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THE HIBBERT LECTURES,
1887.

THE HIBBERT LECTURES, 1887.

LECTURES

ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF RELIGION

AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE RELIGION OP THE

ANCIENT BABYLONIANS.

BY

A. H. SATCE,

FELLOW AND LATE SENIOR TUTOR OF QUEEN'S COLL., AND DEPUTY-PROFESSOR OF
COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY, OXFORD; HON. LL.D. DUBLIN.

SECOND EDITION.

WILLIAMS AND NOEGATE,
14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON;
And 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH.

1888.
[AU Eights reserved.]

LONDON I
PRINTED BT 0. 0R1EN AND SON,
178, STRAND.

PREFACE.

A word of apology is needed for the numerous repetitions
in the following chapters, which are due to the fact that the
chapters were written and delivered in the form of Lectures.
I cannot guarantee the exactness of every word in the trans
lations of the cuneiform texts given in them. The meaning of
individual words may at times be more precisely defined by the
discovery of fuller materials, even where it has been supposed
that their signification has been fixed with certainty. The same
fate has befallen the interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures,
and ia still more likely to befall a progressive study like
Assyrian. How rapidly progressive the latter is, may be gathered from
the number of contributions to our knowledge of Babylonian
religion made since the following Lectures were in the hands of
the printer. Prof. Tiele, in a Paper entitled, "De. Beteekenis
van Ea en zijn Verhouding tot Maruduk en Nabu," has tried to
show that Ea was originally connected with the fire ; Mr. Pinches
has published a late Babylonian text in the Babylonian Record,
from which it appears that the esrd, or " tithe," was paid to the
temple of the Sun-god not only by individuals, but also by
towns; and Dr. Jensen, in the Zeitschrift fiir Assyriologie (ii. 1),
has made it probable that the azfcaru of the hymn translated on
pp. 68, 69, was the feast of the new moon.

VI PREFACE.
Certain abbreviations are used in the following pages. W.A.I.
means the five volumes of The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western
Asia, published by the Trustees of the British Museum ; D. P.
denotes "determinative prefix;" and the letters D.T., B., M.,
S. and K, refer to tablets marked accordingly in the British
Museum. "Unnumbered" texts mean tablets which had not
been catalogued at the time when I copied them. Words
written in capitals denote ideographs whose true pronunciation
is unknown.
A. H. SAYCE.
Queen's Coll., Oxford,
June 4th, 1887.

CONTENTS.

Lecture I.
INTRODUCTORY.
PAGE
Difficulties of the subject— Character and age of the materials— Modifi
cation of earlier views — Rise of Semitic culture in the court of Sargon
of Accad, B.C. 3700 — His conquest of Cyprus — Intercourse with
Egypt — Earlier culture of pre-Semitic Chaldsea — Connection between
Babylonian and Hebrew religion — Two periods of Babylonian influ
ence upon the Jews — Origin of the names of Moses, Joseph, Saul,
David and Solomon — Resemblances between the Babylonian and
Jewish priesthood and ritual — Babylonian temples and sabbaths —
Human sacrifice — Unclean meats  1
Lecture II.
BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON.
Cyrus a worshipper of Bel-Merodach — View of the priesthood about
his conquest — Merodach the supreme Bel or Baal of Babylon — Com
parison between him and Yahveh — Babylonian religion characterised
by localisation — Temple of Bel — Doctrine of the resurrection —
Merodach originally the Sun-god of Eridu — Nebo the divine prophet
of Borsippa — Assur of Assyria — His origin — His resemblance to
Yahveh of Israel ... ...   85
Lecture III.
THE GODS OF BABYLONIA.
General character of Babylonian religion — Ea the Culture-god — The
pre-Semitic monuments of Tel-loh (B.C. 4000) — Early trade with
India — Ea as god of the sea — The pre-Semitic deities creators, the
Semitic deities fathers — Two centres of Babylonian culture, Eridu
on the coast and Nipur in the north — Mul-lil, "the lord of the
ghost- world," the god of Nipur — Mul-lil the older Bel, confused with
Merodach the younger Bel — Other gods: Adar, the Moon-god, the
Sun-god, &c. — The Moon-god of Harran — The goddesses of Semitic
Babylonia mere reflections of the male deities — Anu, Nergal, and the
Air-god — Rimmon and Hadad — Doctrine of the origin of evil — The
seven wicked spirits ... ... ... ...  130

vm

CONTENTS.

Lecture IV.
TAMMUZ AND ISTAR; PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. PAGE
The descent of Istar into Hades — Tammuz-Adonis the slain Sun-god —
Originally of pre-Semitic Eridu — The world-tree — The tree of life
and the tree of knowledge — The amours of Istar — Istar, primitively
the goddess of the earth, identified with the evening-star — In the
west, as Ashtoreth, identified with the moon — Of pre-Semitic origin
— The orgies of Istar-worship — The purer side of her worship — Istar
the Artemis and Aphrodite of the Greeks — Answers of the oracle of
Istar to Esar-haddon — The dream of Assur-bani-pal — The Semitic
gods of human form, the pre-Semitic of animal form — Early Chaldsean
totems — The serpent — The Babylonian Prometheus and his trans
formation into a bird — " The voice of the Lord" — The power of the
name — Excommunication: the Chaldsean fate — The Plague-god —
The angel of destruction seen by David  221
Lecture V.
THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALD^EA.
The Chaldsean Rig- Veda — The magical texts — The penitential psalms —
The hymns to the Sun-god of Sippara — Relative ages of the collec
tions — The service-books of the temples — Accadian the sacred lan
guage of the Semitic Babylonian priesthood — Shamanism — Gradual
evolution of the gods — Creation of the state-religion and the hierarchy
of the gods — Degradation of the spirits of the earlier faith — Con
sciousness of sin — Views of the future state — The mountain of the
world — Hades and heaven  315

Lecture VI.
COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGY.
Babylonian cosmological systems — Tianiat, the dragon of the deep,
personifies chaos and is slain by Merodach — The creation in days —
Anticipations of Darwin — Sabaism and Babylonian astronomy — The
priest becomes an astrologer — Late date of the system — Worship of
rivers and mountains — Babylonian Beth-els and the pillars of the
sun  367
Appendix I.  
II. Mr. G. Smith's Account of the Temple
III. The Magical Texts 
IV. Hymns to the Gods 
V. The Penitential Psalms ...
VI. Litanies to the Gods 
Index of Words 
Index 

, . . OU 1
... 413

of Bel..

... 437

... 441

... 479

... 521
... 532
... 541
... ,.
... 545
THE
RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT BABYLONIANS.

Lecture I.
INTEODUCTOEY.

It was with considerable diffidence that I accepted the
invitation of the Hibbert Trustees to give a course of
Lectures on the Eeligion of the Ancient Babylonians.
The subject itself is new; the materials for treating it
are still scanty and defective; and the workers in the
field have been few. The religion of the Babylonians
has, it is true, already attracted the attention of "the
Father of Assyriology," Sir Henry Eawlinson, of the
brilliant and gifted Francois Lenormant, of the eminent
Dutch scholar Dr. Tiele, and of Dr. Fritz Hommel, one
of the ablest of the younger band of Assyrian students ;
but no attempt has yet been made to trace its origin and
history in a systematic manner. The attempt, indeed,
is full of difficulty. We have to build up a fabric out
of broken and half-deciphered texts, out of stray allu
sions and obscure references, out of monuments many
of which are late and still more are of uncertain age.
If, therefore, my account of Babylonian religion may
B

2 LECTURE I.
seem to you incomplete, if I am compelled at times to
break off in my story or to have recourse to conjecture,
I must crave your indulgence and ask you to remember
the difficulties of the task. To open up new ground is
never an easy matter, more especially when the field of
research is vast; and a new discovery may at any
moment overthrow the theories we have formed, or give
a new complexion to received facts.
I may as well confess at the outset that had I known
all the difficulties I was about to meet with, I should never
have had the courage to face them. It was not until I
was committed beyond the power of withdrawal that I
began fully to realise how great they were. Unlike
those who have addressed you before in this place, I
have had to work upon materials at once deficient and
fragmentary. Mine has not been the pleasant labour of
marshalling well-ascertained facts in order, or of select
ing and arranging masses of material, the very abundance
of which has alone caused embarrassment. On the con
trary, I have had to make most of my bricks without
straw. Here and there, indeed, parts of the subject have
been lighted up in a way that left little to be desired,
but elsewhere I have had to struggle on in thick dark
ness or at most in dim twilight. I have felt as in a
forest where the moon shone at times through open
spaces in the thick foliage, but served only to make the
surrounding gloom stiU more apparent, and where I
had to search in vain for a clue that would lead me from
one interval of light to another.
The sources of our information about the religion of
the ancient Babylonians and their kinsfolk the Assyrians
are almost wholly monumental. Beyond a few stray

INTRODUCTORY. 3
notices in the Old Testament, and certain statements
found in classical authors which are for the most part
the offspring of Greek imagination, our knowledge con
cerning it is derived from the long-buried records of
Nineveh and Babylon. It is from the sculptures that
lined the walls of the Assyrian palaces, from the inscrip
tions that ran across them, or from the clay tablets that
were stored within the libraries of the great cities, that
we must collect our materials and deduce our theories.
Tradition is mute, or almost so ; between the old Baby
lonian world and our own a deep gulf yawns, across
which we have to build a bridge by the help of texts
that explorers have disinterred and scholars have pain
fully deciphered. But the study of these texts is one
of no ordinary difficulty. They are written in characters
that were once pictorial, like the hieroglyphs of Egypt,
and were intended to express the sounds of a language
wholly different from that of the Semitic Babylonians
and Assyrians, from whom most of our inscriptions come.
The result of these two facts was two-fold. On the one
hand, every character had more than one value when
used phonetically to denote a syllable; on the other
hand, every character could be employed ideographically
to represent an object or idea. And just as simple ideas
could thus be represented by single characters, so com
pound ideas could be represented by a combination of
characters. In the language of the primitive inhabitants
of Babylonia, the world beyond the grave was known as
Arali, and was imaged as a dark subterranean region
where the spirits of the dead kept watch over hoards
of unnumbered gold. But the word Arali was not
written phonetically, nor was it denoted by a single
b2

4 LECTURE I.
ideograph; the old Chaldean chose rather to represent
it by three separate characters which would literally
mean "the house of the land of death."
When the Babylonians or Assyrians desired that what
they wrote should be read easily, they adopted devices
which enabled them to overcome the cumbersome obscur
ity of their system of writing. A historical inscription,
for example, may be read with little difficulty; it is
only our ignorance of the signification of particular
words which is likely to cause us trouble in deciphering
its meaning. But when we come to deal with a reli
gious text, the case is altogether different. Eeligion
has always loved to cloak itself in mystery, and a priest
hood is notoriously averse from revealing in plain lan
guage the secrets of which it believes itself the possessor.
To the exoteric world it speaks in parables ; the people
that knoweth not the law is accursed. The priesthood
of Babylonia formed no exception to the general rule.
As we shall see, it was a priesthood at once powerful
and highly organised, the parallel of which can hardly
be found in the ancient world. We need not wonder,
therefore, if a considerable portion of the sacred texts
which it has bequeathed to us were intentionally made
difficult of interpretation ; if the words of which .they
consisted were expressed by ideographs rather than writ-
ton phonetically; if characters were used with strange
and far-fetched values, and the true pronunciation of
divine names was carefully hidden from the uninitiated
multitude. But these are not all the difficulties that beset us
when we endeavour to penetrate into the meaning of the
religious texts. I have already said that the cuneiform

INTRODUCTORY. 5
system of writing was not the invention, but the heritage,
of the Semitic Babylonians and Assyrians. The Semites
of the historical period, those subjects of Sennacherib
and Nebuchadnezzar who were so closely allied in blood
and language to the Hebrews, were not the first occu
pants of the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates. They
had been preceded by a population which in default of
a better name I shall term Aceadian or Proto-Chaldean
throughout these Lectures, and which was in no wise
related to them. The Accadians spoke an agglutinative
language, a language, that is to say, which resembled in
its structure the languages of the modern Finns or
Turks, and their physiological features, so far as we can
trace them from the few monuments of the Aceadian
epoch that remain, differed very markedly from those of
the Semites. It was to the Accadians that the begin
nings of Chaldean culture and civilisation were due.
They were the teachers and masters of the Semites, not
only in the matter of writing and literature, but in other
elements of culture as well. This is a fact so startling,
so contrary to preconceived ideas, that it was long
refused credence by the leading Orientalists of Europe
who had not occupied themselves with cuneiform studies.
Even to-day there are scholars, and notably one who
has himself achieved success in Assyrian research, who
still refuse to believe that Babylonian civilisation was
originally the creation of a race which has long since
fallen into the rear rank of human progress. But un
less the fact is admitted, it is impossible to explain the
origin either of the cuneiform system of writing or of
that system of theology the outlines of which I have
undertaken to expound.

0 LECTUEE I.
Here, then, is one of the difficulties against which the
student of Babylonian religion has to contend. We
have to distinguish the Aceadian and the Semitic ele
ments which enter into it, as well as the mixture which
the meeting of these elements brought about. We have
to determine what texts are Aceadian, what are Semitic,
what, finally, are due to a syncretic admixture of the two.
What makes the task one of more than ordinary difficulty
is the fact that, like Latin in the Middle Ages, the dead
or dying Aceadian became a sacred language among the
Semitic priesthood of a later period. Not only was it
considered necessary to the right performance of the
ritual that genuinely old Aceadian texts should be
recited in their original language and with a correct
pronunciation, but new texts were composed in the
extinct idiom of Accad which bore the same linguistic
relation to the older ones as the Latin compositions of
the mediaeval monks bear to the works of the Latin
fathers. Unfortunately, in the present state of our
knowledge, it is sometimes impossible to tell to which of
these two classes of texts a document belongs, and yet
upon the right determination of the question may depend
also the right determination of the development of Baby
lonian religion.
The Aceadian element in this religion is productive
of yet another difficulty. As we shall see, a large pro
portion of the deities of the Babylonian faith had their
first origin in the beliefs of the Aceadian people. The
names by which they were addressed, however, were
usually written ideographically, not phonetically, after
the fashion of the Aceadian scribes, and the reading of
these names is consequently often uncertain. Even if a

INTRODUCTORY. 7
gloss happens to inform us of the correct reading of one
of these names, it by no means follows that we thereby
know how to read its later Semitic equivalent. The
Semites continued to represent the names of the gods by
the same ideographs that had been used by their Acea
dian predecessors, but in most cases they naturally gave
them a different pronunciation. Even now, when the
study of Assyrian has so far advanced that the Hebrew
lexicographer is able to call in its help in determining
the meaning of Hebrew words, and when an ordinary
historical inscription can be read with almost as much
facility as a page of the Old Testament, we are still
ignorant of the true name of one of the chief Assyrian
divinities. The name of Adar, commonly assigned by
Assyriologists to the Assyrian war-god, has little else
to rest upon except the fact that Adrammelech or "king
Adar" was the divinity in whose honour the men of
Sepharvaim burnt their children in the fire, according
to the second book of Kings (xvii. 31).1 And yet the
name is one which not only constantly occurs in the
Assyrian inscriptions, but also enters into the name of
more than one Assyrian king. Can there be a better
illustration of the difficulties which surround the student
1 Lehmann (De Inscriptionibus cuneatis quos pertinent ad Samas-
surn-ukin, p. 47) has made it probable that Adrammelech represents
the goddess Adar-malkat, "Adar the queen,'' who seems to be identified
with A or Anunit, the goddess " of births" (kunS, W. A. I. ii. 57, 14),
and to correspond to the Semitic goddess Erua, " the begetter." In
this case the name of Sennacherib's son, Adrammelech, must be con
sidered to be corrupt. Erua, however, would be an Aramaic and not
a Babylonian form, if it is a Semitic word ; the Babylonian is Eritu,
which is given in K 4195, 6, as a name of Istar. In W. A. I. ii. 54,
60, and S 1720, 2, Em, "the handmaiden" (W. A. I. v. 19, 43), is an
Aceadian title of Zarpanifc,

8 LECTURE I.
of Babylonian religion, as well as of the extent to which
he is deserted by classical tradition ?
As with the name which we provisionally read Adar,
so also is it with the name which we provisionally read
-Gisdhubar. Gisdhubar was the hero of the great Chaldean
epic, into the eleventh book of which was woven the
story of the Deluge; he had been the fire-god of the
Accadians before he became the solar hero of Semitic
legend; and there are grounds for thinking that Mr.
George Smith was right in seeing in him the prototype
of the Biblical Nimrod. Nevertheless, the only certain
fact about his name is that it ended in the sound of r.
That it was not Gisdhubar or Izdubar, however, is
almost equally certain. This would be merely the pho
netic reading of the three ideographs which compose the
name, and characters when used as ideographs were
naturally not read phonetically.1
I have not yet finished my enumeration of the diffi
culties and obstacles that meet the inquirer into the
nature and history of Babylonian religion on the very
threshold of his researches. The worst has still to be
mentioned. With the exception of the historical inscrip
tions which adorned the sculptured slabs of the Assyrian
1 Hommel (Proc. Soc. Bib. Arch. Ap. 1866, p. 119) believes that he
has found the true reading of the name, and a proof of its correspond
ence with the Semitic Nimrod, in W. A. I. iv. 2. 21, 22., 23. 3. 26,
27, where the Semitic Namratsit answers to the name of an Aceadian
divinity which may be read Gi-isdu-par-ra or Gis-du-par-ra. But from
S 949, Obv. 6, where the Sun-god is called Ml namratsit, it is clear
that namratsit is merely personified difficulty, being the feminine of
the common adjective namratsu, " difficult.'' The Aceadian divinity,
therefore, is the goddess of difficulty, and can have no connection with
a male Fire-god. Her name should probably be read Gi-ib-bir-ra, a
derivative from gib, the Aceadian form of gig, " difficult."

INTRODUCTORY. * 9
palaces or were inscribed on clay cylinders buried at the
angles of a royal building, our documentary materials con
sist entirely of clay tablets covered with minute characters.
In Assyria, the tablets were baked in the kiln after being
inscribed ; for this purpose holes were made in the clay
to allow the escape of superfluous moisture, and the fear
of fracture prevented the tablets from being of a great
size. In the more southern climate of Babylonia, the
tablets were generally dried in the sun, the result being
the disintegration of the clay in the course of centuries,
the surface of the brick being sometimes reduced to
powder, while at other times the whole brick has been
shivered into atoms. But apart from the records of
" the banking firm" of the Egibi family, which carried on
its business from the time of Nebuchadnezzar and his
predecessors to that of Darius Hystaspis, we possess as
yet comparatively few of the tablets that once stocked
the libraries of Babylonia and must still be lying buried
beneath the ground. The main bulk of our collection
comes from the great library of Nineveh, which occupied
one of the upper rooms in the palace of Assur-bani-pal
at Keuyunjik. It stood within the precincts of the
temple of Nebo,1 and its walls were lined with shelves,
on which were laid the clay books of Assyria or the rolls
of papyrus which have long since perished.2 The library
1 W. A. I. ii. 36, 27 : "I placed (the old tablets and papyri) in the
inner chamber of the temple of Nebo,. his lord, which is in Nineveh."
The bit namari, or " observatory," on the contrary, was the " tower"
of the temple of Istar, whose construction and dimensions are described
in an interesting but unfortunately mutilated text (S 1894). Its
breadth, we are told, was ] 54£ cubits.
2 For the papyrus, frequently mentioned in the colophons of Assur-
bani-pal's tablets, under the name of gis-li-khu-si, or " grass of guid-

10 LECTURE I.
consisted for the most part of copies or editions of older
works that had been brought from Babylonia, and dili
gently copied by numerous scribes, like the " proverbs of
Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah,
copied out."1 The library had been transferred from
Calah by Sennacherib towards the latter part of his
reign,2 but the larger portion of the collection was got
together by Assur-bani-pal, the son of Esar-haddon, and
the Sardanapallos of the Greeks. He was the first,
indeed we may say the only, Assyrian monarch who
really cared for literature and learning. His predecessors
had been men of war; if they established libraries, it
was only from imitation of their more cultivated neigh
bours in Babylonia, and a desire to remain on good
terms with the powerful classes of scribes and priests.
But Assur-bani-pal, with all his luxury and love of dis
play — or perhaps by reason of it — was a genuine lover
of books. When rebellion had been quelled in Baby
lonia, and the Babylonian cities had been taken by storm,
the spoil that was most acceptable to the Assyrian king
were the written volumes that their libraries contained.
ing," see my remarks in the Zeitschrift fiir Keilschriftforschung, ii.
3, p. 208. Another ideographic name was Gis-zu, " vegetable of know
ledge" (W.A.I, ii. 36, 11). The Assyrian name was aru, literally
" leaf," K 2, iii. Rev. 7. Gis-li-khu-si was pronounced Uu or livu in
Assyrian, the Hebrew luahh, of which the Assyrian lavu is another
form. 1 Prov. xxv. 1.
2 Nebo-zuqub-yukin, who was chief librarian from the 6th year of
Sargon (B.C. 716) to the 22nd year of Sennacherib (B.C. 684), does
not seem to have quitted Calah. So far as we know, the first work
written under his direction had been a copy of a text of the standard
work on astrology, " The Illumination of Bel," which had been brought
from Babylon to the library at Calah.

INTRODUCTORY. 11
No present could be sent him which he valued more
than some old text from Erech or Ur or Babylon. But
naturally it was the works which related to Assyria, or
to the special studies of its royal masters, that were most
sought after. The Assyrian cared little for the annalistic
records of the Babylonian kings, or for the myths and
legends which enveloped the childhood of the Babylonian
cities and contained no reference to things Assyrian ; it
Was only where the interest of the story extended beyond
the frontiers of Babylonia, or where the religious texts
held a place in the ritual of the Assyrian priesthood,
that it was thought worth while to transport them to a
northern home. If the theology was Assyrian as well
as Babylonian, or if a legend was as popular in Assyria
as it had been in Babylonia, or if, finally, a branch of
study had a special attraction for Assyrian readers,
the works embodying these subjects were transferred.
to the library of Nineveh, and there re-edited by the
Assyrian scribes. Hence it is that certain sides of the
old theology are represented so fully in Assyrian litera
ture, while other sides are not represented at all ; hence,
too, it is that the drawers of the British Museum are
filled with tablets on the pseudo-science of omens which
have little save a philological importance attaching to
them. The library was open, it would seem, to all comers,
and Assur-bani-pal did his utmost to attract "readers"
to the "inspection" and study of the books it contained.
But the literary age of Assyria was short-lived. Even
before Assur-bani-pal died, the mighty empire he had
inherited was tottering to its fall. Egypt had been lost
to it for ever; Babylonia was clamouring for indepen-

12 LECTURE I.
dence ; and the semi-barbarous nations of the north and
east were threatening its borders. Ere the century
closed, Nineveh was taken by its enemies, and its palaces
sacked and destroyed.
The library of Eouyunjik shared in the common over
throw. Its papyri and leathern scrolls were burned
with fire, and its clay books fell in shattered confusion
among the ruins below. There they lay for more than
two thousand years, covered by the friendly dust of de
caying bricks, until Sir A. H. Layard discovered the
old library and revealed its contents to the world of
to-day. His excavations have been followed by those of
Mr. George Smith and Mr. Hormuzd Eassam, and the
greater portion of Assur-bani-pal's library is now in the
British Museum. It is out of its age-worn fragments
that the story I have to tell in this course of Lectures
has been mainly put together.
But the sketch I have given of its history is sufficient
to show how hard such a task must necessarily be. In
the first place, the library of Nineveh was only one of
the many libraries which once existed in the cities of
Assyria and Babylonia. Its founders never aimed at
completeness, or intended to deposit in it more than a
portion of the ancient literature of Babylonia. Then,
further, even this literature was not always copied in
full. From time to time the text is broken off, and the
words "lacuna" or "recent fracture" appear upon the
tablet. The original text, it is clear, was not perfect ;
the tablet which was copied had been injured, and was
thus no longer legible throughout. Such indications,
however, of the faultiness of the editio princeps are a
good proof that the Assyrian scribes did their best to

INTRODUCTORY. 13
reproduce it with accuracy, and that if they failed to do
so it was through no fault of their own. But they did
fail sometimes. The Babylonian forms of the cuneiform
characters are often hard to read, and there was no
standard official script in Babylonia such as there was in
Assyria. Education was not in the hands of a single
class, as was the case in the latter country ; most Baby
lonians could read and write, and consequently the forms
of handwriting found upon their monuments are almost
as numerous as in the modern world. Hence it is that
the Assyrian copyist sometimes mistook a Babylonian
character, and represented it by a wrong equivalent.
The most serious result, however, of the fact that the
library of Nineveh mainly consisted of terra-cotta tablets,
broken and scattered in wild confusion when the city was
destroyed, still remains to be told. The larger propor
tion of the texts we have to use are imperfect. Many
of them are made up of small fragments, which have
been pieced together by the patient labour of the As
syrian scholars in the British Museum. In other cases,
only a fragment, not unfrequently a minute fragment,
of a text has been preserved. Often, therefore, we come
across a text which would seem to throw an important
light on some department of Assyrian thought and life
if only we had the clue to its meaning, but the text is
broken just where that clue would have been found.
This fragmentary character of our documents, in fact, is
not only tantalising to the student, but it may be the
cause of serious error. Where we have only fragments
of a text, it is not impossible that we may wholly mis
conceive their relation and meaning, and so build theories
upon them which the discovery of the missing portions

14 LECTURE I.
of the tablet would overthrow. This is especially the
case in the province of religion and mythology, where it
is so easy to put a false construction upon isolated pas
sages, the context of which must be supplied from con
jecture. We know from experience what strange inter
pretations have been imposed upon passages of the Bible
that have been torn from their context; the student of'
Babylonian religion must therefore be forgiven if the
condition in which his materials have reached him should
at times lead him astray. Moreover, it must be remem
bered that the fragmentary condition of our texts makes
the work of the decipherer much harder than it would
otherwise be. A new word or an obscure phrase is often
made perfectly intelligible by the context; but where
this fails us, all interpretation must necessarily be uncer
tain, if not impossible.
There is yet another difficulty connected with our
needful dependence upon the broken tablets of Assur-
bani-pal's library — a difficulty, however, that would not
be felt except by the student of Babylonian religion.
None of the tablets that are derived from it are older
than the eighth century before our era ; how then are
we to determine the relative ages of the various religious
or mythological documents which are embodied in them ?
It is true that we are generally told to what library of
Babylonia the original text belonged, but we look in
vain for any indication of date. And yet an approxi
mately accurate chronology is absolutely indispensable
for a history of religion and religious ideas. If, indeed,
we could explore the Babylonian libraries themselves,
there would be a better chance of our discovering the
relative antiquity of the documents they may still con-

INTRODUCTORY. 15
tain. But at present this is impossible, and except in a
few instances we have to be content with the copies of
the older documents which were made by the Assyrian
scribes. I am bound to confess that the difficulty is a very
formidable one. It was not until I had begun to test
the theories hitherto put forward regarding the develop
ment of Babylonian religion, and had tried to see what
could be fairly deduced from the texts themselves, that I
realised how formidable it actually was. There is only
one way of meeting it. It is only by a process of care
ful and cautious induction, by noting every indication of
date, whether linguistic or otherwise, which a text may
offer, by comparing our materials one with another, and
calling in the help of what we have recently learnt about
Babylonian history — above all, by following the method
of nature and science in working from the known to the
unknown — that it is possible to arrive at any conclusions
at all. If, therefore, I shall seem in the course of these
Lectures to speak less positively about the early develop
ment of Babylonian theology than my predecessors in
the same field have done, or than I should have done
myself a few years ago, let it be borne in mind that the
fault lies not in me but in the want of adequate materials.
It is useless to form theories which may be overthrown
at any moment, and which fail to explain all the known
facts. So far, I fear, I have done little else than lay before
you a dreary catalogue of the difficulties and obstacles
that meet the historian of Babylonian religion at the
very outset of his inquiry. If the picture had no other
side, if there were little or nothing to counterbalance

16 LECTURE I.
the difficulties, we might as well admit that the time for
investigating the theological conceptions of the ancient
Babylonians and Assyrians had not yet come, and that
we must be content to leave the subject where it was
left by Sir H. Eawlinson nearly thirty years ago. For
tunately, however, this is not the case. Mutilated and
broken as they are, we still have texts sufficient to
enable us at all events to sketch the outlines of Baby
lonian theology — nay, from time to time to fill them in as
well. The Babylonians were not content with merely
editing their ritual and religious hymns or their myths
about the gods and heroes ; they also compiled commen
taries and explanatory text-books which gave philological
and other information about the older religious literature ;
they drew up lists of the deities and their various titles ;
they described the temples in which their images were
placed, and the relation of the different members of the
divine hierarchy one to another. They even showed an
interest in the gods of other countries, and the names
given by neighbouring nations to divinities which they
identified with their own are at times recorded. It is
true that many of the sacred texts were so written as to
be intelligible only to the initiated; but the initiated
were provided with keys and glosses, many of which are
in our hands. In some respects, therefore, we are better
off than the ordinary Babylonian himself would have
been. We can penetrate into the real meaning of docu
ments which to him were a sealed book. Nay, more
than this. The researches that have been made during
the last half-century into the creeds and beliefs of the
nations of the world both past and present, have given
us a clue to the interpretation of these documents which

INTRODUCTORY. 17
even the initiated priests did not possess. We can guess
at the origin and primary meaning of rites and cere
monies, of beliefs and myths, which the Babylonians
knew of only in their later form and under their tradi
tional guise. To them, Gisdhubar, the hero of their great
epic, was but a champion and conqueror of old time,
whose deeds were performed on the soil of Babylonia,
and whose history was as real as that of the sovereigns
of their own day. We, on the contrary, can penetrate
beneath the myths which have grown up around his
name, and can discover in him the lineaments of a solar
hero who was himself but the transformed descendant
of a humbler god of fire.
In spite, however, of the aids that have been provided
for the modern student among the relics of the great
library of Nineveh, his two chief difficulties still remain :
the fragmentary character of his materials and his igno
rance of the true chronology of the larger portion of them.
This last is the most serious difficulty of all, since
recent discoveries have so enlarged our ideas of the anti
quity of Babylonian civilisation, and have so revolu
tionised the views into which we had comfortably settled
down, that our conclusions on the development of Baby
lonian religion must be completely modified. At the risk,
therefore, of making this first Lecture a dull and unin
teresting one, and of seeming to wander from the subject
upon which I have been called to speak, I must enter
into some details as to the early history of the population
among whom the religious system revealed to us by the
cuneiform inscriptions first originated and developed.
Until very lately, Assyrian scholars had fancied that
the rise and early history of Babylonia could be already
c

18 LECTURE I.
traced in its main outlines. By combining the state
ments of classical authors with the data furnished by
such early monuments as we possessed, a consistent
scheme seemed to have been made out. About three
thousand years before, our era, it was supposed, the
smaller states which occupied the fertile plain of Baby
lonia were united into a single monarchy, the capital of
which was " Ur of the Chaldees," the modern Mugheir,
on the western side of the Euphrates. The whole country
was at this period under the domination of the Accadians,,
though the Semitic nomad and trader were abeady
beginning to make their appearance. It was divided
into two provinces, the northern called Accad, and the
southern Sumer or Shinar, in. which two separate, though
closely allied, dialects were spoken. Now and again,
however, the two provinces were independent of one ano
ther, and there were even times when the smaller states
comprised in them successfully re-asserted their former
freedom. About 2000 B.C., the Aceadian was gradually
superseded by the Semite, and before long the Aceadian
language itself became extinct, remaining only as the
sacred and learned language of religion and law. The
rise of Semitic supremacy was marked by the reigns ol
Sargon I. and his son Naram-Sin, who established theii
seat at Accad, near Sippara, where they founded an
important library, and from whence they led military
expeditions as far westward as the Mediterranean Sea.
The overthrow of Sargon's dynasty, however, was soon
brought about through the conquest of Babylonia by
Khammuragas, a Kosseean from the mountains of Elam.
He made Babylon for the first time the capital of the
country, and founded a dynasty whose rule lasted for

INTRODUCTORY. 19
several centuries. Before the Kosssean conquest, the
Babylonian system of religion was already complete.
It emanated from the primitive Aceadian population,
though it was afterwards adopted and transformed by
their Semitic successors. It was originally Shamanistic,
like the native religions of the Siberians or Lapps.
The sorcerer took the place of the priest, magical incan
tations the place of a ritual, and innumerable spirits the
place of gods. By degrees, however, these earlier con
ceptions became modified ; a priesthood began to establish
itself; and as a necessary consequence some of the ele
mental spirits were raised to the rank of deities. The
old magical incantations, too, gave way to hymns in
honour of the new gods, among whom the Sun-god was
specially prominent, and these hymns came in time to
form a collection similar to that of the Hindu Eig-Yeda,
and were accounted equally sacred. This process of
religious development was assisted by the Semitic occu
pation of Babylonia. The Semites brought with them
new theological conceptions. With them the Sun-god,
in his two-fold aspect of benefactor and destroyer, was
the supreme object of worship, all other deities being
resolvable into phases or attributes of the supreme Baal.
At his side stood his female double and reflection, the
goddess of fertility, who was found again under various
names and titles at the side of every other deity. The
union of these Semitic religious conceptions with the
developing creed of Accad produced a state-religion,
watched over and directed by a powerful priesthood,
which continued more or less unaltered down to the
days of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors. It was this
state-religion that was carried by the Semitic Assyrians
c2

20 LECTURE I.
into theb home on the banks of the Tigris, where it
underwent one or two modifications, in all essential
respects, however, remaining unchanged.
Now there is much in this neat and self-consistent
account of Babylonian religion which rests on the autho
rity of the cuneiform documents, and about which there
fore there is no room for dispute. But the inferences
which have been drawn from the facts presented by these
cuneiform documents, as well as the general theory by
which the inferences have been compacted together into
a consistent whole, are, it must be remembered, inferences
and theory only. Owing to the fragmentary nature of
the evidence, it has been necessary to supplement the
deficiencies of the record by assumptions for which there
is no documentary testimony whatever. The dates which
form the skeleton, as it were, of the whole theory, have
been derived from Greek and Latin writers. While
certain portions of the scheme have been definitely
acquired by science, since they embody monumental facts,
other portions are destitute of any other foundation than
the combinatory powers of modern scholars. The scheme,
therefore, must be regarded as a mere working hypothesis,
as one of those provisional theories which science is con
stantly compelled to put forward in order to co-ordinate
and combine the facts known at the time, but which
must give way to other hypotheses as new facts are dis
covered which do not harmonise with the older expla
nations. It not unfrequently happens that a hypothesis
which has served its purpose well enough by directing
research into a particular channel, and which after all is
partially correct, may be overthrown by the discovery of
a single new fact. Such has been the fate of the theory

INTRODUCTORY. 21
as to the development of Babylonian religion which I
have been describing above.
The single fact which has shaken it to its very founda
tions is the discovery of the date to which the reign of
Sargon of Accad must be assigned. The last king of
of Babylonia, Nabonidos, had antiquarian tastes, and
busied himself not only with the restoration of the old
temples of his country, but also with the disinterment of
the memorial cylinders which their builders and restorers
had buried beneath theb foundations. It was known
that the great temple of the Sun-god at Sippara, where
the mounds of Abu-Habba now mark its remains, had
been originally erected by Naram-Sin the son of Sargon,
and attempts had been already made to find the records
which, it was assumed, he had entombed under its
angles. With true antiquarian zeal, Nabonidos continued
the search, and did not desist until, like the Dean and
Chapter of some modern cathedral, he had lighted upon
"the foundation-stone" of Naram-Sin himself. This
" foundation-stone," he tells us, had been seen by none
of his predecessors for 3200 years. In the opinion,
accordingly, of Nabonidos, a king who was curious about
the past history of his country, and whose royal position
gave him the best possible opportunities for learning
all that could be known about it, Naram-Sin and his
father Sargon I. lived 3200 years before his own time,
or 3750 B.C.
The date is so remote and so contrary to all our pre
conceived ideas regarding the antiquity of the Babylonian
monarchy, that I may be excused if at first I expressed
doubts as to its accuracy. We are now accustomed to
contemplate with equanimity the long chronology which

22 LECTURE I.
the monuments demand for the history of Pharaonic
Egypt, but we had also been accustomed to regard the
history of Babylonia as beginning at the earliest in the
third millennium before our era. Assyrian scholars had
inherited the chronological prejudices of a former genera
tion, and a starveling chronology seemed to be confirmed
by the statements of Greek writers.
I was, however, soon forced to re-consider the reasons
of my scepticism. The cylinder on which Nabonidos
recounts his discovery of the foundation-stone of Naram-
Sin was brought from the excavations of Mr. Hormuzd
Eassam in Babylonia, and explained by Mr. Pinches six
years ago. Soon afterwards, Mr. Pinches was fortunate
enough to find among some other inscriptions from Baby
lonia fragments of three different lists, in one of which
the kings of Babylonia were arranged in dynasties, and
the number of years each king reigned was stated, as
well as the number of years the several dynasties lasted.
An Assyrian copy of a similar list had been abeady dis
covered by Mr. George Smith, who, with his usual quick
ness of perception, saw that it must have resembled the
lists from which Berossos, the Greek historian of Chaldaea,
drew the materials of his chronology ; but the copy was
so mere a fragment that the chronological position of the
kings mentioned upon it was a matter of dispute. Hap
pily this is not the case with the principal text published
by Mr. Pinches. It had been compiled by a native of
Babylon, who consequently began with the first dynasty
which made Babylon the capital of the kingdom, and
who seems to have flourished in the time of Nabonidos.
We can check the accuracy of his statements in a some
what curious way. One of the two other texts brought

INTRODUCTORY. 23
to light by Mr. Pinches is a schoolboy's exercise copy of
the first two dynasties mentioned on the annalistic tablet.
There are certain variations between the two texts, how
ever, which show that the schoolboy orbis master must
have used some other list of the early kings than that
which was employed by the compiler of the tablet;
nevertheless, the names and the regnal years, with one
exception, agree exactly in each. In Assyria, an accurate
chronology was kept "by means of certain officers, the
so-called Eponyms, who were changed every year and
gave their names to the year over which they presided.
We have at present no positive proof that the years were
dated in the same way in Babylonia; but since most
Assyrian institutions were of Babylonian origin, it is
probable that they were. At all events, the scribes of a
later day believed that they had trustworthy chrono
logical evidence extending back into a dim antiquity;
and when we remember the imperishable character of
the clay literature of the country, and the fact that the
British Museum actually contains deeds and other legal
documents dated in the reign of Khammuragas, more
than four thousand years ago, there is no reason why
we should not consider the belief to have been justified.
Now the annalistic tablet takes us back reign by reign,
dynasty by dynasty, to about the year 2400 B.C. Among
the monarchs mentioned upon it is Khammuragas, whose
reign is placed 112 years later (B.C. 2290).1 Of Sargon
1 As the reign of Khammuragas lasted 55. years, its end would have
been about B.C. 2235. This curiously agrees with the date arrived at
(first by von Gutschmidt) for the beginning of the Babylonian era. If
the Latin translation can be trusted (Simplicius, ad Arist. de Gcelo,
503 A), the astronomical observations sent by Kallisthenes from Babylon
to Aristotle in B.C. 331 reached back for 1903 years (i.e. to B.C. 2234).

