theophilus G. Pinches + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RELIGION OF BABYLONIA, ASSYRIA *** + +***** This file should be named 2069-8.txt or 2069-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/6/2069/ + +Produced by John Bickers and Dagny + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/2069-8.zip b/2069-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b36e067 --- /dev/null +++ b/2069-8.zip diff --git a/2069.txt b/2069.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9292ebb --- /dev/null +++ b/2069.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3309 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, by +Theophilus G. Pinches + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria + +Author: Theophilus G. Pinches + +Posting Date: January 30, 2009 [EBook #2069] +Release Date: February, 2000 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RELIGION OF BABYLONIA, ASSYRIA *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers and Dagny + + + + + + + + + +THE RELIGION OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA +By Theophilus G. Pinches, LL.D. + +First Published 1906 by Archibald Constable & Co. Ltd. + + + + + THE RELIGION OF + BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA + + BY + + THEOPHILUS G. PINCHES, LL.D. + + Lecturer in Assyrian at University College, London, + Author of "The Old Testament in the Light of the + Records of Assyria and Babylonia"; "The Bronze + Ornaments of the Palace Gates of Balewat" etc. etc. + + + + PREPARER'S NOTE + + The original text contains a number of characters that are not + available even in 8-bit Windows text, such as H with a breve below + it in Hammurabi, S with a breve, S and T with a dot below them, U + with macron, and superscript M in Tasmetum. These have been left + in the e-text as the base letter. + + The 8-bit version of this text includes Windows font characters + like S with a caron above it (pronounced /sh/) as in Samas, etc. + These may be lost in 7-bit versions of the text, or when viewed + with different fonts. + + Greek text has been transliterated within brackets "{}" using an + Oxford English Dictionary alphabet table. Diacritical marks have + been lost. + + + + + + THE RELIGION OF THE + BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + + + + CHAPTER I + + FOREWORD + + + Position, and Period. + +The religion of the Babylonians and Assyrians was the polytheistic +faith professed by the peoples inhabiting the Tigris and Euphrates +valleys from what may be regarded as the dawn of history until the +Christian era began, or, at least, until the inhabitants were brought +under the influence of Christianity. The chronological period covered +may be roughly estimated at about 5000 years. The belief of the +people, at the end of that time, being Babylonian heathenism leavened +with Judaism, the country was probably ripe for the reception of the +new faith. Christianity, however, by no means replaced the earlier +polytheism, as is evidenced by the fact, that the worship of Nebo and +the gods associated with him continued until the fourth century of the +Christian era. + + + By whom followed. + +It was the faith of two distinct peoples--the Sumero-Akkadians, and +the Assyro-Babylonians. In what country it had its beginnings is +unknown--it comes before us, even at the earliest period, as a faith +already well-developed, and from that fact, as well as from the names +of the numerous deities, it is clear that it began with the former +race--the Sumero-Akkadians--who spoke a non-Semitic language largely +affected by phonetic decay, and in which the grammatical forms had in +certain cases become confused to such an extent that those who study +it ask themselves whether the people who spoke it were able to +understand each other without recourse to devices such as the "tones" +to which the Chinese resort. With few exceptions, the names of the +gods which the inscriptions reveal to us are all derived from this +non-Semitic language, which furnishes us with satisfactory etymologies +for such names as Merodach, Nergal, Sin, and the divinities mentioned +in Berosus and Damascius, as well as those of hundreds of deities +revealed to us by the tablets and slabs of Babylonia and Assyria. + + + The documents. + +Outside the inscriptions of Babylonia and Assyria, there is but little +bearing upon the religion of those countries, the most important +fragment being the extracts from Berosus and Damascius referred to +above. Among the Babylonian and Assyrian remains, however, we have an +extensive and valuable mass of material, dating from the fourth or +fifth millennium before Christ until the disappearance of the +Babylonian system of writing about the beginning of the Christian era. +The earlier inscriptions are mostly of the nature of records, and give +information about the deities and the religion of the people in the +course of descriptions of the building and rebuilding of temples, the +making of offerings, the performance of ceremonies, etc. Purely +religious inscriptions are found near the end of the third millennium +before Christ, and occur in considerable numbers, either in the +original Sumerian text, or in translations, or both, until about the +third century before Christ. Among the more recent inscriptions--those +from the library of the Assyrian king Assur-bani-apli and the later +Babylonian temple archives,--there are many lists of deities, with +numerous identifications with each other and with the heavenly bodies, +and explanations of their natures. It is needless to say that all this +material is of enormous value for the study of the religion of the +Babylonians and Assyrians, and enables us to reconstruct at first hand +their mythological system, and note the changes which took place in +the course of their long national existence. Many interesting and +entertaining legends illustrate and supplement the information given +by the bilingual lists of gods, the bilingual incantations and hymns, +and the references contained in the historical and other documents. A +trilingual list of gods enables us also to recognise, in some cases, +the dialectic forms of their names. + + + The importance of the subject. + +Of equal antiquity with the religion of Egypt, that of Babylonia and +Assyria possesses some marked differences as to its development. +Beginning among the non-Semitic Sumero-Akkadian population, it +maintained for a long time its uninterrupted development, affected +mainly by influences from within, namely, the homogeneous local cults +which acted and reacted upon each other. The religious systems of +other nations did not greatly affect the development of the early +non-Semitic religious system of Babylonia. A time at last came, +however, when the influence of the Semitic inhabitants of Babylonia +and Assyria was not to be gainsaid, and from that moment, the +development of their religion took another turn. In all probably this +augmentation of Semitic religious influence was due to the increased +numbers of the Semitic population, and at the same period the +Sumero-Akkadian language began to give way to the Semitic idiom which +they spoke. When at last the Semitic Babylonian language came to be used +for official documents, we find that, although the non-Semitic divine +names are in the main preserved, a certain number of them have been +displaced by the Semitic equivalent names, such as Samas for the +sun-god, with Kittu and Mesaru ("justice and righteousness") his +attendants; Nabu ("the teacher" = Nebo) with his consort Tasmetu ("the +hearer"); Addu, Adad, or Dadu, and Rammanu, Ramimu, or Ragimu = Hadad +or Rimmon ("the thunderer"); Bel and Beltu (Beltis = "the lord" and +"the lady" /par excellence/), with some others of inferior rank. In +place of the chief divinity of each state at the head of each separate +pantheon, the tendency was to make Merodach, the god of the capital +city Babylon, the head of the pantheon, and he seems to have been +universally accepted in Babylonia, like Assur in Assyria, about 2000 +B.C. or earlier. + + + The uniting of two pantheons. + +We thus find two pantheons, the Sumero-Akkadian with its many gods, +and the Semitic Babylonian with its comparatively few, united, and +forming one apparently homogeneous whole. But the creed had taken a +fresh tendency. It was no longer a series of small, and to a certain +extent antagonistic, pantheons composed of the chief god, his consort, +attendants, children, and servants, but a pantheon of considerable +extent, containing all the elements of the primitive but smaller +pantheons, with a number of great gods who had raised Merodach to be +their king. + + + In Assyria. + +Whilst accepting the religion of Babylonia, Assyria nevertheless kept +herself distinct from her southern neighbour by a very simple device, +by placing at the head of the pantheon the god Assur, who became for +her the chief of the gods, and at the same time the emblem of her +distinct national aspirations--for Assyria had no intention whatever +of casting in her lot with her southern neighbour. Nevertheless, +Assyria possessed, along with the language of Babylonia, all the +literature of that country--indeed, it is from the libraries of her +kings that we obtain the best copies of the Babylonian religious +texts, treasured and preserved by her with all the veneration of which +her religious mind was capable,--and the religious fervour of the +Oriental in most cases leaves that of the European, or at least of the +ordinary Briton, far behind. + + + The later period in Assyria. + +Assyria went to her downfall at the end of the seventh century before +Christ worshipping her national god Assur, whose cult did not cease +with the destruction of her national independence. In fact, the city +of Assur, the centre of that worship, continued to exist for a +considerable period; but for the history of the religion of Assyria, +as preserved there, we wait for the result of the excavations being +carried on by the Germans, should they be fortunate enough to obtain +texts belonging to the period following the fall of Nineveh. + + + In Babylonia. + +Babylonia, on the other hand, continued the even tenor of her way. +More successful at the end of her independent political career than +her northern rival had been, she retained her faith, and remained the +unswerving worshipper of Merodach, the great god of Babylon, to whom +her priests attributed yet greater powers, and with whom all the other +gods were to all appearance identified. This tendency to monotheism, +however, never reached the culminating point--never became +absolute--except, naturally, in the minds of those who, dissociating +themselves, for philosophical reasons, from the superstitious teaching +of the priests of Babylonia, decided for themselves that there was but +one God, and worshipped Him. That orthodox Jews at that period may have +found, in consequence of this monotheistic tendency, converts, is not +by any means improbable--indeed, the names met with during the later +period imply that converts to Judaism were made. + + + The picture presented by the study. + +Thus we see, from the various inscriptions, both Babylonian and +Assyrian--the former of an extremely early period--the growth and +development, with at least one branching off, of one of the most +important religious systems of the ancient world. It is not so +important for modern religion as the development of the beliefs of the +Hebrews, but as the creed of the people from which the Hebrew nation +sprang, and from which, therefore, it had its beginnings, both +corporeal and spiritual, it is such as no student of modern religious +systems can afford to neglect. Its legends, and therefore its +teachings, as will be seen in these pages, ultimately permeated the +Semitic West, and may in some cases even had penetrated Europe, not +only through heathen Greece, but also through the early Christians, +who, being so many centuries nearer the time of the +Assyro-Babylonians, and also nearer the territory which they anciently +occupied, than we are, were far better acquainted than the people of +the present day with the legends and ideas which they possessed. + + + + CHAPTER II + + THE RELIGION OF THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + + + The Sumero-Akkadians and the Semites. + +For the history of the development of the religion of the Babylonians +and Assyrians much naturally depends upon the composition of the +population of early Babylonia. There is hardly any doubt that the +Sumero-Akkadians were non-Semites of a fairly pure race, but the +country of their origin is still unknown, though a certain +relationship with the Mongolian and Turkish nationalities, probably +reaching back many centuries--perhaps thousands of years--before the +earliest accepted date, may be regarded as equally likely. Equally +uncertain is the date of the entry of the Semites, whose language +ultimately displaced the non-Semitic Sumero-Akkadian idioms, and +whose kings finally ruled over the land. During the third millennium +before Christ Semites, bearing Semitic names, and called Amorites, +appear, and probably formed the last considerable stratum of tribes of +that race which entered the land. The name Martu, the Sumero-Akkadian +equivalent of Amurru, "Amorite", is of frequent occurrence also before +this period. The eastern Mediterranean coast district, including +Palestine and the neighbouring tracts, was known by the Babylonians +and Assyrians as the land of the Amorites, a term which stood for the +West in general even when these regions no longer bore that name. The +Babylonians maintained their claim to sovereignty over that part as +long as they possessed the power to do so, and naturally exercised +considerable influence there. The existence in Palestine, Syria, and +the neighbouring states, of creeds containing the names of many +Babylonian divinities is therefore not to be wondered at, and the +presence of West Semitic divinities in the religion of the Babylonians +need not cause us any surprise. + + + The Babylonian script and its evidence. + +In consequence of the determinative prefix for a god or a goddess +being, in the oldest form, a picture of an eight-rayed star, it has +been assumed that Assyro-Babylonian mythology is, either wholly or +partly, astral in origin. This, however, is by no means certain, the +character for "star" in the inscriptions being a combination of three +such pictures, and not a single sign. The probability therefore is, +that the use of the single star to indicate the name of a divinity +arises merely from the fact that the character in question stands for +/ana/, "heaven." Deities were evidently thus distinguished by the +Babylonians because they regarded them as inhabitants of the realms +above--indeed, the heavens being the place where the stars are seen, a +picture of a star was the only way of indicating heavenly things. That +the gods of the Babylonians were in many cases identified with the +stars and planets is certain, but these identifications seem to have +taken place at a comparatively late date. An exception has naturally +to be made in the case of the sun and moon, but the god Merodach, if +he be, as seems certain, a deified Babylonian king, must have been +identified with the stars which bear his name after his worshippers +began to pay him divine honours as the supreme deity, and naturally +what is true for him may also be so for the other gods whom they +worshipped. The identification of some of the deities with stars or +planets is, moreover, impossible, and if Ea, the god of the deep, and +Anu, the god of the heavens, have their representatives among the +heavenly bodies, this is probably the result of later development.[1] + +[1] If there be any historical foundation for the statement that + Merodach arranged the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars, + assigning to them their proper places and duties--a tradition + which would make him the founder of the science of astronomy + during his life upon earth--this, too, would tend to the + probability that the origin of the gods of the Babylonians was not + astral, as has been suggested, but that their identification with + the heavenly bodies was introduced during the period of his reign. + + + Ancestor and hero-worship. The deification of kings. + +Though there is no proof that ancestor-worship in general prevailed at +any time in Babylonia, it would seem that the worship of heroes and +prominent men was common, at least in early times. The tenth chapter +of Genesis tells us of the story of Nimrod, who cannot be any other +than the Merodach of the Assyro-Babylonian inscriptions; and other +examples, occurring in semi-mythological times, are /En-we-dur-an-ki/, +the Greek Edoreschos, and /Gilgames/, the Greek Gilgamos, though +Aelian's story of the latter does not fit in with the account as given +by the inscriptions. In later times, the divine prefix is found before +the names of many a Babylonian ruler--Sargon of Agade,[1] Dungi of Ur +(about 2500 B.C.), Rim-Sin or Eri-Aku (Arioch of Ellasar, about 2100 +B.C.), and others. It was doubtless a kind of flattery to deify and +pay these rulers divine honours during their lifetime, and on account +of this, it is very probable that their godhood was utterly forgotten, +in the case of those who were strictly historical, after their death. +The deification of the kings of Babylonia and Assyria is probably due +to the fact, that they were regarded as the representatives of God +upon earth, and being his chief priests as well as his offspring (the +personal names show that it was a common thing to regard children as +the gifts of the gods whom their father worshipped), the divine +fatherhood thus attributed to them naturally could, in the case of +those of royal rank, give them a real claim to divine birth and +honours. An exception is the deification of the Babylonian Noah, +Ut-napistim, who, as the legend of the Flood relates, was raised and +made one of the gods by Aa or Ea, for his faithfulness after the great +catastrophe, when he and his wife were translated to the "remote place +at the mouth of the rivers." The hero Gilgames, on the other hand, was +half divine by birth, though it is not exactly known through whom his +divinity came. + +[1] According to Nabonidus's date 3800 B.C., though many + Assyriologists regard this as being a millennium too early. + + + The earliest form of the Babylonian religion. + +The state of development to which the religious system of the +Babylonians had attained at the earliest period to which the +inscriptions refer naturally precludes the possibility of a +trustworthy history of its origin and early growth. There is no doubt, +however, that it may be regarded as having reached the stage at which +we find it in consequence of there being a number of states in ancient +Babylonia (which was at that time like the Heptarchy in England) each +possessing its own divinity--who, in its district, was regarded as +supreme--with a number of lesser gods forming his court. It was the +adding together of all these small pantheons which ultimately made +that of Babylonia as a whole so exceedingly extensive. Thus the chief +divinity of Babylon, as has already been stated, as Merodach; at +Sippar and Larsa the sun-god Samas was worshipped; at Ur the moon-god +Sin or Nannar; at Erech and Der the god of the heavens, Anu; at Muru, +Ennigi, and Kakru, the god of the atmosphere, Hadad or Rimmon; at +Eridu, the god of the deep, Aa or Ea; at Niffur[1] the god Bel; at +Cuthah the god of war, Nergal; at Dailem the god Uras; at Kis the god +of battle, Zagaga; Lugal-Amarda, the king of Marad, as the city so +called; at Opis Zakar, one of the gods of dreams; at Agade, Nineveh, +and Arbela, Istar, goddess of love and of war; Nina at the city Nina +in Babylonia, etc. When the chief deities were masculine, they were +naturally all identified with each other, just as the Greeks called +the Babylonian Merodach by the name of Zeus; and as Zer-panitum, the +consort of Merodach, was identified with Juno, so the consorts, divine +attendants, and children of each chief divinity, as far as they +possessed them, could also be regarded as the same, though possibly +distinct in their different attributes. + +[1] Noufar at present, according to the latest explorers. Layard + (1856) has Niffer, Loftus (1857) Niffar. The native spelling is + Noufer, due to the French system of phonetics. + + + How the religion of the Babylonians developed. + +The fact that the rise of Merodach to the position of king of the gods +was due to the attainment, by the city of Babylon, of the position of +capital of all Babylonia, leads one to suspect that the kingly rank of +his father Ea, at an earlier period, was due to a somewhat similar +cause, and if so, the still earlier kingship of Anu, the god of the +heavens, may be in like manner explained. This leads to the question +whether the first state to attain to supremacy was Der, Anu's seat, +and whether Der was succeeded by Eridu, of which city Ea was the +patron--concerning the importance of Babylon, Merodach's city, later +on, there is no doubt whatever. The rise of Anu and Ea to divine +overlordship, however, may not have been due to the political +supremacy of the cities where they were worshipped--it may have come +about simply on account of renown gained through religious enthusiasm +due to wonders said to have been performed where they were worshipped, +or to the reported discovery of new records concerning their temples, +or to the influence of some renowned high-priest, like En-we-dur-an-ki +of Sippar, whose devotion undoubtedly brought great renown to the city +of his dominion. + + + Was Animism its original form? + +But the question naturally arises, can we go back beyond the +indications of the inscriptions? The Babylonians attributed life, in +certain not very numerous cases, to such things as trees and plants, +and naturally to the winds, and the heavenly bodies. Whether they +regarded stones, rocks, mountains, storms, and rain in the same way, +however, is doubtful, but it may be taken for granted, that the sea, +with all its rivers and streams, was regarded as animated with the +spirit of Ea and his children, whilst the great cities and +temple-towers were pervaded with the spirit of the god whose abode +they were. Innumerable good and evil spirits were believed in, such as +the spirit of the mountain, the sea, the plain, and the grave. These +spirits were of various kinds, and bore names which do not always +reveal their real character--such as the /edimmu/, /utukku/, /sedu/, +/asakku/ (spirit of fevers), /namtaru/ (spirit of fate), /alu/ +(regarded as the spirit of the south wind), /gallu/, /rabisu/, +/labartu/, /labasu/, /ahhazu/ (the seizer), /lilu/ and /lilithu/ (male +and female spirits of the mist), with their attendants. + +All this points to animism as the pervading idea of the worship of the +peoples of the Babylonian states in the prehistoric period--the +attribution of life to every appearance of nature. The question is, +however, Is the evidence of the inscriptions sufficient to make this +absolutely certain? It is hard to believe that such intelligent +people, as the primitive Babylonians naturally were, believed that +such things as stones, rocks, mountains, storms, and rain were, in +themselves, and apart from the divinity which they regarded as +presiding over them, living things. A stone might be a /bit ili/ or +bethel--a "house of god," and almost invested with the status of a +living thing, but that does not prove that the Babylonians thought of +every stone as being endowed with life, even in prehistoric times. +Whilst, therefore, there are traces of a belief similar to that which +an animistic creed might be regarded as possessing, it must be +admitted that these seemingly animistic doctrines may have originated +in another way, and be due to later developments. The power of the +gods to create living things naturally makes possible the belief that +they had also power to endow with a soul, and therefore with life and +intelligence, any seemingly inanimate object. Such was probably the +nature of Babylonian animism, if it may be so called. The legend of +Tiawthu (Tiawath) may with great probability be regarded as the +remains of a primitive animism which was the creed of the original and +comparatively uncivilised Babylonians, who saw in the sea the producer +and creator of all the monstrous shapes which are found therein; but +any development of this idea in other directions was probably cut +short by the priests, who must have realised, under the influence of +the doctrine of the divine rise to perfection, that animism in general +was altogether incompatible with the creed which they professed. + + + Image-worship and Sacred Stones. + +Whether image-worship was original among the Babylonians and Assyrians +is uncertain, and improbable; the tendency among the people in early +times being to venerate sacred stones and other inanimate objects. As +has been already pointed out, the {diopetres} of the Greeks was +probably a meteorite, and stones marking the position of the Semitic +bethels were probably, in their origin, the same. The boulders which +were sometimes used for boundary-stones may have been the +representations of these meteorites in later times, and it is +noteworthy that the Sumerian group for "iron," /an-bar/, implies that +the early Babylonians only knew of that metal from meteoric ironstone. +The name of the god Nirig or Enu-restu (Ninip) is generally written +with the same group, implying some kind of connection between the +two--the god and the iron. In a well-known hymn to that deity certain +stones are mentioned, one of them being described as the "poison-tooth"[1] +coming forth on the mountain, recalling the sacred rocks at +Jerusalem and Mecca. Boundary-stones in Babylonia were not sacred +objects except in so far as they were sculptured with the signs of the +gods.[2] With regard to the Babylonian bethels, very little can be +said, their true nature being uncertain, and their number, to all +appearance, small. Gifts were made to them, and from this fact it +would seem that they were temples--true "houses of god," in +fact--probably containing an image of the deity, rather than a stone +similar to those referred to in the Old Testament. + +[1] So called, probably, not because it sent forth poison, but on + account of its likeness to a serpent's fang. + +[2] Notwithstanding medical opinion, their phallic origin is doubtful. + One is sculptured in the form of an Eastern castellated fortress. + + + Idols. + +With the Babylonians, the gods were represented by means of stone +images at a very early date, and it is possible that wood was also +used. The tendency of the human mind being to attribute to the Deity a +human form, the Babylonians were no exception to the rule. Human +thoughts and feelings would naturally accompany the human form with +which the minds of men endowed them. Whether the gross human passions +attributed to the gods of Babylonia in Herodotus be of early date or +not is uncertain--a late period, when the religion began to +degenerate, would seem to be the more probable. + + + The adoration of sacred objects. + +It is probable that objects belonging to or dedicated to deities were +not originally worshipped--they were held as divine in consequence of +their being possessed or used by a deity, like the bow of Merodach, +placed in the heavens as a constellation, etc. The cities where the +gods dwelt on earth, their temples, their couches, the chariot of the +sun in his temple-cities, and everything existing in connection with +their worship, were in all probability regarded as divine simply in so +far as they belonged to a god. Sacrifices offered to them, and +invocations made to them, were in all likelihood regarded as having +been made to the deity himself, the possessions of the divinity being, +in the minds of the Babylonians, pervaded with his spirit. In the case +of rivers, these were divine as being the children and offspring of +Enki (Aa or Ea), the god of the ocean. + + + Holy places. + +In a country which was originally divided into many small states, each +having its own deities, and, to a certain extent, its own religious +system, holy places were naturally numerous. As the spot where they +placed Paradise, Babylonia was itself a holy place, but in all +probability this idea is late, and only came into existence after the +legends of the creation and the rise of Merodach to the kingship of +heaven had become elaborated into one homogeneous whole. + + + An interesting list. + +One of the most interesting documents referring to the holy places of +Babylonia is a tiny tablet found at Nineveh, and preserved in the +British Museum. This text begins with the word Tiawthu "the sea," and +goes on to enumerate, in turn, Tilmun (identified with the island of +Bahrein in the Persian Gulf); Engurra (the Abyss, the abode of Enki or +Ea), with numerous temples and shrines, including "the holy house," +"the temple of the seer of heaven and earth," "the abode of +Zer-panitum," consort of Merodach, "the throne of the holy place," "the +temple of the region of Hades," "the supreme temple of life," "the +temple of the ear of the corn-deity," with many others, the whole list +containing what may be regarded as the chief sanctuaries of the land, +to the number of thirty-one. Numerous other similar and more extensive +lists, enumerating every shrine and temple in the country, also exist, +though in a very imperfect state, and in addition to these, many holy +places are referred to in the bilingual, historical, and other +inscriptions. All the great cities of Babylonia, moreover, were sacred +places, the chief in renown and importance in later days being the +great city of Babylon, where E-sagila, "the temple of the high head," +in which was apparently the shrine called "the temple of the +foundation of heaven and earth," held the first place. This building +is called by Nebuchadnezzar "the temple-tower of Babylon," and may +better be regarded as the site of the Biblical "Tower of Babel" than +the traditional foundation, E-zida, "the everlasting temple," in +Borsippa (the Birs Nimroud)--notwithstanding that Borsippa was called +the "second Babylon," and its temple-tower "the supreme house of +life." + + + The Tower of Babel. + +Though quite close to Babylon, there is no doubt that Borsippa was a +most important religious centre, and this leads to the possibility, +that its great temple may have disputed with "the house of the high +head," E-sagila in Babylon, the honour of being the site of the +confusion of tongues and the dispersion of mankind. There is no doubt, +however, that E-sagila has the prior claim, it being the temple of the +supreme god of the later Babylonian pantheon, the counterpart of the +God of the Hebrews who commanded the changing of the speech of the +people assembled there. Supposing the confusion of tongues to have +been a Babylonian legend as well as a Hebrew one (as is possible) it +would be by command of Merodach rather than that of Nebo that such a +thing would have taken place. E-sagila, which is now the ruin known as +the mount of Amran ibn Ali, is the celebrated temple of Belus which +Alexander and Philip attempted to restore. + +In addition to the legend of the confusion of tongues, it is probable +that there were many similar traditions attached to the great temples +of Babylonia, and as time goes on, and the excavations bring more +material, a large number of them will probably be recovered. Already +we have an interesting and poetical record of the entry of Bel and +Beltis into the great temple at Niffer, probably copied from some +ancient source, and Gudea, a king of Lagas (Telloh), who reigned about +2700 B.C., gives an account of the dream which he saw, in which he was +instructed by the gods to build or rebuild the temple of Nin-Girsu in +his capital city. + + + E-sagila according to Herodotus. + +As the chief fane in the land after Babylon became the capital, and +the type of many similar erections, E-sagila, the temple of Belus, +merits just a short notice. According to Herodotus, it was a massive +tower within an enclosure measuring 400 yards each way, and provided +with gates of brass, or rather bronze. The tower within consisted of a +kind of step-pyramid, the stages being seven in number (omitting the +lowest, which was the platform forming the foundation of the +structure). A winding ascent gave access to the top, where was a +chapel or shrine, containing no statue, but regarded by the +Babylonians as the abode of the god. Lower down was another shrine, in +which was placed a great statue of Zeus (Bel-Merodach) sitting, with a +large table before it. Both statue and table are said to have been of +gold, as were also the throne and the steps. Outside the sanctuary (on +the ramp, apparently) were two altars, one small and made of gold, +whereon only unweaned lambs were sacrificed, and the other larger, for +full-grown victims. + + + A Babylonian description. + +In 1876 the well-known Assyriologist, Mr. George Smith, was fortunate +enough to discover a Babylonian description of this temple, of which +he published a /precis/. According to this document, there were two +courts of considerable extent, the smaller within the larger--neither +of them was square, but oblong. Six gates admitted to the temple-area +surrounding the platform upon which the tower was built. The platform +is stated to have been square and walled, with four gates facing the +cardinal points. Within this wall was a building connected with the +great /zikkurat/ or tower--the principal edifice--round which were +chapels or temples to the principal gods, on all four sides, and +facing the cardinal points--that to Nebo and Tasmit being on the east, +to Aa or Ea and Nusku on the north, Anu and Bel on the south, and the +series of buildings on the west, consisting of a double house--a small +court between two wings, was evidently the shrine of Merodach (Belos). +In these western chambers stood the couch of the god, and the golden +throne mentioned by Herodotus, besides other furniture of great value. +The couch was given as being 9 cubits long by 4 broad, about as many +feet in each case, or rather more. + +The centre of these buildings was the great /zikkurat/, or temple-tower, +square on its plan, and with the sides facing the cardinal +points. The lowest stage was 15 /gar/ square by 5 1/2 high (Smith, 300 +feet by 110), and the wall, in accordance with the usual Babylonian +custom, seems to have been ornamented with recessed groovings. The +second stage was 13 /gar/ square by 3 in height (Smith, 260 by 60 +feet). He conjectured, from the expression used, that it had sloping +sides. Stages three to five were each one /gar/ (Smith, 20 feet) high, +and respectively 10 /gar/ (Smith, 200 feet), 8 1/2 /gar/ (170 feet), +and 7 /gar/ (140 feet) square. The dimensions of the sixth stage are +omitted, probably by accident, but Smith conjectures that they were in +proportion to those which precede. His description omits also the +dimensions of the seventh stage, but he gives those of the sanctuary +of Belus, which was built upon it. This was 4 /gar/ long, 3 1/2 /gar/ +broad, and 2 1/2 /gar/ high (Smith, 80 x 70 x 50 feet). He points out, +that the total height was, therefore, 15 /gar/, the same as the +dimensions of the base, i.e., the lowest platform, which would make +the total height of this world-renowned building rather more than 300 +feet above the plains. + + + Other temple-towers. + +Towers of a similar nature were to be found in all the great cities of +Babylonia, and it is probable that in most cases slight differences of +form were to be found. That at Niffer, for instance, seems to have had +a causeway on each side, making four approaches in the form of a +cross. But it was not every city which had a tower of seven stages in +addition to the platform on which it was erected, and some of the +smaller ones at least seem to have had sloping or rounded sides to the +basement-portion, as is indicated by an Assyrian bas-relief. Naturally +small temples, with hardly more than the rooms on the ground floor, +were to be found, but these temple-towers were a speciality of the +country. + + + Their origin. + +There is some probability that, as indicated in the tenth chapter of +Genesis, the desire in building these towers was to get nearer the +Deity, or to the divine inhabitants of the heavens in general--it +would be easier there to gain attention than on the surface of the +earth. Then there was the belief, that the god to whom the place was +dedicated would come down to such a sanctuary, which thus became, as +it were, the stepping-stone between heaven and earth. Sacrifices were +also offered at these temple-towers (whether on the highest point or +not is not quite certain), in imitation of the Chaldaean Noah, +Ut-napistim, who, on coming out of the ark, made an offering /ina +zikkurat sade/, "on the peak of the mountain," in which passage, it is +to be noted, the word /zikkurat/ occurs with what is probably a more +original meaning. + + + + CHAPTER III + + THE BABYLONIAN STORY OF THE CREATION + +This is the final development of the Babylonian creed. It has already +been pointed out that the religion of the Babylonians in all +probability had two stages before arriving at that in which the god +Merodach occupied the position of chief of the pantheon, the two +preceding heads having been, seemingly, Anu, the god of the heavens, +and Ea or Aa, also called Enki, the god of the abyss and of deep +wisdom. In order to show this, and at the same time to give an idea of +their theory of the beginning of things, a short paraphrase of the +contents of the seven tablets will be found in the following pages. + + + An Embodiment of doctrine. + +As far as our knowledge goes, the doctrines incorporated in this +legend would seem to show the final official development of the +beliefs held by the Babylonians, due, in all probability, to the +priests of Babylon after that city became the capital of the federated +states. Modifications of their creed probably took place, but nothing +seriously affecting it, until after the abandonment of Babylon in the +time of Seleucus Nicator, 300 B.C. or thereabouts, when the deity at +the head of the pantheon seems not to have been Merodach, but Anu-Bel. +This legend is therefore the most important document bearing upon the +beliefs of the Babylonians from the end of the third millennium B.C. +until that time, and the philosophical ideas which it contains seem to +have been held, in a more or less modified form, among the remnants +who still retained the old Babylonian faith, until the sixth century +of the present era, as the record by Damascius implies. Properly +speaking, it is not a record of the creation, but the story of the +fight between Bel and the Dragon, to which the account of the creation +is prefixed by way of introduction. + + + Water the first creator. + +The legend begins by stating that, when the heavens were unnamed and +the earth bore no name, the primaeval ocean was the producer of all +things, and Mummu Tiawath (the sea) she who brought forth everything +existing. Their waters (that is, of the primaeval ocean and of the sea) +were all united in one, and neither plains nor marshes were to be +seen; the gods likewise did not exist, even in name, and the fates +were undetermined--nothing had been decided as to the future of +things. Then arose the great gods. Lahmu and Lahame came first, +followed, after a long period, by Ansar and Kisar, generally +identified with the "host of heaven" and the "host of earth," these +being the meanings of the component parts of their names. After a +further long period of days, there came forth their son Anu, the god +of the heavens. + + + The gods. + +Here the narrative is defective, and is continued by Damascius in his +/Doubts and Solutions of the First Principles/, in which he states +that, after Anos (Anu), come Illinos (Ellila or Bel, "the lord" /par +excellence/) and Aos (Aa, Ae, or Ea), the god of Eridu. Of Aos and +Dauke (the Babylonian Aa and Damkina) is born, he says, a son called +Belos (Bel-Merodach), who, they (apparently the Babylonians) say, is +the fabricator of the world--the creator. + + + The designs against them. + +At this point Damascius ends his extract, and the Babylonian tablet +also becomes extremely defective. The next deity to come into +existence, however, would seem to have been Nudimmud, who was +apparently the deity Aa or Ea (the god of the sea and of rivers) as +the god of creation. Among the children of Tauthe (Tiawath) enumerated +by Damascius is one named Moumis, who was evidently referred to in the +document at that philosopher's disposal. If this be correct, his name, +under the form of Mummu, probably existed in one of the defective +lines of the first portion of this legend--in any case, his name +occurs later on, with those of Tiawath and Apsu (the Deep), his +parents, and the three seem to be compared, to their disadvantage, +with the progeny of Lahmu and Lahame, the gods on high. As the ways of +these last were not those of Tiawath's brood, and Apsu complained that +he had no peace by day nor rest by night on account of their +proceedings, the three representatives of the chaotic deep, Tiawath, +Apsu, and Mummu, discussed how they might get rid the beings who +wished to rise to higher things. Mummu was apparently the prime mover +in the plot, and the face of Apsu grew bright at the thought of the +evil plan which they had devised against "the gods their sons." The +inscription being very mutilated here, its full drift cannot be +gathered, but from the complete portions which come later it would +seem that Mummu's plan was not a remarkably cunning one, being simply +to make war upon and destroy the gods of heaven. + + + Tiawath's preparations. + +The preparations made for this were elaborate. Restlessly, day and +night, the powers of evil raged and toiled, and assembled for the +fight. "Mother Hubur," as Tiawath is named in this passage, called her +creative powers into action, and gave her followers irresistible +weapons. She brought into being also various monsters--giant serpents, +sharp of tooth, bearing stings, and with poison filling their bodies +like blood; terrible dragons endowed with brilliance, and of enormous +stature, reared on high, raging dogs, scorpion-men, fish-men, and many +other terrible beings, were created and equipped, the whole being +placed under the command of a deity named Kingu, whom she calls her +"only husband," and to whom she delivers the tablets of fate, which +conferred upon him the godhead of Anu (the heavens), and enabled their +possessor to determine the gates among the gods her sons. + + + Kingu replaces Absu. + +The change in the narrative which comes in here suggests that this is +the point at which two legends current in Babylonia were united. +Henceforward we hear nothing more of Apsu, the begetter of all things, +Tiawath's spouse, nor of Mummu, their son. In all probability there is +good reason for this, and inscriptions will doubtless ultimately be +found which will explain it, but until then it is only natural to +suppose that two different legends have been pieced together to form a +harmonious whole. + + + Tiawath's aim. + +As will be gathered from the above, the story centres in the wish of +the goddess of the powers of evil and her kindred to retain creation--the +forming of all living things--in her own hands. As Tiawath means +"the sea," and Apsu "the deep," it is probable that this is a kind of +allegory personifying the productive power seen in the teeming life of +the ocean, and typifying the strange and wonderful forms found +therein, which were symbolical, to the Babylonian mind, of chaos and +confusion, as well as of evil. + + + The gods hear of the conspiracy. + +Aa, or Ea, having learned of the plot of Tiawath and her followers +against the gods of heaven, naturally became filled with anger, and +went and told the whole to Ansar, his father, who in his turn gave way +to his wrath, and uttered cries of the deepest grief. After +considering what they would do, Ansar applied to his son Anu, "the +mighty and brave," saying that, if he would only speak to her, the +great dragon's anger would be assuaged, and her rage disappear. In +obedience to this behest, Anu went to try his power with the monster, +but on beholding her snarling face, feared to approach her, and turned +back. Nudimmud was next called upon to become the representative of +the gods against their foe, but his success was as that of Anu, and it +became needful to seek another champion. + + + And choose Merodach as their champion. + +The choice fell upon Merodach, the Belus (Bel-Merodach) of Damascius's +paraphrase, and at once met with an enthusiastic reception. The god +asked simply that an "unchangeable command" might be given to him--that +whatever he ordained should without fail come to pass, in order +that he might destroy the common enemy. Invitations were sent to the +gods asking them to a festival, where, having met together, they ate +and drank, and "decided the fate" for Merodach their avenger, +apparently meaning that he was decreed their defender in the conflict +with Tiawath, and that the power of creating and annihilating by the +word of his mouth was his. Honours were then conferred upon him; +princely chambers were erected for him, wherein he sat as judge "in +the presence of his fathers," and the rule over the whole universe was +given to him. The testing of his newly acquired power followed. A +garment was placed in their midst: + + "He spake with his mouth, and the garment was destroyed, + He spake to it again, and the garment was reproduced." + + + Merodach proclaimed king. + +On this proof of the reality of the powers conferred on him, all the +gods shouted "Merodach is king!" and handed to him sceptre, throne, +and insignia of royalty. An irresistible weapon, which should shatter +all his enemies, was then given to him, and he armed himself also with +spear or dart, bow, and quiver; lightning flashed before him, and +flaming fire filled his body. Anu, the god of the heavens, had given +him a great net, and this he set at the four cardinal points, in order +that nothing of the dragon, when he had defeated her, should escape. +Seven winds he then created to accompany him, and the great weapon +called /Abubu/, "the Flood," completed his equipment. All being ready, +he mounted his dreadful, irresistible chariot, to which four steeds +were yoked--steeds unsparing, rushing forward, rapid in flight, their +teeth full of venom, foam-covered, experienced in galloping, schooled +in overthrowing. Being now ready for the fray, Merodach fared forth to +meet Tiawath, accompanied by the fervent good wishes of "the gods his +fathers." + + + The fight with Tiawath. + +Advancing, he regarded Tiawath's retreat, but the sight of the enemy +was so menacing that even the great Merodach (if we understand the +text rightly) began to falter. This, however, was not for long, and +the king of the gods stood before Tiawath, who, on her side, remained +firm and undaunted. In a somewhat long speech, in which he reproaches +Tiawath for her rebellion, he challenges her to battle, and the two +meet in fiercest fight. To all appearance the type of all evil did not +make use of honest weapons, but sought to overcome the king of the +gods with incantations and charms. These, however, had not the +slightest effect, for she found herself at once enclosed in Merodach's +net, and on opening her mouth to resist and free herself, the evil +wind, which Merodach had sent on before him, entered, so that she +could not close her lips, and thus inflated, her heart was +overpowered, and she became a prey to her conqueror. Having cut her +asunder and taken out her heart, thus destroying her life, he threw +her body down and stood thereon. Her followers then attempted to +escape, but found themselves surrounded and unable to get forth. Like +their mistress, they were thrown into the net, and sat in bonds, being +afterwards shut up in prison. As for Kingu, he was raised up, bound, +and delivered to be with Ugga, the god of death. The tablets of fate, +which Tiawath had delivered to Kingu, were taken from him by Merodach, +who pressed his seal upon them, and placed them in his breast. The +deity Ansar, who had been, as it would seem, deprived of his rightful +power by Tiawath, received that power again on the death of the common +foe, and Nudimmud "saw his desire upon his enemy." + + + Tiawath's fate. + +The dismemberment of Tiawath then followed, and her veins having been +cut through, the north wind was caused by the deity to carry her blood +away into secret places, a statement which probably typifies the +opening of obstructions which prevent the rivers flowing from the +north from running into the southern seas, helped thereto by the north +wind. Finally her body was divided, like "a /masde/-fish," into two +parts, one of which was made into a covering for the heavens--the +"waters above the firmament" of Genesis i. 7. + + + Merodach orders the world anew. + +Then came the ordering of the universe anew. Having made a covering +for the heavens with half the body of the defeated Dragon of Chaos, +Merodach set the Abyss, the abode of Nudimmud, in front, and made a +corresponding edifice above--the heavens--where he founded stations +for the gods Anu, Bel, and Ae. Stations for the great gods in the +likeness of constellations, together with what is regarded as the +Zodiac, were his next work. He then designated the year, setting three +constellations for each month, and made a station for +Nibiru--Merodach's own star--as the overseer of all the lights in the +firmament. He then caused the new moon, Nannaru, to shine, and made +him the ruler of the night, indicating his phases, one of which was on +the seventh day, and the other, a /sabattu/, or day of rest, in the +middle of the month. Directions with regard to the moon's movements +seem to follow, but the record is mutilated, and their real nature +consequently doubtful. With regard to other works which were performed +we have no information, as a gap prevents their being ascertained. +Something, however, seems to have been done with Merodach's +net--probably it was placed in the heavens as a constellation, as was his +bow, to which several names were given. Later on, the winds were bound +and assigned to their places, but the account of the arrangement of +other things is mutilated and obscure, though it can be recognised +that the details in this place were of considerable interest. + + + The creation of man. + +To all appearance the gods, after he had ordered the universe and the +things then existing, urged Merodach to further works of wonder. +Taking up their suggestion, he considered what he should do, and then +communicated to his father Ae his plan for the creation of man with +his own blood, in order that the service and worship of the gods might +be established. This portion is also unfortunately very imperfect, and +the details of the carrying out of the plan are entirely wanting. + + + Berosus' narrative fills the gap. + +It is noteworthy that this portion of the narrative has been preserved +by Abydenus, George the Syncellus, and Eusebius, in their quotations +from Berosus. According to this Chaldaean writer, there was a woman +named Omoroca, or, in Chaldaean, Thalatth (apparently a mistake for +Thauatth, i.e. Tiawath), whose name was equivalent to the Greek +Thalassa, the sea. It was she who had in her charge all the strange +creatures then existing. At this period, Belus (Bel-Merodach) came, +and cut the woman asunder, forming out of one half the earth, and of +the other the heavens, at the same time destroying all the creatures +which were within her--all this being an allegory, for the whole +universe consists of moisture, and creatures are constantly generated +therein. The deity then cut off his own head, and the other gods mixed +the blood, as it gushed out, with the earth, and from this men were +formed. Hence it is that men are rational, and partake of divine +knowledge. + + + A second creation. + +This Belsus, "who is called Zeus," divided the darkness, separated the +heavens from the earth, and reduced the universe to order. The animals +which had been created, however, not being able to bear the light, +died. Belus then, seeing the void thus made, ordered one of the gods +to take off his head, and mix the blood with the soil, forming other +men and animals which should be able to bear the light. He also formed +the stars, the sun, the moon, and the five planets. It would thus seem +that there were two creations, the first having been a failure because +Belus had not foreseen that it was needful to produce beings which +should be able to bear the light. Whether this repetition was really +in the Babylonian legend, or whether Berosus (or those who quote him) +has merely inserted and united two varying accounts, will only be +known when the cuneiform text is completed. + + + The concluding tablet. + +The tablet of the fifty-one names completes the record of the tablets +found at Nineveh and Babylon. In this Merodach receives the titles of +all the other gods, thus identifying him with them, and leading to +that tendency to monotheism of which something will be said later on. +In this text, which is written, like the rest of the legend, in +poetical form, Merodach is repeatedly called /Tutu/, a mystic word +meaning "creator," and "begetter," from the reduplicate root /tu/ or +/utu/--which was to all appearances his name when it was desired to +refer to him especially in that character. Noteworthy in this portion +is the reference to Merodach's creation of mankind:-- + +Line 25. "Tuto: Aga-azaga (the glorious crown)--may he make the crowns + glorious. + 26. The lord of the glorious incantation bringing the dead to + life; + 27. He who had mercy on the gods who had been overpowered; + 28. Made heavy the yoke which he had laid on the gods who were + his enemies, + 29. (And) to redeem(?) them, created mankind. + 30. 'The merciful one,' 'he with whom is salvation,' + 31. May his word be established, and not forgotten, + 32. In the mouth of the black-headed ones[1] whom his hands have + made." + +[1] I.e. mankind. + + + Man the redeemer. + +The phrase "to redeem them" is, in the original, /ana padi-sunu/, the +verb being from /padu/, "to spare," "set free," and if this rendering +be correct, as seems probable, the Babylonian reasons for the creation +of mankind would be, that they might carry on the service and worship +of the gods, and by their righteousness redeem those enemies of the +gods who were undergoing punishment for their hostility. Whether by +this Tiawath, Apsu, Mummu, Kingu, and the monsters whom she had +created were included, or only the gods of heaven who had joined her, +the record does not say. Naturally, this doctrine depends entirely +upon the correctness of the translation of the words quoted. Jensen, +who first proposed this rendering, makes no attempt to explain it, and +simply asks: "Does 'them' in 'to redeem(?) them' refer to the gods +named in line 28 or to mankind and then to a future--how +meant?--redemption? Eschatology? Zimmern's 'in their place' unprovable. +Delitzsch refrains from an explanation." + + + The bilingual account of the creation. Aruru aids Merodach. + +Whilst dealing with this part of the religious beliefs of the +Babylonians, a few words are needed concerning the creation-story +which is prefixed to an incantation used in a purification ceremony. +The original text is Sumerian (dialectic), and is provided with a +Semitic translation. In this inscription, after stating that nothing +(in the beginning) existed, and even the great cities and temples of +Babylonia were as yet unbuilt, the condition of the world is briefly +indicated by the statement that "All the lands were sea." The renowned +cities of Babylonia seem to have been regarded as being as much +creations of Merodach as the world and its inhabitants--indeed, it is +apparently for the glorification of those cities by attributing their +origin to Merodach, that the bilingual account of the creation was +composed.. "When within the sea there was a stream"--that is, when the +veins of Tiawath had been cut through--Eridu (probably = Paradise) and +the temple E-sagila within the Abyss were constructed, and after that +Babylon and the earthly temple of E-sagila within it. Then he made the +gods and the Annunnaki (the gods of the earth), proclaimed a glorious +city as the seat of the joy of their hearts, and afterwards made a +pleasant place in which the gods might dwell. The creation of mankind +followed, in which Merodach was aided by the goddess Aruru, who made +mankind's seed. Finally, plants, trees, and the animals, were +produced, after which Merodach constructed bricks, beams, houses, and +cities, including Niffer and Erech with their renowned temples. + +We see here a change in the teaching with regard to Merodach--the gods +are no longer spoken of as "his fathers," but he is the creator of the +gods, as well as of mankind. + + + The order of the gods in the principal lists. + +It is unfortunate that no lists of gods have been found in a +sufficiently complete state to allow of the scheme after which they +were drawn up to be determined without uncertainty. It may, +nevertheless, be regarded as probable that these lists, at least in +some cases, are arranged in conformity (to a certain extent) with the +appearance of the deities in the so-called creation-story. Some of +them begin with Anu, and give him various names, among them being +Ansar and Kisar, Lahmu and Lahame, etc. More specially interesting, +however, is a well-known trilingual list of gods, which contains the +names of the various deities in the following order:-- + + EXTRACTS FROM THE TRILINGUAL LIST + /Obverse/ + + Sumer. Dialect Sumer. Standard Common Explanation + (Semit. or Sumer.) + + 1. Dimmer Dingir Ilu God. + 2. U-ki En-ki E-a Ea or Aa. + 3. Gasan(?)