[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 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 orNannara was Nin-Uruwa, "the lady of Ur." Sargon of Assyria (722-705B.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 inlater times, especially among immigrants from the West. As "the son ofHadad," he was the equivalent of the Syrian Ben-Hadad. A tablet in NewYork 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 thePhœnician Baal, to the chief god of any city, as Bêl of Niffur, Bêl ofHursag-kalama, Bêl of Aratta, Bêl of Babylon, etc. This oftenindicates 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 andAssyrians. 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, nearBabylon.
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 SinBišebi Šamaš the sun ŠamašDapinu Umun-sig-êa Jupiter MerodachZib[*] Dele-bat Venus IštarLu-lim Lu-bat-sag-uš Saturn Nirig (acc. to Jensen)Bibbu Lubat-gud Mercury NeboSimutu Muštabarru Mars Nergalmûtanu
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 RamIyyar (Apr.-May) /Mulmula/ and the Bull of heaven The BullSivan (May-June) /Sib-zi-anna/ and the great Twins The TwinsTammuz (June-July) /Allul/ or /Nagar/ The CrabAb (July.-Aug.) The Lion (or dog) The LionElul (Aug.-Sep.) The Ear of corn(?) The ear of Corn (Virgo)Tisri (Sep.-Oct.) The Scales The ScalesMarcheswan (Oct.-Nov.) The Scorpion The ScorpionChisleu (Nov.-Dec.) /Pa-bil-sag/ The ArcherTebet (Dec.-Jan.) /Sahar-maš/, the Fish-kid The GoatSebat (Jan.-Feb.) /Gula/ The Water-bearerAdar (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.
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 graceIn 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 ofearth, 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, theChaldæan Noah, made on the /zikkurat/ or peak of the mountain afterthe coming forth from the ship which had saved him and his from theFlood. The Patriarch's description of this ceremony is short:—
"I sent forth to the four winds, I poured out a libationI 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:—