24 LECTURE I.
and his son Naram-Sin, however, there is no trace. But
this is not all. On the shelves of the British Museum
you may see huge sun-dried bricks, on which are stamped
the names and titles of kings who erected or repaired
the temples where they have been found. In the dynasties
of the annalistic tablet their names are as much absent
as is the name of Sargon. They must have belonged to
an earlier period than that with which the list of the
tablet begins, and have reigned before the time when,
according to the margins of our Bibles, the flood of Noah
was covering the earth, and reducing such bricks as
these to their primaeval slime. But the kings who have
recorded their constructive operations on the bricks are
seldom connected with one another. They are rather
the isolated links of a broken chain, and thus presup
pose a long period of time during which theb reigns
must have fallen. This conclusion is verified by another
document, also coming from Babylonia and also first
published by Mr. Pinches. This document contains a
very long catalogue of royal names, not chronologically
arranged, as is expressly stated, but drawn up for a
philological purpose — that of explaining in Assyrian
the Aceadian and Kosssean names of the non-Semitic
rulers of Babylonia. Though the document is imperfect,
Berossos, according to Pliny (N. H. vii. 57), stated that these observa
tions began at Babylon 490 years before the Greek era of Phor6neus
(B.C. 1753), i.e. B.C. 2243, though Epigenes made it 720 years (B.C.
2473). Babylon, according to Stephanos of Byzantium (s. v.), was
built 1002 years before the date (given by Hellanikos) for the siege of
Troy (B.C. 1229), which would bring us to B.C. 2231, while Ktesias
(ap. Georg. Synk.) made the reign of Belos, or Bel-Merodach of Baby
lon, last for 55 years from B.C. 2286 to 2231. The correspondence of
the reign of the Belos of Ktesias with the reign of Khammuragas is at
least curious.

INTRODUCTORY. 25
it embodies about sixty names which do not occur on
the annalistic tablet, and must therefore be referred to
an earlier epoch than that with which the latter begins.
But these names, like the majority of those stamped
on the bricks from the ancient temples, are not of Semitic
but of Aceadian origin. If, then, the Aceadian domina
tion preceded the rule of the Semitic Babylonians, the
long array of sovereigns to whom they belonged must
have reigned before the age of the Semitic rulers of
Accad, Sargon and Naram-Sin. This, however, is a con
clusion from which the historian will needs recoil. The
long space of 1300 years which intervened between the
time of Sargon and that of the dynasty of Khammuragas
cannot have been wholly filled with Semitic princes who
have left no monument behind them. We seem com
pelled to acknowledge that the Semitic rule in Babylonia
was not achieved once for all. The struggle between
the older and younger population of the country was
not determined by a single battle or a single reign. The
dynasty which followed that of Khammuragas bears for
the most part Aceadian names, and may therefore be
regarded as marking an Aceadian revival. Before the
age of Khammuragas the same event may have often
happened. Now it was a dynasty sprung from a Semitic
settlement that acquired the supremacy in Babylonia;
at other times the ruler of a city which still held out
against the Semite succeeded in establishing his power
over the whole country. In the dynastic tablet the
immediate predecessor of Khammuragas is a Semite
bearing the Semitic name of Sin-muballidh, and yet we
learn from the inscriptions of Khammuragas himself that
he had made himself master of Chaldsea by the overthrow

26 LECTURE I.
of the Aceadian prince Eim-Agu. Moreover, whatever
might have been the original character of the Semitic
occupation of Babylonia, from the time of Sargon I.
downwards it was of a more or less peaceable nature;
Accadians and Semites mingled together, and from the
mixture sprang the peculiar civilisation of Babylonia,
and the peculiar type of its people.
Sargon himself was a monarch whom both Aceadian
and Semite delighted to honour. Myths surrounded his
infancy as they surrounded the infancy of Kyros, and
popular legend saw in him the hero-prince who had been
deserted in childhood and brought up among squaUd
surroundings, until the time came that he should declare
himself in his true character and receive his rightful
inheritance.1 He was born, it was said, of an unknown
1 Sargon may be the Thilgamos of iElian, transmitted in a Persian
dress, and the legend about him is evidently that connected by Agathias
(ii. 25, 15) with Beletarls (? Tiglath-Pileser), who is stated to have
been the gardener of the former king, Belokhos or Beleous, and the
founder of a new dynasty. In the Epic of Gisdhubar the name of the
gardener wooed by Istar is given as Isullanu the gardener of Anu.
The text giving the legend of Sargon, as published in W.A.I, iii. 4, 7,
is as follows :
1. " Sargon, the mighty king, the king of Accad (am) I.
2. My mother (was) a princess ; my father I knew not ; the
brother of my father dwells in the mountain.
3. (In) the city of Azupiranu, which is built on the bank of the
Euphrates,
4. (my) mother, the princess, conceived me ; in a secret place she
brought me forth ;
5. she placed me in a basket of reeds; with bitumen my exit
(gate) she closed ;
6. she gave me to the river, which drowned me not.
7. The river carried me along; to Akki the irrigator it brought me;
8. Akki the irrigator in the goodness of (his) heart lifted me up ;
9. Akki the irrigator reared me as (his own) son ;

INTRODUCTORY. 27
father ; as Mars had wooed the mother of the founder of
Eome, so some god whom later tradition feared to name
had wooed the mother of the founder of the first Semitic
empire. She brought forth her first-born "in a secret
place" by the side of the Euphrates, and placed him in
a basket of rushes which she daubed with bitumen and
entrusted to the. waters of the river. The story reminds
us of Perseus launched upon the sea with his mother
Danae in a boat, of Eomulus and Eemus exposed to the
fury of the Tiber, and still more of Moses in his ark of
bubushes upon the Nile. The Euphrates refused to
drown its future lord, and bore the child in safety to
Akki " the irrigator," the representative of the Aceadian
peasants who tilled the land for their Semitic masters.
In this lowly condition and among a subjugated race
10. Akki the irrigator made me his gardener,
11. (and in) my gardenership did Istar love me.
12. For 45 (?) years I ruled the kingdom.
13. The men of the black-headed race I governed, I (organised).
14. Over rugged mountains in chariots of bronze I rode.
15. I (governed) the upper mountains ;
16. I (ruled) the rulers of the lower mountains.
17. To the sea-coast (?) three times did I advance; Dilmun sub
mitted) ;
1 8. The fortress of the goddess of Hades (Dur-AN-Kigal) bowed ....
19. I destroyed ....
20. When the king who comes after me in future (days)
21. (shall govern) the men of the black-headed race ;
22. (shall ride) over the rugged mountains in chariots (of bronze),
23. shall govern the upper mountains (and rule) the kings
24. of the lower mountains ; (to) the sea-coast (?)
25. shall advance three times ; (shall cause Dilmun to submit) ;
26. (when) the fortress of' the goddess of Hades shall bow ; from
my city of Accad  "
Ti-ti-sal-lat (?) seems to mean " the sea-coast" of the Mediterranean ;
cp. Tit-num, the Aceadian name of Phoenicia, as well as Dhi-dhi, ano
ther Aceadian name of the same country (W. A. I. ii. 51, 19).

28 LECTURE I.
Sargon was brought up. Akki took compassion on the
little waif, and reared him as if he had been his own son.
As he grew older he was set to till the garden and culti
vate the fruit-trees, and while engaged in this humble
work attracted the love of the goddess Istar. Then came
the hour of his deliverance from servile employment, and,
like David, he made his way to a throne. For long years
he ruled the black-headed race of Accad ; he rode through
subjugated countries in chariots of bronze, and crossed
the Persian Gulf to the sacred isle of Dilmun. The very
name the people gave him was a proof of his predestined
rise to greatness. Sargon was not his real title. This
was Sarganu, which a slight change of pronunciation
altered into Sargina, a word that conveyed the meaning
of "constituted" or "predestined" "king" to his Acea
dian subjects. It was the form assumed in theb mouths
by the Semitic Sarru-Mnu, and thus reminded them of
the Sun-god Tammuz, the youthful bridegroom of Istar,
who was addressed as ablu Hnu or "only son," as well
as of Nebo "the very son" (ablu kinu) of the god Mero
dach.1 Sargina, however, was not the only name by
which the king was known to them. They called him
also Dddil or Dddal, a title which the Semitic scribes
afterwards explained to mean "Sargon, the king of
constituted right (sar-kinti), deviser of constituted law,
deviser of prosperity," though its true signification was
rather "the very wise."2
1 Upon the inscription of " Sar-ga-ni, the king of the city, the king
of Accad," see Pinches, Proc. Soc. Bib. Arch. June 1886, p. 244.
Sarganu has the same origin as the Biblical Serug.
2 W. A. I. ii. 48, 40 and 32, where (with the earlier Sumerian pro
nunciation tal-tal or tatal) it is a title of Ea as the god of " wisdom.'

INTRODUCTORY. 29
But in spite of the atmosphere of myth which came
to enshroud him, as it enshrouded the persons of Kyros,
of Charlemagne, and of other heroes of popular history,
Sargon was a historical monarch and the founder of a
really great empbe. The British Museum actually pos
sesses an inscribed egg of veined marble which he dedi
cated to the Sun-god of Sippara, and the seal of his
librarian Ibni-sarru is in the hands of M. Le Clercq of
Paris. What may be termed the scientific literature of
the library of Nineveh makes frequent reference to
him, and we learn that it was for the great library
which he established in his capital city of Accad that
the two standard Babylonian works on astronomy and
terrestrial omens were originally compiled. The work
on astronomy was entitled "The Observations of Bel,"1
and consisted of no less than seventy-two books, deal
ing with such matters as the conjunction of the sun
and moon, the phases of Venus, and the appearances
of comets. It was translated in later days into Greek
by the historian Berossos; and though supplemented
by numerous additions in its passage through the hands
of generations of Babylonian astronomers, the original
When applied to Sargon, the title was ideographically expressed by
repeating the character for "king," in order to denote that he was
" the king indeed." One of the earliest of the monarchs whose names
are found at Tel-loh is called Taltal-kur-galla, " the wise one of the
great mountain."
2 Or perhaps " The Illumination of Bel (Mul-lil)," Namar-Bili. See
my paper on " The Astronomy and Astrology of the Babylonians," in
the Tr. Soc. Bib. Arch. iii. 1 (1874). Later copyists mistook the title
for a proper name, and accordingly referred the compilation of the work
to a certain Namar-Bili. Up to the time of Ber6ssos, however, it was
remembered that the god Bel himself was its traditional author, and the
work is sometimes quoted as simply "Bel" (e.g. W.A.I, iii. 52, 27).

30 LECTURE I.
work contained so many records of eclipses as to demon
strate the antiquity of Babylonian astronomy even in
the remote age of Sargon himself. But besides our
knowledge of Sargon's patronage of learning, we also
know something about the civil history of his reign. A
copy of its annals has come down to us. We gather
from these that he was not only successful in overthrow
ing all opposition at home, he was also equally successful
abroad. His first campaign was against the powerful
kingdom of Elam in the East, where he overthrew the
enemy and mutilated their slain. Next he turned to
the West, laying his yoke on Syria, and subjugating
"the four quarters" of the world. Then the rival kings
of Babylon and other Chaldsean cities felt his power;
and out of the spoil of the vanquished he built the city
of Accad and gave it its name. From this time forward
his attention was chiefly devoted to the West. Year after
year he penetrated into Syria, until at last, we are told,
" he had neither equal nor rival; " he crossed the Mediter
ranean to the island we now call Cyprus, and "in the
thbd year," at the bounds of the setting sun, his hands
conquered all peoples and his mouth decreed a single
empire. Here on the shores of Cyprus the great conqueror
erected images of himself, and then carried the booty of
the island to the opposite coast of Asia. Such a glimpse
into the history of what became afterwards a Grecian
sea, when as yet no Greeks had made their way to theb
later home, is startling to those whose conceptions of
authentic history have been limited by the narrow horizon
of the classical world. Its trustworthiness, however, has
been curiously verified by a discovery made by General
de Cesnola in the treasure-vaults of a Kyprian temple

INTRODUCTORY. 31
among the ruins of the ancient Kurion. Here, among
other haematite cylinders of early Babylonian origin,
he found one the first owner of which describes himself
as a "servant" or " worshipper" of " the deified Naram-
Sin."1 Naram-Sin was the son and successor of Sargon,
and it is not likely that he would have received divine
honours after the fall of the dynasty to which he belonged.
The fact that the cylinder was discovered in Cyprus
seems to show that even after Sargon's death a connec
tion continued to exist between Cyprus and the imperial
power of Babylonia. Naram-Sin, however, was more bent
on the conquest of Magana, or the Sinaitic Peninsula,
than upon further campaigns in the West. Sinai, with its
mines of turquoise and copper, had been a prize coveted
by the Egyptians ever since the age of the Thbd Dynasty,
and one of the first efforts of the rising rival power on
the banks of the Euphrates was to gain possession of the
same country. Naram-Sin, so runs the annalistic tablet,
"marched to the land of Magana; the land of Magana
he conquered, and overcame its king."
The land of Magana was abeady known to the inha
bitants of Babylonia.2 The earliest Chaldsean monuments
1 See my paper in the Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch. v. 2 (1877).
2 Oppert, Lenormant and myself have long since shown that Magan
originally denoted the Sinaitic peninsula, and Delattre has recently
made it clear (If Asie occidentale) that Melukhkha, which is constantly
associated with Magan, was the desert district immediately to the south
of the Wadiel-'Arish. Assur-bani-pal transfers the name of Magan to
the neighbouring land of lower Egypt, while Melukhkha is used for
Ethiopia or Meroe by Sargon and his successors. The name of Magan,
however, was probably used from the first in an extended sense, since
a list of reeds (W. A. I. v. 32. 64, 65) describes the iippatu, or "papy
rus," Heb. suph, as "the reed of Magan" (Makkan in Assyrian). The
early date to which a knowledge of the plant went back is evidenced

32 LECTURE I.
yet discovered are those which have been excavated at
Tel-loh in southern Chaldsea by a Frenchman, M. de
Sarzec, and are now deposited in the Louvre. Some of
them go back almost to the very beginnings of Chaldsean
art and cuneiform writing. Indeed, the writing is hardly
yet cuneiform; the primitive pictorial forms of many
of the characters are but thinly disguised, and the ver
tical direction they originally followed, like Chinese, is
still preserved. The language and art alike are Proto-
Chaldsean : there is as yet no sign that the Semite was
in the land. Among the monuments are seated figures
carved out of stone. The stone in several instances is
diorite, a stone so hard that even the modern workman
may well despab of chiselling it into the lineaments of
the human form. Now an inscription traced upon one
of the figures tells us that the stone was brought from
the land of Magan. Abeady, therefore, before the time
of Sargon and the rise of Semitic supremacy and civil
isation, the peninsula of Sinai was not only known to the
by its having an Aceadian name, gizi, " the flowering reed" (borrowed
by Semitic Babylonian under the form of kiAu). That Magan or
Magana was a mountainous country appears from a bilingual hymn to
Adar, which mentions "the mountain of Magana" (W. A. I. iv. 13,
16); and in W. A. I. ii. 51, 17, while Melukhkha is described as "the
country of turquoise," Magan is described as " the country of bronze."
It is possible that the name of Magan or Magana is derived from
mqfka, which signifies in old Egyptian "the turquoise" of the Sinaitic
mines. In an early Babylonian geographical list (W. A. I. iv. 38. 13,
14), Magan and Melukhkha are associated with the Babylonian sea
port of Eridu, which throws light on "the ships" of Magan and
Melukhkha mentioned in W. A. I. ii. 46. 6, 7, immediately after " the
ships of Dilmun." The trading ships of Eridu would have touched first
at Dilmun, then at Magan, and finally at Melukhkha. For a Baby
lonian country or mountain (!) of Magan, such as some scholars have
dreamed of, there is not a particle of evidence.

INTRODUCTORY. 33
inhabitants of Chaldsea, but blocks of stone were trans
ported from it to the stoneless plain of Babylonia, and
there made plastic under the hand of the sculptor. I
have already alluded to the fact that the quarries of Sinai
had been known to the Egyptians and worked by them
as early as the epoch of the Third Dynasty, some 6000
years ago. Is it more than a coincidence that one of
the most marvellous statues in the world, and the chief
ornament of the Museum of Bul&q, is a seated figure of
king Khephren of the Fourth Dynasty, carved out of
green diorite, like the statues of Tel-loh, and representing
the monarch in almost the same attitude ? The Baby
lonian work is ruder than the Egyptian work, it is true ;
but if we place them side by side, it is hard to resist the
conviction that both belong to the same school of sculp
ture, and that the one is but a less skilful imitation of
the other. The conviction grows upon us when we find
that diorite is as foreign to the soil of Egypt as it is to
that of Babylonia, and that the standard of measurement
marked upon the plan of the city, which one of the
figures of Tel-loh holds upon his lap, is the same as
the standard of measurement of the Egyptian pyramid-
builders — the kings of the fourth and two following
dynasties.1 Egyptian research has independently arrived at the
conclusion that the pyramid-builders were at least as old
as the fourth millennium before the Christian era. The
great pyramids of Gizeh were in course of erection, the
hieroglyphic system of writing was already fully deve-
1 The cubit of 20'63, quite different from the later Assyro-Baby-
lonian cubit of 2L6. See Flinders Petrie in Nature, Aug. 9, 1883,
p. 341. D

34 LECTURE I.
loped, Egypt itself was thoroughly organised and in the
enjoyment of a high culture and civilisation, at a time
when, according to Archbishop Usher's chronology, the
world was being created. The discoveries at Tel-loh
have revealed to us a corresponding period in the history
of Babylonia, earlier considerably than the age of Sargon
of Accad, in which we seem to find traces of contact
between Babylonia and the Egyptians of the Old Empire.
It would even seem as if the conquests of Naram-Sin in
Sinai were due to the fall of the Sixth Dynasty and the
overthrow of the power of the old Egyptian empire.
For some centuries after that event Egypt is lost to
history, and its garrisons and miners in the Sinaitic
peninsula must have been recalled to serve against
enemies nearer home.
If there is any truth in the arguments I have been
using, we may now, I think, accept with confidence the
date assigned to Sargon of Accad by Nabonidos, strange
as it may appear to read of expeditions undertaken by
Babylonian kings against Cyprus and Sinai at so remote
an epoch. Important results will follow from such a
conclusion for the history of Babylonian religion. We
shall have time enough for the slow absorption of Acea
dian religious ideas into the uncultured Semitic mind,
for the gradual transformation they underwent, and for
the development of those later forms of belief and practice
to which the main bulk of our materials relate. We
can now trace in some measure the modes in which
Aceadian and Semite acted and re-acted upon one another,
as well as the chief periods at which the influence of the
one or of the other was at its height.
The monuments of Tel-loh carry us back to a pre-

INTRODUCTORY. 35
Semitic era. The deities they commemorate are Proto-
Chaldsean, and we may gather from them some idea of
Proto-Chaldsean religion in the heyday of its power.
Babylonia was still divided into a number of petty states,
which were, however, at times united for a while under
a single head, and each state had its own peculiar cult.
Gradually the encroaching Semite dispossessed the older
dynasties and came to form an upper class, first of soldiers
and traders, and then of priests also, throughout the land.
It was in northern Babylonia probably that he made
his influence first felt. Here, at any rate, the kingdom
was founded which culminated in the brilliant reigns of
Sargon of Accad and his son Naram-Sin. Before this,
the old culture of the non-Semitic population had been
fully absorbed by the Semitic intruders. The intercourse
between the two races was already for the most part a
peaceful one. The great mass of the older people were
contented to till the ground, to irrigate the fields, and to
become the serfs of theb Semitic lords. But inter-mar
riages must have often taken place; members of the
same family bear sometimes Aceadian, sometimes Semitie
names, and the same king, whether Aceadian or Semite,
issues his edicts in both languages. The cuneiform
system of writing was handed on to the Semites while
still in an incomplete state. New values and meanings
were given to the signs, new characters and combinations
of characters were devised, and in writing Semitic words
the old ideographic usage of the Aceadian script con
tinued to be imitated. The process was aided by the
patronage afforded to literature in the court of Sargon.
Here Semitic and Aceadian scribes vied with one another
in compiling new texts and in making the old ones
d 2

36 LECTURE I.
accessible to Semitic learners. An artificial literary dia
lect sprang up, the basis of which was Semitic, but into
which Aceadian words and phrases were thrown pele-
mele. By way of revenge, the Aceadian texts which
emanated from the literati of the court were filled with
Semitic words and expressions. Sometimes they were
the work of Semites writing in a foreign language, some
times of Accadians who were living in an atmosphere
of Semitic life and thought.
What happened in the case of the language must have
happened also in the case of religion. We know that
many of the gods of the later Babylonian faith have
Aceadian names, and that the ideas connected with them
betray a non-Semitic origin ; we may therefore expect to
find Aceadian religious conceptions accommodated to those
of the Semite, and Semitic conceptions so closely inter
twined with Aceadian beliefs as to make it impossible for
us now to separate them. How far this is the case I
hope to point out in a future Lecture.
The fall of the dynasty of Sargon may have brought
with it a temporary revival of Aceadian supremacy. At
any rate, the Semitic element always remained strongest
in northern Babylonia : in southern Babylonia it seems
to me not impossible that one of the numerous dialects
of the old language may have lingered down to the time
of Nebuchadnezzar or Nabonidos. But even in northern
Babylonia the Semitic element was not pure. It mainly
represented the dominant class, and not the people as
well, as was the case in Assyria. The result is that the
Babylonian presents us with a moral and intellectual
"type which is not genuinely Semitic. To convince our
selves of this fact, it is only necessary to compare the

INTRODUCTORY. 37
Babylonian with his neighbour the Assyrian. The As-'
Syrian has all the characteristics of the Semite. His
hooked nose and angular features proclaim his origin on
the physical side as unmistakably as his intensity, his
ferocity, his love of trade and his nomadic habits pro
claim it on the moral side. The Babylonian, on the
other hand, was square-built and somewhat full-faced,
an agriculturist rather than a soldier, a scholar rather
than a trader. The intensity of religious belief which
marked the Assyrian was replaced in him by superstition,
and the barbarities which the Assyrian perpetrated in
the name of Assur and loved to record in his inscriptions
were foreign to his nature. If the Assyrian was the
Eoman of the ancient East, the Babylonians were the
Chinese. Nevertheless, the contrast of type displayed by the
two nations must have been the growth of centuries, and
due to that absorption of one race by another of which
Ireland furnishes so familiar an example. The Semites
of Babylonia — the Babylonians, as I will henceforth call
them — and the Assyrians must once have been the same
people. Assyrian and Babylonian differ only as two
English dialects differ, and are therefore known by the
common name of Assyrian ; and it was from Babylonia
that the Assyrians derived theb system of writing, the
greater part of theb literature, theb religion and theb
laws. It is true that some of this may have been bor
rowed in later times when the two kingdoms existed
side by side, or when Babylonia became the appanage
of its ruder but more warlike neighbour ; the mam. bulk,
however, like the language, must have been the heritage
which the ancestors of Sennacherib and Sardanapallos

38 LECTURE I.
carried with them into their northern home. The reli
gions of Babylonia and Assyria must be treated together ;
we shall find, indeed, that in certain particulars they
disagree ; but these particulars form no portion of theb
essential character ; they are merely unessentials which
can be put aside without injury to our view of the main
facts. But, it will be asked, what interest can the religions
of Babylonia and Assyria have for us, much more an
inquiry into theb nature and origin ? They have long
since perished, like the people who professed them, and
have left no apparent traces of theb influence upon the
nations about whom we know and care most. The
Greeks and Eomans concerned themselves so little with
these Eastern barbarians as neither to read nor to pre
serve the only Greek history of Chaldaea which was
written by a native and professed to be derived from
native accounts ; we owe the fragments we have of it to
the apologetic zeal of Christian controversialists. Still
less would it appear that these old people of Babylonia
and Assyria can have had any influence upon the world
of to-day, or have served to mould the ideas and the
society of modern Europe. Such questions may be asked,
and until lately it would have been hard to answer them.
And yet a moment's consideration might have shown
that there was one nation at all events which has exer
cised, and still exercises, a considerable influence upon
our own thought and life, and which had been brought
into close contact with the religion and culture of Baby
lonia at a critical epoch in its history. The influence of
Jewish religion upon Christianity, and consequently upon
the races that have been moulded by Christianity, has

INTRODUCTORY. 39
been lasting and profound. Now Jewish religion was
intimately bound up with Jewish history, more intimately
perhaps than has been the case with any other great
religion of the world. It took its colouring from the
events that marked the political life of the Hebrew
people ; it developed in unison with theb struggles and
successes, theb trials and disappointments. Its great
devotional utterance, the Book of Psalms, is national,
not individual ; the individual in it has merged his own
aspbations and sufferings into those of the whole com
munity. The course of Jewish prophecy is equally
stamped with the impress of the national fortunes. It
grows clearer and more catholic as the intercourse of the
Jewish people with those around them becomes wider ;
and the lesson is taught at last that the God of the Jews
is the God also of the whole world. Now the chosen
instruments for enforcing this lesson, as we are expressly
told, were the Assyrian and the Babylonian. The Assy
rian was the rod of God's anger,1 while the Babylonish
exile was the bitter punishment meted out to Judah for
its sins. The captives who returned again to theb own
land came back with changed hearts and purified minds ;
from henceforward Jerusalem was to be the unrivalled
dwelling-place of " the righteous nation which keepeth
the truth."
Apart, therefore, from any influence which the old
religious beliefs of Babylonia may have had upon the
Greeks, and which, as we shall see, was not so wholly
wanting as was formerly imagined, theb contact with
the religious conceptions of the Jewish exiles must, to
1 Is. x. 5.

40 LECTURE I.
say the least, have produced an effect which it is well
worth our while to study. Hitherto, the traditional
view has been that this effect exhibited itself wholly on
the antagonistic side; the Jews carried nothing away
from the land of their captivity except an intense hatred
of idolatry, more especially Babylonian, as well as of
the beliefs and practices associated therewith. Now and
then, it is true, some bold spbit, like Bishop Warburton,
may have ventured to propound the paradox that the
doctrine of the resurrection was first learnt by the Jews
in Babylonia, but it was treated generally as a paradox,
and of late years, if admitted at all, was considered a
proof of the influence not of the Babylonians but of
their Persian conquerors.
The traditional view had no facts to build upon except
such conclusions as it could draw from the Old Testament
itself. To-day all this is changed. We know something
now about the deities whom the Babylonians worshipped,
about the rites and ceremonies they practised, and about
the religious ideas they entertained. The result of this
knowledge is to show us that the Jews did not live in
the midst of the Babylonians for seventy years without
borrowing from them something more than the names of
the months. Nay more ; it shows us that the language
of the Babylonian conquerors was not the so-called
Chaldee, which is really an Aramaic dialect, but a lan
guage more closely resembling that of the exiles them
selves. It is true that a Jew could not have understood a
Babylonian, any more than a Welshman can understand
a Breton, but it was very easy for him to learn to
understand. Assyrian, that is to say the language of
Babylonia, is on the whole more nearly related to Hebrew

INTRODUCTORY. 41
than it is to any other member of the Semitic family of
speech. But it was not only through the Babylonian exile that
the religious ideas of the Babylonian and the Jew came
into contact with each other. It was then, indeed, that
the ideas of the conquering race — the actual masters of
the captives, who had long been accustomed to regard
Babylonia as the home of a venerable learning and
culture — were likely to make their deepest and most
enduring impression ; it was then, too, that the Jew for
the first time found the libraries and ancient literature
of Chaldaea open to his study and use. But old tradition
had abeady pointed to the valley of the Euphrates as
the primaeval cradle of his face. We all remember how
Abraham, it is said, was born in Ur of the Chaldees, and
how the earlier chapters of Genesis make the Euphrates
and Tigris two of the rivers of Paradise, and describe
the building of the Tower of Babylon as the cause of
the dispersion of mankind. Now the Hebrew language
was the language not only of the Israelites, but also of
those earlier inhabitants of the country whom the Jews
called Canaanites and the Greeks Phoenicians. Like
the Israelites, the Phoenicians held that theb ancestors
had come from the Persian Gulf and the alluvial plain
of Babylonia. The tradition is confirmed by the re
searches of comparative philology. Many of the words
which the Semites have in common seem to point to the
neighbourhood of Babylonia as the district from which
those who used them originally came, and where they
called the fauna and flora of the country by common
names. Theb first home appears to have been in the
low-lying desert which stretches eastward of Chaldsea —

42 LECTURE I.
on the very side of the Euphrates, in fact, on which
stood the great city of Ur, the modern Mugheb. Here
they led a nomad life, overawed by the higher culture
of the settled Aceadian race, until a time came when
they began to absorb it themselves, and eventually, as
we have seen, to dispossess and supersede theb teachers.
The tribes which travelled northward and westward
must, we should think, have carried with them some of
the elements of the culture they had learnt from theb
Aceadian neighbours. And such, indeed, we find to be
the case. The names of Babylonian deities meet us
again in Palestine and the adjoining Semitic lands.
Nebo, the Babylonian god of prophecy and literature,
has given his name to towns that stood within the terri
tories of Eeuben and Judah, as well as to the Moabite
mountain on which Moses breathed his last ; Anu, the
Babylonian god of heaven, and his female consort Anatu,
re-appear in Beth-Anath, "the temple of Anatu," and
Anathoth, the bbth-place of Jeremiah ; and Sinai itself is
but the mountain of Sin, the Babylonian Moon-god.1
We may thus assume that there were two periods in
the history of the Jewish people in which they came
under the influence of the religious conceptions of Baby
lonia. There was the later period of the Babylonish

1 That this is the true derivation of the name of Sinai and of the
desert of Sin is plain now that we know that the district in question
was possessed by Aramaic-speaking tribes whose kinsfolk spread east
ward to the banks of the Euphrates, and who were allied in blood to
the population of Moab and Canaan, where the names of Babylonian
deities were not unfrequent. The name of Sin, the Moon-god, is met
with in an Himyaritic inscription, and a god who thus found his way
to southern Arabia would be equally likely to find his way to northern
Arabia.

INTRODUCTORY. 43
exile, when the influence was strong and direct; there
was also the earlier period, when the amount of influence
is more hard to determine. Much will depend upon the
view we take of the age of the Pentateuch, and of the
traditions or histories embodied therein. Some will be
disposed to see in Abraham the conveyer of Babylonian
ideas to the west ; others will consider that the Israelites
made their first acquaintance with the gods and legends
of Babylonia through the Canaanites and other earlier
inhabitants of Palestine. Those who incline to the latter
belief may doubt whether the fathers of the Canaanitish
tribes brought the elements of their Babylonian beliefs
with them from Chaldaea, or whether these beliefs were
of later importation, due to the western conquests of
Sargon and his successors. Perhaps what I have to say
in my subsequent Lectures will afford some data for
deciding which of these conflicting opinions is the more
correct. Meanwhile, I will conclude this Lecture with a few
illustrations of the extent to which the study of Baby
lonian religion may be expected to throw light on the
earlier portions of Scripture. We have already noticed
the curious parallelism which exists between the legend
of Sargon's exposure in an ark of bubushes and the
similar exposure of the great Israelitish leader Moses on
the waters of the Nile. The parallelism exists even
further than this common account of theb infancy.
Sargon of Accad was emphatically the founder of Semitic
supremacy in Babylonia ; he was the great lawgiver of
Babylonian legend ; and to him was assigned the com
pilation of those works on astrology and augury from
which the wise men of the Chaldaeans subsequently

44 LECTURE I.
derived their lore. Moses was equally the legislator of
the Israelites and the successful vindicator of Semitic
independence from the exactions of Egyptian tyranny,
and future generations quoted the books of the Hebrew
law under his name. As we have seen, Sargon was a
historical personage, and popular tradition merely treated
him as it has treated other heroes of the past, by attach
ing to him the myths and legends that had once been
told of the gods.
Now the name of the great Hebrew legislator has long
been a puzzle and a subject of dispute. In the Hebrew
Old Testament it is connected with the Hebrew verb
mashdh, " to draw out," not, indeed, hi the sense that
Moses was he who had been drawn out of the water, for
this would not be grammatically permissible, though
Pharaoh's daughter puns upon the idea (Exod. ii. 10),
but in the sense of a leader who had drawn his people
out of the house of bondage and led them through the
waves of the sea. The translators of the Septuagint, on
the other hand, Hving as they did in Egypt, endeavoured
to give the word an Egyptian form and an Egyptian
etymology. With them the name is always Muira-r}?,
which Josephos tells us is derived from the Egyptian
words mo, "water," and uses, " saved from the water."1
But this etymology, apart from other imperfections,
depends upon the change the translators of the Septuagint
have themselves made in the pronunciation of the name.
Modern Egyptian scholars, equally willing to find for it
an Egyptian derivation, have had recourse to the Egyp->
tian messu or mes, " a son." This word, it is true, when
occurring in proper names is usually combined with the
1 Antiq. ii. 9. 6 ; Cont. Ap. i. 31.