-ki Nin-ki Dawkina Dauke, the consort of Ea. + 4. Mu-ul-lil En-lil-la Bel The God Bel. + 5. E-lum A-lim Bel + 6. Gasan(?)-lil Nin-lil-la dam-bi sal Bel's consort. + 7. U-lu-a Ni-rig Enu-restu The god of Niffer. + 8. U-lib-a Ni-rig Enu-restu + + 9-12 have Enu-restu's consort, sister, and attendant. + + 13. U-sab-sib En-sag-duga Nusku Nusku + + 14-19 have two other names of Nusku, followed by three names of his + consort. A number of names of minor divinities then follow. At + line 43 five names of Ea are given, followed by four of + Merodach:-- + + 48. U-bi-lu-lu En-bi-lu-lu Marduk Merodach + 49. U-Tin-dir ki En-Tin-dir ki Marduk Merodach as "lord of Babylon." + 50. U-dimmer-an-kia En-dinger-an-kia Marduk Merodach as "lord god of heaven and earth." + 51. U-ab-sar-u En-ab-sar-u Marduk Merodach, apparently as "lord of the 36,000 steers." + 52. U-bar-gi-si Nin-bar-gi-si Zer-panitum Merodach's consort. + 53. Gasan-abzu Nin-abzu dam-bi sal "the Lady of the Abyss," his consort. + +The remainder of the obverse is mutilated, but gave the names of Nebo +in Sumerian, and apparently also of Tasmetum, his consort. The +beginning of the reverse also is mutilated, but seems to have given +the names of the sun-god, Samas, and his consort, followed by those of +Kittu and Mesarum, "justice and righteousness," his attendants. Other +interesting names are: + + /Reverse/ + + 8. U-libir-si En-ubar-si Dumu-zi Tammuz + 9. Sir-tumu Sir-du ama Dumuzi-gi the mother of Tammuz + 12. Gasan-anna Innanna Istar Istar (Venus) as "lady of heaven." + 20. Nin-si-anna Innanna mul Istar the star (the planet Venus). + 21. Nin Nin-tag-taga Nanaa a goddess identified with Istar. + 23. U-sah Nina-sah Pap-sukal the gods' messenger. + 24. U-banda Lugal-banda Lugal-banda + 26. U-Mersi Nin-Girsu Nin-Girsu the chief god of Lagas. + 27. Ma-sib-sib Ga-tum-duga Bau Bau, a goddess identified with Gula. + +Four non-Semitic names of Gula follow, of which that in line 31 is the +most interesting:-- + + 31. Gasan-ti-dibba Nin-tin-guua Gula "the lady saving from death." + 33. Gasan-ki-gal Eres-ki-gala Allatu Persephone. + 36. U-mu-zi-da Nin-gis-zi-da Nin-gis-zida "the lord of the everlasting tree." + 37. U-urugal Ne-eri-gal Nerigal Nergal. + 42. Mulu-hursag Galu-hursag Amurru the Amorite god. + 43. Gasan-gu-edina Nin-gu-edina (apparently the consort of Amurru). + +In all probability this list is one of comparatively late date, though +its chronological position with regard to the others is wholly +uncertain--it may not be later, and may even be earlier, than those +beginning with Anu, the god of the heavens. The important thing about +it is, that it begins with /ilu/, god, in general, which is written, +in the standard dialect (that of the second column) with the same +character as that used for the name of Anu. After this comes Aa or Ea, +the god of the earth, and his consort, followed by En-lilla, the older +Bel--Illinos in Damascius. The name of Ea is repeated again in line 43 +and following, where he is apparently re-introduced as the father of +Merodach, whose names immediately follow. This peculiarity is also +found in other lists of gods and is undoubtedly a reflection of the +history of the Babylonian religion. As this list replaces Anu by +/ilu/, it indicates the rule of Enki or Ea, followed by that of +Merodach, who, as has been shown, became the chief divinity of the +Babylonian pantheon in consequence of Babylon having become the +capital of the country. + + + + CHAPTER IV + + THE PRINCIPAL GODS OF THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + + + Anu. + +The name of this divinity is derived from the Sumero-Akkadian /ana/, +"heaven," of which he was the principal deity. He is called the father +of the great gods, though, in the creation-story, he seems to be +described as the son of Ansar and Kisar. In early names he is +described as the father, creator, and god, probably meaning the +supreme being. His consort was Anatu, and the pair are regarded in the +lists as the same as the Lahmu and Lahame of the creation-story, who, +with other deities, are also described as gods of the heavens. Anu was +worshipped at Erech, along with Istar. + + + Ea. + +Is given as if it were the /Semitic/ equivalent of /Enki/, "the lord +of the earth," but it would seem to be really a Sumerian word, later +written /Ae/, and certain inscriptions suggest that the true reading +was /Aa/. His titles are "king of the Abyss, creator of everything, +lord of all," the first being seemingly due to the fact that Aa is a +word which may, in its reduplicate form, mean "waters," or if read +/Ea/, "house of water." He also, like Anu, is called "father of the +gods." As this god was likewise "lord of deep wisdom," it was to him +that his son Merodach went for advice whenever he was in doubt. On +account of his knowledge, he was the god of artisans in general--potters, +blacksmiths, sailors, builders, stone-cutters, gardeners, +seers, barbers, farmers, etc. This is the Aos (a form which confirms +the reading Aa) of Damascius, and the Oannes of the extracts from +Berosus, who states that he was "a creature endowed with reason, with +a body like that of a fish, and under the fish's head another head, +with feet below, like those of a man, with a fish's tail." This +description applies fairly well to certain bas-reliefs from Nimroud in +the British Museum. The creature described by Berosus lived in the +Persian Gulf, landing during the day to teach the inhabitants the +building of houses and temples, the cultivation of useful plants, the +gathering of fruits, and also geometry, law, and letters. From him, +too, came the account of the beginning of things referred to in +chapter III. which, in the original Greek, is preceded by a +description of the composite monsters said to have existed before +Merodach assumed the rule of the universe. + +The name of his consort, Damkina or Dawkina, probably means "the +eternal spouse," and her other names, /Gasan-ki/ (Sumerian dialectic) +and /Nin-ki/ (non-dialectic), "Lady of the earth," sufficiently +indicates her province. She is often mentioned in the incantations +with Ea. + +The forsaking of the worship of Ea as chief god for that of Merodach +seems to have caused considerable heartburning in Babylonia, if we may +judge from the story of the Flood, for it was on account of his +faithfulness that Utnipistim, the Babylonian Noah, attained to +salvation from the Flood and immortality afterwards. All through this +adventure it was the god Ea who favoured him, and afterwards gave him +immortality like that of the gods. There is an interesting Sumerian +text in which the ship of Ea seems to be described, the woods of which +its various parts were formed being named, and in it, apparently, were +Enki (Ea), Damgal-nunna (Damkina), his consort, Asari-lu-duga +(Merodach), In-ab (or Ines), the pilot of Eridu (Ea's city), and +Nin-igi-nagar-sir, "the great architect of heaven":-- + + "May the ship before thee bring fertility, + May the ship after thee bring joy, + In thy heart may it make joy of heart . . . ." + +Ea was the god of fertility, hence this ending to the poetical +description of the ship of Ea. + + + Bel. + +The deity who is mentioned next in order in the list given above is +the "older Bel," so called to distinguish him from Bel-Merodach. His +principal names were /Mullil/ (dialectic) or /En-lilla/[1] (standard +speech), the /Illinos/ of Damascius. His name is generally translated +"lord of mist," so-called as god of the underworld, his consort being +/Gasan-lil/ or /Nan-lilla/, "the lady of the mist," in Semitic +Babylonian /Beltu/, "the Lady," par excellence. Bel, whose name means +"the lord," was so called because he was regarded as chief of the +gods. As there was considerable confusion in consequence of the title +Bel having been given to Merodach, Tiglath-pileser I. (about 1200 +B.C.) refers to him as the "older Bel" in describing the temple which +he built for him at Assur. Numerous names of men compounded with his +occur until the latest times, implying that, though the favourite god +was Merodach, the worship of Bel was not forgotten, even at Babylon--that +he should have been adored at his own city, Niffur, and at +Dur-Kuri-galzu, where Kuri-galzu I. built a temple for "Bel, the lord of +the lands," was naturally to be expected. Being, like Ea, a god of the +earth, he is regarded as having formed a trinity with Anu, the god of +heaven, and Ea, the god of the deep, and prayer to these three was as +good as invoking all the gods of the universe. Classification of the +gods according to the domain of their power would naturally take place +in a religious system in which they were all identified with each +other, and this classification indicates, as Jastrow says, a deep +knowledge of the powers of nature, and a more than average +intelligence among the Babylonians--indeed, he holds it as a proof +that, at the period of the older empire, there were schools and +students who had devoted themselves to religious speculation upon this +point. He also conjectures that the third commandment of the Law of +Moses was directed against this doctrine held by the Babylonians. + +[1] Ordinarily pronounced /Illila/, as certain glosses and Damascius's + /Illinos/ (for /Illilos/) show. + + + Beltis. + +This goddess was properly only the spouse of the older Bel, but as +/Beltu/, her Babylonian name, simply meant "lady" in general (just as +/Bel/ or /belu/ meant "lord"), it became a title which could be given +to any goddess, and was in fact borne by Zer-panitum, Istar, Nanaa, +and others. It was therefore often needful to add the name of the city +over which the special /Beltu/ presided, in order to make clear which +of them was meant. Besides being the title of the spouse of the older +Bel, having her earthly seat with him in Niffur and other less +important shrines, the Assyrians sometimes name Beltu the spouse of +Assur, their national god, suggesting an identification, in the minds +of the priests, with that deity. + + + Enu-restu or Nirig.[1] + +Whether /Enu-restu/ be a translation of /Nirig/ or not, is uncertain, +but not improbable, the meaning being "primeval lord," or something +similar, and "lord" that of the first element, /ni/, in the Sumerian +form. In support of this reading and rendering may be quoted the fact, +that one of the descriptions of this divinity is /assarid ilani +ahe-su/, "the eldest of the gods his brothers." It is noteworthy that +this deity was a special favourite among the Assyrians, many of whose +kings, to say nothing of private persons, bore his name as a component +part of theirs. In the bilingual poem entitled /Ana-kime gimma/ +("Formed like Anu"), he is described as being the son of Bel (hence +his appearance after Bel in the list printed above), and in the +likeness of Anu, for which reason, perhaps, his divinity is called +"Anuship." Beginning with words praising him, it seems to refer to his +attitude towards the gods of hostile lands, against whom, apparently, +he rode in a chariot of the sacred lapis-lazuli. Anu having endowed +him with terrible glory, the gods of the earth feared to attack him, +and his onrush was as that of a storm-flood. By the command of Bel, +his course was directed towards E-kur, the temple of Bel at Niffur. +Here he was met by Nusku, the supreme messenger of Bel, who, with +words of respect and of praise, asks him not to disturb the god Bel, +his father, in his seat, nor make the gods of the earth tremble in +Upsukennaku (the heavenly festival-hall of the gods), and offers him a +gift.[2] It will thus be seen that Enu-restu was a rival to the older +Bel, whose temple was the great tower in stages called E-kura, in +which, in all probability, E-su-me-du, the shrine of Enu-restu, was +likewise situated. The inscriptions call him "god of war," though, +unlike Nergal, he was not at the same time god of disease and +pestilence. To all appearance he was the god of the various kinds of +stones, of which another legend states that he "determined their +fate." He was "the hero, whose net overthrows the enemy, who summons +his army to plunder the hostile land, the royal son who caused his +father to bow down to him from afar." "The son who sat not with the +nurse, and eschewed(?) the strength of milk," "the offspring who did +not know his father." "He rode over the mountains and scattered +seed--unanimously the plants proclaimed his name to their dominion, +among them like a great wild bull he raises his horns." + +[1] /Enu-restu/ is the reading which I have adopted as the Semitic + Babylonian equivalent of the name of this divinity, in consequence + of the Aramaic transcription given by certain contract-tablets + discovered by the American expedition to Niffer, and published by + Prof. Clay of Philadelphia. + +[2] The result of this request is not known, in consequence of the + defective state of the tablets. + +Many other interesting descriptions of the deity Nirig (generally read +Nin-ip) occur, and show, with those quoted here, that his story was +one of more than ordinary interest. + + + Nusku. + +This deity was especially invoked by the Assyrian kings, but was in no +wise exclusively Assyrian, as is shown by the fact that his name +occurs in many Babylonian inscriptions. He was the great messenger of +the gods, and is variously given as "the offspring of the abyss, the +creation of Ea," and "the likeness of his father, the first-born of +Bel." As Gibil, the fire-god, has likewise the same diverse parentage, +it is regarded as likely that these two gods were identical. Nusku was +the god whose command is supreme, the counsellor of the great gods, +the protector of the Igigi (the gods of the heavens), the great and +powerful one, the glorious day, the burning one, the founder of +cities, the renewer of sanctuaries, the provider of feasts for all the +Igigi, without whom no feast took place in E-kura. Like Nebo, he bore +the glorious spectre, and it was said of him that he attacked mightily +in battle. Without him the sun-god, the judge, could not give +judgment. + +All this points to the probability, that Nusku may not have been the +fire-god, but the brother of the fire-god, i.e. either flame, or the +light of fire. The sun-god, without light, could not see, and +therefore could not give judgment: no feast could be prepared without +fire and its flame. As the evidence of the presence of the shining +orbs in the heavens--the light of their fires--he was the messenger of +the gods, and was honoured accordingly. From this idea, too, he became +their messenger in general, especially of Bel-Merodach, the younger +Bel, whose requests he carried to the god Ea in the Deep. In one +inscription he is identified with Nirig or Enu-restu, who is described +above. + + + Merodach. + +Concerning this god, and how he arose to the position of king of all +the gods of heaven, has been fully shown in chapter III. Though there +is but little in his attributes to indicate any connection with Samas, +there is hardly any doubt that he was originally a sun-god, as is +shown by the etymology of his name. The form, as it has been handed +down to us, is somewhat shortened, the original pronunciation having +been /Amar-uduk/, "the young steer of day," a name which suggests that +he was the morning sun. Of the four names given at the end of chapter +III., two--"lord of Babylon," and "lord god of heaven and earth,"--may +be regarded as expressing his more well-known attributes. /En-ab-sar-u/, +however, is a provisional, though not impossible, reading and +rendering, and if correct, the "36,000 wild bulls" would be a +metaphorical way of speaking of "the 36,000 heroes," probably meaning +the gods of heaven in all their grades. The signification of +/En-bilulu/ is unknown. Like most of the other gods of the Babylonian +pantheon, however, Merodach had many other names, among which may be +mentioned /Asari/, which has been compared with the Egyptian Osiris, +/Asari-lu-duga/, "/Asari/ who is good," compared with Osiris Unnefer; +/Namtila/, "life", /Tutu/, "begetter (of the gods), renewer (of the +gods)," /Sar-azaga/, "the glorious incantation," /Mu-azaga/, "the +glorious charm," and many others. The last two refer to his being the +god who, by his kindness, obtained from his father Ea, dwelling in the +abyss, those charms and incantations which benefited mankind, and +restored the sick to health. In this connection, a frequent title +given to him is "the merciful one," but most merciful was he in that +he spared the lives of the gods who, having sided with Taiwath, were +his enemies, as is related in the tablet of the fifty-one names. In +connection with the fight he bore also the names, "annihilator of the +enemy," "rooter out of all evil," "troubler of the evil ones," "life +of the whole of the gods." From these names it is clear that Merodach, +in defeating Tiawath, annihilated, at the same time, the spirit of +evil, Satan, the accuser, of which she was, probably, the Babylonian +type. But unlike the Saviour in the Christian creed, he saved not only +man, at that time uncreated, but the gods of heaven also. As "king of +the heavens," he was identified with the largest of the planets, +Jupiter, as well as with other heavenly bodies. Traversing the sky in +great zigzags, Jupiter seemed to the Babylonians to superintend the +stars, and this was regarded as emblematic of Merodach shepherding +them--"pasturing the gods like sheep," as the tablet has it. + +A long list of gods gives as it were the court of Merodach, held in +what was apparently a heavenly /E-sagila/, and among the spiritual +beings mentioned are /Mina-ikul-beli/ and /Mina-isti-beli/, "what my +lord has eaten," and "what has my lord drunk," /Nadin-me-gati/, "he +who gives water for the hands," also the two door-keepers, and the +four dogs of Merodach, wherein people are inclined to see the four +satellites of Jupiter, which, it is thought, were probably visible to +certain of the more sharp-sighted stargazers of ancient Babylonia. +These dogs were called /Ukkumu/, /Akkulu/, /Ikssuda/, and /Iltebu/, +"Seizer," "Eater," "Grasper," and "Holder." Images of these beings +were probably kept in the temple of E-sagila at Babylon. + + + Zer-panitum. + +This was the name of the consort of Merodach, and is generally read +Sarp(b)anitum--a transcription which is against the native orthography +and etymology, namely, "seed-creatress" (Zer-banitum). The meaning +attributed to this word is partly confirmed by another name which +Lehmann has pointed out that she possessed, namely, /Erua/ or /Aru'a/, +who, in an inscription of Antiochus Soter (280-260 B.C.) is called +"the queen who produces birth," but more especially by the +circumstance, that she must be identical with Aruru, who created the +seed of mankind along with Merodach. Why she was called "the lady of +the abyss," and elsewhere "the voice of the abyss" (/Me-abzu/) is not +known. Zer-panitum was no mere reflection of Merodach, but one of the +most important goddesses in the Babylonian pantheon. The tendency of +scholars has been to identify her with the moon, Merodach being a +solar deity and the meaning "silvery"--/Sarpanitum/, from /sarpu/, one +of the words for "silver," was regarded as supporting this idea. She +was identified with the Elamite goddess named Elagu, and with the +Lahamum of the island of Bahrein, the Babylonian Tilmun. + + + Nebo and Tasmetum. + +As "the teacher" and "the hearer" these were among the most popular of +the deities of Babylonia and Assyria. Nebo (in Semitic Babylonian +Nabu) was worshipped at the temple-tower known as E-zida, "the +ever-lasting house," at Borsippa, now the Birs Nimroud, traditionally +regarded as the site of the Tower of Babel, though that title, as has +already been shown, would best suit the similar structure known as +E-sagila, "the house of the high head," in Babylon itself. In +composition with men's names, this deity occurs more than any other, +even including Merodach himself--a clear indication of the estimation +in which the Babylonians and Assyrians held the possession of +knowledge. The character with which his name is written means, with +the pronunciation of /ak/, "to make," "to create," "to receive," "to +proclaim," and with the pronunciation of /me/, "to be wise," "wisdom," +"open of ear," "broad of ear," and "to make, of a house," the last +probably referring to the design rather than to the actual building. +Under the name of /Dim-sara/ he was "the creator of the writing of the +scribes," as /Ni-zu/, "the god who knows" (/zu/, "to know"), as +/Mermer/, "the speeder(?) of the command of the gods"--on the Sumerian +side indicating some connection with Addu or Rimmon, the thunderer, +and on the Semitic side with Enu-restu, who was one of the gods' +messengers. A small fragment in the British Museum gave his attributes +as god of the various cities of Babylonia, but unfortunately their +names are lost or incomplete. From what remains, however, we see that +Nebo was god of ditching(?), commerce(?), granaries(?), fasting(?), +and food; it was he who overthrew the land of the enemy, and who +protected planting; and, lastly, he was god of Borsippa. + +The worship of Nebo was not always as popular as it became in the +later days of the Babylonian empire and after its fall, and Jastrow is +of opinion that Hammurabi intentionally ignored this deity, giving the +preference to Merodach, though he did not suppress the worship. Why +this should have taken place is not by any means certain, for Nebo was +a deity adored far and wide, as may be gathered from the fact that +there was a mountain bearing his name in Moab, upon which Moses--also +an "announcer," adds Jastrow--died. Besides the mountain, there was a +city in Moab so named, and another in Judaea. That it was the +Babylonian Nebo originally is implied by the form--the Hebrew +corresponding word is /nabi/. + +How old the worship of Tasmetum, his consort, is, is doubtful, but her +name first occurs in a date of the reign of Hammurabi. Details +concerning her attributes are rare, and Jastrow regards this goddess +as the result of Babylonian religious speculations. It is noteworthy +that her worship appears more especially in later times, but it may be +doubted whether it is a product of those late times, especially when +we bear in mind the remarkable seal-impression on an early tablet of +3500-4500 B.C., belonging to Lord Amherst of Hackney, in which we see +a male figure with wide-open mouth seizing a stag by his horns, and a +female figure with no mouth at all, but with very prominent ears, +holding a bull in a similar manner. Here we have the "teacher" and the +"hearer" personified in a very remarkable manner, and it may well be +that this primitive picture shows the idea then prevailing with regard +to these two deities. It is to be noted that the name of Tasmetum has +a Sumerian equivalent, namely, /Kurnun/, and that the ideograph by +which it is represented is one whose general meaning seems to be "to +bind," perhaps with the additional signification of "to accomplish," +in which case "she who hears" would also be "she who obeys." + + + Samas and his consort. + +At all times the worship of the sun in Babylonia and Assyria was +exceedingly popular, as, indeed, was to be expected from his +importance as the greatest of the heavenly bodies and the brightest, +without whose help men could not live, and it is an exceedingly +noteworthy fact that this deity did not become, like Ra in Egypt, the +head of the pantheon. This place was reserved for Merodach, also a +sun-god, but possessing attributes of a far wider scope. Samas is +mentioned as early as the reign of E-anna-tum, whose date is set at +about 4200 B.C., and at this period his Semitic name does not, +naturally, occur, the character used being /Utu/, or, in its longer +form, /Utuki/. + +It is worthy of note that, in consequence of the Babylonian idea of +evolution in the creation of the world, less perfect beings brought +forth those which were more perfect, and the sun was therefore the +offspring of Nannara or Sin, the moon. In accordance with the same +idea, the day, with the Semites, began with the evening, the time when +the moon became visible, and thus becomes the offspring of the night. +In the inscriptions Samas is described as "the light of things above +and things below, the illuminator of the regions," "the supreme judge +of heaven and earth," "the lord of living creatures, the gracious one +of the lands." Dawning in the foundation of the sky, he opened the +locks and threw wide the gates of the high heavens, and raised his +head, covering heaven and earth with his splendour. He was the +constantly righteous in heaven, the truth within the ears of the +lands, the god knowing justice and injustice, righteousness he +supported upon his shoulders, unrighteousness he burst asunder like a +leather bond, etc. It will thus be seen, that the sun-god was the +great god of judgment and justice--indeed, he is constantly alluded to +as "the judge," the reason in all probability being, that as the sun +shines upon the earth all day long, and his light penetrates +everywhere, he was regarded as the god who knew and investigated +everything, and was therefore best in a position to judge aright, and +deliver a just decision. It is for this reason that his image appears +at the head of the stele inscribed with Hammurabi's laws, and legal +ceremonies were performed within the precincts of his temples. The +chief seats of his worship were the great temples called E-babbara, +"the house of great light," in the cities of Larsa and Sippar. + +The consort of Samas was Aa, whose chief seat was at Sippar, side by +side with Samas. Though only a weak reflex of the sun-god, her worship +was exceedingly ancient, being mentioned in an inscription of +Man-istusu, who is regarded as having reigned before Sargon of Agade. +From the fact that, in one of the lists, she has names formed by +reduplicating the name of the sun-god, /Utu/, she would seem once to +have been identical with him, in which case it may be supposed that +she personified the setting sun--"the double sun" from the magnified +disc which he presents at sunset, when, according to a hymn to the +setting sun sung at the temple at Borsippa, Aa, in the Sumerian line +Kur-nirda, was accustomed to go to receive him. According to the list +referred to above, Aa, with the name of Burida in Sumerian, was more +especially the consort of Sa-zu, "him who knows the heart," one of the +names of Merodach, who was probably the morning sun, and therefore the +exact counterpart of the sun at evening. + +Besides Samas and Utu, the latter his ordinary Sumerian name, the +sun-god had several other non-Semitic names, including /Gisnu/,[*] "the +light," /Ma-banda-anna/, "the bark of heaven," /U-e/, "the rising +sun," /Mitra/, apparently the Persian Mithra; /Ume-simas/ and Nahunda, +Elamite names, and Sahi, the Kassite name of the sun. He also +sometimes bears the names of his attendants Kittu and Mesaru, "Truth" +and "Righteousness," who guided him upon his path as judge of the +earth. + +[*] It is the group expressing this word which is used for Samas in + the name of Samas-sum-ukin (Saosduchinos), the brother of + Assur-bani-apli (Assurbanipal). The Greek equivalent implies the + pronunciation /Sawas/, as well as /Samas/. + + + Tammuz and Istar. + +The date of the rise of the myth of Tammuz is uncertain, but as the +name of this god is found on tablets of the time of Lugal-anda and +Uru-ka-gina (about 3500 B.C.), it can hardly be of later date than +4000 B.C., and may be much earlier. As he is repeatedly called "the +shepherd," and had a domain where he pastured his flock, Professor +Sayce sees in Tammuz "Daonus or Daos, the shepherd of Pantibibla," +who, according to Berosus, ruled in Babylonia for 10 /sari/, or 36,000 +years, and was the sixth king of the mythical period. According to the +classic story, the mother of Tammuz had unnatural intercourse with her +own father, being urged thereto by Aphrodite whom she had offended, +and who had decided thus to avenge herself. Being pursued by her +father, who wished to kill her for this crime, she prayed to the gods, +and was turned into a tree, from whose trunk Adonis was afterwards +born. Aphrodite was so charmed with the infant that, placing him in a +chest, she gave him into the care of Persephone, who, however, when +she discovered what a treasure she had in her keeping, refused to part +with him again. Zeus was appealed to, and decided that for four months +in the year Adonis should be left to himself, four should be spent +with Aphrodite, and four with Persephone, and six with Aphrodite on +earth. He was afterwards slain, whilst hunting, by a wild boar. + +Nothing has come down to us as yet concerning this legend except the +incident of his dwelling in Hades, whither Istar, the Babylonian +Venus, went in search of him. It is not by any means unlikely, +however, that the whole story existed in Babylonia, and thence spread +to Phoenicia, and afterwards to Greece. In Phoenicia it was adapted to +the physical conditions of the country, and the place of Tammuz's +encounter with the boar was said to be the mountains of Lebanon, +whilst the river named after him, Adonis (now the Nahr Ibrahim), which +ran red with the earth washed down by the autumn rains, was said to be +so coloured in consequence of being mingled with his blood. The +descent of Tammuz to the underworld, typified by the flowing down of +the earth-laden waters of the rivers to the sea, was not only +celebrated by the Phoenicians, but also by the Babylonians, who had at +least two series of lamentations which were used on this occasion, and +were probably the originals of those chanted by the Hebrew women in +the time of Ezekiel (about 597 B.C.). Whilst on earth, he was the one +who nourished the ewe and her lamb, the goat and her kid, and also +caused them to be slain--probably in sacrifice. "He has gone, he has +gone to the bosom of the earth," the mourners cried, "he will make +plenty to overflow for the land of the dead, for its lamentations for +the day of his fall, in the unpropitious month of his year." There was +also lamentation for the cessation of the growth of vegetation, and +one of these hymns, after addressing him as the shepherd and husband +of Istar, "lord of the underworld," and "lord of the shepherd's seat," +goes on to liken him to a germ which has not absorbed water in the +furrow, whose bud has not blossomed in the meadow; to the sapling +which has not been planted by the watercourse, and to the sapling +whose root has been removed. In the "Lamentations" in the Manchester +Museum, Istar, or one of her devotees, seems to call for Tammuz, +saying, "Return, my husband," as she makes her way to the region of +gloom in quest of him. Eres-e-gala, "the lady of the great house" +(Persephone), is also referred to, and the text seems to imply that +Istar entered her domain in spite of her. In this text other names are +given to him, namely, /Tumu-giba/, "son of the flute," /Ama-elaggi/, +and /Si-umunnagi/, "life of the people." + +The reference to sheep and goats in the British Museum fragment +recalls the fact that in an incantation for purification the person +using it is told to get the milk of a yellow goat which has been +brought forth in the sheep-fold of Tammuz, recalling the flocks of the +Greek sun-god Helios. These were the clouds illuminated by the sun, +which were likened to sheep--indeed, one of the early Sumerian +expressions for "fleece" was "sheep of the sky." The name of Tammuz in +Sumerian is Dumu-zi, or in its rare fullest form, Dumu-zida, meaning +"true" or "faithful son." There is probably some legend attached to +this which is at present unknown. + +In all probability Istar, the spouse of Tammuz, is best known from her +descent into Hades in quest of him when with Persephone (Eres-ki-gal) +in the underworld. In this she had to pass through seven gates, and an +article of clothing was taken from her at each, until she arrived in +the underworld quite naked, typifying the teaching, that man can take +nothing away with him when he departs this life. During her absence, +things naturally began to go wrong upon the earth, and the gods were +obliged to intervene, and demand her release, which was ultimately +granted, and at each gate, as she returned, the adornments which she +had left were given back to her. It is uncertain whether the husband +whom she sought to release was set free, but the end of the +inscription seems to imply that Istar was successful in her mission. + +In this story she typifies the faithful wife, but other legends show +another side of her character, as in that of Gilgames, ruler of her +city Erech, to whom she makes love. Gilgames, however, knowing the +character of the divine queen of his city too well, reproaches her +with her treatment of her husband and her other lovers--Tammuz, to +whom, from year to year, she caused bitter weeping; the bright +coloured Allala bird, whom she smote and broke his wings; the lion +perfect in strength, in whom she cut wounds "by sevens"; the horse +glorious in war, to whom she caused hardship and distress, and to his +mother Silili bitter weeping; the shepherd who provided for her things +which she liked, whom she smote and changed to a jackal; Isullanu, her +father's gardener, whom she tried, apparently, to poison, but failing, +she smote him, and changed him to a statue(?). On being thus reminded +of her misdeeds, Istar was naturally angry, and, ascending to heaven, +complained to her father Anu and her mother Anatu, the result being, +that a divine bull was sent against Gilgames and Enki-du, his friend +and helper. The bull, however, was killed, and a portion of the animal +having been cut off, Enki-du threw it at the goddess, saying at the +same time that, if he could only get hold of her, he would treat her +similarly. Apparently Istar recognised that there was nothing further +to be done in the matter, so, gathering the hand-maidens, pleasure-women +and whores, in their presence she wept over the portion of the +divine bull which had been thrown at her. + +The worship of Istar, she being the goddess of love and war, was +considerably more popular than that of her spouse, Tammuz, who, as +among the western Semitic nations, was adored rather by the women than +the men. Her worship was in all probability of equal antiquity, and +branched out, so to say, in several directions, as may be judged by +her many names, each of which had a tendency to become a distinct +personality. Thus the syllabaries give the character which represents +her name as having also been pronounced /Innanna/, /Ennen/, and /Nin/, +whilst a not uncommon name in other inscriptions is /Ama-Innanna/, +"mother Istar." The principal seat of her worship in Babylonia was at +Erech, and in Assyria at Nineveh--also at Arbela, and many other +places. She was also honoured (at Erech and elsewhere) under the +Elamite names of Tispak and Susinak, "the Susian goddess." + + + Nina. + +From the name /Nin/, which Istar bore, there is hardly any doubt that +she acquired the identification with Nina, which is provable as early +as the time of the Lagasite kings, Lugal-anda and Uru-ka-gina. As +identified with Aruru, the goddess who helped Merodach to create +mankind, Istar was also regarded as the mother of all, and in the +Babylonian story of the Flood, she is made to say that she had +begotten man, but like "the sons of the fishes," he filled the sea. +Nina, then, as another form of Istar, was a goddess of creation, +typified in the teeming life of the ocean, and her name is written +with a character standing for a house or receptacle, with the sign for +"fish" within. Her earliest seat was the city of Nina in southern +Babylonia, from which place, in all probability, colonists went +northwards, and founded another shrine at Nineveh in Assyria, which +afterwards became the great centre of her worship, and on this account +the city was called after her Ninaa or Ninua. As their tutelary +goddess, the fishermen in the neighbourhood of the Babylonian Nina and +Lagas were accustomed to make to her, as well as to Innanna or Istar, +large offerings of fish. + +As the masculine deities had feminine forms, so it is not by any means +improbable that the goddesses had masculine forms, and if that be the +case, we may suppose that it was a masculine counterpart of Nina who +founded Nineveh, which, as is well known, is attributed to Ninos, the +same name as Nina with the Greek masculine termination. + + + Nin-Gursu. + +This deity is principally of importance in connection with the ancient +Babylonian state of Lagas, the home of an old and important line of +kings and viceroys, among the latter being the celebrated Gudea, whose +statues and inscribed cylinders now adorn the Babylonian galleries of +the Louvre at Paris. His name means "Lord of Girsu," which was +probably one of the suburbs, and the oldest part, of Lagas. This deity +was son of En-lila or Bel, and was identified with Nirig or Enu-restu. +To all appearance he was a sun-deity. The dialectic form of his name +was /U-Mersi/, of which a variant, /En-Mersi/, occurs in an +incantation published in the fourth volume of the /Cuneiform +Inscriptions of Western Asia/, pl. 27, where, for the Sumerian "Take a +white kid of En-Mersi," the Semitic translation is "of Tammuz," +showing that he was identified with the latter god. In the second +volume of the same work Nin-Girsu is given as the pronunciation of the +name of the god of agriculturalists, confirming this identification, +Tammuz being also god of agriculture. + + + Bau. + +This goddess at all times played a prominent part in ancient +Babylonian religion, especially with the rulers before the dynasty of +Hammurabi. She was the "mother" of Lagas, and her temple was at +Uru-azaga, a district of Lagas, the chief city of Nin-Girsu, whose +spouse she was. Like Nin-Girsu, she planted (not only grain and +vegetation, but also the seed of men). In her character of the goddess +who gave life to men, and healed their bodies in sickness, she was +identified with Gula, one of those titles is "the lady saving from +death". Ga-tum-duga, whose name probably means "making and producing +good," was also exceedingly popular in ancient times, and though +identified with Bau, is regarded by Jastrow has having been originally +distinct from her. + + + Eres-ki-gal or Allatu. + +As the prototype of Persephone, this goddess is one of much importance +for comparative mythology, and there is a legend concerning her of +considerable interest. The text is one of those found at Tel-el-Armana, +in Egypt, and states that the gods once made a feast, and sent +to Eres-ki-gal, saying that, though they could go down to her, she +could not ascend to them, and asking her to send a messenger to fetch +away the food destined for her. This she did, and all the gods stood +up to receive her messenger, except one, who seems to have withheld +this token of respect. The messenger, when he returned, apparently +related to Eres-ki-gal what had happened, and angered thereat, she +sent him back to the presence of the gods, asking for the delinquent +to be delivered to her, that she might kill him. The gods then +discussed the question of death with the messenger, and told him to +take to his mistress the god who had not stood up in his presence. +When the gods were brought together, that the culprit might be +recognised, one of them remained in the background, and on the +messenger asking who it was who did not stand up, it was found to be +Nerigal. This god was duly sent, but was not at all inclined to be +submissive, for instead of killing him, as she had threatened, +Eres-ki-gal found herself seized by the hair and dragged from her throne, +whilst the death-dealing god made ready to cut off her head. "Do not +kill me, my brother, let me speak to thee," she cried, and on his +loosing his hold upon her hair, she continued, "thou shalt be my +husband, and I will be thy wife--I will cause you to take dominion in +the wide earth. I will place the tablet of wisdom in thine hand--thou +shalt be lord, I will be lady." Nerigal thereupon took her, kissed +her, and wiped away her tears, saying, "Whatever thou hast asked me +for months past now receives assent." + +Eres-ki-gal did not treat her rival in the affections of Tammuz so +gently when Istar descended to Hades in search of the "husband of her +youth." According to the story, not only was Istar deprived of her +garments and ornaments, but by the orders of Eres-ki-gal, Namtar smote +her with disease in all her members. It was not until the gods +intervened that Istar was set free. The meaning of her name is "lady +of the great region," a description which is supposed to apply to +Hades, and of which a variant, Eres-ki-gal, "lady of the great house," +occurs in the Hymns to Tammuz in the Manchester Museum. + + + Nergal. + +This name is supposed to mean "lord of the great habitation," which +would be a parallel to that of his spouse Eres-ki-gal. He was the +ruler of Hades, and at the same time god of war and of disease and +pestilence. As warrior, he naturally fought on the side of those who +worshipped him, as in the phrase which describes him as "the warrior, +the fierce storm-flood overthrowing the land of the enemy." As pointed +out by Jastrow, he differs from Nirig, who was also a god of war, in +that he symbolises, as god of disease and death, the misery and +destruction which accompany the strife of nations. It is in +consequence of this side of his character that he appears also as god +of fire, the destroying element, and Jensen says that Nerigal was god +of the midday or of the summer sun, and therefore of all the +misfortunes caused by an excess of his heat. + +The chief centre of his worship was Cuthah (/Kutu/, Sumerian /Gudua/) +near Babylon, now represented by the mounds of Tel Ibrahim. The +identity with the Greek Aries and the Roman Mars is proved by the fact +that his planet was /Mustabarru-mutanu/, "the death-spreader," which +is probably the name of Mars in Semitic Babylonian. + + + Amurru. + +Although this is not by any means a frequent name among the deities +worshipped in Babylonia, it is worthy of notice on account of its +bearing upon the date of the compilation of the tablet which has been +taken as a basis of this list of gods. He was known as "Lord of the +mountains," and his worship became very popular during the period of +the dynasty to which Hammurabi belonged--say from 2200 to 1937 B.C., +when Amurru was much combined with the names of men, and is found both +on tablets and cylinder-seals. The ideographic manner of writing it is +/Mar-tu/, a word that is used for /Amurru/, the land of the Amorites, +which stood for the West in general. Amorites had entered Babylonia in +considerable numbers during this period, so that there is but little +doubt that his popularity was largely due to their influence, and the +tablet containing these names was probably drawn up, or at least had +the Semitic equivalents added, towards the beginning of that period. + + + Sin or Nannara. + +The cult of the moon-god was one of the most popular in Babylonia, the +chief seat of his worship being at Uru (now Muqayyar) the Biblical Ur +of the Chaldees. The origin of the name Sin is unknown, but it is +thought that it may be a corruption of Zu-ena, "knowledge-lord," as +the compound ideograph expressing his name may be read and translated. +Besides this compound ideograph, the name of the god Sin was also +expressed by the character for "30," provided with the prefix of +divinity, an ideograph which is due to the thirty days of the month, +and is thought to be of late date. With regard to Nannar, Jastrow +explains it as being for Narnar, and renders it "light-producer." In a +long hymn to this god he is described in many lines as "the lord, +prince of the gods, who in heaven alone is supreme," and as "father +Nannar." Among his other descriptive titles are "great Anu" (Sum. /ana +gale/, Semitic Bab. /Anu rabu/)--another instance of the +identification of two deities. He was also "lord of Ur," "lord of the +temple Gisnu-gala," "lord of the shining crown," etc. He is also said +to be "the mighty steer whose horns are strong, whose limbs are +perfect, who is bearded with a beard of lapis-stone,[*] who is filled +with beauty and fullness (of splendour)." + +[*] Probably of the colour of lapis only, not made of the stone + itself. + +Besides Babylonia and Assyria, he was also worshipped in other parts +of the Semitic east, especially at Harran, to which city Abraham +migrated, scholars say, in consequence of the patron-deity being the +same as at Ur of the Chaldees, where he had passed the earlier years +of his life. The Mountain of Sinai and the Desert of Sin, both bear +his name. + +According to king Dungi (about 2700 B.C.), the spouse of Sin or +Nannara was Nin-Uruwa, "the lady of Ur." Sargon of Assyria (722-705 +B.C.) calls her Nin-gala. + + + Addu or Rammanu. + +The numerous names which Hadad bears in the inscriptions, both +non-Semitic and Semitic, testify to the popularity which this god +enjoyed at all times in Babylonia. Among his non-Semitic names may be +mentioned Mer, Mermer, Muru, all, it may be imagined, imitative. Addu +is explained as being his name in the Amorite language, and a variant +form, apparently, which has lost its first syllable, namely, Dadu, +also appears--the Assyrians seem always to have used the +terminationless form of Addu, namely, Adad. In all probability Addu, +Adad, and Dadu are derived from the West Semitic Hadad, but the other +name, Rammanu, is native Babylonian, and cognate with Rimmon, which is +thus shown by the Babylonian form to mean "the thunderer," or +something similar. He was the god of winds, storms, and rain, feared +on account of the former, and worshipped, and his favour sought, on +account of the last. In his name Birqu, he appears as the god of +lightning, and Jastrow is of opinion, that he is sometimes associated +on that account with Samas, both of them being (although in different +degrees) gods of light, and this is confirmed by the fact that, in +common with the sun-god, he was called "god of justice." In the +Assyrian inscriptions he appears as a god of war, and the kings +constantly compare the destruction which their armies had wrought with +that of "Adad the inundator." For them he was "the mighty one, +inundating the regions of the enemy, lands and houses," and was prayed +to strike the land of the person who showed hostility to the Assyrian +king, with evil-working lightning, to throw want, famine, drought, and +corpses therein, to order that he should not live one day longer, and +to destroy his name and his seed in the land. + +The original seat of his worship was Muru in South Babylonia, to which +the patesi of Girsu in the time of Ibi-Sin sent grain as an offering. +Its site is unknown. Other places (or are they other names of the +same?) where he was worshipped were Ennigi and Kakru. The consort of +Addu was Sala, whose worship was likewise very popular, and to whom +there were temples, not only in Babylonia and Assyria, but also in +Elam, seemingly always in connection with Addu. + + + Assur. + +In all the deities treated of above, we see the chief gods of the +Babylonian and Assyrian pantheon, which were worshipped by both +peoples extensively, none of them being specifically Assyrian, though +worshipped by the Assyrians. There was one deity, however, whose name +will not be found in the Babylonian lists of gods, namely, Assur, the +national god of Assyria, who was worshipped in the city of Assur, the +old capital of the country. + +From this circumstance, it may be regarded as certain, that Assur was +the local god of the city whose name he bore, and that he attained to +the position of chief god of the Assyrian pantheon in the same way as +Merodach became king of the gods in Babylonia--namely, because Assur +was the capital of the country. His acceptance as chief divinity, +however, was much more general than that of Merodach, as temples to +him were to be found all over the Assyrian kingdom--a circumstance +which was probably due to Assyria being more closely united in itself +than Babylonia, causing his name to arouse patriotic feelings wherever +it might be referred to. This was probably partly due to the fact, +that the king in Assyria was more the representative of the god than +in Babylonia, and that the god followed him on warlike expeditions, +and when engaged in religious ceremonies--indeed, it is not by any +means improbable that he was thought to follow him wherever he went. +On the sculptures he is seen accompanying him in the form of a circle +provided with wings, in which is shown sometimes a full-length figure +of the god in human form, sometimes the upper part only, facing +towards and drawing his bow against the foe. In consequence of its +general appearance, the image of the god has been likened to the sun +in eclipse, the far-stretching wings being thought to resemble the +long streamers visible at the moment of totality, and it must be +admitted as probable that this may have given the idea of the symbol +shown on the sculptures. As a sun-god, and at the same time not the +god Samas, he resembled the Babylonian Merodach, and was possibly +identified with him, especially as, in at least one text, Beltu +(Beltis) is described as his consort, which would possibly identify +Assur's spouse with Zer-panitum. The original form of his name would +seem to have been Ausar, "water-field," probably from the tract where +the city of Assur was built. His identification with Merodach, if that +was ever accepted, may have been due to the likeness of the word to +Asari, one of that deity's names. The pronunciation Assur, however, +seems to have led to a comparison with the Ansar of the first tablet +of the Creation-story, though it may seem strange that the Assyrians +should have thought that their patron-god was a deity symbolising the +"host of heaven." Nevertheless, the Greek transcription of Ansar, +namely, /Assoros/, given by Damascius, certainly strengthens the +indications of the ideograph in this matter. Delitzsch regards the +word Assur, or Asur, as he reads it, as meaning "holy," and quotes a +list of the gods of the city of Nineveh, where the word Assur occurs +three times, suggesting the exclamation "holy, holy, holy," or "the +holy, holy, holy one." In all probability, however, the repetition of +the name three times simply means that there were three temples +dedicated to Assur in the cities in question.[*] Jastrow agrees with +Delitzsch in regarding Asur as another form of Asir (found in early +Cappadocian names), but he translates it rather as "overseer" or +"guardian" of the land and the people--the terminationless form of +/asiru/, which has this meaning, and is applied to Merodach. + +[*] Or there may have been three shrines to Assur in each temple + referred to. + +As the use of the characters /An-sar/ for the god Assur only appears +at a late date (Jastrow says the eighth century B.C.), this would seem +to have been the work of the scribes, who wished to read into the name +the earlier signification of Ansar, "the host of heaven," an +explanation fully in accord with Jastrow's reasonings with regard to +the nature of the deity. As he represented no personification or power +of nature, he says, but the general protecting spirit of the land, the +king, the army, and the people, the capital of the country could be +transferred from Assur to Calah, from there back to Assur, and finally +to Nineveh, without affecting the position of the protecting god of +the land in any way. He needed no temple--though such things were +erected to him--he had no need to fear that he should suffer in esteem +by the preference for some other god. As the embodiment of the spirit +of the Assyrian people the personal side of his being remained to a +certain extent in the background. If he was the "host of heaven," all +the deities might be regarded as having their being in him. + +Such was the chief deity of the Assyrians--a national god, grafted on +to, but always distinct from, the rest of the pantheon, which, as has +been shown, was of Babylonian origin, and always maintained the +characteristics and stamp of its origin. + +The spouse of Assur does not appear in the historical texts, and her +mention elsewhere under the title of Beltu, "the lady," does not allow +of any identification being made. In one inscription, however, +Assuritu is called the goddess, and Assur the god, of the star Sib-zi-anna, +identified by Jensen with Regulus, which was apparently the star +of Merodach in Babylonia. This, however, brings us no nearer, for +Assuritu would simply mean "the Assurite (goddess)." + + + The minor divinities. + +Among the hundreds of names which the lists furnish, a few are worthy +of mention, either because of more than ordinary interest, or in +consequence of their furnishing the name of some deity, chief in its +locality, but identified elsewhere with one of the greater gods. + +Aa.--This may be regarded either as the god Ea (though the name is +written differently), or as the sun-god assuming the name of his +consort; or (what is, perhaps, more probable) as a way of writing A'u +or Ya'u (the Hebrew Jah), without the ending of the nominative. This +last is also found under the form /Aa'u/, /ya'u/, /yau/, and /ya/. + +Abil-addu.--This deity seems to have attained a certain popularity in +later times, especially among immigrants from the West. As "the son of +Hadad," he was the equivalent of the Syrian Ben-Hadad. A tablet in New +York shows that his name was weakened in form to /Ablada/. + +Aku, the moon-god among the heavenly bodies. It is this name which is +regarded as occurring in the name of the Babylonian king Eri-Aku, +"servant of the moon-god," the biblical Arioch (Gen. xiv.). + +Amma-an-ki, Ea or Aa as lord of heaven and earth. + +Amna.--A name only found in a syllabary, and assigned to the sun-god, +from which it would seem that it is a form of the Egyptian Ammon. + +Anunitum, the goddess of one of the two Sippars, called Sippar of +Anunitum, who was worshipped in the temple E-ulmas within the city of +Agade (Akkad). Sayce identifies, on this account, these two places as +being the same. In a list of stars, Anunitum is coupled with +Sinunutum, which are explained as (the stars of) the Tigris and +Euphrates. These were probably names of Venus as the morning and +evening (or evening and morning) star. + +Apsu.--The deep dissociated from the evil connection with Tiawath, and +regarded as "the house of deep wisdom," i.e. the home of the god Ea or +Aa. + +Aruru.--One of the deities of Sippar and Aruru (in the time of the +dynasty of Hammurabi called Ya'ruru), of which she was the chief +goddess. Aruru was one of the names of the "lady of the gods," and +aided Merodach to make the seed of mankind. + +Bel.--As this name means "lord," it could be applied, like the +Phoenician Baal, to the chief god of any city, as Bel of Niffur, Bel of +Hursag-kalama, Bel of Aratta, Bel of Babylon, etc. This often +indicates also the star which represented the chief god of a place. + +Beltu.--In the same way Beltu, meaning "lady," meant also the chief +goddess of any place, as "Aruru, lady of the gods of Sippar of Aruru," +"Nin-mah, lady of the gods of E-mah," a celebrated temple within +Babylon, recently excavated by the Germans, "Nin-hur-saga, lady of the +gods of Kes," etc. + +Bunene.--A god associated with Samas and Istar at Sippar and +elsewhere. He "gave" and "renewed" to his worshippers. + +Dagan.--This deity, whose worship extends back to an exceedingly early +date, is generally identified with the Phoenician Dagon. Hammurabi +seems to speak of the Euphrates as being "the boundary of Dagan," whom +he calls his creator. In later inscriptions the form Daguna, which +approaches nearer to the West Semitic form, is found in a few personal +names. The Phoenician statues of this deity showed him with the lower +part of his body in the form of a fish (see 1 Sam. v. 4). Whether the +deities clothed in a fish's skin in the Nimroud gallery be Dagon or +not is uncertain--they may be intended for Ea or Aa, the Oannes of +Berosus, who was represented in this way. Probably the two deities +were regarded as identical. + +Damu.--a goddess regarded as equivalent to Gula by the Babylonians and +Assyrians. She was goddess of healing, and made one's dreams happy. + +Dumu-zi-abzu, "Tammuz of the Abyss."--This was one of the six sons of +Ea or Aa, according to the lists. His worship is exceedingly ancient, +and goes back to the time of E-anna-tum of Lagas (about 4000 B.C.). +What connection, if any, he may have with Tammuz, the spouse of Istar, +is unknown. Jastrow apparently regards him as a distinct deity, and +translates his name "the child of the life of the water-deep." + +Elali.--A deity identified with the Hebrew Helal, the new moon. Only +found in names of the time of the Hammurabi dynasty, in one of which +he appears as "a creator." + +En-nugi is described as "lord of streams and canals," and "lord of the +earth, lord of no-return." This last description, which gives the +meaning of his name, suggests that he was one of the gods of the realm +of Eres-ki-gal, though he may have borne that name simply as god of +streams, which always flow down, never the reverse. + +Gibil.--One of the names of the god of fire, sometimes transcribed +Girru by Assyriologists, the meaning apparently being "the fire-bearer" +or "light-bearer." Girru is another name of this deity, and +translates an ideographic group, rendered by Delitzsch "great" or +"highest decider," suggesting the custom of trial by ordeal. He was +identified with Nirig, in Semitic Enu-restu. + +Gusqi-banda or Kuski-banda, one of the names of Ea, probably as god of +gold-workers. + +Isum, "the glorious sacrificer," seemingly a name of the fire-god as a +means whereby burnt offerings were made. Nur-Isum, "light of Isum," is +found as a man's name. + +Kaawanu, the planet Saturn. + +Lagamal.