INTRODUCTORY. 45
name of a deity ; Eameses, for example, the Sesostris of
the Greeks, being written in the hieroglyphics Ea-messu,
"born of the Sun-god." But it is. conceivable that we
might occasionally meet with it alone, and it is also con
ceivable, though not very probable, that the daughter of
the Egyptian king would assign to her adopted child the
simple name of " son." It is much less conceivable that
such an Egyptian name would be that by which a national
hero would be afterwards known to his Semitic country
men. It is difficult to believe that the founder of the
Israelitish people would have borne a title which the
Israelites did not understand, and which could remind
them only of that hated Egyptian land wherein they had
been slaves.
Josephos has preserved an extract from the Egyptian
historian Manetho, which relates the Egyptian version
of the story of the Exodus as it was told in the second
century before our era. In this it is stated that the
earlier name of Moses was Osarsiph, and that he had
been priest of Heliopolis or On. Here it is evident that
Moses and Joseph have been confounded together. The
name of Joseph, who married the daughter of the priest
of On, has been decomposed into two elements, the first
of which is the divine name Jeho, and this has been
changed into its supposed Egyptian equivalent Osar or
Osbis. It is clear that, whatever might have been his
opinion about the name of Joseph, Manetho had no doubt
that that of Moses was purely Israelitish. It was not until
he had become the Israelitish lawgiver and had ceased to
be an Egyptian priest that Osarsiph took the name of
"Moses. But Moses finds no satisfactory etymology in the

46 LECTURE I.
pages of the Hebrew lexicon. It stands alone among
Hebrew proper names, like Aaron and David. We do
not hear of any other persons who have borne the name.
If, therefore, it is Semitic, it must belong to an older
stratum of Semitic nomenclature than that preserved
to us in the Old Testament. We must look to other
branches of the Semitic stock for its explanation.
There is only one other branch of the Semitic family
whose records are earlier than those of the Hebrews.
Arabic literature begins long after the Christian era,
when Jewish and Greek and even Christian names and
ideas had penetrated into the heart of the Arabian penin
sula. The Arabic language, moreover, belongs to a
different division of the Semitic family of speech from
that to which Hebrew belongs. To compare Arabic and
Hebrew together is like comparing Latin with modern
German. There is, however, one Semitic language which
has the closest affinities to Hebrew, and this is also the
language of which we possess records older than those
of the Hebrew Scriptures. I need hardly say that I am
referring to Assyrian.
Now the Assyrian equivalent of the Hebrew Mosheh,
"Moses," would be mdsu, and, as it happens, mdsu is a
word which occurs not unfrequently in the inscriptions.
It was a word of Aceadian origin, but since the days of
Sargon of Accad had made itself so thoroughly at home.
in the language of the Semitic Babylonians as to count
henceforth as a genuinely Semitic term. Mdsu signified
as nearly as possible all that we mean by the word
"hero."1 As such, it was an epithet applied to more
1 Mdsu, "hero," has of course no connection with mdsu, "double,"
on which see Jensen, in the Zeitschrift fiir Assyriologie, i. 3, pp. 259,

INTRODUCTORY. 47
than one divinity; there was one god more especially
for whom it became a name. This god was the deity
sometimes called Adar by Assyrian scholars, sometimes
Nin-ip, but whose ordinary name among the Assyrians
is still a matter of uncertainty. He was a form of the
Sun-god, originally denoting the scorching sun of mid
day. He thus became invested with the sterner attri
butes of the great luminary of day, and was known to
his worshippers as " the warrior of the gods." The title
of Mdsu, however, was not confined to Adar. It was
given also to another solar deity, Merodach, the tutelar
god of Babylon and the antagonist of the dragon of
chaos, and was shared by him with Nergal, whose special
function it was to guard and defend the world of the
dead. But Nergal himself was but the sun of night, the
solar deity, that is to say, after he had accomplished his
daily work in the bright world above and had descended
to illuminate for a time the world below.
It will thus be seen that the name of mdsu, " the hero"
or "leader," was in a peculiar sense associated with the
Sun-god, the central object of primitive Semitic worship.
But it seems to have had another signification which it
is difficult to bring into connection with the ideas of
leadership and war. The character which represented
260. In W. A. I. iii. 70, 167, mdsu is rendered by asaridu, "first
born" or "leader" (in 1. 171 by ellu and ibbu, "illustrious"). Some
might perhaps see a reference to the other meaning of mdsu (" twin")
in the close association of Moses and Aaron. There is no difficulty
about the equivalence of the sibilants in the Hebrew and Assyrian
words, since the Hebrew shin corresponds with the Assyrian s in proper
names which, like Asshur, belong to the earlier period of Hebrew inter
course with Babylonia, and in words which are not proper names it
always corresponds. The name of Aaron, I may add, seems to find its
root in the Assyrian aharu, " to send."

48 LECTURE I.
the idea of mdsu or "hero," also represented the idea of
"a collection of books."1 With the determinative of
personality prefixed, it further denotes "a scribe" or
"librarian." It is at least remarkable that Moses the
Hebrew legislator was also the unwearied scribe to whom
Hebrew tradition referred the collection of its earliest
documents and the compilation of its legal code.
But it was in the signification of "hero" that the
Assyrian mdsu made its way into astrology, and was
thus carried wherever a knowledge of Chaldsean astro
logical lore was spread. The Accadians had pictured
the sky as the counterpart of the rich alluvial plain of
Babylonia in which they dwelt. In the remote age to
which their first observations of the stars reached back,
the sun still entered the zodiacal constellation known to
us as Taurus at the time of the vernal equinox. It is
in consequence of this fact that the constellation is even
yet called by us Taurus, " the bull." The sun was
likened by the old Aceadian star-gazers to a ploughman
yoking his oxen to his glittering plough; nay, he was
even likened to an ox himself; and the title given to
Merodach the Sun-god when he passed through the
twelve zodiacal signs was Gudi-bir, "the bull of light."
Hence it was that the ecliptic was termed " the yoke of
heaven," bound as it were upon the neck of the solar
bull ; that the first of the zodiacal signs, the opener of
the primitive Aceadian year, was called "the dbecting
bull," "the bull who guides" the year; and that two
prominent stars received the names of "Bull of Anu"
and "Bull of Eimmon." But as in the Babylonian
1 See W. A. L ii. 48. 25, 26, where mas is explained by
mu6are\

INTRODUCTORY. 49
plain below, so too in the plain of heaven above, there
were sheep as well as oxen. The seven planets were
"the seven bell-wethers," and by their side was another
group of seven stars, entitled "the lu-mdsi" or "sheep
of the hero."1 The first of these was "the star of the
wain ;" and among them were reckoned the star of " the
eagle," the symbol of the meridian sun, the star of the
goddess Bahu, "the pure wild heifer" of the. gods, and
the star "of the shepherd of the heavenly herds," the
hero "who fights with weapons." The last-mentioned
star is Eegulus, and in his Greek name of Bootes, "the
herdsman," we may see a lingering echo of the Aceadian
story which made its way through the hands of the
Phoenicians to Greece. Bootes, however, was not ori
ginally the " hero," one of whose flock he was himself
held to be. Mdsu, the "hero" of the astronomers, could
only have been the sun.
It is not more strange that a name thus intimately
associated with the religious and astrological beliefs of
Babylonia should have found its way to the west, than
that names like Nebo and Sin, which are similarly reli
gious and astrological, should have done, so too. Moses,
it will be remembered, died on the summit of Mount
Nebo in sight of the " moon-city" Jericho. Now Nebo,
1 Jensen has shown that mad in this combination was further used
in the sense of "twins," the stars composing the "lu-ni&si" being
grouped ae twins. It is an example of the obliteration of the original
signification of an epithet by a secondary one. "The sheep of the
hero," the Aceadian lu-mas, became the Semitic lu-mdsi, " the twin
oxen," lu being an Assyrian word for " ox.'' The "seven lu-bad," or
" old sheep," shows, however, what the primitive meaning of lu must
have been. E

50 LECTURE I.
as we shall see, was the prophet-god of Babylon and
Borsippa, the offspring of the Sun-god Merodach, and
the patron of writing and literature. He also figured
among the stars. Together with the stars of Istar and
Nergal, he was accounted one of the seven "heroes" or
mdsu. As Nebo was the interpreter of Merodach, so in
the language of astrology his star was itself a mdsu or
solar hero. Sin was the Babylonian name of the Moon-
god. We learn from a Himyaritic inscription that his
name had been carried into southern Arabia, and there
is therefore no reason why it should not have been im
ported into northern Arabia as well. And we seem to
meet with it in the name of the wilderness of Sin, to
which Moses conducted the children of Israel when they
had first left Egypt, before they arrived at Mount Sinai.
Sinai itself can scarcely signify anything else than the
mountain sacred to the Moon-god ; and we can therefore
well believe that a shrine of Sin may have existed upon
it, and pilgrims have made theb way to the sanctuary
long before the Israelites demanded their "three days'
journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord"
(Exod. viii. 27).
It is possible that the name of Joseph, like that cf
Moses, may receive its explanation from Babylonia.
Already at the time when the book of Genesis was
written, its original meaning seems to have been for
gotten. An alternative etymology is there proposed
(xxx. 23, 24), from dsdph, "to take away," and ydsdph,
" to add ;" while in the Psalms (lxxxi. 6) another deriva
tion is suggested, which would connect it (as was after
wards done by Manetho) with the sacred name of the

INTRODUCTORY. 51
God of Israel.1 Now Joseph was not only the father
of the Israelitish tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, he
was also a deity worshipped by the older inhabitants
of Canaan. More than two centuries before the date
assigned by Egyptologists to the Exodus, the great
Egyptian conqueror Thothmes III. inscribed upon the
walls of the temple of Karnak the names of the cities
captured by him in Palestine. Among them are Taqab-el,
"Jacob the God," and Iseph-el, "Joseph the God."
We are therefore tempted to think that the expression
"the house of Joseph" may have belonged to an earlier
period than that in which it was applied to the tribes of
Ephraim and Manasseh ; that, in fact, like Beth-el, " the
house of God," it was once used by the Canaanites in a
literal sense. Now Beth-el, we are told, the older name
of which was Luz, was taken by the house of Joseph,
and became in later times one of the two great sanctuaries
of the northern kingdom. What if Beth-el had itself
been the more ancient " house of Joseph ;" what if " the
house of the god" and "the house of Joseph" had in
Canaanitish days been one and the same ? The question
may receive an answer if we turn for it to the Assyrian
inscriptions. Here we find asipu or asip used in the
sense of " a diviner." The word was actually borrowed
by the Aramaic of Daniel under the form of ashsMph;2,
1 Manetho (ap. Joseph, cont. Ap. i. 28) states that the original
name of Moses was Osarsiph, and that he had been a priest of Helio-
polis or On. Osar-siph is simply Joseph, Osar or Osiris bein substi
tuted for Jeho (Jo) or Jahveh. Joseph, it will be remembered, married
the daughter of the priest of On.
2 We should have expected a scvmech instead of a shin ; the word,
however, must have been borrowed, since we do not meet with it else
where in the Old Testament. By the side of asipu we find isippu, tho

52 LECTURE I.
in old Hebrew and Phoenician, its form would have
more nearly approached that of Joseph. The asipu or
" diviner" plays a considerable part in the religious
literature of Babylonia, and the very phrase bit assaputi,
"the house of the oracle," is actually met with. A god
who seems to be Bel in his character of delivering oracles
through the voice of the thunder is called " the hero who
prophesies" or "divines uprightly." Although, there
fore, it is a point which cannot be proved at present, it
appears nevertheless probable that the name of Joseph
was originally identical with the Babylonian asipu, " the
god of the oracle ; " and that long before the Israelitish
house of Joseph took possession of Luz, it had been a
house of Joseph in another sense and the sanctuary of a
Canaanitish oracle.1
But whether or not we are to look to Babylonia for
an explanation of the name of Joseph, there is little
doubt that the Babylonian pantheon throws light on the
names of the three first kings of Israel. Some years
ago I endeavoured to show in the pages of the Modern
Review (January, 1884), that the names by which they
are known to history, Saul and David and Solomon,
were not the names they received in childhood, but
names subsequently applied to them and current among
the people. As regards the name of Solomon, we are
actually told that this was the case ; his original name —
the name given by the Lord through Nathan — was
name of a particular class of priests whose duties were confined to
soothsaying. It was from this word that the character which denoted
"speech" derived its value of isip. Siptu, "incantation," was en in
Aceadian. i Cf, Gen. xliv. 5

INTRODUCTORY. 53
Jedidiah, which was changed into Solomon, " the peaceful
one," when his father had "peace from all his enemies,"
and had surrounded his new capital of Jerusalem (perhaps
the city of "peace") with a single wall.1 That David's
first name was El-hanan (or Baal-hanan) has long been
suspected, since it is stated in one passage that Elhanan
the son of a Bethlehemite "slew Goliath the Gittite,
the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam,"2
while the feat is elsewhere ascribed to David; and at
the head of the thirty mighty men of David is placed
Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, where we should
probably read " Elhanan who is Dodo" or David.3 Saul,
too, is presumably of similarly popular origin, the name
Saul, " the one asked for," being singularly appropriate to
a king for whom, we are told, the people had " asked."
Now there is a curious parallelism between the three
first kings of Israel and the three last kings of Edom
enumerated in the 36th chapter of Genesis, where we
have, I believe, an extract from the state-annals of the
Edomites. Saul had "vexed" the Edomites,4 and David
had completed the conquest; but the accession of Solomon
and the murder of Joab brought with them almost imme-
1 2 Sam. xii. 24, 25. The verses should be rendered : " She bare a
son and his name was called Solomon ; and the Lord loved him, and
sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet and called his name Jedidiah,
because of the Lord."
2 2 Sam. xxi. 19, where Ya'arS, Y&'ur or Ya'ir, seems to be a cor
ruption of Jesse, and oregim, " weavers," has been repeated from the
following line. The text was already corrupt before the compilation of
1 Chron. xx. 5.
3 2 Sam. xxiii. 24. As thirty names follow that of Elhanan, he
cannot himself have been one of the thirty, and being ranked with
them must have been their head.
* 1 Sam. xiv. 47 ; see, too, xxii. 9.

54 LECTURE I.
diately the successful revolt of Edom under Hadad, who-
had married the sister of Pharaoh's queen.1 In strange
accordance with this, we find that the three last Edomite
kings mentioned in the list in Genesis were Saul, Baal-
hanan and Hadar — a name which must be corrected into
Hadad, as hi Hadarezer for Hadadezer. The kings of
Edom seem to have had a predilection for assuming the
names of the divinities they worshipped. We have
among them Hadad, the son of Bedad (or Ben-Dad),
Hadad and Dad being, as we learn from the cuneiform
inscriptions, titles of the supreme Baal in Syria, whose
attributes caused the Assyrians to identify him with
theb own Eimmon ; and Hadad was followed by Samlah
of Masrekah or the "Vine-lands," in whose name we
discover that of a Phoenician god recorded in a recently
found inscription as well as that of the Greek Semele.2
1 1 Kings xi. 19—25.
2 See the letters of Dr. Neubauer and myself in the Athenceum of
Sept. 12 and Sept. 26, 1885. As the worship of Dionysos, the Wine-
god, had been borrowed by the Greeks from the East, it had long been
assumed that the name of Semele' must be of Phoenician extraction ;
but it was only in 1884 that a Phoenician inscription was found in a
bay to the west of the Peiraeos containing the name Pen-'Samlath (" the
face of 'Samlath"). The first king of Edom mentioned in Gen. xxxvi.
is Bela the son of Beor, that is, Bileam or Balaam the son of Beor.
Dr. Neubauer has shown that Balaam is Bil-'am, " Baal is Am(mi),"
the supreme god of Ammon (as we have learned from the cuneiform
inscriptions), whose name enters into those of Jerobo-am and Behobo-
am. An Assyrian mythological tablet (W. A. I. ii. 54, 65) informs us
that Emu (US) was the Nergal of the Shuites on the western bank of
the Euphrates. The words with which the list of the Edomite kings
is introduced (" These are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom
before there reigned any king over the children of Israel") are of course
an addition by the Hebrew excerptist. It will be noticed that the
father of the last king in the list, Hadad II. (Hadar), is not mentioned,
while, contrary to the almost universal practice of the Old Testament,

INTRODUCTORY. 55
We need not be surprised, therefore, if the name of Saul
also turns out to be that of a divinity. We are told that
Saul came from "Eehoboth of the river" Euphrates;
and since Eehoboth means the public squares and suburbs
of a capital city, and is consequently used of Nineveh
in the book of Genesis (x. 11), we must look for the
Eehoboth of the Euphrates in Babylon. Now one of
the principal names under which the Sun-god was known
at Babylon was Savul or Sawul, which in Hebrew cha
racters would become Saul. In Saul, accordingly, I
think we may see a Babylonian deity transported to
Edom and perhaps also to Palestine.
Hadad occupied a higher position than Saul. He
was, as I have said, the supreme Baal or Sun-god, whose
worship extended southward from Carchemish to Edom
and Palestine. At Damascus he was adored under the
Assyrian name of Eimmon, and Zechariah (xii. 11) alludes
to the cult of the compound Hadad -Eimmon in the
close neighbourhood of the great Canaanitish fortress of
Megiddo. Coins bear the name of Abd-Hadad, "the
servant of Hadad," who reigned in the fourth century
at Hierapolis, the later successor of Carchemish, and,
under the abbreviated form of Dada, Shalmaneser speaks
the names of his wife and mother-in-law are given. This is explained
by 1 Kings xi. 19, where we are told that he was married to the sister
of Tabpenes the Egyptian queen. Mr. Tomkins is probably right in
identifying Tahpenes with the name of the frontier-fortress which was
known to the Greeks as Daphnse, and is now called Tel-Defeneh, so
that the introduction of the name into the text of the book of Kings
would be a marginal gloss. Mehetab-el and Me-zahab are apparently
the Semitic substitutes of Egyptian names such as the Egyptian monu
ments have made us familiar with. Me-zahab would presuppose an
Egyptian Nub, and Mr. Tomkins ingeniously suggests that Genubath,
the name of the son of Hadad, represents the Egyptian Ka-nub-ti.

56 LECTURE I.
of "the god Dada of Aleppo" (Khalman). The abbre
viated form was that current among the nations of the
north ; in the south it was confounded with the Semitic
word which appears in Assyrian as dadu, "dear little
child." This is the word which we have in Be-dad or
Ben-Dad, " the son of Dad," the father of the Edomite
Hadad; we have it also hi the David of the Old Testa
ment. David, or Dod, as the word ought to be read,
which is sometimes written Dodo with the vocalic suffix
of the nominative, is the masculine corresponding to a
Phoenician goddess whose name means "the beloved
one," and who was called Dido by the writers of Eome.
Dido, in fact, was the consort of the Sun-god, conceived
as Tammuz, "the beloved son," and was the presiding
deity of Carthage, whom legend confounded with Elissa,
the foundress of the city. In the article I have alluded
to above, I expressed my conviction that the names of
Dodo and David pointed to a worship of the Sun-god,
under the title of "the beloved one," in southern Canaan
as well as in Phoenicia. I had little idea at the time
how soon my belief would be verified. Within the last
year, the squeeze of the Moabite stone, now in the Louvre,
has been subjected to a thorough examination by the
German Professors Socin and Smend, with the result of
correcting some of the received readings and of filling
up some of the lacunae. One of the most important dis
coveries that have been thus made is that the Israelites
of the northern kingdom worshipped a Dodo or Dod by
the side of Tahveh, or rather that they adored the
supreme God under the name of Dodo1 as well as under
1 Written iTTn in the Moabite text, where he elsewhere takes the
place of the Hebrew waw.

INTRODUCTORY. 57
that of Yahveh. Mesha, the Moabite king, in describing
the victories which his god Chemosh had enabled him to
gain over his Israelitish foes, tells us that he had carried
away from Ataroth "the arel (or altar) of Dodo and
dragged it before Chemosh," and from Nebo "the arels
(or altars) of Yahveh," which he likewise " dragged before
Chemosh." Here the arel or "altar" of Dodo is placed
in parallelism with the arels of Yahveh ; and it is quite
clear, therefore, that Dodo, like Yahveh, was a name
under which the deity was worshipped by the people of
the land. I have suggested that Dod or Dodo was an
old title of the supreme God in the Jebusite Jerusalem,
and that hence Isaiah (v. 1), when describing Jerusalem
as the tower of the vineyard the Lord had planted in
Israel, calls him D6d-i, " my beloved." We can easily
understand how a name of the kind, with such a signifi
cation, should have been transferred by popular affection
from the Deity to the king of whom it is said that " all
Israel and Judah loved him" (1 Sam. xviii. 16).
That Solomon was a divine name we have the express
testimony of the cuneiform inscriptions for asserting.
Sallimmanu, "the god of peace," was a god honoured
particularly in Assyria, where the name of more than
one famous king (Shalman-eser) was compounded with
it. As the name of Nineveh was ideographically ex
pressed by a fish within a basin of water,1 while the
name itself was connected in popular etymology with
1 The ideograph also represented the name of the goddess Nina — a
word which means "the Lady" in Sumerian — who was the daughter
of Ea the god of Eridu (W. A. I. iv. 1, 38). There was a city or sanc
tuary in Babylonia of the same name (K 4629, Rev. 8), which explains
the statement of Kte'sias that Nineveh stood on the Euphrates (ap.
Diod. ii. 3).

58 LECTUEE I.
the Assyrian nunu, "a fish," it is possible that the cult
of Sallimman or Solomon in Assyria was due to the fact
that he was a fish-god, perhaps Ea himself. In a list of
the gods whose images stood hi the numerous temples of
Assyria (W. A. I. iii. 66, Rev. 40), mention is made of
"Sallimmanu the fish, the god of the city of Temen-
Sallim (the foundation of peace)." His worship was
carried westward at a comparatively early period, and
in the age of Shalmaneser II. the royal scribe at Sadikan,
now Arban on the Khabur, was named Sallimmanu-nunu-
sar-ilani, " Solomon the fish is king of the gods."1 So,
too, in the time of Tiglath-Pileser III. (B.C. 732) the
Moabite king was Salamanu or Solomon, a plain proof
both that the god was known in Moab, and also that in
Moab, as in Israel, the name of the god could be applied
to a man.
If a gleam of light has thus been cast by the monu
ments of Assyria and Babylonia upon the names of the
earlier kings of Israel, it is but feeble in comparison
with the illustrations they afford us of the ritual and
religious practices recorded in the Old Testament. The
ritual texts, fragmentary as they are, are numerous
among the debris of Assur-bani-pal's library, and the
references we find from time to time in the historical
inscriptions to religious rites and ceremonies give us
tantalising glimpses into the service and ceremonial of
the Assyro-Babylonian priesthood.
1 On a cylinder now in the British Museum. The inscription runs :
" The seal of Muses-Adar the scribe, the son of Adar-esses the scribe,
the son of Sallimanu-nun-sar-ilani the scribe." Sir A. H. Layard dis
covered winged bulls at Arban, inscribed with the words, " The palace
of Muses-Adar." For a representation of the seal, see George Smith's
Chaldean Genesis (ed. Sayce), p. 97.

INTRODUCTORY. 59
In Assyria the king himself performed many of the
functions of a high-priest. Like Solomon of Israel, he
could offer sacrifice and pour out libations to the gods.
Assur-ris-ilim is entitled "the appointed of the divine
father (Bel), the priest (iangu) of Assur;"1 Assur-natsir-
pal calls himself " the appointed of Bel, the priest (iangu)
of Assur, the son of Tiglath-Adar the appointed of
Bel, the priest of Assur, the son of Eimmon-nirari the
appointed of Bel, the priest of Assur ; " 2 Sargon is simi
larly " the appointed of Bel, the exalted priest (nu-es)
of Assur," as well as " the high-priest (patesi) of Assur ; "
while Nebuchadnezzar designates himself " the worship
per of Merodach, the supreme high-priest (patesi), the
beloved of Nebo."3 But the union of the two offices
was by no means necessary. In the far-off pre-Semitic
age there were kings of Tel-loh as well as pateiis or
high-priests of Tel-loh, and the kings did not take the
title of high-priest, while the high-priests did not take
the title of king. The earliest records of Assyria went
back to a period when as yet there were no kings, but
only "high-priests of Assur;"4 and among the objects
brought from Babylonia by Dr. Hayes Ward is a barrel-
shaped weight of green basalt, on which we read : " the
palace of Nebo-sum-esb the son of Dakur, the high-
priest (patesi) of Merodach." A distinction is carefully
drawn between "the king" and "the high-priest" in
the imprecation against the Yandals of the future attached
to an old historical text in the Aceadian language,5 and
the poet who embodied the Cuthaean legend of the crea-
1 W. A. I. iii. 3, 12. 2 W. A. I. iii. 3, 39.
8 W. A. I. i. 53, i. 5. * W. A. I. i. 15. 62, 63.
* W. A. I. iv. 12. 36. 37.

60 lecture i.
tion in his verses concludes by saying : " Thou, whether
king, high-priest, shepherd or any one else whom God
shall call to rule the kingdom, I have made for thee this
tablet, I have inscribed for thee this record-stone, in the
city of Cutha, in the temple of 'Sulim."1 Ktesias, there
fore, was justified in making a high-priest of his Baby
lonian Belesys — a, name, by the way, which appears in
the inscriptions, under the form of Balasu, as that of a
Babylonian prince in the time of Tiglath-Pileser III.2
The Semitic title of the high-priest (nisakku or issakku)
indicates that his main duty was to pour out libations
1 Patesi and nu-bs are rendered by the Assyrian nisakku and issakku.
These have nothing to do with an Aceadian nes, as Lotz supposed,
much less with nisu and ish, " a man," as Guyard suggested, but are
merely derivatives from the verb nasaku, "to pour out a libation,"
which occurs in the eleventh tablet of the Epic of Gisdhubar (col. vi.
1. 4). Patesi should probably be read khatteii or khuttedi, since the
country of that name is written indifferently pa-se-ki and pa-te-si-ki
(W. A. I. ii. 53, 13). The substitution of di (dig) for patesi or khatteii
in the penitential psalm (W. A. I. iv. 21, 45) seems due to a blunder
of the Semitic scribe, who read the first character (pa) as dig (see v.
19, 55). Nu-es, "the man of the temple," is a compound ideograph
of Semitic invention, which originated when false analogy had caused
the termination akku to be regarded as a separate suffix, so that the.
root of nisakku was supposed to be nis or nes. The old rendering of
¦pateii by " viceroy'' rested on a mistake ; the word always has reference
to the worship of a god. The Nebu-sum-esir mentioned in the text,
for instance, was not the viceroy of a king, but " the high-priest of
Merodach,'' who lived at Babylon by the side of the king. The analogy
of nisakku has created sakkanakku, " a high-priest," from sakanu, which
is borrowed from the Aceadian sagan (W. A. I. iii. 70, 40), the Zoganes
of Berossos.
2 Arbake's is equally the name of a Median chief mentioned by
Sargon, and Sargon himself may be the Akraganes whom Ktesias makes
the last king but one of Assyria. As Schrader points out (Keilin-
schriften und Geschichtsforschung, p. 516), in the time of Ktesias, Be
lesys was the Persian governor of Syria and Assyria, and Arbakes of
Media (Xenophon, Anab. vii. 8, 25).

INTRODUCTORY. 61
in honour of the gods, and the phrases in which the
word occurs show that he was attached to the cult of
the supreme god of the country in which he lived. At
Babylon it was Merodach from whom the high-priest
received his title ; at Nineveh it was Assur.
Under the high-priest several classes of subordinate
priests were ranged. There was the sangu, for example,
whose title interchanges at times with that of the high-
priest himself. The Sangu properly signified one who
was "bound" or attached to a particular deity or his
sanctuary, who was his slave and bondsman. The name
may therefore be compared with that of the Levites, if
the latter, too, are those who were "attached" to special
places of worship. At Nineveh there was a Sangu attached
to the harem which was under the protection of Istar,
as well as one who was entitled "the strong Sangu," and
who may accordingly be regarded as one of the chief
priests.1 By the side of the Sangu stood taepdsisu or " anointer,"
whose duty it was to purify with oil both persons and
things. The cleansing of objects by anointing them
with oil was considered a matter of great importance;
even the stone tablets and foundation-stones of a building
are ordered to be cleansed in this way. The use of
"pure water" for washing the hands and other parts of
the body occupies a conspicuous place in the ritual texts,
and in one of them we read the following instructions in
regard to a person who is undergoing purification : 2
1 W. A. I. ii. 31. 60, 61. The remains of the palace discovered by
Layard at Arban (the ancient Sadikan) belonged, according to the.
inscription on the bulls, to " Muses-Adar the priest" (dangu).
2 W. A. I. iv. 2G, 40 sq.

62 LECTURE I.
"Pure water give him to drink, and pour out the water
over the man; remove the root of the saffron (?),1 and
offer pure wine and pure yeast, and place on the heart
the fat of a crane2 which has been brought from the
mountains, and anoint the body of the man seven times."
Another class of priests were the kali, a word borrowed
by the Semites from the Aceadian kal, "illustrious."
The kalu was also termed labaru, " the elder," a word
again borrowed from the Aceadian lobar, which in Sume
rian appears in the earlier form of lagar? In the epic
of Gisdhubar, where Ea-bani(?) is describing the land
of Hades which he is doomed to enter, the lagaru and
the pdsisu, or "anointer," are mentioned along with the
isippu, or " soothsayer," and the makhkhu, or " great
one," from the Aceadian makh, in which Prof. Delitzsch
sees the "mag" or "(Eab-)mag" of the Old Testament.4
"(In the house, 0 my friend), which I must enter,"
Ea-bani is made to say, "(for me) is treasured up5 a
crown (among those who wear) crowns, who from days
of old have ruled the earth, (to whom) Anu and Bel
have given names of renown. Glory have they given
to the shades of the dead ; 6 they drink the bright waters.
1 Kurkane; in Aceadian, kwr-gi-in-na. 2 Kurke; Chaldee, kurKyd.
3 See Zimmern, Bab. Busspsalmen, p. 28, note 2. I may add that
the kali are the Galli or eunuch-priests of the Kappadokian goddess,
their Assyrian name having been borrowed along with the religious
rites over which they presided.
4 The makhkhu must have represented a subdivision of the isippi,
since in W. A. I. ii. 51, 55, the word is the equivalent of essepu, "the
priest of the god Nibatu." Cp. W. A. I. ii. 33, 31.
6 Kummusu; kamaiu means "to keep oneself," not "to bow" (as
Zimmern and Lyon).
6 Katsuti and katsdti, literally " fleshless ones ;" compare repliaim
in Is. xiv. 9. The ideograph translated kidstsii (W. A. I. iv. 15, 38) is

INTRODUCTORY. 63
In the house, 0 my friend, which I must enter dwell
the lord1 and the lagaru, dwell the soothsayer (isippu)
and the makhkhu, dwell the anointing priest of the
abysses of the great gods, the god Etann& and the god
Ner. (There dwells) the queen of the earth Nin-ki-gal ;
(there the Lady) of the field, the scribe of the earth,
bows before her ; (there she . . .) and makes answer in
her presence." 2
"The abysses" or "deeps" of the great gods is an
expression which requires explanation. The temples of
Babylonia were provided with large basins filled with
water and used for purificatory purposes, which resembled
" the sea" made by Solomon for his temple at Jerusalem,
and were called apSi, "deeps" or "abysses."3 It was
with these " deeps" that thepdsisu or " anointing priest,"
whose office it was to purify and cleanse, was specially
concerned. The basins doubtless stood in the open air,
in the great court within which the temple itself was
erected.

also rendered surpu, from rapd. The passage reads, dih (u) suruppu . . .
kutstsu, "lunacy, wasting fever . . . consumption." A synonym of
katsutu is tarpu (Aceadian dimme, " spectre"), the Hebrew teraphim
(see Neubauer in the Academy, Oct. 30, 1886).
1 Zimmern thinks that enu, " lord," denoted a class of priests ; but
this is unlikely, unless we suppose the word to be borrowed from the
Aceadian en, "an incantation" (Assyrian siptu). As, however, the
Assyrians formed enitu, " lady" (W. A. I. iii. 4, 55), from enu, this sup
position is improbable.
2 Haupt, Nimrodepos, pp. 17, 19. In 19, 47, we must read dup-
iarrat, " female scribe."
3 The ceremonies attending the construction of a bronze bull intended
to support one of these seas, are described in W. A. I. iv. 23, No. 1.
The "sea" is stated to have been placed "between the ears of the
bull" (line 17).

64 LECTURE I.
The description of E-Saggil, the temple of Bel-Merodach
at Babylon, which has been translated by Mr. George
Smith,1 states that here at least there was a second court,
that of "Istar and Zam&may besides the great court.
Within the latter was another walled enclosure, built in .
the form of a square, and containing the great siggurrat,
or "tower," as well as the temples and chapels of a large
number of deities. This agglomeration of sacred edifices
was due to the fact that the temple of Bel was a Baby
lonian Pantheon where the images and cult of the mani
fold gods of Chaldaea were gathered together. Where
the temple was dedicated to one divinity only, there was
of course only one building.
In one particular, however, the temple of Bel-Merodach
differed from that of every other Babylonian temple with
which we are acquainted. This is in its orientation. Its
sides face the four points of the compass, whereas in the
case of the other, temples it is the corners that do so.
The cause of this departure from the usual canons of
Babylonian sacred architecture has still to be discovered.
Within, the temple bore a striking likeness to that of
Solomon. At the extreme end was the pardku, or "holy
of holies," concealed by a curtain or veil from the eyes
of the profane.2 Here, according to Nebuchadnezzar,
was "the holy seat, the place of the gods who determine
destiny, the spot where they assemble together (?),3 the
shrine (parak) of fate, wherein on the festival of Zagmuku
at the beginning of the year, on the eighth and the
eleventh days, the divine king of heaven and earth, the
1 See Appendix II. 2 Hence the name pardku, Heb. parocheth,
3 So Flemming, Die grosse Steinplatteninschrift Nebukadnezars,
p. 37.

INTRODUCTORY. 65
lord of the heavens, seats himself, while the gods of
heaven and earth listen to him in fear (and) stand bowing
down before him." x Here, too, Herodotos tells us (i. 183),
was a golden image of the god, with a golden table in
front of it like the golden table of shewbread in the
Jewish temple.2
The little chapel of Makhir, "the god of dreams,"
discovered by Mr. Hormuzd Eassam at Balawat, near
Mosul, gives us further information about the internal
arrangement of the shrine. In this, Mr. Eassam found
a marble coffer containing two stone tablets which recorded
Assur-natsb-pal's victories and the erection of the chapel.
The coffer and its contents remind us forcibly of the
Israelitish ark with its " two tables of stone" (1 Kings
viii. 9). Before the coffer, at the north-west of the
chamber, was an altar of marble ascended by five steps,
where another stone tablet was disinterred similar to
those hi the coffer. The gates that led to this temple of
Makhir were coated with plates of embossed bronze,
which are now in the British Museum. The great temple
of Bel-Merodach at Babylon was adorned in a more

1 W. A. I. i. 54, ii. 54—62.
2 There seems to be evidence that the institution of the shewbread
was known in Babylonia. In a fragment of a bilingual phrase-book
(K 4207) we read (lines 8, 9), (Ace.) mulu sagar-an-tug-a S-gur al-mur-
ra-in-u-ne, which is translated biruta bit agurri ipallas, " the food-
provider looks down upon the house of brick." (For ipallas, see
W. A. I. iv. 17, 26, where the corresponding Aceadian verb appears
as ide-minin-barren.) In W. A. I. ii. 44, 74, birutu is the rendering
of the Aceadian dur (ki-gal), out of the ideographic representation of
which the Semitic scribes by an erroneous reading formed the word
Jciqallu. Now in W. A. I. iv. 13, 12, we find ina kisal-makhkhi kigalld
luramdta; "on the high altar mayest thou found a place of feeding,"
i.e. a table of shewbread. F

66 LECTURE I.
costly way. Its cedar-work was overlaid by Nebuchad
nezzar with gold and silver, while its furniture, like that
of Solomon's temple, was of " massive gold."
The coffer of the little temple of Imgur-Bel, or Balawat,
resembled in form the arks, or "ships" as they were
termed, in which the gods and theb symbols were carried
in religious processions.1 It thus gives us a fab idea of
what the Israelitish ark of the covenant must have been
like. It, too, was a small shrine of rectangular shape,
carried by means of staves passed through rings at its
four corners. It is somewhat curious that the Assyrian
ark should have assumed this shape. The name by
which it went to the last was that of "ship," a proof
that it was originally in the form, not of an ark, but of a
ship. The same transformation is observable in the
Biblical account of the Deluge as compared with that of
the cuneiform inscriptions; here also "the ship" of the
Babylonian version has become "an ark." But the fact
that the arks of the Babylonian gods were once ships
points to a period when the first who made use of them
were dwellers by the sea-shore. We are referred back
to the ancient Chaldaean city of Eridu, on the shores of
the Persian Gulf, from whence, as we shall see hereafter,
the religion and religious ceremonies of pre -Semitic
Babylonia had once spread. The gods of Eridu were
water-gods, and, like the deities of Egypt, had each his
sacred ship. These ships occupied an important place
in the Babylonian ritual; they all had special names,
1 In Layard's Monuments of Nineveh, pi. 65, the images of the
gods are represented as standing upon platforms (or boats 1) which are
carried on men's shoulders, two men supporting one end of each plat
form and two men the other.

INTRODUCTORY. C7
and were the visible abodes of the divinities to whom
they belonged. Let us listen, for instance, to an old
hymn that was recited when a new image of the god
was made in honour of " the ship of enthronement," the
•papakh or " ark" of Merodach :
"Its helm is of cedar (?) wood
Its serpent-like oar has a handle of gold.
Its mast is pointed with turquoise.
Seven times seven lions of the field (Eden) occupy its deck.
The god Adar fills its cabin built within.
Its side is of cedar from its forest.
Its awning is the palm (?) wood of Dilvun.
Carrying away (its) heart is the canaL
Making glad its heart is the sunrise.
Its house, its ascent, is a mountain that gives rest to the heart.
The ship of Ea is Destiny.
Nin-gal, the princess (Dav-kina), is the goddess whose word is life.
Merodach is the god who pronounces the good name.
The goddess who benefits the house, the messenger of Ea the
ruler of the earth, even Nan-gar (the lady of work), the
bright one, the mighty workwoman of heaven, with pure
(and) blissful hand has uttered the word of life :
' May the ship before thee cross the canal !
May the ship behind thee sail over its mouth !
Within thee may the heart rejoicing make holiday I'"1
The hymn was an heirloom from Sumerian Eridu. It
had come down from the days when Merodach was not
as yet the god of Babylon, but was the son of Ea, the
water-god of Eridu. It is written in Aceadian, and no
Semitic translation is attached to it ; it is even possible-
that some of the expressions used hi the hymn had ceased
to be intelligible to the priests of E-Saggil who recited
it.2 At all events, the references to the ship of the deity

i W. A. I. ii. 25, 9—32.
a I need hardly observe that the Sumerian word Sgur, " side," Smvr
(Swiir) in the northern dialect of Accad,. has nothing" to . do with the .
r2

68 LECTURE I.
were no longer applicable in the Semitic age of Babylon.
The md or "ship" of the pre-Semitic Sumerians had
then become the papakhu or " ark" of the Semites ; helm
and oar and mast had alike disappeared, and it was no
longer required to sail across the sacred canals of the
temples, but was carried on the shoulders of men.
The festivals at which such arks were borne in pro
cession were naturally numerous in a country where
divinities innumerable were adored. The festival of
Zag-mu-ku, mentioned by Nebuchadnezzar as having been
held at Babylon at the beginning of the year, is possibly
the Sakaean feast of the classical writers, when a slave
was dressed in the robes of a king.1 The service at the
temple of Bel-Merodach which was opened by the hymn
in honour of his ark, was accompanied by another specially
commemorating the festival itself:2
" The day the (image of the) god has been made, he has caused the
holy festival3 to be fully kept.
Semitic igaru, "a heap" ("wall"), though the scribes of Semitic Baby
lonia afterwards confounded the two words together.
1 The month, however, does not agree in the case of the two feasts.
Athenseos (Deipn. xiv.) says : " Ber6ssos in the first book of his Baby
lonian History states that in the 11th month, called L6os, is celebrated
the feast of Sakeea, for five days, when it is the custom that the masters
should obey their servants, one of whom is led round the house, clad
in a royal robe, and called ZoganeV The Zoganes was the Aceadian
sagan, borrowed as sakanu by Semitic Babylonian (W. A. I. iii 70, 40,
ii. 51, 31), probably from saga, "head." Sakkanakku, "high-priest,"
is a derivative.
» W. A I, iv. 25, 39 sq.
8 Azkaru, " commemoration-feast." The corresponding Aceadian udtt-
iar is "a day of commemoration ;" in W. A. I. iv. 23, 1, dar alone is
rendered isinnu, " festival." In K 2107, 14, it is translated sipat, "an
incantation" or hymn ; hence we read in a fragment (E 528) : "At dawn
(repeat) a hymn in the presence of Merodach, (then) four hymns to Ea
the holy god of Eridu." Then follow the incantations or hymns.

INTRODUCTORY. 69
The god has risen among all lands.
Lift up the (nimbus of) glory, adorn thyself with heroism, 0 hero
perfect of breast,
bid lustre surround this image, establish veneration.
The lightning flashes; the festival appears like gold;1
in heaven the god has been created, on earth the god has been
created !
This festival has been created among the hosts of heaven and earth.
This festival has issued forth from the forest of the cedar-trees.
The festival is the creation of the god, the work of mankind.
Bid the festival be fully kept for ever ;
according to the command of the valiant golden god.2
This festival is a sweet savour even when the mouth is unopened,
(a pleasant taste) when food is uneaten and water un(drunk)."
No better idea can be formed of the number and variety
of the Babylonian feasts than by reading a hemerology
of the intercalary month of Elul, where we find that
every day is dedicated to one or other of the gods, and
certain rites and ceremonies prescribed for each.3 We
1 In the Assyrian translation, " brilliantly."
2 Aceadian : " Pronounce for ever the festival completed, through
the creative message of the valiant golden god ;'' Assyrian : " In per
petuity for ever cause (the festival) to be complete, by the command of
the same god (who) brought (it) about."
8 With this hemerology may be compared the following liturgical
fragment (K 3765):
2. On the 9th day there is no going forth ; to the sun and moon
his offerings (nindabid) he makes.
3. On the 10th day .... there is no going forth ....
4. On the 11th day to the sun and moon his offerings he makes ;
the man (is pure) as the Sun-god.
5. On the 12th day to the sun and moon his offerings he makes ;
an eclipse takes place ; there is harm (boded to his) house.
6. On the 13th day to the moon his offerings he makes. To the
moon he .... ; the man approaches the moon in prayer.
7. On the 14th day to the sun and moon he does not present his
sin-offering (mukhibilti) ; ' receive my prayer' he does not say.
The moon and the sun draw near to Anu.

70 ~; LECTURE I,
learn from the colophon that it was the seventh of a
series of tablets which must have furnished the Baby
lonian with a complete "saints' calendar" for the whole
year. So careful was he not to lose an opportunity of
keeping holiday hi honour of his deities, that even the
intercalary months, which were rendered necessary from
time to time by the frequent disorder of the calendar,
were included in the series. Besides the festivals of the
regular Elul, there were consequently the festivals of a
second Elul whenever the priests deemed it needful to
insert one hi the calendar. Hence, as the regular Elul
was the sixth month of the year, our tablet is the seventh
of the series.
" The month of the second Elul. The first day (is dedicated) to Anu
and Bel. A day of good luck. When during the month the moon is
seen, the shepherd of mighty nations1 (shall offer) to the moon as a
free-will offering2 a gazelle without blemish .... he shall make his
free-will offering to the Sun the mistress of the world, and to the Moon
the supreme god.3 He offers sacrifices. The lifting up of his hand
finds favour (magir) with the god.
The second day (is dedicated) to the goddesses [the two Istars]. A
lucky day. The king makes his free-will offering to the Sun the mis
tress of the world, and the Moon the supreme god. Sacrifices he offers.
The lifting up of his hand he presents to the god.
8. On the 15 th day to the sun and the moon he makes his offer
ings. The sun and the moon behold his offerings. His sin-
offering he does not present ; ' receive my prayer' he does
not say. On this day, during the day he approaches the sun
in prayer. There is no going forth. On this day his wife is
pregnant."
1 This title refers us to the age of Kkammuragas as the period when
the work was composed.
2 Nindabu, Heb. nedhdbhdh. The Aceadian equivalent is " the dues
of the goddess."
a The fact that the Sun is here a goddess shows that the hemerology
has no connection with Sippara. It may have originated in Ur.

INTRODUCTORY. 71
The 3rd day (is) a fast-day,1 (dedicated) to Merodach and Zarpanit
A lucky day. During the night, in the presence of Merodach and Istar,
the king makes his free-will offering. He offers .sacrifices. The lifting
up of his hand finds favour with the god.
The 4th day (is) the feast-day2 of Nebo (the son of Merodach). A
lucky day. During the night, in the presence of Nebo and Tasmit,
the king makes his free-will offering. He offers sacrifices. The lifting
up of his hand he presents to the god.
The 5th day (is dedicated) to the Lord of the lower firmament and
the Lady of the lower firmament. A lucky day. During the night,
in the presence of Assur3 and Nin-lil, the king makes his free-will
offering. He offers sacrifices. The lifting up of his hand finds favour
with the god.
The 6th day (is dedicated) to Eimmon and Nin-lil. A lucky day.
The king (repeats) a penitential psalm and a litany. During the night,
before the east wind, the king makes his free-will offering to Eimmon.
He offers sacrifices. The lifting up of his hand he presents to the god.
The 7th day is a fast-day, (dedicated) to Merodach and Zarpanit. A
lucky day. A day of rest (Sabbath). The shepherd of mighty nations
must not eat flesh cooked at the fire (or) in the smoke. His clothes he
must not change. White garments he must not put on. He must not
offer sacrifice. The king must not drive a chariot. He must not issue
royal decrees. In a secret place the augur must not mutter. Medicine
for the sickness of his body he must not apply.4 For making a curse it
is not fit. During the night the king makes his free-will offering before
1 Nubattu, borrowed from the Aceadian nu-bad, " incomplete." The
Assyrian equivalent is yum idirtu, " day of mourning," W. A. I. ii.
32, 13. The third of the month Ab was the nubat of Merodach, ac
cording to Assur-bani-pal.
2 Yum ab-ab. Ab-ab is stated to be equivalent to epu in S 1720, 16,
for which Zimmern's signification of " cooking food" is probably correct,
since the next line of the tablet speaks of " the house of the dark flesh
of Ea." Sargon laid the foundations of his new city on this day (ac
cording to his cylinder, line 59).
3 The Assyrian scribe has here substituted " Assur" for the original
Mul-lil of the text.
* Literally, "he must not bring medicine to his disease of body;"
see Zeitschrift fiir Keilschriftforschung, ii. 1, pp. 2—4. Lotz translates,
but wrongly, "magus segroto manum suam ne applicato."

72 LECTURE I.
Merodach and Istar. He offers sacrifice. The lifting up of his hand
finds favour with the god.
The 8th day (is) the feast of Nebo. A lucky day. During the night
the shepherd of mighty nations directs bis hand to the sacrifice of a
sheep. The king makes his vow to Nebo and Tasmit. He offers
sacrifice. The lifting up of his hand he presents to the god.
The 9tb day (is dedicated) to Adar and Gula. A lucky day. During
the night, in the presence of Adar and Gula, the king makes his free
will offering. He offers sacrifice. The lifting up of his hand he pre
sents to the god.
The 10th day (is dedicated) to the Mistress of the lower firmament and
the divine Judge.1 A lucky day. During the night, in the presence of
the star of the chariot and the star of the son of Istar, the king makes
his free-will offering. He offers sacrifice. The lifting up of his hand
finds favour with the god.
The 11th day is the completion of the meal-offering2 to Tasmit and
Zarpanit. A lucky day. When the moon3 lifts up (its) crown of
moonlight, and (its) orb rejoices, the king makes his free-will offering
to the moon. He offers sacrifice. The lifting up of his hand finds
favour with the god.
The 12th day is the gift-day of Bel and Beltis. A lucky day. The
king makes his free-will offering to Bel and Beltis. He offers sacrifices.
The lifting up of his hand finds favour with the god.
The 13th day (is sacred) to the Moon the supreme god. A lucky
day. The moon lifts up (its) crown of moonlight towards the earth.
On this day assuredly the king makes his free-will offering to the Sun-
god the mistress of the world, and the Moon the supreme god. He
offers sacrifice. The lifting up of his hand finds favour with the god.
The 14th day (is sacred) to Beltis and Nergal. A lucky day. A
Sabbath. The shepherd of mighty nations must not eat flesh cooked
on the fire (or) in the smoke. The clothing of his body he must not
change. White garments he must not put on. He must not offer
sacrifice. He must not drive a chariot. He must not issue royal
1 The divine judges were twenty-four stars associated with the Zodiac,
twelve being north and twelve south, according to Diodoros (ii. 30).
See W. A. I. ii. 58, 17, iii. 66, 1—9, 16, 22.
2 Maniti, Heb. minklidh. There was another word manitu, "a couch"
(W. A. I. ii. 23, 57).
3 Arkhu, as in Hebrew, one of the few instances in which the word
is used in Assyrian.

INTRODUCTORY. 73
decrees. (In) a secret place the augur must not mutter. Medicine for
the sickness of his body he must not apply. For making a curse it is
not fit. In the night the king makes his free-will offering to Beltis
and Nergal. He offers sacrifice. The lifting up of his hand finds
favour with the god.
The 15th day (is sacred) to the (Sun the) Lady of the House of
Heaven. (A day for) making the stated offering1 to Sin the supreme
god. A lucky day. The king makes his free-will offering to Samas
the mistress of the world, and Sin the supreme god. He offers sacrifice.
The lifting up of his hands finds favour with the god.
The 16th day (is) a fast-day to Merodach and Zarpanit. A lucky
day. The king must not repeat a penitential psalm. In the night,
before Merodach and Istar,2 the king presents his free-will offering.
He offers sacrifice. The lifting up of his hands finds favour with the
god. The 17th day (is) the feast-day of Nebo and Tasmit. A lucky day.
In the night, before Nebo and Tasmit, the king presents his free-will
offering. He offers sacrifice. The lifting up of his hands finds favour
with the god.
The 18th day (is) the festival (idinnu) of Sin and Samas. A lucky
day. The king presents his free-will offering to Samas the mistress of
the world, and Sin the supreme god. He offers sacrifice. The lifting
up of his hands finds favour with the god.
The 19th day (is) the white3 day of the great goddess Gula. A
lucky day. A Sabbath. The shephed of mighty nations must not eat
that what is cooked at the fire, must not change the clothing of his
body, must not put on white garments, must not offer sacrifice. The
king must not drive (his) chariot, must not issue royal decrees. The
augur must not mutter (in) a secret place. Medicine must not be
applied to the sickness of the body. For making a curse (the day) is
1 Nikadu, W.A.I, v. 11, 4, as corrected. Here the Aceadian and
Sumerian equivalents are given of the Semitic nindabu, " a free-will
offering" (nddab), taklimu, " offering of shewbread," kistu, " a tribu
tary offering," and nikadu, "a stated offering" or "korban" (Ass. kir-
bannu), nindabu and taklimu being alike translations of the Accado-
Sumerian " dues of the goddess."
8 Istar is here identified with Zarpanit.
8 jppu which like its synonym ellu (Heb. hdlal, comp. hillulim,
Lev. xix. 24), has the secondary meaning of "holy." Compare the
Latin " dies candidus."

74 LECTURE I.
not suitable. The king presents his free-will offering to Adar and
Gula. He offers sacrifice. The lifting up of his hands finds favour
with the god.
The 20th day (is) a day of light,1 the gift-day of Sin and Samas.
A lucky day. The king presents his free-will offering to Samas the
mistress of the world, and Sin the supreme god. He offers sacrifice.
The lifting up of his hand finds favour with the god.
The 21st day (is the day for) making the stated offering to Sin and
Samas. A lucky day. A Sabbath. The shepherd of mighty nations
must not eat flesh cooked at the fire or in the smoke, must not change
the clothing of his body, must not put on white garments, must not
offer sacrifice. The king must not drive (his) chariot, must not issue
royal decrees. The augur must not mutter (in) a secret place. Medi
cine must not be applied to the sickness of the body. For making a
curse (the day) is not suitable. At dawn the king presents his free
will offering to Samas the mistress of the world, and Sin the supreme
god. He offers sacrifice. The lifting up of his hand finds favour with
the god.
The 22nd day (is the day for) making the stated offering to (Sin and)
Samas. (It is) the festival of the (Sun the) mistress of the Palace.
A lucky day. The king presents his free-will offering to Samas the
mistress of the world, and (Sin the supreme god). He offers sacrifice.
The lifting up of his hand finds favour with the god.
The 23rd day (is) the festival of Samas and Eimmon. A lucky day.
The king presents his free-will offering to Samas and Eimmon. He
offers sacrifice. The lifting up of his hand finds favour with the god.
The 24th day (is) the festival of the Lord of the Palace and the
Mistress of the Palace. A lucky day. The king presents his free-will
offering to the Lord of the Palace and the Mistress of the Palace. He
offers sacrifice. The lifting up of his hand finds favour with the
god. The 25th day (is) the processional day2 of Bel and Beltis of Babylon.
A lucky day. In the night the king presents his free-will offering to
Bel before the star of the Foundation, and to Beltis of Babylon before
the star of the Chariot. He offers sacrifice. The lifting up of his
hand finds favour with the god.
The 26th day (is the day) of the establishment of the enclosing wall

2 Probably the ideographic mode of representing ipp4.
8 Sadliakhu, literally " marching."

INTRODUCTORY. 75
of Ea the supreme god. A lucky day.1 The king must repeat (?) a
penitential psalm whatever (?) he may present. That day at nightfall
he makes a free-will offering to Ea the supreme god. He offers sacri
fice. The lifting up of his hand finds favour with the god.
The 27th day (is the day) of the chase2 of Nergal (and) the festival
of Zikum. A lucky day. The king presents his free-will offering to
Nergal and Zikum. He offers sacrifice. The lifting up of his hand
finds favour with the god.
The 28th day (is sacred) to Ea. (It is) the day of the resting of
Nergal. A lucky day. A Sabbath. The shepherd of great nations
must not eat flesh cooked at the fire or in the smoke, must not change
the clothing of his body, must not put on white garments, must not offer
sacrifice. The king must not drive a chariot. He must not issue royal
decrees. (In) a secret place the augur must not mutter. Medicine for
the sickness of the body must not be applied. For making a curse (the
day) is not suitable. To Ea the supreme god (the king) presents (his
free-will offering). He offers sacrifice. The lifting up of his hand finds
favour with the god.
The 29th day (is) the day of the resting of the Moon-god. The day
when the spirits of heaven and earth are adored. A lucky day. The
king presents his free-will offering to Sin the supreme god. He offers
sacrifice. The lifting up of his hand finds favour with the god.
The 30th day (is sacred) to Anu and Bel. A lucky day. The king
presents his free-will offering to Anu and Bel. He offers sacrifice.
The lifting up of his hand finds favour with the god.
The 2nd month of Elul from the 1st to the 30th day, if the king
restores either his god or his goddess or his gods who have been expel
led, that king has the divine colossus as his god.
In the second Elul the king of the country gives a name to the temple
of the god. Whether he builds a shrine (or) .... his heart is not good.
1 Nadu amari (sub b-muk, like ingar, Ass. igaru, "an enclosing
wall," W. A. I. ii. 15, 36).
2 Me-lul-ti, "park" or "chase;" see W.A.I, i. 7, B 2 ; 82. 8—16,
1, Rev. 6, where esemen is the Aceadian, and melulti sa Istari the
Assyrian, equivalent of ki-e-ne-m-innana ; S 704, 21 (" they enclosed
the place of melulti"); K161, Rev. iii. 7, where melulti is in paral
lelism with tarbatsi, " stall," duburi, "cote," dukulli, " stable,'' sigari,
"cage," irriri, "lair," and irsi, "bed;" S526. 23, 25 ("the place of
the melulti thou dost not plant, thou dost not cause the little ones to
come out of the place of the melultV).

76 LECTURE I.
In the second Elul the king restores the sacrifice (makhru).
[Beginning of the next tablet of the series] : — The month Tisri (ia
sacred) to Samas the warrior of mankind. (These are) the command
ments of Bel-khummu (the priest) on the first day (sacred) to Anu and
Bel. [Colophon.] — The 8th tablet (of the series beginning) 'The Moon
the lord of the month.' The possession of Assur-bani-pal, the king of
multitudes, the king of Assyria."
One of the most interesting facts that result from this
hemerology is, that the Sabbath was known to the Baby
lonians and Assyrians. Its institution must have gone
back to the Aceadian epoch, since the term used to repre
sent it hi the text is the Aceadian udu khulgal, "an
unlawful day," like the Latin "dies nefastus," which is
rendered by sulum, or " rest-day," in Assyrian.1 Semitic
Babylonian, however, possessed the term Sabbath as
well, and a vocabulary explains it as being "a day of
rest for the heart."2 Like the Hebrew Sabbath, it was
1 W. A. I. iii. 56, 53.
2 W. A. I. ii 32, 16, yum nukh libbi = sabattuv. In the new edition
of the Encyclopedia Britannica, the reading sabattuv in this passage is
called a "textual emendation" made by Delitzsch. This, however, is
a mistake. It is the reading of the original tablet, and the published
text was corrected by myself long before Delitzsch re-examined the
original. The Encyclopedia Britannica. makes another strange state
ment in describing the Hebrew Sabbath as a day "of feasting and
good cheer." It was, on the contrary, a day of rest (Gen. ii. 2, 3 ; Ex.
xx. 10), " the holy day" on which the Jew was forbidden to do his
own pleasure — " not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own
pleasure, nor speaking thine own words" (Is. lviii. 13) — in exact con
formity with the regulations of the Babylonian Sabbath. The compiler
of the text ( W. A. I. ii. 32) in which sabattuv is explained as " a day
of rest of the heart," evidently regarded the word as derived from the
Aceadian sa-bat, " heart-resting," and he certainly had in support of
his view the similar term nubattu, from the Aceadian nu-bat. The
Assyrian verb sabatu is given as a synonym of gamaru, " to complete,"
in W.A.I, v. 28, 14.

INTRODUCTORY. 77
observed every seventh day, and was obviously connected
with the seventh-day periods of the moon.
But there were two respects in which it differed from
the Hebrew institution. Among the Israelites, "the
Sabbaths" and "the new moons" were separate from
one another ; among the Babylonians, they coincided in
so far as the Sabbath fell on the first day of the lunar
month. Consequently, since the month consisted of thirty
days, the last week contained nine days. In the second
place, the 19th of the intercalary Elul was also a Sabbath.
Why it should have been so I cannot pretend to say.
Besides the stated festivals and Sabbaths, extraordinary
days of thanksgiving or humiliation were ordained from
time to time. In the closing years of the Assyrian
empire, when her foes were gathering around her, the
last king, Esarhaddon II., prayed to the Sun-god that
he would "remove the sin" of his people, and ordered
the khal, or " prophet," to prescribe " the legal solemnities
(mesari iSinni) for a hundred days and a hundred nights,"
from the 3rd of Iyyar to the 15th of Ab.1 So, too,
Assur-bani-pal tells us, that after suppressing the revolt
in Babylonia and removing the corpses that had choked
the streets of the Babylonian cities, " by the command
of the augurs (isipputi)" he " purified theb shrines and
cleansed their chief places of prayer. Their angry gods
and wrathful goddesses he soothed with supplications
and penitential psalms. He restored and established in
peace their daily sacrifices, which they had discontinued,
as they had been hi former days."2
The sacrifices and offerings of the Babylonians and

1 K 4668, 2, 3. a W. A. I. v. 4, 86 sq.

78 LECTURE I.
Assyrians closely resembled those of the Israelites. Like
the latter, they were divided into sacrifices of animals,
such as oxen, sheep or gazelles, and offerings of meal
and wine. Wine was poured over the victim or the altar.
When the effeminate Assur-bani-pal had slaughtered a
battue of caged lions, he " set up over them the mighty
bow of Istar, the lady of war, presented offerings over
them, and made a sacrifice of wine over them."1 An
old magical text prays that " the sick man may be
purified by sacrifices of mercy and peace," or "peace-
offerings," as the translators of our Bible would have
expressed it.2 But although the Assyrian kings are
fond of boasting of their exploits in massacreing or tor
turing theb defeated enemies in honour of Assur, we
find no allusions in the inscriptions of the historical
period to human sacrifice. That human sacrifices, how
ever, were known as far back as the Aceadian era, is
shown by a bilingual text (K5139) which enjoins the
abgal, or " chief prophet," to declare that the father must
give the life of his child for the sin of his own soul, the
child's head for his head, the child's neck for his neck,
the child's breast for his breast. The text not only
proves that the idea of vicarious punishment was already
conceived of ; it also proves that the sacrifice of children
was a Babylonian institution. In the great work on
astronomy called "The Observations of Bel,"3 we are
told that "on the high-places the son is burnt."* The
offering was consequently by fire, as in Phoenicia.
1 W. A. I. i. 7. 2 W. A. I. ii 18. 53, 54.
8 W. A. I. iii. 60, 162.
* Arur, connected with arurti, " the lightning," an "epithet of Eim.
mon. Delitzsch renders it " earthquake," in curious disregard of the

INTRODUCTORY. 79
The sacrifices were accompanied, sometimes by hymns
or incantations, sometimes by prayers. The prayers
were all prescribed, and a large number of them have
been preserved. Here are some examples of them:1
"At dawn and in the night (the worshipper) shall bow down (ikam-
mid) before the Throne-bearer and shall speak as follows : ' 0 Throne-
bearer, giver of prosperity, a prayer ! ' After that he shall bow down
to Nusku and shall speak thus : ' O Nusku, prince and king of the
secrets of the great gods, a prayer !' After that he shall bow down to
Adar and shall speak thus : ' 0 Adar, mighty lord of the deep places
of the wells, a prayer !' After that he shall bow down to Gula and
shall speak thus : ' 0 Gula, mother, begetter of the black-headed race,
a prayer !' After that he shall bow down to Nin-lil and shall speak
thus : ' 0 Nin-lil, mighty goddess, wife of the divine Prince of Sove
reignty, a prayer !' After that he shall bow down to Mul-lil and shall
speak thus : ' O lord exalted, establisher of law,2 a prayer !' For three
days at dawn and at night, with face and mouth uplifted, during the
middle watch, the diviner (asip) shall pour out libations."
The best idea, however, of what a Babylonian religious
service was like, may be gathered from the instructions
given to the priest who watched hi the temple of Bel-
Merodach at Babylon on the night of the first day of the
new year.3 Part of his duty was to repeat a hymn, the
first fourteen lines of which were alternately in Aceadian
and Semitic. Curiously enough, however, there was ne
character both of Eimmon and of the plain of Babylonia. The word
corresponds with the Heb. khdrar. M. Menant has pointed out several
instances in which a human sacrifice is represented on early Babylonian
cylinders (Catalogue de la Collection de Clercq, i. pp. 18, 112 sq.
In pi. xix. No. 181, is a ruder copy of a scene of human sacrifice
depicted on an early Babylonian cylinder procured by Dr. Max Ohne-
falsch-Eichter in Cyprus),
1 W. A. I. iv. 61, 19 sq.
2 Literally, " secret wisdom" (82. 8 — 16, 1, Obv. 23), with which
Delitzsch compares the Heb. thordh.
3 W. A. I. iv. 46, 47. The published text is very incorrect

80

LECTURE I.

connection between the Aceadian and the Semitic verses ;
while the Semitic lines were addressed to Bel-Merodach
of Babylon and Borsippa, the Aceadian portion had to
do with "a god of the sanctuary," whose only resemblance
to Bel was that he is entitled "the lord of the world."
The Aceadian verses are thus evidently a heirloom from
a distant past, possibly from the pre-Semitic days of
Babylon itself, and it is more than probable that the
meaning was but little understood by the Semitic priests..
This is how the text begins :
" In the month Nisan, on the second day1 and the first hour (Jcasbu)
of the night, the priest2 must go and take the waters of the river in
his hand ; he must enter into the presence of Bel, and, putting on a
robe in the presence of Bel, shall address to Bel this hymn :3
' 0 Bel, who in his strength has no rival,
O Bel, king of blessedness, Bel (the lord) of the world,*
Seeking after the favour of the great gods,
Bel, who in his glance has destroyed the strong,5
Bel (the lord) of kings, light of mankind, establisher of trust ;•
O Bel, thy sceptre is Babylon, Borsippa is thy crown !
The wide heaven is the habitation of thy liver !
O lord, thine is the revelation, (and) the interpretations of visions ;
O father (?) of lords, thee they behold the father of lords ;
1 It must be remembered that the Babylonians, like the Jews,
reckoned the day from evening to evening.
2 The Aceadian title Uru-gal, " the chief watcher," is used. The
title perhaps had reference to the nightly watch kept in the sanctuary
of Merodach in the tower of E-SaggiL
3 I omit the Aceadian lines of the hymn, as I am unable to translate
them fully.
* The preceding Aceadian line is : "0 lord of the blessed sanctuary,
lord of the world !"
5 The preceding Aceadian line reads : " What is the lord (doing)
now 1 the lord is resting."
6 The preceding Aceadian line has : " The god of the sanctuary of
mankind, the god who holds the sanctuary of man."

INTRODUCTORY. 81
thine is the glance, (and) the seeing of wisdom ;a
they magnify (?) thee, 0 master of the strong;
they adore (?) thee, 0 king (and) mighty prince ;
they look up to thee, show unto them mercy ;
cause them to behold the light that they may tell of thy righteous
ness.
0 Bel (lord) of the world, light of the spirits of heaven, utterer of
blessings,
who is there whose mouth murmurs not of thy righteousness
or speaks not of thine exaltation and celebrates not thy glory ?
O Bel (lord) of the world, who dwellest in the temple of the Sun,
reject not the hands that are raised to thee ;'
Show mercy to thy city Babylon,
to E-Saggil thy temple incline thy face,
grant the prayers of thy people the sons of Babylon !'"2

1 Or "law;" zimat urtuv, for which see W.A.I, v. 28, 92, and
iv. 15, 48 (where urta is the Aceadian amma, which is terit in iv.
28, 23).
2 With this text must be compared another (unmarked at the time
I copied it), which is interesting as referring to the oracle established
within the "shrine" or "holy of holies" (parak) of the temple ofBel:
" (4) Like Bel in the shrine of the destinies the prophecy shall be
uttered (ittaspu), this shall be said : (5) ' Bel has come forth ; the king
has looked for me (yuqd'a) ; (6) our lady (bilit-ni) has come forth ; the
king has looked for thee ; (7) the lord of Babylon has issued forth ;
the whole (gamli) of the world is on his face. (8) Zarpanit the prin
cess has issued forth ; his mouth has gone to meet her (?) (illaku sana
pi-su). (9) Tasmit has issued forth ; he has gone to meet her (?).
(10) Place the herbs in the hands of the goddess of Babylon; (11)
O addinnu (eunuch-priest) [place] the flute (gi-bu), 0 seed-planter [place]
the seed; (12) purify me (ellS-a), purify me, and (13) fill Babylon
with pure splendour, 0 Nin-lil, when thou pardonest the world (kullat
tamtsi).' (14) O Bel who (art) in the shrine, surrounded by the river
(iikhir nahri), (this) shall be said : (15) 'O Mul-lil my lord (ama) in
Nipur I saw thee ; (16) O my shepherd when I saw thee in the temple
of Sin the first-born, (17) I ... thy foot and . . thy hand.'" Tho
first three lines, which are mutilated, run as follows : " (1) . . . king
of the addinnu listen ; (2) ... in the house of the supreme chief (ab-
makh) I saw you my lord (amur-kunu ama). (3) . . . he is bright and
I saw thee." G

82 LECTURE I.
Various special dresses were worn during the perform
ance of the religious ceremonies, and ablutions in pure
water were strongly insisted on. Seven, too, was a sacred
number, whose magic virtues had descended to the
Semites from theb Aceadian predecessors. When the
Chaldaean Noah escaped from the Deluge, his first act
was to build an altar and to set vessels, each containing
the thbd of an ephah, by sevens, over a bed of reeds,
pine-wood and thorns. Seven by seven had the magic
knots to be tied by the witch,1 seven times had the body
of the sick man to be anointed with the purifying oil.2
As the Sabbath of rest fell on each seventh day of the
week, so the planets, like the demon messengers of Anu,
were seven hi number, and "the god of the number
seven" received peculiar honour.
Along with this superstitious reverence for the sacred
number, went a distinction of the animal world into clean
and unclean, or rather into food that it was lawful and
1 W. A. I. iv. 3. 5, 6.
2 W. A. 1. iv. 26, 49. The deluge was said to have lasted seven days;
three groups of stars — the tikpi or " circles" (?), the masi or "double
stars," and the lu-masi or " sheep of the hero," were each seven in
number ; the gates which led to Hades were also seven ; Erech is called
the city of "the seven zones" or "stones" (W. A. I. ii. 50, 55 — 57);
and, as Lotz reminds us, seven fish-like men ascended out of the Persian
Gulf, according to BerSssus, in order to teach the antediluvian Baby
lonians the arts of life. Similarly we read the following prayer in
M 1246, 5 — 12, "Incantation. — 0 strong (goddess), the violent (sam-
rata), the furious of breast (nadrata irta), the powerful, thou beholdest
(paqata) the hostility of the enemy ; who that is not Ea has quieted
(thee) (sa la Ea mannu yunakh) ? who that is not Merodach has paci
fied (thee) 1 May Ea quiet (thee), may Merodach pacify thee ! (Con
clusion of) the spell. Incantation. — Make this prayer seven times over
the thread (napsiti) ; stretch (it) around his name (ema sum-su), and
live (dil-es)." In 0 535. 10, 14, Diii-BS is interpreted bulludh.

INTRODUCTORY. 83
unlawful to eat. The distinction may have gone back
to an age of totemism; at all events, it prevailed as
extensively among the Babylonians and Assyrians as it
did among the adherents of the Mosaic Law. In one of
the penitential Psalms, the author expresses his contrition
for having "eaten the forbidden thing;" and if Jensen
is right in seeing the wild boar in the sakhu of the texts,
its flesh was not allowed to be eaten on the 30th of the
month Ab, nor, like that of the ox, on the 27th of
Marchesvan.1 The very mention of the khumzir, or
domestic pig, is avoided in the Semitic Babylonian and
Assyrian inscriptions, and reptiles were accounted as
unclean as they were among the Jews.2 It is true that
there are indications that human flesh had once been
consumed in honour of the spirits of the earth, as Prof.
Maspero has lately shown must also have been the case
in pre-historic Egypt, and a bilingual hymn still speaks
of "eating the front breast of a man;"3 but such bar-
1 "Das Wildschwein in den assyrisch-babylonischen Inschriften,"
Zeitschrift fiir Assyriologie, i. 3, pp. 306 sq. I may add here that
circumcision was known to the Babylonians as it was to the Jews. In
a magical text (W. A. I. ii. 17, 63) it was termed arlu, the Heb. Arel,
which is used in Hebrew and Arabic in a precisely opposite sense ; but
the ideographic equivalents of the Babylonian word (" the shaping of
the phallus") show what its signification in Assyrian must be.
2 K (unnumbered), 20.
3 K4609. So in S477. ii. 5, "the flesh of a man" is mentioned
along with "the flesh of the gazelle," "the flesh of the dog," "the
flesh of the wild boar," "the flesh of the ass," " the flesh of the horse,"
and "the flesh of the wild ass," and "the flesh of the dragon" (bisbis),
all of which it was unlawful to eat. In S 1720, 17, mention is made
of " the house of the dark (dib) flesh of Ea," where the idea may be
similar to that of the Egyptian texts in which the ka or "double" of
the dead is described as feasting on the gods. Cp. also an unnumbered
tablet containing a hymn to the god Tutu : sagata ina samami ina ma-
g2

84 LECTURE I.
barous practices were but dimly -remembered reminis
cences of a barbarous past, and were never shared in by
the Semites. It is equally true that medicine laid con
tributions on the most unclean articles of food, including
snakes, the tongues of "black dogs" and even ordure;
but those who swallowed the compounds prescribed by
the medical faculty were those who had abeady lost
their faith in the old beliefs of the people, and had
substituted the recipe of the doctor for the spells of the
exorcist and the ritual of the priest. The practice of
medicine has often been accused of antagonism to reli
gion ; whatever may be the case in these modern days,
the theology of ancient Babylonia harmonised but badly
with the prescriptions of its medical school.1
tati nisi tabarri surbata-ma \ina\ irisitiv siru khak-mes-swkw \td\barri
siru dukhdhu tabarri atta, " Thou art exalted in heaven ; in the world
thou feedest on mankind ; thou art princely in the earth, the flesh of
their hearts thou eatest, the flesh in abundance thou eatest."
1 See my articles on " An Ancient Babylonian Work on Medicine"
in the Zeitschrift fur Keilschriftforschung, ii. 1, 3.

Lecture II,
BEL-MEEODACH OF BABYLON.