--A god identified with the Elamite Lagamar, whose name is +regarded as existing in Chedorlaomer (cf. Gen. xiv. 2). He was the +chief god of Mair, "the ship-city." + +Lugal-Amarada or Lugal-Marad.--This name means "king of Marad," a city +as yet unidentified. The king of this place seems to have been +Nerigal, of whom, therefore, Lugal-Marad is another name. + +Lugal-banda.--This name means "the powerful king," or something +similar, and the god bearing it is supposed to be the same as Nerigal. +His consort, however, was named Nin-sun (or Nin-gul). + +Lugal-Du-azaga, "the king of the glorious seat."--The founder of +Eridu, "the good city within the Abyss," probably the paradise (or a +paradise) of the world to come. As it was the aim of every good +Babylonian to dwell hereafter with the god whom he had worshipped upon +earth, it may be conjectured that this was the paradise in the domain +of Ea or Aa. + +Mama, Mami.--Names of "the lady of the gods," and creatress of the +seed of mankind, Aruru. Probably so called as the "mother" of all +things. Another name of this goddess is Ama, "mother." + +Mammitum, Mamitum, goddess of fate. + +Mur, one of the names of Addu or Rammanu (Hadad or Rimmon). + +Nana or Nanaa was the consort of Nebo at Borsippa, but appears as a +form of Istar, worshipped, with Anu her father, at Erech. + +Nin-aha-kuku, a name of Ea or Aa and of his daughter as deity of the +rivers, and therefore of gardens and plantations, which were watered +by means of the small canals leading therefrom. As daughter of Ea, +this deity was also "lady of the incantation." + +Nin-azu, the consort of Eres-ki-gal, probably as "lord physician." He +is probably to be identified with Nerigal. + +Nin-igi-nagar-si, a name somewhat more doubtful as to its reading than +the others, designates Ea or Aa as "the god of the carpenter." He +seems to have borne this as "the great constructor of heaven" or "of +Anu." + +Nin-mah, chief goddess of the temple E-mah in Babylon. Probably to be +identified with Aruru, and therefore with Zer-panitum. + +Nin-sah, a deity whose name is conjectured to mean "lord of the wild +boar." He seems to have been a god of war, and was identified with +Nirig or Enu-restu and Pap-sukal. + +Nin-sirsir, Ea as the god of sailors. + +Nin-sun, as pointed out by Jastrow, was probably the same as Istar or +Nana of Erech, where she had a shrine, with them, in E-anna, "the +house of Anu." He renders her name "the annihilating lady,"[*] +"appropriate for the consort of a sun-god," for such he regards +Lugal-banda her spouse. King Sin-gasid of Erech (about 3000 B.C.) refers +to her as his mother. + +[*] This is due to the second element of the name having, with another + pronunciation, the meaning of "to destroy." + +Nun-urra.--Ea, as the god of potters. + +Pap-sukal.--A name of Nin-sah as the "divine messenger," who is also +described as god "of decisions." Nin-sah would seem to have been one +of the names of Pap-sukal rather than the reverse. + +Qarradu, "strong," "mighty," "brave."--This word, which was formerly +translated "warrior," is applied to several deities, among them being +Bel, Nergal, Nirig (Enu-restu), and Samas, the sun-god. + +Ragimu and Ramimu, names of Rimmon or Hadad as "the thunderer." The +second comes from the same root as Rammanu (Rimmon). + +Suqamunu.--A deity regarded as "lord of watercourses," probably the +artificial channels dug for the irrigation of fields. + +Ura-gala, a name of Nerigal. + +Uras, a name of Nirig, under which he was worshipped at Dailem, near +Babylon. + +Zagaga, dialectic Zamama.--This deity, who was a god of war, was +identified with Nirig. One of this titles was /bel parakki/, "lord of +the royal chamber," or "throne-room." + +Zaraqu or Zariqu.--As the root of this name means "to sprinkle," he +was probably also a god of irrigation, and may have presided over +ceremonial purification. He is mentioned in names as the "giver of +seed" and "giver of a name" (i.e. offspring). + +These are only a small proportion of the names found in the +inscriptions, but short as the list necessarily is, the nature, if not +the full composition, of the Babylonian pantheon will easily be +estimated therefrom. + +It will be seen that besides the identifications of the deities of all +the local pantheons with each other, each divinity had almost as many +names as attributes and titles, hence their exceeding multiplicity. In +such an extensive pantheon, many of the gods composing it necessarily +overlap, and identification of each other, to which the faith, in its +primitive form, was a stranger, were inevitable. The tendency to +monotheism which this caused will be referred to later on. + + + The gods and the heavenly bodies. + +It has already been pointed out that, from the evidence of the +Babylonian syllabary, the deities of the Babylonians were not astral +in their origin, the only gods certainly originating in heavenly +bodies being the sun and the moon. This leads to the supposition that +the Babylonians, bearing these two deities in mind, may have asked +themselves why, if these two were represented by heavenly bodies, the +others should not be so represented also. Be this as it may, the other +deities of the pantheon were so represented, and the full planetary +scheme, as given by a bilingual list in the British Museum, was as +follows: + + Aku Sin the moon Sin + Bisebi Samas the sun Samas + Dapinu Umun-sig-ea Jupiter Merodach + Zib[*] Dele-bat Venus Istar + Lu-lim Lu-bat-sag-us Saturn Nirig (acc. to Jensen) + Bibbu Lubat-gud Mercury Nebo + Simutu Mustabarru Mars Nergal + mutanu + +All the above names of planets have the prefix of divinity, but in +other inscriptions the determinative prefix is that for "star," +/kakkabu/. + +[*] This is apparently a Sumerian dialectic form, the original word +having seemingly been Zig. + + + Moon and Sun. + +Unfortunately, all the above identifications of the planets with the +deities in the fourth column are not certain, namely, those +corresponding with Saturn, Mercury, and Mars. With regard to the +others, however, there is no doubt whatever. The reason why the moon +is placed before the sun is that the sun, as already explained, was +regarded as his son. It was noteworthy also that the moon was +accredited with two other offspring, namely, Masu and Mastu--son and +daughter respectively. As /masu/ means "twin," these names must +symbolise the two halves, or, as we say, "quarters" of the moon, who +were thus regarded, in Babylonian mythology, as his "twin children." + + + Jupiter and Saturn. + +Concerning Jupiter, who is in the above called Dapinu (Semitic), and +Umun-sig-ea (Sumerian), it has already been noted that he was called +Nibiru--according to Jensen, Merodach as he who went about among the +stars "pasturing" them like sheep, as stated in the Babylonian story +of the Creation (or Bel and the Dragon). This is explained by him as +being due to the comparatively rapid and extensive path of Jupiter on +the ecliptic, and it would seem probable that the names of Saturn, +/Kaawanu/ and /Sag-us/ (the former, which is Semitic Babylonian, +meaning "steadfast," or something similar, and the latter, in +Sumerian, "head-firm" or "steadfast"--"phlegmatic"), to all appearance +indicate in like manner the deliberation of his movements compared +with those of the planet dedicated to the king of the gods. + + + Venus at sunrise and sunset. + +A fragment of a tablet published in 1870 gives some interesting +particulars concerning the planet Venus, probably explaining some as +yet unknown mythological story concerning her. According to this, she +was a female at sunset, and a male at sunrise; Istar of Agade (Akad or +Akkad) at sunrise, and Istar of Erech at sunset: Istar of the stars at +sunrise, and the lady of the gods at sunset. + + + And in the various months. + +Istar was identified with Nin-si-anna in the first month of the year +(Nisan = March-April), with the star of the bow in Ab (August-September), +etc. In Sebat (January-February) she was the star of the +water-channel, Iku, which was Merodach's star in Sivan (May-June), and +in Marcheswan her star was Rabbu, which also belonged to Merodach in +the same month. It will thus be seen, that Babylonian astronomy is far +from being as clear as would be desired, but doubtless many +difficulties will disappear when further inscriptions are available. + + + Stars identified with Merodach. + +The same fragment gives the celestial names of Merodach for every +month of the year, from which it would appear, that the astrologers +called him Umun-sig-ea in Nisan (March-April), Dapinu in Tammuz +(June-July), Nibiru in Tisri (September-October), Sarru (the star +Regulus), in Tebet (December-January), etc. The first three are names +by which the planet Jupiter was known. + +As for the planets and stars, so also for the constellations, which +are identified with many gods and divine beings, and probably contain +references, in their names and descriptions, to many legends. In the +sixth tablet of the Creation-series, it is related of Merodach that, +after creating the heavens and the stations for Anu, Bel, and Ae, + + "He built firmly the stations of the great gods-- + Stars their likeness--he set up the /Lumali/, + He designated the year, he outlined the (heavenly) forms. + He set for the twelve months three stars each, + From the day when the year begins, . . . for signs." + +As pointed out by Mr. Robert Brown, jr., who has made a study of these +things, the "three stars" for each month occur on one of the remains +of planispheres in the British Museum, and are completed by a tablet +which gives them in list-form, in one case with explanations. Until +these are properly identified, however, it will be impossible to +estimate their real value. The signs of the Zodiac, which are given by +another tablet, are of greater interest, as they are the originals of +those which are in use at the present time:-- + + Month Sign Equivalent + + Nisan (Mar.-Apr.) The Labourer The Ram + Iyyar (Apr.-May) /Mulmula/ and the Bull of heaven The Bull + Sivan (May-June) /Sib-zi-anna/ and the great Twins The Twins + Tammuz (June-July) /Allul/ or /Nagar/ The Crab + Ab (July.-Aug.) The Lion (or dog) The Lion + Elul (Aug.-Sep.) The Ear of corn(?) The ear of Corn (Virgo) + Tisri (Sep.-Oct.) The Scales The Scales + Marcheswan (Oct.-Nov.) The Scorpion The Scorpion + Chisleu (Nov.-Dec.) /Pa-bil-sag/ The Archer + Tebet (Dec.-Jan.) /Sahar-mas/, the Fish-kid The Goat + Sebat (Jan.-Feb.) /Gula/ The Water-bearer + Adar (Feb.-Mar.) The Water Channel and the Tails The Fishes + + + Parallels in Babylonian legends. + +The "bull of heaven" probably refers to some legend such as that of +the story of Gilgames in his conflict with the goddess Istar when the +divine bull was killed; /Sib-zi-anna/, "the faithful shepherd of +heaven," suggests that this constellation may refer to Tammuz, the +divine shepherd; whilst "the scorpion" reminds us of the scorpion-men +who guarded the gate of the sun (Samas), when Gilgames was journeying +to gain information concerning his friend Enki-du, who had departed to +the place of the dead. Sir Henry Rawlinson many years ago pointed out +that the story of the Flood occupied the eleventh tablet of the +Gilgames series, corresponding with the eleventh sign of the Zodiac, +Aquarius, or the Water-bearer. + + + Other star-names. + +Other names of stars or constellations include "the weapon of +Merodach's hand," probably that with which he slew the dragon of +Chaos; "the Horse," which is described as "the god Zu," Rimmon's +storm-bird--Pegasus; "the Serpent," explained as Eres-ki-gal, the +queen of Hades, who would therefore seem to have been conceived in +that form; "the Scorpion," which is given as /Ishara tantim/, "Ishara +of the sea," a description difficult to explain, unless it refer to +her as the goddess of the Phoenician coast. Many other identifications, +exceedingly interesting, await solution. + + + How the gods were represented. On cylinder-seals. + +Many representations of the gods occur, both on bas-reliefs, +boundary-stones, and cylindrical and ordinary seals. Unfortunately, their +identification generally presents more or less difficulty, on account +of the absence of indications of their identity. On a small cylinder-seal +in the possession of the Rev. Dr. W. Hayes Ward, Merodach is +shown striding along the serpentine body of Tiawath, who turns her +head to attack him, whilst the god threatens her with a pointed weapon +which he carries. Another, published by the same scholar, shows a +deity, whom he regards as being Merodach, driven in a chariot drawn by +a winged lion, upon whose shoulders stands a naked goddess, holding +thunderbolts in each hand, whom he describes as Zer-panitum. Another +cylinder-seal shows the corn-deity, probably Nisaba, seated in +flounced robe and horned hat, with corn-stalks springing out from his +shoulders, and holding a twofold ear of corn in his hand, whilst an +attendant introduces, and another with a threefold ear of corn +follows, a man carrying a plough, apparently as an offering. On +another, a beautiful specimen from Assyria, Istar is shown standing on +an Assyrian lion, which turns his head as if to caress her feet. As +goddess of war, she is armed with bow and arrows, and her star is +represented upon the crown of her tiara. + + + On boundary-stones, etc. + +On the boundary-stones of Babylonia and the royal monoliths of Assyria +the emblems of the gods are nearly always seen. Most prominent are +three horned tiaras, emblematic, probably, of Merodach, Anu, and Bel +(the older). A column ending in a ram's head is used for Ea or Ae, a +crescent for Sin or Nannar, the moon-god; a disc with rays for Samas, +the sun-god; a thunderbolt for Rimmon or Hadad, the god of thunder, +lightning, wind, and storms; a lamp for Nusku, etc. A bird, perhaps a +hawk, stood for Utu-gisgallu, a deity whose name has been translated +"the southern sun," and is explained in the bilingual inscriptions as +Samas, the sun-god, and Nirig, one of the gods of war. The emblem of +Gal-alim, who is identified with the older Bel, is a snarling dragon's +head forming the termination of a pole, and that of Dun-asaga is a +bird's head similarly posed. On a boundary-stone of the time of +Nebuchadnezzar I., about 1120 B.C., one of the signs of the gods shows +a horse's head in a kind of shrine, probably the emblem of Rimmon's +storm-bird, Zu, the Babylonian Pegasus. + + + Other divine figures. + +One of the finest of all the representations of divinities is that of +the "Sun-god-stone," found by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam at Abu-habbah (the +ancient Sippar), which was one of the chief seats of his worship. It +represents him, seated in his shrine, holding in his hand a staff and +a ring, his usual emblems, typifying his position as judge of the +world and his endless course. The position of Merodach as sun-god is +confirmed by the small lapis-lazuli relief found by the German +expedition at the mound known as Amran ibn 'Ali, as he also carries a +staff and a ring, and his robe is covered with ornamental circles, +showing, in all probability, his solar nature. In the same place +another small relief representing Rimmon or Hadad was found. His robe +has discs emblematical of the five planets, and he holds in each hand +a thunderbolt, one of which he is about to launch forth. Merodach is +accompanied by a large two-horned dragon, whilst Hadad has a small +winged dragon, typifying the swiftness of his course, and another +animal, both of which he holds with cords. + + + + CHAPTER V + + THE DEMONS: EXORCISMS AND CEREMONIES + +Good and evil spirits, gods and demons, were fully believed in by the +Babylonians and Assyrians, and many texts referring to them exist. +Naturally it is not in some cases easy to distinguish well between the +special functions of these supernatural appearances which they +supposed to exist, but their nature is, in most cases, easily +ascertained from the inscriptions. + +To all appearance, the Babylonians imagined that spirits resided +everywhere, and lay in wait to attack mankind, and to each class, +apparently, a special province in bringing misfortune, or tormenting, +or causing pain and sickness, was assigned. All the spirits, however, +were not evil, even those whose names would suggest that their +character was such--there were good "liers in wait," for instance, as +well as evil ones, whose attitude towards mankind was beneficent. + +The /utukku/. This was a spirit which was supposed to do the will of +Anu, the god of the heavens. There was the /utukku/ of the plain, the +mountains, the sea, and the grave. + +The /alu/. Regarded as the demon of the storm, and possibly, in its +origin, the same as the divine bull sent by Istar to attack Gilgames, +and killed by Enki-du. It spread itself over a man, overpowering him +upon his bed, and attacking his breast. + +The /edimmu/. This is generally, but wrongly, read /ekimmu/, and +translated "the seizer," from /ekemu/, "to seize." In reality, +however, it was an ordinary spirit, and the word is used for the +wraiths of the departed. The "evil /edimmu/" was apparently regarded +as attacking the middle part of a man. + +The /gallu/. As this word is borrowed from the Sumerian /galla/, which +has a dialectic form, /mulla/, it is not improbable that it may be +connected with the word /mula/, meaning "star," and suggesting +something which is visible by the light it gives--possibly a +will-o'-the-wisp,--though others are inclined to regard the word as being +connected with /gala/, "great." In any case, its meaning seems to have +become very similar to "evil spirit" or "devil" in general, and is an +epithet applied by the Assyrian king Assur-bani-apli to Te-umman, the +Elamite king against whom he fought. + +The /ilu limnu/, "evil god," was probably originally one of the +deities of Tiawath's brood, upon whom Merodach's redemption had had no +effect. + +The /rabisu/ is regarded as a spirit which lay in wait to pounce upon +his prey. + +The /labartu/, in Sumerian /dimme/, was a female demon. There were +seven evil spirits of this kind, who were apparently regarded as being +daughters of Anu, the god of the heavens. + +The /labasu/, in Sumerian /dimmea/, was apparently a spirit which +overthrew, that being the meaning of the root from which the word +comes. + +The /ahhazu/, in Sumerian /dimme-kur/, was apparently so called as +"the seizer," that being the meaning indicated by the root. + +The /lilu/, in Sumerian /lila/, is generally regarded as "the +night-monster," the word being referred to the Semitic root /lil/ or +/layl/, whence the Hebrew /layil/, Arabic /layl/, "night." Its origin, +however, is Sumerian, from /lila/, regarded as meaning "mist." To the +word /lilu/ the ancient Babylonians formed a feminine, /lilithu/, +which entered the Hebrew language under the form of /lilith/, which +was, according to the rabbins, a beautiful woman, who lay in wait for +children by night. The /lilu/ had a companion who is called his +handmaid or servant. + +The /namtaru/ was apparently the spirit of fate, and therefore of +greater importance than those already mentioned. This being was +regarded as the beloved son of Bel, and offspring of /Eres-ki-gal/ or +Persephone, and he had a spouse named /Hus-bi-saga/. Apparently he +executed the instructions given him concerning the fate of men, and +could also have power over certain of the gods. + +The /sedu/ were apparently deities in the form of bulls. They were +destructive, of enormous power, and unsparing. In a good sense the +/sedu/ was a protecting deity, guarding against hostile attacks. Erech +and the temple E-kura were protected by spirits such as these, and to +one of them Isum, "the glorious sacrificer," was likened. + +The /lamassu/, from the Sumerian /lama/, was similar in character to +the /sedu/, but is thought to have been of the nature of a colossus--a +winged man-headed bull or lion. It is these creatures which the kings +placed at the sides of the doors of their palaces, to protect the +king's footsteps. In early Babylonian times a god named Lama was one +of the most popular deities of the Babylonian pantheon. + + + A specimen incantation. + +Numerous inscriptions, which may be regarded as dating, in their +origin, from about the middle of the third millennium before Christ, +speak of these supernatural beings, and also of others similar. One of +the most perfect of these inscriptions is a large bilingual tablet of +which a duplicate written during the period of the dynasty of +Hammurabi (before 2000 B.C.) exists, and which was afterwards provided +with a Semitic Babylonian translation. This inscription refers to the +evil god, the evil /utukku/, the /utukku/ of the plain, of the +mountain, of the sea, and of the grave; the evil /sedu/, the glorious +/alu/, or divine bull, and the evil unsparing wind. There was also +that which takes the form of a man, the evil face, the evil eye, the +evil mouth, the evil tongue, the evil lip, the evil breath; also the +afflicting /asakku/ (regarded as the demon of fever), the /asakku/ +which does not leave a man: the afflicting /namtaru/ (fate), the +severe /namtaru/, the /namtaru/ which does not quit a man. After this +are mentioned various diseases, bodily pains, annoyances, such as "the +old shoe, the broken shoe-lace, the food which afflicts the body of a +man, the food which turns in eating, the water which chokes in +drinking," etc. Other things to be exorcised included the spirit of +death, people who had died of hunger, thirst, or in other ways; the +handmaid of the /lilu/ who had no husband, the prince of the /lilu/ +who had no wife, whether his name had been recorded or unrecorded. + +The method of exorcising the demons causing all these things is +curious. White and black yarn was spun, and fastened to the side and +canopy of the afflicted person's bed--the white to the side and the +top or canopy, the black to the left hand--and then, apparently, the +following words were said:-- + +"Evil /utukku/, evil /alu/, evil /edimmu/, evil /gallu/, evil god, +evil /rabisu/, /labartu/, /labasu/, /ahhazu/, /lilu/, /lilithu/, +handmaid of /lilu/, sorcery, enchantment, magic, disaster, machination +which is not good--may they not set their head to his head, their hand +to his hand, their foot to his foot--may they not draw near. Spirit of +heaven, mayest thou exorcise, spirit of earth, mayest thou exorcise." + +But this was only the beginning of the real ceremony. The god +Asari-alim-nunna (Merodach), "eldest son of Eridu," was asked to wash +him in pure and bright water twice seven times, and then would the evil +lier-in-wait depart, and stand aside, and a propitious /sedu/ and a +propitious /labartu/ reside in his body. The gates right and left +having been thus, so to say, shut close, the evil gods, demons, and +spirits would be unable to approach him, wherever he might be. "Spirit +of heaven, exorcise, spirit of earth, exorcise." Then, after an +invocation of Eres-ki-gal and Isum, the final paragraph was +pronounced:-- + + "The afflicted man, by an offering of grace + In health like shining bronze shall be made bright. + As for that man, + Samas shall give him life. + Merodach, first-born son of the Abyss, + It is thine to purify and glorify. + Spirit of heaven, mayest thou exorcise, spirit of + earth, mayest thou exorcise." + + + Rites and ceremonies. + +As may be expected, the Babylonians and Assyrians had numerous rites +and ceremonies, the due carrying out of which was necessary for the +attainment of the grace demanded, or for the efficacy of the thanks +tendered for favours received. + +Perhaps the oldest ceremony recorded is that which Ut-napistim, the +Chaldaean Noah, made on the /zikkurat/ or peak of the mountain after +the coming forth from the ship which had saved him and his from the +Flood. The Patriarch's description of this ceremony is short:-- + + "I sent forth to the four winds, I poured out a libation + I made an offering on the peak of the mountain: + Seven and seven I set incense-vases there, + Into their depths I poured cane, cedar, and scented wood(?). + The gods smelled a savour, + The gods smelled a sweet savour, + The gods gathered like flies over the sacrificer." + +Following in the footsteps of their great progenitor, the Babylonians +and Assyrians became a most pious race, constantly rendering to their +gods the glory for everything which they succeeded in bringing to a +successful issue. Prayer, supplication, and self-abasement before +their gods seem to have been with them a duty and a pleasure:-- + + "The time for the worship of the gods was my heart's delight, + The time of the offering to Istar was profit and riches," + +sings Ludlul the sage, and all the people of his land were one with +him in that opinion. + +It is noteworthy that the offering of the Chaldaean Noah consisted of +vegetable produce only, and there are many inscriptions referring to +similar bloodless sacrifices, and detailing the ritual used in +connection therewith. Sacrifices of animals, however, seem to have +been constantly made--in any case, offerings of cattle and fowl, in +list-form, are fairly numerous. Many a cylinder-seal has a +representation of the owner bringing a young animal--a kid or a +lamb--as an offering to the deity whom he worshipped, and in the +inscriptions the sacrifice of animals is frequently referred to. One +of the bilingual texts refers to the offering of a kid or some other +young animal, apparently on behalf of a sick man. The text of this, +where complete, runs as follows:-- + + "The fatling which is the 'head-raiser' of mankind-- + He has given the fatling for his life. + He has given the head of the fatling for his head, + He has given the neck of the fatling for his neck, + He has given the breast of the fatling for his breast." + +Whether human sacrifices were common or not is a doubtful point. Many +cylinder-seals exist in which the slaying of a man is depicted, and +the French Assyriologist Menant was of opinion that they represented a +human offering to the gods. Hayes Ward, however, is inclined to doubt +this explanation, and more evidence would seem, therefore, to be +needed. He is inclined to think that, in the majority of cases, the +designs referred to show merely the victims of divine anger or +vengeance, punished by the deity for some misdeed or sin, either +knowingly or unknowingly committed. + +In the Assyrian galleries of the British Museum, Assur-nasir-apli, +king of Assyria, is several times shown engaged in religious +ceremonies--either worshipping before the sacred tree, or about to +pour out, apparently, a libation to the gods before departing upon +some expedition, and priests bringing offerings, either animal or +vegetable, are also represented. Assur-bani-apli, who is identified +with "the great and noble Asnapper," is shown, in bas-reliefs of the +Assyrian Saloon, pouring out a thank-offering over the lions which he +has killed, after his return from the hunt. + + + + CHAPTER VI + + PROBLEMS WHICH THE STUDY OFFERS + + + Monotheism. + +As the matter of Babylonian monotheism has been publicly touched upon +by Fried. Delitzsch in his "Babel und Bibel" lectures, a few words +upon that important point will be regarded in all probability as +appropriate. It has already been indicated that the giving of the +names of "the gods his fathers" to Merodach practically identified +them with him, thus leading to a tendency to monotheism. That tendency +is, perhaps, hinted at in a letter of Assur-bani-apli to the +Babylonians, in which he frequently mentions the Deity, but in doing +so, uses either the word /ilu/, "God," Merodach, the god of Babylon, +or Bel, which may be regarded as one of his names. The most important +document for this monotheistic tendency, however (confirming as it +does the tablet of the fifty-one names), is that in which at least +thirteen of the Babylonian deities are identified with Merodach, and +that in such a way as to make them merely forms in which he manifested +himself to men. The text of this inscription is as follows:-- + + ". . . is Merodach of planting. + Lugal-aki-. . . is Merodach of the water-course. + Nirig is Merodach of strength. + Nergal is Merodach of war. + Zagaga is Merodach of battle. + Bel is Merodach of lordship and domination. + Nebo is Merodach of trading(?). + Sin is Merodach the illuminator of the night. + Samas is Merodach of righteous things. + Addu is Merodach of rain. + Tispak is Merodach of frost(?). + Sig is Merodach of green things(?). + Suqamunu is Merodach of the irrigation-channel." + +Here the text breaks off, but must have contained several more similar +identifications, showing how at least the more thoughtful of the +Babylonians of old looked upon the host of gods whom they worshipped. +What may be the date of this document is uncertain, but as the +colophon seems to describe it as a copy of an older inscription, it +may go back as far as 2000 years B.C. This is the period at which the +name /Yaum-ilu/ "Jah is God," is found, together with numerous +references to /ilu/ as the name for the one great god, and is also, +roughly, the date of Abraham, who, it may be noted, was a Babylonian +of Ur of the Chaldees. It will probably not be thought too venturesome +to say that his monotheism was possibly the result of the religious +trend of thought in his time. + + + Dualism. + +Damascius, in his valuable account of the belief of the Babylonians +concerning the Creation, states that, like the other barbarians, they +reject the doctrine of the one origin of the universe, and constitute +two, Tauthe (Tiawath) and Apason (Apsu). This twofold principle, +however, is only applicable to the system in that it makes of the sea +and the deep (for such are the meanings of the two words) two +personages--the female and the male personifications of primaeval +matter, from which all creation sprang, and which gave birth to the +gods of heaven themselves. As far as the physical constituents of +these two principals are concerned, their tenets might be described as +having "materialistic monism" as their basis, but inasmuch as they +believed that each of these two principals had a mind, the description +"idealistic monism" cannot be applied to it--it is distinctly a +dualism. + + + And Monism. + +Divested of its idealistic side, however, there would seem to be no +escape from regarding the Babylonian idea of the origin of things as +monistic.[*] This idea has its reflection, though not its +reproduction, in the first chapter of Genesis, in which, verses 2, 6, +and 7, water is represented as the first thing existing, though not +the first abode of life. This divergency from the Babylonian view was +inevitable with a monotheistic nation, such as the Jews were, +regarding as they did the Deity as the great source of everything +existing. What effect the moving of the Spirit of God upon the face of +the waters (v.2) was supposed by them to have had, is uncertain, but +it is to be noted that it was the land (vv. 11, 12) which first +brought forth, at the command of God. + +[*] Monism. The doctrine which holds that in the universe there is + only a single element or principle from which everything is + developed, this single principle being either mind (/idealistic + monism/) or matter (/materialistic monism/). (Annandale.) + + + The future life. + +The belief in a future life is the natural outcome of a religious +belief such as the Babylonians, Assyrians, and many of the surrounding +nations possessed. As has been shown, a portion of their creed +consisted in hero-worship, which pre-supposes that the heroes in +question continued to exist, in a state of still greater power and +glory, after the conclusion of their life here upon earth. + +"The god Bel hates me--I cannot dwell in this land, and in the +territory of Bel I cannot set my face. I shall descend then to the +Abyss; with Aa my lord shall I constantly dwell." It is with these +words that, by the counsel of the god Aa, Ut-napistim explained to +those who questioned him the reason why he was building the ship or +ark which was to save him and his from the Flood, and there is but +little doubt that the author of the story implied that he announced +thereby his approaching death, or his departure to dwell with his god +without passing the dread portals of the great leveller. This belief +in the life beyond the grave seems to have been that which was current +during the final centuries of the third millennium before Christ--when +a man died, it was said that his god took him to himself, and we may +therefore suppose, that there were as many heavens--places of +contentment and bliss--as there were gods, and that every good man was +regarded as going and dwelling evermore with the deity which he had +worshipped and served faithfully during his lifetime. + +Gilgames, the half-divine king of Erech, who reigned during the +half-mythical period, on losing his friend and counsellor, Enki-du, set +out to find him, and to bring him back, if possible, from the underworld +where he was supposed to dwell. His death, however, had not been like +that of an ordinary man; it was not Namtaru, the spirit of fate, who +had taken him, nor a misfortune such as befalls ordinary men, but +Nerigal's unsparing lier-in-wait--yet though Nerigal was the god of +war, Enki-du had not fallen on the battlefield of men, but had been +seized by the earth (apparently the underworld where the wicked are is +meant) in consequence, seemingly, of some trick or trap which had been +laid for him. + +The gods were therefore prayed, in turn, to bring him back, but none +of them listened except Ea, who begged him of Nerigal, whereupon the +latter opened the entrance to the place where he was--the hole of the +earth--and brought forth "the spirit (/utukku/) of Enki-du like mist." +Immediately after this come the words, "Tell, my friend, tell, my +friend--the law of the land which thou sawest, tell," and the answer, +"I will not tell thee, friend, I will not tell thee--if I tell thee +the law of the land which I saw, . . . sit down, weep." Ultimately, +however, the person appealed to--apparently the disembodied +Enki-du--reveals something concerning the condition of the souls in +the place of his sojourn after death, as follows:-- + + "Whom thou sawest [die] the death(?) [of][*] . . . [I see]-- + In the resting-place of . . . reposing, pure waters he drinketh. + Whom in the battle thou sawest killed, I see-- + His father and his mother raise his head, + And his wife upon [him leaneth?]. + Whose corpse thou hast seen thrown down in the plain, I see-- + His /edimmu/ in the earth reposeth not. + Whose /edimmu/ thou sawest without a caretaker, I see-- + The leavings of the dish, the remains of the food, + Which in the street is thrown, he eateth." + +[*] (?)"The death of the righteous," or something similar? + +It is naturally difficult to decide in a passage like this, the +difference existing between a man's /utukku/ and his /edimmu/, but the +probability is, that the former means his spiritual essence, whilst +the latter stands for the ghostly shadow of his body, resembling in +meaning the /ka/ of the Egyptians. To all appearance the abode +described above is not the place of the punishment of the wicked, but +the dwelling of those accounted good, who, if lucky in the manner of +their death, and the disposal of their bodies, enjoyed the highest +happiness in the habitation of the blest. The other place, however, is +otherwise described (it occurs in the account of Istar's descent into +Hades, and in the seventh tablet of the Gilgames series--the latter +differing somewhat):-- + + "Upon the land of No-return, the region of . . ., + [Set] Istar, daughter of Sin, her ear. + The daughter of Sin set then her ear . . . + Upon the house of gloom, the seat of Irkalla--[1] + Upon the house whose entrance hath no exit,[2] + Upon the path whose way hath no return, + Upon the house whose enterers are deprived of light, + Where dust is their nourishment, their food mud, + Light they see not, in darkness they dwell, + Clothed also, like a bird, in a dress of feathers. + Upon the door and bolt the dust hath blown." + +[1] One of the names of Nergal. + +[2] Or "whose enterer goeth not forth." + +Seven gates gave access to this place of gloom, and the porter, as he +let the visitor in, took from her (the goddess Istar in the narrative) +at each an article of clothing, until, at the last, she entered quite +naked, apparently typifying the fact that a man can take nothing with +him when he dieth, and also, in this case, that he has not even his +good deeds wherewith to clothe himself, for had they outweighed his +evil ones, he would not have found himself in that dread abode. + +On the arrival of Istar in Hades, Eres-ki-gal commanded Namtaru, the +god of fate, to smite Istar with disease in all her members--eyes, +sides, feet, heart, and head. As things went wrong on the earth in +consequence of the absence of the goddess of love, the gods sent a +messenger to effect her release. When he reached the land of +No-return, the queen of the region threatened him with all kinds of +torments--the food of the gutters of the city were to be his food, the +oil-jars of the city (naptha?) his drink, the gloom of the castle his +resting-place, a stone slab his seat, and hunger and thirst were to +shatter his strength. These were evidently the punishments inflicted +there, but as the messenger threatened was a divine one, they were +probably not put into execution, and he obtained his demand, for Istar +was set free, receiving back at each gate, in reverse order, the +clothing and ornaments which had been taken from her when she had +descended thither. It is uncertain whether Tammuz, for whom she had +gone down, was set free also, but as he is referred to, it is not +improbable that this was the case. + + + + WORKS BEARING UPON THE RELIGION OF THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + +Hibbert Lectures, 1887. The Religion of the Ancient Babylonians, by +Professor A. H. Sayce. + +The Religious Ideas of the Babylonians, by the Author, 1895 (Journal +of the Victoria Institute, also separately). + +The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, by Morris Jastrow, jun., 1898. +(German edition, vol. i. 1905, vol. ii. in progress.) + +Babylonian Religion and Mythology, by L. W. King, M.A., 1899. + +Gifford Lectures, 1902. Religions of Egypt and Babylonia, by Professor +A. H. Sayce. + +The O.T. in the Light of the Records of Assyria and Babylonia, by the +Author, 1903. (The portions referring to Babylonian Mythology.) + +The Hymns to Tammuz in the Manchester Museum, Owens College, by the +Author, 1904. + + + + ARTICLES UPON THE ASSYRIAN AND BABYLONIAN DEITIES, + AND THE RELIGION OF THREE NATIONS, IN + + Dictionary of the Bible, edited by Dr. James Hastings, and + Encyclopaedia Biblica, edited by Professor Cheyne. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, by +Theophilus G. 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Ltd. + +Etext prepared by John Bickers, jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz + and Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com + + + + THE RELIGION OF + BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA + + BY + + THEOPHILUS G. PINCHES, LL.D. + + Lecturer in Assyrian at University College, London, + Author of "The Old Testament in the Light of the + Records of Assyria and Babylonia"; "The Bronze + Ornaments of the Palace Gates of Balewat" etc. etc. + + + + PREPARER'S NOTE + + The original text contains a number of characters that are not + available even in 8-bit Windows text, such as H with a breve below + it in Hammurabi, S with a breve, S and T with a dot below them, U + with macron, and superscript M in Tasmetum. These have been left + in the e-text as the base letter. + + The 8-bit version of this text includes Windows font characters + like S with a caron above it (pronounced /sh/) as in Samas, etc. + These may be lost in 7-bit versions of the text, or when viewed + with different fonts. + + Greek text has been transliterated within brackets "{}" using an + Oxford English Dictionary alphabet table. Diacritical marks have + been lost. + + + + + + THE RELIGION OF THE + BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + + + + CHAPTER I + + FOREWORD + + + Position, and Period. + +The religion of the Babylonians and Assyrians was the polytheistic +faith professed by the peoples inhabiting the Tigris and Euphrates +valleys from what may be regarded as the dawn of history until the +Christian era began, or, at least, until the inhabitants were brought +under the influence of Christianity. The chronological period covered +may be roughly estimated at about 5000 years. The belief of the +people, at the end of that time, being Babylonian heathenism leavened +with Judaism, the country was probably ripe for the reception of the +new faith. Christianity, however, by no means replaced the earlier +polytheism, as is evidenced by the fact, that the worship of Nebo and +the gods associated with him continued until the fourth century of the +Christian era. + + + By whom followed. + +It was the faith of two distinct peoples--the Sumero-Akkadians, and +the Assyro-Babylonians. In what country it had its beginnings is +unknown--it comes before us, even at the earliest period, as a faith +already well-developed, and from that fact, as well as from the names +of the numerous deities, it is clear that it began with the former +race--the Sumero-Akkadians--who spoke a non-Semitic language largely +affected by phonetic decay, and in which the grammatical forms had in +certain cases become confused to such an extent that those who study +it ask themselves whether the people who spoke it were able to +understand each other without recourse to devices such as the "tones" +to which the Chinese resort. With few exceptions, the names of the +gods which the inscriptions reveal to us are all derived from this +non-Semitic language, which furnishes us with satisfactory etymologies +for such names as Merodach, Nergal, Sin, and the divinities mentioned +in Berosus and Damascius, as well as those of hundreds of deities +revealed to us by the tablets and slabs of Babylonia and Assyria. + + + The documents. + +Outside the inscriptions of Babylonia and Assyria, there is but little +bearing upon the religion of those countries, the most important +fragment being the extracts from Berosus and Damascius referred to +above. Among the Babylonian and Assyrian remains, however, we have an +extensive and valuable mass of material, dating from the fourth or +fifth millennium before Christ until the disappearance of the +Babylonian system of writing about the beginning of the Christian era. +The earlier inscriptions are mostly of the nature of records, and give +information about the deities and the religion of the people in the +course of descriptions of the building and rebuilding of temples, the +making of offerings, the performance of ceremonies, etc. Purely +religious inscriptions are found near the end of the third millennium +before Christ, and occur in considerable numbers, either in the +original Sumerian text, or in translations, or both, until about the +third century before Christ. Among the more recent inscriptions--those +from the library of the Assyrian king Assur-bani-apli and the later +Babylonian temple archives,--there are many lists of deities, with +numerous identifications with each other and with the heavenly bodies, +and explanations of their natures. It is needless to say that all this +material is of enormous value for the study of the religion of the +Babylonians and Assyrians, and enables us to reconstruct at first hand +their mythological system, and note the changes which took place in +the course of their long national existence. Many interesting and +entertaining legends illustrate and supplement the information given +by the bilingual lists of gods, the bilingual incantations and hymns, +and the references contained in the historical and other documents. A +trilingual list of gods enables us also to recognise, in some cases, +the dialectic forms of their names. + + + The importance of the subject. + +Of equal antiquity with the religion of Egypt, that of Babylonia and +Assyria possesses some marked differences as to its development. +Beginning among the non-Semitic Sumero-Akkadian population, it +maintained for a long time its uninterrupted development, affected +mainly by influences from within, namely, the homogeneous local cults +which acted and reacted upon each other. The religious systems of +other nations did not greatly affect the development of the early +non-Semitic religious system of Babylonia. A time at last came, +however, when the influence of the Semitic inhabitants of Babylonia +and Assyria was not to be gainsaid, and from that moment, the +development of their religion took another turn. In all probably this +augmentation of Semitic religious influence was due to the increased +numbers of the Semitic population, and at the same period the Sumero- +Akkadian language began to give way to the Semitic idiom which they +spoke. When at last the Semitic Babylonian language came to be used +for official documents, we find that, although the non-Semitic divine +names are in the main preserved, a certain number of them have been +displaced by the Semitic equivalent names, such as Samas for the +sun-god, with Kittu and Mesaru ("justice and righteousness") his +attendants; Nabu ("the teacher" = Nebo) with his consort Tasmetu ("the +hearer"); Addu, Adad, or Dadu, and Rammanu, Ramimu, or Ragimu = Hadad +or Rimmon ("the thunderer"); Bel and Beltu (Beltis = "the lord" and +"the lady" /par excellence/), with some others of inferior rank. In +place of the chief divinity of each state at the head of each separate +pantheon, the tendency was to make Merodach, the god of the capital +city Babylon, the head of the pantheon, and he seems to have been +universally accepted in Babylonia, like Assur in Assyria, about 2000 +B.C. or earlier. + + + The uniting of two pantheons. + +We thus find two pantheons, the Sumero-Akkadian with its many gods, +and the Semitic Babylonian with its comparatively few, united, and +forming one apparently homogeneous whole. But the creed had taken a +fresh tendency. It was no longer a series of small, and to a certain +extent antagonistic, pantheons composed of the chief god, his consort, +attendants, children, and servants, but a pantheon of considerable +extent, containing all the elements of the primitive but smaller +pantheons, with a number of great gods who had raised Merodach to be +their king. + + + In Assyria. + +Whilst accepting the religion of Babylonia, Assyria nevertheless kept +herself distinct from her southern neighbour by a very simple device, +by placing at the head of the pantheon the god Assur, who became for +her the chief of the gods, and at the same time the emblem of her +distinct national aspirations--for Assyria had no intention whatever +of casting in her lot with her southern neighbour. Nevertheless, +Assyria possessed, along with the language of Babylonia, all the +literature of that country--indeed, it is from the libraries of her +kings that we obtain the best copies of the Babylonian religious +texts, treasured and preserved by her with all the veneration of which +her religious mind was capable,--and the religious fervour of the +Oriental in most cases leaves that of the European, or at least of the +ordinary Briton, far behind. + + + The later period in Assyria. + +Assyria went to her downfall at the end of the seventh century before +Christ worshipping her national god Assur, whose cult did not cease +with the destruction of her national independence. In fact, the city +of Assur, the centre of that worship, continued to exist for a +considerable period; but for the history of the religion of Assyria, +as preserved there, we wait for the result of the excavations being +carried on by the Germans, should they be fortunate enough to obtain +texts belonging to the period following the fall of Nineveh. + + + In Babylonia. + +Babylonia, on the other hand, continued the even tenor of her way. +More successful at the end of her independent political career than +her northern rival had been, she retained her faith, and remained the +unswerving worshipper of Merodach, the great god of Babylon, to whom +her priests attributed yet greater powers, and with whom all the other +gods were to all appearance identified. This tendency to monotheism, +however, never reached the culminating point--never became absolute-- +except, naturally, in the minds of those who, dissociating themselves, +for philosophical reasons, from the superstitious teaching of the +priests of Babylonia, decided for themselves that there was but one +God, and worshipped Him. That orthodox Jews at that period may have +found, in consequence of this monotheistic tendency, converts, is not +by any means improbable--indeed, the names met with during the later +period imply that converts to Judaism were made. + + + The picture presented by the study. + +Thus we see, from the various inscriptions, both Babylonian and +Assyrian--the former of an extremely early period--the growth and +development, with at least one branching off, of one of the most +important religious systems of the ancient world. It is not so +important for modern religion as the development of the beliefs of the +Hebrews, but as the creed of the people from which the Hebrew nation +sprang, and from which, therefore, it had its beginnings, both +corporeal and spiritual, it is such as no student of modern religious +systems can afford to neglect. Its legends, and therefore its +teachings, as will be seen in these pages, ultimately permeated the +Semitic West, and may in some cases even had penetrated Europe, not +only through heathen Greece, but also through the early Christians, +who, being so many centuries nearer the time of the +Assyro-Babylonians, and also nearer the territory which they anciently +occupied, than we are, were far better acquainted than the people of +the present day with the legends and ideas which they possessed. + + + + CHAPTER II + + THE RELIGION OF THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + + + The Sumero-Akkadians and the Semites. + +For the history of the development of the religion of the Babylonians +and Assyrians much naturally depends upon the composition of the +population of early Babylonia. There is hardly any doubt that the +Sumero-Akkadians were non-Semites of a fairly pure race, but the +country of their origin is still unknown, though a certain +relationship with the Mongolian and Turkish nationalities, probably +reaching back many centuries--perhaps thousands of years--before the +earliest accepted date, may be regarded as equally likely. Equally +uncertain is the date of the entry of the Semites, whose language +ultimately displaced the non-Semitic Sumero-Akkadian idioms, and +whose kings finally ruled over the land. During the third millennium +before Christ Semites, bearing Semitic names, and called Amorites, +appear, and probably formed the last considerable stratum of tribes of +that race which entered the land. The name Martu, the Sumero-Akkadian +equivalent of Amurru, "Amorite", is of frequent occurrence also before +this period. The eastern Mediterranean coast district, including +Palestine and the neighbouring tracts, was known by the Babylonians +and Assyrians as the land of the Amorites, a term which stood for the +West in general even when these regions no longer bore that name. The +Babylonians maintained their claim to sovereignty over that part as +long as they possessed the power to do so, and naturally exercised +considerable influence there. The existence in Palestine, Syria, and +the neighbouring states, of creeds containing the names of many +Babylonian divinities is therefore not to be wondered at, and the +presence of West Semitic divinities in the religion of the Babylonians +need not cause us any surprise. + + + The Babylonian script and its evidence. + +In consequence of the determinative prefix for a god or a goddess +being, in the oldest form, a picture of an eight-rayed star, it has +been assumed that Assyro-Babylonian mythology is, either wholly or +partly, astral in origin. This, however, is by no means certain, the +character for "star" in the inscriptions being a combination of three +such pictures, and not a single sign. The probability therefore is, +that the use of the single star to indicate the name of a divinity +arises merely from the fact that the character in question stands for +/ana/, "heaven." Deities were evidently thus distinguished by the +Babylonians because they regarded them as inhabitants of the realms +above--indeed, the heavens being the place where the stars are seen, a +picture of a star was the only way of indicating heavenly things. That +the gods of the Babylonians were in many cases identified with the +stars and planets is certain, but these identifications seem to have +taken place at a comparatively late date. An exception has naturally +to be made in the case of the sun and moon, but the god Merodach, if +he be, as seems certain, a deified Babylonian king, must have been +identified with the stars which bear his name after his worshippers +began to pay him divine honours as the supreme deity, and naturally +what is true for him may also be so for the other gods whom they +worshipped. The identification of some of the deities with stars or +planets is, moreover, impossible, and if Ea, the god of the deep, and +Anu, the god of the heavens, have their representatives among the +heavenly bodies, this is probably the result of later development.[*] + +[*] If there be any historical foundation for the statement that + Merodach arranged the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars, + assigning to them their proper places and duties--a tradition + which would make him the founder of the science of astronomy + during his life upon earth--this, too, would tend to the + probability that the origin of the gods of the Babylonians was not + astral, as has been suggested, but that their identification with + the heavenly bodies was introduced during the period of his reign. + + + Ancestor and hero-worship. The deification of kings. + +Though there is no proof that ancestor-worship in general prevailed at +any time in Babylonia, it would seem that the worship of heroes and +prominent men was common, at least in early times. The tenth chapter +of Genesis tells us of the story of Nimrod, who cannot be any other +than the Merodach of the Assyro-Babylonian inscriptions; and other +examples, occurring in semi-mythological times, are /En-we-dur-an-ki/, +the Greek Edoreschos, and /Gilgames/, the Greek Gilgamos, though +Aelian's story of the latter does not fit in with the account as given +by the inscriptions. In later times, the divine prefix is found before +the names of many a Babylonian ruler--Sargon of Agade,[*] Dungi of Ur +(about 2500 B.C.), Rim-Sin or Eri-Aku (Arioch of Ellasar, about 2100 +B.C.), and others. It was doubtless a kind of flattery to deify and +pay these rulers divine honours during their lifetime, and on account +of this, it is very probable that their godhood was utterly forgotten, +in the case of those who were strictly historical, after their death. +The deification of the kings of Babylonia and Assyria is probably due +to the fact, that they were regarded as the representatives of God +upon earth, and being his chief priests as well as his offspring (the +personal names show that it was a common thing to regard children as +the gifts of the gods whom their father worshipped), the divine +fatherhood thus attributed to them naturally could, in the case of +those of royal rank, give them a real claim to divine birth and +honours. An exception is the deification of the Babylonian Noah, +Ut-napistim, who, as the legend of the Flood relates, was raised and +made one of the gods by Aa or Ea, for his faithfulness after the great +catastrophe, when he and his wife were translated to the "remote place +at the mouth of the rivers." The hero Gilgames, on the other hand, was +half divine by birth, though it is not exactly known through whom his +divinity came. + +[*] According to Nabonidus's date 3800 B.C., though many + Assyriologists regard this as being a millennium too early. + + + The earliest form of the Babylonian religion. + +The state of development to which the religious system of the +Babylonians had attained at the earliest period to which the +inscriptions refer naturally precludes the possibility of a +trustworthy history of its origin and early growth. There is no doubt, +however, that it may be regarded as having reached the stage at which +we find it in consequence of there being a number of states in ancient +Babylonia (which was at that time like the Heptarchy in England) each +possessing its own divinity--who, in its district, was regarded as +supreme--with a number of lesser gods forming his court. It was the +adding together of all these small pantheons which ultimately made +that of Babylonia as a whole so exceedingly extensive. Thus the chief +divinity of Babylon, as has already been stated, as Merodach; at +Sippar and Larsa the sun-god Samas was worshipped; at Ur the moon-god +Sin or Nannar; at Erech and Der the god of the heavens, Anu; at Muru, +Ennigi, and Kakru, the god of the atmosphere, Hadad or Rimmon; at +Eridu, the god of the deep, Aa or Ea; at Niffur[*] the god Bel; at +Cuthah the god of war, Nergal; at Dailem the god Uras; at Kis the god +of battle, Zagaga; Lugal-Amarda, the king of Marad, as the city so +called; at Opis Zakar, one of the gods of dreams; at Agade, Nineveh, +and Arbela, Istar, goddess of love and of war; Nina at the city Nina +in Babylonia, etc. When the chief deities were masculine, they were +naturally all identified with each other, just as the Greeks called +the Babylonian Merodach by the name of Zeus; and as Zer-panitum, the +consort of Merodach, was identified with Juno, so the consorts, divine +attendants, and children of each chief divinity, as far as they +possessed them, could also be regarded as the same, though possibly +distinct in their different attributes. + +[*] Noufar at present, according to the latest explorers. Layard + (1856) has Niffer, Loftus (1857) Niffar. The native spelling is + Noufer, due to the French system of phonetics. + + + How the religion of the Babylonians developed. + +The fact that the rise of Merodach to the position of king of the gods +was due to the attainment, by the city of Babylon, of the position of +capital of all Babylonia, leads one to suspect that the kingly rank of +his father Ea, at an earlier period, was due to a somewhat similar +cause, and if so, the still earlier kingship of Anu, the god of the +heavens, may be in like manner explained. This leads to the question +whether the first state to attain to supremacy was Der, Anu's seat, +and whether Der was succeeded by Eridu, of which city Ea was the +patron--concerning the importance of Babylon, Merodach's city, later +on, there is no doubt whatever. The rise of Anu and Ea to divine +overlordship, however, may not have been due to the political +supremacy of the cities where they were worshipped--it may have come +about simply on account of renown gained through religious enthusiasm +due to wonders said to have been performed where they were worshipped, +or to the reported discovery of new records concerning their temples, +or to the influence of some renowned high-priest, like En-we-dur-an-ki +of Sippar, whose devotion undoubtedly brought great renown to the city +of his dominion. + + + Was Animism its original form? + +But the question naturally arises, can we go back beyond the +indications of the inscriptions? The Babylonians attributed life, in +certain not very numerous cases, to such things as trees and plants, +and naturally to the winds, and the heavenly bodies. Whether they +regarded stones, rocks, mountains, storms, and rain in the same way, +however, is doubtful, but it may be taken for granted, that the sea, +with all its rivers and streams, was regarded as animated with the +spirit of Ea and his children, whilst the great cities and +temple-towers were pervaded with the spirit of the god whose abode +they were. Innumerable good and evil spirits were believed in, such as +the spirit of the mountain, the sea, the plain, and the grave. These +spirits were of various kinds, and bore names which do not always +reveal their real character--such as the /edimmu/, /utukku/, /sedu/, +/asakku/ (spirit of fevers), /namtaru/ (spirit of fate), /alu/ +(regarded as the spirit of the south wind), /gallu/, /rabisu/, +/labartu/, /labasu/, /ahhazu/ (the seizer), /lilu/ and /lilithu/ (male +and female spirits of the mist), with their attendants. + +All this points to animism as the pervading idea of the worship of the +peoples of the Babylonian states in the prehistoric period--the +attribution of life to every appearance of nature. The question is, +however, Is the evidence of the inscriptions sufficient to make this +absolutely certain? It is hard to believe that such intelligent +people, as the primitive Babylonians naturally were, believed that +such things as stones, rocks, mountains, storms, and rain were, in +themselves, and apart from the divinity which they regarded as +presiding over them, living things. A stone might be a /bit ili/ or +bethel--a "house of god," and almost invested with the status of a +living thing, but that does not prove that the Babylonians thought of +every stone as being endowed with life, even in prehistoric times. +Whilst, therefore, there are traces of a belief similar to that which +an animistic creed might be regarded as possessing, it must be +admitted that these seemingly animistic doctrines may have originated +in another way, and be due to later developments. The power of the +gods to create living things naturally makes possible the belief that +they had also power to endow with a soul, and therefore with life and +intelligence, any seemingly inanimate object. Such was probably the +nature of Babylonian animism, if it may be so called. The legend of +Tiawthu (Tiawath) may with great probability be regarded as the +remains of a primitive animism which was the creed of the original and +comparatively uncivilised Babylonians, who saw in the sea the producer +and creator of all the monstrous shapes which are found therein; but +any development of this idea in other directions was probably cut +short by the priests, who must have realised, under the influence of +the doctrine of the divine rise to perfection, that animism in general +was altogether incompatible with the creed which they professed. + + + Image-worship and Sacred Stones. + +Whether image-worship was original among the Babylonians and Assyrians +is uncertain, and improbable; the tendency among the people in early +times being to venerate sacred stones and other inanimate objects. As +has been already pointed out, the {diopetres} of the Greeks was +probably a meteorite, and stones marking the position of the Semitic +bethels were probably, in their origin, the same. The boulders which +were sometimes used for boundary-stones may have been the +representations of these meteorites in later times, and it is +noteworthy that the Sumerian group for "iron," /an-bar/, implies that +the early Babylonians only knew of that metal from meteoric ironstone. +The name of the god Nirig or Enu-restu (Ninip) is generally written +with the same group, implying some kind of connection between the two +--the god and the iron. In a well-known hymn to that deity certain +stones are mentioned, one of them being described as the "poison- +tooth"[*] coming forth on the mountain, recalling the sacred rocks at +Jerusalem and Mecca. Boundary-stones in Babylonia were not sacred +objects except in so far as they were sculptured with the signs of the +gods.[+] With regard to the Babylonian bethels, very little can be +said, their true nature being uncertain, and their number, to all +appearance, small. Gifts were made to them, and from this fact it +would seem that they were temples--true "houses of god," in fact-- +probably containing an image of the deity, rather than a stone similar +to those referred to in the Old Testament. + +[*] So called, probably, not because it sent forth poison, but on + account of its likeness to a serpent's fang. + +[+] Notwithstanding medical opinion, their phallic origin is doubtful. + One is sculptured in the form of an Eastern castellated fortress. + + + Idols. + +With the Babylonians, the gods were represented by means of stone +images at a very early date, and it is possible that wood was also +used. The tendency of the human mind being to attribute to the Deity a +human form, the Babylonians were no exception to the rule. Human +thoughts and feelings would naturally accompany the human form with +which the minds of men endowed them. Whether the gross human passions +attributed to the gods of Babylonia in Herodotus be of early date or +not is uncertain--a late period, when the religion began to +degenerate, would seem to be the more probable. + + + The adoration of sacred objects. + +It is probable that objects belonging to or dedicated to deities were +not originally worshipped--they were held as divine in consequence of +their being possessed or used by a deity, like the bow of Merodach, +placed in the heavens as a constellation, etc. The cities where the +gods dwelt on earth, their temples, their couches, the chariot of the +sun in his temple-cities, and everything existing in connection with +their worship, were in all probability regarded as divine simply in so +far as they belonged to a god. Sacrifices offered to them, and +invocations made to them, were in all likelihood regarded as having +been made to the deity himself, the possessions of the divinity being, +in the minds of the Babylonians, pervaded with his spirit. In the case +of rivers, these were divine as being the children and offspring of +Enki (Aa or Ea), the god of the ocean. + + + Holy places. + +In a country which was originally divided into many small states, each +having its own deities, and, to a certain extent, its own religious +system, holy places were naturally numerous. As the spot where they +placed Paradise, Babylonia was itself a holy place, but in all +probability this idea is late, and only came into existence after the +legends of the creation and the rise of Merodach to the kingship of +heaven had become elaborated into one homogeneous whole. + + + An interesting list. + +One of the most interesting documents referring to the holy places of +Babylonia is a tiny tablet found at Nineveh, and preserved in the +British Museum. This text begins with the word Tiawthu "the sea," and +goes on to enumerate, in turn, Tilmun (identified with the island of +Bahrein in the Persian Gulf); Engurra (the Abyss, the abode of Enki or +Ea), with numerous temples and shrines, including "the holy house," +"the temple of the seer of heaven and earth," "the abode of Zer- +panitum," consort of Merodach, "the throne of the holy place," "the +temple of the region of Hades," "the supreme temple of life," "the +temple of the ear of the corn-deity," with many others, the whole list +containing what may be regarded as the chief sanctuaries of the land, +to the number of thirty-one. Numerous other similar and more extensive +lists, enumerating every shrine and temple in the country, also exist, +though in a very imperfect state, and in addition to these, many holy +places are referred to in the bilingual, historical, and other +inscriptions. All the great cities of Babylonia, moreover, were sacred +places, the chief in renown and importance in later days being the +great city of Babylon, where E-sagila, "the temple of the high head," +in which was apparently the shrine called "the temple of the +foundation of heaven and earth," held the first place. This building +is called by Nebuchadnezzar "the temple-tower of Babylon," and may +better be regarded as the site of the Biblical "Tower of Babel" than +the traditional foundation, E-zida, "the everlasting temple," in +Borsippa (the Birs Nimroud)--notwithstanding that Borsippa was called +the "second Babylon," and its temple-tower "the supreme house of +life." + + + The Tower of Babel. + +Though quite close to Babylon, there is no doubt that Borsippa was a +most important religious centre, and this leads to the possibility, +that its great temple may have disputed with "the house of the high +head," E-sagila in Babylon, the honour of being the site of the +confusion of tongues and the dispersion of mankind. There is no doubt, +however, that E-sagila has the prior claim, it being the temple of the +supreme god of the later Babylonian pantheon, the counterpart of the +God of the Hebrews who commanded the changing of the speech of the +people assembled there. Supposing the confusion of tongues to have +been a Babylonian legend as well as a Hebrew one (as is possible) it +would be by command of Merodach rather than that of Nebo that such a +thing would have taken place. E-sagila, which is now the ruin known as +the mount of Amran ibn Ali, is the celebrated temple of Belus which +Alexander and Philip attempted to restore. + +In addition to the legend of the confusion of tongues, it is probable +that there were many similar traditions attached to the great temples +of Babylonia, and as time goes on, and the excavations bring more +material, a large number of them will probably be recovered. Already +we have an interesting and poetical record of the entry of Bel and +Beltis into the great temple at Niffer, probably copied from some +ancient source, and Gudea, a king of Lagas (Telloh), who reigned about +2700 B.C., gives an account of the dream which he saw, in which he was +instructed by the gods to build or rebuild the temple of Nin-Girsu in +his capital city. + + + E-sagila according to Herodotus. + +As the chief fane in the land after Babylon became the capital, and +the type of many similar erections, E-sagila, the temple of Belus, +merits just a short notice. According to Herodotus, it was a massive +tower within an enclosure measuring 400 yards each way, and provided +with gates of brass, or rather bronze. The tower within consisted of a +kind of step-pyramid, the stages being seven in number (omitting the +lowest, which was the platform forming the foundation of the +structure). A winding ascent gave access to the top, where was a +chapel or shrine, containing no statue, but regarded by the +Babylonians as the abode of the god. Lower down was another shrine, in +which was placed a great statue of Zeus (Bel-Merodach) sitting, with a +large table before it. Both statue and table are said to have been of +gold, as were also the throne and the steps. Outside the sanctuary (on +the ramp, apparently) were two altars, one small and made of gold, +whereon only unweaned lambs were sacrificed, and the other larger, for +full-grown victims. + + + A Babylonian description. + +In 1876 the well-known Assyriologist, Mr. George Smith, was fortunate +enough to discover a Babylonian description of this temple, of which +he published a /precis/. According to this document, there were two +courts of considerable extent, the smaller within the larger--neither +of them was square, but oblong. Six gates admitted to the temple-area +surrounding the platform upon which the tower was built. The platform +is stated to have been square and walled, with four gates facing the +cardinal points. Within this wall was a building connected with the +great /zikkurat/ or tower--the principal edifice--round which were +chapels or temples to the principal gods, on all four sides, and +facing the cardinal points--that to Nebo and Tasmit being on the east, +to Aa or Ea and Nusku on the north, Anu and Bel on the south, and the +series of buildings on the west, consisting of a double house--a small +court between two wings, was evidently the shrine of Merodach (Belos). +In these western chambers stood the couch of the god, and the golden +throne mentioned by Herodotus, besides other furniture of great value. +The couch was given as being 9 cubits long by 4 broad, about as many +feet in each case, or rather more. + +The centre of these buildings was the great /zikkurat/, or temple- +tower, square on its plan, and with the sides facing the cardinal +points. The lowest stage was 15 /gar/ square by 5 1/2 high (Smith, 300 +feet by 110), and the wall, in accordance with the usual Babylonian +custom, seems to have been ornamented with recessed groovings. The +second stage was 13 /gar/ square by 3 in height (Smith, 260 by 60 +feet). He conjectured, from the expression used, that it had sloping +sides. Stages three to five were each one /gar/ (Smith, 20 feet) high, +and respectively 10 /gar/ (Smith, 200 feet), 8 1/2 /gar/ (170 feet), +and 7 /gar/ (140 feet) square. The dimensions of the sixth stage are +omitted, probably by accident, but Smith conjectures that they were in +proportion to those which precede. His description omits also the +dimensions of the seventh stage, but he gives those of the sanctuary +of Belus, which was built upon it. This was 4 /gar/ long, 3 1/2 /gar/ +broad, and 2 1/2 /gar/ high (Smith, 80 x 70 x 50 feet). He points out, +that the total height was, therefore, 15 /gar/, the same as the +dimensions of the base, i.e., the lowest platform, which would make +the total height of this world-renowned building rather more than 300 +feet above the plains. + + + Other temple-towers. + +Towers of a similar nature were to be found in all the great cities of +Babylonia, and it is probable that in most cases slight differences of +form were to be found. That at Niffer, for instance, seems to have had +a causeway on each side, making four approaches in the form of a +cross. But it was not every city which had a tower of seven stages in +addition to the platform on which it was erected, and some of the +smaller ones at least seem to have had sloping or rounded sides to the +basement-portion, as is indicated by an Assyrian bas-relief. Naturally +small temples, with hardly more than the rooms on the ground floor, +were to be found, but these temple-towers were a speciality of the +country. + + + Their origin. + +There is some probability that, as indicated in the tenth chapter of +Genesis, the desire in building these towers was to get nearer the +Deity, or to the divine inhabitants of the heavens in general--it +would be easier there to gain attention than on the surface of the +earth. Then there was the belief, that the god to whom the place was +dedicated would come down to such a sanctuary, which thus became, as +it were, the stepping-stone between heaven and earth. Sacrifices were +also offered at these temple-towers (whether on the highest point or +not is not quite certain), in imitation of the Chaldaean Noah, +Ut-napistim, who, on coming out of the ark, made an offering /ina +zikkurat sade/, "on the peak of the mountain," in which passage, it is +to be noted, the word /zikkurat/ occurs with what is probably a more +original meaning. + + + + CHAPTER III + + THE BABYLONIAN STORY OF THE CREATION + +This is the final development of the Babylonian creed. It has already +been pointed out that the religion of the Babylonians in all +probability had two stages before arriving at that in which the god +Merodach occupied the position of chief of the pantheon, the two +preceding heads having been, seemingly, Anu, the god of the heavens, +and Ea or Aa, also called Enki, the god of the abyss and of deep +wisdom. In order to show this, and at the same time to give an idea of +their theory of the beginning of things, a short paraphrase of the +contents of the seven tablets will be found in the following pages. + + + An Embodiment of doctrine. + +As far as our knowledge goes, the doctrines incorporated in this +legend would seem to show the final official development of the +beliefs held by the Babylonians, due, in all probability, to the +priests of Babylon after that city became the capital of the federated +states. Modifications of their creed probably took place, but nothing +seriously affecting it, until after the abandonment of Babylon in the +time of Seleucus Nicator, 300 B.C. or thereabouts, when the deity at +the head of the pantheon seems not to have been Merodach, but Anu-Bel. +This legend is therefore the most important document bearing upon the +beliefs of the Babylonians from the end of the third millennium B.C. +until that time, and the philosophical ideas which it contains seem to +have been held, in a more or less modified form, among the remnants +who still retained the old Babylonian faith, until the sixth century +of the present era, as the record by Damascius implies. Properly +speaking, it is not a record of the creation, but the story of the +fight between Bel and the Dragon, to which the account of the creation +is prefixed by way of introduction. + + + Water the first creator. + +The legend begins by stating that, when the heavens were unnamed and +the earth bore no name, the primaeval ocean was the producer of all +things, and Mummu Tiawath (the sea) she who brought forth everything +existing. Their waters (that is, of the primaeval ocean and of the sea) +were all united in one, and neither plains nor marshes were to be +seen; the gods likewise did not exist, even in name, and the fates +were undetermined--nothing had been decided as to the future of +things. Then arose the great gods. Lahmu and Lahame came first, +followed, after a long period, by Ansar and Kisar, generally +identified with the "host of heaven" and the "host of earth," these +being the meanings of the component parts of their names. After a +further long period of days, there came forth their son Anu, the god +of the heavens. + + + The gods. + +Here the narrative is defective, and is continued by Damascius in his +/Doubts and Solutions of the First Principles/, in which he states +that, after Anos (Anu), come Illinos (Ellila or Bel, "the lord" /par +excellence/) and Aos (Aa, Ae, or Ea), the god of Eridu. Of Aos and +Dauke (the Babylonian Aa and Damkina) is born, he says, a son called +Belos (Bel-Merodach), who, they (apparently the Babylonians) say, is +the fabricator of the world--the creator. + + + The designs against them. + +At this point Damascius ends his extract, and the Babylonian tablet +also becomes extremely defective. The next deity to come into +existence, however, would seem to have been Nudimmud, who was +apparently the deity Aa or Ea (the god of the sea and of rivers) as +the god of creation. Among the children of Tauthe (Tiawath) enumerated +by Damascius is one named Moumis, who was evidently referred to in the +document at that philosopher's disposal. If this be correct, his name, +under the form of Mummu, probably existed in one of the defective +lines of the first portion of this legend--in any case, his name +occurs later on, with those of Tiawath and Apsu (the Deep), his +parents, and the three seem to be compared, to their disadvantage, +with the progeny of Lahmu and Lahame, the gods on high. As the ways of +these last were not those of Tiawath's brood, and Apsu complained that +he had no peace by day nor rest by night on account of their +proceedings, the three representatives of the chaotic deep, Tiawath, +Apsu, and Mummu, discussed how they might get rid the beings who +wished to rise to higher things. Mummu was apparently the prime mover +in the plot, and the face of Apsu grew bright at the thought of the +evil plan which they had devised against "the gods their sons." The +inscription being very mutilated here, its full drift cannot be +gathered, but from the complete portions which come later it would +seem that Mummu's plan was not a remarkably cunning one, being simply +to make war upon and destroy the gods of heaven. + + + Tiawath's preparations. + +The preparations made for this were elaborate. Restlessly, day and +night, the powers of evil raged and toiled, and assembled for the +fight. 'Mother Hubur," as Tiawath is named in this passage, called her +creative powers into action, and gave her followers irresistible +weapons. She brought into being also various monsters--giant serpents, +sharp of tooth, bearing stings, and with poison filling their bodies +like blood; terrible dragons endowed with brilliance, and of enormous +stature, reared on high, raging dogs, scorpion-men, fish-men, and many +other terrible beings, were created and equipped, the whole being +placed under the command of a deity named Kingu, whom she calls her +"only husband," and to whom she delivers the tablets of fate, which +conferred upon him the godhead of Anu (the heavens), and enabled their +possessor to determine the gates among the gods her sons. + + + Kingu replaces Absu. + +The change in the narrative which comes in here suggests that this is +the point at which two legends current in Babylonia were united. +Henceforward we hear nothing more of Apsu, the begetter of all things, +Tiawath's spouse, nor of Mummu, their son. In all probability there is +good reason for this, and inscriptions will doubtless ultimately be +found which will explain it, but until then it is only natural to +suppose that two different legends have been pieced together to form a +harmonious whole. + + + Tiawath's aim. + +As will be gathered from the above, the story centres in the wish of +the goddess of the powers of evil and her kindred to retain creation-- +the forming of all living things--in her own hands. As Tiawath means +"the sea," and Apsu "the deep," it is probable that this is a kind of +allegory personifying the productive power seen in the teeming life of +the ocean, and typifying the strange and wonderful forms found +therein, which were symbolical, to the Babylonian mind, of chaos and +confusion, as well as of evil. + + + The gods hear of the conspiracy. + +Aa, or Ea, having learned of the plot of Tiawath and her followers +against the gods of heaven, naturally became filled with anger, and +went and told the whole to Ansar, his father, who in his turn gave way +to his wrath, and uttered cries of the deepest grief. After +considering what they would do, Ansar applied to his son Anu, "the +mighty and brave," saying that, if he would only speak to her, the +great dragon's anger would be assuaged, and her rage disappear. In +obedience to this behest, Anu went to try his power with the monster, +but on beholding her snarling face, feared to approach her, and turned +back. Nudimmud was next called upon to become the representative of +the gods against their foe, but his success was as that of Anu, and it +became needful to seek another champion. + + + And choose Merodach as their champion. + +The choice fell upon Merodach, the Belus (Bel-Merodach) of Damascius's +paraphrase, and at once met with an enthusiastic reception. The god +asked simply that an "unchangeable command" might be given to him-- +that whatever he ordained should without fail come to pass, in order +that he might destroy the common enemy. Invitations were sent to the +gods asking them to a festival, where, having met together, they ate +and drank, and "decided the fate" for Merodach their avenger, +apparently meaning that he was decreed their defender in the conflict +with Tiawath, and that the power of creating and annihilating by the +word of his mouth was his. Honours were then conferred upon him; +princely chambers were erected for him, wherein he sat as judge "in +the presence of his fathers," and the rule over the whole universe was +given to him. The testing of his newly acquired power followed. A +garment was placed in their midst: + + "He spake with his mouth, and the garment was destroyed, + He spake to it again, and the garment was reproduced." + + + Merodach proclaimed king. + +On this proof of the reality of the powers conferred on him, all the +gods shouted "Merodach is king!" and handed to him sceptre, throne, +and insignia of royalty. An irresistible weapon, which should shatter +all his enemies, was then given to him, and he armed himself also with +spear or dart, bow, and quiver; lightning flashed before him, and +flaming fire filled his body. Anu, the god of the heavens, had given +him a great net, and this he set at the four cardinal points, in order +that nothing of the dragon, when he had defeated her, should escape. +Seven winds he then created to accompany him, and the great weapon +called /Abubu/, "the Flood," completed his equipment. All being ready, +he mounted his dreadful, irresistible chariot, to which four steeds +were yoked--steeds unsparing, rushing forward, rapid in flight, their +teeth full of venom, foam-covered, experienced in galloping, schooled +in overthrowing. Being now ready for the fray, Merodach fared forth to +meet Tiawath, accompanied by the fervent good wishes of "the gods his +fathers." + + + The fight with Tiawath. + +Advancing, he regarded Tiawath's retreat, but the sight of the enemy +was so menacing that even the great Merodach (if we understand the +text rightly) began to falter. This, however, was not for long, and +the king of the gods stood before Tiawath, who, on her side, remained +firm and undaunted. In a somewhat long speech, in which he reproaches +Tiawath for her rebellion, he challenges her to battle, and the two +meet in fiercest fight. To all appearance the type of all evil did not +make use of honest weapons, but sought to overcome the king of the +gods with incantations and charms. These, however, had not the +slightest effect, for she found herself at once enclosed in Merodach's +net, and on opening her mouth to resist and free herself, the evil +wind, which Merodach had sent on before him, entered, so that she +could not close her lips, and thus inflated, her heart was +overpowered, and she became a prey to her conqueror. Having cut her +asunder and taken out her heart, thus destroying her life, he threw +her body down and stood thereon. Her followers then attempted to +escape, but found themselves surrounded and unable to get forth. Like +their mistress, they were thrown into the net, and sat in bonds, being +afterwards shut up in prison. As for Kingu, he was raised up, bound, +and delivered to be with Ugga, the god of death. The tablets of fate, +which Tiawath had delivered to Kingu, were taken from him by Merodach, +who pressed his seal upon them, and placed them in his breast. The +deity Ansar, who had been, as it would seem, deprived of his rightful +power by Tiawath, received that power again on the death of the common +foe, and Nudimmud "saw his desire upon his enemy." + + + Tiawath's fate. + +The dismemberment of Tiawath then followed, and her veins having been +cut through, the north wind was caused by the deity to carry her blood +away into secret places, a statement which probably typifies the +opening of obstructions which prevent the rivers flowing from the +north from running into the southern seas, helped thereto by the north +wind. Finally her body was divided, like "a /masde/-fish," into two +parts, one of which was made into a covering for the heavens--the +"waters above the firmament" of Genesis i. 7. + + + Merodach orders the world anew. + +Then came the ordering of the universe anew. Having made a covering +for the heavens with half the body of the defeated Dragon of Chaos, +Merodach set the Abyss, the abode of Nudimmud, in front, and made a +corresponding edifice above--the heavens--where he founded stations +for the gods Anu, Bel, and Ae. Stations for the great gods in the +likeness of constellations, together with what is regarded as the +Zodiac, were his next work. He then designated the year, setting three +constellations for each month, and made a station for Nibiru-- +Merodach's own star--as the overseer of all the lights in the +firmament. He then caused the new moon, Nannaru, to shine, and made +him the ruler of the night, indicating his phases, one of which was on +the seventh day, and the other, a /sabattu/, or day of rest, in the +middle of the month. Directions with regard to the moon's movements +seem to follow, but the record is mutilated, and their real nature +consequently doubtful. With regard to other works which were performed +we have no information, as a gap prevents their being ascertained. +Something, however, seems to have been done with Merodach's net-- +probably it was placed in the heavens as a constellation, as was his +bow, to which several names were given. Later on, the winds were bound +and assigned to their places, but the account of the arrangement of +other things is mutilated and obscure, though it can be recognised +that the details in this place were of considerable interest. + + + The creation of man. + +To all appearance the gods, after he had ordered the universe and the +things then existing, urged Merodach to further works of wonder. +Taking up their suggestion, he considered what he should do, and then +communicated to his father Ae his plan for the creation of man with +his own blood, in order that the service and worship of the gods might +be established. This portion is also unfortunately very imperfect, and +the details of the carrying out of the plan are entirely wanting. + + + Berosus' narrative fills the gap. + +It is noteworthy that this portion of the narrative has been preserved +by Abydenus, George the Syncellus, and Eusebius, in their quotations +from Berosus. According to this Chaldaean writer, there was a woman +named Omoroca, or, in Chaldaean, Thalatth (apparently a mistake for +Thauatth, i.e. Tiawath), whose name was equivalent to the Greek +Thalassa, the sea. It was she who had in her charge all the strange +creatures then existing. At this period, Belus (Bel-Merodach) came, +and cut the woman asunder, forming out of one half the earth, and of +the other the heavens, at the same time destroying all the creatures +which were within her--all this being an allegory, for the whole +universe consists of moisture, and creatures are constantly generated +therein. The deity then cut off his own head, and the other gods mixed +the blood, as it gushed out, with the earth, and from this men were +formed. Hence it is that men are rational, and partake of divine +knowledge. + + + A second creation. + +This Belsus, "who is called Zeus," divided the darkness, separated the +heavens from the earth, and reduced the universe to order. The animals +which had been created, however, not being able to bear the light, +died. Belus then, seeing the void thus made, ordered one of the gods +to take off his head, and mix the blood with the soil, forming other +men and animals which should be able to bear the light. He also formed +the stars, the sun, the moon, and the five planets. It would thus seem +that there were two creations, the first having been a failure because +Belus had not foreseen that it was needful to produce beings which +should be able to bear the light. Whether this repetition was really +in the Babylonian legend, or whether Berosus (or those who quote him) +has merely inserted and united two varying accounts, will only be +known when the cuneiform text is completed. + + + The concluding tablet. + +The tablet of the fifty-one names completes the record of the tablets +found at Nineveh and Babylon. In this Merodach receives the titles of +all the other gods, thus identifying him with them, and leading to +that tendency to monotheism of which something will be said later on. +In this text, which is written, like the rest of the legend, in +poetical form, Merodach is repeatedly called /Tutu/, a mystic word +meaning "creator," and "begetter," from the reduplicate root /tu/ or +/utu/--which was to all appearances his name when it was desired to +refer to him especially in that character. Noteworthy in this portion +is the reference to Merodach's creation of mankind:-- + +Line 25. "Tuto: Aga-azaga (the glorious crown)--may he make the crowns + glorious. + 26. The lord of the glorious incantation bringing the dead to + life; + 27. He who had mercy on the gods who had been overpowered; + 28. Made heavy the yoke which he had laid on the gods who were + his enemies, + 29. (And) to redeem(?) them, created mankind. + 30. 'The merciful one,' 'he with whom is salvation,' + 31. May his word be established, and not forgotten, + 32. In the mouth of the black-headed ones[*] whom his hands have + made." + +[*] I.e. mankind. + + + Man the redeemer. + +The phrase "to redeem them" is, in the original, /ana padi-sunu/, the +verb being from /padu/, "to spare," "set free," and if this rendering +be correct, as seems probable, the Babylonian reasons for the creation +of mankind would be, that they might carry on the service and worship +of the gods, and by their righteousness redeem those enemies of the +gods who were undergoing punishment for their hostility. Whether by +this Tiawath, Apsu, Mummu, Kingu, and the monsters whom she had +created were included, or only the gods of heaven who had joined her, +the record does not say. Naturally, this doctrine depends entirely +upon the correctness of the translation of the words quoted. Jensen, +who first proposed this rendering, makes no attempt to explain it, and +simply asks: "Does 'them' in 'to redeem(?) them' refer to the gods +named in line 28 or to mankind and then to a future--how meant?-- +redemption? Eschatology? Zimmern's 'in their place' unprovable. +Delitzsch refrains from an explanation." + + + The bilingual account of the creation. Aruru aids Merodach. + +Whilst dealing with this part of the religious beliefs of the +Babylonians, a few words are needed concerning the creation-story +which is prefixed to an incantation used in a purification ceremony. +The original text is Sumerian (dialectic), and is provided with a +Semitic translation. In this inscription, after stating that nothing +(in the beginning) existed, and even the great cities and temples of +Babylonia were as yet unbuilt, the condition of the world is briefly +indicated by the statement that "All the lands were sea." The renowned +cities of Babylonia seem to have been regarded as being as much +creations of Merodach as the world and its inhabitants--indeed, it is +apparently for the glorification of those cities by attributing their +origin to Merodach, that the bilingual account of the creation was +composed.. "When within the sea there was a stream"--that is, when the +veins of Tiawath had been cut through--Eridu (probably = Paradise) and +the temple E-sagila within the Abyss were constructed, and after that +Babylon and the earthly temple of E-sagila within it. Then he made the +gods and the Annunnaki (the gods of the earth), proclaimed a glorious +city as the seat of the joy of their hearts, and afterwards made a +pleasant place in which the gods might dwell. The creation of mankind +followed, in which Merodach was aided by the goddess Aruru, who made +mankind's seed. Finally, plants, trees, and the animals, were +produced, after which Merodach constructed bricks, beams, houses, and +cities, including Niffer and Erech with their renowned temples. + +We see here a change in the teaching with regard to Merodach--the gods +are no longer spoken of as "his fathers," but he is the creator of the +gods, as well as of mankind. + + + The order of the gods in the principal lists. + +It is unfortunate that no lists of gods have been found in a +sufficiently complete state to allow of the scheme after which they +were drawn up to be determined without uncertainty. It may, +nevertheless, be regarded as probable that these lists, at least in +some cases, are arranged in conformity (to a certain extent) with the +appearance of the deities in the so-called creation-story. Some of +them begin with Anu, and give him various names, among them being +Ansar and Kisar, Lahmu and Lahame, etc. More specially interesting, +however, is a well-known trilingual list of gods, which contains the +names of the various deities in the following order:-- + + EXTRACTS FROM THE TRILINGUAL LIST + /Obverse/ + + Sumer. Dialect Sumer. Standard Common Explanation + (Semit. or Sumer.) + + 1. Dimmer Dingir Ilu God. + 2. U-ki En-ki E-a Ea or Aa. + 3. Gasan(?)-ki Nin-ki Dawkina Dauke, the consort of Ea. + 4. Mu-ul-lil En-lil-la Bel The God Bel. + 5. E-lum A-lim Bel + 6. Gasan(?)-lil Nin-lil-la dam-bi sal Bel's consort. + 7. U-lu-a Ni-rig Enu-restu The god of Niffer. + 8. U-lib-a Ni-rig Enu-restu + +9-12 have Enu-restu's consort, sister, and attendant. + +13. U-sab-sib En-sag-duga Nusku Nusku + +14-19 have two other names of Nusku, followed by three names of his + consort. A number of names of minor divinities then follow. At + line 43 five names of Ea are given, followed by four of + Merodach:-- + +48. U-bi-lu-lu En-bi-lu-lu Marduk Merodach +49. U-Tin-dir ki En-Tin-dir ki Marduk Merodach as "lord of Babylon." +50. U-dimmer-an-kia En-dinger-an-kia Marduk Merodach as "lord god of heaven and earth." +51. U-ab-sar-u En-ab-sar-u Marduk Merodach, apparently as "lord of the 36,000 steers." +52. U-bar-gi-si Nin-bar-gi-si Zer-panitum Merodach's consort. +53. Gasan-abzu Nin-abzu dam-bi sal "the Lady of the Abyss," his consort. + +The remainder of the obverse is mutilated, but gave the names of Nebo +in Sumerian, and apparently also of Tasmetum, his consort. The +beginning of the reverse also is mutilated, but seems to have given +the names of the sun-god, Samas, and his consort, followed by those of +Kittu and Mesarum, "justice and righteousness," his attendants. Other +interesting names are: + + /Reverse/ + + 8. U-libir-si En-ubar-si Dumu-zi Tammuz + 9. Sir-tumu Sir-du ama Dumuzi-gi the mother of Tammuz +12. Gasan-anna Innanna Istar Istar (Venus) as "lady of heaven." +20. Nin-si-anna Innanna mul Istar the star (the planet Venus). +21. Nin Nin-tag-taga Nanaa a goddess identified with Istar. +23. U-sah Nina-sah Pap-sukal the gods' messenger. +24. U-banda Lugal-banda Lugal-banda +26. U-Mersi Nin-Girsu Nin-Girsu the chief god of Lagas. +27. Ma-sib-sib Ga-tum-duga Bau Bau, a goddess identified with Gula. + +Four non-Semitic names of Gula follow, of which that in line 31 is the +most interesting:-- + +31. Gasan-ti-dibba Nin-tin-guua Gula "the lady saving from death." +33. Gasan-ki-gal Eres-ki-gala Allatu Persephone. +36. U-mu-zi-da Nin-gis-zi-da Nin-gis-zida "the lord of the everlasting tree." +37. U-urugal Ne-eri-gal Nerigal Nergal. +42. Mulu-hursag Galu-hursag Amurru the Amorite god. +43. Gasan-gu-edina Nin-gu-edina (apparently the consort of Amurru). + +In all probability this list is one of comparatively late date, though +its chronological position with regard to the others is wholly +uncertain--it may not be later, and may even be earlier, than those +beginning with Anu, the god of the heavens. The important thing about +it is, that it begins with /ilu/, god, in general, which is written, +in the standard dialect (that of the second column) with the same +character as that used for the name of Anu. After this comes Aa or Ea, +the god of the earth, and his consort, followed by En-lilla, the older +Bel--Illinos in Damascius. The name of Ea is repeated again in line 43 +and following, where he is apparently re-introduced as the father of +Merodach, whose names immediately follow. This peculiarity is also +found in other lists of gods and is undoubtedly a reflection of the +history of the Babylonian religion. As this list replaces Anu by +/ilu/, it indicates the rule of Enki or Ea, followed by that of +Merodach, who, as has been shown, became the chief divinity of the +Babylonian pantheon in consequence of Babylon having become the +capital of the country. + + + + CHAPTER IV + + THE PRINCIPAL GODS OF THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + + + Anu. + +The name of this divinity is derived from the Sumero-Akkadian /ana/, +"heaven," of which he was the principal deity. He is called the father +of the great gods, though, in the creation-story, he seems to be +described as the son of Ansar and Kisar. In early names he is +described as the father, creator, and god, probably meaning the +supreme being. His consort was Anatu, and the pair are regarded in the +lists as the same as the Lahmu and Lahame of the creation-story, who, +with other deities, are also described as gods of the heavens. Anu was +worshipped at Erech, along with Istar. + + + Ea. + +Is given as if it were the /Semitic/ equivalent of /Enki/, "the lord +of the earth," but it would seem to be really a Sumerian word, later +written /Ae/, and certain inscriptions suggest that the true reading +was /Aa/. His titles are "king of the Abyss, creator of everything, +lord of all," the first being seemingly due to the fact that Aa is a +word which may, in its reduplicate form, mean "waters," or if read +/Ea/, "house of water." He also, like Anu, is called "father of the +gods." As this god was likewise "lord of deep wisdom," it was to him +that his son Merodach went for advice whenever he was in doubt. On +account of his knowledge, he was the god of artisans in general-- +potters, blacksmiths, sailors, builders, stone-cutters, gardeners, +seers, barbers, farmers, etc. This is the Aos (a form which confirms +the reading Aa) of Damascius, and the Oannes of the extracts from +Berosus, who states that he was "a creature endowed with reason, with +a body like that of a fish, and under the fish's head another head, +with feet below, like those of a man, with a fish's tail." This +description applies fairly well to certain bas-reliefs from Nimroud in +the British Museum. The creature described by Berosus lived in the +Persian Gulf, landing during the day to teach the inhabitants the +building of houses and temples, the cultivation of useful plants, the +gathering of fruits, and also geometry, law, and letters. From him, +too, came the account of the beginning of things referred to in +chapter III. which, in the original Greek, is preceded by a +description of the composite monsters said to have existed before +Merodach assumed the rule of the universe. + +The name of his consort, Damkina or Dawkina, probably means "the +eternal spouse," and her other names, /Gasan-ki/ (Sumerian dialectic) +and /Nin-ki/ (non-dialectic), "Lady of the earth," sufficiently +indicates her province. She is often mentioned in the incantations +with Ea. + +The forsaking of the worship of Ea as chief god for that of Merodach +seems to have caused considerable heartburning in Babylonia, if we may +judge from the story of the Flood, for it was on account of his +faithfulness that Utnipistim, the Babylonian Noah, attained to +salvation from the Flood and immortality afterwards. All through this +adventure it was the god Ea who favoured him, and afterwards gave him +immortality like that of the gods. There is an interesting Sumerian +text in which the ship of Ea seems to be described, the woods of which +its various parts were formed being named, and in it, apparently, were +Enki (Ea), Damgal-nunna (Damkina), his consort, Asari-lu-duga +(Merodach), In-ab (or Ines), the pilot of Eridu (Ea's city), and +Nin-igi-nagar-sir, "the great architect of heaven":-- + + "May the ship before thee bring fertility, + May the ship after thee bring joy, + In thy heart may it make joy of heart . . . ." + +Ea was the god of fertility, hence this ending to the poetical +description of the ship of Ea. + + + Bel. + +The deity who is mentioned next in order in the list given above is +the "older Bel," so called to distinguish him from Bel-Merodach. His +principal names were /Mullil/ (dialectic) or /En-lilla/[*] (standard +speech), the /Illinos/ of Damascius. His name is generally translated +"lord of mist," so-called as god of the underworld, his consort being +/Gasan-lil/ or /Nan-lilla/, "the lady of the mist," in Semitic +Babylonian /Beltu/, "the Lady," par excellence. Bel, whose name means +"the lord," was so called because he was regarded as chief of the +gods. As there was considerable confusion in consequence of the title +Bel having been given to Merodach, Tiglath-pileser I. (about 1200 +B.C.) refers to him as the "older Bel" in describing the temple which +he built for him at Assur. Numerous names of men compounded with his +occur until the latest times, implying that, though the favourite god +was Merodach, the worship of Bel was not forgotten, even at Babylon-- +that he should have been adored at his own city, Niffur, and at Dur- +Kuri-galzu, where Kuri-galzu I. built a temple for "Bel, the lord of +the lands," was naturally to be expected. Being, like Ea, a god of the +earth, he is regarded as having formed a trinity with Anu, the god of +heaven, and Ea, the god of the deep, and prayer to these three was as +good as invoking all the gods of the universe. Classification of the +gods according to the domain of their power would naturally take place +in a religious system in which they were all identified with each +other, and this classification indicates, as Jastrow says, a deep +knowledge of the powers of nature, and a more than average +intelligence among the Babylonians--indeed, he holds it as a proof +that, at the period of the older empire, there were schools and +students who had devoted themselves to religious speculation upon this +point. He also conjectures that the third commandment of the Law of +Moses was directed against this doctrine held by the Babylonians. + +[*] Ordinarily pronounced /Illila/, as certain glosses and Damascius's + /Illinos/ (for /Illilos/) show. + + + Beltis. + +This goddess was properly only the spouse of the older Bel, but as +/Beltu/, her Babylonian name, simply meant "lady" in general (just as +/Bel/ or /belu/ meant "lord"), it became a title which could be given +to any goddess, and was in fact borne by Zer-panitum, Istar, Nanaa, +and others. It was therefore often needful to add the name of the city +over which the special /Beltu/ presided, in order to make clear which +of them was meant. Besides being the title of the spouse of the older +Bel, having her earthly seat with him in Niffur and other less +important shrines, the Assyrians sometimes name Beltu the spouse of +Assur, their national god, suggesting an identification, in the minds +of the priests, with that deity. + + + Enu-restu or Nirig.[*] + +Whether /Enu-restu/ be a translation of /Nirig/ or not, is uncertain, +but not improbable, the meaning being "primeval lord," or something +similar, and "lord" that of the first element, /ni/, in the Sumerian +form. In support of this reading and rendering may be quoted the fact, +that one of the descriptions of this divinity is /assarid ilani +ahe-su/, "the eldest of the gods his brothers." It is noteworthy that +this deity was a special favourite among the Assyrians, many of whose +kings, to say nothing of private persons, bore his name as a component +part of theirs. In the bilingual poem entitled /Ana-kime gimma/ +("Formed like Anu"), he is described as being the son of Bel (hence +his appearance after Bel in the list printed above), and in the +likeness of Anu, for which reason, perhaps, his divinity is called +"Anuship." Beginning with words praising him, it seems to refer to his +attitude towards the gods of hostile lands, against whom, apparently, +he rode in a chariot of the sacred lapis-lazuli. Anu having endowed +him with terrible glory, the gods of the earth feared to attack him, +and his onrush was as that of a storm-flood. By the command of Bel, +his course was directed towards E-kur, the temple of Bel at Niffur. +Here he was met by Nusku, the supreme messenger of Bel, who, with +words of respect and of praise, asks him not to disturb the god Bel, +his father, in his seat, nor make the gods of the earth tremble in +Upsukennaku (the heavenly festival-hall of the gods), and offers him a +gift.