In an inscription upon a clay cylinder brought from
Babylonia seven years ago, Cyrus is made to declare that
the overthrow of Nabonidos, the last independent Baby
lonian monarch, was due to the anger of Bel and the
other gods. Nabonidos had removed theb images from
theb ancient sanctuaries, and had collected them together
in the midst of Babylon. The priests maintained that
the deed had aroused the indignation of Merodach, "the
lord of the gods," who had accordingly rejected Naboni
dos, even as Saul was rejected from being king of Israel,
and had sought for a ruler after his own heart. It was
" hi wrath" that the deities had " left theb shrines when
Nabonidos brought them into Babylon," and had prayed
Merodach, the divine patron of the imperial city, to "go
round unto all men wherever might be their seats."
Merodach sympathised with their wrongs; "he visited
the men of Sumer and Accad whom he had sworn should
be his attendants," and "all lands beheld his friend."
He chose Cyrus, king of Elam, and destined him by
name for the sovereignty of Chaldaea. Cyrus, whom
the Hebrew prophet had abeady hailed as the Lord's
Anointed, was thus equally the favourite of the supreme
Babylonian god. "Merodach, the great lord, the restorer

86 LECTURE II.
of his people," we are told, "beheld with joy the deeds
of his vicegerent who was righteous in hand and heart.
To his city of Babylon he summoned his march, and he
bade him take the road to Babylon ; like a friend and a
comrade he went at his side." A single battle decided
the conflict: the Babylonians opened theb gates, and
"without fighting or battle," Cyrus was led hi triumph
into the city of Babylon. His first care was to show his
gratitude towards the deities who had so signally aided
him. Theb temples were rebuilt, and they themselves
were restored to their ancient seats.
With all the allowance that must be made for the
flattery exacted by a successful conqueror, we must con
fess that this is a very remarkable document. It is
written in the Babylonian language and in the Baby
lonian form of the cuneiform syllabary, and we may
therefore infer that it was compiled by Babylonian scribes
and intended for the perusal of Babylonian readers. Yet
we find the foreign conqueror described as the favourite
of the national god, while the last native king is held up
to reprobation as the dishonourer of the gods. It is im
possible not to compare the similar treatment experienced
by Nebuchadnezzar and the native Jewish kings respec
tively at the hands of Jeremiah. The Jewish prophet
saw in the Chaldaean invader the instrument of the God
of Judah, just as the Babylonian scribes saw in Cyrus
the instrument of the god of Babylon ; and the fall of the
house of David is attributed, just as much as the fall of
Nabonidos, to divine anger.
It is true that the reasons assigned for the divine
anger are not the same in the two cases. But the cause
of the indignation felt by the gods of Chaldaea against

BEL-MERODACH OE BABYLON. 87
Nabonidos offers a curious illustration of the words ad-f
dressed by the Eab-shakeh of Sennacherib to the people
of Jerusalem. "If ye say unto me," he declared, "we
trust hi the Lord our God ; is not that he whose high-
places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and
hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, ye shall worship
before this altar in Jerusalem?" The destruction of the
local cults, the attempt to unify and centralise religious
worship, was to the Eab-shakeh, as it was to the Baby
lonian scribes, and doubtless also to many of the Jews in
the time of Hezekiah, an act of the grossest impiety.
An annalistic tablet, drawn up not long after the con
quest of Babylonia by Cyrus, hints that before making
his final attack on the country, the Elamite prince had
been secretly aided by a party of malcontents in Chaldaea
itself. It is at all events significant that as soon as the
army of Nabonidos was defeated, the whole population at
once submitted, and that even the capital, with its almost
impregnable fortifications, threw open its gates. The
revolts which took place afterwards in the reigns of
Dareios and Xerxes, and the extremities endured by
the Babylonians before they would surrender theb city,
prove that their surrender was not the result of cowardice
or indifference to foreign rule. The great mass of the
people must have been discontented with Nabonidos
and anxious for his overthrow.
The anger of Merodach and the gods, in fact, was but
a convenient way of describing the discontent and anger
of an important section of the Babylonians themselves.
Nabonidos did not belong to the royal house of Nebu->
chadnezzar; he seems to have raised himself to the
throne by means of a revolution, and his attempt at

88 LECTURE II.
centralisation excited strong local animosities - against
him. Eeligion and civil government were so closely
bound up together, that civil centralisation meant reli
gious centralisation also ; the surest sign that the cities
of Babylonia had been absorbed in the capital was that
the images of the gods whose names had been associated
with them from time immemorial were carried away to
Babylon. The cities lost theb separate existence along
with the deities who watched over theb individual
fortunes. The removal of the gods, however, implied something
more than the removal of a number of images and the
visible loss of local self-government or autonomy. Each
image was the centre of a particular cult, carried on in
a particular temple hi a particular way, and entrusted
to the charge of a special body of priests. It was no
wonder, therefore, that the high-handed proceedings of
Nabonidos aroused the enmity of these numerous local
priesthoods, as well as of all those who profited in any
way from the maintenance of the local cults. Most of the
cities which were thus deprived of theb ancestral deities
were as old as Babylon; many of them claimed to be
older; while it was notorious that Babylon did not become
a capital until comparatively late in Babylonian history.
The Sun-god of Sippara, the Moon-god of Ur, were alike
older than Merodach of Babylon. Indeed, though in
the age of Nabonidos the title of Bel or " lord" had
come to be applied to Merodach specially, it was known
that there was a more ancient Bel — Belitanas, "the
elder Bel," as the Greeks wrote the word — ¦ whose wor
ship had spread from the city of Nipur, and who formed
one of the supreme triad of Babylonian gods.

BEL-MERODACH OE BABYLON. 89
Up to the last, Babylonian religion remained local.
It was this local character that gives us the key to
its origin and history, and explains much that would
otherwise seem inconsistent and obscure. The endeavour
of Nabonidos to undermine its local character and to
create a universal religion for a centralised Babylonia,
was deeply resented by both priests and people, and
ushered in the fall of the Babylonian empire. The funda
mental religious idea which had underlain the empbe
had been the supremacy of Merodach, the god of Babylon,
over all other gods, not the absorption of the deities of
the subject nations into a common cult. The policy of
Nabonidos, therefore, which aimed at making Merodach,
not primus inter pares, but absolute lord of captive or
vassal deities, shocked the prejudices of the Babylonian
people, and eventually proved fatal to its author. In
Cyrus, accordingly, the politic restorer of the captive popu
lations and theb gods to theb old homes, the priests and
worshippers of the local divinities saw the pious adherent
of the ancient forms of faith, and the real favourite of
Merodach himself. Merodach had not consented to the
revolutionary policy of Nabonidos ; he had, on the con
trary, sympathised with the wrongs of his brother gods
in Babylonia and throughout the world, and had thus
deserted his own city and the renegade monarch who
ruled over it.
In all this there is a sharp contrast to the main reli
gious conception which subsequently held sway over the
Persian empbe, as well as to that which was proclaimed
by the prophets of Judah, and in the reforms of Hezekiah
and Josiah was carried out practically by the Jewish
kings. The Ahura-mazda whom Dareios invokes on the

90 LECTURE II.
rock of Behistun is not only the lord of the gods, he is a
lord who will not brook another god by his side. The
supreme god of the Persian monarch is as absolute as
the Persian monarch himself. In the Persian empire
which was organised by Dareios, centralisation became
for the first time a recognised and undisputed fact, and
political centralisation went hand-in-hand with religious
centralisation as well. In Judah, a theocracy was esta
blished on the ruins of the old beliefs which had con
nected certain localities with certain forms of divinity,
and which found such naive expression in the words of
David to Saul (1 Sam. xxvi. 19): " They have driven me
out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord,
saying, Go, serve other gods." The destruction of the
high -places and the concentration of the worship of
Yahveh in Jerusalem, was followed by the ever-increasing
conviction that Yahveh was not only a jealous God who
would allow none other gods besides Himself; He was
also a God who claimed dominion over the whole world.
Now it was precisely this conception which the Baby
lonians, at least as a people, never attained. Nebuchad
nezzar may invoke Merodach as "the lord of the gods,"
"the god of heaven and earth," "the eternal, the holy,
the lord of all things," but he almost always couples
him with other deities — Nebo, Sin or Gula — of whom
he speaks in equally reverential terms. Even Nabonidos
uses language of Sin, the Moon-god, which is wholly
incompatible with a behef in the exclusive supremacy of
Merodach. He calls him " the lord of the gods of heaven
and earth, the king of the gods and the god of gods,
who dwell in heaven and are mighty." Merodach was,
in fact, simply the local god of Babylon. Events had

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. 91
raised Babylon first to the dignity of the capital of
Babylonia, and then of that of a great empire, and its
presiding deity had shared its fortunes. It was he who
had sent forth its people on their career of conquest ; it
was to glorify his name that he had given them victory.
The introduction of other deities on an equal footing
with himself into his own peculiar seat, his own special
city, was of itself a profanation, and quite sufficient to
draw upon Nabonidos his vindictive anger. The Moon-
god might be worshipped at Ur ; it was out of place to
offer him at Babylon the peculiar honours which were
reserved for Merodach alone.
Here, then, is one of the results of that localisation of
religious worship which was characteristic of Babylonia.
Nabonidos not only offended the priests and insulted the
gods of other cities by bringing theb images into Babylon,
he also in one sense impabed the monopoly which the
local deity of Babylon enjoyed. He thus stirred up
angry feelings on both sides. Had he himself been free
from the common belief of the Babylonian in the local
character of his gods, he might have effected a revolution
similar to that of Hezekiah ; he had, however, the super
stition which frequentlyaccompanies antiquarian instincts,
and his endeavour to make Babylon the common gather
ing-place of the Babylonian divinities was dictated as
much by the desbe to make all of them his friends as by
political design.1
1 It must be remembered that the attempt of Nabonidos was essen
tially different from the mere gathering of the gods of Babylonia into
the great temple of Merodach, which Nebuchadnezzar had made a kind
of Chaldsean Pantheon. Here they assumed a merely subordinate place
they were the attendants and servitors of the god of Babylon, and their

92 LECTURE II.
Now who was this Merodach, this patron -god of
Babylon, whose name I have had so often to pronounce ?
Let us see, first of all, what we can learn about him
from the latest of our documents, the inscriptions of
Nebuchadnezzar and his successors. In these, Merodach
appears as the divine protector of Babylon and its inha
bitants. He has the standing title of Bilu or " lord,"
which the Greeks turned into BijAos, and which is the
same as the Baal of the Old Testament. The title is
frequently used as a name, and is, in fact, the only name
under which Merodach was known to the Greeks and
Eomans. In the Old Testament also it is as Bel that he
comes before us. When the prophet declares that " Bel
boweth down" and is " gone into captivity," he is refer
ring to Merodach and the overthrow of Merodach's city.
To the Babylonian, Merodach was pre-eminently "the
Baal" or " lord," like the Baalim or " lords " worshipped
under special names and with special rites in the several
cities of Canaan.
The temple or "tomb" of Belos, as it was also called
by the Greeks, was one of the wonders of the world.
Herodotos, quoting probably from an earlier author,
describes it in the following terms :
" The temple of Zeus Belos, with bronze gates which remained up to
my time, was a square building two furlongs every way. In the middle
shrines and chapels were ranged humbly round his lofty tower. . As
Nebuchadnezzar himself says, they here " listened to him in reverence
and stood bowing down before him." Nabonidos, on the other hand,
endeavoured to transplant the local cults of the deities, along with their
time-honoured images, to the capital city, to place them there on a'
footing of equality with Merodach, and so to defraud him of his privi
leges ; while at the same time he removed the other deities from the
localities where alone they could be properly adored.

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. 93
of the temple was a tower of solid masonry, a furlong in length and
breadth, and upon this tower another tower had been erected, and upon
that again another, and so on for eight towers. And the ascent to them
was by an incline which wound round all the towers on the outside.
About the middle of the incline are a resting-place and seats, where
those who ascend may sit and rest. In the topmost tower is a large
shrine, within which is a large and well-appointed couch, with a golden
table at its side. But no image is set up there, nor does any one pass
the night there except a single woman, a native of the country, whom
the god selects for himself from among all the inhabitants, as is asserted
by the Chaldasans, the priests of the god. They further say, though I
cannot believe it, that the god himself visits the shrine and takes his
rest upon the couch .... There is another shrine below belonging to
this Babylonian temple, and containing a great statue of Zeus [Belos]
of gold in a sitting posture, and a great golden table is set beside it.
The pedestal and chair of the statue are of gold, and, as the Chaldseans
used to say, the gold was as much as 800 talents in weight. Outside
the shrine is a golden altar. There is also another great altar upon
which full-grown sheep are sacrificed, for upon the golden altar only
sucklings are allowed to be offered. Upon the larger altar also the
Chaldaeans burn each year a thousand talents of frankincense at the
time when they keep the festival of the god. In this part of the
temple there was still at that time a figure of a man twelve cubits
high, of solid gold."
It is clear from this description that the great temple
of Babylon resembled a large square enclosure formed
by huge walls of brick, within which rose a tower in
eight stages. Below the tower was a shrine or temple,
and outside it two altars, the smaller one of gold for
special offerings, while the larger one was intended for
the sacrifice of sheep as well as for the burning of
incense.1 We learn a good deal about this temple from the
inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar, which show that although
1 Similarly in Solomon's temple there were two altars, one for larger
and the other for smaller offerings (1 Kings viii. 64).

94 LECTURE II.
Herodotos was correct in his general description of the
building, he has made mistakes in the matter of details.
The temple itself stood on the east side of Babylon, and
had existed since the age of Khammuragas (B.C. 2250),
and the first dynasty which had made Babylon its capital.
It bore the title of E-Sagila or E-Saggil, an Aceadian
name signifying "the house of the raising of the head."1
Its entrance also bore the Aceadian title of Ka-khilibu,
which Nebuchadnezzar renders " the gate of glory." He
says of it : " Ka-khilibu, the gate of glory, as well as
the gate of E-Zida within E-Sagila, I made as brilliant
as the sun. The holy seats, the place of the gods who
determine destiny, which is the place of the assembly
(of the gods), the holy of holies of the gods of destiny,
wherein on the great festival (Zagmuku) at the begin
ning of the year, on the eighth and the eleventh days
(of the month), the divine king (Merodach), the god of
heaven and earth, the lord of heaven, descends, while
the gods in heaven and earth, listening to him with reve-
1 Nasu sa resi (W. A. I. ii. 26, 59) ; also saqu sa risi, " top of the
head" (W. A. I. ii. 30, 3), and risdn datum, " of the lofty head" (ii.
30, 14). In W. A. I. ii. 15, 45, saggil is rendered by the Assyrian
zabal, the Heb. zebul, which is used of Solomon's temple in 1 Kings
viii. 13, where, as Guyard has shown, the translation should be "house
of exaltation." In W. A. I. ii. 7, 26, it is rendered by the Assyrian
dindnu ; and in ii. 7, 52, and 28, 42, gar saggilla is rendered by duk-
kurutu andpukhu, both of which mean "an enclosed place" or "locked-
up shrine," accessible only to the chief priest. In M 242, 11, dinanu,
which probably means "a stronghold," is the equivalent of gar saggil ;
and in S. 949, Rev. 4, we read : "My shrine (pukliu) which Ea has
made .... my stronghold (?) (dinanu) which Merodach has created."
In the list of Babylonian kings in which the meaning of their names
is explained, Es-Guzi appears as the earlier Sumerian title of E-Saggil.
Guzi, like saggil, is interpreted saqu sa risi and nasu sa resi (W. A. I.
ii. 30, 4 ; 26, 58).

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. 95
rential awe and standing humbly before him, determine
therein a destiny of long-ending days, even the destiny
of my life; this holy of holies, this sanctuary of the
kingdom, this sanctuary of the lordship of the first-born
of the gods, the prince, Merodach, which a former king
had adorned with silver, I overlaid with glittering gold
and rich ornament."1 Just within the gate was the
"seat" or shrine of the goddess Zarpanit, the wife of
Merodach, perhaps to be identified with that Succoth-
benoth whose image, we are told in the Old Testament,
was made by the men of Babylon.2
E-Zida, "the firmly-established temple," was the chapel
dedicated to Nebo, and derived its name from the great
temple built hi honour of that deity at Borsippa. As
Nebo was the son of Merodach, it was only fitting that
his shrine should stand within the precincts of his father's
temple, by the side of the shrine sacred to his mother
Zarpanit. It was within the shrine of Nebo, the god of
prophecy, that the parakku, or holy of holies, was situated,
where Merodach descended at the time of the great fes
tival at the beginning of the year, and the divine oracles
were announced to the attendant priests. The special
papakha or sanctuary of Merodach himself was separate
from that of his son. It went by the name of E-Kua,
"the house of the oracle,"3 and probably contained the
1 See Flemming, Die grosse Steinplatteninschrift Nebukadnezars ii.
(Gbttingen, 1883).
2 For a description of the great temple of Babylon, see George Smith's
account of the inscription concerning it quoted in the Appendix.
3 Bit-assaputi, for which the Semitic translator in W. A. I. ii. 15, 4,
erroneously gives ussabi, through a confusion of kua, " oracle," with
kue, "to sit." In ii. 15, 5, assaputu, or "oracle," is given as a render
ing of the Aceadian namga or nagga (an) Kua, " the oracle of the god

96 LECTURE II.
golden statue of Bel mentioned by Herodotos. Nebu
chadnezzar tells us that he enriched its walls with " glit
tering gold." Beyond it rose the stately siggurat, or
tower of eight stages, called E-Temen-gurum, "the
house of the foundation-stone of heaven and earth." As
was the case with the other towers of Babylonia and
Assyria, its topmost chamber was used as an observatory.
No temple was complete without such a tower ; it was to
the Babylonian what the high-places were to the inha
bitants of a mountainous country like Canaan. It takes
us back to an age when the gods were believed to dwell
in the visible sky, and when therefore man did his best
to rear his altars as near to them as possible. " Let us
build us a city and a tower," said the settlers in Babel,
11 whose top may reach unto heaven."
The Babylonian Bel, accordingly, was Merodach, who
watched over the fortunes of Babylon and the great
temple there which had been erected hi his honour. He
was not the national god of Babylonia, except in so far
as the city of Babylon claimed to represent the whole of
Babylonia ; he was simply the god of the single city of
Babylon and its inhabitants. He was but one Baal out
of many Baalim, supreme only when his worshippers
were themselves supreme. It was only when a Nebu
chadnezzar or a Khammuragas was undisputed master of
Babylonia that the god they adored became " the prince
of the gods." But the other gods maintained theb
Kua." In ii. 62, 41, ma Kua is explained to be "the ship of Mero
dach." Kua is represented ideographically by the character kha, which
was pronounced kua when signifying " to proclaim" (nabu) or " an
nounce an oracle." Merodach was entitled Kua as " god of the oracle"
whose "prophet" and interpreter was Nebo. For asapu and asip,
"the diviner" or "oracle-giver," see above, p. 51.

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. 97
separate positions by his side, and in their own cities
would have jealously resented any interference with
their ancient supremacy. As we have seen, Nabonidos
brought upon himself the anger of heaven because he
carried away the gods of Marad and Kis and other towns
to swell the train of Merodach in his temple at Babylon.
We can now therefore appreciate at its true value the
language of Nebuchadnezzar when he speaks thus of his
god: " To Merodach, my lord, I prayed ; I began to him my petition ; the
word of my heart sought him, and I said : ' O prince that art from
everlasting, lord of all that exists, for the king whom thou lovest,
whom thou callest by name, as it seems good unto thee thou guidest
his name aright, thou watehest over him in the path of righteousness !
I, the prince who obeys thee, am the work of thy hands ; thou createst
me and hast entrusted to me the sovereignty over multitudes of men,
according to thy goodness, 0 lord, which thou hast made to pass over
them all. Let me love thy supreme lordship, let the fear of thy divi
nity exist in my heart, and give what seemeth good unto thee, since
thou maintainest my life.' Then he, the first-born, the glorious, the
first-born of the gods, Merodach the prince, heard my prayer and
accepted my petition."1
Once more :
" To Merodach, my lord, I prayed and lifted up my hand : ' 0
Merodach, (my) lord, first-born of the gods, the mighty prince, thou
didst create me, and hast entrusted to me the dominion over multitudes
of men ; as my own dear life do I love the height of thy court ; among
all mankind have I not seen a city of the earth fairer than thy city of
Babylon. As I have loved the fear of thy divinity and have sought
after thy lordship, accept the lifting up of my hands, hearken to my
petition, for I the king am the adorner (of thy shrine), who rejoices
thy heart, appointed a royal priest, the adorner of all thy fortresses.
By thy command, O Merodach, the merciful one, may the temple I
have built endure for ever, and may I be satisfied with its fulness.'"2
1 From the East India House Inscription, Col. i. 52 — ii. 5.
2 Col. ix. 45— x. 5. H

98 LECTURE II.
Here Merodach, it will be observed, though " lord of
all that exists," is nevertheless only the first-born of the
gods. There were gods older than he, just as there were
cities older than Babylon. He could not therefore be
absolute lord of the world ; it was only within Babylon
itself that this was the case; elsewhere his rule was
shared with others. Hence it was that while Nebuchad
nezzar as a native of Babylon was the work of his hands,
outside Babylon there were other creators and other lords.
This fact is accentuated in an inscription of Nabonidos,
belonging to the earlier part of his reign, in which
Merodach is coupled with the Moon-god of Ur and placed
on an equal footing with him.
One of the epithets applied by Nebuchadnezzar to
Merodach is that of riminu, or " merciful." It is indeed
a standing epithet of the god. Merodach was the inter
cessor between the gods and men, and the interpreter of
the will of Ea, the god of wisdom. In an old bilingual
hymn he is thus addressed :1 " Thou art Merodach, the
merciful lord who loves to raise the dead to life." The
expression is a remarkable one, and indicates that the
Babylonians were already acquainted with a doctrine of
the resurrection at an early period. Merodach's attribute
of mercy is coupled with his power to raise the dead.
The same expression occurs in another of these bilingual
hymns, which I intend to discuss in a future Lecture.2
The whole hymn is addressed to Merodach, and was
doubtless used in the religious services of E-Sagila. The
beginning and end are unfortunately lost. Where the
hymn first becomes legible, we read :

1 W. A. I. iv. 19. 1. 11 2 W. A. I. iv. 29, 1.

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. 99
" (Thou art) the king of the land, the lord of the world !
O first-born of Ea, omnipotent over heaven and earth.1
0 mighty lord of mankind, king of (all) lands,
(Thou art) the god of gods,
(The prince) of heaven and earth who hath no rival,
The companion of Anu and Bel (Mul-lil),
The merciful one among the gods,
The merciful one who loves to raise the dead to life,
Merodach, king of heaven and earth,
King of Babylon, lord of Fj-sagila,
King of E-Zida, king of E-makh-tilla (the supreme house of life),
Heaven and earth are thine !
The circuit of heaven and earth is thine,
The incantation that gives life is thine,
The breath2 that gives life is thine,
The holy writing3 of the mouth of the deep is thine :
Mankind, even the black-headed race (of Accad),4
All living souls that have received a name, that exist in the world,
The four quarters of the earth wheresoever they are,
All the angel-hosts of heaven and earth
(Eegard) thee and (lend to thee) an ear."
It is impossible to read this hymn without being struck
by the general similarity of tone that exists between it

1 Aceadian, " filling heaven and earth."
2 Ivat, Heb. Khavvdh, or "Eve."
8 Mudaru, perhaps the " Musaros OanneV'.of Ber6ssos. Ea, the god
of the deep and of the city of Eridu, was the Oannes of Berfissos, and
not only the god of wisdom and author of Babylonian culture, but him
self a writer of books (see W. A. I. iv. 55, 7), which proceeded as it were
out of his mouth.
* The precise meaning of this expression, which is frequent in the
hymns, is uncertain. It may refer to the custom of wearing long black
hair, though in this case we should have expected the phrase to be
"black-haired" rather than "black-headed." As, however, M. Dieu-
lafoy's excavations on the site of Susa have brought to light enamelled
bricks of the Elamite period on which a black race of mankind is
portrayed, it may mean that the primitive Sumerian population of
Chaldsea was really black-skinned.
h2

100 LECTURE II.
and another hymn which is addressed to the Sun-god.
Let us hear what the latter has to say to us :x
" 0 lord, the illuminator of darkness, thou that openest the face
of the sick !
Merciful god, planter of the lowly, supporter of the weak,
Unto thy light look the great gods,
The spirits of the earth all behold thy face.
The language of hosts as one word thou directest,
Smiting their heads they behold the light of the midday sun.
Like a wife thou behavest thyself, cheerful and rejoicing,
Yea, thou art their light in the vault of the far-off sky.
In the broad earth thou art their illumination.
Men far and wide behold thee and rejoice.
The mighty gods have smelled a sweet savour,
The holy food of heaven, the wine (of the sacrifice) ....
Whosoever has not turned his hand to wickedness ....
They shall eat the food (he offers, shall receive the sacrifice he
makes ?)."
Like Merodach, the Sun-god also is " the merciful god."
Like Merodach, too, it is to him that gods and men alike
turn theb gaze. Even the power of Merodach of raising
the dead to life is ascribed to him. A hymn to Samas
the Sun-god begins with the following words :
"0 Sun-god, king of heaven and earth, director of things above
and below,
0 Sun-god, thou that clothest the dead with life, delivered by thy
hands,
Judge unbribed, director of mankind,
Supreme is the mercy of him who is the lord over difficulty,
Bidding the child and offspring come forth, light of the world,
Creator of all thy universe, the Sun-god art thou."2
May we not conclude, then, that originally Merodach
also was a solar deity, the particular Sun-god, in fact,
whose worship was carried on at Babylon ?
1 W. A. I. iv. 19, 2. 2 S 947, Obv. 3—8.

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. 101
The conclusion is verified by the express testimony of
the ritual belonging to Merodach's temple E-Sagila. Here
we read that
" In the month Nisan, on the second day, two hours after nightfall,
the priest must come and take of the waters of the river, must enter
into the presence of Bel ; arid putting on a stole in the presence of
Bel, must say this prayer ; ' 0 Bel, who in his strength has no equal !
O Bel, blessed sovereign, lord of the world, seeking after the favour of
the great gods, the lord who in his glance has destroyed the strong, lord
of kings, light of mankind, establisher of faith ! 0 Bel, thy sceptre i3
Babylon, thy crown is Borsippa, the wide heaven is the dwelling-place
of thy liver .... 0 lord of the world, light of the spirits of heaven,
utterer of blessings, who is there whose mouth murmurs not of thy
righteousness, or speaks not of thy glory, and celebrates not thy domi
nion ? 0 lord of the world, who dwellest in the temple of the Sun,
reject not the hands that are raised to thee ; be merciful to thy city
Babylon, to E-Sagila thy temple incline thy face ; grant the prayers of
thy people the sons of Babylon.'"1
Nothing can be more explicit than the statement that
E-Sagila, the temple of Merodach, was also the temple
of the Sun. We thus come to understand the attributes
that are ascribed to Merodach and the language that is
used of him. He is " the light of the spirits of heaven,"
even as the Sun-god, in the hymn I quoted just now, is
"the illuminator of darkness" whose face is beheld by
the spirits of the earth. The wide heaven is naturally
his dwelling-place, and he raises the dead to life as the
sun of spring revivifies the dead vegetation of winter.
The part that he plays hi the old mythological poems,
,in the poems, that is, which embody the ancient myths
and legends of Babylonia, is now fully explained. One
of the most famous of these was the story of the combat
between Merodach and Tiamat, the dragon of darkness

1 W; A. I. iv. 46. For a fuller account of this hymn, see above, p. 80.

102 LECTURE II.
and chaos. Merodach advances to the fight armed with
a club and bow which Anu had placed in his hand and
which subsequently became a constellation, as well as
with his own peculiar weapon which hung behind his
back. It was shaped like a sickle, and is the aprrr) or
khereb with which Greek mythology armed the Asiatic
hero Perseus. The struggle was long and terrible.
Tiamat opened her mouth to swallow the god, but he
thrust a storm-wind down her throat, and the monster
was burst asunder, while her allies fled in terror before
the victorious deity. The combat is represented in stone
in one of the Assyrian bas-reliefs now in the British
Museum. There we can see the demon as she appeared
to the Assyrians, with claws and wings, a short tail, and
horns upon the head. When we remember the close
parallelism that exists between this conflict of Merodach
with Tiamat, and the war recorded in the Apocalypse
between Michael and " the great dragon," it is difficult
not to trace hi the lineaments of Tiamat the earliest por
traiture of the mediaeval devil.
Another myth in which Merodach again appears as
champion of the bright powers of day in theb eternal
struggle against night and storm, is the myth which
describes hi but thinly- veiled language the eclipse of the
moon. We are there told how " the seven wicked spirits,
the seven ministers of storm and tempest, who had been
created in the lower part of heaven," assailed the Moon-
god as he sat in his appointed seat. His comrades, the
Sun-god and the Evening Star whom " Bel" had enjoined
to share with him the sovereignty of the "lower heaven"
or visible sky, fled from before the coming attack, and Sin,
the Moon-god, was left alone to face his enemies. But

BEL-MERODACH OF BABVLON. 103
"Bel" beheld "the eclipse" of the lord of night, and
Merodach was sent to rescue him and restore once again
the light of the moon. Arrayed in " glistening armour,"
with a helmet of " light like fire" upon his head, he went
forth accordingly against the powers of darkness, and the
battle ended hi his favour, like that against the dragon.
The Bel of this legend, who has settled the places of
the Sun and the Moon hi the sky, is not the Babylonian
Bel, but the older Bel of Nipur, from whom Merodach,
the Bel of Babylon, had afterwards to be distinguished.
The Aceadian original of the poem belongs to a very
early epoch, before the rise of Babylon, when the supreme
Bel of the Semitic inhabitants of Babylonia was still the
god whom the Accadians called Mul-lilla, " the lord of
the lower world." This Bel or Mul-lilla fades into the
background as the Semitic element in Babylonian religion
became stronger and the influence of Babylon greater,
though the part that he played in astronomical and cos
mological lore, as well as his local cult at Nipur, kept
his memory alive ; while the dreaded visitants of night,
the demoniac lilu and Mat or lilith, from the lower world,
preserved a faint memory of the spbits of which he had
once been the chief. One by one, however, the attributes
that had formerly attached to the older Bel were absorbed
by the younger Bel of Babylon. It was almost as it was
in Greece, where the older gods were dethroned by theb
own offspring ; in the Babylonia of Nebuchadnezzar and
Nabonidos, it was the younger gods — Merodach, Sin and
Samas — to whom vows were the most often made and
prayer the most often ascended. Such was the latest
result of the local character of Babylonian worship : the
younger gods were the gods of the younger Babylonian

104

LECTURE II.

cities, and the god of Babylon, though he might be
termed "the first-born of the gods," was in one sense
the youngest of them all.
The title, however, "first-born of the gods" was of
the same nature as the other title, " prince of the world,"
bestowed upon him by bis grateful worshippers. It
meant Uttle else than that Babylon stood at the head of
the world, and that its god must therefore be the first
born, not of one primaeval deity, but of all the primaeval
deities acknowledged in Chaldaea. According to the
earlier faith, he was the first-born of Ea only. Ea was
god of the deep, both of the atmospheric deep upon
which the world floats, and of that watery deep, the
Okeanos of Homer, which surrounds the earth like a
coiled serpent. All streams and rivers were subject to
his sway, for they flowed into that Persian Gulf which
the ignorance of the primitive Chaldaean imagined to be
the ocean-stream itself. It was from the Persian Gulf
that tradition conceived the culture and civilisation of
Babylonia to have come, and Ea was therefore lord of
wisdom as well as lord of the deep. His son Merodach
was the minister of his counsels, by whom the commands
of wisdom were carried into practice. Merodach was
thus the active side of his father Ea ; to use the language
of Gnosticism, he was the practical activity that emanates
from wisdom.
Ea, however, was not the god of Babylon, nor was
his name of Semitic origin. He watched over the des
tinies of "the holy city" of Eridu, now Abu-Shahrein,
which stood in early days on the very shores of the
Persian Gulf. How Merodach came to be regarded as
his son we can only guess. Perhaps Babylon had been

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. 105
a colony of Eridu ; perhaps it was from Eridu that the
culture associated with the name of Ea first made its
way to Babylon. We must be content with the fact
that from time immemorial Merodach had been the first
born of Ea, and that therefore between Eridu and Babylon
a very close connection must have existed in pre-historic
times. Was Merodach himself an Aceadian or a Semitic deity ?
The names of the kings belonging to the first dynasty of
Babylon are mostly Semitic ; it might therefore be sup
posed that the deity they worshipped was Semitic also.
And so undoubtedly was the Merodach of the historical
age, the great Bel or Baal of Babylon. But we must
remember that the foundation of Babylon went back
into the dim night of the past far beyond the era of its
first dynasty of Semitic kings, and that its very name
was but a translation of the older Ka-dimba, "gate of
the god." The temple of Merodach, moreover, bore, up
to the last, not a Semitic, but an Aceadian designation.
As we shall see, along with the older culture the
Semitic settlers in Babylonia borrowed a good deal of
the theology of the Aceadian people, modifying it in
accordance with theb own beliefs, and identifying its
gods and demons with their own Baalim. It would not
be surprising, then, if we found that Merodach also had
once been an Aceadian divinity, though his attributes,
and perhaps also his name, differed very considerably
from those of the Semitic Bel. Even after the Eomans
had identified theb Saturn with the Kronos of the
Greeks, the essential characteristics of the two deities
remained altogether different.
In the legend of the assault of the seven evil spirits

106 LECTURE II.
upon the Moon — a legend which, unlike the hymns to
Merodach, goes back to the pre-Semitic epoch — the god
whom the Semitic translator has identified with Merodach
is called in the Aceadian original Asari-uru-duga, "the
chief who does good to man." He receives his title
from the fact that, like the Semitic Merodach, he is the
son of Ea, from whom he conveys to mankind the charms
and philtres and other modes of healing and help which
a belief in sorcery invented. But there is little that is
solar about him. On the contrary, he is distinguished
from the Sun-god; and if he fights against the storm-
demons with his helmet of light, it is because he is one
of the bright powers of day who benefit mankind. The
fire-god is his minister, but he is himself little more
than the personified agency who carries the wisdom of
Ea to gods and men. It is in this way that he is
regarded as the god of life : the spells taught him by Ea
are able, if need be, to recover the sick and raise even
the dead to life. Hence he receives the title of Asari-
nam-tila, "the chief of life." The title, however, was
justified only by the creed of the sorcerer, not yet by
the worship of the solar Bel, the " merciful" lord.
Whether the name Maruduk (Merodach) were Aceadian
or Semitic in origin, I cannot say. If it is Semitic, it
has so changed its form that its etymology is no longer
recognisable. It may be merely a Semitic transformation
of the Aceadian Uru-dug, "benefactor of man;" hi any
case, its origin was abeady forgotten in the days when
the Babylonians first began to speculate on the derivation
of theb words. When first we meet with it in Semitic
texts, it is expressed by two ideographs, which read
Amar-ud, " the heifer of day." This is a punning refer-

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. 107
ehce to the old Aceadian notion of the sky as a ploughed
field through which the Sun drew the share hi his
annual journey. Under this aspect, the Sun was termed
by the Accadians Gudibb, "the bull of light;" hence
when Merodach became a Sun-god, he was identified
with the ancient Gudibb, and astrology taught that he
was one and same with each of the twelve zodiacal signs.1
We have thus been able, in spite of the imperfection
of our documents, to trace the history of the patron-god
of Babylon from the time when he was as yet merely
the interpreter of the Aceadian Ea, merely a water-spirit
rising with the dawn out of the Persian Gulf, to the
time when he became the Semitic Sun-god Bel, and
eventually the head of the Babylonian Pantheon. But
we have seen at the same time that up to the last he
remained essentially local hi character ; if he was lord of
the other gods, it was only because the king of Babylon
was lord also of other cities and lands. It is not until
1 Halevy has proposed to see in the name of Maruduk the Semitic
mar-utuki, "the lord of demons." This, however, is worse than the
Assyrian play upon the name, and takes no account of the fact that
maru in Assyro-Babylonian means only " son," never " lord," and that
utuki contains a t and not a d. In W. A. I. ii. 48, 34, the Sun-god, it
is true, is called Utuki, but this word has nothing to do with udu, " the
day," but is the Aceadian utuk or " spirit." The Sun-god, in fact, was
addressed as " the great spirit." If a conjecture is permitted, I would
propose to see in Maruduk a Semitised form of the Aceadian Muru-dug,
" he who benefits man," the Asari of the full title being omitted. Muru,
whence uru, " man," is a dialectic side-form of mulu. But the vowel
of the first syllable of Maruduk creates a difficulty, and since the Baby
lonians had forgotten the origin of the name, it is not likely that we
shall be more successful than they were in discovering it. Perhaps
Delitzsch is right (Wo lag das Parodies, p. 228) in seeing in Maruduk
mar-Urudug, "the son of Eridu." .At all events, Merodach is called
"the son of Eridu" in W. A. I. iv. 8, 41, and other places. Maruduk
is frequently contracted into Marduk.

108 LECTURE II.
Babylonia ceases to be an independent power that this
local conception of the great Babylonian divinity tends
to disappear. At Babylon, Cyrus, the foreigner from
Elam, becomes the favourite and the worshipper of
Bel-Merodach, and the priests of Merodach even pretend
that he had been the god's favourite before he came to
Babylon as its master and conqueror. Although, there
fore, it is only in Babylonia that Merodach is the god of
Cyrus, as he had been the god of Nebuchadnezzar, the
fact that Cyrus was not a Babylonian necessarily enlarged
the old conception of Bel and gave to him a universal
character. From this time onwards, Merodach was more
and more the god, not of the Babylonians alone, but of
all men everywhere; when the Greek kings of Asia
caused inscriptions to be written hi the Babylonian
language and writing, Merodach takes the place of Zeus,
and, as the grandson of Aua or Eoa, "the dawn," is
identified with the Memnon of Homeric story.1
1 In the cuneiform inscription of Antiokhos Soter, published by
Strassmaier in the Verhandlungen desfunften Orientalisten-Congresses,
ii. 1, pp. 139—142, Merodach is called (1. 20) "the offspring of the
god who is the son of Aua" (Abil Aua). In lines 34 — 36, Nebo is
called " the son of E-Saggil, the first-born of Asari the chief (ristu),
the offspring of the god who is the son of Aua the queen." Here Aua
is represented as a goddess, and since her son was the father of Mero
dach, she must correspond to the goddess Zikum of the early texts.
Halevy, confounding her with Ea, has gone on to identify Ea with the
Hebrew Yahveh — an identification which, it is needless to say, is
phonetically impossible. Aua is obviously the Greek E6a, either the
accusative of 'Hoi? or the feminine of the corresponding adjective.
From the time of Ktesias, Mernnon, the son of the goddess E6s, had
been made an Assyro-Babylonian prince, and the resemblance of the
name of Ea to Eos may have suggested the idea of associating him with
Merodach, the lord of Babylon. Teutamos, with his double Teutseos,
the king by whom, according to Ktesias, Memnon was sent to the help
of Priam, is simply "the man of the sea" or tavtim, the name by

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. 109
But already before the age of Cyrus there was one
portion of the Assyro-Babylonian world in which the
narrower local view of Merodach had perforce disap
peared. This was Assyria. The local gods of Babylonia
had been carried into Assyria by its Semitic settlers, or
else introduced into the cultivated circle of the court
by the literary classes of later days. Merodach was
necessarily among the latter. Certain of the Assyrian
kings, or at least their scribes, invoke Merodach with the
same fervour as the kings of Babylon. Shalmaneser II.
calls him " the prince of the gods," just as a pious Baby
lonian would have done ; and the monarchs of the second
Assyrian empire, who were crowned at Babylon as the
German princes were crowned at Eome, consider them
selves placed by the act under the patronage of the
Babylonian god.1 Although, therefore, the earlier As
syrian kings avoid the mention of Merodach, and the
introduction of his name into a specifically Assyrian in
scription is due either to the affectation of learning or to
a claim to the throne of Babylon, the very fact that the
name was introduced altered the conception under which
which the sea-coast of Babylonia, with its capital Eridu, was known.
Aua has, of course, nothing to do with the god Au, "the wind," a title
of Eimmon, which forms part of the proper name Au-nahdi (K 344. 6).
1 To " take the hand of Bel" was equivalent to recognition as king
of Babylon. Possibly it denoted that the person who performed the
ceremony had entered the holy of holies in which the imago of Bel-
Merodach stood — an act permitted only to the high-priest or the king
in his office of high-priest (sakkanaku). The sakkanaku is sometimes
identical with the king, sometimes distinguished from the king (e.g.
W. A. I. i. 64. ix. 64), and the sakkanaku of Babylon was a special
title (thus Esarhaddon calls himself "sakkanaku of Babylon," but
" king of Sumer and Accad," W. A. I. i. 48, No. 6). Like dangu, the
word expressed servitude to the god.

110 LECTURE IT.
Merodach was regarded, and loosened the bonds of his
connection with a particular locality. In Assyria at
least, Bel-Merodach was as much a universal god as the
older gods of the celestial hierarchy.
This transformation of his nature was aided by the
inevitable confusion that arose between Bel-Merodach
and the older Bel. To such an extent was this confusion
carried, that we find Assur-bani-pal describing Merodach
as "Bel, the son of Bel." When such a statement
could be made in the learned court of Assur-bani-pal, it
is clear that to the ordinary Assyrian "the son of Ea"
of ancient Babylonian belief had been absorbed into the
solar Bel, the supreme divinity of the southern kingdom.
• Even at Babylon, however, Merodach did not stand
alone. He shared his divine honours, as we have seen,
with his wife Zarpanitu and his son Nebo. The old
Aceadian cult seems to have had a fancy for trinities or
triads, originating perhaps in the primary astronomical
triad of the Sun-god, the Moon-god and the Evening
Star. The Aceadian triad usually consisted of male
deities. The Semites, however, as I hope to point out
hi the next Lecture, introduced a new idea, that of sex,
into the theology of the country. Every god was pro
vided with his female reflection, who stood to him in the
relation of the wife to the husband. Baal, accordingly,
had his female reflex, his "face" as it was termed, Bilat
or Beltis. By the side of the Baal of Babylon, therefore,
stood Beltis, "the lady" by the side of her "lord."
Her local name was Zarpanitu, which a punning etymo
logy subsequently turned into Zir-banitu, " creatress of
seed,"1 sometimes written Zir-panitu, with an obvious
1 So in S 1720, 23 (an) Zi-ir-ba-ni-tuv, W. A. I. ii, 67, 12.

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. Ill
play on the word panu, or " face." Zarpanitu was of
purely Semitic origin. But she was identified with an
older Aceadian divinity, Gasmu, "the wise one,"1 the
fitting consort of a deity whose office it was to convey
the wishes of the god of wisdom to suffering humanity.
The Aceadian goddess, however, must originally have
stood rather in the relation of mother than of wife to the
primitive Merodach. She was entitled " the lady of the
deep," " the mistress of the abode of the fish," and " the
voice of the deep."2 Hence she must have ranked by
the side of Ea, the fish-god and " lord of the deep ;" and
hi the title " voice" or " incantation of the deep," we may
see a reference to the ideas which caused Ea to become
the god of wisdom, and brought the fish-god Oannes out
of the Persian Gulf to carry culture and knowledge to
the inhabitants of Chaldaea. In the roar of the sea- waves,
the early dwellers on the shores of the Gulf must have
heard the voice of heaven, and theb prophets and diviners
must have discovered in it a revelation of the will of the
gods. It is not surprising, therefore, if Zarpanit was
specially identified with the goddess Lakhamun, who was
worshipped in the sacred island of Dilmun, or with the
goddess Elagu, whose name was revered in the mountains
of Elam.3
1 W. A. I. ii. 48, 37. The Aceadian gasam is translated mudu, enqu,
in 82. 8—16, 1, Obv. 19.
2 W. A. I. ii. 54. 62, 55, 57. Other titles were "the lady of the
city of Kurnun," though " the goddess Kurnun" was identified with
Tasmit (W. A. I. ii. 48, 39), and Eru or Erua (W. A. I. ii. 54. 60, 59,
S 1720, 2). It is probable that she was identified with Nina the fishr
goddess, the daughter of Ea.
8 W. A. I. ii. 54. 58, 65. The name is probably connected with
that of the cosmogonic deities Lakhma and Lakhama, with the same

112 LECTURE II.
In Semitic days, Zarpanit, the inheritor of all these
old traditions and worships, fell from her high estate.
She ceased to be the goddess of wisdom, the voice of the
deep revealing the secrets of heaven to the diviner and
priest ; she became merely the female shadow and com
panion of Merodach, to whom a shrine was erected at the
entrance to his temple. Her distinctive attributes all
belong to the pre-Semitic epoch ; with the introduction
of a language which recognised gender, she was lost in
the colourless throng of Ashtaroth or Baalat, the god
desses who were called into existence by the masculine
Baalim. Zarpanit, however, had something to do with the pro
minence given to Nebo in the Babylonian cult. Nebo,
the son of Merodach and Zarpanitu, had, as we have
seen, a chapel called E-Zida within the precincts of the
great temple of his father. E-Zida, "the constituted
house," derived its name from the great temple of Bor
sippa, the suburb of Babylon, the ruins of which are
now known to travellers as the Birs-i-Nimrud. Borsippa,
it would seem, had once been an independent town, and
Nebo, or the prototype of Nebo, had been its protecting
deity. In the middle of the city rose E-Zida, the temple
of Nebo and Nana Tasmit, with its holy of holies, "the
supreme house of life," and its lofty tower termed "the
house of the seven spheres of heaven and earth." It
had been founded, though never finished, according to
Nebuchadnezzar, by an ancient king. For long centuries
it had remained a heap of ruin, until restored by Nebu
chadnezzar, and legends had grown up thickly around
termination as that which we find in the name of Dilmun or Dilvun
itself.

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. 113
it. It was known as the tul ellu, "the pure" or "holy
mound," and one of the titles of Nebo accordingly was
"god of the holy mound."1
The word Nebo is the Semitic Babylonian Nabiu or
Nabu. It means "the proclaimer," "the prophet," and
thus indicates the character of the god to whom it was
applied. Nebo was essentially the proclaimer of the
mind and wishes of Merodach. He stood to Merodach
in the same relation that an older mythology regarded
Merodach as standing to Ea. While Merodach was
rather the god of healing, in accordance with his primi
tively solar nature, Nebo was emphatically the god of
science and literature. The communication of the gifts
of wisdom, therefore, which originally emanated from
Ea, was thus shared between Merodach and his son. At
Babylon, the culture-god of other countries was divided
into two personalities, the one conveying to man the
wisdom that ameliorates his condition, the other the
knowledge which finds its expression in the art of writing.
This division was due to the local character of Baby
lonian religion which I have tried to bring into relief.
When Babylon became the centre of the Babylonian
monarchy, Borsippa was abeady its suburb. But the
suburb had a past life and history of its own, which
gathered round its great temple and the god who was
worshipped there. When, therefore, Borsippa was ab-
1 W. A. I. ii. 54, 71. Anu was " the king of the holy mound," but
in M602, 14, Lugal-girra, who was identified with Nergal, is brought
into connection with it. In the legend of the Tower of Babel (K 3657.
ii. 1), reference is made to the " divine king of the holy mound." " The
king who comes forth from the holy mound" was one of "the three
great" or secret " names of Anu" (W. A. I. iii. 68, 19), while " the god
dess of the holy mound" was Istar (iii. 68, 27).
I

114 LECTURE II.
sorbed into Babylon, its god was absorbed at the same
time; he became one of the triad worshipped by the
pious Babylonian, and was accounted the son of the god
of the larger city. But he still retained the proud title
of bilu asaridu, " the first-born Baal j"1 and it is possible
that the true signification of the name of his sanctuary
is not "the constituted house," but "house of the con
stituted" or " legitimate son."2 Up to the last, moreover,
Nebo maintained all his local rights. He was domesti
cated, it is true, in Babylon, but he continued to be the
god of Borsippa, and it was there that his true and
original temple lifted its tower to the sky.3
We have only to glance over the titles which were
given to Nebo to see how thoroughly the conception of
"the prophet" was associated with that of "the writer."
He is not only "the wise," "the intelligent," "the
creator of peace," "the author of the oracle;"4 he is
also "the creator of the written tablet," "the maker of
writing," "the opener" and " enlarger of the ear."5
Assur-bani-pal is never weary of telling us, at the end of
the documents his scribes had copied from theb Baby
lonian originals, that "Nebo and Tasmit had given him
broad ears (and) endowed (him) with seeing eyes," so that
1 W.A.I. ii. 60, 30 (K104). Under this title he was identified
with En-zag of Dilmun (W. A. I. ii. 54, 66), whose name occurs in an
inscription found by Capt. Durand in the islands of Bahrein (Jrl.
B. A. S. xii. 2, 1880). Zag, it seems, signified " first-born" in the lan
guage of Dilvun. The proper name of the god of Dilvun to whom the
title was given was Pati (K 104), or Wuati (W. A. I. ii. 54, 67), as it
is also written.
2 See Tiele, De Hoofdtempel van Babel en die van Borsippa (1886).
3 Borsippa is called " the second Babylon (Din-Tir)," K 4309, 23.
4 W. A. I. ii. 60, 33. s W. A. I. ii. 60. 34, 45, 44.

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. 115
he had " written, bound together and published the store
of tablets, a work which none of the kings who had gone
before had undertaken, even the secrets of Nebo, the list
of characters as many as exist." In the literary dialect
of the Semitic epoch, Nebo went by the Aceadian name
of dim-sar, " the scribe," and the ideograph by which
he is sometimes denoted was regarded by the Semitic
literati as signifying "the maker of intelligence" and
"the creator of writing."1
These, however, were not the only titles that Nebo
bore. He was also "the bond of the universe," and
"the overseer of the angel-hosts of heaven and earth."2
The latter office might be explained as derived from his
duties as scribe of the gods ; but it is hard to discover
what connection there could be between the first title
and his association with literature. Light is thrown
upon it, however, by the fact that the ziggurrat or tower
of his temple at Borsippa had the name of "the house
of the seven bonds of heaven and earth." The seven
"bonds" seem to represent the seven planets, or rather
their stations ; the tower was in seven stages, and each
stage was painted so as to symbolise the colours sym
bolical of the several planets. Nebo must, therefore,
have once been an elemental god, or at all events a
god connected with the chief of the heavenly bodies.
We know that Babylonian astronomy made him the
presiding deity of the planet Mercury, just as it made
Merodach the presiding deity of Jupiter; but it cannot
have been in reference to this that the tower of his

1 W. A. I. ii. 60. 43, 45.
2 W. A. I. ii. 60. 31, 28. The Aceadian equivalent of the first is
A-ur, "father of the bond."
i2

116 LECTURE II.
temple was dedicated to the seven heavenly spheres.
Nebo cannot well have been one of the seven himself in
the conception of its builders ; he must rather have been
the universe in which the seven spheres were set.
We shall thus reach the true explanation of the ideo
graph by which he was commonly denoted, and which
has been translated "the maker of wisdom," "the creator
of writing," by the Semitic scribes. But such translations
are mere glosses. The ideograph signifies nothing more
than "maker" or "creator," and points to a time when
the local god of Borsippa was something more than the
son of Merodach and the patron of the literary class.
He was, in the belief of his worshippers at Borsippa, the
supreme god, the creator of the world.
Now there are traces of an old Aceadian notion of the
universe according to which "the deep" was a flowing
stream which surrounded the earth like the Okeanos of
Homer. It was sometimes compared to a snake, some
times to a rope, and was then called "the rope of the
great god." The spirit or deity who personified it was
Innina.1 (In)nina seems to be the divinity who hi later
days was assumed to have given a name to Nineveh, and
the name is to be explained as meaning " the god Nin,"
1 W. A. I. ii. 51, 45 — 49, where " the river of the snake" is described
as being also " the river of the rope of the great god," " the river of the
great deep," " the river of the sheepcote of the ghost-world," and " the
river of Innina." In 82. 8 — 16, 1, Obc. 5, innana is given as the Acea
dian pronunciation of the ideograph denoting " a goddess," the initial
syllable being only a weakening of the determinative an, " divinity."
Nina and Nana are merely dialectic forms of the same word, which in
the genderless Aceadian meant indifferently " lord" and " lady," though
more usually " lady." Nina seems to have been the pronunciation
of the word at Eridu, Nana at Erech. At all events Nina was the
daughter of Ea.

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. 117
or " the divine lord," just as Innana means " the goddess
Nana," " the divine lady." It will be remembered that
the worship of Nana was associated with that of Nebo in
his temple at Borsippa. The name of Borsippa itself,
moreover, is sometimes written in a punning fashion by
the help of ideographs which would read in Aceadian
Bat-si-aabba, " the fortress of the horn of the sea," as if
it had once been held to stand on a "horn" or inlet of
the Persian Gulf. It is therefore possible that Innina
may have been the primitive Nebo of Borsippa, and that,
like the Ea of southern Babylonia, he may have been
regarded as himself the great " deep." If so, we should
have an explanation of his title " the bond" or " rope of
the universe," that ocean-stream, in fact, which seemed
to bind together the heavens and the earth. It seems to
be the same as "the bond" or "rope of the world" com
memorated by Aceadian mythology (W. A. I. ii. 29, 62),
in curious parallelism to "the golden cord" of Homer
(II. viii. 19), which Zeus offered to let the other gods
hang from heaven to earth, in the vain endeavour to drag
him down from the upper end of it.
How the old demiurgic god of Borsippa, the symbol-
isation of the deep which wound like a rope round the
nether world, became the prophet-god Nebo of the
Semites, is difficult to understand. There is apparently
no connection between them. The prophet- god of the
Accadians was Tutu, the setting sun, who is said to
"prophesy before the king." The legends, however,
which attached themselves to the name of Ea show that
the Accadians associated together the ideas of wisdom
and of that primordial deep of which the Persian Gulf
was the visible manifestation; in so far, therefore, as the

118 LECTURE II.
primitive god of Borsippa was the deep, he might also
have been considered to have been the author of know
ledge and intelligence. Indeed, as creator of the uni
verse he must have been credited with a certain degree
of wisdom.
It is possible, however, that the mediation between the
demiurge of Borsippa and the Semitic Nebo was due to
a confusion of the latter with an entbely different god
named Nuzku. Nuzku probably signified in Aceadian
"the brilliance of the daybreak;" at all events he was a
solar deity, one of whose titles was "lord of the zenith;"
and in the cuneiform texts his name is often used to denote
the zenith, or elat same, "height of heaven," as it was
called in Assyrian, in opposition to the god of the horizon.1
Now the ideograph which denoted " the daybreak," and
was frequently used to represent the name of Nuzku,
happened also to denote a leaf; and since the Accadians
had written upon the leaves and rind of the papyrus
before they began to write on clay, it was employed with
a certain determinative to denote the stylus or pen of the
scribe. Hence Nuzku, the god of the zenith, became also
Khadh, the god of the scribe's pen.
Nuzku, however, does not appear to have belonged
originally to Borsippa. He is entitled " the messenger"
or "angel of Mul-lil,"2 the older Bel; and it was only
1 See W. A. I. ii. 48, 55. The phrase is frequent, "From the horizon
(the god Ub) to the zenith (the god Nuzku)." In ii. 54, 73, the god
Ur is identified with Nebo ; hence Nebo and Nuzku will have been
regarded as two different phases of the Sun-god, Nebo being the Sun
of the dawn, and Nuzku the Sun of midday.
2 W.A.I, ii. 19, 56. In K 2. 1, 159, 5, Nuzku is called "the
supreme messenger of E-kur." The amalgamation of Nebo and Nuzku
xas no doubt aided by the fact that while Nuzku was thus the mes-

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. 119
when the. older Bel of Nipur became merged in the
younger Bel-Merodach of Babylon, that Nuzku followed
the fortunes of his master and was himself domesticated'
in the city of the younger Bel. When the transformation
was finally completed, three separate deities found them
selves united in the divine patron of the literary class.1
Wherever the literary class went, Nebo their patron
went with them. Nebo consequently became less local
in character than the other divinities of the pantheon, a
result that was further encouraged by the absorption of
his city of Borsippa into the larger Babylon. It is not
surprising, therefore, that Nebo showed a greater tendency
to migration than the older and more definitely localised
deities of Babylonia. A knowledge of Babylonian letters
and learning was accompanied by a knowledge of the
senger of Mul-lil the older Bel, Nebo was the prophet and messenger
of Merodach the younger Bel. The confusion between the two Bels
led necessarily to a confusion between their two ministers.
1 Up to the last, however, the priesthood of Babylon remembered
that Nebo and Nuzku were originally different divinities. In the great
temple of Merodach there was a separate chapel for Nuzku by the side
of the great tower. Nuzku originally appears to have come from Nipur,
and to have been identified with Nebo when the latter came to share
with Merodach his solar character. But originally the local god of
Borsippa, who as the supreme deity of the place was worshipped by
the inhabitants as the creator of the universe, was not the Sun-god,
but the power which bound the universe together. As this was the
ocean-stream which encircled the horizon and was the home of the
rising sun, it was not difficult to confound it with the morning sun
itself. It seems strange that Nuzku, the messenger of " the lord of the
ghost-world," and as such the morning-grey, should have come to repre
sent the zenith ; but the same transference of meaning meets us in the
Assyrian verb napakhu, which properly refers to the rising sun, but
is also used of the zenith. That Nuzku, " who goes on the left of the
companions of the king," was primarily the Fire-god is expressly stated
in K 170, Rev. 5

120 LECTURE II.
Babylonian god of letters and learning. In Assyria,
Nebo was honoured as much as he was in Babylonia
itself. The Assyrian kings and scribes might be silent
about the name of Merodach, but the name of Nebo was
continually in theb mouths.1 His name and worship
passed even to the distant Semitic tribes of the west.
The names of places in Palestine in which his name
occurs, proves that the god of prophecy was adored by
Canaanites and Moabites alike. Moses, the leader and
prophet of Israel, died on the peak of Mount Nebo, and
cities bearing the name stood within the borders of the
tribes of Eeuben and Judah. When the Israelites entered
upon their literary era, the old name of roeh, or " seer,"
was exchanged for the more literary one of Nebi, or
"prophet." The Semites of Babylonia provided Nebo with a wife,
Tasmitu, "the hearer." She helped to open and enlarge
the ears which received the divine mysteries her husband's
inspbation enabled his devout servants to write down.
The revolution which transferred the learning of the
Babylonians from the Accadians to the Semites, trans
ferred the patronage of the literary class from the old
god Ea to his younger rivals Nebo and Tasmit.
I have dwelt thus long on the nature and history of
the three deities who shared together the great temple
of Babylon, partly because our materials in regard to
them are less imperfect than is the case with many oi
the other gods, partly because they illustrate so well the
essentially local character of Babylonian religion. It is

1 In the prayer to Assur, K 100, Rev. 18, Nebo is called "the mes
senger of Assur," who thus takes the place of Merodach of Babylon.

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. 121
this which gives to it its peculiar complexion and fur
nishes the key to its interpretation. In so far as the
worship of Nebo forms an exception to the general rule,
it is an exception which bears out the old legal maxim
that the exception proves the rule. The worship of Nebo
was less local than that of other divinities, because he
was specially worshipped by a class which existed in each
of the local centres of the country. He alone was the
god of a class rather than of a locality. Babylonian
history began with separate cities, and centralisation was
never carried so far as to break up the local usages and
cults that prevailed hi them. In the eyes of the people,
the several deities remained to the last a body of equals,
among whom the god of the imperial city presided, simply
because he was the god of the imperial city. If Ur had
taken the place of Babylon, the Moon-god of Ur would
have taken the place of Bel-Merodach. The gods of
Babylonia were like the local saints of Catholic Europe,
not like the Greek hierarchy of Olympus, ruled by the
despotic nod of Zeus.
The Semites of Babylonia thus closely resembled theb
brother Semites of Canaan hi theb fundamental concep
tion of religion. As the Canaanite or Phoenician had
"lords many," the multitudinous Baalim who repre
sented the particular forms of the Sun-god worshipped in
each locality, so too the gods of Semitic Babylonia were
equally multitudinous and local — Merodach, for example,
being merely the Bel or Baal of Babylon, just as Mel-
karth (Melech-kbyath) was the Baal of Tyre. But the
parallelism extends yet further. We have seen that the
rise of the prophet-god in Babylonia marks the growing
importance of literature and a literary class, just as the

122 LECTURE II.
beginning of a literary age in Israel is coeval with the
change of the seer into the prophet. Now the literary
age of Israel was long preceded by a literary age among
their Phoenician neighbours, and its growth is contem
poraneous with the closer relations that grew up between
the monarchs of Israel and Hiram of Tyre. What Israel
was in this respect to the Phoenicians, Assyria was to
Babylonia. The Assyrians were a nation of warriors and
traders rather than of students ; theb literature was for
the most part an exotic, a mere imitation of Babylonian
culture. In Babylonia, education was widely diffused ;
in Assyria, it was confined to the learned class. We must
remember, therefore, that in dealing with Assyrian docu
ments we are dealing either with a foreign importation
or with the thoughts and beliefs of a small and special
class. This is the class from whom we have to gain our know
ledge of the form of religion prevalent in Assyria. It
is wholly Babylonian, with one important exception.
Supreme over the old Babylonian pantheon rises the
figure of a new god, the national deity of Assyria, its
impersonation Assur. Assur is not merely primus inter
pares, merely the president of the divine assembly, like
Merodach; he is their lord and master in another and
more autocratic sense. Like the Tahveh of Israel, he
claims to be "king above all gods," that "among all
gods" there is none hke unto himself. In his name and
through his help the Assyrian kings go forth to conquer ;
the towns they burn, the men they slay, the captives
they take, are all his gifts. It is to destroy " the enemies
of Assur," and to lay their yoke upon those who disbelieve
hi his name, that they lead their armies into other lands ;

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. 123
it is his decrees, his law, that they write upon the monu
ments they erect in conquered countries. The gods of
Babylonia are invoked, it is true ; their old Babylonian
titles are accorded to them ; they are called upon to curse
the sacrilegious hi the stereotyped phrases of the ancient
literature ; but it is Assur, and Assur alone, to whom the
Assyrian monarch turns in moments of distress; it is
Assur, and Assur alone, in whose name he subdues the
infidel. Only the goddess Istar finds a place by the side
of Assur.
It is not difficult to account for all this. In passing
from theb native homes to Assyria, the Babylonian
deities lost that local character which was the very breath
of their existence. How far they owe their presence in
Assyrian literature to the literary class, how far they had
been brought from Babylonia in early days by the people
themselves, I am not prepared to say. One fact, however,
is clear ; in becoming Assyrian the Babylonian gods have
lost both theb definiteness and theb rank. The invocations
addressed to them lack their old genuine rmg, their titles
are borrowed from the literature of the southern kingdom,
and their functions are usurped by the new god Assur.
It is almost pitiable to find Bel-Merodach invoked, in
phrases that once denoted his power above other deities,
by the very kings who boast of theb conquests over his
people, or who even razed his city to the ground. The
Assyrian, hi fact, occupied much the same position as an
Israelite who, while recognising the supremacy of his
national God, thought it prudent or cultivated to offer
at the same time a sort of inferior homage to the Baalim
of Canaan.
At the outset, Assur was as much a purely local divinity

124 LECTURE II.
as Bel-Merodach of Babylon. He was the god of Assur
(now Kaleh-Sherghat), the primitive capital of the country.
But several causes conspbed to occasion him to lose this
purely local character, and to assume hi place of it a
national character. The capital of Assyria was shifted
from Assur to Nineveh, and the worship of Assur, instead
of remaining fixed at Assur, was shifted at the same time.
Then, moreover, the importation of Babylonian deities
had broken the close connection which existed in the
rnind of a Babylonian between the deity and the city
where he was worshipped ; to the Assyrian, Bel-Merodach
was no longer peculiarly the patron-god of Babylon ; his
other attributes came instead to the front. Assyria,
furthermore, from the time it first became an independent
kingdom, formed an homogeneous whole; it was not
divided into separate states, as was so often the case with
Babylonia. A national feeling was consequently per
mitted to grow up, which the traditions of the old cities
of Chaldaea and the frequent conquest of the country by
foreigners prevented from developing in the south. Per
haps, too, the composite origin of Assur himself had
something to do with the result.
The name of Assur is frequently represented by a
character which among other ideographic values had that
of "good." The name was accordingly explained by
the Assyrians of the later historical age as "the good
god," with a reference perhaps to theb own words asiru,
"righteous," and asirtu, "righteousness." But this was
not the original signification either of the name or of the
character by which it was expressed. The god so denoted
was one of the primaeval deities of Babylonian cosmology
who bore in Aceadian the title of Ana sar (An-sar), " the

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. 125
god of the hosts of heaven," or simply Sar, " the upper
firmament." It was believed that Ana sar was the male
principle which, by uniting with the female principle
(Ana) ki-sar, "(the goddess of) the earth (and) the hosts
of heaven," produced the present world. It was to this
old elemental deity that the great temple of E-sarra was
dedicated, whose son was said to be the god Ninip or
Adar. A fragment of Babylonian cosmogomy has been pre
served to us by Damascius, a writer of the sixth century,
who had access to older materials now lost. Here Ana-
sar and Ki-sar are called 'Ao-o-upbs and Kio-o-apri, and we are
told of them that they were the offspring of the primaeval
Lakhma and Lakhama, and the progenitors of the three
supreme gods, Anu, Mul-lil and Ea. The worship of
these primaeval divinities had been rooted in Assyria
from an early period ; probably the earliest Semitic emi
grants from the south found it abeady established there.
It was inevitable that before long a confusion should
grow up between the name of the god An-sar or Assor,
and that of the city of Assur in which he was adored.
But the city of Assur had nothing to do with the god.
The name seems to be a corruption of the Aceadian
A-usar, or "water-bank," first corrupted by its Semitic
inhabitants into Assur and then into Asur, with a pos
sible reference to the word asurra, " the bed (of a river)."1
1 The attempt has been made to show that the names of the god
and of the country ought to be distinguished from one another by
writing the first with ss and the second with a single s. The Assyrian?,
however, wrote both alike, sometimes with ss, sometimes with s; and
the fact that the name of the country is often expressed by attaching
the determinative affix of locality to the name of the god proves that
they were not conscious of any difference, phonetic or otherwise,

126 LECTURE II.
The confusion between Ass6r the god and Assur the
city had the effect of identifying the god with his city
more closely than could be the case with the divine
patron of a Babylonian town. The city of Assur was
itself a god: offences against the city were offences
against the god ; the enemies of the city were the enemies
also of the god. The instinct, however, of regarding
the deities they worshipped as individuals, was too deeply
implanted within the mind of the Semites to allow
either this fact, or the further fact that the god himself
was originally a mere elemental one, to obliterate his
individual and anthropomorphic character. Though Assur
was the personification of the city, he was also its Baal
or lord.
The transference of the centre of power from A.ssur to
Nineveh made the anthropomorphic side of Assur's nature
still more prominent. He represented now the whole
nation and the central power which governed the nation.
He was thus the representative at once of the people
and of the king in whose hands the government of the
people was centred. Assyria became " the land of the
god Assur," belonging to him in much the same way as
the city of Babylon belonged to Bel-Merodach. But
whereas Bel-Merodach was the Baal of a particular city
only, Assur was, like the Tahveh of Israel, the national
god of a race.
There was yet another respect in which Assur resem
bled the Tahveh of Israel. There was no goddess Assur-
ritu by the side of Assur, as there was an Anatu by the

between the two. In such a matter we cannot be wiser than our
Assyrian teachers.

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. 127
side of Anu, a Beltis by the side of Bel.1 If, in imita
tion of Babylonian usage, Bilat or Beltis is sometimes
addressed as the consort of Assur, it is simply a literary
affectation ; Assur was not a Bel or Baal, like Merodach.
Bilat is a Babylonian goddess ; she is properly the wife
of the older Bel, in later times identified with Zarpanit.
There is n& indication that Assur had a "face" or reflec
tion ; he stands by himself, and the inspiration received
from him by the Assyrian kings is received from him
alone. When a female divinity is invoked along with
him, it is the equally independent goddess Istar or Ash-
toreth. We possess a list of the deities whose images stood in
the temples of Assur at Assur and Nineveh.2 At the
head of each list the name of Assur is thrice invoked,
and once his name is followed by that of Istar. There
was, in fact, a special form of Istar, under which she was
worshipped as "the Istar of Nineveh;" but the form
was purely local, not national, arising from the existence
there of a great temple dedicated to her. There was no
national goddess to place by the side of the national god.
Assur consequently differs from the Babylonian gods,
not only in the less narrowly local character that belongs
to him, but also hi his solitary nature. He is " king of
all gods" in a sense in which none of the deities of Baby
lonia were.3 He is like the king of Assyria himself,
1 If Istar is sometimes called Assuritu, " the Assyrian," the adjective
is always a mere title, and never becomes a proper name (see W. A. I.
v. 1, 65). Like the title "Istar of Nineveh," it serves only to distin
guish the Assyrian Istar from the Istar of Arbela.
2 W. A. I. iii. 66.
8 The following prayer or hymn (K 100) illustrates the way in which
the learned literati of Assur-bani-pal's court sought to make good the

128 LECTURE II.
brooking no rival, allowing neither wife nor son to share
in the honours which he claims for himself alone. He is
deficiencies of their national god, and to connect him with the deities
of Babylonia :
1. "A prayer to Assur the king of the gods, ruler (li) over heaven
and earth,
. 2. the father who has created the gods, the supreme first-born (of
heaven and earth),
3. the supreme muttallu who (inclines) to counsel,
4. the giver of the sceptre and the throne.
5. (To) Nin-lil the wife of Assur, the begetter (takkaf), the crea
tress of heaven (and earth),
6. who by the command of her mouth ....
7. (To) Sin the lord of command, the uplifter of horns, the spec
tacle of heaven,
8. who for delivering the message (has been appointed).
9. (To) the Sun-god, the great judge of the gods, who causes the
lightning to issue forth,
10. who to his brilliant light ....
11. (To) Anu the lord and prince, possessing the life of Assur the
father of the (great) gods.
12. (To) Eimmon the minister (gugal) of heaven and earth, the
lord of the wind and the lightning of heaven.
14. (To) Istar the queen of heaven and the stars, whose seat (is
exalted).
15. (To) Merodach the prince of the gods, the interpreter (bar-bar)
of the spirits of heaven and (earth).
16. (To) Adar the son of Mul-lil, the giant (gitmalu), the first
born ....
17. fixed and ....
18. (To) Nebo the messenger of Assur (An-sar) ....
19. (To) Nergal the lord of might (abari) and strength (dunni),
who ....
20. (To) the god who marches in front, the first-born ....
21. (To) the seven gods, the warrior deities ....
22. the great gods, the lords (of heaven and earth)."
On the obverse, little of which is left, mention is made of " the image
of the great gods," " as many as (dwell) in the midst of the stone," and
"at the opening of their holy mouth" they are asked to befriend the
king "himself, his princes (maliki), their name and their seed."

BEL-MERODACH OF BABYLON. 129
essentially a jealous god, and as such sends forth his
Assyrian adorers to destroy his unbelieving foes. Wife
less, childless, he is mightier than the Babylonian Baalim;
less kindly, perhaps, less near to his worshippers than
they were, but more awe-inspiring and more powerful.
We can, in fact, trace in him all the lineaments upon
which, under other conditions, there might have been
built up as pure a faith as that of the God of Israel.

K

Lecture III.
THE GODS OF BABTLONIA.