[+] It will thus be seen that Enu-restu was a rival to the older +Bel, whose temple was the great tower in stages called E-kura, in +which, in all probability, E-su-me-du, the shrine of Enu-restu, was +likewise situated. The inscriptions call him "god of war," though, +unlike Nergal, he was not at the same time god of disease and +pestilence. To all appearance he was the god of the various kinds of +stones, of which another legend states that he "determined their +fate." He was "the hero, whose net overthrows the enemy, who summons +his army to plunder the hostile land, the royal son who caused his +father to bow down to him from afar." "The son who sat not with the +nurse, and eschewed(?) the strength of milk," "the offspring who did +not know his father." "He rode over the mountains and scattered +seed--unanimously the plants proclaimed his name to their dominion, +among them like a great wild bull he raises his horns." + +[*] /Enu-restu/ is the reading which I have adopted as the Semitic + Babylonian equivalent of the name of this divinity, in consequence + of the Aramaic transcription given by certain contract-tablets + discovered by the American expedition to Niffer, and published by + Prof. Clay of Philadelphia. + +[+] The result of this request is not known, in consequence of the + defective state of the tablets. + +Many other interesting descriptions of the deity Nirig (generally read +Nin-ip) occur, and show, with those quoted here, that his story was +one of more than ordinary interest. + + + Nusku. + +This deity was especially invoked by the Assyrian kings, but was in no +wise exclusively Assyrian, as is shown by the fact that his name +occurs in many Babylonian inscriptions. He was the great messenger of +the gods, and is variously given as "the offspring of the abyss, the +creation of Ea," and "the likeness of his father, the first-born of +Bel." As Gibil, the fire-god, has likewise the same diverse parentage, +it is regarded as likely that these two gods were identical. Nusku was +the god whose command is supreme, the counsellor of the great gods, +the protector of the Igigi (the gods of the heavens), the great and +powerful one, the glorious day, the burning one, the founder of +cities, the renewer of sanctuaries, the provider of feasts for all the +Igigi, without whom no feast took place in E-kura. Like Nebo, he bore +the glorious spectre, and it was said of him that he attacked mightily +in battle. Without him the sun-god, the judge, could not give +judgment. + +All this points to the probability, that Nusku may not have been the +fire-god, but the brother of the fire-god, i.e. either flame, or the +light of fire. The sun-god, without light, could not see, and +therefore could not give judgment: no feast could be prepared without +fire and its flame. As the evidence of the presence of the shining +orbs in the heavens--the light of their fires--he was the messenger of +the gods, and was honoured accordingly. From this idea, too, he became +their messenger in general, especially of Bel-Merodach, the younger +Bel, whose requests he carried to the god Ea in the Deep. In one +inscription he is identified with Nirig or Enu-restu, who is described +above. + + + Merodach. + +Concerning this god, and how he arose to the position of king of all +the gods of heaven, has been fully shown in chapter III. Though there +is but little in his attributes to indicate any connection with Samas, +there is hardly any doubt that he was originally a sun-god, as is +shown by the etymology of his name. The form, as it has been handed +down to us, is somewhat shortened, the original pronunciation having +been /Amar-uduk/, "the young steer of day," a name which suggests that +he was the morning sun. Of the four names given at the end of chapter +III., two--"lord of Babylon," and "lord god of heaven and earth,"--may +be regarded as expressing his more well-known attributes. /En-ab-sar- +u/, however, is a provisional, though not impossible, reading and +rendering, and if correct, the "36,000 wild bulls" would be a +metaphorical way of speaking of "the 36,000 heroes," probably meaning +the gods of heaven in all their grades. The signification of /En- +bilulu/ is unknown. Like most of the other gods of the Babylonian +pantheon, however, Merodach had many other names, among which may be +mentioned /Asari/, which has been compared with the Egyptian Osiris, +/Asari-lu-duga/, "/Asari/ who is good," compared with Osiris Unnefer; +/Namtila/, "life", /Tutu/, "begetter (of the gods), renewer (of the +gods)," /Sar-azaga/, "the glorious incantation," /Mu-azaga/, "the +glorious charm," and many others. The last two refer to his being the +god who, by his kindness, obtained from his father Ea, dwelling in the +abyss, those charms and incantations which benefited mankind, and +restored the sick to health. In this connection, a frequent title +given to him is "the merciful one," but most merciful was he in that +he spared the lives of the gods who, having sided with Taiwath, were +his enemies, as is related in the tablet of the fifty-one names. In +connection with the fight he bore also the names, "annihilator of the +enemy," "rooter out of all evil," "troubler of the evil ones," "life +of the whole of the gods." From these names it is clear that Merodach, +in defeating Tiawath, annihilated, at the same time, the spirit of +evil, Satan, the accuser, of which she was, probably, the Babylonian +type. But unlike the Saviour in the Christian creed, he saved not only +man, at that time uncreated, but the gods of heaven also. As "king of +the heavens," he was identified with the largest of the planets, +Jupiter, as well as with other heavenly bodies. Traversing the sky in +great zigzags, Jupiter seemed to the Babylonians to superintend the +stars, and this was regarded as emblematic of Merodach shepherding +them--"pasturing the gods like sheep," as the tablet has it. + +A long list of gods gives as it were the court of Merodach, held in +what was apparently a heavenly /E-sagila/, and among the spiritual +beings mentioned are /Mina-ikul-beli/ and /Mina-isti-beli/, "what my +lord has eaten," and "what has my lord drunk," /Nadin-me-gati/, "he +who gives water for the hands," also the two door-keepers, and the +four dogs of Merodach, wherein people are inclined to see the four +satellites of Jupiter, which, it is thought, were probably visible to +certain of the more sharp-sighted stargazers of ancient Babylonia. +These dogs were called /Ukkumu/, /Akkulu/, /Ikssuda/, and /Iltebu/, +"Seizer," "Eater," "Grasper," and "Holder." Images of these beings +were probably kept in the temple of E-sagila at Babylon. + + + Zer-panitum. + +This was the name of the consort of Merodach, and is generally read +Sarp(b)anitum--a transcription which is against the native orthography +and etymology, namely, "seed-creatress" (Zer-banitum). The meaning +attributed to this word is partly confirmed by another name which +Lehmann has pointed out that she possessed, namely, /Erua/ or /Aru'a/, +who, in an inscription of Antiochus Soter (280-260 B.C.) is called +"the queen who produces birth," but more especially by the +circumstance, that she must be identical with Aruru, who created the +seed of mankind along with Merodach. Why she was called "the lady of +the abyss," and elsewhere "the voice of the abyss" (/Me-abzu/) is not +known. Zer-panitum was no mere reflection of Merodach, but one of the +most important goddesses in the Babylonian pantheon. The tendency of +scholars has been to identify her with the moon, Merodach being a +solar deity and the meaning "silvery"--/Sarpanitum/, from /sarpu/, one +of the words for "silver," was regarded as supporting this idea. She +was identified with the Elamite goddess named Elagu, and with the +Lahamum of the island of Bahrein, the Babylonian Tilmun. + + + Nebo and Tasmetum. + +As "the teacher" and "the hearer" these were among the most popular of +the deities of Babylonia and Assyria. Nebo (in Semitic Babylonian +Nabu) was worshipped at the temple-tower known as E-zida, "the ever- +lasting house," at Borsippa, now the Birs Nimroud, traditionally +regarded as the site of the Tower of Babel, though that title, as has +already been shown, would best suit the similar structure known as +E-sagila, "the house of the high head," in Babylon itself. In +composition with men's names, this deity occurs more than any other, +even including Merodach himself--a clear indication of the estimation +in which the Babylonians and Assyrians held the possession of +knowledge. The character with which his name is written means, with +the pronunciation of /ak/, "to make," "to create," "to receive," "to +proclaim," and with the pronunciation of /me/, "to be wise," "wisdom," +"open of ear," "broad of ear," and "to make, of a house," the last +probably referring to the design rather than to the actual building. +Under the name of /Dim-sara/ he was "the creator of the writing of the +scribes," as /Ni-zu/, "the god who knows" (/zu/, "to know"), as +/Mermer/, "the speeder(?) of the command of the gods"--on the Sumerian +side indicating some connection with Addu or Rimmon, the thunderer, +and on the Semitic side with Enu-restu, who was one of the gods' +messengers. A small fragment in the British Museum gave his attributes +as god of the various cities of Babylonia, but unfortunately their +names are lost or incomplete. From what remains, however, we see that +Nebo was god of ditching(?), commerce(?), granaries(?), fasting(?), +and food; it was he who overthrew the land of the enemy, and who +protected planting; and, lastly, he was god of Borsippa. + +The worship of Nebo was not always as popular as it became in the +later days of the Babylonian empire and after its fall, and Jastrow is +of opinion that Hammurabi intentionally ignored this deity, giving the +preference to Merodach, though he did not suppress the worship. Why +this should have taken place is not by any means certain, for Nebo was +a deity adored far and wide, as may be gathered from the fact that +there was a mountain bearing his name in Moab, upon which Moses--also +an "announcer," adds Jastrow--died. Besides the mountain, there was a +city in Moab so named, and another in Judaea. That it was the +Babylonian Nebo originally is implied by the form--the Hebrew +corresponding word is /nabi/. + +How old the worship of Tasmetum, his consort, is, is doubtful, but her +name first occurs in a date of the reign of Hammurabi. Details +concerning her attributes are rare, and Jastrow regards this goddess +as the result of Babylonian religious speculations. It is noteworthy +that her worship appears more especially in later times, but it may be +doubted whether it is a product of those late times, especially when +we bear in mind the remarkable seal-impression on an early tablet of +3500-4500 B.C., belonging to Lord Amherst of Hackney, in which we see +a male figure with wide-open mouth seizing a stag by his horns, and a +female figure with no mouth at all, but with very prominent ears, +holding a bull in a similar manner. Here we have the "teacher" and the +"hearer" personified in a very remarkable manner, and it may well be +that this primitive picture shows the idea then prevailing with regard +to these two deities. It is to be noted that the name of Tasmetum has +a Sumerian equivalent, namely, /Kurnun/, and that the ideograph by +which it is represented is one whose general meaning seems to be "to +bind," perhaps with the additional signification of "to accomplish," +in which case "she who hears" would also be "she who obeys." + + + Samas and his consort. + +At all times the worship of the sun in Babylonia and Assyria was +exceedingly popular, as, indeed, was to be expected from his +importance as the greatest of the heavenly bodies and the brightest, +without whose help men could not live, and it is an exceedingly +noteworthy fact that this deity did not become, like Ra in Egypt, the +head of the pantheon. This place was reserved for Merodach, also a +sun-god, but possessing attributes of a far wider scope. Samas is +mentioned as early as the reign of E-anna-tum, whose date is set at +about 4200 B.C., and at this period his Semitic name does not, +naturally, occur, the character used being /Utu/, or, in its longer +form, /Utuki/. + +It is worthy of note that, in consequence of the Babylonian idea of +evolution in the creation of the world, less perfect beings brought +forth those which were more perfect, and the sun was therefore the +offspring of Nannara or Sin, the moon. In accordance with the same +idea, the day, with the Semites, began with the evening, the time when +the moon became visible, and thus becomes the offspring of the night. +In the inscriptions Samas is described as "the light of things above +and things below, the illuminator of the regions," "the supreme judge +of heaven and earth," "the lord of living creatures, the gracious one +of the lands." Dawning in the foundation of the sky, he opened the +locks and threw wide the gates of the high heavens, and raised his +head, covering heaven and earth with his splendour. He was the +constantly righteous in heaven, the truth within the ears of the +lands, the god knowing justice and injustice, righteousness he +supported upon his shoulders, unrighteousness he burst asunder like a +leather bond, etc. It will thus be seen, that the sun-god was the +great god of judgment and justice--indeed, he is constantly alluded to +as "the judge," the reason in all probability being, that as the sun +shines upon the earth all day long, and his light penetrates +everywhere, he was regarded as the god who knew and investigated +everything, and was therefore best in a position to judge aright, and +deliver a just decision. It is for this reason that his image appears +at the head of the stele inscribed with Hammurabi's laws, and legal +ceremonies were performed within the precincts of his temples. The +chief seats of his worship were the great temples called E-babbara, +"the house of great light," in the cities of Larsa and Sippar. + +The consort of Samas was Aa, whose chief seat was at Sippar, side by +side with Samas. Though only a weak reflex of the sun-god, her worship +was exceedingly ancient, being mentioned in an inscription of +Man-istusu, who is regarded as having reigned before Sargon of Agade. +From the fact that, in one of the lists, she has names formed by +reduplicating the name of the sun-god, /Utu/, she would seem once to +have been identical with him, in which case it may be supposed that +she personified the setting sun--"the double sun" from the magnified +disc which he presents at sunset, when, according to a hymn to the +setting sun sung at the temple at Borsippa, Aa, in the Sumerian line +Kur-nirda, was accustomed to go to receive him. According to the list +referred to above, Aa, with the name of Burida in Sumerian, was more +especially the consort of Sa-zu, "him who knows the heart," one of the +names of Merodach, who was probably the morning sun, and therefore the +exact counterpart of the sun at evening. + +Besides Samas and Utu, the latter his ordinary Sumerian name, the sun- +god had several other non-Semitic names, including /Gisnu/,[*] "the +light," /Ma-banda-anna/, "the bark of heaven," /U-e/, "the rising +sun," /Mitra/, apparently the Persian Mithra; /Ume-simas/ and Nahunda, +Elamite names, and Sahi, the Kassite name of the sun. He also +sometimes bears the names of his attendants Kittu and Mesaru, "Truth" +and "Righteousness," who guided him upon his path as judge of the +earth. + +[*] It is the group expressing this word which is used for Samas in + the name of Samas-sum-ukin (Saosduchinos), the brother of Assur- + bani-apli (Assurbanipal). The Greek equivalent implies the + pronunciation /Sawas/, as well as /Samas/. + + + Tammuz and Istar. + +The date of the rise of the myth of Tammuz is uncertain, but as the +name of this god is found on tablets of the time of Lugal-anda and +Uru-ka-gina (about 3500 B.C.), it can hardly be of later date than +4000 B.C., and may be much earlier. As he is repeatedly called "the +shepherd," and had a domain where he pastured his flock, Professor +Sayce sees in Tammuz "Daonus or Daos, the shepherd of Pantibibla," +who, according to Berosus, ruled in Babylonia for 10 /sari/, or 36,000 +years, and was the sixth king of the mythical period. According to the +classic story, the mother of Tammuz had unnatural intercourse with her +own father, being urged thereto by Aphrodite whom she had offended, +and who had decided thus to avenge herself. Being pursued by her +father, who wished to kill her for this crime, she prayed to the gods, +and was turned into a tree, from whose trunk Adonis was afterwards +born. Aphrodite was so charmed with the infant that, placing him in a +chest, she gave him into the care of Persephone, who, however, when +she discovered what a treasure she had in her keeping, refused to part +with him again. Zeus was appealed to, and decided that for four months +in the year Adonis should be left to himself, four should be spent +with Aphrodite, and four with Persephone, and six with Aphrodite on +earth. He was afterwards slain, whilst hunting, by a wild boar. + +Nothing has come down to us as yet concerning this legend except the +incident of his dwelling in Hades, whither Istar, the Babylonian +Venus, went in search of him. It is not by any means unlikely, +however, that the whole story existed in Babylonia, and thence spread +to Phoenicia, and afterwards to Greece. In Phoenicia it was adapted to +the physical conditions of the country, and the place of Tammuz's +encounter with the boar was said to be the mountains of Lebanon, +whilst the river named after him, Adonis (now the Nahr Ibrahim), which +ran red with the earth washed down by the autumn rains, was said to be +so coloured in consequence of being mingled with his blood. The +descent of Tammuz to the underworld, typified by the flowing down of +the earth-laden waters of the rivers to the sea, was not only +celebrated by the Phoenicians, but also by the Babylonians, who had at +least two series of lamentations which were used on this occasion, and +were probably the originals of those chanted by the Hebrew women in +the time of Ezekiel (about 597 B.C.). Whilst on earth, he was the one +who nourished the ewe and her lamb, the goat and her kid, and also +caused them to be slain--probably in sacrifice. "He has gone, he has +gone to the bosom of the earth," the mourners cried, "he will make +plenty to overflow for the land of the dead, for its lamentations for +the day of his fall, in the unpropitious month of his year." There was +also lamentation for the cessation of the growth of vegetation, and +one of these hymns, after addressing him as the shepherd and husband +of Istar, "lord of the underworld," and "lord of the shepherd's seat," +goes on to liken him to a germ which has not absorbed water in the +furrow, whose bud has not blossomed in the meadow; to the sapling +which has not been planted by the watercourse, and to the sapling +whose root has been removed. In the "Lamentations" in the Manchester +Museum, Istar, or one of her devotees, seems to call for Tammuz, +saying, "Return, my husband," as she makes her way to the region of +gloom in quest of him. Eres-e-gala, "the lady of the great house" +(Persephone), is also referred to, and the text seems to imply that +Istar entered her domain in spite of her. In this text other names are +given to him, namely, /Tumu-giba/, "son of the flute," /Ama-elaggi/, +and /Si-umunnagi/, "life of the people." + +The reference to sheep and goats in the British Museum fragment +recalls the fact that in an incantation for purification the person +using it is told to get the milk of a yellow goat which has been +brought forth in the sheep-fold of Tammuz, recalling the flocks of the +Greek sun-god Helios. These were the clouds illuminated by the sun, +which were likened to sheep--indeed, one of the early Sumerian +expressions for "fleece" was "sheep of the sky." The name of Tammuz in +Sumerian is Dumu-zi, or in its rare fullest form, Dumu-zida, meaning +"true" or "faithful son." There is probably some legend attached to +this which is at present unknown. + +In all probability Istar, the spouse of Tammuz, is best known from her +descent into Hades in quest of him when with Persephone (Eres-ki-gal) +in the underworld. In this she had to pass through seven gates, and an +article of clothing was taken from her at each, until she arrived in +the underworld quite naked, typifying the teaching, that man can take +nothing away with him when he departs this life. During her absence, +things naturally began to go wrong upon the earth, and the gods were +obliged to intervene, and demand her release, which was ultimately +granted, and at each gate, as she returned, the adornments which she +had left were given back to her. It is uncertain whether the husband +whom she sought to release was set free, but the end of the +inscription seems to imply that Istar was successful in her mission. + +In this story she typifies the faithful wife, but other legends show +another side of her character, as in that of Gilgames, ruler of her +city Erech, to whom she makes love. Gilgames, however, knowing the +character of the divine queen of his city too well, reproaches her +with her treatment of her husband and her other lovers--Tammuz, to +whom, from year to year, she caused bitter weeping; the bright +coloured Allala bird, whom she smote and broke his wings; the lion +perfect in strength, in whom she cut wounds "by sevens"; the horse +glorious in war, to whom she caused hardship and distress, and to his +mother Silili bitter weeping; the shepherd who provided for her things +which she liked, whom she smote and changed to a jackal; Isullanu, her +father's gardener, whom she tried, apparently, to poison, but failing, +she smote him, and changed him to a statue(?). On being thus reminded +of her misdeeds, Istar was naturally angry, and, ascending to heaven, +complained to her father Anu and her mother Anatu, the result being, +that a divine bull was sent against Gilgames and Enki-du, his friend +and helper. The bull, however, was killed, and a portion of the animal +having been cut off, Enki-du threw it at the goddess, saying at the +same time that, if he could only get hold of her, he would treat her +similarly. Apparently Istar recognised that there was nothing further +to be done in the matter, so, gathering the hand-maidens, pleasure- +women and whores, in their presence she wept over the portion of the +divine bull which had been thrown at her. + +The worship of Istar, she being the goddess of love and war, was +considerably more popular than that of her spouse, Tammuz, who, as +among the western Semitic nations, was adored rather by the women than +the men. Her worship was in all probability of equal antiquity, and +branched out, so to say, in several directions, as may be judged by +her many names, each of which had a tendency to become a distinct +personality. Thus the syllabaries give the character which represents +her name as having also been pronounced /Innanna/, /Ennen/, and /Nin/, +whilst a not uncommon name in other inscriptions is /Ama-Innanna/, +"mother Istar." The principal seat of her worship in Babylonia was at +Erech, and in Assyria at Nineveh--also at Arbela, and many other +places. She was also honoured (at Erech and elsewhere) under the +Elamite names of Tispak and Susinak, "the Susian goddess." + + + Nina. + +From the name /Nin/, which Istar bore, there is hardly any doubt that +she acquired the identification with Nina, which is provable as early +as the time of the Lagasite kings, Lugal-anda and Uru-ka-gina. As +identified with Aruru, the goddess who helped Merodach to create +mankind, Istar was also regarded as the mother of all, and in the +Babylonian story of the Flood, she is made to say that she had +begotten man, but like "the sons of the fishes," he filled the sea. +Nina, then, as another form of Istar, was a goddess of creation, +typified in the teeming life of the ocean, and her name is written +with a character standing for a house or receptacle, with the sign for +"fish" within. Her earliest seat was the city of Nina in southern +Babylonia, from which place, in all probability, colonists went +northwards, and founded another shrine at Nineveh in Assyria, which +afterwards became the great centre of her worship, and on this account +the city was called after her Ninaa or Ninua. As their tutelary +goddess, the fishermen in the neighbourhood of the Babylonian Nina and +Lagas were accustomed to make to her, as well as to Innanna or Istar, +large offerings of fish. + +As the masculine deities had feminine forms, so it is not by any means +improbable that the goddesses had masculine forms, and if that be the +case, we may suppose that it was a masculine counterpart of Nina who +founded Nineveh, which, as is well known, is attributed to Ninos, the +same name as Nina with the Greek masculine termination. + + + Nin-Gursu. + +This deity is principally of importance in connection with the ancient +Babylonian state of Lagas, the home of an old and important line of +kings and viceroys, among the latter being the celebrated Gudea, whose +statues and inscribed cylinders now adorn the Babylonian galleries of +the Louvre at Paris. His name means "Lord of Girsu," which was +probably one of the suburbs, and the oldest part, of Lagas. This deity +was son of En-lila or Bel, and was identified with Nirig or Enu-restu. +To all appearance he was a sun-deity. The dialectic form of his name +was /U-Mersi/, of which a variant, /En-Mersi/, occurs in an +incantation published in the fourth volume of the /Cuneiform +Inscriptions of Western Asia/, pl. 27, where, for the Sumerian "Take a +white kid of En-Mersi," the Semitic translation is "of Tammuz," +showing that he was identified with the latter god. In the second +volume of the same work Nin-Girsu is given as the pronunciation of the +name of the god of agriculturalists, confirming this identification, +Tammuz being also god of agriculture. + + + Bau. + +This goddess at all times played a prominent part in ancient +Babylonian religion, especially with the rulers before the dynasty of +Hammurabi. She was the "mother" of Lagas, and her temple was at +Uru-azaga, a district of Lagas, the chief city of Nin-Girsu, whose +spouse she was. Like Nin-Girsu, she planted (not only grain and +vegetation, but also the seed of men). In her character of the goddess +who gave life to men, and healed their bodies in sickness, she was +identified with Gula, one of those titles is "the lady saving from +death". Ga-tum-duga, whose name probably means "making and producing +good," was also exceedingly popular in ancient times, and though +identified with Bau, is regarded by Jastrow has having been originally +distinct from her. + + + Eres-ki-gal or Allatu. + +As the prototype of Persephone, this goddess is one of much importance +for comparative mythology, and there is a legend concerning her of +considerable interest. The text is one of those found at Tel-el- +Armana, in Egypt, and states that the gods once made a feast, and sent +to Eres-ki-gal, saying that, though they could go down to her, she +could not ascend to them, and asking her to send a messenger to fetch +away the food destined for her. This she did, and all the gods stood +up to receive her messenger, except one, who seems to have withheld +this token of respect. The messenger, when he returned, apparently +related to Eres-ki-gal what had happened, and angered thereat, she +sent him back to the presence of the gods, asking for the delinquent +to be delivered to her, that she might kill him. The gods then +discussed the question of death with the messenger, and told him to +take to his mistress the god who had not stood up in his presence. +When the gods were brought together, that the culprit might be +recognised, one of them remained in the background, and on the +messenger asking who it was who did not stand up, it was found to be +Nerigal. This god was duly sent, but was not at all inclined to be +submissive, for instead of killing him, as she had threatened, Eres- +ki-gal found herself seized by the hair and dragged from her throne, +whilst the death-dealing god made ready to cut off her head. "Do not +kill me, my brother, let me speak to thee," she cried, and on his +loosing his hold upon her hair, she continued, "thou shalt be my +husband, and I will be thy wife--I will cause you to take dominion in +the wide earth. I will place the tablet of wisdom in thine hand--thou +shalt be lord, I will be lady." Nerigal thereupon took her, kissed +her, and wiped away her tears, saying, "Whatever thou hast asked me +for months past now receives assent." + +Eres-ki-gal did not treat her rival in the affections of Tammuz so +gently when Istar descended to Hades in search of the "husband of her +youth." According to the story, not only was Istar deprived of her +garments and ornaments, but by the orders of Eres-ki-gal, Namtar smote +her with disease in all her members. It was not until the gods +intervened that Istar was set free. The meaning of her name is "lady +of the great region," a description which is supposed to apply to +Hades, and of which a variant, Eres-ki-gal, "lady of the great house," +occurs in the Hymns to Tammuz in the Manchester Museum. + + + Nergal. + +This name is supposed to mean "lord of the great habitation," which +would be a parallel to that of his spouse Eres-ki-gal. He was the +ruler of Hades, and at the same time god of war and of disease and +pestilence. As warrior, he naturally fought on the side of those who +worshipped him, as in the phrase which describes him as "the warrior, +the fierce storm-flood overthrowing the land of the enemy." As pointed +out by Jastrow, he differs from Nirig, who was also a god of war, in +that he symbolises, as god of disease and death, the misery and +destruction which accompany the strife of nations. It is in +consequence of this side of his character that he appears also as god +of fire, the destroying element, and Jensen says that Nerigal was god +of the midday or of the summer sun, and therefore of all the +misfortunes caused by an excess of his heat. + +The chief centre of his worship was Cuthah (/Kutu/, Sumerian /Gudua/) +near Babylon, now represented by the mounds of Tel Ibrahim. The +identity with the Greek Aries and the Roman Mars is proved by the fact +that his planet was /Mustabarru-mutanu/, "the death-spreader," which +is probably the name of Mars in Semitic Babylonian. + + + Amurru. + +Although this is not by any means a frequent name among the deities +worshipped in Babylonia, it is worthy of notice on account of its +bearing upon the date of the compilation of the tablet which has been +taken as a basis of this list of gods. He was known as "Lord of the +mountains," and his worship became very popular during the period of +the dynasty to which Hammurabi belonged--say from 2200 to 1937 B.C., +when Amurru was much combined with the names of men, and is found both +on tablets and cylinder-seals. The ideographic manner of writing it is +/Mar-tu/, a word that is used for /Amurru/, the land of the Amorites, +which stood for the West in general. Amorites had entered Babylonia in +considerable numbers during this period, so that there is but little +doubt that his popularity was largely due to their influence, and the +tablet containing these names was probably drawn up, or at least had +the Semitic equivalents added, towards the beginning of that period. + + + Sin or Nannara. + +The cult of the moon-god was one of the most popular in Babylonia, the +chief seat of his worship being at Uru (now Muqayyar) the Biblical Ur +of the Chaldees. The origin of the name Sin is unknown, but it is +thought that it may be a corruption of Zu-ena, "knowledge-lord," as +the compound ideograph expressing his name may be read and translated. +Besides this compound ideograph, the name of the god Sin was also +expressed by the character for "30," provided with the prefix of +divinity, an ideograph which is due to the thirty days of the month, +and is thought to be of late date. With regard to Nannar, Jastrow +explains it as being for Narnar, and renders it "light-producer." In a +long hymn to this god he is described in many lines as "the lord, +prince of the gods, who in heaven alone is supreme," and as "father +Nannar." Among his other descriptive titles are "great Anu" (Sum. /ana +gale/, Semitic Bab. /Anu rabu/)--another instance of the +identification of two deities. He was also "lord of Ur," "lord of the +temple Gisnu-gala," "lord of the shining crown," etc. He is also said +to be "the mighty steer whose horns are strong, whose limbs are +perfect, who is bearded with a beard of lapis-stone,[*] who is filled +with beauty and fullness (of splendour)." + +[*] Probably of the colour of lapis only, not made of the stone + itself. + +Besides Babylonia and Assyria, he was also worshipped in other parts +of the Semitic east, especially at Harran, to which city Abraham +migrated, scholars say, in consequence of the patron-deity being the +same as at Ur of the Chaldees, where he had passed the earlier years +of his life. The Mountain of Sinai and the Desert of Sin, both bear +his name. + +According to king Dungi (about 2700 B.C.), the spouse of Sin or +Nannara was Nin-Uruwa, "the lady of Ur." Sargon of Assyria (722-705 +B.C.) calls her Nin-gala. + + + Addu or Rammanu. + +The numerous names which Hadad bears in the inscriptions, both non- +Semitic and Semitic, testify to the popularity which this god enjoyed +at all times in Babylonia. Among his non-Semitic names may be +mentioned Mer, Mermer, Muru, all, it may be imagined, imitative. Addu +is explained as being his name in the Amorite language, and a variant +form, apparently, which has lost its first syllable, namely, Dadu, +also appears--the Assyrians seem always to have used the +terminationless form of Addu, namely, Adad. In all probability Addu, +Adad, and Dadu are derived from the West Semitic Hadad, but the other +name, Rammanu, is native Babylonian, and cognate with Rimmon, which is +thus shown by the Babylonian form to mean "the thunderer," or +something similar. He was the god of winds, storms, and rain, feared +on account of the former, and worshipped, and his favour sought, on +account of the last. In his name Birqu, he appears as the god of +lightning, and Jastrow is of opinion, that he is sometimes associated +on that account with Samas, both of them being (although in different +degrees) gods of light, and this is confirmed by the fact that, in +common with the sun-god, he was called "god of justice." In the +Assyrian inscriptions he appears as a god of war, and the kings +constantly compare the destruction which their armies had wrought with +that of "Adad the inundator." For them he was "the mighty one, +inundating the regions of the enemy, lands and houses," and was prayed +to strike the land of the person who showed hostility to the Assyrian +king, with evil-working lightning, to throw want, famine, drought, and +corpses therein, to order that he should not live one day longer, and +to destroy his name and his seed in the land. + +The original seat of his worship was Muru in South Babylonia, to which +the patesi of Girsu in the time of Ibi-Sin sent grain as an offering. +Its site is unknown. Other places (or are they other names of the +same?) where he was worshipped were Ennigi and Kakru. The consort of +Addu was Sala, whose worship was likewise very popular, and to whom +there were temples, not only in Babylonia and Assyria, but also in +Elam, seemingly always in connection with Addu. + + + Assur. + +In all the deities treated of above, we see the chief gods of the +Babylonian and Assyrian pantheon, which were worshipped by both +peoples extensively, none of them being specifically Assyrian, though +worshipped by the Assyrians. There was one deity, however, whose name +will not be found in the Babylonian lists of gods, namely, Assur, the +national god of Assyria, who was worshipped in the city of Assur, the +old capital of the country. + +From this circumstance, it may be regarded as certain, that Assur was +the local god of the city whose name he bore, and that he attained to +the position of chief god of the Assyrian pantheon in the same way as +Merodach became king of the gods in Babylonia--namely, because Assur +was the capital of the country. His acceptance as chief divinity, +however, was much more general than that of Merodach, as temples to +him were to be found all over the Assyrian kingdom--a circumstance +which was probably due to Assyria being more closely united in itself +than Babylonia, causing his name to arouse patriotic feelings wherever +it might be referred to. This was probably partly due to the fact, +that the king in Assyria was more the representative of the god than +in Babylonia, and that the god followed him on warlike expeditions, +and when engaged in religious ceremonies--indeed, it is not by any +means improbable that he was thought to follow him wherever he went. +On the sculptures he is seen accompanying him in the form of a circle +provided with wings, in which is shown sometimes a full-length figure +of the god in human form, sometimes the upper part only, facing +towards and drawing his bow against the foe. In consequence of its +general appearance, the image of the god has been likened to the sun +in eclipse, the far-stretching wings being thought to resemble the +long streamers visible at the moment of totality, and it must be +admitted as probable that this may have given the idea of the symbol +shown on the sculptures. As a sun-god, and at the same time not the +god Samas, he resembled the Babylonian Merodach, and was possibly +identified with him, especially as, in at least one text, Beltu +(Beltis) is described as his consort, which would possibly identify +Assur's spouse with Zer-panitum. The original form of his name would +seem to have been Ausar, "water-field," probably from the tract where +the city of Assur was built. His identification with Merodach, if that +was ever accepted, may have been due to the likeness of the word to +Asari, one of that deity's names. The pronunciation Assur, however, +seems to have led to a comparison with the Ansar of the first tablet +of the Creation-story, though it may seem strange that the Assyrians +should have thought that their patron-god was a deity symbolising the +"host of heaven." Nevertheless, the Greek transcription of Ansar, +namely, /Assoros/, given by Damascius, certainly strengthens the +indications of the ideograph in this matter. Delitzsch regards the +word Assur, or Asur, as he reads it, as meaning "holy," and quotes a +list of the gods of the city of Nineveh, where the word Assur occurs +three times, suggesting the exclamation "holy, holy, holy," or "the +holy, holy, holy one." In all probability, however, the repetition of +the name three times simply means that there were three temples +dedicated to Assur in the cities in question.[*] Jastrow agrees with +Delitzsch in regarding Asur as another form of Asir (found in early +Cappadocian names), but he translates it rather as "overseer" or +"guardian" of the land and the people--the terminationless form of +/asiru/, which has this meaning, and is applied to Merodach. + +[*] Or there may have been three shrines to Assur in each temple + referred to. + +As the use of the characters /An-sar/ for the god Assur only appears +at a late date (Jastrow says the eighth century B.C.), this would seem +to have been the work of the scribes, who wished to read into the name +the earlier signification of Ansar, "the host of heaven," an +explanation fully in accord with Jastrow's reasonings with regard to +the nature of the deity. As he represented no personification or power +of nature, he says, but the general protecting spirit of the land, the +king, the army, and the people, the capital of the country could be +transferred from Assur to Calah, from there back to Assur, and finally +to Nineveh, without affecting the position of the protecting god of +the land in any way. He needed no temple--though such things were +erected to him--he had no need to fear that he should suffer in esteem +by the preference for some other god. As the embodiment of the spirit +of the Assyrian people the personal side of his being remained to a +certain extent in the background. If he was the "host of heaven," all +the deities might be regarded as having their being in him. + +Such was the chief deity of the Assyrians--a national god, grafted on +to, but always distinct from, the rest of the pantheon, which, as has +been shown, was of Babylonian origin, and always maintained the +characteristics and stamp of its origin. + +The spouse of Assur does not appear in the historical texts, and her +mention elsewhere under the title of Beltu, "the lady," does not allow +of any identification being made. In one inscription, however, +Assuritu is called the goddess, and Assur the god, of the star Sib-zi- +anna, identified by Jensen with Regulus, which was apparently the star +of Merodach in Babylonia. This, however, brings us no nearer, for +Assuritu would simply mean "the Assurite (goddess)." + + + The minor divinities. + +Among the hundreds of names which the lists furnish, a few are worthy +of mention, either because of more than ordinary interest, or in +consequence of their furnishing the name of some deity, chief in its +locality, but identified elsewhere with one of the greater gods. + +Aa.--This may be regarded either as the god Ea (though the name is +written differently), or as the sun-god assuming the name of his +consort; or (what is, perhaps, more probable) as a way of writing A'u +or Ya'u (the Hebrew Jah), without the ending of the nominative. This +last is also found under the form /Aa'u/, /ya'u/, /yau/, and /ya/. + +Abil-addu.--This deity seems to have attained a certain popularity in +later times, especially among immigrants from the West. As "the son of +Hadad," he was the equivalent of the Syrian Ben-Hadad. A tablet in New +York shows that his name was weakened in form to /Ablada/. + +Aku, the moon-god among the heavenly bodies. It is this name which is +regarded as occurring in the name of the Babylonian king Eri-Aku, +"servant of the moon-god," the biblical Arioch (Gen. xiv.). + +Amma-an-ki, Ea or Aa as lord of heaven and earth. + +Amna.--A name only found in a syllabary, and assigned to the sun-god, +from which it would seem that it is a form of the Egyptian Ammon. + +Anunitum, the goddess of one of the two Sippars, called Sippar of +Anunitum, who was worshipped in the temple E-ulmas within the city of +Agade (Akkad). Sayce identifies, on this account, these two places as +being the same. In a list of stars, Anunitum is coupled with +Sinunutum, which are explained as (the stars of) the Tigris and +Euphrates. These were probably names of Venus as the morning and +evening (or evening and morning) star. + +Apsu.--The deep dissociated from the evil connection with Tiawath, and +regarded as "the house of deep wisdom," i.e. the home of the god Ea or +Aa. + +Aruru.--One of the deities of Sippar and Aruru (in the time of the +dynasty of Hammurabi called Ya'ruru), of which she was the chief +goddess. Aruru was one of the names of the "lady of the gods," and +aided Merodach to make the seed of mankind. + +Bel.--As this name means "lord," it could be applied, like the +Phoenician Baal, to the chief god of any city, as Bel of Niffur, Bel of +Hursag-kalama, Bel of Aratta, Bel of Babylon, etc. This often +indicates also the star which represented the chief god of a place. + +Beltu.--In the same way Beltu, meaning "lady," meant also the chief +goddess of any place, as "Aruru, lady of the gods of Sippar of Aruru," +"Nin-mah, lady of the gods of E-mah," a celebrated temple within +Babylon, recently excavated by the Germans, "Nin-hur-saga, lady of the +gods of Kes," etc. + +Bunene.--A god associated with Samas and Istar at Sippar and +elsewhere. He "gave" and "renewed" to his worshippers. + +Dagan.--This deity, whose worship extends back to an exceedingly early +date, is generally identified with the Phoenician Dagon. Hammurabi +seems to speak of the Euphrates as being "the boundary of Dagan," whom +he calls his creator. In later inscriptions the form Daguna, which +approaches nearer to the West Semitic form, is found in a few personal +names. The Phoenician statues of this deity showed him with the lower +part of his body in the form of a fish (see 1 Sam. v. 4). Whether the +deities clothed in a fish's skin in the Nimroud gallery be Dagon or +not is uncertain--they may be intended for Ea or Aa, the Oannes of +Berosus, who was represented in this way. Probably the two deities +were regarded as identical. + +Damu.--a goddess regarded as equivalent to Gula by the Babylonians and +Assyrians. She was goddess of healing, and made one's dreams happy. + +Dumu-zi-abzu, "Tammuz of the Abyss."--This was one of the six sons of +Ea or Aa, according to the lists. His worship is exceedingly ancient, +and goes back to the time of E-anna-tum of Lagas (about 4000 B.C.). +What connection, if any, he may have with Tammuz, the spouse of Istar, +is unknown. Jastrow apparently regards him as a distinct deity, and +translates his name "the child of the life of the water-deep." + +Elali.--A deity identified with the Hebrew Helal, the new moon. Only +found in names of the time of the Hammurabi dynasty, in one of which +he appears as "a creator." + +En-nugi is described as "lord of streams and canals," and "lord of the +earth, lord of no-return." This last description, which gives the +meaning of his name, suggests that he was one of the gods of the realm +of Eres-ki-gal, though he may have borne that name simply as god of +streams, which always flow down, never the reverse. + +Gibil.--One of the names of the god of fire, sometimes transcribed +Girru by Assyriologists, the meaning apparently being "the fire- +bearer" or "light-bearer." Girru is another name of this deity, and +translates an ideographic group, rendered by Delitzsch "great" or +"highest decider," suggesting the custom of trial by ordeal. He was +identified with Nirig, in Semitic Enu-restu. + +Gusqi-banda or Kuski-banda, one of the names of Ea, probably as god of +gold-workers. + +Isum, "the glorious sacrificer," seemingly a name of the fire-god as a +means whereby burnt offerings were made. Nur-Isum, "light of Isum," is +found as a man's name. + +Kaawanu, the planet Saturn. + +Lagamal.--A god identified with the Elamite Lagamar, whose name is +regarded as existing in Chedorlaomer (cf. Gen. xiv. 2). He was the +chief god of Mair, "the ship-city." + +Lugal-Amarada or Lugal-Marad.--This name means "king of Marad," a city +as yet unidentified. The king of this place seems to have been +Nerigal, of whom, therefore, Lugal-Marad is another name. + +Lugal-banda.--This name means "the powerful king," or something +similar, and the god bearing it is supposed to be the same as Nerigal. +His consort, however, was named Nin-sun (or Nin-gul). + +Lugal-Du-azaga, "the king of the glorious seat."--The founder of +Eridu, "the good city within the Abyss," probably the paradise (or a +paradise) of the world to come. As it was the aim of every good +Babylonian to dwell hereafter with the god whom he had worshipped upon +earth, it may be conjectured that this was the paradise in the domain +of Ea or Aa. + +Mama, Mami.--Names of "the lady of the gods," and creatress of the +seed of mankind, Aruru. Probably so called as the "mother" of all +things. Another name of this goddess is Ama, "mother." + +Mammitum, Mamitum, goddess of fate. + +Mur, one of the names of Addu or Rammanu (Hadad or Rimmon). + +Nana or Nanaa was the consort of Nebo at Borsippa, but appears as a +form of Istar, worshipped, with Anu her father, at Erech. + +Nin-aha-kuku, a name of Ea or Aa and of his daughter as deity of the +rivers, and therefore of gardens and plantations, which were watered +by means of the small canals leading therefrom. As daughter of Ea, +this deity was also "lady of the incantation." + +Nin-azu, the consort of Eres-ki-gal, probably as "lord physician." He +is probably to be identified with Nerigal. + +Nin-igi-nagar-si, a name somewhat more doubtful as to its reading than +the others, designates Ea or Aa as "the god of the carpenter." He +seems to have borne this as "the great constructor of heaven" or "of +Anu." + +Nin-mah, chief goddess of the temple E-mah in Babylon. Probably to be +identified with Aruru, and therefore with Zer-panitum. + +Nin-sah, a deity whose name is conjectured to mean "lord of the wild +boar." He seems to have been a god of war, and was identified with +Nirig or Enu-restu and Pap-sukal. + +Nin-sirsir, Ea as the god of sailors. + +Nin-sun, as pointed out by Jastrow, was probably the same as Istar or +Nana of Erech, where she had a shrine, with them, in E-anna, "the +house of Anu." He renders her name "the annihilating lady,"[*] +"appropriate for the consort of a sun-god," for such he regards Lugal- +banda her spouse. King Sin-gasid of Erech (about 3000 B.C.) refers to +her as his mother. + +[*] This is due to the second element of the name having, with another + pronunciation, the meaning of "to destroy." + +Nun-urra.--Ea, as the god of potters. + +Pap-sukal.--A name of Nin-sah as the "divine messenger," who is also +described as god "of decisions." Nin-sah would seem to have been one +of the names of Pap-sukal rather than the reverse. + +Qarradu, "strong," "mighty," "brave."--This word, which was formerly +translated "warrior," is applied to several deities, among them being +Bel, Nergal, Nirig (Enu-restu), and Samas, the sun-god. + +Ragimu and Ramimu, names of Rimmon or Hadad as "the thunderer." The +second comes from the same root as Rammanu (Rimmon). + +Suqamunu.--A deity regarded as "lord of watercourses," probably the +artificial channels dug for the irrigation of fields. + +Ura-gala, a name of Nerigal. + +Uras, a name of Nirig, under which he was worshipped at Dailem, near +Babylon. + +Zagaga, dialectic Zamama.--This deity, who was a god of war, was +identified with Nirig. One of this titles was /bel parakki/, "lord of +the royal chamber," or "throne-room." + +Zaraqu or Zariqu.--As the root of this name means "to sprinkle," he +was probably also a god of irrigation, and may have presided over +ceremonial purification. He is mentioned in names as the "giver of +seed" and "giver of a name" (i.e. offspring). + +These are only a small proportion of the names found in the +inscriptions, but short as the list necessarily is, the nature, if not +the full composition, of the Babylonian pantheon will easily be +estimated therefrom. + +It will be seen that besides the identifications of the deities of all +the local pantheons with each other, each divinity had almost as many +names as attributes and titles, hence their exceeding multiplicity. In +such an extensive pantheon, many of the gods composing it necessarily +overlap, and identification of each other, to which the faith, in its +primitive form, was a stranger, were inevitable. The tendency to +monotheism which this caused will be referred to later on. + + + The gods and the heavenly bodies. + +It has already been pointed out that, from the evidence of the +Babylonian syllabary, the deities of the Babylonians were not astral +in their origin, the only gods certainly originating in heavenly +bodies being the sun and the moon. This leads to the supposition that +the Babylonians, bearing these two deities in mind, may have asked +themselves why, if these two were represented by heavenly bodies, the +others should not be so represented also. Be this as it may, the other +deities of the pantheon were so represented, and the full planetary +scheme, as given by a bilingual list in the British Museum, was as +follows: + +Aku Sin the moon Sin +Bisebi Samas the sun Samas +Dapinu Umun-sig-ea Jupiter Merodach +Zib[*] Dele-bat Venus Istar +Lu-lim Lu-bat-sag-us Saturn Nirig (acc. to Jensen) +Bibbu Lubat-gud Mercury Nebo +Simutu Mustabarru Mars Nergal + mutanu + +All the above names of planets have the prefix of divinity, but in +other inscriptions the determinative prefix is that for "star," +/kakkabu/. + +[*] This is apparently a Sumerian dialectic form, the original word +having seemingly been Zig. + + + Moon and Sun. + +Unfortunately, all the above identifications of the planets with the +deities in the fourth column are not certain, namely, those +corresponding with Saturn, Mercury, and Mars. With regard to the +others, however, there is no doubt whatever. The reason why the moon +is placed before the sun is that the sun, as already explained, was +regarded as his son. It was noteworthy also that the moon was +accredited with two other offspring, namely, Masu and Mastu--son and +daughter respectively. As /masu/ means "twin," these names must +symbolise the two halves, or, as we say, "quarters" of the moon, who +were thus regarded, in Babylonian mythology, as his "twin children." + + + Jupiter and Saturn. + +Concerning Jupiter, who is in the above called Dapinu (Semitic), and +Umun-sig-ea (Sumerian), it has already been noted that he was called +Nibiru--according to Jensen, Merodach as he who went about among the +stars "pasturing" them like sheep, as stated in the Babylonian story +of the Creation (or Bel and the Dragon). This is explained by him as +being due to the comparatively rapid and extensive path of Jupiter on +the ecliptic, and it would seem probable that the names of Saturn, +/Kaawanu/ and /Sag-us/ (the former, which is Semitic Babylonian, +meaning "steadfast," or something similar, and the latter, in +Sumerian, "head-firm" or "steadfast"--"phlegmatic"), to all appearance +indicate in like manner the deliberation of his movements compared +with those of the planet dedicated to the king of the gods. + + + Venus at sunrise and sunset. + +A fragment of a tablet published in 1870 gives some interesting +particulars concerning the planet Venus, probably explaining some as +yet unknown mythological story concerning her. According to this, she +was a female at sunset, and a male at sunrise; Istar of Agade (Akad or +Akkad) at sunrise, and Istar of Erech at sunset: Istar of the stars at +sunrise, and the lady of the gods at sunset. + + + And in the various months. + +Istar was identified with Nin-si-anna in the first month of the year +(Nisan = March-April), with the star of the bow in Ab (August- +September), etc. In Sebat (January-February) she was the star of the +water-channel, Iku, which was Merodach's star in Sivan (May-June), and +in Marcheswan her star was Rabbu, which also belonged to Merodach in +the same month. It will thus be seen, that Babylonian astronomy is far +from being as clear as would be desired, but doubtless many +difficulties will disappear when further inscriptions are available. + + + Stars identified with Merodach. + +The same fragment gives the celestial names of Merodach for every +month of the year, from which it would appear, that the astrologers +called him Umun-sig-ea in Nisan (March-April), Dapinu in Tammuz (June- +July), Nibiru in Tisri (September-October), Sarru (the star Regulus), +in Tebet (December-January), etc. The first three are names by which +the planet Jupiter was known. + +As for the planets and stars, so also for the constellations, which +are identified with many gods and divine beings, and probably contain +references, in their names and descriptions, to many legends. In the +sixth tablet of the Creation-series, it is related of Merodach that, +after creating the heavens and the stations for Anu, Bel, and Ae, + + "He built firmly the stations of the great gods-- + Stars their likeness--he set up the /Lumali/, + He designated the year, he outlined the (heavenly) forms. + He set for the twelve months three stars each, + From the day when the year begins, . . . for signs." + +As pointed out by Mr. Robert Brown, jr., who has made a study of these +things, the "three stars" for each month occur on one of the remains +of planispheres in the British Museum, and are completed by a tablet +which gives them in list-form, in one case with explanations. Until +these are properly identified, however, it will be impossible to +estimate their real value. The signs of the Zodiac, which are given by +another tablet, are of greater interest, as they are the originals of +those which are in use at the present time:-- + +Month Sign Equivalent + +Nisan (Mar.-Apr.) The Labourer The Ram +Iyyar (Apr.-May) /Mulmula/ and the Bull of heaven The Bull +Sivan (May-June) /Sib-zi-anna/ and the great Twins The Twins +Tammuz (June-July) /Allul/ or /Nagar/ The Crab +Ab (July.-Aug.) The Lion (or dog) The Lion +Elul (Aug.-Sep.) The Ear of corn(?) The ear of Corn (Virgo) +Tisri (Sep.-Oct.) The Scales The Scales +Marcheswan (Oct.-Nov.) The Scorpion The Scorpion +Chisleu (Nov.-Dec.) /Pa-bil-sag/ The Archer +Tebet (Dec.-Jan.) /Sahar-mas/, the Fish-kid The Goat +Sebat (Jan.-Feb.) /Gula/ The Water-bearer +Adar (Feb.-Mar.) The Water Channel and the Tails The Fishes + + + Parallels in Babylonian legends. + +The "bull of heaven" probably refers to some legend such as that of +the story of Gilgames in his conflict with the goddess Istar when the +divine bull was killed; /Sib-zi-anna/, "the faithful shepherd of +heaven," suggests that this constellation may refer to Tammuz, the +divine shepherd; whilst "the scorpion" reminds us of the scorpion-men +who guarded the gate of the sun (Samas), when Gilgames was journeying +to gain information concerning his friend Enki-du, who had departed to +the place of the dead. Sir Henry Rawlinson many years ago pointed out +that the story of the Flood occupied the eleventh tablet of the +Gilgames series, corresponding with the eleventh sign of the Zodiac, +Aquarius, or the Water-bearer. + + + Other star-names. + +Other names of stars or constellations include "the weapon of +Merodach's hand," probably that with which he slew the dragon of +Chaos; "the Horse," which is described as "the god Zu," Rimmon's +storm-bird--Pegasus; "the Serpent," explained as Eres-ki-gal, the +queen of Hades, who would therefore seem to have been conceived in +that form; "the Scorpion," which is given as /Ishara tantim/, "Ishara +of the sea," a description difficult to explain, unless it refer to +her as the goddess of the Phoenician coast. Many other identifications, +exceedingly interesting, await solution. + + + How the gods were represented. On cylinder-seals. + +Many representations of the gods occur, both on bas-reliefs, boundary- +stones, and cylindrical and ordinary seals. Unfortunately, their +identification generally presents more or less difficulty, on account +of the absence of indications of their identity. On a small cylinder- +seal in the possession of the Rev. Dr. W. Hayes Ward, Merodach is +shown striding along the serpentine body of Tiawath, who turns her +head to attack him, whilst the god threatens her with a pointed weapon +which he carries. Another, published by the same scholar, shows a +deity, whom he regards as being Merodach, driven in a chariot drawn by +a winged lion, upon whose shoulders stands a naked goddess, holding +thunderbolts in each hand, whom he describes as Zer-panitum. Another +cylinder-seal shows the corn-deity, probably Nisaba, seated in +flounced robe and horned hat, with corn-stalks springing out from his +shoulders, and holding a twofold ear of corn in his hand, whilst an +attendant introduces, and another with a threefold ear of corn +follows, a man carrying a plough, apparently as an offering. On +another, a beautiful specimen from Assyria, Istar is shown standing on +an Assyrian lion, which turns his head as if to caress her feet. As +goddess of war, she is armed with bow and arrows, and her star is +represented upon the crown of her tiara. + + + On boundary-stones, etc. + +On the boundary-stones of Babylonia and the royal monoliths of Assyria +the emblems of the gods are nearly always seen. Most prominent are +three horned tiaras, emblematic, probably, of Merodach, Anu, and Bel +(the older). A column ending in a ram's head is used for Ea or Ae, a +crescent for Sin or Nannar, the moon-god; a disc with rays for Samas, +the sun-god; a thunderbolt for Rimmon or Hadad, the god of thunder, +lightning, wind, and storms; a lamp for Nusku, etc. A bird, perhaps a +hawk, stood for Utu-gisgallu, a deity whose name has been translated +"the southern sun," and is explained in the bilingual inscriptions as +Samas, the sun-god, and Nirig, one of the gods of war. The emblem of +Gal-alim, who is identified with the older Bel, is a snarling dragon's +head forming the termination of a pole, and that of Dun-asaga is a +bird's head similarly posed. On a boundary-stone of the time of +Nebuchadnezzar I., about 1120 B.C., one of the signs of the gods shows +a horse's head in a kind of shrine, probably the emblem of Rimmon's +storm-bird, Zu, the Babylonian Pegasus. + + + Other divine figures. + +One of the finest of all the representations of divinities is that of +the "Sun-god-stone," found by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam at Abu-habbah (the +ancient Sippar), which was one of the chief seats of his worship. It +represents him, seated in his shrine, holding in his hand a staff and +a ring, his usual emblems, typifying his position as judge of the +world and his endless course. The position of Merodach as sun-god is +confirmed by the small lapis-lazuli relief found by the German +expedition at the mound known as Amran ibn 'Ali, as he also carries a +staff and a ring, and his robe is covered with ornamental circles, +showing, in all probability, his solar nature. In the same place +another small relief representing Rimmon or Hadad was found. His robe +has discs emblematical of the five planets, and he holds in each hand +a thunderbolt, one of which he is about to launch forth. Merodach is +accompanied by a large two-horned dragon, whilst Hadad has a small +winged dragon, typifying the swiftness of his course, and another +animal, both of which he holds with cords. + + + + CHAPTER V + + THE DEMONS: EXORCISMS AND CEREMONIES + +Good and evil spirits, gods and demons, were fully believed in by the +Babylonians and Assyrians, and many texts referring to them exist. +Naturally it is not in some cases easy to distinguish well between the +special functions of these supernatural appearances which they +supposed to exist, but their nature is, in most cases, easily +ascertained from the inscriptions. + +To all appearance, the Babylonians imagined that spirits resided +everywhere, and lay in wait to attack mankind, and to each class, +apparently, a special province in bringing misfortune, or tormenting, +or causing pain and sickness, was assigned. All the spirits, however, +were not evil, even those whose names would suggest that their +character was such--there were good "liers in wait," for instance, as +well as evil ones, whose attitude towards mankind was beneficent. + +The /utukku/. This was a spirit which was supposed to do the will of +Anu, the god of the heavens. There was the /utukku/ of the plain, the +mountains, the sea, and the grave. + +The /alu/. Regarded as the demon of the storm, and possibly, in its +origin, the same as the divine bull sent by Istar to attack Gilgames, +and killed by Enki-du. It spread itself over a man, overpowering him +upon his bed, and attacking his breast. + +The /edimmu/. This is generally, but wrongly, read /ekimmu/, and +translated "the seizer," from /ekemu/, "to seize." In reality, +however, it was an ordinary spirit, and the word is used for the +wraiths of the departed. The "evil /edimmu/" was apparently regarded +as attacking the middle part of a man. + +The /gallu/. As this word is borrowed from the Sumerian /galla/, which +has a dialectic form, /mulla/, it is not improbable that it may be +connected with the word /mula/, meaning "star," and suggesting +something which is visible by the light it gives--possibly a will-o'- +the-wisp,--though others are inclined to regard the word as being +connected with /gala/, "great." In any case, its meaning seems to have +become very similar to "evil spirit" or "devil" in general, and is an +epithet applied by the Assyrian king Assur-bani-apli to Te-umman, the +Elamite king against whom he fought. + +The /ilu limnu/, "evil god," was probably originally one of the +deities of Tiawath's brood, upon whom Merodach's redemption had had no +effect. + +The /rabisu/ is regarded as a spirit which lay in wait to pounce upon +his prey. + +The /labartu/, in Sumerian /dimme/, was a female demon. There were +seven evil spirits of this kind, who were apparently regarded as being +daughters of Anu, the god of the heavens. + +The /labasu/, in Sumerian /dimmea/, was apparently a spirit which +overthrew, that being the meaning of the root from which the word +comes. + +The /ahhazu/, in Sumerian /dimme-kur/, was apparently so called as +"the seizer," that being the meaning indicated by the root. + +The /lilu/, in Sumerian /lila/, is generally regarded as "the night- +monster," the word being referred to the Semitic root /lil/ or /layl/, +whence the Hebrew /layil/, Arabic /layl/, "night." Its origin, +however, is Sumerian, from /lila/, regarded as meaning "mist." To the +word /lilu/ the ancient Babylonians formed a feminine, /lilithu/, +which entered the Hebrew language under the form of /lilith/, which +was, according to the rabbins, a beautiful woman, who lay in wait for +children by night. The /lilu/ had a companion who is called his +handmaid or servant. + +The /namtaru/ was apparently the spirit of fate, and therefore of +greater importance than those already mentioned. This being was +regarded as the beloved son of Bel, and offspring of /Eres-ki-gal/ or +Persephone, and he had a spouse named /Hus-bi-saga/. Apparently he +executed the instructions given him concerning the fate of men, and +could also have power over certain of the gods. + +The /sedu/ were apparently deities in the form of bulls. They were +destructive, of enormous power, and unsparing. In a good sense the +/sedu/ was a protecting deity, guarding against hostile attacks. Erech +and the temple E-kura were protected by spirits such as these, and to +one of them Isum, "the glorious sacrificer," was likened. + +The /lamassu/, from the