In my last Lecture I have been obliged to some extent
to anticipate the conclusions to which a survey of the
older literature of Babylonia will lead us. I have had
to refer more than once to the older gods of the land,
and to point out that the Babylonian deities of the later
inscriptions are only in part of purely Semitic origin, in
part adaptations of earlier Aceadian divinities. They
are characterised, however, by one common feature ; they
are all alike local, belonging to the cities where theb
cults were established as literally as the temples in which
they were adored. Merodach might, indeed, be invoked
elsewhere than at Babylon, but it was only as god of
Babylon that he would hear the prayer. In Assyria
alone we find another order of things, more analogous to
that which meets us among the Israelites ; in Babylonia
the gods are local Baalim as fully as they were hi Phoe
nicia. What differences may have existed between the
religious conceptions of the Phoenicians and Babylonians
in this respect were but superficial, due mainly to the
fact that the Phoenician cities were never amalgamated
into a single empbe, while Babylon succeeded in impos
ing its authority upon its sister towns.
There are two especially of the older gods whose names

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 131
have frequently recurred. These are Ea and the original
Bel. Let me speak of Ea first.
Ea, as we have already seen, was the god not only of
the deep, but also of wisdom. Ancient legends affirmed
that the Persian Gulf — the entrance to the deep or ocean-
stream — had been the mysterious spot from whence the
first elements of culture and civilisation had been brought
to Chaldaea. Berossos, the Chaldaean historian — so at
least his epitomiser Alexander Polyhistor declared — had
reported them as follows :
" At Babylon there was a great resort of people of various races who
inhabited Chaldaea, and lived in a lawless manner like the beasts of the
field. In the first year there appeared in that part of the Erythreean
sea which borders upon Babylonia, a creature endowed with reason,
by name Oannes, whose whole body (according to the account of
Apollod6ros) was that of a fish ; under the fish's head he had another
head, with feet also below similar to those of a man subjoined to the
fish's tail. His voice, too, and language were articulate and human ;
and a representation of him is preserved even to this day.
" This being was accustomed to pass the day among men, but took no
food at that season ; and he gave them an insight into letters and
sciences and arts of every kind. He taught them to construct houses,
to found temples, to compile laws, and explained to them the principles
of geometrical knowledge. He made them distinguish the seeds of
the earth, and showed them how to collect the fruits ; in short, he
instructed them in everything which could tend to soften manners and
humanise their lives. From that time, nothing material has been
added by way of improvement to his instructions. Now when the sun
had set, this being Oannes used to retire again into the sea, and pass
the night in the deep, for he was amphibious. After this there appeared
other animals like Oannes, of which B§r6ssos proposes to give an
account when he comes to the history of the kings. Moreover, Oannes
wrote concerning the generation of mankind, of their different ways of
life, and of their civil polity."1
1 Eusebios (Chron.), Cory's translation : " The other animals like
Oanne's," according to Abydenos (ap. Euseb. Chron. i. 6, Mai), were
Annedotos in the time of Amillaros, the third antediluvian king, called
K2

132 LECTURE III.
A native fragment of the legend has, it is probable,
been accidentally preserved among a series of extracts
from various Aceadian works, in a bilingual reading-book
compiled for the use of Semitic students of Aceadian.
It reads thus :
" To the waters their god has returned ;
into the house of (his) repose the protector descended.1
The wicked weaves spells, but the sentient one grows not old.
A wise people repeated his wisdom.
The unwise and the slave (literally person) the most valued of his
master forgot him ;
there was need of him and he restored (his) decrees C?)"2
The exact etymology of the name which appears under
Amelon by Apollod6ros, Eued6kos, Eneugamos, Eneubulos and Ane-
mentos in the time of Da6s (1 Tammuz) the shepherd, and An6daphos
in the time of Eued6reskhos. Apollodoros makes "the Musaros
Oannes, the Annedotos,'' appear in the time of Ammen6n the successor
of Amelon, another Annedotos in the time of Daonos the shepherd,
and Odakon in the time of Euedfireskhos. A comparison of Anodaphos
and Odakon shows the true reading to have been Anodak6n, i.e. "Anu
and Dagon (Dagan)," who are constantly associated together by Sargon,
and who says of them that he had " written the laws (not " immunitas,"
as Winckler) of Harran by the will of Anu and Dagon." Annedotos
seems to be a Greek compound, " given by Anu." In any case, some
of the successors of Oannes appear to have been derived from the
legends of Erech, the city of Anu, and not, like the original Oannes, from
Eridu. With the exception of the first, who is made a Babylonian,
the antediluvian kings come either from Larankha, which, as we learn
from the Deluge-tablet, is a corrupt reading for Surippak near Sippara,
or from Panti-bibla, a Greek translation of " the country of tablets" or
" books," a title given to the Accad of Sargon, according to W. A. I.
ii. 51, 8. We may infer from this that the whole story of the ante
diluvian kings had its origin at Sippara.
1 Iggillum (which does not signify " a cry of woe," as Jeremias sup
poses) is explained by uatsiru, " the defender," in W. A. I. v. 28, 72.
Magiru, " the obedient one," is called his throne-bearer in W. A. I. iii.
68, 7, where the Iggillum is identified with Ea.
2 W.A.I. ii. 16. 57—71.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 133
the Greek dress of Oannes has not yet been ascertained.
Lenormant thought that it represented Ea-khan, " Ea the
fish." But whether or not this is the case, it is certain
that Oannes and Ea are one and the same. Ea, as we
have seen, not only had his home hi the waters of the
Persian Gulf, he was also the culture-god of primitive
Babylonia, the god of wisdom, the instructor of his
worshippers in arts and science. An old Babylonian
sermon on the duty of a prince to administer justice
impartially and without bribes, declares that if "he
speaks according to the injunction (or writing) of the
god Ea, the great gods will seat him in wisdom and the
knowledge1 of righteousness." 2 Ea was, moreover, like
Oannes, represented as partly man and partly fish. Some
times the fish's skin is thrown over the man's back, the
head of a fish appearing behind that of the man ; some
times the body of the man is made to terminate in the
tail of a fish. A gem in the British Museum, on which
the deity is depicted in the latter fashion, bears an in
scription stating that the figure is that of " the god of
pure life." Now "the god of pure life," as we are
expressly informed by a rubrical gloss to a hymn in
honour of the demiurge Ea (Obv. 5), was one of the
names of Ea.
The name Ea, which is transcribed Aos by Damascius,
signifies "a house," or rather "belonging to a house."3
1 Tudat, to be distinguished from Tuddtu, " offspring," W. A. I. ii.
29, 69.
2 W. A. I. iv. 55, 7. In a penitential psalm (W. A. I. iv. 61, 27),
" the writing of Ea" is referred to as " giving rest to the heart."
3 Ea is translated "house," W.A.I, ii. 15, 42; iv. 16, 48. Con
versely the god Ea is represented by (an) E, "the god of the- house,''

134 LECTURE III.
Ea was therefore originally the "house-god"— a- desig
nation which it is difficult to reconcile with his aquatic
character. Possibly his worship goes back to a time
when the inhabitants of the coast of the Persian Gulf
lived in pile-dwellings like those of Switzerland or the
British Islands; possibly it belongs to a later period,
when the old marine god had become the household
deity of those who received his benefits and believed
him to be the source of theb culture. He was sym
bolised, it would seem, by a serpent;1 and to this day
the Zulus believe that the spirits of theb ancestors are
embodied in certain harmless snakes which frequent theb
homes. However this may be, the primaeval seat of the
worship of Ea was the city of Eridu, now represented
by the mounds of Abu Shahrein on the eastern bank of
the Euphrates, and not far to the south of Mugheb
or Ur.
Eridu is a contracted form of the older Eri-duga, or
"good city," which appears in the non-Semitic texts of
northern Babylonia as Eri-zeba, with the same meaning.
The place was thus a peculiarly holy spot, whose sanctity
was established far and wide throughout the country.
But it was not a holy city only. It is often termed,
in iv. 6, 47. This seems to be the form which has given rise to the
A-os of Damascius. In O-annes the initial is due to the contraction
of b-a.
1 See above, p. 116. Among the symbols of the gods on contract-
stones, the serpent occupies a prominent place. According to W. A. L
ii. 59, 21, the snake-god was Serakh, the god of corn and "spirit of
E-sara," whose name signified "the treading of corn" (v. 17. 31, 32),
and who is called "the overseer" or "assembler of the gods of heaven
and earth" (K 4415, Rev. 10). On the other hand, in an unnumbered
fragment (M, line 10), "a snake in thy bed" (asui~ra-ki) is invoked as
a curse.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 135
more especially in the sacred texts, "the lordly city,"1
and we are told that one of its titles was " the land of
the sovereign." In historical times, however, Eridu had
sunk to the condition of a second-rate or even thbd-rate
town; its power must therefore belong to that dimly
remote age of which the discoveries at Tel-loh have
enabled us to obtain a few glimpses. There must have
been a time when Eridu held a foremost rank among
the cities of Babylonia, and when it was the centre from
which the ancient culture and civilisation of the country
made its way.2
Along with this culture went the worship of Ea, the
god of Eridu, who to the closing days of the Babylonian
monarchy continued to be known as Eriduga, " the god
of Eridu." At the period when the first elements of
Chaldaean culture were being fostered in Eridu, the city
stood at the mouth of the Euphrates and on the edge of
the Persian Gulf. If the growth of the alluvium at the
mouths of the Euphrates and Tigris has always been the
same as is the case at present (about sixty-six feet a year),
this would have been at the latest about 3000 B.C. ;
but as the accumulation of soil has been more rapid of
late, the date would more probably be about 4000 B.C.
Abeady, therefore, the cult of Ea would have been esta
blished, and the sea-faring traders of Eridu would have
placed themselves under his protection.
It will be noticed that the culture-myths of Babylonia,
1 Nun-ki, pronounced Nunp6, according to 82. 8 — 16, 1, Obv. 21.
En-ki, another title of Eridu, means " land of the lord."
2 The decay of Eridu was probably due to the increase of the delta
at the head of the Persian Gulf, which made it an inland instead of a
maritime city, and so destroyed its trade.

136 LECTURE III.
like the culture-myths of America, bring the first civiliser
of the country from the sea. It is as a sea deity that
Oannes is the culture-hero of the Chaldaeans ; it is from
the depths of the Persian Gulf that he carries to his
people the treasures of art and science. Two questions
are raised by this fact. Was the culture of Babylonia
imported from abroad ; and was Ea, its god of culture,
of foreign extraction ?
The last great work published by Lepsius1 was an
attempt to answer the first of these questions in the
affirmative. He revived the old theory of a mysterious
Cushite population which carried the civilisation of Egypt
to the shores of Babylonia. But to all theories of this
sort there is one conclusive objection. The origin of
Babylonian culture is so closely bound up with the origin
of the cuneiform system of writing, that the two cannot
be separated from each other. Between the hieroglyphics
of Egypt, however, and the primitive pictures out of
which the cuneiform characters developed, there is no
traceable connection. Apart from those general analogies
which we find in all early civilisations, the script, the
theology and the astronomy of Egypt and Babylonia
show no vestiges of a common source.
Nevertheless, there is now sufficient evidence to prove
that at the very dawn of the historic period in Babylonia,
maritime intercourse was being carried on between this
country on the one hand and the Sinaitic Peninsula and
India on the other. The evidence is as startling as it is
curious. The statues discovered by M. de Sarzec at Tel-loh,
1 Introduction to his Nubische Grammatik (1880).

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 137
which may be roughly dated about 4000 B.C., remind
every traveller who has been in Egypt of the great
diorite statue of king Khephren, the builder of the second
pyramid of Gizeh, which is now in the Bulak Museum.
The execution, indeed, is infinitely inferior; but the
attitude, the pose, the general effect, and to a certain
extent the dress, are remarkably alike. What is more,
some of the Tel-loh statues are carved out of hard diorite
stone. Now one of the inscriptions that accompany them
affirms that the stone was brought from the land of
Magan ; and though in later times Magan was used to
denote Lower Egypt, Dr. Oppert and myself have long
ago pointed out that originally it signified the Sinaitic
Peninsula. Ever since the epoch of the Third Dynasty,
Egyptian garrisons had held possession of the Peninsula,
and Egyptian miners had quarried there ; and as the age
of the fourth Egyptian Dynasty corresponds with the
age which we must assign to the statues of Tel-loh, it
would seem that as far back as six thousand years ago
stone was conveyed by sea from the quarries of Sinai to
Egypt and Babylonia, and that a school of sculpture had
already arisen in that part of the world. What clinches
the matter is the fact observed by Mr. Petrie, that the
unit of measurement marked on the plan of the city
which one of the figures of Tel-loh carries upon its lap,
is the same as the unit of measurement employed by the
Pyramid builders.1
In an opposite dbection we may infer that Chaldaean
traders had also made their way to the western coast of
India. Apart from the existence of teak in the ruins of
1 See above, p. 33.

138 LECTURE III.
Mugheir, an ancient Babylonian list of clothing mentions
sindhu, or "muslin," the Sadin of the Old Testament, the
o-ivSw of the Greeks. That o-ivSdv is merely "the Indian"
cloth has long been recognised; and the fact that it
begins with a sibilant and not with a vowel, like our
" Indian," proves that it must have come to the west by
sea and not by land, where the original s would have
become h in Persian mouths.1 That sindhu is really the
same word as o-ivSdv is shown by its Aceadian equivalent,
which is expressed by ideographs signifying literally
" vegetable cloth."
This intercourse with other countries, and the influence
which a school of sculpture in the Sinaitic Peninsula
appears to have exercised upon the Babylonians, must
necessarily have had much to do with the early develop
ment of Chaldaean culture, even though it were indige
nous in its origin. It therefore becomes possible that Ea,
the deity with whom the introduction of such a culture
is associated, may also have come from abroad. At pre
sent, however, there is no proof of this, though it is quite
possible that some of his features are foreign ; and it is
even possible that the primitive Shamanistic worship of
spbits, which, as we shall see hereafter, originally cha
racterised the religion of the Accadians, first became a
worship of the god Ea through foreign influence, other
spirits afterwards passing into gods when the example
had once been set.
Ea, however, was not merely a god of the sea. The
Persian Gulf, which formed the entrance to the ocean-
1 Supposing, of course, that Iranian tribes were already settled to
the east of Babylonia. In W. A. I. v. 28. 19, 20, sindhu is explained
to be sipat Kurri, " cloth of Kur," and addu, "a veil."

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 139
stream that encircled the world, was fed by the great
river on which Eridu stood. Ea accordingly was a river-
god as well as a sea-god ; he is entitled not only " the
king of the deep," but "the king of the river"1 also.
Out of the mixture of the two arose the conception of
the encircling ocean, and the further title, " god of the
river of the great snake."2 Ea was thus emphatically a
water-god, the deity who presided over the watery ele
ment wherever it was found, and whose home was in the
waves of the Persian Gulf.
Ea had a consort who was not at all like the Semitic
goddesses we have been considering in the last Lecture.
She was no pale reflexion of a male divinity, no Anat or
Beltis or Zarpanit, differing from her husband only in
the grammatical suffix of her name ; but a genuine and
independent deity, whose powers were co-extensive with
those of Ea. She was known as Dav-kina or Dav-ki,
" the lady of the earth," and personified the earth just as
Ea personified the water. Water and earth — these were
the two elements out of which the old inhabitants of
Eridu believed the world to have been formed. It was
the theory of Thales in its primitive shape ; the water-
god at Eridu took the place occupied by the Sky-god in
other cities of Babylonia. He was in fact addressed, not
only as "lord of the earth," but also as "lord of heaven
and earth," "the master of all created things," "the
ruler of all the world," " the god of the universe," "the
prince of the zenith" of heaven.3 There is no room here
for the Anu or Sky-god of northern Babylonian theology.
1 W. A. I. ii. 55, 23. 2 W. A. I. ii. 56, 27.
3 W. A. I. ii. 58, No. 5.

140 LECTURE III.
Not only, then, the elements of culture and civilisa
tion, but the created universe itself proceeded out of that
watery abyss, that "deep," as it is called in our transla
tion of the Book of Genesis, which was at once the home
and the visible form of Ea. Ea was the demiurge, and
a hymn exists in which he is addressed as such under
each of his many titles. Thus he is invoked as "the
god of pure life" " who stretches out the bright firma
ment, the god of good winds, the lord of hearing and
obedience, creator of the pure and the impure, establisher
of fertility, who brings to greatness him that is of small
estate. In places difficult of access we have smelt his
good wind. May he command, may he glorify, may he
hearken to his worshippers. 0 god of the pure crown,
moreover, may all creatures that have wings and fins be
strong. Lord of the pure oracle who giveth life to the
dead, who hath granted forgiveness to the conspiring
gods, hath laid homage and submission upon the gods
his foes. Eor their redemption did he create mankind,
even he the merciful one with whom is life. May he
establish and never may his word be forgotten in the
mouth of the black-headed race (of Sumir) whom his
hands created. As god of the pure incantation may he
further be invoked, before whose pure approach may the
evil trouble be overthrown, by whose pure spell the
siege of the foe is removed. 0 god who knowest the
heart, who knowest the hearts of the gods that move
his compassion, so that they let not the doing of evil
come forth against him, he who establishes the assembly
of the gods (and knows) theb hearts, who subdues the
disobedient. . . . May he (determine) the courses of the
stars of heaven ; like a flock may he order all the gods.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 141
May he exorcise the sea-monster of chaos; her secrets
may he discover (?) and destroy for evermore. Mankind
may he raise to length of days, and may he overthrow
mischief (?) for future time. Since (their) places he
created, he fashioned, he made strong, lord of the world
is he called by name, even father Bel. The names of
the angels1 he gave unto them. And Ea heard, and his
liver was soothed, and he spake thus : ' Since he has made
his men strong by his name, let him, like myself, have
the name of Ea. May he bear (to them) the bond of all
my commands, and may he communicate all my secret
knowledge through the fifty names of the great gods.'
His fifty names he has pronounced, his ways he has
restored; may they be observed, and may he speak as
formerly. Wise and sentient, may he rule triumphantly.
May father to son repeat and hand them down. May
he open the ears of both shepherd and flock." 2
The fracture which has destroyed the middle part of
the hymn makes it difficult to connect together the
earlier and latter portions of the poem. The poet, how
ever, evidently wishes to show that the demiurge Bel of
northern Babylonia is one and the same with the demiurge
1 Or " spirits of heaven," called Igigi in Assyrian, perhaps from agdgu,
" to be powerful." The name is ideographically expressed by the deter
minative of divinity followed by " twice five." Jensen, however, has
shown (Zeitschrift fur Assyriologie, i. 1), that whereas the Aniinaki or
"spirits of earth" were denoted by the numeral 8 (Aceadian uda), the
Igigi were denoted by the numeral 9 (Ace. isimu). It is difficult to
follow his further combinations, which would connect them with the
rtbu of W. A. I. ii. 35, 37 (expressed ideographically by an-ndn-gal,
"the great divine princes"), as well as with ra'hebu, the Heb. Kahab.
2 The text has been published by George Smith in the Transactions
of the Society of Biblical Archeology, iv. 2, and by Delitzsch in his
Assyrische Lesestiicke.

142 LECTURE III.
Ea of the south. It is one of the many attempts that
were made in later days to harmonise and identify the
various local deities of Chaldaea to whom in different
localities the same attributes were assigned. The task
was rendered easier by the numerous names, or rather
titles, which the several deities bore. Here Ea is accre
dited with no less than fifty — all, too, transferred to him
from the other " great gods ; " and it is by a knowledge
of them that the secret wisdom of Ea is communicated
to both gods and men. In Babylonia, as in most primitive
communities, the name was regarded as identical with
the thing which it signified ; hence the mystic importance
attached to names and the leading part they played in
exorcisms and charms.
How a water-god became the demiurge seems at first
sight obscure. But it ceases to be so when we remember
the local character of Babylonian religion. Ea was as
much the local god of Eridu as Merodach was of Baby
lon, or Assur of Assyria. His connection with the water
was due to the position of Eridu at the mouth of the
Euphrates and on the shore of the sea, as well as to the
maritime habits of its population. In other respects he
occupied the same place as the patron-deities of the other
great cities. And these patron-deities were regarded as
creators, as those by whose agency the present world
had come into existence, and by whose hands the ancestors
of theb worshippers had been made.
This conception of a creating deity is one of the dis
tinguishing features of early Babylonian religion. Man
kind are not descended from a particular divinity, as
they are in other theologies ; they are created by him.
The hymn to Ea tells us that the god of Eridu was the

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 143
creator of the black-headed race— that is to say, the old
non-Semitic population whose primary centre and start
ing-point was in Eridu itself. It was as creators that
the Aceadian gods were distinguished from the host of
spirits of whom I shall have to speak hi another Lecture.
The Aceadian word for " god" was dimer, which appears
as dingir, from an older dingira, in the southern dialect of
Sumer. Now dimer or dingir is merely "the creator,"
formed by the suffix r or ra, from the verb dingi or dime,
"to create." A simpler form of dimer is dime, a general
name for the divine hierarchy. By the side of dime, dim,
stood gime, gim, with the same meaning ; and from this
verb came the Sumerian name of Istar, Gingba.1 Istar
is said to have been the mother of mankind in the story
of the Deluge, and as Gula, "the great" goddess, she is
addressed in a prayer as " the mother who has borne the
men with the black heads."2 It was in consequence of
the fact that he was a creator that Ea was, according to
Accado-Sumerian ideas, a dingir or " god."
In the cosmology of Eridu, therefore, the origin of
the universe was the watery abyss. The earth lay upon
this like a wife in the arms of her husband, and Dav-kina
accordingly was adored as the wife of Ea. It was through
1 W. A. I. ii. 48, 29. There was another dimme, or more properly
dimma, meaning " weak," the Assyrian tarpu, from rapu (W. A. I. v.
29, 71). Tarpu is the Hebrew teraphim, which, as Dr. Neubauer has
pointed out, must be connected with the Bephaim, or " shades of the
dead," and hence "prehistoric people," and signify the images of dead
ancestors. Dimma, " weak," being confounded with dimme, " creator,"
by the Semites, caused the ideograph which denotes "a spirit" to
acquire the (Assyrian) value of rap, from fappu, a synonym of katsutu,
" the shade of the dead."
2 W.A.I. iv. 61.27.

144 LECTURE III.
her that the oracles of Ea, heard in the voice of the waves,
were communicated to man. Dav-kina is entitled " the
mistress of the oracular voice of the deep," and also "the
lady who creates the oracular voice of heaven."1 The
oracles delivered by the thunder, the voice of heaven,
thus became the reflex of the oracles delivered through
the roaring of the sea.
We may see here an allusion to the doctrine of a
watery abyss above the sky, of "the waters above the
firmament," that is, of which we read in Genesis. The
sky must have been looked upon as but another earth
which floated on the surface of an ocean-stream just as
did the nether earth itself. Hence in the theology of
Eridu there was no room for a god of the sky. The
visible sky was only Dav-kina in another form.
We can now understand why it was that in the theo
logy of Eridu the Sun-god was the offspring of Ea and
Dav-kina. The name that he bore there was Dumuzi or
Tammuz, "the only-begotten one," of whom I shall have
much to say in the next Lecture. At present I need
only remark that he was the primaeval Merodach ; the
Sun-god born of Ea who was called Merodach by the
Babylonians was called Tammuz (Dumuzi) by the people
of Eridu. Perhaps Merodach is after all nothing more
than "the god from Eridu." That he came originally
from Eridu we have abeady seen.

1 W. A. I. ii. 55. 56, 59. Perhaps the latter title should rather be
rendered "the lady of heaven whence the oracular voice is created."
In line 55, me-te, which is usually the equivalent oidimatu, " ornament,"
takes the place of me, just as in K 4245, Rev. 4, 5, where (an) me sag-L
and me-te-sag-L follow one another, sag being explained by ristu and
pani, L by the god Mul-lil, and an me sag by nib.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 145
The author of the hymn to the demiurge identifies
Ea with "father Bel." As "the lord of heaven and
earth," Ea was indeed a Baal or Bel to the Semites, to
whose age the hymn belongs. But the particular Bel
with whom the poet wishes to identify him was Mul-lil,
the supreme god and demiurge of Nipur (the modern
Niffer). In a list of the titles of Ea, we find it expressly
stated that he is one with " Mul-lil the strong." 1 But
such an identification belongs to the later imperial age
of Babylonian history. Mul-lil was primitively a purely
local divinity, standing in the same relation to his wor
shippers at Nipur that Ea stood to his at Eridu.
Mul-lil signifies "the lord of the ghost- world." Lil
was an Accado-Sumerian word which properly denoted
"a dust-storm" or "cloud of dust," but was also applied
to ghosts, whose food was supposed to be the dust of
the earth, and whose form was like that of a dust-cloud.
The Aceadian language possessed no distinction of gender,
and lil therefore served to represent both male and female
ghosts. It was, however, borrowed by the Semites under
the form of lillum, and to this masculine they naturally
added the feminine lilatu. Originally this lilatu repre
sented what the Accadians termed "the handmaid of
the ghost" (kel-lilla),2 of whom it was said that the lil
had neither husband nor wife;3 but before long lilatu
was confounded with the Semitic lilatu, " the night,"
and so became a word of terror, denoting the night-demon
1 W. A. I. ii. 55, 20.
2 In W. A. I. iv. 16. 19-20, the Assyrian has " servant of the ghost"
(ardat li[li]) for the Aceadian kiel uda-Mra, "servant of the light-
coverer," while kiel lilla is rendered by lilatu.
3 W. A. I. ii. 17, 30. L

146 LECTURE III.
who sucked the blood of her sleeping victims. In the
legend of the Descent of Istar into Hades, the goddess is
made to threaten that unless she is admitted to the realm
of the dead she will let them out in the form of vampires
to devour the living. From the Semitic Babylonians
the name and conception of Lilatu passed to the Jews,
and in the book of Isaiah (xxxiv. 14) the picture of
the ghastly desolation which should befall Idumaea is
heightened by its ruined mounds being made the haunt
of Lilith. According to the Eabbis, Lilith had been
the first wife of Adam, and had the form of a beautiful
woman; but she lived on the blood of children whom
she slew at night.
The "lord of the ghost- world" extended his sway
over this nether earth also. He is therefore entitled
"the lord of the world," as well as "king of all the
spirits of the earth."1 According to one version of the
story of the Deluge, it was he who caused the waters of
the flood to descend from heaven, and who designed
the destruction of all mankind. "When Mul-lil," we
are told, " approached and saw the ship (of Xisuthros),
he stood still and was filled with wrath against the gods
and the spirits of heaven.2 ' What soul has escaped there
from?' (he cried). 'Let no man remain alive in the
great destruction.' " It was then that Ea came forward
with words of wisdom, and protested against this attempt
of Mul-lil to confound the innocent with the guilty.
1 W. A. I. i. 9, 3.
2 We seem to have here a mythological reminiscence of the fact that
Mul-lil had originally been the god of the lower world and its hosts of
spirits, and that he was consequently in opposition to the gods of light
and the spirits of the upper air.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 147
"Let the sinner alone bear his sin; let the evil-doer
bear his own iniquity." And though the wrathful god
was pacified, so that Xisuthros and his companions were
allowed to escape from their threatened death, the rescued
hero did not forget the evil intentions of Mul-lil; but
when inviting the other gods to his sacrifice after his
descent from the ark, he specially excepted the god of
Nipur. "Let the (other) gods come to my altar, but
let Mul-lil not come to the altar, since he did not act
considerately, but caused a deluge and doomed my people
to destruction."
In these quotations I have called the god by his old
Aceadian name, Mul-lil.1 But long before this account
of the Deluge was composed, even though in its present
form it probably reaches back more than 2000 years
before the Christian era, the Aceadian Mul-lil had become
the Semitic Bel. His primitive attributes, however, still
adhered to him. He was still the god of the lower
world, whose messengers were diseases and nightmares
and the demons of night, and from whom came the
plagues and troubles that oppressed mankind. In a
magical text (W. A. I. iv. 1. 5, 6), Namtar, the plague-
demon, is called "the beloved son of Mul-lil" — standing,
in fact, in the same relation to Mul-lil that Tammuz does
to Ea,.and in the next line Mul-hTs wife is asserted to
be Nin-ki-gal or Allat, "the queen of the mighty land"
of Hades.
This magical text, however, is a good deal older than
1 Mul-lil was also known as En-lil in one of the Accado-Sumerian
dialects. En-lil was contracted into Illil according to W. A. I. v. 37, 21,
which explains the "IXXtvoi of Damascius (for which we should read
[AAIAA02). L2

148 LECTURE III.
the time when the Semites adopted and transformed the
deities of the Accadians, or at all events it expresses the
ideas of that earlier period. When the god of Nipur
became Semitic, his character underwent a change. As the
supreme deity of the state he was necessarily a Baal, but
the Semitic Baal embodied very different conceptions from
those which were associated with the Aceadian Mul-lil.
It is true that, as I have just pointed out, his primitive
attributes still clung to him, but they were superadded
to other attributes which showed him to be the supreme
Sun-god of Semitic worship. That supreme Sun-god,
however, revealed himself to his worshippers under two
aspects ; he might be either the beneficent god who gave
life and light to the world, or he might be the fierce and
wrathful sun of summer who scorches all nature with his
heat, and sinks at night, like a ball of glowing metal, into
the darkness of the under-world. Necessarily it was
rather under the latter aspect that the Mul-lil of Nipur
became the Semitic Bel.
This is the Bel whose cult was carried to Assyria, and
whose name is mentioned frequently in the inscriptions
of Nineveh, where among other titles he bears that of
"father of the gods." This is a title which he received,
not in vbtue of his primitive character, but because he
had become the Semitic Bel. He was distinguished from
the younger Bel of Babylon, Bel-Merodach, as BeAn-was
or BoAaftj* (BeUthdn), "the older Baal,"1 when Babylon
became the imperial city, and its Bel claimed to be the
father and head of the Babylonian gods. But the dis-

1 Comp. Baudissin, Studien zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte, i.
p. 274. A god Bel-labaru, " the older Bel," is mentioned in the inscrip
tions of Assyria, who may be a form of Mul-lil.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 149
tinction, as might be expected, was not always observed,
and the older and younger Bel are sometimes confounded
together. The confusion was rendered the more easy by the fact
that the wife of the Bel of Nipur was addressed as Bilat,
and thus was undistinguished in name from Beltis of
Babylon. But she was hi reality, as we have seen, the
queen of Hades, Nin-ki-gal as the Accadians called her,
or Allat as she is named in the Semitic texts.1 Allat is
interpreted "the unwearied;"2 like the Homeric epithet
of Hades, dSa/iaoros, "the inflexible" divinity who ceases
not to deal on all sides his fatal blows. Her proper title,
however — that, at least, under which she had originally
been known at Nipur — was Nin-lil, "the lady of the
ghost-world."3 It is under this name that Assur-bani-
pal addresses her (W. A. I. ii. 66) as "the mistress of
the world, whose habitation is the temple of the library"
(i.e. the temple of Istar at Nineveh).4 As Allat, the
1 In a magical text (W. A. I. ii. 18, 40) Nin-ki-gal is called the wife
of Nin-azu ; but that Nin-azu is merely a title of Mul-lil is shown by
W. A. I. ii. 57, 51, where " the star of Nin-azu" is identified with Adar.
In W. A. L ii. 59, 35, the wife of Nin-azu is termed Nin-NER-DA.
2 E204, ii. 9, allattum = nu-kusu. 3 W.A.I, ii. 19. 6.
4 r)-barbar ; see W. A. I. iii. 3, 40. For the meaning of barbar, " a
library," cp. W. A. I. ii. 48, 26. The word is a re-duplicated form of
bar or bdra, " to reveal," hence used in the senses of " white" (W. A. I.
iv. 21, 5) or " visible" (W. A. I. iv. 6, 46), and " an oracle" (W. A. I.
iv. 19, 48). The compound ideograph bar-bar is interpreted tabbak
rimka, "the outpouring of a libation," in S 924, 7, and Em. 2. 11.
149, 4, and mdsi, "a hero," in W.A.I, iv. 21. 30, 32. With the
latter signification it was read mas-mas, which is a title of Merodach
(K 100, 15, K 48, Obv. 18). Since, however, Merodach is called " the
lord of bar-bar-^"" in K2546, Rev. 1, it is clear that the two senses
of the compound ideograph were played upon, as the reading here
must be sip-ti, "an oracle." Between the time of Sennacherib and

150 LECTURE III.
goddess of Hades, she was a much-dreaded and formida
ble figure, who is described in the legend of the Descent
of Istar as inflicting upon her sister-goddess all the pains
and diseases which emanated from her demoniac satellites.
The unfortunate Istar, stripped of her clothing and adorn
ments, is held up to the scorn of the lower world ; and
Namtar, the plague-demon, is ordered by Allat to smite
her with maladies in the eyes, in the sides, in the feet,
in the heart, in the head, and, in short, in all the limbs.
Throughout the legend Namtar appears as the messenger
of the infernal queen.
It is thus clear that, just as Eridu hi southern Baby
lonia was the primitive seat of the worship of the Chal
daean culture-god and of the civilisation with which his
name was connected, Nipur in northern Babylonia was
the original home of a very different kind of worship,
which concerned itself with ghosts and demons and the
various monsters of the under-world. It was, in fact,
the home of that belief in magic, and in the various
spirits exorcised by the magician, which left so deep an
impression upon the religion of early Babylonia, and
about which I shall have to speak in a future Lecture.
The analogy of Eridu would lead us to infer, moreover,
that it was not only the home of this belief, but also the
source from which it made its way to other parts of the
country. In the pre-historic age, Eridu in the south
and Nipur in the north would have been the two religious
centres of Babylonian theology, from whence two wholly
different streams of religious thought and influence spread
Assur-bani-pal, the library of Nineveh seems to have been transferred
from the temple of Istar to that of Nebo ; see above, p. 9.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 151
and eventually blended. The mixture formed what I
may call the established religion of Chaldaea in the pre-
Semitic period.
That this conclusion is not a mere inference is shown
by the monuments discovered at Tel-loh. Tel-loh was
geographically nearer to Eridu than to Nipur, and its
theology might therefore be expected to be more largely
influenced by that of Eridu than by that of Nipur. And
such, indeed, is the case. Temples and statues are
dedicated to Ea, " the king of Eridu," and more espe
cially to Bahu, a goddess who occupied a conspicuous
place in the cosmological legends of Eridu. But Mul-lil,
the god of Nipur, appears far more frequently in the
inscriptions of Tel-loh than we should have anticipated.
Nhi-kharsak, "the mistress of the mountain," and "mo
ther of the gods," in whom we may see a local divi
nity, is associated with him as wife ; and Nin-gbsu him
self, the patron god of Tel-loh, is made his "hero" or
"champion." So close, indeed, is the connection of the
latter with Mul-lil, that the compilers of the mythological
tablets, in a latter age, identified him with the " warrior"
god of Nipur, Adar the son of Mul-lil.
Adar, or Ninep, or Uras — for his name has been read
in these various fashions, and the true reading still remains
unknown1 — played a conspicuous part in Babylonian, and
1 The only form out of these three which is monumentally esta
blished is Uras. Uras is given as the pronunciation of the second
ideograph in the name of the god (W. A. I. iii 70, 203 — 207, ii. 54,
34) ; and in W. A. I. ii. 57, 31, Uras is expressly stated to be the name
of nin-ip, as " god of light" (uddane, see ii 62, 36, where there is a
play on the Assyrian baru, "fat," and baru, "to reveal"). From was
the Assyrians borrowed their urasu, "a mourning veil" (v. 28, 60).
Ir and nin-ip were two. primaeval deities who in Aceadian cosmology

152 LECTURE III.
more especially Assyrian theology. He was regarded
as emphatically the warrior and champion of the gods,
and as such was naturally a favourite object of worship
amongst a nation of warriors like the Assyrians. Indeed,
it may be suspected that the extent to which the name
of the older Bel was reverenced in Assyria was in some
measure due to the favour in which his son Adar was
held. In the inscriptions of Nineveh, the title of "hero-
god" (masu) is applied to him with peculiar frequency;
this was the characteristic upon which the Assyrian
kings more particularly loved to dwell. In Babylonia,
on the other hand, Adar was by no means so favourite a
divinity. Here it was the milder and less warlike Mero
dach that took his place. The arts of peace, rather than
those of war, found favour among the Semitic population
ef the southern kingdom.
Originally, like Merodach, Adar had been a solar deity.
We are distinctly told that he was "the meridian sun,"1
whose scorching heats represented the fiercer side of Baal-
worship. But whereas Merodach was the sun conceived
of as rising from the ocean-stream, Adar was the sun
represented the male and female principles, but the genderless character
of the Aceadian nin, " lord" or " lady," caused the Semites to change
nin-ip into a god and identify him with IP, that is, "Anu who listens
to prayer" (ii. 54, 35). As u signified "lord" in Aceadian, it would
seem that they further identified the first syllable of U-ras with the
nin of Nin-Uras. Hence " the Assyrian king," Horus of Pliny (N. H.
xxx. 51, cp. xxxvii. 52), who discovered a cure for drunkenness, as
well as the Thouras of Kedrenos (Hist. 15, 16, cp. Suidas and the
Paschal Chron. p. 68), who is called the Assyrian Ar6s and made the
eon of Zames or Samas. The reading Adar is derived from the Biblical
Adrammelech, but it is quite certain that it is false, and I have retained
it in the text only on account of its employment by other Assyriologists.
1 W. A. I. ii. 57. 51, 76 (where he is identified with Mermer).