Sumerian /lama/, was similar in character to +the /sedu/, but is thought to have been of the nature of a colossus--a +winged man-headed bull or lion. It is these creatures which the kings +placed at the sides of the doors of their palaces, to protect the +king's footsteps. In early Babylonian times a god named Lama was one +of the most popular deities of the Babylonian pantheon. + + + A specimen incantation. + +Numerous inscriptions, which may be regarded as dating, in their +origin, from about the middle of the third millennium before Christ, +speak of these supernatural beings, and also of others similar. One of +the most perfect of these inscriptions is a large bilingual tablet of +which a duplicate written during the period of the dynasty of +Hammurabi (before 2000 B.C.) exists, and which was afterwards provided +with a Semitic Babylonian translation. This inscription refers to the +evil god, the evil /utukku/, the /utukku/ of the plain, of the +mountain, of the sea, and of the grave; the evil /sedu/, the glorious +/alu/, or divine bull, and the evil unsparing wind. There was also +that which takes the form of a man, the evil face, the evil eye, the +evil mouth, the evil tongue, the evil lip, the evil breath; also the +afflicting /asakku/ (regarded as the demon of fever), the /asakku/ +which does not leave a man: the afflicting /namtaru/ (fate), the +severe /namtaru/, the /namtaru/ which does not quit a man. After this +are mentioned various diseases, bodily pains, annoyances, such as "the +old shoe, the broken shoe-lace, the food which afflicts the body of a +man, the food which turns in eating, the water which chokes in +drinking," etc. Other things to be exorcised included the spirit of +death, people who had died of hunger, thirst, or in other ways; the +handmaid of the /lilu/ who had no husband, the prince of the /lilu/ +who had no wife, whether his name had been recorded or unrecorded. + +The method of exorcising the demons causing all these things is +curious. White and black yarn was spun, and fastened to the side and +canopy of the afflicted person's bed--the white to the side and the +top or canopy, the black to the left hand--and then, apparently, the +following words were said:-- + +"Evil /utukku/, evil /alu/, evil /edimmu/, evil /gallu/, evil god, +evil /rabisu/, /labartu/, /labasu/, /ahhazu/, /lilu/, /lilithu/, +handmaid of /lilu/, sorcery, enchantment, magic, disaster, machination +which is not good--may they not set their head to his head, their hand +to his hand, their foot to his foot--may they not draw near. Spirit of +heaven, mayest thou exorcise, spirit of earth, mayest thou exorcise." + +But this was only the beginning of the real ceremony. The god Asari- +alim-nunna (Merodach), "eldest son of Eridu," was asked to wash him in +pure and bright water twice seven times, and then would the evil lier- +in-wait depart, and stand aside, and a propitious /sedu/ and a +propitious /labartu/ reside in his body. The gates right and left +having been thus, so to say, shut close, the evil gods, demons, and +spirits would be unable to approach him, wherever he might be. "Spirit +of heaven, exorcise, spirit of earth, exorcise." Then, after an +invocation of Eres-ki-gal and Isum, the final paragraph was +pronounced:-- + + "The afflicted man, by an offering of grace + In health like shining bronze shall be made bright. + As for that man, + Samas shall give him life. + Merodach, first-born son of the Abyss, + It is thine to purify and glorify. + Spirit of heaven, mayest thou exorcise, spirit of + earth, mayest thou exorcise." + + + Rites and ceremonies. + +As may be expected, the Babylonians and Assyrians had numerous rites +and ceremonies, the due carrying out of which was necessary for the +attainment of the grace demanded, or for the efficacy of the thanks +tendered for favours received. + +Perhaps the oldest ceremony recorded is that which Ut-napistim, the +Chaldaean Noah, made on the /zikkurat/ or peak of the mountain after +the coming forth from the ship which had saved him and his from the +Flood. The Patriarch's description of this ceremony is short:-- + + "I sent forth to the four winds, I poured out a libation + I made an offering on the peak of the mountain: + Seven and seven I set incense-vases there, + Into their depths I poured cane, cedar, and scented wood(?). + The gods smelled a savour, + The gods smelled a sweet savour, + The gods gathered like flies over the sacrificer." + +Following in the footsteps of their great progenitor, the Babylonians +and Assyrians became a most pious race, constantly rendering to their +gods the glory for everything which they succeeded in bringing to a +successful issue. Prayer, supplication, and self-abasement before +their gods seem to have been with them a duty and a pleasure:-- + + "The time for the worship of the gods was my heart's delight, + The time of the offering to Istar was profit and riches," + +sings Ludlul the sage, and all the people of his land were one with +him in that opinion. + +It is noteworthy that the offering of the Chaldaean Noah consisted of +vegetable produce only, and there are many inscriptions referring to +similar bloodless sacrifices, and detailing the ritual used in +connection therewith. Sacrifices of animals, however, seem to have +been constantly made--in any case, offerings of cattle and fowl, in +list-form, are fairly numerous. Many a cylinder-seal has a +representation of the owner bringing a young animal--a kid or a lamb-- +as an offering to the deity whom he worshipped, and in the +inscriptions the sacrifice of animals is frequently referred to. One +of the bilingual texts refers to the offering of a kid or some other +young animal, apparently on behalf of a sick man. The text of this, +where complete, runs as follows:-- + + "The fatling which is the 'head-raiser' of mankind-- + He has given the fatling for his life. + He has given the head of the fatling for his head, + He has given the neck of the fatling for his neck, + He has given the breast of the fatling for his breast." + +Whether human sacrifices were common or not is a doubtful point. Many +cylinder-seals exist in which the slaying of a man is depicted, and +the French Assyriologist Menant was of opinion that they represented a +human offering to the gods. Hayes Ward, however, is inclined to doubt +this explanation, and more evidence would seem, therefore, to be +needed. He is inclined to think that, in the majority of cases, the +designs referred to show merely the victims of divine anger or +vengeance, punished by the deity for some misdeed or sin, either +knowingly or unknowingly committed. + +In the Assyrian galleries of the British Museum, Assur-nasir-apli, +king of Assyria, is several times shown engaged in religious +ceremonies--either worshipping before the sacred tree, or about to +pour out, apparently, a libation to the gods before departing upon +some expedition, and priests bringing offerings, either animal or +vegetable, are also represented. Assur-bani-apli, who is identified +with "the great and noble Asnapper," is shown, in bas-reliefs of the +Assyrian Saloon, pouring out a thank-offering over the lions which he +has killed, after his return from the hunt. + + + + CHAPTER VI + + PROBLEMS WHICH THE STUDY OFFERS + + + Monotheism. + +As the matter of Babylonian monotheism has been publicly touched upon +by Fried. Delitzsch in his "Babel und Bibel" lectures, a few words +upon that important point will be regarded in all probability as +appropriate. It has already been indicated that the giving of the +names of "the gods his fathers" to Merodach practically identified +them with him, thus leading to a tendency to monotheism. That tendency +is, perhaps, hinted at in a letter of Assur-bani-apli to the +Babylonians, in which he frequently mentions the Deity, but in doing +so, uses either the word /ilu/, "God," Merodach, the god of Babylon, +or Bel, which may be regarded as one of his names. The most important +document for this monotheistic tendency, however (confirming as it +does the tablet of the fifty-one names), is that in which at least +thirteen of the Babylonian deities are identified with Merodach, and +that in such a way as to make them merely forms in which he manifested +himself to men. The text of this inscription is as follows:-- + + ". . . is Merodach of planting. + Lugal-aki-. . . is Merodach of the water-course. + Nirig is Merodach of strength. + Nergal is Merodach of war. + Zagaga is Merodach of battle. + Bel is Merodach of lordship and domination. + Nebo is Merodach of trading(?). + Sin is Merodach the illuminator of the night. + Samas is Merodach of righteous things. + Addu is Merodach of rain. + Tispak is Merodach of frost(?). + Sig is Merodach of green things(?). + Suqamunu is Merodach of the irrigation-channel." + +Here the text breaks off, but must have contained several more similar +identifications, showing how at least the more thoughtful of the +Babylonians of old looked upon the host of gods whom they worshipped. +What may be the date of this document is uncertain, but as the +colophon seems to describe it as a copy of an older inscription, it +may go back as far as 2000 years B.C. This is the period at which the +name /Yaum-ilu/ "Jah is God," is found, together with numerous +references to /ilu/ as the name for the one great god, and is also, +roughly, the date of Abraham, who, it may be noted, was a Babylonian +of Ur of the Chaldees. It will probably not be thought too venturesome +to say that his monotheism was possibly the result of the religious +trend of thought in his time. + + + Dualism. + +Damascius, in his valuable account of the belief of the Babylonians +concerning the Creation, states that, like the other barbarians, they +reject the doctrine of the one origin of the universe, and constitute +two, Tauthe (Tiawath) and Apason (Apsu). This twofold principle, +however, is only applicable to the system in that it makes of the sea +and the deep (for such are the meanings of the two words) two +personages--the female and the male personifications of primaeval +matter, from which all creation sprang, and which gave birth to the +gods of heaven themselves. As far as the physical constituents of +these two principals are concerned, their tenets might be described as +having "materialistic monism" as their basis, but inasmuch as they +believed that each of these two principals had a mind, the description +"idealistic monism" cannot be applied to it--it is distinctly a +dualism. + + + And Monism. + +Divested of its idealistic side, however, there would seem to be no +escape from regarding the Babylonian idea of the origin of things as +monistic.[*] This idea has its reflection, though not its +reproduction, in the first chapter of Genesis, in which, verses 2, 6, +and 7, water is represented as the first thing existing, though not +the first abode of life. This divergency from the Babylonian view was +inevitable with a monotheistic nation, such as the Jews were, +regarding as they did the Deity as the great source of everything +existing. What effect the moving of the Spirit of God upon the face of +the waters (v.2) was supposed by them to have had, is uncertain, but +it is to be noted that it was the land (vv. 11, 12) which first +brought forth, at the command of God. + +[*] Monism. The doctrine which holds that in the universe there is + only a single element or principle from which everything is + developed, this single principle being either mind (/idealistic + monism/) or matter (/materialistic monism/). (Annandale.) + + + The future life. + +The belief in a future life is the natural outcome of a religious +belief such as the Babylonians, Assyrians, and many of the surrounding +nations possessed. As has been shown, a portion of their creed +consisted in hero-worship, which pre-supposes that the heroes in +question continued to exist, in a state of still greater power and +glory, after the conclusion of their life here upon earth. + +"The god Bel hates me--I cannot dwell in this land, and in the +territory of Bel I cannot set my face. I shall descend then to the +Abyss; with Aa my lord shall I constantly dwell." It is with these +words that, by the counsel of the god Aa, Ut-napistim explained to +those who questioned him the reason why he was building the ship or +ark which was to save him and his from the Flood, and there is but +little doubt that the author of the story implied that he announced +thereby his approaching death, or his departure to dwell with his god +without passing the dread portals of the great leveller. This belief +in the life beyond the grave seems to have been that which was current +during the final centuries of the third millennium before Christ--when +a man died, it was said that his god took him to himself, and we may +therefore suppose, that there were as many heavens--places of +contentment and bliss--as there were gods, and that every good man was +regarded as going and dwelling evermore with the deity which he had +worshipped and served faithfully during his lifetime. + +Gilgames, the half-divine king of Erech, who reigned during the half- +mythical period, on losing his friend and counsellor, Enki-du, set out +to find him, and to bring him back, if possible, from the underworld +where he was supposed to dwell. His death, however, had not been like +that of an ordinary man; it was not Namtaru, the spirit of fate, who +had taken him, nor a misfortune such as befalls ordinary men, but +Nerigal's unsparing lier-in-wait--yet though Nerigal was the god of +war, Enki-du had not fallen on the battlefield of men, but had been +seized by the earth (apparently the underworld where the wicked are is +meant) in consequence, seemingly, of some trick or trap which had been +laid for him. + +The gods were therefore prayed, in turn, to bring him back, but none +of them listened except Ea, who begged him of Nerigal, whereupon the +latter opened the entrance to the place where he was--the hole of the +earth--and brought forth "the spirit (/utukku/) of Enki-du like mist." +Immediately after this come the words, "Tell, my friend, tell, my +friend--the law of the land which thou sawest, tell," and the answer, +"I will not tell thee, friend, I will not tell thee--if I tell thee +the law of the land which I saw, . . . sit down, weep." Ultimately, +however, the person appealed to--apparently the disembodied Enki-du-- +reveals something concerning the condition of the souls in the place +of his sojourn after death, as follows:-- + + "Whom thou sawest [die] the death(?) [of][*] . . . [I see]-- + In the resting-place of . . . reposing, pure waters he drinketh. + Whom in the battle thou sawest killed, I see-- + His father and his mother raise his head, + And his wife upon [him leaneth?]. + Whose corpse thou hast seen thrown down in the plain, I see-- + His /edimmu/ in the earth reposeth not. + Whose /edimmu/ thou sawest without a caretaker, I see-- + The leavings of the dish, the remains of the food, + Which in the street is thrown, he eateth." + +[*] (?)"The death of the righteous," or something similar? + +It is naturally difficult to decide in a passage like this, the +difference existing between a man's /utukku/ and his /edimmu/, but the +probability is, that the former means his spiritual essence, whilst +the latter stands for the ghostly shadow of his body, resembling in +meaning the /ka/ of the Egyptians. To all appearance the abode +described above is not the place of the punishment of the wicked, but +the dwelling of those accounted good, who, if lucky in the manner of +their death, and the disposal of their bodies, enjoyed the highest +happiness in the habitation of the blest. The other place, however, is +otherwise described (it occurs in the account of Istar's descent into +Hades, and in the seventh tablet of the Gilgames series--the latter +differing somewhat):-- + + "Upon the land of No-return, the region of . . ., + [Set] Istar, daughter of Sin, her ear. + The daughter of Sin set then her ear . . . + Upon the house of gloom, the seat of Irkalla--[*] + Upon the house whose entrance hath no exit,[+] + Upon the path whose way hath no return, + Upon the house whose enterers are deprived of light, + Where dust is their nourishment, their food mud, + Light they see not, in darkness they dwell, + Clothed also, like a bird, in a dress of feathers. + Upon the door and bolt the dust hath blown." + +[*] One of the names of Nergal. + +[+] Or "whose enterer goeth not forth." + +Seven gates gave access to this place of gloom, and the porter, as he +let the visitor in, took from her (the goddess Istar in the narrative) +at each an article of clothing, until, at the last, she entered quite +naked, apparently typifying the fact that a man can take nothing with +him when he dieth, and also, in this case, that he has not even his +good deeds wherewith to clothe himself, for had they outweighed his +evil ones, he would not have found himself in that dread abode. + +On the arrival of Istar in Hades, Eres-ki-gal commanded Namtaru, the +god of fate, to smite Istar with disease in all her members--eyes, +sides, feet, heart, and head. As things went wrong on the earth in +consequence of the absence of the goddess of love, the gods sent a +messenger to effect her release. When he reached the land of No- +return, the queen of the region threatened him with all kinds of +torments--the food of the gutters of the city were to be his food, the +oil-jars of the city (naptha?) his drink, the gloom of the castle his +resting-place, a stone slab his seat, and hunger and thirst were to +shatter his strength. These were evidently the punishments inflicted +there, but as the messenger threatened was a divine one, they were +probably not put into execution, and he obtained his demand, for Istar +was set free, receiving back at each gate, in reverse order, the +clothing and ornaments which had been taken from her when she had +descended thither. It is uncertain whether Tammuz, for whom she had +gone down, was set free also, but as he is referred to, it is not +improbable that this was the case. + + + + WORKS BEARING UPON THE RELIGION OF THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + +Hibbert Lectures, 1887. The Religion of the Ancient Babylonians, by +Professor A. H. Sayce. + +The Religious Ideas of the Babylonians, by the Author, 1895 (Journal +of the Victoria Institute, also separately). + +The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, by Morris Jastrow, jun., 1898. +(German edition, vol. i. 1905, vol. ii. in progress.) + +Babylonian Religion and Mythology, by L. W. King, M.A., 1899. + +Gifford Lectures, 1902. Religions of Egypt and Babylonia, by Professor +A. H. Sayce. + +The O.T. in the Light of the Records of Assyria and Babylonia, by the +Author, 1903. (The portions referring to Babylonian Mythology.) + +The Hymns to Tammuz in the Manchester Museum, Owens College, by the +Author, 1904. + + + + ARTICLES UPON THE ASSYRIAN AND BABYLONIAN DEITIES, + AND THE RELIGION OF THREE NATIONS, IN + + Dictionary of the Bible, edited by Dr. James Hastings, and + Encyclopaedia Biblica, edited by Professor Cheyne. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria + diff --git a/old/7rbaa10.zip b/old/7rbaa10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bb19343 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/7rbaa10.zip diff --git a/old/8rbaa10.txt b/old/8rbaa10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8cbb10f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8rbaa10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3197 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria +by Theophilus G. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + + + + +THE RELIGION OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA +By Theophilus G. Pinches, LL.D. + +First Published 1906 by Archibald Constable & Co. Ltd. + +Etext prepared by John Bickers, jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz + and Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com + + + + THE RELIGION OF + BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA + + BY + + THEOPHILUS G. PINCHES, LL.D. + + Lecturer in Assyrian at University College, London, + Author of "The Old Testament in the Light of the + Records of Assyria and Babylonia"; "The Bronze + Ornaments of the Palace Gates of Balewat" etc. etc. + + + + PREPARER'S NOTE + + The original text contains a number of characters that are not + available even in 8-bit Windows text, such as H with a breve below + it in Hammurabi, S with a breve, S and T with a dot below them, U + with macron, and superscript M in Tašmêtum. These have been left + in the e-text as the base letter. + + The 8-bit version of this text includes Windows font characters + like S with a caron above it (pronounced /sh/) as in Šamaš, etc. + These may be lost in 7-bit versions of the text, or when viewed + with different fonts. + + Greek text has been transliterated within brackets "{}" using an + Oxford English Dictionary alphabet table. Diacritical marks have + been lost. + + + + + + THE RELIGION OF THE + BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + + + + CHAPTER I + + FOREWORD + + + Position, and Period. + +The religion of the Babylonians and Assyrians was the polytheistic +faith professed by the peoples inhabiting the Tigris and Euphrates +valleys from what may be regarded as the dawn of history until the +Christian era began, or, at least, until the inhabitants were brought +under the influence of Christianity. The chronological period covered +may be roughly estimated at about 5000 years. The belief of the +people, at the end of that time, being Babylonian heathenism leavened +with Judaism, the country was probably ripe for the reception of the +new faith. Christianity, however, by no means replaced the earlier +polytheism, as is evidenced by the fact, that the worship of Nebo and +the gods associated with him continued until the fourth century of the +Christian era. + + + By whom followed. + +It was the faith of two distinct peoples--the Sumero-Akkadians, and +the Assyro-Babylonians. In what country it had its beginnings is +unknown--it comes before us, even at the earliest period, as a faith +already well-developed, and from that fact, as well as from the names +of the numerous deities, it is clear that it began with the former +race--the Sumero-Akkadians--who spoke a non-Semitic language largely +affected by phonetic decay, and in which the grammatical forms had in +certain cases become confused to such an extent that those who study +it ask themselves whether the people who spoke it were able to +understand each other without recourse to devices such as the "tones" +to which the Chinese resort. With few exceptions, the names of the +gods which the inscriptions reveal to us are all derived from this +non-Semitic language, which furnishes us with satisfactory etymologies +for such names as Merodach, Nergal, Sin, and the divinities mentioned +in Berosus and Damascius, as well as those of hundreds of deities +revealed to us by the tablets and slabs of Babylonia and Assyria. + + + The documents. + +Outside the inscriptions of Babylonia and Assyria, there is but little +bearing upon the religion of those countries, the most important +fragment being the extracts from Berosus and Damascius referred to +above. Among the Babylonian and Assyrian remains, however, we have an +extensive and valuable mass of material, dating from the fourth or +fifth millennium before Christ until the disappearance of the +Babylonian system of writing about the beginning of the Christian era. +The earlier inscriptions are mostly of the nature of records, and give +information about the deities and the religion of the people in the +course of descriptions of the building and rebuilding of temples, the +making of offerings, the performance of ceremonies, etc. Purely +religious inscriptions are found near the end of the third millennium +before Christ, and occur in considerable numbers, either in the +original Sumerian text, or in translations, or both, until about the +third century before Christ. Among the more recent inscriptions--those +from the library of the Assyrian king Aššur-bani-âpli and the later +Babylonian temple archives,--there are many lists of deities, with +numerous identifications with each other and with the heavenly bodies, +and explanations of their natures. It is needless to say that all this +material is of enormous value for the study of the religion of the +Babylonians and Assyrians, and enables us to reconstruct at first hand +their mythological system, and note the changes which took place in +the course of their long national existence. Many interesting and +entertaining legends illustrate and supplement the information given +by the bilingual lists of gods, the bilingual incantations and hymns, +and the references contained in the historical and other documents. A +trilingual list of gods enables us also to recognise, in some cases, +the dialectic forms of their names. + + + The importance of the subject. + +Of equal antiquity with the religion of Egypt, that of Babylonia and +Assyria possesses some marked differences as to its development. +Beginning among the non-Semitic Sumero-Akkadian population, it +maintained for a long time its uninterrupted development, affected +mainly by influences from within, namely, the homogeneous local cults +which acted and reacted upon each other. The religious systems of +other nations did not greatly affect the development of the early +non-Semitic religious system of Babylonia. A time at last came, +however, when the influence of the Semitic inhabitants of Babylonia +and Assyria was not to be gainsaid, and from that moment, the +development of their religion took another turn. In all probably this +augmentation of Semitic religious influence was due to the increased +numbers of the Semitic population, and at the same period the Sumero- +Akkadian language began to give way to the Semitic idiom which they +spoke. When at last the Semitic Babylonian language came to be used +for official documents, we find that, although the non-Semitic divine +names are in the main preserved, a certain number of them have been +displaced by the Semitic equivalent names, such as Šamaš for the +sun-god, with Kittu and Mêšaru ("justice and righteousness") his +attendants; Nabú ("the teacher" = Nebo) with his consort Tašmêtu ("the +hearer"); Addu, Adad, or Dadu, and Rammanu, Ramimu, or Ragimu = Hadad +or Rimmon ("the thunderer"); Bêl and Bêltu (Beltis = "the lord" and +"the lady" /par excellence/), with some others of inferior rank. In +place of the chief divinity of each state at the head of each separate +pantheon, the tendency was to make Merodach, the god of the capital +city Babylon, the head of the pantheon, and he seems to have been +universally accepted in Babylonia, like Aššur in Assyria, about 2000 +B.C. or earlier. + + + The uniting of two pantheons. + +We thus find two pantheons, the Sumero-Akkadian with its many gods, +and the Semitic Babylonian with its comparatively few, united, and +forming one apparently homogeneous whole. But the creed had taken a +fresh tendency. It was no longer a series of small, and to a certain +extent antagonistic, pantheons composed of the chief god, his consort, +attendants, children, and servants, but a pantheon of considerable +extent, containing all the elements of the primitive but smaller +pantheons, with a number of great gods who had raised Merodach to be +their king. + + + In Assyria. + +Whilst accepting the religion of Babylonia, Assyria nevertheless kept +herself distinct from her southern neighbour by a very simple device, +by placing at the head of the pantheon the god Aššur, who became for +her the chief of the gods, and at the same time the emblem of her +distinct national aspirations--for Assyria had no intention whatever +of casting in her lot with her southern neighbour. Nevertheless, +Assyria possessed, along with the language of Babylonia, all the +literature of that country--indeed, it is from the libraries of her +kings that we obtain the best copies of the Babylonian religious +texts, treasured and preserved by her with all the veneration of which +her religious mind was capable,--and the religious fervour of the +Oriental in most cases leaves that of the European, or at least of the +ordinary Briton, far behind. + + + The later period in Assyria. + +Assyria went to her downfall at the end of the seventh century before +Christ worshipping her national god Aššur, whose cult did not cease +with the destruction of her national independence. In fact, the city +of Aššur, the centre of that worship, continued to exist for a +considerable period; but for the history of the religion of Assyria, +as preserved there, we wait for the result of the excavations being +carried on by the Germans, should they be fortunate enough to obtain +texts belonging to the period following the fall of Nineveh. + + + In Babylonia. + +Babylonia, on the other hand, continued the even tenor of her way. +More successful at the end of her independent political career than +her northern rival had been, she retained her faith, and remained the +unswerving worshipper of Merodach, the great god of Babylon, to whom +her priests attributed yet greater powers, and with whom all the other +gods were to all appearance identified. This tendency to monotheism, +however, never reached the culminating point--never became absolute-- +except, naturally, in the minds of those who, dissociating themselves, +for philosophical reasons, from the superstitious teaching of the +priests of Babylonia, decided for themselves that there was but one +God, and worshipped Him. That orthodox Jews at that period may have +found, in consequence of this monotheistic tendency, converts, is not +by any means improbable--indeed, the names met with during the later +period imply that converts to Judaism were made. + + + The picture presented by the study. + +Thus we see, from the various inscriptions, both Babylonian and +Assyrian--the former of an extremely early period--the growth and +development, with at least one branching off, of one of the most +important religious systems of the ancient world. It is not so +important for modern religion as the development of the beliefs of the +Hebrews, but as the creed of the people from which the Hebrew nation +sprang, and from which, therefore, it had its beginnings, both +corporeal and spiritual, it is such as no student of modern religious +systems can afford to neglect. Its legends, and therefore its +teachings, as will be seen in these pages, ultimately permeated the +Semitic West, and may in some cases even had penetrated Europe, not +only through heathen Greece, but also through the early Christians, +who, being so many centuries nearer the time of the +Assyro-Babylonians, and also nearer the territory which they anciently +occupied, than we are, were far better acquainted than the people of +the present day with the legends and ideas which they possessed. + + + + CHAPTER II + + THE RELIGION OF THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + + + The Sumero-Akkadians and the Semites. + +For the history of the development of the religion of the Babylonians +and Assyrians much naturally depends upon the composition of the +population of early Babylonia. There is hardly any doubt that the +Sumero-Akkadians were non-Semites of a fairly pure race, but the +country of their origin is still unknown, though a certain +relationship with the Mongolian and Turkish nationalities, probably +reaching back many centuries--perhaps thousands of years--before the +earliest accepted date, may be regarded as equally likely. Equally +uncertain is the date of the entry of the Semites, whose language +ultimately displaced the non-Semitic Sumero-Akkadian idioms, and +whose kings finally ruled over the land. During the third millennium +before Christ Semites, bearing Semitic names, and called Amorites, +appear, and probably formed the last considerable stratum of tribes of +that race which entered the land. The name Martu, the Sumero-Akkadian +equivalent of Amurru, "Amorite", is of frequent occurrence also before +this period. The eastern Mediterranean coast district, including +Palestine and the neighbouring tracts, was known by the Babylonians +and Assyrians as the land of the Amorites, a term which stood for the +West in general even when these regions no longer bore that name. The +Babylonians maintained their claim to sovereignty over that part as +long as they possessed the power to do so, and naturally exercised +considerable influence there. The existence in Palestine, Syria, and +the neighbouring states, of creeds containing the names of many +Babylonian divinities is therefore not to be wondered at, and the +presence of West Semitic divinities in the religion of the Babylonians +need not cause us any surprise. + + + The Babylonian script and its evidence. + +In consequence of the determinative prefix for a god or a goddess +being, in the oldest form, a picture of an eight-rayed star, it has +been assumed that Assyro-Babylonian mythology is, either wholly or +partly, astral in origin. This, however, is by no means certain, the +character for "star" in the inscriptions being a combination of three +such pictures, and not a single sign. The probability therefore is, +that the use of the single star to indicate the name of a divinity +arises merely from the fact that the character in question stands for +/ana/, "heaven." Deities were evidently thus distinguished by the +Babylonians because they regarded them as inhabitants of the realms +above--indeed, the heavens being the place where the stars are seen, a +picture of a star was the only way of indicating heavenly things. That +the gods of the Babylonians were in many cases identified with the +stars and planets is certain, but these identifications seem to have +taken place at a comparatively late date. An exception has naturally +to be made in the case of the sun and moon, but the god Merodach, if +he be, as seems certain, a deified Babylonian king, must have been +identified with the stars which bear his name after his worshippers +began to pay him divine honours as the supreme deity, and naturally +what is true for him may also be so for the other gods whom they +worshipped. The identification of some of the deities with stars or +planets is, moreover, impossible, and if Êa, the god of the deep, and +Anu, the god of the heavens, have their representatives among the +heavenly bodies, this is probably the result of later development.[*] + +[*] If there be any historical foundation for the statement that + Merodach arranged the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars, + assigning to them their proper places and duties--a tradition + which would make him the founder of the science of astronomy + during his life upon earth--this, too, would tend to the + probability that the origin of the gods of the Babylonians was not + astral, as has been suggested, but that their identification with + the heavenly bodies was introduced during the period of his reign. + + + Ancestor and hero-worship. The deification of kings. + +Though there is no proof that ancestor-worship in general prevailed at +any time in Babylonia, it would seem that the worship of heroes and +prominent men was common, at least in early times. The tenth chapter +of Genesis tells us of the story of Nimrod, who cannot be any other +than the Merodach of the Assyro-Babylonian inscriptions; and other +examples, occurring in semi-mythological times, are /En-we-dur-an-ki/, +the Greek Edoreschos, and /Gilgameš/, the Greek Gilgamos, though +Aelian's story of the latter does not fit in with the account as given +by the inscriptions. In later times, the divine prefix is found before +the names of many a Babylonian ruler--Sargon of Agadé,[*] Dungi of Ur +(about 2500 B.C.), Rim-Sin or Eri-Aku (Arioch of Ellasar, about 2100 +B.C.), and others. It was doubtless a kind of flattery to deify and +pay these rulers divine honours during their lifetime, and on account +of this, it is very probable that their godhood was utterly forgotten, +in the case of those who were strictly historical, after their death. +The deification of the kings of Babylonia and Assyria is probably due +to the fact, that they were regarded as the representatives of God +upon earth, and being his chief priests as well as his offspring (the +personal names show that it was a common thing to regard children as +the gifts of the gods whom their father worshipped), the divine +fatherhood thus attributed to them naturally could, in the case of +those of royal rank, give them a real claim to divine birth and +honours. An exception is the deification of the Babylonian Noah, +Ut-napištim, who, as the legend of the Flood relates, was raised and +made one of the gods by Aa or Ea, for his faithfulness after the great +catastrophe, when he and his wife were translated to the "remote place +at the mouth of the rivers." The hero Gilgameš, on the other hand, was +half divine by birth, though it is not exactly known through whom his +divinity came. + +[*] According to Nabonidus's date 3800 B.C., though many + Assyriologists regard this as being a millennium too early. + + + The earliest form of the Babylonian religion. + +The state of development to which the religious system of the +Babylonians had attained at the earliest period to which the +inscriptions refer naturally precludes the possibility of a +trustworthy history of its origin and early growth. There is no doubt, +however, that it may be regarded as having reached the stage at which +we find it in consequence of there being a number of states in ancient +Babylonia (which was at that time like the Heptarchy in England) each +possessing its own divinity--who, in its district, was regarded as +supreme--with a number of lesser gods forming his court. It was the +adding together of all these small pantheons which ultimately made +that of Babylonia as a whole so exceedingly extensive. Thus the chief +divinity of Babylon, as has already been stated, as Merodach; at +Sippar and Larsa the sun-god Šamaš was worshipped; at Ur the moon-god +Sin or Nannar; at Erech and Dêr the god of the heavens, Anu; at Muru, +Ennigi, and Kakru, the god of the atmosphere, Hadad or Rimmon; at +Êridu, the god of the deep, Aa or Êa; at Niffur[*] the god Bel; at +Cuthah the god of war, Nergal; at Dailem the god Uraš; at Kiš the god +of battle, Zagaga; Lugal-Amarda, the king of Marad, as the city so +called; at Opis Zakar, one of the gods of dreams; at Agadé, Nineveh, +and Arbela, Ištar, goddess of love and of war; Nina at the city Nina +in Babylonia, etc. When the chief deities were masculine, they were +naturally all identified with each other, just as the Greeks called +the Babylonian Merodach by the name of Zeus; and as Zer-panîtum, the +consort of Merodach, was identified with Juno, so the consorts, divine +attendants, and children of each chief divinity, as far as they +possessed them, could also be regarded as the same, though possibly +distinct in their different attributes. + +[*] Noufar at present, according to the latest explorers. Layard + (1856) has Niffer, Loftus (1857) Niffar. The native spelling is + Noufer, due to the French system of phonetics. + + + How the religion of the Babylonians developed. + +The fact that the rise of Merodach to the position of king of the gods +was due to the attainment, by the city of Babylon, of the position of +capital of all Babylonia, leads one to suspect that the kingly rank of +his father Êa, at an earlier period, was due to a somewhat similar +cause, and if so, the still earlier kingship of Anu, the god of the +heavens, may be in like manner explained. This leads to the question +whether the first state to attain to supremacy was Dêr, Anu's seat, +and whether Dêr was succeeded by Êridu, of which city Êa was the +patron--concerning the importance of Babylon, Merodach's city, later +on, there is no doubt whatever. The rise of Anu and Êa to divine +overlordship, however, may not have been due to the political +supremacy of the cities where they were worshipped--it may have come +about simply on account of renown gained through religious enthusiasm +due to wonders said to have been performed where they were worshipped, +or to the reported discovery of new records concerning their temples, +or to the influence of some renowned high-priest, like En-we-dur-an-ki +of Sippar, whose devotion undoubtedly brought great renown to the city +of his dominion. + + + Was Animism its original form? + +But the question naturally arises, can we go back beyond the +indications of the inscriptions? The Babylonians attributed life, in +certain not very numerous cases, to such things as trees and plants, +and naturally to the winds, and the heavenly bodies. Whether they +regarded stones, rocks, mountains, storms, and rain in the same way, +however, is doubtful, but it may be taken for granted, that the sea, +with all its rivers and streams, was regarded as animated with the +spirit of Êa and his children, whilst the great cities and +temple-towers were pervaded with the spirit of the god whose abode +they were. Innumerable good and evil spirits were believed in, such as +the spirit of the mountain, the sea, the plain, and the grave. These +spirits were of various kinds, and bore names which do not always +reveal their real character--such as the /edimmu/, /utukku/, /šêdu/, +/ašakku/ (spirit of fevers), /namtaru/ (spirit of fate), /âlû/ +(regarded as the spirit of the south wind), /gallu/, /rabisu/, +/labartu/, /labasu/, /ahhazu/ (the seizer), /lilu/ and /lilithu/ (male +and female spirits of the mist), with their attendants. + +All this points to animism as the pervading idea of the worship of the +peoples of the Babylonian states in the prehistoric period--the +attribution of life to every appearance of nature. The question is, +however, Is the evidence of the inscriptions sufficient to make this +absolutely certain? It is hard to believe that such intelligent +people, as the primitive Babylonians naturally were, believed that +such things as stones, rocks, mountains, storms, and rain were, in +themselves, and apart from the divinity which they regarded as +presiding over them, living things. A stone might be a /bît îli/ or +bethel--a "house of god," and almost invested with the status of a +living thing, but that does not prove that the Babylonians thought of +every stone as being endowed with life, even in prehistoric times. +Whilst, therefore, there are traces of a belief similar to that which +an animistic creed might be regarded as possessing, it must be +admitted that these seemingly animistic doctrines may have originated +in another way, and be due to later developments. The power of the +gods to create living things naturally makes possible the belief that +they had also power to endow with a soul, and therefore with life and +intelligence, any seemingly inanimate object. Such was probably the +nature of Babylonian animism, if it may be so called. The legend of +Tiawthu (Tiawath) may with great probability be regarded as the +remains of a primitive animism which was the creed of the original and +comparatively uncivilised Babylonians, who saw in the sea the producer +and creator of all the monstrous shapes which are found therein; but +any development of this idea in other directions was probably cut +short by the priests, who must have realised, under the influence of +the doctrine of the divine rise to perfection, that animism in general +was altogether incompatible with the creed which they professed. + + + Image-worship and Sacred Stones. + +Whether image-worship was original among the Babylonians and Assyrians +is uncertain, and improbable; the tendency among the people in early +times being to venerate sacred stones and other inanimate objects. As +has been already pointed out, the {diopetres} of the Greeks was +probably a meteorite, and stones marking the position of the Semitic +bethels were probably, in their origin, the same. The boulders which +were sometimes used for boundary-stones may have been the +representations of these meteorites in later times, and it is +noteworthy that the Sumerian group for "iron," /an-bar/, implies that +the early Babylonians only knew of that metal from meteoric ironstone. +The name of the god Nirig or Ênu-rêštu (Ninip) is generally written +with the same group, implying some kind of connection between the two +--the god and the iron. In a well-known hymn to that deity certain +stones are mentioned, one of them being described as the "poison- +tooth"[*] coming forth on the mountain, recalling the sacred rocks at +Jerusalem and Mecca. Boundary-stones in Babylonia were not sacred +objects except in so far as they were sculptured with the signs of the +gods.[†] With regard to the Babylonian bethels, very little can be +said, their true nature being uncertain, and their number, to all +appearance, small. Gifts were made to them, and from this fact it +would seem that they were temples--true "houses of god," in fact-- +probably containing an image of the deity, rather than a stone similar +to those referred to in the Old Testament. + +[*] So called, probably, not because it sent forth poison, but on + account of its likeness to a serpent's fang. + +[†] Notwithstanding medical opinion, their phallic origin is doubtful. + One is sculptured in the form of an Eastern castellated fortress. + + + Idols. + +With the Babylonians, the gods were represented by means of stone +images at a very early date, and it is possible that wood was also +used. The tendency of the human mind being to attribute to the Deity a +human form, the Babylonians were no exception to the rule. Human +thoughts and feelings would naturally accompany the human form with +which the minds of men endowed them. Whether the gross human passions +attributed to the gods of Babylonia in Herodotus be of early date or +not is uncertain--a late period, when the religion began to +degenerate, would seem to be the more probable. + + + The adoration of sacred objects. + +It is probable that objects belonging to or dedicated to deities were +not originally worshipped--they were held as divine in consequence of +their being possessed or used by a deity, like the bow of Merodach, +placed in the heavens as a constellation, etc. The cities where the +gods dwelt on earth, their temples, their couches, the chariot of the +sun in his temple-cities, and everything existing in connection with +their worship, were in all probability regarded as divine simply in so +far as they belonged to a god. Sacrifices offered to them, and +invocations made to them, were in all likelihood regarded as having +been made to the deity himself, the possessions of the divinity being, +in the minds of the Babylonians, pervaded with his spirit. In the case +of rivers, these were divine as being the children and offspring of +Enki (Aa or Êa), the god of the ocean. + + + Holy places. + +In a country which was originally divided into many small states, each +having its own deities, and, to a certain extent, its own religious +system, holy places were naturally numerous. As the spot where they +placed Paradise, Babylonia was itself a holy place, but in all +probability this idea is late, and only came into existence after the +legends of the creation and the rise of Merodach to the kingship of +heaven had become elaborated into one homogeneous whole. + + + An interesting list. + +One of the most interesting documents referring to the holy places of +Babylonia is a tiny tablet found at Nineveh, and preserved in the +British Museum. This text begins with the word Tiawthu "the sea," and +goes on to enumerate, in turn, Tilmun (identified with the island of +Bahrein in the Persian Gulf); Engurra (the Abyss, the abode of Enki or +Êa), with numerous temples and shrines, including "the holy house," +"the temple of the seer of heaven and earth," "the abode of Zer- +panîtum," consort of Merodach, "the throne of the holy place," "the +temple of the region of Hades," "the supreme temple of life," "the +temple of the ear of the corn-deity," with many others, the whole list +containing what may be regarded as the chief sanctuaries of the land, +to the number of thirty-one. Numerous other similar and more extensive +lists, enumerating every shrine and temple in the country, also exist, +though in a very imperfect state, and in addition to these, many holy +places are referred to in the bilingual, historical, and other +inscriptions. All the great cities of Babylonia, moreover, were sacred +places, the chief in renown and importance in later days being the +great city of Babylon, where Ê-sagila, "the temple of the high head," +in which was apparently the shrine called "the temple of the +foundation of heaven and earth," held the first place. This building +is called by Nebuchadnezzar "the temple-tower of Babylon," and may +better be regarded as the site of the Biblical "Tower of Babel" than +the traditional foundation, Ê-zida, "the everlasting temple," in +Borsippa (the Birs Nimroud)--notwithstanding that Borsippa was called +the "second Babylon," and its temple-tower "the supreme house of +life." + + + The Tower of Babel. + +Though quite close to Babylon, there is no doubt that Borsippa was a +most important religious centre, and this leads to the possibility, +that its great temple may have disputed with "the house of the high +head," Ê-sagila in Babylon, the honour of being the site of the +confusion of tongues and the dispersion of mankind. There is no doubt, +however, that Ê-sagila has the prior claim, it being the temple of the +supreme god of the later Babylonian pantheon, the counterpart of the +God of the Hebrews who commanded the changing of the speech of the +people assembled there. Supposing the confusion of tongues to have +been a Babylonian legend as well as a Hebrew one (as is possible) it +would be by command of Merodach rather than that of Nebo that such a +thing would have taken place. Ê-sagila, which is now the ruin known as +the mount of Amran ibn Ali, is the celebrated temple of Belus which +Alexander and Philip attempted to restore. + +In addition to the legend of the confusion of tongues, it is probable +that there were many similar traditions attached to the great temples +of Babylonia, and as time goes on, and the excavations bring more +material, a large number of them will probably be recovered. Already +we have an interesting and poetical record of the entry of Bel and +Beltis into the great temple at Niffer, probably copied from some +ancient source, and Gudea, a king of Lagaš (Telloh), who reigned about +2700 B.C., gives an account of the dream which he saw, in which he was +instructed by the gods to build or rebuild the temple of Nin-Girsu in +his capital city. + + + Ê-sagila according to Herodotus. + +As the chief fane in the land after Babylon became the capital, and +the type of many similar erections, Ê-sagila, the temple of Belus, +merits just a short notice. According to Herodotus, it was a massive +tower within an enclosure measuring 400 yards each way, and provided +with gates of brass, or rather bronze. The tower within consisted of a +kind of step-pyramid, the stages being seven in number (omitting the +lowest, which was the platform forming the foundation of the +structure). A winding ascent gave access to the top, where was a +chapel or shrine, containing no statue, but regarded by the +Babylonians as the abode of the god. Lower down was another shrine, in +which was placed a great statue of Zeus (Bel-Merodach) sitting, with a +large table before it. Both statue and table are said to have been of +gold, as were also the throne and the steps. Outside the sanctuary (on +the ramp, apparently) were two altars, one small and made of gold, +whereon only unweaned lambs were sacrificed, and the other larger, for +full-grown victims. + + + A Babylonian description. + +In 1876 the well-known Assyriologist, Mr. George Smith, was fortunate +enough to discover a Babylonian description of this temple, of which +he published a /précis/. According to this document, there were two +courts of considerable extent, the smaller within the larger--neither +of them was square, but oblong. Six gates admitted to the temple-area +surrounding the platform upon which the tower was built. The platform +is stated to have been square and walled, with four gates facing the +cardinal points. Within this wall was a building connected with the +great /zikkurat/ or tower--the principal edifice--round which were +chapels or temples to the principal gods, on all four sides, and +facing the cardinal points--that to Nebo and Tašmît being on the east, +to Aa or Êa and Nusku on the north, Anu and Bel on the south, and the +series of buildings on the west, consisting of a double house--a small +court between two wings, was evidently the shrine of Merodach (Belos). +In these western chambers stood the couch of the god, and the golden +throne mentioned by Herodotus, besides other furniture of great value. +The couch was given as being 9 cubits long by 4 broad, about as many +feet in each case, or rather more. + +The centre of these buildings was the great /zikkurat/, or temple- +tower, square on its plan, and with the sides facing the cardinal +points. The lowest stage was 15 /gar/ square by 5 1/2 high (Smith, 300 +feet by 110), and the wall, in accordance with the usual Babylonian +custom, seems to have been ornamented with recessed groovings. The +second stage was 13 /gar/ square by 3 in height (Smith, 260 by 60 +feet). He conjectured, from the expression used, that it had sloping +sides. Stages three to five were each one /gar/ (Smith, 20 feet) high, +and respectively 10 /gar/ (Smith, 200 feet), 8 1/2 /gar/ (170 feet), +and 7 /gar/ (140 feet) square. The dimensions of the sixth stage are +omitted, probably by accident, but Smith conjectures that they were in +proportion to those which precede. His description omits also the +dimensions of the seventh stage, but he gives those of the sanctuary +of Belus, which was built upon it. This was 4 /gar/ long, 3 1/2 /gar/ +broad, and 2 1/2 /gar/ high (Smith, 80 x 70 x 50 feet). He points out, +that the total height was, therefore, 15 /gar/, the same as the +dimensions of the base, i.e., the lowest platform, which would make +the total height of this world-renowned building rather more than 300 +feet above the plains. + + + Other temple-towers. + +Towers of a similar nature were to be found in all the great cities of +Babylonia, and it is probable that in most cases slight differences of +form were to be found. That at Niffer, for instance, seems to have had +a causeway on each side, making four approaches in the form of a +cross. But it was not every city which had a tower of seven stages in +addition to the platform on which it was erected, and some of the +smaller ones at least seem to have had sloping or rounded sides to the +basement-portion, as is indicated by an Assyrian bas-relief. Naturally +small temples, with hardly more than the rooms on the ground floor, +were to be found, but these temple-towers were a speciality of the +country. + + + Their origin. + +There is some probability that, as indicated in the tenth chapter of +Genesis, the desire in building these towers was to get nearer the +Deity, or to the divine inhabitants of the heavens in general--it +would be easier there to gain attention than on the surface of the +earth. Then there was the belief, that the god to whom the place was +dedicated would come down to such a sanctuary, which thus became, as +it were, the stepping-stone between heaven and earth. Sacrifices were +also offered at these temple-towers (whether on the highest point or +not is not quite certain), in imitation of the Chaldæan Noah, +Ut-napištim, who, on coming out of the ark, made an offering /ina +zikkurat šadê/, "on the peak of the mountain," in which passage, it is +to be noted, the word /zikkurat/ occurs with what is probably a more +original meaning. + + + + CHAPTER III + + THE BABYLONIAN STORY OF THE CREATION + +This is the final development of the Babylonian creed. It has already +been pointed out that the religion of the Babylonians in all +probability had two stages before arriving at that in which the god +Merodach occupied the position of chief of the pantheon, the two +preceding heads having been, seemingly, Anu, the god of the heavens, +and Êa or Aa, also called Enki, the god of the abyss and of deep +wisdom. In order to show this, and at the same time to give an idea of +their theory of the beginning of things, a short paraphrase of the +contents of the seven tablets will be found in the following pages. + + + An Embodiment of doctrine. + +As far as our knowledge goes, the doctrines incorporated in this +legend would seem to show the final official development of the +beliefs held by the Babylonians, due, in all probability, to the +priests of Babylon after that city became the capital of the federated +states. Modifications of their creed probably took place, but nothing +seriously affecting it, until after the abandonment of Babylon in the +time of Seleucus Nicator, 300 B.C. or thereabouts, when the deity at +the head of the pantheon seems not to have been Merodach, but Anu-Bêl. +This legend is therefore the most important document bearing upon the +beliefs of the Babylonians from the end of the third millennium B.C. +until that time, and the philosophical ideas which it contains seem to +have been held, in a more or less modified form, among the remnants +who still retained the old Babylonian faith, until the sixth century +of the present era, as the record by Damascius implies. Properly +speaking, it is not a record of the creation, but the story of the +fight between Bel and the Dragon, to which the account of the creation +is prefixed by way of introduction. + + + Water the first creator. + +The legend begins by stating that, when the heavens were unnamed and +the earth bore no name, the primæval ocean was the producer of all +things, and Mummu Tiawath (the sea) she who brought forth everything +existing. Their waters (that is, of the primæval ocean and of the sea) +were all united in one, and neither plains nor marshes were to be +seen; the gods likewise did not exist, even in name, and the fates +were undetermined--nothing had been decided as to the future of +things. Then arose the great gods. Lahmu and Lahame came first, +followed, after a long period, by Anšar and Kišar, generally +identified with the "host of heaven" and the "host of earth," these +being the meanings of the component parts of their names. After a +further long period of days, there came forth their son Anu, the god +of the heavens. + + + The gods. + +Here the narrative is defective, and is continued by Damascius in his +/Doubts and Solutions of the First Principles/, in which he states +that, after Anos (Anu), come Illinos (Ellila or Bel, "the lord" /par +excellence/) and Aos (Aa, Ae, or Êa), the god of Eridu. Of Aos and +Dauké (the Babylonian Aa and Damkina) is born, he says, a son called +Belos (Bel-Merodach), who, they (apparently the Babylonians) say, is +the fabricator of the world--the creator. + + + The designs against them. + +At this point Damascius ends his extract, and the Babylonian tablet +also becomes extremely defective. The next deity to come into +existence, however, would seem to have been Nudimmud, who was +apparently the deity Aa or Êa (the god of the sea and of rivers) as +the god of creation. Among the children of Tauthé (Tiawath) enumerated +by Damascius is one named Moumis, who was evidently referred to in the +document at that philosopher's disposal. If this be correct, his name, +under the form of Mummu, probably existed in one of the defective +lines of the first portion of this legend--in any case, his name +occurs later on, with those of Tiawath and Apsu (the Deep), his +parents, and the three seem to be compared, to their disadvantage, +with the progeny of Lahmu and Lahame, the gods on high. As the ways of +these last were not those of Tiawath's brood, and Apsu complained that +he had no peace by day nor rest by night on account of their +proceedings, the three representatives of the chaotic deep, Tiawath, +Apsu, and Mummu, discussed how they might get rid the beings who +wished to rise to higher things. Mummu was apparently the prime mover +in the plot, and the face of Apsu grew bright at the thought of the +evil plan which they had devised against "the gods their sons." The +inscription being very mutilated here, its full drift cannot be +gathered, but from the complete portions which come later it would +seem that Mummu's plan was not a remarkably cunning one, being simply +to make war upon and destroy the gods of heaven. + + + Tiawath's preparations. + +The preparations made for this were elaborate. Restlessly, day and +night, the powers of evil raged and toiled, and assembled for the +fight. 'Mother Hubur," as Tiawath is named in this passage, called her +creative powers into action, and gave her followers irresistible +weapons. She brought into being also various monsters--giant serpents, +sharp of tooth, bearing stings, and with poison filling their bodies +like blood; terrible dragons endowed with brilliance, and of enormous +stature, reared on high, raging dogs, scorpion-men, fish-men, and many +other terrible beings, were created and equipped, the whole being +placed under the command of a deity named Kingu, whom she calls her +"only husband," and to whom she delivers the tablets of fate, which +conferred upon him the godhead of Anu (the heavens), and enabled their +possessor to determine the gates among the gods her sons. + + + Kingu replaces Absu. + +The change in the narrative which comes in here suggests that this is +the point at which two legends current in Babylonia were united. +Henceforward we hear nothing more of Apsu, the begetter of all things, +Tiawath's spouse, nor of Mummu, their son. In all probability there is +good reason for this, and inscriptions will doubtless ultimately be +found which will explain it, but until then it is only natural to +suppose that two different legends have been pieced together to form a +harmonious whole. + + + Tiawath's aim. + +As will be gathered from the above, the story centres in the wish of +the goddess of the powers of evil and her kindred to retain creation-- +the forming of all living things--in her own hands. As Tiawath means +"the sea," and Apsu "the deep," it is probable that this is a kind of +allegory personifying the productive power seen in the teeming life of +the ocean, and typifying the strange and wonderful forms found +therein, which were symbolical, to the Babylonian mind, of chaos and +confusion, as well as of evil. + + + The gods hear of the conspiracy. + +Aa, or Êa, having learned of the plot of Tiawath and her followers +against the gods of heaven, naturally became filled with anger, and +went and told the whole to Anšar, his father, who in his turn gave way +to his wrath, and uttered cries of the deepest grief. After +considering what they would do, Anšar applied to his son Anu, "the +mighty and brave," saying that, if he would only speak to her, the +great dragon's anger would be assuaged, and her rage disappear. In +obedience to this behest, Anu went to try his power with the monster, +but on beholding her snarling face, feared to approach her, and turned +back. Nudimmud was next called upon to become the representative of +the gods against their foe, but his success was as that of Anu, and it +became needful to seek another champion. + + + And choose Merodach as their champion. + +The choice fell upon Merodach, the Belus (Bel-Merodach) of Damascius's +paraphrase, and at once met with an enthusiastic reception. The god +asked simply that an "unchangeable command" might be given to him-- +that whatever he ordained should without fail come to pass, in order +that he might destroy the common enemy. Invitations were sent to the +gods asking them to a festival, where, having met together, they ate +and drank, and "decided the fate" for Merodach their avenger, +apparently meaning that he was decreed their defender in the conflict +with Tiawath, and that the power of creating and annihilating by the +word of his mouth was his. Honours were then conferred upon him; +princely chambers were erected for him, wherein he sat as judge "in +the presence of his fathers," and the rule over the whole universe was +given to him. The testing of his newly acquired power followed. A +garment was placed in their midst: + + "He spake with his mouth, and the garment was destroyed, + He spake to it again, and the garment was reproduced." + + + Merodach proclaimed king. + +On this proof of the reality of the powers conferred on him, all the +gods shouted "Merodach is king!" and handed to him sceptre, throne, +and insignia of royalty. An irresistible weapon, which should shatter +all his enemies, was then given to him, and he armed himself also with +spear or dart, bow, and quiver; lightning flashed before him, and +flaming fire filled his body. Anu, the god of the heavens, had given +him a great net, and this he set at the four cardinal points, in order +that nothing of the dragon, when he had defeated her, should escape. +Seven winds he then created to accompany him, and the great weapon +called /Abubu/, "the Flood," completed his equipment. All being ready, +he mounted his dreadful, irresistible chariot, to which four steeds +were yoked--steeds unsparing, rushing forward, rapid in flight, their +teeth full of venom, foam-covered, experienced in galloping, schooled +in overthrowing. Being now ready for the fray, Merodach fared forth to +meet Tiawath, accompanied by the fervent good wishes of "the gods his +fathers." + + + The fight with Tiawath. + +Advancing, he regarded Tiawath's retreat, but the sight of the enemy +was so menacing that even the great Merodach (if we understand the +text rightly) began to falter. This, however, was not for long, and +the king of the gods stood before Tiawath, who, on her side, remained +firm and undaunted. In a somewhat long speech, in which he reproaches +Tiawath for her rebellion, he challenges her to battle, and the two +meet in fiercest fight. To all appearance the type of all evil did not +make use of honest weapons, but sought to overcome the king of the +gods with incantations and charms. These, however, had not the +slightest effect, for she found herself at once enclosed in Merodach's +net, and on opening her mouth to resist and free herself, the evil +wind, which Merodach had sent on before him, entered, so that she +could not close her lips, and thus inflated, her heart was +overpowered, and she became a prey to her conqueror. Having cut her +asunder and taken out her heart, thus destroying her life, he threw +her body down and stood thereon. Her followers then attempted to +escape, but found themselves surrounded and unable to get forth. Like +their mistress, they were thrown into the net, and sat in bonds, being +afterwards shut up in prison. As for Kingu, he was raised up, bound, +and delivered to be with Ugga, the god of death. The tablets of fate, +which Tiawath had delivered to Kingu, were taken from him by Merodach, +who pressed his seal upon them, and placed them in his breast. The +deity Anšar, who had been, as it would seem, deprived of his rightful +power by Tiawath, received that power again on the death of the common +foe, and Nudimmud "saw his desire upon his enemy." + + + Tiawath's fate. + +The dismemberment of Tiawath then followed, and her veins having been +cut through, the north wind was caused by the deity to carry her blood +away into secret places, a statement which probably typifies the +opening of obstructions which prevent the rivers flowing from the +north from running into the southern seas, helped thereto by the north +wind. Finally her body was divided, like "a /mašdê/-fish," into two +parts, one of which was made into a covering for the heavens--the +"waters above the firmament" of Genesis i. 7. + + + Merodach orders the world anew. + +Then came the ordering of the universe anew. Having made a covering +for the heavens with half the body of the defeated Dragon of Chaos, +Merodach set the Abyss, the abode of Nudimmud, in front, and made a +corresponding edifice above--the heavens--where he founded stations +for the gods Anu, Bel, and Ae. Stations for the great gods in the +likeness of constellations, together with what is regarded as the +Zodiac, were his next work. He then designated the year, setting three +constellations for each month, and made a station for Nibiru-- +Merodach's own star--as the overseer of all the lights in the +firmament. He then caused the new moon, Nannaru, to shine, and made +him the ruler of the night, indicating his phases, one of which was on +the seventh day, and the other, a /šabattu/, or day of rest, in the +middle of the month. Directions with regard to the moon's movements +seem to follow, but the record is mutilated, and their real nature +consequently doubtful. With regard to other works which were performed +we have no information, as a gap prevents their being ascertained. +Something, however, seems to have been done with Merodach's net-- +probably it was placed in the heavens as a constellation, as was his +bow, to which several names were given. Later on, the winds were bound +and assigned to their places, but the account of the arrangement of +other things is mutilated and obscure, though it can be recognised +that the details in this place were of considerable interest. + + + The creation of man. + +To all appearance the gods, after he had ordered the universe and the +things then existing, urged Merodach to further works of wonder. +Taking up their suggestion, he considered what he should do, and then +communicated to his father Ae his plan for the creation of man with +his own blood, in order that the service and worship of the gods might +be established. This portion is also unfortunately very imperfect, and +the details of the carrying out of the plan are entirely wanting. + + + Berosus' narrative fills the gap. + +It is noteworthy that this portion of the narrative has been preserved +by Abydenus, George the Syncellus, and Eusebius, in their quotations +from Berosus. According to this Chaldæan writer, there was a woman +named Omoroca, or, in Chaldæan, Thalatth (apparently a mistake for +Thauatth, i.e. Tiawath), whose name was equivalent to the Greek +Thalassa, the sea. It was she who had in her charge all the strange +creatures then existing. At this period, Belus (Bel-Merodach) came, +and cut the woman asunder, forming out of one half the earth, and of +the other the heavens, at the same time destroying all the creatures +which were within her--all this being an allegory, for the whole +universe consists of moisture, and creatures are constantly generated +therein. The deity then cut off his own head, and the other gods mixed +the blood, as it gushed out, with the earth, and from this men were +formed. Hence it is that men are rational, and partake of divine +knowledge. + + + A second creation. + +This Belsus, "who is called Zeus," divided the darkness, separated the +heavens from the earth, and reduced the universe to order. The animals +which had been created, however, not being able to bear the light, +died. Belus then, seeing the void thus made, ordered one of the gods +to take off his head, and mix the blood with the soil, forming other +men and animals which should be able to bear the light. He also formed +the stars, the sun, the moon, and the five planets. It would thus seem +that there were two creations, the first having been a failure because +Belus had not foreseen that it was needful to produce beings which +should be able to bear the light. Whether this repetition was really +in the Babylonian legend, or whether Berosus (or those who quote him) +has merely inserted and united two varying accounts, will only be +known when the cuneiform text is completed. + + + The concluding tablet. + +The tablet of the fifty-one names completes the record of the tablets +found at Nineveh and Babylon. In this Merodach receives the titles of +all the other gods, thus identifying him with them, and leading to +that tendency to monotheism of which something will be said later on. +In this text, which is written, like the rest of the legend, in +poetical form, Merodach is repeatedly called /Tutu/, a mystic word +meaning "creator," and "begetter," from the reduplicate root /tu/ or +/utu/--which was to all appearances his name when it was desired to +refer to him especially in that character. Noteworthy in this portion +is the reference to Merodach's creation of mankind:-- + +Line 25. "Tuto: Aga-azaga (the glorious crown)--may he make the crowns + glorious. + 26. The lord of the glorious incantation bringing the dead to + life; + 27. He who had mercy on the gods who had been overpowered; + 28. Made heavy the yoke which he had laid on the gods who were + his enemies, + 29. (And) to redeem(?) them, created mankind. + 30. 'The merciful one,' 'he with whom is salvation,' + 31. May his word be established, and not forgotten, + 32. In the mouth of the black-headed ones[*] whom his hands have + made." + +[*] I.e. mankind. + + + Man the redeemer. + +The phrase "to redeem them" is, in the original, /ana padi-šunu/, the +verb being from /padû/, "to spare," "set free," and if this rendering +be correct, as seems probable, the Babylonian reasons for the creation +of mankind would be, that they might carry on the service and worship +of the gods, and by their righteousness redeem those enemies of the +gods who were undergoing punishment for their hostility. Whether by +this Tiawath, Apsu, Mummu, Kingu, and the monsters whom she had +created were included, or only the gods of heaven who had joined her, +the record does not say. Naturally, this doctrine depends entirely +upon the correctness of the translation of the words quoted. Jensen, +who first proposed this rendering, makes no attempt to explain it, and +simply asks: "Does 'them' in 'to redeem(?) them' refer to the gods +named in line 28 or to mankind and then to a future--how meant?-- +redemption? Eschatology? Zimmern's 'in their place' unprovable. +Delitzsch refrains from an explanation." + + + The bilingual account of the creation. Aruru aids Merodach. + +Whilst dealing with this part of the religious beliefs of the +Babylonians, a few words are needed concerning the creation-story +which is prefixed to an incantation used in a purification ceremony. +The original text is Sumerian (dialectic), and is provided with a +Semitic translation. In this inscription, after stating that nothing +(in the beginning) existed, and even the great cities and temples of +Babylonia were as yet unbuilt, the condition of the world is briefly +indicated by the statement that "All the lands were sea." The renowned +cities of Babylonia seem to have been regarded as being as much +creations of Merodach as the world and its inhabitants--indeed, it is +apparently for the glorification of those cities by attributing their +origin to Merodach, that the bilingual account of the creation was +composed.. "When within the sea there was a stream"--that is, when the +veins of Tiawath had been cut through--Êridu (probably = Paradise) and +the temple Ê-sagila within the Abyss were constructed, and after that +Babylon and the earthly temple of Ê-sagila within it. Then he made the +gods and the Annunnaki (the gods of the earth), proclaimed a glorious +city as the seat of the joy of their hearts, and afterwards made a +pleasant place in which the gods might dwell. The creation of mankind +followed, in which Merodach was aided by the goddess Aruru, who made +mankind's seed. Finally, plants, trees, and the animals, were +produced, after which Merodach constructed bricks, beams, houses, and +cities, including Niffer and Erech with their renowned temples. + +We see here a change in the teaching with regard to Merodach--the gods +are no longer spoken of as "his fathers," but he is the creator of the +gods, as well as of mankind. + + + The order of the gods in the principal lists. + +It is unfortunate that no lists of gods have been found in a +sufficiently complete state to allow of the scheme after which they +were drawn up to be determined without uncertainty. It may, +nevertheless, be regarded as probable that these lists, at least in +some cases, are arranged in conformity (to a certain extent) with the +appearance of the deities in the so-called creation-story. Some of +them begin with Anu, and give him various names, among them being +Anšar and Kišar, Lahmu and Lahame, etc. More specially interesting, +however, is a well-known trilingual list of gods, which contains the +names of the various deities in the following order:-- + + EXTRACTS FROM THE TRILINGUAL LIST + /Obverse/ + + Sumer. Dialect Sumer. Standard Common Explanation + (Semit. or Sumer.) + + 1. Dimmer Dingir Îlu God. + 2. U-ki En-ki Ê-a Êa or Aa. + 3. Gašan(?)-ki Nin-ki Dawkina Dauké, the consort of Êa. + 4. Mu-ul-lil En-lil-la Bêl The God Bel. + 5. E-lum A-lim Bêl + 6. Gašan(?)-lil Nin-lil-la dam-bi sal Bel's consort. + 7. U-lu-a Ni-rig Ênu-rêštu The god of Niffer. + 8. U-lib-a Ni-rig Ênu-rêštu + +9-12 have Ênu-rêštu's consort, sister, and attendant. + +13. U-šab-sib En-šag-duga Nusku Nusku + +14-19 have two other names of Nusku, followed by three names of his + consort. A number of names of minor divinities then follow. At + line 43 five names of Êa are given, followed by four of + Merodach:-- + +48. U-bi-lu-lu En-bi-lu-lu Marduk Merodach +49. U-Tin-dir ki En-Tin-dir ki Marduk Merodach as "lord of Babylon." +50. U-dimmer-an-kia En-dinger-an-kia Marduk Merodach as "lord god of heaven and earth." +51. U-ab-šar-u En-ab-šar-u Marduk Merodach, apparently as "lord of the 36,000 steers." +52. U-bar-gi-si Nin-bar-gi-si Zer-panîtum Merodach's consort. +53. Gašan-abzu Nin-abzu dam-bi sal "the Lady of the Abyss," his consort. + +The remainder of the obverse is mutilated, but gave the names of Nebo +in Sumerian, and apparently also of Tašmêtum, his consort. The +beginning of the reverse also is mutilated, but seems to have given +the names of the sun-god, Šamaš, and his consort, followed by those of +Kîttu and Mêšarum, "justice and righteousness," his attendants. Other +interesting names are: + + /Reverse/ + + 8. U-libir-si En-ubar-si Dumu-zi Tammuz + 9. Sir-tumu Sir-du ama Dumuzi-gi the mother of Tammuz +12. Gašan-anna Innanna Ištar Ištar (Venus) as "lady of heaven." +20. Nin-si-anna Innanna mul Ištar the star (the planet Venus). +21. Nin Nin-tag-taga Nanaa a goddess identified with Ištar. +23. U-šah Nina-šah Pap-sukal the gods' messenger. +24. U-banda Lugal-banda Lugal-banda +26. U-Mersi Nin-Girsu Nin-Girsu the chief god of Lagaš. +27. Ma-sib-sib Ga-tum-duga Bau Bau, a goddess identified with Gula. + +Four non-Semitic names of Gula follow, of which that in line 31 is the +most interesting:-- + +31. Gašan-ti-dibba Nin-tin-guua Gula "the lady saving from death." +33. Gašan-ki-gal Ereš-ki-gala Allatu Persephone. +36. U-mu-zi-da Nin-giš-zi-da Nin-giš-zida "the lord of the everlasting tree." +37. U-urugal Ne-eri-gal Nerigal Nergal. +42. Mulu-hursag Galu-hursag Amurru the Amorite god. +43. Gašan-gu-edina Nin-gu-edina (apparently the consort of Amurru). + +In all probability this list is one of comparatively late date, though +its chronological position with regard to the others is wholly +uncertain--it may not be later, and may even be earlier, than those +beginning with Anu, the god of the heavens. The important thing about +it is, that it begins with /îlu/, god, in general, which is written, +in the standard dialect (that of the second column) with the same +character as that used for the name of Anu. After this comes Aa or Êa, +the god of the earth, and his consort, followed by En-lilla, the older +Bel--Illinos in Damascius. The name of Êa is repeated again in line 43 +and following, where he is apparently re-introduced as the father of +Merodach, whose names immediately follow. This peculiarity is also +found in other lists of gods and is undoubtedly a reflection of the +history of the Babylonian religion. As this list replaces Anu by +/îlu/, it indicates the rule of Enki or Êa, followed by that of +Merodach, who, as has been shown, became the chief divinity of the +Babylonian pantheon in consequence of Babylon having become the +capital of the country. + + + + CHAPTER IV + + THE PRINCIPAL GODS OF THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + + + Anu. + +The name of this divinity is derived from the Sumero-Akkadian /ana/, +"heaven," of which he was the principal deity. He is called the father +of the great gods, though, in the creation-story, he seems to be +described as the son of Anšar and Kišar. In early names he is +described as the father, creator, and god, probably meaning the +supreme being. His consort was Anatu, and the pair are regarded in the +lists as the same as the Lahmu and Lahame of the creation-story, who, +with other deities, are also described as gods of the heavens. Anu was +worshipped at Erech, along with Ištar. + + + Ea. + +Is given as if it were the /Semitic/ equivalent of /Enki/, "the lord +of the earth," but it would seem to be really a Sumerian word, later +written /Ae/, and certain inscriptions suggest that the true reading +was /Aa/. His titles are "king of the Abyss, creator of everything, +lord of all," the first being seemingly due to the fact that Aa is a +word which may, in its reduplicate form, mean "waters," or if read +/Êa/, "house of water." He also, like Anu, is called "father of the +gods." As this god was likewise "lord of deep wisdom," it was to him +that his son Merodach went for advice whenever he was in doubt. On +account of his knowledge, he was the god of artisans in general-- +potters, blacksmiths, sailors, builders, stone-cutters, gardeners, +seers, barbers, farmers, etc. This is the Aos (a form which confirms +the reading Aa) of Damascius, and the Oannes of the extracts from +Berosus, who states that he was "a creature endowed with reason, with +a body like that of a fish, and under the fish's head another head, +with feet below, like those of a man, with a fish's tail." This +description applies fairly well to certain bas-reliefs from Nimroud in +the British Museum. The creature described by Berosus lived in the +Persian Gulf, landing during the day to teach the inhabitants the +building of houses and temples, the cultivation of useful plants, the +gathering of fruits, and also geometry, law, and letters. From him, +too, came the account of the beginning of things referred to in +chapter III. which, in the original Greek, is preceded by a +description of the composite monsters said to have existed before +Merodach assumed the rule of the universe. + +The name of his consort, Damkina or Dawkina, probably means "the +eternal spouse," and her other names, /Gašan-ki/ (Sumerian dialectic) +and /Nin-ki/ (non-dialectic), "Lady of the earth," sufficiently +indicates her province. She is often mentioned in the incantations +with Êa. + +The forsaking of the worship of Êa as chief god for that of Merodach +seems to have caused considerable heartburning in Babylonia, if we may +judge from the story of the Flood, for it was on account of his +faithfulness that Utnipištim, the Babylonian Noah, attained to +salvation from the Flood and immortality afterwards. All through this +adventure it was the god Êa who favoured him, and afterwards gave him +immortality like that of the gods. There is an interesting Sumerian +text in which the ship of Êa seems to be described, the woods of which +its various parts were formed being named, and in it, apparently, were +Enki (Êa), Damgal-nunna (Damkina), his consort, Asari-lu-duga +(Merodach), In-ab (or Ineš), the pilot of Êridu (Êa's city), and +Nin-igi-nagar-sir, "the great architect of heaven":-- + + "May the ship before thee bring fertility, + May the ship after thee bring joy, + In thy heart may it make joy of heart . . . ." + +Êa was the god of fertility, hence this ending to the poetical +description of the ship of Êa. + + + Bel. + +The deity who is mentioned next in order in the list given above is +the "older Bel," so called to distinguish him from Bel-Merodach. His +principal names were /Mullil/ (dialectic) or /En-lilla/[*] (standard +speech), the /Illinos/ of Damascius. His name is generally translated +"lord of mist," so-called as god of the underworld, his consort being +/Gašan-lil/ or /Nan-lilla/, "the lady of the mist," in Semitic +Babylonian /Bêltu/, "the Lady," par excellence. Bel, whose name means +"the lord," was so called because he was regarded as chief of the +gods. As there was considerable confusion in consequence of the title +Bel having been given to Merodach, Tiglath-pileser I. (about 1200 +B.C.) refers to him as the "older Bel" in describing the temple which +he built for him at Aššur. Numerous names of men compounded with his +occur until the latest times, implying that, though the favourite god +was Merodach, the worship of Bel was not forgotten, even at Babylon-- +that he should have been adored at his own city, Niffur, and at Dur- +Kuri-galzu, where Kuri-galzu I. built a temple for "Bel, the lord of +the lands," was naturally to be expected. Being, like Êa, a god of the +earth, he is regarded as having formed a trinity with Anu, the god of +heaven, and Êa, the god of the deep, and prayer to these three was as +good as invoking all the gods of the universe. Classification of the +gods according to the domain of their power would naturally take place +in a religious system in which they were all identified with each +other, and this classification indicates, as Jastrow says, a deep +knowledge of the powers of nature, and a more than average +intelligence among the Babylonians--indeed, he holds it as a proof +that, at the period of the older empire, there were schools and +students who had devoted themselves to religious speculation upon this +point. He also conjectures that the third commandment of the Law of +Moses was directed against this doctrine held by the Babylonians. + +[*] Ordinarily pronounced /Illila/, as certain glosses and Damascius's + /Illinos/ (for /Illilos/) show. + + + Beltis. + +This goddess was properly only the spouse of the older Bel, but as +/Bêltu/, her Babylonian name, simply meant "lady" in general (just as +/Bêl/ or /bêlu/ meant "lord"), it became a title which could be given +to any goddess, and was in fact borne by Zer-panîtum, Ištar, Nanaa, +and others. It was therefore often needful to add the name of the city +over which the special /Bêltu/ presided, in order to make clear which +of them was meant. Besides being the title of the spouse of the older +Bel, having her earthly seat with him in Niffur and other less +important shrines, the Assyrians sometimes name Bêltu the spouse of +Aššur, their national god, suggesting an identification, in the minds +of the priests, with that deity. + + + Ênu-rêštu or Nirig.[*] + +Whether /Ênu-rêštu/ be a translation of /Nirig/ or not, is uncertain, +but not improbable, the meaning being "primeval lord," or something +similar, and "lord" that of the first element, /ni/, in the Sumerian +form. In support of this reading and rendering may be quoted the fact, +that one of the descriptions of this divinity is /ašsarid îlani +âhê-šu/, "the eldest of the gods his brothers." It is noteworthy that +this deity was a special favourite among the Assyrians, many of whose +kings, to say nothing of private persons, bore his name as a component +part of theirs. In the bilingual poem entitled /Ana-kime gimma/ +("Formed like Anu"), he is described as being the son of Bel (hence +his appearance after Bel in the list printed above), and in the +likeness of Anu, for which reason, perhaps, his divinity is called +"Anuship." Beginning with words praising him, it seems to refer to his +attitude towards the gods of hostile lands, against whom, apparently, +he rode in a chariot of the sacred lapis-lazuli. Anu having endowed +him with terrible glory, the gods of the earth feared to attack him, +and his onrush was as that of a storm-flood. By the command of Bel, +his course was directed towards Ê-kur, the temple of Bel at Niffur. +Here he was met by Nusku, the supreme messenger of Bel, who, with +words of respect and of praise, asks him not to disturb the god Bel, +his father, in his seat, nor make the gods of the earth tremble in +Upšukennaku (the heavenly festival-hall of the gods), and offers him a +gift.[†] It will thus be seen that Ênu-rêštu was a rival to the older +Bel, whose temple was the great tower in stages called Ê-kura, in +which, in all probability, Ê-šu-me-du, the shrine of Ênu-rêštu, was +likewise situated. The inscriptions call him "god of war," though, +unlike Nergal, he was not at the same time god of disease and +pestilence. To all appearance he was the god of the various kinds of +stones, of which another legend states that he "determined their +fate." He was "the hero, whose net overthrows the enemy, who summons +his army to plunder the hostile land, the royal son who caused his +father to bow down to him from afar." "The son who sat not with the +nurse, and eschewed(?) the strength of milk," "the offspring who did +not know his father." "He rode over the mountains and scattered +seed--unanimously the plants proclaimed his name to their dominion, +among them like a great wild bull he raises his horns." + +[*] /Ênu-rêštu/ is the reading which I have adopted as the Semitic + Babylonian equivalent of the name of this divinity, in consequence + of the Aramaic transcription given by certain contract-tablets + discovered by the American expedition to Niffer, and published by + Prof. Clay of Philadelphia. + +[†] The result of this request is not known, in consequence of the + defective state of the tablets. + +Many other interesting descriptions of the deity Nirig (generally read +Nin-ip) occur, and show, with those quoted here, that his story was +one of more than ordinary interest. + + + Nusku. + +This deity was especially invoked by the Assyrian kings, but was in no +wise exclusively Assyrian, as is shown by the fact that his name +occurs in many Babylonian inscriptions. He was the great messenger of +the gods, and is variously given as "the offspring of the abyss, the +creation of Êa," and "the likeness of his father, the first-born of +Bel." As Gibil, the fire-god, has likewise the same diverse parentage, +it is regarded as likely that these two gods were identical. Nusku was +the god whose command is supreme, the counsellor of the great gods, +the protector of the Igigi (the gods of the heavens), the great and +powerful one, the glorious day, the burning one, the founder of +cities, the renewer of sanctuaries, the provider of feasts for all the +Igigi, without whom no feast took place in Ê-kura. Like Nebo, he bore +the glorious spectre, and it was said of him that he attacked mightily +in battle. Without him the sun-god, the judge, could not give +judgment. + +All this points to the probability, that Nusku may not have been the +fire-god, but the brother of the fire-god, i.e. either flame, or the +light of fire. The sun-god, without light, could not see, and +therefore could not give judgment: no feast could be prepared without +fire and its flame. As the evidence of the presence of the shining +orbs in the heavens--the light of their fires--he was the messenger of +the gods, and was honoured accordingly. From this idea, too, he became +their messenger in general, especially of Bel-Merodach, the younger +Bel, whose requests he carried to the god Êa in the Deep. In one +inscription he is identified with Nirig or Ênu-rêštu, who is described +above. + + + Merodach. + +Concerning this god, and how he arose to the position of king of all +the gods of heaven, has been fully shown in chapter III. Though there +is but little in his attributes to indicate any connection with Šamaš, +there is hardly any doubt that he was originally a sun-god, as is +shown by the etymology of his name. The form, as it has been handed +down to us, is somewhat shortened, the original pronunciation having +been /Amar-uduk/, "the young steer of day," a name which suggests that +he was the morning sun. Of the four names given at the end of chapter +III., two--"lord of Babylon," and "lord god of heaven and earth,"--may +be regarded as expressing his more well-known attributes. /En-ab-šar- +u/, however, is a provisional, though not impossible, reading and +rendering, and if correct, the "36,000 wild bulls" would be a +metaphorical way of speaking of "the 36,000 heroes," probably meaning +the gods of heaven in all their grades. The signification of /En- +bilulu/ is unknown. Like most of the other gods of the Babylonian +pantheon, however, Merodach had many other names, among which may be +mentioned /Asari/, which has been compared with the Egyptian Osiris, +/Asari-lu-duga/, "/Asari/ who is good," compared with Osiris Unnefer; +/Namtila/, "life", /Tutu/, "begetter (of the gods), renewer (of the +gods)," /Šar-azaga/, "the glorious incantation," /Mu-azaga/, "the +glorious charm," and many others. The last two refer to his being the +god who, by his kindness, obtained from his father Êa, dwelling in the +abyss, those charms and incantations which benefited mankind, and +restored the sick to health. In this connection, a frequent title +given to him is "the merciful one," but most merciful was he in that +he spared the lives of the gods who, having sided with Taiwath, were +his enemies, as is related in the tablet of the fifty-one names. In +connection with the fight he bore also the names, "annihilator of the +enemy," "rooter out of all evil," "troubler of the evil ones," "life +of the whole of the gods." From these names it is clear that Merodach, +in defeating Tiawath, annihilated, at the same time, the spirit of +evil, Satan, the accuser, of which she was, probably, the Babylonian +type. But unlike the Saviour in the Christian creed, he saved not only +man, at that time uncreated, but the gods of heaven also. As "king of +the heavens," he was identified with the largest of the planets, +Jupiter, as well as with other heavenly bodies. Traversing the sky in +great zigzags, Jupiter seemed to the Babylonians to superintend the +stars, and this was regarded as emblematic of Merodach shepherding +them--"pasturing the gods like sheep," as the tablet has it. + +A long list of gods gives as it were the court of Merodach, held in +what was apparently a heavenly /Ê-sagila/, and among the spiritual +beings mentioned are /Minâ-îkul-bêli/ and /Minâ-ištî-bêli/, "what my +lord has eaten," and "what has my lord drunk," /Nadin-mê-gati/, "he +who gives water for the hands," also the two door-keepers, and the +four dogs of Merodach, wherein people are inclined to see the four +satellites of Jupiter, which, it is thought, were probably visible to +certain of the more sharp-sighted stargazers of ancient Babylonia. +These dogs were called /Ukkumu/, /Akkulu/, /Ikšsuda/, and /Iltebu/, +"Seizer," "Eater," "Grasper," and "Holder." Images of these beings +were probably kept in the temple of Ê-sagila at Babylon. + + + Zer-panîtum. + +This was the name of the consort of Merodach, and is generally read +Sarp(b)anitum--a transcription which is against the native orthography +and etymology, namely, "seed-creatress" (Zer-banîtum). The meaning +attributed to this word is partly confirmed by another name which +Lehmann has pointed out that she possessed, namely, /Erua/ or /Aru'a/, +who, in an inscription of Antiochus Soter (280-260 B.C.) is called +"the queen who produces birth," but more especially by the +circumstance, that she must be identical with Aruru, who created the +seed of mankind along with Merodach. Why she was called "the lady of +the abyss," and elsewhere "the voice of the abyss" (/Me-abzu/) is not +known. Zer-panîtum was no mere reflection of Merodach, but one of the +most important goddesses in the Babylonian pantheon. The tendency of +scholars has been to identify her with the moon, Merodach being a +solar deity and the meaning "silvery"--/Sarpanitum/, from /sarpu/, one +of the words for "silver," was regarded as supporting this idea. She +was identified with the Elamite goddess named Elagu, and with the +Lahamum of the island of Bahrein, the Babylonian Tilmun. + + + Nebo and Tašmêtum. + +As "the teacher" and "the hearer" these were among the most popular of +the deities of Babylonia and Assyria. Nebo (in Semitic Babylonian +Nabû) was worshipped at the temple-tower known as Ê-zida, "the ever- +lasting house," at Borsippa, now the Birs Nimroud, traditionally +regarded as the site of the Tower of Babel, though that title, as has +already been shown, would best suit the similar structure known as +Ê-sagila, "the house of the high head," in Babylon itself. In +composition with men's names, this deity occurs more than any other, +even including Merodach himself--a clear indication of the estimation +in which the Babylonians and Assyrians held the possession of +knowledge. The character with which his name is written means, with +the pronunciation of /ak/, "to make," "to create," "to receive," "to +proclaim," and with the pronunciation of /me/, "to be wise," "wisdom," +"open of ear," "broad of ear," and "to make, of a house," the last +probably referring to the design rather than to the actual building. +Under the name of /Dim-šara/ he was "the creator of the writing of the +scribes," as /Ni-zu/, "the god who knows" (/zu/, "to know"), as +/Mermer/, "the speeder(?) of the command of the gods"--on the Sumerian +side indicating some connection with Addu or Rimmon, the thunderer, +and on the Semitic side with Ênu-rêštu, who was one of the gods' +messengers. A small fragment in the British Museum gave his attributes +as god of the various cities of Babylonia, but unfortunately their +names are lost or incomplete. From what remains, however, we see that +Nebo was god of ditching(?), commerce(?), granaries(?), fasting(?), +and food; it was he who overthrew the land of the enemy, and who +protected planting; and, lastly, he was god of Borsippa. + +The worship of Nebo was not always as popular as it became in the +later days of the Babylonian empire and after its fall, and Jastrow is +of opinion that Hammurabi intentionally ignored this deity, giving the +preference to Merodach, though he did not suppress the worship. Why +this should have taken place is not by any means certain, for Nebo was +a deity adored far and wide, as may be gathered from the fact that +there was a mountain bearing his name in Moab, upon which Moses--also +an "announcer," adds Jastrow--died. Besides the mountain, there was a +city in Moab so named, and another in Judæa. That it was the +Babylonian Nebo originally is implied by the form--the Hebrew +corresponding word is /nabi/. + +How old the worship of Tašmêtum, his consort, is, is doubtful, but her +name first occurs in a date of the reign of Hammurabi. Details +concerning her attributes are rare, and Jastrow regards this goddess +as the result of Babylonian religious speculations. It is noteworthy +that her worship appears more especially in later times, but it may be +doubted whether it is a product of those late times, especially when +we bear in mind the remarkable seal-impression on an early tablet of +3500-4500 B.C., belonging to Lord Amherst of Hackney, in which we see +a male figure with wide-open mouth seizing a stag by his horns, and a +female figure with no mouth at all, but with very prominent ears, +holding a bull in a similar manner. Here we have the "teacher" and the +"hearer" personified in a very remarkable manner, and it may well be +that this primitive picture shows the idea then prevailing with regard +to these two deities. It is to be noted that the name of Tašmêtum has +a Sumerian equivalent, namely, /Kurnun/, and that the ideograph by +which it is represented is one whose general meaning seems to be "to +bind," perhaps with the additional signification of "to accomplish," +in which case "she who hears" would also be "she who obeys." + + + Šamaš and his consort. + +At all times the worship of the sun in Babylonia and Assyria was +exceedingly popular, as, indeed, was to be expected from his +importance as the greatest of the heavenly bodies and the brightest, +without whose help men could not live, and it is an exceedingly +noteworthy fact that this deity did not become, like Ra in Egypt, the +head of the pantheon. This place was reserved for Merodach, also a +sun-god, but possessing attributes of a far wider scope. Šamaš is +mentioned as early as the reign of Ê-anna-tum, whose date is set at +about 4200 B.C., and at this period his Semitic name does not, +naturally, occur, the character used being /Utu/, or, in its longer +form, /Utuki/. + +It is worthy of note that, in consequence of the Babylonian idea of +evolution in the creation of the world, less perfect beings brought +forth those which were more perfect, and the sun was therefore the +offspring of Nannara or Sin, the moon. In accordance with the same +idea, the day, with the Semites, began with the evening, the time when +the moon became visible, and thus becomes the offspring of the night. +In the inscriptions Šamaš is described as "the light of things above +and things below, the illuminator of the regions," "the supreme judge +of heaven and earth," "the lord of living creatures, the gracious one +of the lands." Dawning in the foundation of the sky, he opened the +locks and threw wide the gates of the high heavens, and raised his +head, covering heaven and earth with his splendour. He was the +constantly righteous in heaven, the truth within the ears of the +lands, the god knowing justice and injustice, righteousness he +supported upon his shoulders, unrighteousness he burst asunder like a +leather bond, etc. It will thus be seen, that the sun-god was the +great god of judgment and justice--indeed, he is constantly alluded to +as "the judge," the reason in all probability being, that as the sun +shines upon the earth all day long, and his light penetrates +everywhere, he was regarded as the god who knew and investigated +everything, and was therefore best in a position to judge aright, and +deliver a just decision. It is for this reason that his image appears +at the head of the stele inscribed with Hammurabi's laws, and legal +ceremonies were performed within the precincts of his temples. The +chief seats of his worship were the great temples called Ê-babbara, +"the house of great light," in the cities of Larsa and Sippar. + +The consort of Šamaš was Aa, whose chief seat was at Sippar, side by +side with Šamaš. Though only a weak reflex of the sun-god, her worship +was exceedingly ancient, being mentioned in an inscription of +Man-ištusu, who is regarded as having reigned before Sargon of Agadé. +From the fact that, in one of the lists, she has names formed by +reduplicating the name of the sun-god, /Utu/, she would seem once to +have been identical with him, in which case it may be supposed that +she personified the setting sun--"the double sun" from the magnified +disc which he presents at sunset, when, according to a hymn to the +setting sun sung at the temple at Borsippa, Aa, in the Sumerian line +Kur-nirda, was accustomed to go to receive him. According to the list +referred to above, Aa, with the name of Burida in Sumerian, was more +especially the consort of Ša-zu, "him who knows the heart," one of the +names of Merodach, who was probably the morning sun, and therefore the +exact counterpart of the sun at evening. + +Besides Šamaš and Utu, the latter his ordinary Sumerian name, the sun- +god had several other non-Semitic names, including /Gišnu/,[*] "the +light," /Ma-banda-anna/, "the bark of heaven," /U-ê/, "the rising +sun," /Mitra/, apparently the Persian Mithra; /Ume-šimaš/ and Nahunda, +Elamite names, and Sahi, the Kassite name of the sun. He also +sometimes bears the names of his attendants Kittu and Mêšaru, "Truth" +and "Righteousness," who guided him upon his path as judge of the +earth. + +[*] It is the group expressing this word which is used for Šamaš in + the name of Šamaš-šum-ukîn (Saosduchinos), the brother of Aššur- + bani-âpli (Assurbanipal). The Greek equivalent implies the + pronunciation /Šawaš/, as well as /Šamaš/. + + + Tammuz and Ištar. + +The date of the rise of the myth of Tammuz is uncertain, but as the +name of this god is found on tablets of the time of Lugal-anda and +Uru-ka-gina (about 3500 B.C.), it can hardly be of later date than +4000 B.C., and may be much earlier. As he is repeatedly called "the +shepherd," and had a domain where he pastured his flock, Professor +Sayce sees in Tammuz "Daonus or Daos, the shepherd of Pantibibla," +who, according to Berosus, ruled in Babylonia for 10 /sari/, or 36,000 +years, and was the sixth king of the mythical period. According to the +classic story, the mother of Tammuz had unnatural intercourse with her +own father, being urged thereto by Aphrodite whom she had offended, +and who had decided thus to avenge herself. Being pursued by her +father, who wished to kill her for this crime, she prayed to the gods, +and was turned into a tree, from whose trunk Adonis was afterwards +born. Aphrodite was so charmed with the infant that, placing him in a +chest, she gave him into the care of Persephone, who, however, when +she discovered what a treasure she had in her keeping, refused to part +with him again. Zeus was appealed to, and decided that for four months +in the year Adonis should be left to himself, four should be spent +with Aphrodite, and four with Persephone, and six with Aphrodite on +earth. He was afterwards slain, whilst hunting, by a wild boar. + +Nothing has come down to us as yet concerning this legend except the +incident of his dwelling in Hades, whither Ištar, the Babylonian +Venus, went in search of him. It is not by any means unlikely, +however, that the whole story existed in Babylonia, and thence spread +to Phœnicia, and afterwards to Greece. In Phœnicia it was adapted to +the physical conditions of the country, and the place of Tammuz's +encounter with the boar was said to be the mountains of Lebanon, +whilst the river named after him, Adonis (now the Nahr Ibrahim), which +ran red with the earth washed down by the autumn rains, was said to be +so coloured in consequence of being mingled with his blood. The +descent of Tammuz to the underworld, typified by the flowing down of +the earth-laden waters of the rivers to the sea, was not only +celebrated by the Phœnicians, but also by the Babylonians, who had at +least two series of lamentations which were used on this occasion, and +were probably the originals of those chanted by the Hebrew women in +the time of Ezekiel (about 597 B.C.). Whilst on earth, he was the one +who nourished the ewe and her lamb, the goat and her kid, and also +caused them to be slain--probably in sacrifice. "He has gone, he has +gone to the bosom of the earth," the mourners cried, "he will make +plenty to overflow for the land of the dead, for its lamentations for +the day of his fall, in the unpropitious month of his year." There was +also lamentation for the cessation of the growth of vegetation, and +one of these hymns, after addressing him as the shepherd and husband +of Ištar, "lord of the underworld," and "lord of the shepherd's seat," +goes on to liken him to a germ which has not absorbed water in the +furrow, whose bud has not blossomed in the meadow; to the sapling +which has not been planted by the watercourse, and to the sapling +whose root has been removed. In the "Lamentations" in the Manchester +Museum, Ištar, or one of her devotees, seems to call for Tammuz, +saying, "Return, my husband," as she makes her way to the region of +gloom in quest of him. Ereš-ê-gala, "the lady of the great house" +(Persephone), is also referred to, and the text seems to imply that +Ištar entered her domain in spite of her. In this text other names are +given to him, namely, /Tumu-giba/, "son of the flute," /Ama-elaggi/, +and /Ši-umunnagi/, "life of the people." + +The reference to sheep and goats in the British Museum fragment +recalls the fact that in an incantation for purification the person +using it is told to get the milk of a yellow goat which has been +brought forth in the sheep-fold of Tammuz, recalling the flocks of the +Greek sun-god Helios. These were the clouds illuminated by the sun, +which were likened to sheep--indeed, one of the early Sumerian +expressions for "fleece" was "sheep of the sky." The name of Tammuz in +Sumerian is Dumu-zi, or in its rare fullest form, Dumu-zida, meaning +"true" or "faithful son." There is probably some legend attached to +this which is at present unknown. + +In all probability Ištar, the spouse of Tammuz, is best known from her +descent into Hades in quest of him when with Persephone (Ereš-ki-gal) +in the underworld. In this she had to pass through seven gates, and an +article of clothing was taken from her at each, until she arrived in +the underworld quite naked, typifying the teaching, that man can take +nothing away with him when he departs this life. During her absence, +things naturally began to go wrong upon the earth, and the gods were +obliged to intervene, and demand her release, which was ultimately +granted, and at each gate, as she returned, the adornments which she +had left were given back to her. It is uncertain whether the husband +whom she sought to release was set free, but the end of the +inscription seems to imply that Ištar was successful in her mission. + +In this story she typifies the faithful wife, but other legends show +another side of her character, as in that of Gilgameš, ruler of her +city Erech, to whom she makes love. Gilgameš, however, knowing the +character of the divine queen of his city too well, reproaches her +with her treatment of her husband and her other lovers--Tammuz, to +whom, from year to year, she caused bitter weeping; the bright +coloured Allala bird, whom she smote and broke his wings; the lion +perfect in strength, in whom she cut wounds "by sevens"; the horse +glorious in war, to whom she caused hardship and distress, and to his +mother Silili bitter weeping; the shepherd who provided for her things +which she liked, whom she smote and changed to a jackal; Išullanu, her +father's gardener, whom she tried, apparently, to poison, but failing, +she smote him, and changed him to a statue(?). On being thus reminded +of her misdeeds, Ištar was naturally angry, and, ascending to heaven, +complained to her father Anu and her mother Anatu, the result being, +that a divine bull was sent against Gilgameš and Enki-du, his friend +and helper. The bull, however, was killed, and a portion of the animal +having been cut off, Enki-du threw it at the goddess, saying at the +same time that, if he could only get hold of her, he would treat her +similarly. Apparently Ištar recognised that there was nothing further +to be done in the matter, so, gathering the hand-maidens, pleasure- +women and whores, in their presence she wept over the portion of the +divine bull which had been thrown at her. + +The worship of Ištar, she being the goddess of love and war, was +considerably more popular than that of her spouse, Tammuz, who, as +among the western Semitic nations, was adored rather by the women than +the men. Her worship was in all probability of equal antiquity, and +branched out, so to say, in several directions, as may be judged by +her many names, each of which had a tendency to become a distinct +personality. Thus the syllabaries give the character which represents +her name as having also been pronounced /Innanna/, /Ennen/, and /Nin/, +whilst a not uncommon name in other inscriptions is /Ama-Innanna/, +"mother Ištar." The principal seat of her worship in Babylonia was at +Erech, and in Assyria at Nineveh--also at Arbela, and many other +places. She was also honoured (at Erech and elsewhere) under the +Elamite names of Tišpak and Šušinak, "the Susian goddess." + + + Nina. + +From the name /Nin/, which Ištar bore, there is hardly any doubt that +she acquired the identification with Nina, which is provable as early +as the time of the Lagašite kings, Lugal-anda and Uru-ka-gina. As +identified with Aruru, the goddess who helped Merodach to create +mankind, Ištar was also regarded as the mother of all, and in the +Babylonian story of the Flood, she is made to say that she had +begotten man, but like "the sons of the fishes," he filled the sea. +Nina, then, as another form of Ištar, was a goddess of creation, +typified in the teeming life of the ocean, and her name is written +with a character standing for a house or receptacle, with the sign for +"fish" within. Her earliest seat was the city of Nina in southern +Babylonia, from which place, in all probability, colonists went +northwards, and founded another shrine at Nineveh in Assyria, which +afterwards became the great centre of her worship, and on this account +the city was called after her Ninaa or Ninua. As their tutelary +goddess, the fishermen in the neighbourhood of the Babylonian Nina and +Lagaš were accustomed to make to her, as well as to Innanna or Ištar, +large offerings of fish. + +As the masculine deities had feminine forms, so it is not by any means +improbable that the goddesses had masculine forms, and if that be the +case, we may suppose that it was a masculine counterpart of Nina who +founded Nineveh, which, as is well known, is attributed to Ninos, the +same name as Nina with the Greek masculine termination. + + + Nin-Gursu. + +This deity is principally of importance in connection with the ancient +Babylonian state of Lagaš, the home of an old and important line of +kings and viceroys, among the latter being the celebrated Gudea, whose +statues and inscribed cylinders now adorn the Babylonian galleries of +the Louvre at Paris. His name means "Lord of Girsu," which was +probably one of the suburbs, and the oldest part, of Lagaš. This deity +was son of En-lila or Bêl, and was identified with Nirig or Ênu-rêštu. +To all appearance he was a sun-deity. The dialectic form of his name +was /U-Mersi/, of which a variant, /En-Mersi/, occurs in an +incantation published in the fourth volume of the /Cuneiform +Inscriptions of Western Asia/, pl. 27, where, for the Sumerian "Take a +white kid of En-Mersi," the Semitic translation is "of Tammuz," +showing that he was identified with the latter god. In the second +volume of the same work Nin-Girsu is given as the pronunciation of the +name of the god of agriculturalists, confirming this identification, +Tammuz being also god of agriculture. + + + Bau. + +This goddess at all times played a prominent part in ancient +Babylonian religion, especially with the rulers before the dynasty of +Hammurabi. She was the "mother" of Lagaš, and her temple was at +Uru-azaga, a district of Lagaš, the chief city of Nin-Girsu, whose +spouse she was. Like Nin-Girsu, she planted (not only grain and +vegetation, but also the seed of men). In her character of the goddess +who gave life to men, and healed their bodies in sickness, she was +identified with Gula, one of those titles is "the lady saving from +death". Ga-tum-duga, whose name probably means "making and producing +good," was also exceedingly popular in ancient times, and though +identified with Bau, is regarded by Jastrow has having been originally +distinct from her. + + + Ereš-ki-gal or Allatu. + +As the prototype of Persephone, this goddess is one of much importance +for comparative mythology, and there is a legend concerning her of +considerable interest. The text is one of those found at Tel-el- +Armana, in Egypt, and states that the gods once made a feast, and sent +to Ereš-ki-gal, saying that, though they could go down to her, she +could not ascend to them, and asking her to send a messenger to fetch +away the food destined for her. This she did, and all the gods stood +up to receive her messenger, except one, who seems to have withheld +this token of respect. The messenger, when he returned, apparently +related to Ereš-ki-gal what had happened, and angered thereat, she +sent him back to the presence of the gods, asking for the delinquent +to be delivered to her, that she might kill him. The gods then +discussed the question of death with the messenger, and told him to +take to his mistress the god who had not stood up in his presence. +When the gods were brought together, that the culprit might be +recognised, one of them remained in the background, and on the +messenger asking who it was who did not stand up, it was found to be +Nerigal. This god was duly sent, but was not at all inclined to be +submissive, for instead of killing him, as she had threatened, Ereš- +ki-gal found herself seized by the hair and dragged from her throne, +whilst the death-dealing god made ready to cut off her head. "Do not +kill me, my brother, let me speak to thee," she cried, and on his +loosing his hold upon her hair, she continued, "thou shalt be my +husband, and I will be thy wife--I will cause you to take dominion in +the wide earth. I will place the tablet of wisdom in thine hand--thou +shalt be lord, I will be lady." Nerigal thereupon took her, kissed +her, and wiped away her tears, saying, "Whatever thou hast asked me +for months past now receives assent." + +Ereš-ki-gal did not treat her rival in the affections of Tammuz so +gently when Ištar descended to Hades in search of the "husband of her +youth." According to the story, not only was Ištar deprived of her +garments and ornaments, but by the orders of Ereš-ki-gal, Namtar smote +her with disease in all her members. It was not until the gods +intervened that Ištar was set free. The meaning of her name is "lady +of the great region," a description which is supposed to apply to +Hades, and of which a variant, Ereš-ki-gal, "lady of the great house," +occurs in the Hymns to Tammuz in the Manchester Museum. + + + Nergal. + +This name is supposed to mean "lord of the great habitation," which +would be a parallel to that of his spouse Ereš-ki-gal. He was the +ruler of Hades, and at the same time god of war and of disease and +pestilence. As warrior, he naturally fought on the side of those who +worshipped him, as in the phrase which describes him as "the warrior, +the fierce storm-flood overthrowing the land of the enemy." As pointed +out by Jastrow, he differs from Nirig, who was also a god of war, in +that he symbolises, as god of disease and death, the misery and +destruction which accompany the strife of nations. It is in +consequence of this side of his character that he appears also as god +of fire, the destroying element, and Jensen says that Nerigal was god +of the midday or of the summer sun, and therefore of all the +misfortunes caused by an excess of his heat. + +The chief centre of his worship was Cuthah (/Kutû/, Sumerian /Gudua/) +near Babylon, now represented by the mounds of Tel Ibrahim. The +identity with the Greek Aries and the Roman Mars is proved by the fact +that his planet was /Muštabarrû-mûtanu/, "the death-spreader," which +is probably the name of Mars in Semitic Babylonian. + + + Amurru. + +Although this is not by any means a frequent name among the deities +worshipped in Babylonia, it is worthy of notice on account of its +bearing upon the date of the compilation of the tablet which has been +taken as a basis of this list of gods. He was known as "Lord of the +mountains," and his worship became very popular during the period of +the dynasty to which Hammurabi belonged--say from 2200 to 1937 B.C., +when Amurru was much combined with the names of men, and is found both +on tablets and cylinder-seals. The ideographic manner of writing it is +/Mar-tu/, a word that is used for /Amurru/, the land of the Amorites, +which stood for the West in general. Amorites had entered Babylonia in +considerable numbers during this period, so that there is but little +doubt that his popularity was largely due to their influence, and the +tablet containing these names was probably drawn up, or at least had +the Semitic equivalents added, towards the beginning of that period. + + + Sin or Nannara. + +The cult of the moon-god was one of the most popular in Babylonia, the +chief seat of his worship being at Uru (now Muqayyar) the Biblical Ur +of the Chaldees. The origin of the name Sin is unknown, but it is +thought that it may be a corruption of Zu-ena, "knowledge-lord," as +the compound ideograph expressing his name may be read and translated. +Besides this compound ideograph, the name of the god Sin was also +expressed by the character for "30," provided with the prefix of +divinity, an ideograph which is due to the thirty days of the month, +and is thought to be of late date. With regard to Nannar, Jastrow +explains it as being for Narnar, and renders it "light-producer." In a +long hymn to this god he is described in many lines as "the lord, +prince of the gods, who in heaven alone is supreme," and as "father +Nannar." Among his other descriptive titles are "great Anu" (Sum. /ana +gale/, Semitic Bab. /Anu rabû/)--another instance of the +identification of two deities. He was also "lord of Ur," "lord of the +temple Gišnu-gala," "lord of the shining crown," etc. He is also said +to be "the mighty steer whose horns are strong, whose limbs are +perfect, who is bearded with a beard of lapis-stone,[*] who is filled +with beauty and fullness (of splendour)." + +[*] Probably of the colour of lapis only, not made of the stone + itself. + +Besides Babylonia and Assyria, he was also worshipped in other parts +of the Semitic east, especially at Harran, to which city Abraham +migrated, scholars say, in consequence of the patron-deity being the +same as at Ur of the Chaldees, where he had passed the earlier years +of his life. The Mountain of Sinai and the Desert of Sin, both bear +his name. + +According to king Dungi (about 2700 B.C.), the spouse of Sin or +Nannara was Nin-Uruwa, "the lady of Ur." Sargon of Assyria (722-705 +B.C.) calls her Nin-gala. + + + Addu or Rammanu. + +The numerous names which Hadad bears in the inscriptions, both non- +Semitic and Semitic, testify to the popularity which this god enjoyed +at all times in Babylonia. Among his non-Semitic names may be +mentioned Mer, Mermer, Muru, all, it may be imagined, imitative. Addu +is explained as being his name in the Amorite language, and a variant +form, apparently, which has lost its first syllable, namely, Dadu, +also appears--the Assyrians seem always to have used the +terminationless form of Addu, namely, Adad. In all probability Addu, +Adad, and Dadu are derived from the West Semitic Hadad, but the other +name, Rammanu, is native Babylonian, and cognate with Rimmon, which is +thus shown by the Babylonian form to mean "the thunderer," or +something similar. He was the god of winds, storms, and rain, feared +on account of the former, and worshipped, and his favour sought, on +account of the last. In his name Birqu, he appears as the god of +lightning, and Jastrow is of opinion, that he is sometimes associated +on that account with Šamaš, both of them being (although in different +degrees) gods of light, and this is confirmed by the fact that, in +common with the sun-god, he was called "god of justice." In the +Assyrian inscriptions he appears as a god of war, and the kings +constantly compare the destruction which their armies had wrought with +that of "Adad the inundator." For them he was "the mighty one, +inundating the regions of the enemy, lands and houses," and was prayed +to strike the land of the person who showed hostility to the Assyrian +king, with evil-working lightning, to throw want, famine, drought, and +corpses therein, to order that he should not live one day longer, and +to destroy his name and his seed in the land. + +The original seat of his worship was Muru in South Babylonia, to which +the patesi of Girsu in the time of Ibi-Sin sent grain as an offering. +Its site is unknown. Other places (or are they other names of the +same?) where he was worshipped were Ennigi and Kakru. The consort of +Addu was Šala, whose worship was likewise very popular, and to whom +there were temples, not only in Babylonia and Assyria, but also in +Elam, seemingly always in connection with Addu. + + + Aššur. + +In all the deities treated of above, we see the chief gods of the +Babylonian and Assyrian pantheon, which were worshipped by both +peoples extensively, none of them being specifically Assyrian, though +worshipped by the Assyrians. There was one deity, however, whose name +will not be found in the Babylonian lists of gods, namely, Aššur, the +national god of Assyria, who was worshipped in the city of Aššur, the +old capital of the country. + +From this circumstance, it may be regarded as certain, that Aššur was +the local god of the city whose name he bore, and that he attained to +the position of chief god of the Assyrian pantheon in the same way as +Merodach became king of the gods in Babylonia--namely, because Aššur +was the capital of the country. His acceptance as chief divinity, +however, was much more general than that of Merodach, as temples to +him were to be found all over the Assyrian kingdom--a circumstance +which was probably due to Assyria being more closely united in itself +than Babylonia, causing his name to arouse patriotic feelings wherever +it might be referred to. This was probably partly due to the fact, +that the king in Assyria was more the representative of the god than +in Babylonia, and that the god followed him on warlike expeditions, +and when engaged in religious ceremonies--indeed, it is not by any +means improbable that he was thought to follow him wherever he went. +On the sculptures he is seen accompanying him in the form of a circle +provided with wings, in which is shown sometimes a full-length figure +of the god in human form, sometimes the upper part only, facing +towards and drawing his bow against the foe. In consequence of its +general appearance, the image of the god has been likened to the sun +in eclipse, the far-stretching wings being thought to resemble the +long streamers visible at the moment of totality, and it must be +admitted as probable that this may have given the idea of the symbol +shown on the sculptures. As a sun-god, and at the same time not the +god Šamaš, he resembled the Babylonian Merodach, and was possibly +identified with him, especially as, in at least one text, Bêltu +(Bêltis) is described as his consort, which would possibly identify +Aššur's spouse with Zer-panîtum. The original form of his name would +seem to have been Aušar, "water-field," probably from the tract where +the city of Aššur was built. His identification with Merodach, if that +was ever accepted, may have been due to the likeness of the word to +Asari, one of that deity's names. The pronunciation Aššur, however, +seems to have led to a comparison with the Anšar of the first tablet +of the Creation-story, though it may seem strange that the Assyrians +should have thought that their patron-god was a deity symbolising the +"host of heaven." Nevertheless, the Greek transcription of Anšar, +namely, /Assoros/, given by Damascius, certainly strengthens the +indications of the ideograph in this matter. Delitzsch regards the +word Aššur, or Ašur, as he reads it, as meaning "holy," and quotes a +list of the gods of the city of Nineveh, where the word Aššur occurs +three times, suggesting the exclamation "holy, holy, holy," or "the +holy, holy, holy one." In all probability, however, the repetition of +the name three times simply means that there were three temples +dedicated to Aššur in the cities in question.[*] Jastrow agrees with +Delitzsch in regarding Ašur as another form of Ašir (found in early +Cappadocian names), but he translates it rather as "overseer" or +"guardian" of the land and the people--the terminationless form of +/aširu/, which has this meaning, and is applied to Merodach. + +[*] Or there may have been three shrines to Aššur in each temple + referred to. + +As the use of the characters /An-šar/ for the god Aššur only appears +at a late date (Jastrow says the eighth century B.C.), this would seem +to have been the work of the scribes, who wished to read into the name +the earlier signification of Anšar, "the host of heaven," an +explanation fully in accord with Jastrow's reasonings with regard to +the nature of the deity. As he represented no personification or power +of nature, he says, but the general protecting spirit of the land, the +king, the army, and the people, the capital of the country could be +transferred from Aššur to Calah, from there back to Aššur, and finally +to Nineveh, without affecting the position of the protecting god of +the land in any way. He needed no temple--though such things were +erected to him--he had no need to fear that he should suffer in esteem +by the preference for some other god. As the embodiment of the spirit +of the Assyrian people the personal side of his being remained to a +certain extent in the background. If he was the "host of heaven," all +the deities might be regarded as having their being in him. + +Such was the chief deity of the Assyrians--a national god, grafted on +to, but always distinct from, the rest of the pantheon, which, as has +been shown, was of Babylonian origin, and always maintained the +characteristics and stamp of its origin. + +The spouse of Aššur does not appear in the historical texts, and her +mention elsewhere under the title of Bêltu, "the lady," does not allow +of any identification being made. In one inscription, however, +Aššuritu is called the goddess, and Aššur the god, of the star Sib-zi- +anna, identified by Jensen with Regulus, which was apparently the star +of Merodach in Babylonia. This, however, brings us no nearer, for +Aššuritu would simply mean "the Assurite (goddess)." + + + The minor divinities. + +Among the hundreds of names which the lists furnish, a few are worthy +of mention, either because of more than ordinary interest, or in +consequence of their furnishing the name of some deity, chief in its +locality, but identified elsewhere with one of the greater gods. + +Aa.--This may be regarded either as the god Êa (though the name is +written differently), or as the sun-god assuming the name of his +consort; or (what is, perhaps, more probable) as a way of writing A'u +or Ya'u (the Hebrew Jah), without the ending of the nominative. This +last is also found under the form /Aa'u/, /ya'u/, /yau/, and /ya/. + +Abil-addu.--This deity seems to have attained a certain popularity in +later times, especially among immigrants from the West. As "the son of +Hadad," he was the equivalent of the Syrian Ben-Hadad. A tablet in New +York shows that his name was weakened in form to /Ablada/. + +Aku, the moon-god among the heavenly bodies. It is this name which is +regarded as occurring in the name of the Babylonian king Eri-Aku, +"servant of the moon-god," the biblical Arioch (Gen. xiv.). + +Amma-an-ki, Êa or Aa as lord of heaven and earth. + +Amna.--A name only found in a syllabary, and assigned to the sun-god, +from which it would seem that it is a form of the Egyptian Ammon. + +Anunitum, the goddess of one of the two Sippars, called Sippar of +Anunitum, who was worshipped in the temple Ê-ulmaš within the city of +Agadé (Akkad). Sayce identifies, on this account, these two places as +being the same. In a list of stars, Anunitum is coupled with +Šinunutum, which are explained as (the stars of) the Tigris and +Euphrates. These were probably names of Venus as the morning and +evening (or evening and morning) star. + +Apsu.--The deep dissociated from the evil connection with Tiawath, and +regarded as "the house of deep wisdom," i.e. the home of the god Êa or +Aa. + +Aruru.--One of the deities of Sippar and Aruru (in the time of the +dynasty of Hammurabi called Ya'ruru), of which she was the chief +goddess. Aruru was one of the names of the "lady of the gods," and +aided Merodach to make the seed of mankind. + +Bêl.--As this name means "lord," it could be applied, like the +Phœnician Baal, to the chief god of any city, as Bêl of Niffur, Bêl of +Hursag-kalama, Bêl of Aratta, Bêl of Babylon, etc. This often +indicates also the star which represented the chief god of a place. + +Bêltu.--In the same way Bêltu, meaning "lady," meant also the chief +goddess of any place, as "Aruru, lady of the gods of Sippar of Aruru," +"Nin-mah, lady of the gods of Ê-mah," a celebrated temple within +Babylon, recently excavated by the Germans, "Nin-hur-saga, lady of the +gods of Kêš," etc. + +Bunene.--A god associated with Šamaš and Ištar at Sippar and +elsewhere. He "gave" and "renewed" to his worshippers. + +Dagan.--This deity, whose worship extends back to an exceedingly early +date, is generally identified with the Phœnician Dagon. Hammurabi +seems to speak of the Euphrates as being "the boundary of Dagan," whom +he calls his creator. In later inscriptions the form Daguna, which +approaches nearer to the West Semitic form, is found in a few personal +names. The Phœnician statues of this deity showed him with the lower +part of his body in the form of a fish (see 1 Sam. v. 4). Whether the +deities clothed in a fish's skin in the Nimroud gallery be Dagon or +not is uncertain--they may be intended for Êa or Aa, the Oannes of +Berosus, who was represented in this way. Probably the two deities +were regarded as identical. + +Damu.--a goddess regarded as equivalent to Gula by the Babylonians and +Assyrians. She was goddess of healing, and made one's dreams happy. + +Dumu-zi-abzu, "Tammuz of the Abyss."--This was one of the six sons of +Êa or Aa, according to the lists. His worship is exceedingly ancient, +and goes back to the time of E-anna-tum of Lagaš (about 4000 B.C.). +What connection, if any, he may have with Tammuz, the spouse of Ištar, +is unknown. Jastrow apparently regards him as a distinct deity, and +translates his name "the child of the life of the water-deep." + +Elali.--A deity identified with the Hebrew Helal, the new moon. Only +found in names of the time of the Hammurabi dynasty, in one of which +he appears as "a creator." + +En-nugi is described as "lord of streams and canals," and "lord of the +earth, lord of no-return." This last description, which gives the +meaning of his name, suggests that he was one of the gods of the realm +of Ereš-ki-gal, though he may have borne that name simply as god of +streams, which always flow down, never the reverse. + +Gibil.--One of the names of the god of fire, sometimes transcribed +Girru by Assyriologists, the meaning apparently being "the fire- +bearer" or "light-bearer." Girru is another name of this deity, and +translates an ideographic group, rendered by Delitzsch "great" or +"highest decider," suggesting the custom of trial by ordeal. He was +identified with Nirig, in Semitic Ênu-rêštu. + +Gušqi-banda or Kuski-banda, one of the names of Êa, probably as god of +gold-workers. + +Išum, "the glorious sacrificer," seemingly a name of the fire-god as a +means whereby burnt offerings were made. Nûr-Išum, "light of Išum," is +found as a man's name. + +Kâawanu, the planet Saturn. + +Lagamal.--A god identified with the Elamite Lagamar, whose name is +regarded as existing in Chedorlaomer (cf. Gen. xiv. 2). He was the +chief god of Mair, "the ship-city." + +Lugal-Amarada or Lugal-Marad.--This name means "king of Marad," a city +as yet unidentified. The king of this place seems to have been +Nerigal, of whom, therefore, Lugal-Marad is another name. + +Lugal-banda.--This name means "the powerful king," or something +similar, and the god bearing it is supposed to be the same as Nerigal. +His consort, however, was named Nin-sun (or Nin-gul). + +Lugal-Du-azaga, "the king of the glorious seat."--The founder of +Êridu, "the good city within the Abyss," probably the paradise (or a +paradise) of the world to come. As it was the aim of every good +Babylonian to dwell hereafter with the god whom he had worshipped upon +earth, it may be conjectured that this was the paradise in the domain +of Êa or Aa. + +Mama, Mami.--Names of "the lady of the gods," and creatress of the +seed of mankind, Aruru. Probably so called as the "mother" of all +things. Another name of this goddess is Ama, "mother." + +Mammitum, Mamitum, goddess of fate. + +Mur, one of the names of Addu or Rammanu (Hadad or Rimmon). + +Nanâ or Nanaa was the consort of Nebo at Borsippa, but appears as a +form of Ištar, worshipped, with Anu her father, at Erech. + +Nin-aha-kuku, a name of Êa or Aa and of his daughter as deity of the +rivers, and therefore of gardens and plantations, which were watered +by means of the small canals leading therefrom. As daughter of Êa, +this deity was also "lady of the incantation." + +Nin-azu, the consort of Ereš-ki-gal, probably as "lord physician." He +is probably to be identified with Nerigal. + +Nin-igi-nagar-si, a name somewhat more doubtful as to its reading than +the others, designates Êa or Aa as "the god of the carpenter." He +seems to have borne this as "the great constructor of heaven" or "of +Anu." + +Nin-mah, chief goddess of the temple Ê-mah in Babylon. Probably to be +identified with Aruru, and therefore with Zer-panîtum. + +Nin-šah, a deity whose name is conjectured to mean "lord of the wild +boar." He seems to have been a god of war, and was identified with +Nirig or Ênu-rêštu and Pap-sukal. + +Nin-sirsir, Êa as the god of sailors. + +Nin-sun, as pointed out by Jastrow, was probably the same as Ištar or +Nanâ of Erech, where she had a shrine, with them, in Ê-anna, "the +house of Anu." He renders her name "the annihilating lady,"[*] +"appropriate for the consort of a sun-god," for such he regards Lugal- +banda her spouse. King Sin-gasid of Erech (about 3000 B.C.) refers to +her as his mother. + +[*] This is due to the second element of the name having, with another + pronunciation, the meaning of "to destroy." + +Nun-urra.--Êa, as the god of potters. + +Pap-sukal.--A name of Nin-šah as the "divine messenger," who is also +described as god "of decisions." Nin-šah would seem to have been one +of the names of Pap-sukal rather than the reverse. + +Qarradu, "strong," "mighty," "brave."--This word, which was formerly +translated "warrior," is applied to several deities, among them being +Bêl, Nergal, Nirig (Ênu-rêštu), and Šamaš, the sun-god. + +Ragimu and Ramimu, names of Rimmon or Hadad as "the thunderer." The +second comes from the same root as Rammanu (Rimmon). + +Šuqamunu.--A deity regarded as "lord of watercourses," probably the +artificial channels dug for the irrigation of fields. + +Ura-gala, a name of Nerigal. + +Uraš, a name of Nirig, under which he was worshipped at Dailem, near +Babylon. + +Zagaga, dialectic Zamama.--This deity, who was a god of war, was +identified with Nirig. One of this titles was /bêl parakki/, "lord of +the royal chamber," or "throne-room." + +Zaraqu or Zariqu.--As the root of this name means "to sprinkle," he +was probably also a god of irrigation, and may have presided over +ceremonial purification. He is mentioned in names as the "giver of +seed" and "giver of a name" (i.e. offspring). + +These are only a small proportion of the names found in the +inscriptions, but short as the list necessarily is, the nature, if not +the full composition, of the Babylonian pantheon will easily be +estimated therefrom. + +It will be seen that besides the identifications of the deities of all +the local pantheons with each other, each divinity had almost as many +names as attributes and titles, hence their exceeding multiplicity. In +such an extensive pantheon, many of the gods composing it necessarily +overlap, and identification of each other, to which the faith, in its +primitive form, was a stranger, were inevitable. The tendency to +monotheism which this caused will be referred to later on. + + + The gods and the heavenly bodies. + +It has already been pointed out that, from the evidence of the +Babylonian syllabary, the deities of the Babylonians were not astral +in their origin, the only gods certainly originating in heavenly +bodies being the sun and the moon. This leads to the supposition that +the Babylonians, bearing these two deities in mind, may have asked +themselves why, if these two were represented by heavenly bodies, the +others should not be so represented also. Be this as it may, the other +deities of the pantheon were so represented, and the full planetary +scheme, as given by a bilingual list in the British Museum, was as +follows: + +Aku Sin the moon Sin +Bišebi Šamaš the sun Šamaš +Dapinu Umun-sig-êa Jupiter Merodach +Zib[*] Dele-bat Venus Ištar +Lu-lim Lu-bat-sag-uš Saturn Nirig (acc. to Jensen) +Bibbu Lubat-gud Mercury Nebo +Simutu Muštabarru Mars Nergal + mûtanu + +All the above names of planets have the prefix of divinity, but in +other inscriptions the determinative prefix is that for "star," +/kakkabu/. + +[*] This is apparently a Sumerian dialectic form, the original word +having seemingly been Zig. + + + Moon and Sun. + +Unfortunately, all the above identifications of the planets with the +deities in the fourth column are not certain, namely, those +corresponding with Saturn, Mercury, and Mars. With regard to the +others, however, there is no doubt whatever. The reason why the moon +is placed before the sun is that the sun, as already explained, was +regarded as his son. It was noteworthy also that the moon was +accredited with two other offspring, namely, Mâšu and Mâštu--son and +daughter respectively. As /mâšu/ means "twin," these names must +symbolise the two halves, or, as we say, "quarters" of the moon, who +were thus regarded, in Babylonian mythology, as his "twin children." + + + Jupiter and Saturn. + +Concerning Jupiter, who is in the above called Dapinu (Semitic), and +Umun-sig-êa (Sumerian), it has already been noted that he was called +Nibiru--according to Jensen, Merodach as he who went about among the +stars "pasturing" them like sheep, as stated in the Babylonian story +of the Creation (or Bel and the Dragon). This is explained by him as +being due to the comparatively rapid and extensive path of Jupiter on +the ecliptic, and it would seem probable that the names of Saturn, +/Kâawanu/ and /Sag-uš/ (the former, which is Semitic Babylonian, +meaning "steadfast," or something similar, and the latter, in +Sumerian, "head-firm" or "steadfast"--"phlegmatic"), to all appearance +indicate in like manner the deliberation of his movements compared +with those of the planet dedicated to the king of the gods. + + + Venus at sunrise and sunset. + +A fragment of a tablet published in 1870 gives some interesting +particulars concerning the planet Venus, probably explaining some as +yet unknown mythological story concerning her. According to this, she +was a female at sunset, and a male at sunrise; Ištar of Agadé (Akad or +Akkad) at sunrise, and Ištar of Erech at sunset: Ištar of the stars at +sunrise, and the lady of the gods at sunset. + + + And in the various months. + +Ištar was identified with Nin-si-anna in the first month of the year +(Nisan = March-April), with the star of the bow in Ab (August- +September), etc. In Sebat (January-February) she was the star of the +water-channel, Ikû, which was Merodach's star in Sivan (May-June), and +in Marcheswan her star was Rabbu, which also belonged to Merodach in +the same month. It will thus be seen, that Babylonian astronomy is far +from being as clear as would be desired, but doubtless many +difficulties will disappear when further inscriptions are available. + + + Stars identified with Merodach. + +The same fragment gives the celestial names of Merodach for every +month of the year, from which it would appear, that the astrologers +called him Umun-sig-êa in Nisan (March-April), Dapinu in Tammuz (June- +July), Nibiru in Tisri (September-October), Šarru (the star Regulus), +in Tebet (December-January), etc. The first three are names by which +the planet Jupiter was known. + +As for the planets and stars, so also for the constellations, which +are identified with many gods and divine beings, and probably contain +references, in their names and descriptions, to many legends. In the +sixth tablet of the Creation-series, it is related of Merodach that, +after creating the heavens and the stations for Anu, Bêl, and Ae, + + "He built firmly the stations of the great gods-- + Stars their likeness--he set up the /Lumali/, + He designated the year, he outlined the (heavenly) forms. + He set for the twelve months three stars each, + From the day when the year begins, . . . for signs." + +As pointed out by Mr. Robert Brown, jr., who has made a study of these +things, the "three stars" for each month occur on one of the remains +of planispheres in the British Museum, and are completed by a tablet +which gives them in list-form, in one case with explanations. Until +these are properly identified, however, it will be impossible to +estimate their real value. The signs of the Zodiac, which are given by +another tablet, are of greater interest, as they are the originals of +those which are in use at the present time:-- + +Month Sign Equivalent + +Nisan (Mar.-Apr.) The Labourer The Ram +Iyyar (Apr.-May) /Mulmula/ and the Bull of heaven The Bull +Sivan (May-June) /Sib-zi-anna/ and the great Twins The Twins +Tammuz (June-July) /Allul/ or /Nagar/ The Crab +Ab (July.-Aug.) The Lion (or dog) The Lion +Elul (Aug.-Sep.) The Ear of corn(?) The ear of Corn (Virgo) +Tisri (Sep.-Oct.) The Scales The Scales +Marcheswan (Oct.-Nov.) The Scorpion The Scorpion +Chisleu (Nov.-Dec.) /Pa-bil-sag/ The Archer +Tebet (Dec.-Jan.) /Sahar-maš/, the Fish-kid The Goat +Sebat (Jan.-Feb.) /Gula/ The Water-bearer +Adar (Feb.-Mar.) The Water Channel and the Tails The Fishes + + + Parallels in Babylonian legends. + +The "bull of heaven" probably refers to some legend such as that of +the story of Gilgameš in his conflict with the goddess Ištar when the +divine bull was killed; /Sib-zi-anna/, "the faithful shepherd of +heaven," suggests that this constellation may refer to Tammuz, the +divine shepherd; whilst "the scorpion" reminds us of the scorpion-men +who guarded the gate of the sun (Šamaš), when Gilgameš was journeying +to gain information concerning his friend Enki-du, who had departed to +the place of the dead. Sir Henry Rawlinson many years ago pointed out +that the story of the Flood occupied the eleventh tablet of the +Gilgameš series, corresponding with the eleventh sign of the Zodiac, +Aquarius, or the Water-bearer. + + + Other star-names. + +Other names of stars or constellations include "the weapon of +Merodach's hand," probably that with which he slew the dragon of +Chaos; "the Horse," which is described as "the god Zû," Rimmon's +storm-bird--Pegasus; "the Serpent," explained as Ereš-ki-gal, the +queen of Hades, who would therefore seem to have been conceived in +that form; "the Scorpion," which is given as /Išhara tântim/, "Išhara +of the sea," a description difficult to explain, unless it refer to +her as the goddess of the Phœnician coast. Many other identifications, +exceedingly interesting, await solution. + + + How the gods were represented. On cylinder-seals. + +Many representations of the gods occur, both on bas-reliefs, boundary- +stones, and cylindrical and ordinary seals. Unfortunately, their +identification generally presents more or less difficulty, on account +of the absence of indications of their identity. On a small cylinder- +seal in the possession of the Rev. Dr. W. Hayes Ward, Merodach is +shown striding along the serpentine body of Tiawath, who turns her +head to attack him, whilst the god threatens her with a pointed weapon +which he carries. Another, published by the same scholar, shows a +deity, whom he regards as being Merodach, driven in a chariot drawn by +a winged lion, upon whose shoulders stands a naked goddess, holding +thunderbolts in each hand, whom he describes as Zer-panîtum. Another +cylinder-seal shows the corn-deity, probably Nisaba, seated in +flounced robe and horned hat, with corn-stalks springing out from his +shoulders, and holding a twofold ear of corn in his hand, whilst an +attendant introduces, and another with a threefold ear of corn +follows, a man carrying a plough, apparently as an offering. On +another, a beautiful specimen from Assyria, Ištar is shown standing on +an Assyrian lion, which turns his head as if to caress her feet. As +goddess of war, she is armed with bow and arrows, and her star is +represented upon the crown of her tiara. + + + On boundary-stones, etc. + +On the boundary-stones of Babylonia and the royal monoliths of Assyria +the emblems of the gods are nearly always seen. Most prominent are +three horned tiaras, emblematic, probably, of Merodach, Anu, and Bêl +(the older). A column ending in a ram's head is used for Êa or Ae, a +crescent for Sin or Nannar, the moon-god; a disc with rays for Šamaš, +the sun-god; a thunderbolt for Rimmon or Hadad, the god of thunder, +lightning, wind, and storms; a lamp for Nusku, etc. A bird, perhaps a +hawk, stood for Utu-gišgallu, a deity whose name has been translated +"the southern sun," and is explained in the bilingual inscriptions as +Šamaš, the sun-god, and Nirig, one of the gods of war. The emblem of +Gal-alim, who is identified with the older Bêl, is a snarling dragon's +head forming the termination of a pole, and that of Dun-ašaga is a +bird's head similarly posed. On a boundary-stone of the time of +Nebuchadnezzar I., about 1120 B.C., one of the signs of the gods shows +a horse's head in a kind of shrine, probably the emblem of Rimmon's +storm-bird, Zû, the Babylonian Pegasus. + + + Other divine figures. + +One of the finest of all the representations of divinities is that of +the "Sun-god-stone," found by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam at Abu-habbah (the +ancient Sippar), which was one of the chief seats of his worship. It +represents him, seated in his shrine, holding in his hand a staff and +a ring, his usual emblems, typifying his position as judge of the +world and his endless course. The position of Merodach as sun-god is +confirmed by the small lapis-lazuli relief found by the German +expedition at the mound known as Amran ibn 'Ali, as he also carries a +staff and a ring, and his robe is covered with ornamental circles, +showing, in all probability, his solar nature. In the same place +another small relief representing Rimmon or Hadad was found. His robe +has discs emblematical of the five planets, and he holds in each hand +a thunderbolt, one of which he is about to launch forth. Merodach is +accompanied by a large two-horned dragon, whilst Hadad has a small +winged dragon, typifying the swiftness of his course, and another +animal, both of which he holds with cords. + + + + CHAPTER V + + THE DEMONS: EXORCISMS AND CEREMONIES + +Good and evil spirits, gods and demons, were fully believed in by the +Babylonians and Assyrians, and many texts referring to them exist. +Naturally it is not in some cases easy to distinguish well between the +special functions of these supernatural appearances which they +supposed to exist, but their nature is, in most cases, easily +ascertained from the inscriptions. + +To all appearance, the Babylonians imagined that spirits resided +everywhere, and lay in wait to attack mankind, and to each class, +apparently, a special province in bringing misfortune, or tormenting, +or causing pain and sickness, was assigned. All the spirits, however, +were not evil, even those whose names would suggest that their +character was such--there were good "liers in wait," for instance, as +well as evil ones, whose attitude towards mankind was beneficent. + +The /utukku/. This was a spirit which was supposed to do the will of +Anu, the god of the heavens. There was the /utukku/ of the plain, the +mountains, the sea, and the grave. + +The /âlû/. Regarded as the demon of the storm, and possibly, in its +origin, the same as the divine bull sent by Ištar to attack Gilgameš, +and killed by Enki-du. It spread itself over a man, overpowering him +upon his bed, and attacking his breast. + +The /êdimmu/. This is generally, but wrongly, read /êkimmu/, and +translated "the seizer," from /êkemu/, "to seize." In reality, +however, it was an ordinary spirit, and the word is used for the +wraiths of the departed. The "evil /êdimmu/" was apparently regarded +as attacking the middle part of a man. + +The /gallu/. As this word is borrowed from the Sumerian /galla/, which +has a dialectic form, /mulla/, it is not improbable that it may be +connected with the word /mula/, meaning "star," and suggesting +something which is visible by the light it gives--possibly a will-o'- +the-wisp,--though others are inclined to regard the word as being +connected with /gala/, "great." In any case, its meaning seems to have +become very similar to "evil spirit" or "devil" in general, and is an +epithet applied by the Assyrian king Aššur-bani-âpli to Te-umman, the +Elamite king against whom he fought. + +The /îlu limnu/, "evil god," was probably originally one of the +deities of Tiawath's brood, upon whom Merodach's redemption had had no +effect. + +The /rabisu/ is regarded as a spirit which lay in wait to pounce upon +his prey. + +The /labartu/, in Sumerian /dimme/, was a female demon. There were +seven evil spirits of this kind, who were apparently regarded as being +daughters of Anu, the god of the heavens. + +The /labasu/, in Sumerian /dimmea/, was apparently a spirit which +overthrew, that being the meaning of the root from which the word +comes. + +The /âhhazu/, in Sumerian /dimme-kur/, was apparently so called as +"the seizer," that being the meaning indicated by the root. + +The /lilu/, in Sumerian /lila/, is generally regarded as "the night- +monster," the word being referred to the Semitic root /lîl/ or /layl/, +whence the Hebrew /layil/, Arabic /layl/, "night." Its origin, +however, is Sumerian, from /lila/, regarded as meaning "mist." To the +word /lilu/ the ancient Babylonians formed a feminine, /lilîthu/, +which entered the Hebrew language under the form of /lilith/, which +was, according to the rabbins, a beautiful woman, who lay in wait for +children by night. The /lilu/ had a companion who is called his +handmaid or servant. + +The /namtaru/ was apparently the spirit of fate, and therefore of +greater importance than those already mentioned. This being was +regarded as the beloved son of Bêl, and offspring of /Ereš-ki-gal/ or +Persephone, and he had a spouse named /Huš-bi-šaga/. Apparently he +executed the instructions given him concerning the fate of men, and +could also have power over certain of the gods. + +The /šêdu/ were apparently deities in the form of bulls. They were +destructive, of enormous power, and unsparing. In a good sense the +/šêdu/ was a protecting deity, guarding against hostile attacks. Erech +and the temple Ê-kura were protected by spirits such as these, and to +one of them Išum, "the glorious sacrificer," was likened. + +The /lamassu/, from the Sumerian /lama/, was similar in character to +the /šêdu/, but is thought to have been of the nature of a colossus--a +winged man-headed bull or lion. It is these creatures which the kings +placed at the sides of the doors of their palaces, to protect the +king's footsteps. In early Babylonian times a god named Lama was one +of the most popular deities of the Babylonian pantheon. + + + A specimen incantation. + +Numerous inscriptions, which may be regarded as dating, in their +origin, from about the middle of the third millennium before Christ, +speak of these supernatural beings, and also of others similar. One of +the most perfect of these inscriptions is a large bilingual tablet of +which a duplicate written during the period of the dynasty of +Hammurabi (before 2000 B.C.) exists, and which was afterwards provided +with a Semitic Babylonian translation. This inscription refers to the +evil god, the evil /utukku/, the /utukku/ of the plain, of the +mountain, of the sea, and of the grave; the evil /šêdu/, the glorious +/âlû/, or divine bull, and the evil unsparing wind. There was also +that which takes the form of a man, the evil face, the evil eye, the +evil mouth, the evil tongue, the evil lip, the evil breath; also the +afflicting /asakku/ (regarded as the demon of fever), the /asakku/ +which does not leave a man: the afflicting /namtaru/ (fate), the +severe /namtaru/, the /namtaru/ which does not quit a man. After this +are mentioned various diseases, bodily pains, annoyances, such as "the +old shoe, the broken shoe-lace, the food which afflicts the body of a +man, the food which turns in eating, the water which chokes in +drinking," etc. Other things to be exorcised included the spirit of +death, people who had died of hunger, thirst, or in other ways; the +handmaid of the /lilu/ who had no husband, the prince of the /lilu/ +who had no wife, whether his name had been recorded or unrecorded. + +The method of exorcising the demons causing all these things is +curious. White and black yarn was spun, and fastened to the side and +canopy of the afflicted person's bed--the white to the side and the +top or canopy, the black to the left hand--and then, apparently, the +following words were said:-- + +"Evil /utukku/, evil /âlû/, evil /êdimmu/, evil /gallu/, evil god, +evil /rabisu/, /labartu/, /labasu/, /âhhazu/, /lilu/, /lilithu/, +handmaid of /lilu/, sorcery, enchantment, magic, disaster, machination +which is not good--may they not set their head to his head, their hand +to his hand, their foot to his foot--may they not draw near. Spirit of +heaven, mayest thou exorcise, spirit of earth, mayest thou exorcise." + +But this was only the beginning of the real ceremony. The god Asari- +alim-nunna (Merodach), "eldest son of Êridu," was asked to wash him in +pure and bright water twice seven times, and then would the evil lier- +in-wait depart, and stand aside, and a propitious /šêdu/ and a +propitious /labartu/ reside in his body. The gates right and left +having been thus, so to say, shut close, the evil gods, demons, and +spirits would be unable to approach him, wherever he might be. "Spirit +of heaven, exorcise, spirit of earth, exorcise." Then, after an +invocation of Êrêš-ki-gal and Išum, the final paragraph was +pronounced:-- + + "The afflicted man, by an offering of grace + In health like shining bronze shall be made bright. + As for that man, + Šamaš shall give him life. + Merodach, first-born son of the Abyss, + It is thine to purify and glorify. + Spirit of heaven, mayest thou exorcise, spirit of + earth, mayest thou exorcise." + + + Rites and ceremonies. + +As may be expected, the Babylonians and Assyrians had numerous rites +and ceremonies, the due carrying out of which was necessary for the +attainment of the grace demanded, or for the efficacy of the thanks +tendered for favours received. + +Perhaps the oldest ceremony recorded is that which Ut-napištim, the +Chaldæan Noah, made on the /zikkurat/ or peak of the mountain after +the coming forth from the ship which had saved him and his from the +Flood. The Patriarch's description of this ceremony is short:-- + + "I sent forth to the four winds, I poured out a libation + I made an offering on the peak of the mountain: + Seven and seven I set incense-vases there, + Into their depths I poured cane, cedar, and scented wood(?). + The gods smelled a savour, + The gods smelled a sweet savour, + The gods gathered like flies over the sacrificer." + +Following in the footsteps of their great progenitor, the Babylonians +and Assyrians became a most pious race, constantly rendering to their +gods the glory for everything which they succeeded in bringing to a +successful issue. Prayer, supplication, and self-abasement before +their gods seem to have been with them a duty and a pleasure:-- + + "The time for the worship of the gods was my heart's delight, + The time of the offering to Ištar was profit and riches," + +sings Ludlul the sage, and all the people of his land were one with +him in that opinion. + +It is noteworthy that the offering of the Chaldæan Noah consisted of +vegetable produce only, and there are many inscriptions referring to +similar bloodless sacrifices, and detailing the ritual used in +connection therewith. Sacrifices of animals, however, seem to have +been constantly made--in any case, offerings of cattle and fowl, in +list-form, are fairly numerous. Many a cylinder-seal has a +representation of the owner bringing a young animal--a kid or a lamb-- +as an offering to the deity whom he worshipped, and in the +inscriptions the sacrifice of animals is frequently referred to. One +of the bilingual texts refers to the offering of a kid or some other +young animal, apparently on behalf of a sick man. The text of this, +where complete, runs as follows:-- + + "The fatling which is the 'head-raiser' of mankind-- + He has given the fatling for his life. + He has given the head of the fatling for his head, + He has given the neck of the fatling for his neck, + He has given the breast of the fatling for his breast." + +Whether human sacrifices were common or not is a doubtful point. Many +cylinder-seals exist in which the slaying of a man is depicted, and +the French Assyriologist Menant was of opinion that they represented a +human offering to the gods. Hayes Ward, however, is inclined to doubt +this explanation, and more evidence would seem, therefore, to be +needed. He is inclined to think that, in the majority of cases, the +designs referred to show merely the victims of divine anger or +vengeance, punished by the deity for some misdeed or sin, either +knowingly or unknowingly committed. + +In the Assyrian galleries of the British Museum, Aššur-nasir-âpli, +king of Assyria, is several times shown engaged in religious +ceremonies--either worshipping before the sacred tree, or about to +pour out, apparently, a libation to the gods before departing upon +some expedition, and priests bringing offerings, either animal or +vegetable, are also represented. Aššur-banî-âpli, who is identified +with "the great and noble Asnapper," is shown, in bas-reliefs of the +Assyrian Saloon, pouring out a thank-offering over the lions which he +has killed, after his return from the hunt. + + + + CHAPTER VI + + PROBLEMS WHICH THE STUDY OFFERS + + + Monotheism. + +As the matter of Babylonian monotheism has been publicly touched upon +by Fried. Delitzsch in his "Babel und Bibel" lectures, a few words +upon that important point will be regarded in all probability as +appropriate. It has already been indicated that the giving of the +names of "the gods his fathers" to Merodach practically identified +them with him, thus leading to a tendency to monotheism. That tendency +is, perhaps, hinted at in a letter of Aššur-banî-âpli to the +Babylonians, in which he frequently mentions the Deity, but in doing +so, uses either the word /îlu/, "God," Merodach, the god of Babylon, +or Bêl, which may be regarded as one of his names. The most important +document for this monotheistic tendency, however (confirming as it +does the tablet of the fifty-one names), is that in which at least +thirteen of the Babylonian deities are identified with Merodach, and +that in such a way as to make them merely forms in which he manifested +himself to men. The text of this inscription is as follows:-- + + ". . . is Merodach of planting. + Lugal-aki-. . . is Merodach of the water-course. + Nirig is Merodach of strength. + Nergal is Merodach of war. + Zagaga is Merodach of battle. + Bêl is Merodach of lordship and domination. + Nebo is Merodach of trading(?). + Sin is Merodach the illuminator of the night. + Šamaš is Merodach of righteous things. + Addu is Merodach of rain. + Tišpak is Merodach of frost(?). + Sig is Merodach of green things(?). + Šuqamunu is Merodach of the irrigation-channel." + +Here the text breaks off, but must have contained several more similar +identifications, showing how at least the more thoughtful of the +Babylonians of old looked upon the host of gods whom they worshipped. +What may be the date of this document is uncertain, but as the +colophon seems to describe it as a copy of an older inscription, it +may go back as far as 2000 years B.C. This is the period at which the +name /Yaum-îlu/ "Jah is God," is found, together with numerous +references to /îlu/ as the name for the one great god, and is also, +roughly, the date of Abraham, who, it may be noted, was a Babylonian +of Ur of the Chaldees. It will probably not be thought too venturesome +to say that his monotheism was possibly the result of the religious +trend of thought in his time. + + + Dualism. + +Damascius, in his valuable account of the belief of the Babylonians +concerning the Creation, states that, like the other barbarians, they +reject the doctrine of the one origin of the universe, and constitute +two, Tauthé (Tiawath) and Apason (Apsu). This twofold principle, +however, is only applicable to the system in that it makes of the sea +and the deep (for such are the meanings of the two words) two +personages--the female and the male personifications of primæval +matter, from which all creation sprang, and which gave birth to the +gods of heaven themselves. As far as the physical constituents of +these two principals are concerned, their tenets might be described as +having "materialistic monism" as their basis, but inasmuch as they +believed that each of these two principals had a mind, the description +"idealistic monism" cannot be applied to it--it is distinctly a +dualism. + + + And Monism. + +Divested of its idealistic side, however, there would seem to be no +escape from regarding the Babylonian idea of the origin of things as +monistic.[*] This idea has its reflection, though not its +reproduction, in the first chapter of Genesis, in which, verses 2, 6, +and 7, water is represented as the first thing existing, though not +the first abode of life. This divergency from the Babylonian view was +inevitable with a monotheistic nation, such as the Jews were, +regarding as they did the Deity as the great source of everything +existing. What effect the moving of the Spirit of God upon the face of +the waters (v.2) was supposed by them to have had, is uncertain, but +it is to be noted that it was the land (vv. 11, 12) which first +brought forth, at the command of God. + +[*] Monism. The doctrine which holds that in the universe there is + only a single element or principle from which everything is + developed, this single principle being either mind (/idealistic + monism/) or matter (/materialistic monism/). (Annandale.) + + + The future life. + +The belief in a future life is the natural outcome of a religious +belief such as the Babylonians, Assyrians, and many of the surrounding +nations possessed. As has been shown, a portion of their creed +consisted in hero-worship, which pre-supposes that the heroes in +question continued to exist, in a state of still greater power and +glory, after the conclusion of their life here upon earth. + +"The god Bêl hates me--I cannot dwell in this land, and in the +territory of Bêl I cannot set my face. I shall descend then to the +Abyss; with Aa my lord shall I constantly dwell." It is with these +words that, by the counsel of the god Aa, Ut-napištim explained to +those who questioned him the reason why he was building the ship or +ark which was to save him and his from the Flood, and there is but +little doubt that the author of the story implied that he announced +thereby his approaching death, or his departure to dwell with his god +without passing the dread portals of the great leveller. This belief +in the life beyond the grave seems to have been that which was current +during the final centuries of the third millennium before Christ--when +a man died, it was said that his god took him to himself, and we may +therefore suppose, that there were as many heavens--places of +contentment and bliss--as there were gods, and that every good man was +regarded as going and dwelling evermore with the deity which he had +worshipped and served faithfully during his lifetime. + +Gilgameš, the half-divine king of Erech, who reigned during the half- +mythical period, on losing his friend and counsellor, Enki-du, set out +to find him, and to bring him back, if possible, from the underworld +where he was supposed to dwell. His death, however, had not been like +that of an ordinary man; it was not Namtaru, the spirit of fate, who +had taken him, nor a misfortune such as befalls ordinary men, but +Nerigal's unsparing lier-in-wait--yet though Nerigal was the god of +war, Enki-du had not fallen on the battlefield of men, but had been +seized by the earth (apparently the underworld where the wicked are is +meant) in consequence, seemingly, of some trick or trap which had been +laid for him. + +The gods were therefore prayed, in turn, to bring him back, but none +of them listened except Êa, who begged him of Nerigal, whereupon the +latter opened the entrance to the place where he was--the hole of the +earth--and brought forth "the spirit (/utukku/) of Enki-du like mist." +Immediately after this come the words, "Tell, my friend, tell, my +friend--the law of the land which thou sawest, tell," and the answer, +"I will not tell thee, friend, I will not tell thee--if I tell thee +the law of the land which I saw, . . . sit down, weep." Ultimately, +however, the person appealed to--apparently the disembodied Enki-du-- +reveals something concerning the condition of the souls in the place +of his sojourn after death, as follows:-- + + "Whom thou sawest [die] the death(?) [of][*] . . . [I see]-- + In the resting-place of . . . reposing, pure waters he drinketh. + Whom in the battle thou sawest killed, I see-- + His father and his mother raise his head, + And his wife upon [him leaneth?]. + Whose corpse thou hast seen thrown down in the plain, I see-- + His /edimmu/ in the earth reposeth not. + Whose /edimmu/ thou sawest without a caretaker, I see-- + The leavings of the dish, the remains of the food, + Which in the street is thrown, he eateth." + +[*] (?)"The death of the righteous," or something similar? + +It is naturally difficult to decide in a passage like this, the +difference existing between a man's /utukku/ and his /edimmu/, but the +probability is, that the former means his spiritual essence, whilst +the latter stands for the ghostly shadow of his body, resembling in +meaning the /ka/ of the Egyptians. To all appearance the abode +described above is not the place of the punishment of the wicked, but +the dwelling of those accounted good, who, if lucky in the manner of +their death, and the disposal of their bodies, enjoyed the highest +happiness in the habitation of the blest. The other place, however, is +otherwise described (it occurs in the account of Ištar's descent into +Hades, and in the seventh tablet of the Gilgameš series--the latter +differing somewhat):-- + + "Upon the land of No-return, the region of . . ., + [Set] Istar, daughter of Sin, her ear. + The daughter of Sin set then her ear . . . + Upon the house of gloom, the seat of Irkalla--[*] + Upon the house whose entrance hath no exit,[†] + Upon the path whose way hath no return, + Upon the house whose enterers are deprived of light, + Where dust is their nourishment, their food mud, + Light they see not, in darkness they dwell, + Clothed also, like a bird, in a dress of feathers. + Upon the door and bolt the dust hath blown." + +[*] One of the names of Nergal. + +[†] Or "whose enterer goeth not forth." + +Seven gates gave access to this place of gloom, and the porter, as he +let the visitor in, took from her (the goddess Ištar in the narrative) +at each an article of clothing, until, at the last, she entered quite +naked, apparently typifying the fact that a man can take nothing with +him when he dieth, and also, in this case, that he has not even his +good deeds wherewith to clothe himself, for had they outweighed his +evil ones, he would not have found himself in that dread abode. + +On the arrival of Ištar in Hades, Erêš-ki-gal commanded Namtaru, the +god of fate, to smite Ištar with disease in all her members--eyes, +sides, feet, heart, and head. As things went wrong on the earth in +consequence of the absence of the goddess of love, the gods sent a +messenger to effect her release. When he reached the land of No- +return, the queen of the region threatened him with all kinds of +torments--the food of the gutters of the city were to be his food, the +oil-jars of the city (naptha?) his drink, the gloom of the castle his +resting-place, a stone slab his seat, and hunger and thirst were to +shatter his strength. These were evidently the punishments inflicted +there, but as the messenger threatened was a divine one, they were +probably not put into execution, and he obtained his demand, for Ištar +was set free, receiving back at each gate, in reverse order, the +clothing and ornaments which had been taken from her when she had +descended thither. It is uncertain whether Tammuz, for whom she had +gone down, was set free also, but as he is referred to, it is not +improbable that this was the case. + + + + WORKS BEARING UPON THE RELIGION OF THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS + +Hibbert Lectures, 1887. The Religion of the Ancient Babylonians, by +Professor A. H. Sayce. + +The Religious Ideas of the Babylonians, by the Author, 1895 (Journal +of the Victoria Institute, also separately). + +The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, by Morris Jastrow, jun., 1898. +(German edition, vol. i. 1905, vol. ii. in progress.) + +Babylonian Religion and Mythology, by L. W. King, M.A., 1899. + +Gifford Lectures, 1902. Religions of Egypt and Babylonia, by Professor +A. H. Sayce. + +The O.T. in the Light of the Records of Assyria and Babylonia, by the +Author, 1903. (The portions referring to Babylonian Mythology.) + +The Hymns to Tammuz in the Manchester Museum, Owens College, by the +Author, 1904. + + + + ARTICLES UPON THE ASSYRIAN AND BABYLONIAN DEITIES, + AND THE RELIGION OF THREE NATIONS, IN + + Dictionary of the Bible, edited by Dr. James Hastings, and + Encyclopædia Biblica, edited by Professor Cheyne. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria + diff --git a/old/8rbaa10.zip b/old/8rbaa10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3484688 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8rbaa10.zip |