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 153
who issues forth from the shades of night. His wife
accordingly is "the lady of the dawn."1 Like all solar
deities in Babylonia, an oracle was attached to his shrine.
His name is explained to mean " the lord of the oracle,"2
and one of his titles was "the voice " or "oracle supreme." 3
It was on this account that later mythologists identified
him with Nebo,4 though between the Sun-god of Nipur
and the prophet- deity of Borsippa there was originally
no sort of connection. On the other hand, it must have
been his solar character that gave rise to the two curious
titles of "lord of the date"5 and "lord of the pig."6
The latter title was naturally dropped in the Semitic
period of Chaldaean history.
Adar bears the same relation to Mul-lil that Merodach
bears to Ea. Each alike is the son and messenger of the
1 W. A. I. ii. 59, 10.
2 W. A. I. ii. 57, 17. It is clear that tbe compiler of the mytho
logical list here interpreted baru, the equivalent of uras, in the sense
of "a revelation" or " oracle," and read his title in Assyria not as Masu,
" a hero," but as Baru, " the oracular god." It illustrates the same
play upon the ideographic writing of the god's name as that which we
find in bar-bar or mas-mas for Merodach.
3 W. A. I. ii. 57, 26. * W. A. I. ii. 57, 18.
5 W. A. I. ii. 57, 28.
6 W. A. I. ii. 57, 39. In K 161, i. 8, one of the remedies prescribed
for disease of the heart is siru an Nin-pes, " swine's flesh." Eimmon,
when worshipped as Matu (Martu), was also known as khumuntsir,
the Accadised form of the Semitic khumtsiru, " a pig'' (W. A. I. iii.
68, 70). The title " lord of the pig" connects Adar with the Ares of
Greek mythology, who in the form of the wild boar slew the Sun-god
Tammuz; while the title "lord of the date" — the chief fruit of Baby
lonia — reminds us of Cain, who was " a tiller of the ground." Under
the name of Baru, Adar was identified with iron, since the name of
" iron" was denoted in Aceadian by bar, " the shining" (see W. A. I. v.
30, 52), which was written with the determinative of divinity, indica
tive of the meteoric origin of the first iron worked in Babylonia.

154 LECTURE III.
older god. But whereas the errands upon which Mero
dach is sent are errands of mercy and benevolence, the
errands of Adar are those that befit an implacable war
rior. He contends not against the powers of darkness,
like Merodach, for the father whose orders he obeys is
himself the ruler of the powers of darkness ; it is against
mankind, as in the story of the Deluge, that his arms are
directed. He is a solar hero who belongs to the darkness
and not to the light.
It is thus that one of his brothers is "the first-born"
of Mul-lil, Mul-nugi, "the lord from whom there is no
return."1 Mul-nugi is the lord of Hades, the god who
is called Irkalla in the legend of the Descent of Istar,
and out of whose hands there is no escape. It may be
that he is but another form of the Moon-god, since the
Moon-god, we are told, was also the eldest son of Mul-lil.
But the name by which the Moon-god went at Nipur
was one that signified " the god of glowing fire."2 It is
curious to find the mythologists identifying this " god
of glowing fire" with Adar; but the error was natural;
both alike were sons of Mul-lil, and both alike represented
the great orbs of heaven.
1 See the Deluge-tablet, col. i. 1. 17. In W. A. I. iii. 68, 7, he is
called " the throne-bearer of Mul-lilla," and he would therefore seem to
have been one of "the throne-bearers" of the Deluge-tablet (col. ii. 45)
who " went over mountain and plain" carrying destruction with them.
Irkalla seems to be a Semitic form of a Proto-Chaldsean word. In
W.A.I, v. 16, 80, irkallum is the rendering of the Aceadian kesda,
"an enclosure" (comp. ii. 29, 63); and since the queen of Hades was
known as Nin-ki-gal, " the lady of the great country," while uru-gal or
eri-gal, " the great city," was the Aceadian designation of Hades or the
tomb (W. A. I. ii. 1. 191; 30. 13), it is possible that Irkalla represents
an earlier Eri-galla.
2 W.A.Lii. 57, 56.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 155
The chief seat, however, of the worship of the Moon-
god was not Nipur but Ur (the modern Mugheb). Here
stood the great temple the ruins of which were partially
explored by Loftus. Already in the oldest documents
that have come from thence, the god to whom the temple
was consecrated is identified with the Moon-god of Nipur.
Already he is termed "the first-born of Mul-lil." The
spread of the cult of Mul-lil, therefore, and of the magic
which it impbed, must have made its way as far south
as Ur in a very remote age. But we have no reason for
believing that the Moon-god of Ur and the Moon-god of
Nipur were originally one and the same. Each Baby
lonian town, large and small, had its own local Moon-god,
whose several names are recorded on a broken tablet.1
The forms under which the Moon-god was worshipped
in Babylonia were as numerous as the forms of the Sun-
god himself.
What seems yet more singular to the comparative
mythologist is that, according to the official religion of
Chaldaea, the Sun-god was the offspring of the Moon-god.
Such a belief could have arisen only where the Moon-god
was the supreme object of worship. It is a reversal of
the usual mythological conception which makes the moon
the companion or pale reflection of the sun. It runs
dbectly counter to the Semitic Baal-worship. To the
Semite the Sun-god was the lord and father of the gods ;
the moon was either his female consort, or, where Semitic
theology had been influenced by that of Chaldaea, an
inferior god.
But the belief was thoroughly in harmony with a
theology which admitted Mul-lil and his ghost-world to
1 W. A. I. ii. 57, 56 sq.

156 LECTURE III.
the highest honours of the pantheon. With such a theo
logy it was natural that the sun should be regarded as
issuing forth from the darkness of night. And the moon
was necessarily associated with the night. Indeed, in
one passage1 the Moon-god is actually identified with
the plague-demon Namtar, who was, as we have seen,
the messenger of the queen of hell. Moreover, the Baby
lonians were a nation of astronomers. Theb astrology
was closely allied to theb magic, and the lofty towers of
theb temples were used for the observation of the sky.
It is not wonderful, therefore, that the cult of the moon
should occupy a foremost place in their creed, or that
the moon should be conceived as a male and not as a
female divinity.
It was at Ur, however, that the Moon-god was placed
at the head of the divine hierarchy, and it was from Ur
that the ideas spread which caused him to be addressed
as "the father of the gods." At Ur, in fact, he held
the same place that Mul-lil held at Nipur; but while
Mul-lil seems to have represented the dark sky of night,
the Moon-god was the luminary which shed light upon
the darkness. He was known at Ur as Nanak or Nannar,2
1 W. A. I. ii. 57, 79. Unfortunately, the name of the city where this
was the case is lost. The " Lady who decides destiny," who is identi
fied with the impersonal "Mistress of the gods" of Semitic worship
(W. A. L ii. 55, 8), introduces us to a wholly different conception, and
the later softening of the plague-demon into a mere instrument of
destiny. 2 The reading is given by 82. 8 — 16. 1, Obv. 3. Nannakos was
supposed to be an antediluvian king who predicted the flood (Zen.
6, 10, Steph. Byz. s.v. 'Ikoviov) ; the name, like the legend of the ark
at Apameia or of Sisy thes (Xisuthros) at Hierapolis (Membij), probably
came into Asia Minor through the medium of the Hittites. Compare
the claim of the Arkadians to be irpoo-kX-nvoi (Scol. Aristoph. Nub. 398).

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 157
a name which the Semites by a popular etymology after
wards connected with theb word namaru, "to see;" so
that we find Nabonidos addressing the Moon-god of
Harran as " the light of heaven and earth" (nannari same
u irtsitim). In later days, both Nanak and Nannar, like
other of the Babylonian gods, passed into heroes and
human kings. Nannakos was transported into Phrygia,
and Nannaros became a satrap of Babylonia under the
Median monarch Artaios — a personage, it need hardly
be observed, unknown to actual history. The Persian
legend, as handed down by Ktesias, is as follows : 1
" There was a Persian of the name of Parsondes,2 in the service of
the king of the Medes, an eager huntsman, and active warrior on foot
and in the chariot, distinguished in council and in the field, and of
influence with the king. Parsonde's often urged the king to make him
satrap of Babylon in the place of Nannaros, who wore women's clothes
and ornaments, but the king always put the petition aside, for it could
not be granted without breaking the promise which his ancestor had
made to Belesys. Nannaros discovered the intentions of Parsondes,
and sought to secure himself against them, and to take vengeance. He
promised great rewards to the cooks who were in the train of the king,
if they succeeded in seizing Parsondes and giving him up. One day,
Parsondes in the heat of the chase strayed far from the king. He had
already killed many boars and deer, when the pursuit of a wild ass
carried him to a great distance. At last he came upon the cooks, who
were occupied in preparations for the king's table. Being thirsty,
Parsondes asked for wine; they gave it, took care of his horse, ar.d
invited him to take food — an invitation agreeable to Parsondes, who
had been hunting the whole day. He bade them send the ass which
he had captured to the king, and tell his own servants where he was.
Then he ate of the various kinds of food set before him, and drank

1 I quote from the English translation of Duncker's History of
Antiquity, v. pp. 298 sq.
2 The name of Parsondes is probably taken from the important town
of Parsindu, among the mountains of the Namri. on the high-road to
Ekbatana (W. A. I. i. 21. 69, 70).

158 LECTURE III.
abundantly of the excellent wine, and at last asked for his horse in
order to return to the king. But they brought beautiful women to
him, and urged him to remain for the night. He agreed, and as soon
as, overcome by hunting, wine and love, he had fallen into a deep
sleep, the cooks bound him and brought him to Nannaros. Nannaros
reproached him with calling him an effeminate man, and seeking to
obtain his satrapy ; he had the king to thank that the satrapy granted
to his ancestors had not been taken from him. Parsondes replied that
he considered himself more worthy of the office, because he was more
manly and more useful to the king. But Nannaros swore by Bel and
Mylitta that Parsondes should be softer and whiter than a woman,
called for the eunuch who was over the female players, and bade him
shave the body of Parsondes, and bathe and anoint him every day, put
women's clothes on him, plait his hair after the manner of women,
paint, his face, and place him among the women who played the
guitar and sang, and to teach him their arts. This was done, and soon
Parsondes played and sang better at the table of Nannaros than any of
the women. Meanwhile the king of the Medes had caused search to
be made everywhere for Parsondes ; and since he could nowhere be
found, and nothing could be heard of him, he believed that a lion or
some other wild animal had torn him when out hunting, and lamented
for his loss. Parsondes had lived for seven years as a woman in Baby
lon, when Nannaros caused an eunuch to be scourged and grievously
maltreated. This eunuch Parsondes induced by large presents to retire
to Media and tell the king the misfortune which had come upon him.
Then the king sent a message commanding Nannaros to give up Par
sondes. Nannaros declared that he had never seen him. But the
king sent a second messenger, charging him to put Nannaros to death
if he did not surrender Parsondes. Nannaros entertained the mes
senger of the king ; and when the meal was brought, 150 women entered,
of whom some played the guitar, while others blew the flute. At the
end of the meal, Nannaros asked the king's envoy which of all the
women was the most beautiful and had played best. The envoy pointed
to Parsondes. Nannaros laughed long and said, ' That is the person
whom you seek,' and released Parsondes, who on the next day returned
home with the envoy to the king in a chariot. The king was asto
nished at the sight of him, and asked why he had not avoided such
disgrace by death. Parsondes answered, ' In order that I might see you
again and by you execute vengeance on Nannaros, which could never
have been mine had I taken my life.' The king promised him that
his hope should not be deceived, as soon as he came to Babylon. But

THE GODS OE BABYLONIA. 159
when he came there, Nannaros defended himself on the ground that
Parsondes, though in no way injured by him, had maligned him, and
sought to obtain the satrapy over Babylonia. The king pointed out
that he had made himself judge in his own cause, and had imposed a
punishment of a degrading character ; in ten days he would pronounce
judgment upon him for his conduct. In terror, Nannaros hastened
to Mitraphernes, the eunuch of greatest influence with the king, and
promised him the most liberal rewards, 10 talents of gold and 100
talents of silver, 10 golden and 200 silver bowls, if he could induce
the king to spare his life and retain him in the satrapy of Babylonia.
He was prepared to give the king 100 talents of gold, 1000 talents of
silver, 100 golden and 300 silver bowls, and costly robes with other
gifts ; Parsondes also should receive 100 talents of silver and eostly
robes. After many entreaties, Mitraphernes persuaded the king not to
order the execution of Nannaros, as he had not killed Parsondes, but
to condemn him in the penalty which he was prepared to pay Parson
des and the king. Nannaros in gratitude threw himself at the feet of
the king ; but Parsondes said, * Cursed be the man who first brought
gold among men ; for the sake of gold I have been made a mockery to
the Babylonians.'"
After this thoroughly characteristic example of the
way in which Persian euhemerism turned the mythology
of theb neighbours into fictitious history, it requires an
effort to go back to the sober facts of the old cuneiform
tablets. Nannaros, or Nannar, however, was originally
no satrap of a Median king, but the supreme god of Ur,
in whose honour hymns were composed and a ritual per
formed similar to that carried on in honour of Merodach
at Babylon. Thanks to the piety of the chief scribe of
Assur-bani-pal, Istar-sum-esses, one of these hymns has
been preserved to us in an almost complete state. The
Aceadian original is accompanied by an interlinear Semi
tic translation, both of which the chief scribe claims to
have accurately reproduced. The hymn runs thus : x
1 W. A. I. iv. 9. The translation given by Dr. Oppert of this hymn
in his Fragments mythologiques is full of errors, and frequently mistakes
the meaning of the lines.

160 LECTURE III.
1. " Lord and prince of the gods who in heaven and earth alone

is supreme

2. Father Nannar, lord of the firmament, prince of the gods !
3. Father Nannar, lord of heaven,1 mighty one, prince of the gods !
4. Father Nannar, lord of the moon,2 prince of the gods !
5. Father Nannar, lord of Ur, prince of the gods !
6. Father Nannar, lord of the Temple of the mighty Light, prince
of the gods !
7. Father Nannar, who biddest the crowned disk to rise, prince
of the gods !
8. Father Nannar, who makest the crowned disk3 fully perfect,
prince of the gods !
9. Father Nannar, who sweeps away with a blow invincible, prince
of the gods !
10. Strong ox, whose horn is powerful, whose limbs are perfect,
whose beard is of crystal, whose member is full of virility ;
11. Its fruit is generated of itself; its eye is bent down to behold
(its) adornment ; its virility is never exhausted.
12. Merciful one, begetter of the universe, who founds (his) illus
trious seat among living creatures.4
13. Father, long-suffering and full of forgiveness,5 whose hand
upholds the life of all mankind !
13 Lord, thy divinity like the far-off heaven fills the wide sea with
fear.
14. On the surface of the peopled earth he bids the sanctuary be
placed, he proclaims their name.
15. Father, begetter of gods and men, who causes the shrine to be
founded, who establishes the offering.
16. Who proclaims dominion, who gives the sceptre, who shall
fix destiny unto a distant day.6
1 The Semitic translator has mistaken the sense of the original and
supposed that the god Anu was intended by the poet. Hence he iden
tifies the Moon-god with Ass6ros (the firmament) and Anu.
2 Here again the translator has erroneously rendered "the lord Sin."
3 Here the translator has completely mistaken the sense of the ori
ginal and has rendered "royalty" !
* Such seems to be the meaning of the Semitic translation. The
original is : " among men far and wide he erects the supreme shrine."
5 The Aceadian is literally, " long-suffering in waiting."
6 So in the translation. The original is : " who gives the sceptre to
those whose destiny is fixed unto a distant day."

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 161
17. First-born, omnipotent, whose heart is immensity, and there is
none who may discover it.1
18. Firm are his limbs (!) ; his knees rest not; he opens the path
of the gods his brethren.
19. (He is the god) who makes the light from the horizon to the
zenith of heaven, opening wide the doors of the sky, and
establishing light (in the world).
20. Father, begetter of the universe, illuminator of living beings
.... sender of ... .
21. Lord, the ordainer of the laws of heaven and earth, whose
command may not be (broken).
22. Thou boldest the rain and the lightning,2 defender of all living
things ; there is no god who hath at any time discovered thy
fulness.
23. In heaven who is supreme 1 Thou alone, thou art supreme.
24. On earth who is supreme 1 Thou alone, thou art supreme.
25. As for thee, thy will is made known in heaven, and the angels
bow their faces.
26. As for thee, thy will is made known upon earth, and the
spirits below kiss the ground.
27. As for thee, thy will is blown on high like the wind; the
stall and the fold3 are quickened.
28. As for thee, thy will is done upon the earth, and the herb
grows green.
29. As for thee, thy will is seen in the lair4 and the shepherd's
hut ; it increases all living things.
30. As for thee, thy will hath created law and justice, so that
mankind has established law.
31. As for thee, thy will is the far-off heaven, the hidden earth
which no man hath known.6
1 In the original : " his heart is far-extended : none shall describe
the god."
2 The order is reversed in the Semitic translation.
3 Ritu u madkitum, which are explained in 79. 7-8. 5. Other ren
derings of u-a given in this tablet are epiru, " dust ;" subat nakri, " the
seat of a stranger ;" and zaninu, " the nourisher." For ritu, see K 4872.
54, 7 ; it is a derivative from the root of rieu, "a shepherd."
* Tarbatsu ; the first syllable has been omitted in the printed text.
6 The original Aceadian is literally : " they will extend (as) heaven,
it stretches below (as) earth, there are none who can record (it)."
M

162 LECTURE III.
32. As for thee, who can learn thy will, who can rival it ?
33. 0 lord, in heaven (is thy) lordship, in the earth (is thy)
sovereignty; among the gods thy brethren a rival thou
hast not.
34. King of kings, of whose  no man is judge, whose divinity
no god resembles.
[The next three lines are too broken for translation.]
38. Look with favour on thy temple !
39. Look with favour on Ur (thy city).
40. Let the high-born dame ask rest of thee, 0 lord.
41. Let the free-born man, the ... . ask rest of thee, 0 lord !
42, 43. Let the spirits of heaven and earth (ask rest of thee), 0
lord!" [The last few lines are destroyed.]
Colophon. — " Like its old copy copied and published.
Tablet of Istar-sum-esses, chief scribe of Assur-bani-pal, the
king of legions, the king of Assyria, and son of Nebo-zir-esir, chief
of the penmen."
As the original language of this hymn is the Aceadian
of northern Babylonia, and not the Sumerian of the south,
it would seem that the priesthood and population of Ur
were derived from the north, and not from the geogra
phically nearer region of which Eridu was the head.
This will explain the relationship they discovered be
tween theb own supreme deity and the god of Nipur.
Ur was either a northern colony or had become incor
porated in the northern kingdom,1 and its local god
accordingly became the first-born of Mul-lil. It is pos
sible that the hymns of which I have just given a
specimen were influenced by Semitic ideas ; at all events,
throughout the northern part of Chaldaea, wherever the
Aceadian dialect of the north was spoken, a strong
1 This latter is the more probable explanation, since the Aceadian of
the hymn is really that artificial language which grew up in the court
of Sargon.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 163
Semitic element seems to have existed in the population
from an early period ; and of Ur of the Casdim we are
specially told that it was the bbth-place of the Semitic
Abraham. Now Abraham, it will be remembered, migrated from
Ur to Harran, in northern Mesopotamia. The distance
between the two cities appears considerable, and yet
there was a very real connection between them. Like
Ur, Harran also was a city of the Moon-god, and the
temple of the Moon-god in Harran rivalled that at Ur.
Nay, more; Harran was as closely connected with Baby^
Ionian history and religion as was Ur itself. Its name'
recurs in early Babylonian texts, and is indeed of Acea
dian origin, Kharran being the Aceadian word for "road,"
and denoting the city which lay on the great highway
from Chaldaea to the west. The mythologists of Baby
lonia entitled the planet Mercury "the spbit of the
men of Harran;"1 and Nabonidos boasts of his restoration
of "the temple of the Moon-god in Harran, hi which
from time immemorial the Moon-god, the mighty lord,
had placed the seat of the goodness of his heart." Gems
show us what the image of the god was like. It was
a simple cone of stone, above which blazed the star of
the moon, such as we see depicted on the seals and
monuments of Assyria and Babylonia. Sargon couples
together Assur and Harran, whose ancient customs he
claims to have restored, and declares that he had " spread
his shadow over Harran, and by the will of Anu and
Dagon had written (again) its laws." Shalmaneser III.
and Assur-bani-pal had rebuilt the temple of the Moon-
1 W. A. I. iii. 67, 28.
m2

164 LECTURE III.
god there which bore the Aceadian name of E-Klulkhul,
"the house of rejoicing," and neither they nor Nabo
nidos seem to have had any doubt that the Moon-god
worshipped therein was the same as the Moon-god wor
shipped hi Assyria and Babylonia.
Whether this were primitively the case must remain
an open question. It is more probable that the Moon-
god of Harran was originally as much a local divinity
as the Moon-god of Ur, unless, indeed, Harran had been
itself the foundation of the kings of Ur in theb early
campaigns to the west. But the leading place won by
Ur at the time when its kings made themselves masters
of the whole of Babylonia, caused the Moon-god of Ur
to supplant the Moon-gods of the other cities of the
country, just as the rise of Babylon caused Merodach to
supplant the other Sun-gods of Chaldaea. With the
growth of the Semitic power in Babylonia, the influence
of the Moon-god of Ur became greater and more exten
sive. Nannar was now invoked as Sin — a name which
at first appears to have denoted the orb of the moon only 1
— and the name and worship of Sin spread not only in
Babylonia, but in other parts of the Semitic world. His
name has been found in an inscription of southern Arabia,
and Sinai itself, the sacred mountain, is nothing more
than the sanctuary " dedicated to Sin." It may be that
the worship of the Babylonian Moon-god was brought
to the peninsula of Sinai as far back as the days when
the sculptors of Tel-loh carved into human shape the
blocks of diorite they received from the land of Magan.
1 Whether the name of Sin is of Aceadian or Semitic origin must at
present remain an open question. At all events, I cannot believe that
it is a Semitic corruption of an Aceadian Zu-en.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 165
However this may be, the Moon-god of Ur, like the
city over which he presided, took primary rank among
the Babylonians. His worshippers invoked him as the
father and creator of both gods and men. It is thus that
Nabonidos celebrates his restoration of the temple of
Sin at Harran: "May the gods who dwell in heaven
and earth approach the house of Sin, the father who
created them. As for me, Nabonidos, king of Babylon,
the completer of this temple, may Sin, the king of the
gods of heaven and earth, hi the lifting up of his kindly
eyes, with joy look upon me month by month at noon
and sunset; may he grant me favourable tokens, may
he lengthen my days, may he extend my years, may he
establish my reign, may he overcome my foes, may he
slay my enemies, may he sweep away my opponents.
May Nin-gal, the mother of the mighty gods, in the
presence of Sin, her loved one, speak like a mother. May
Samas and Istar, the bright offspring of his heart, to
Sin, the father who begat them, speak of blessing. May
Nuzku, the messenger supreme, hearken to my prayer
and plead for me."
The moon existed before the sun. This is the idea
which underlay the religious belief of Accad, exact con
verse, as it was, of the central idea of the religion of the
Semites. It was only where Aceadian influence was
strong that the Semite could be brought in any way to
accept it. It was only in Babylonia and Assyria and on
the coasts of Arabia that the name of Sin was honoured ;
elsewhere the attributes of the Moon-god were transferred
to the goddess Istar, who, as we shall see hereafter, was
originally the evening star. But in Babylonia, Sin became
inevitably the father of the gods. His reign extended

166 LECTURE III.
"to the Beginning of history ; Sargon, as the representative
of the Babylonian kings and the adorer of Merodach,
speaks of "the remote days of the period of the Moon-
god," which another inscription makes synonymous with
"the birth of the land of Assur."1 As the passage I
have quoted from Nabonidos shows, Sin was more parti
cularly the father of Samas and Istar, of the Sun-god
and the goddess of the evening star.
But who was this Sun-god who was thus the offspring
of Sin ? The Sun-gods of Babylonia were as numerous
as its Moon-gods ; each city had its own ; who then was
the Samas who was so specially the son of the Moon-god
of Ur ? The answer is not very easy to give. Geogra
phical considerations would lead us to think of the Sun-
god of Larsa, the modern Senkereh. Larsa was near Ur,
though on the opposite bank of the river, and its temple
of the Sun had been famous from pre-Semitic times.
1 Tsibit Assuri, W.A.I, iii. 11. ii. 32. Oppert is right against
George Smith and Lenormant in holding that adi Sin in the first-
quoted passage (Khors. 110) cannot be a proper name, Adi-Ur (!). A
fragmentary tablet (quoted on p. 62 of George Smith's Chaldean
Genesis, ed. Sayce) contained a legend about the foundation of the city
of Assur and its two temples, E-Sarra, the temple of Adar, and E-Lusu.
We read (line 6) : " The god Assur (an khi) opened his mouth and
says ; to the god Khir . . . (he speaks) : ' above the deep (elinu apsi)
the seat (of Ea), before (mikhrit) E-Sarra which I have built, below
the shrine (asrata) I have made strong, let me construct E-Lusu the
seat of (the god . . .), let me found (lusarsid) within it his fortress . . .
when (the god) ascends from the deep thou didst prepare a place (that
was still) unfinished . . . thou didst establish in Assur (D. P. pal-bat-
ki) the temples of the great gods . . . .' to his father Anu even to him
(a\na s~\asu) (he spoke) : ' The god . . . has (appointed ?) thee over
whatsoever thy hand has made, whatever thy (hand) possesses ; over
the earth that thy hand has made, whatever (thy hand) possesses ; the
city of Assur whose name thou hast given (sa tazkura sum-su), the
place (which) thou hast made exalted for ever' (tanidi darisam)."

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 167
But there is a special reason which makes it probable
that the Snn-god of Larsa was the deity whose father
was Sin. The temple of Sin at Ur, the ruins of which
are still in existence, had been founded by Ur-Bagas,
the first monarch of united Babylonia of whom we know.
His monuments have been met with at Mugheb, at Larsa,
at Warka, at Niffer, and at Zerghul; and his bricks
show that he was the founder — or more probably the
restorer — not only of the great temple of the Moon-god
at Ur, but also of those of the Sun-god at Larsa, of Mul-
lil at Nipur, and of Anu and Istar at Erech. Under his
rule, therefore, the unity of the empbe found its rebgious
expression in the union of the worship of the Moon-god
of Ur with that of the Sun-god of Larsa. As the domi
nant state, Ur necessarily stood to Larsa and Erech in the
relation of a metropolis, and its god thus became the pro
genitor of the gods of Larsa and Erech. The Sun-god of
Larsa, hke the Istar of Erech, became accordingly the
child of Nannar or Sin.
It was as Kur(?)-nigin-gara, " the god who makes the
palace (of the setting sun)," that the Sun-god of Larsa
seems to have been known to his worshippers in pre-
Semitic days.1 But when the Aceadian was superseded
by the Semite, his special name was merged in the general
title of Samsu or Samas, "the Sun." He became the
Baal of Larsa, who differed but little, save in the name
by which he was addressed, from the other Baabm of
Babylonia. The fame of the Samas of Larsa, however, was obscured
at an early period by that of the Samas of Sippara. Sip-
1 W.A.I. ii. 60, 12.

163 LECTURE III.
para in historical times was pre-eminently the city of the
Sun-god. It was there that E-Babara, "the house of
lustre," the great temple of the Sun-god,1 had been erected
in days to which tradition alone went back, and it was
around its shrine that Semitic sun-worship in Babylonia
was chiefly centred. Sippara and its immediate neigh
bourhood had been the seat of early Semitic supremacy
in Chaldaea. It was, it is true, of pre-Semitic foundation ;
its primitive name Zimbb would show this, like the name
of E-Babara itself ; and we know that Samas had once
been worshipped within its walls under the Aceadian
title of Babara or Bbra. But hi these remote days Sip
para was probably an insignificant town ; at all events,
the memory of later ages knew of Sippara only in connec
tion with the empbe of Sargon of Accad and the Semitic
version of the story of the Deluge.2
In the Old Testament, Sippara appears as a dual city —
Sepharvaim, "the two Sipparas." One of these has been
discovered in the mounds of Abu-Habba by Mr. Hormuzd
Eassam, who has brought from it a monument on which
1 The temple of the Sun-god at Larsa was also known as E-babara
(W.A.I, i. 65, 42); its ziggurrat was called "the house of the bond
of heaven and earth" (ii. 50, 19).
2 According to Bgrossos, Xisuthros had written a history of all that
had happened before the deluge and buried the books at Sippara, where
they were disinterred after the flood by his directions. The legend
seems to have been based partly on a popular etymology which con
nected Sippara with sipru, "a book" (Heb. sepher), partly on the fact
that the whole district was termed " the country of books," in conse
quence of its being the seat of the library of Sargon, whose city of
Accad formed a part of the double Sippara. That the story of the
deluge emanated in its present form from Sippara is indicated not
only by the legend of the burial of the books, but also by the fact that
the hero of it was " a man of Surippak," a small town close to Sippara.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 169
is carved a curious image of the divine solar disk. The
other has been found by Dr. Hayes Ward in the mounds
of Anbar, an hour's distance from Sufebah and the
Euphrates. The fragment of a geographical tablet seems
indeed to mention no less than four Sipparas — Sippara
proper, Sippara of the desert, Sippara "the ancient,"1
and Sippara of the Sun-god;2 but since the historical
texts know of two only — Sippara of Anunit and Sippara
of Samas — it is best to regard the three first names as
alike denoting the same place, Sippara of Anunit, the
modern Anbar. It must have been from this Sippara
that the Euphrates received its title, "river of Sippara,"
since Abu-Habba is seven miles distant from the present
bed of the stream.
In the close neighbourhood of this double Sippara,
Sargon built or restored the city to which he gave a
name, and from which the whole of northern Babylonia
received its title of Accad. It is called Agadhe" in the
non-Semitic texts, Accad ( Akkadu) in the Semitic ; though
whether the name is of Semitic or non-Semitic origin
cannot at present be decided. Sargon's patronage of
literature, and the celebrated library he founded in Accad,
caused the district to be known as " the region of books." 3
A popular etymology afterwards connected the name of
Sippara itself with sepher, " a book," and the city accord-

1 Vlrdua rendered by ts&tu, W. A.I. iv. 13, 24, and kisittu, v. 21,
14, K4874. Obv. 21, 22 (udu id-dua udu ul-dua-lil = ki-si-it-ti tsa-a-ti) ;
comp. K4171. Rev. 9, 23, 28 (udu ul-dua-m supar pi sa Enuva sal
sakh). 2 Hayes Ward, Proceedings of the American Oriental Society, Oct.
1885. 3 W.A.I, ii. 51, 8.

170 LECTURE III.
ingly appears in the fragments of BSrossos as Pantibibla,
or "Book-town."
With the spread and fame of the empbe of Sargon,
the worship of Samas spread and became famous also.
The empbe and the cult were alike Semitic ; wherever
the Semite planted himself, the Sun-god was worshipped
under some form and name. The extent, therefore, of
the worship of the Sun-god of Sippara marks the extent
and power of Sargon's kingdom. The older Samas of
Larsa was eclipsed by the new deity; henceforward
Sippara, and not Larsa, was the chief seat of the adoration
of Samas in Babylonia. It is to Sippara hi all probability
that the hymns addressed to the Sun-god belong. They
are the product of an age of new ideas and aspbations.
They represent the meeting and amalgamation of Semitic
and Aceadian thought. The scribes and poets of Sargon's
court were partly Semites, partly Accadians; but the
Semites had received an Aceadian education, and the
Accadians had learnt the language and imitated the style
of theb Semitic masters. Though the originals of most
of the hymns are written in the old language of Accad —
a language that had become sacred to the Semites, and
in which alone the gods allowed themselves to be ad
dressed — the thoughts contained in them are for the
most part Semitic. We have no longer to do with a
Mul-hl, a lord of ghosts and demons, nor even with an
Ea, with his charms and sorceries for the removal of
human ills, but with the supreme Baal of Semitic faith,
the father and creator of the world, who was for his
adorer at the moment of adoration the one omnipotent
god. It is thus that we read : 1
1 W. A. I. iv. 19, 2.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 171
"To be recited.1 — 1. Lord, illuminator of the darkness, opener of
the sickly face,
2. Merciful god, who setteth up the fallen, who helpeth the weak,
3. Unto thy light look the great gods,
4. The spirits of earth all gaze upon thy face ;2
5. The language of hosts as one word thou directest,
6. Smiting their head they look to the light of the midday sun.3
7. Like a wife, art thou set, glad and gladdening.
8. Thou art the light in the vault of the far-off heaven.
9. Thou art the spectacle of the broad earth.
10. Men far and near behold thee and rejoice.
11. The great gods have smelt the sweet savour (of the sacrifice),
12. the food of the shining heaven, the blessings (of the gods).
13. He who has not turned his hand to sin (thou wilt prosper),
14. he shall eat thy food, (he shall be blessed by thee)."

I.4 "Mighty lord, from the midst of the shining heaven is thy
rising ;
2. 0 Sun-god, valiant hero, from the midst of the shining heaven
is thy rising ;
3. In the enclosure of the shining heaven is the weapon of thy
falchion.
4. Where in the shining heavens is thy palace (kummi) I5
5. In the great gate of the shining heavens, when thou openest (it),
1 En, i.e. siptu, which at the commencement of these Semitic texts
no longer means so much "an incantation" as part of a service which
must be " recited" by the priest. Though some of the hymns may go
back to the time of Sargon, others, at all events in their present form,
must be considerably later.
2 " Head," in the Aceadian original.
3 In the Semitic translation, simply " the Sun-god." The Aceadian
original is literally, " they make obeisance of their head, and gazing,
0 light of the midday sun."
* W. A. I. iv. 17.
6 (K)ummi-(ka). Kummu, which properly means "a palace," is
used specially of the palace of the Sun-god into which he returns at
sunset. Hence it is denoted in Aceadian by the three ideographs
"hole-sun-below."

172 LECTURE III.
6. in the highest (summits) of the shining heavens, when thou
passest by,
7. (the angels 1) joyfully draw near to thee in prayer 
8. (The ministers 1) of the queen of the gods attend thee with
rejoicing.
9. The  for the repose of thy heart daily attend thee.
10. The  of the hosts of the earth zealously regard thee.
11. The (hosts) of heaven and earth attend thee, even thee.
[The next few lines are too imperfect to be translated.]
18. With a bond are they united together straitly, (they that) are
with thee.
19. The divine man1 on behalf of his son attends thee, even thee,
at the head.2
20. (Worshipper.) — The lord has sent me, even me.
21. The great lord Ea has sent me, even me.
22. (Priest.) — Attend and learn his word, enjoin his command.
23. Thou in thy course directest the black-headed race (of Accad).
24. Cast on him a ray of mercy and let it heal his sickness.
25. The man, the son of his god,3 has committed sin and transgres
sion.
26. ( Worshipper.) — His limbs are sick, sick and in sickness he lies.
27. 0 Sun-god, utter thy voice at the Hfting up of my hands.4
28. (Priest.) — Eat his food, receive his sacrifice, show thyself his
god.
29. By thine order let his sin be pardoned, his transgression removed.
30. Let his sickness quit his body (?), and let him live.
31. May he live like the king !
32. On the day that he lives (again) may he reverence thy supre
macy.
1 Does this refer to the first man, Hke the Yima-Kshaeta of the
Zend-Avesta ?
2 So in the Semitic translation. The original has " alone" (usues).
3 A common phrase in the bilingual poems, denoting the close attach
ment of the worshipper to his deity. There is no connection between
this idea and that embodied in the phrase, " the sons of God" (Gen.
vi. 2), or even in the statement that Adam was "the son of God"
(Luke iii. 38). But compare the expression, " a son of God," in Dan.
iii. 25.
4 In the original : " May the Sun-god look at the hfting up of my
hand."

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 173
33. Like a king may thy judgment adjudge.1
34. Me also, the magician, thy servant, may thy judgment adjudge.
35. Conclusion (of the hymn). When the sun is up
36. (this is) to be recited.* — I have cried to thee, 0 Sun-god, in the
midst of the glittering heaven ;
37. in the shadow of the cedar thou dwellest, and
38. thy feet are set on the bright verdure of the herb.
39. The word inclines towards thee, it loves thee as a friend,
40. Thy brilliant light illumines all men.
41. Overthrower of all that would overthrow thee, assemble the
nations,
42. 0 Sun-god, for thou art he who knoweth their boundaries.
43. Destroyer of the wicked, who inspirest the explanation3
44. of signs and evil omens, of dreams and baneful vampires,4
45. who turnest evil into good, who destroyest men and countries
46. that devote themselves to baneful sorceries, I humble myself (?)
before thee.
47. Of bright corn-stalks their images I have fashioned
48. who have practised magic and devised the binding spell.
49. Terrify their heart and they are filled with dejection,
50. and abide thou, O Sun-god, the light of the mighty gods.
51. With the utmost of my breath let me rejoice.
52. May the gods who have created me take my hands ;
53. Purify my mouth, direct my hands,
54. do thou also direct, 0 lord of the light of hosts, 0 Sun-god the
judge."

1 Ka (determinative of speech) dila khen-dile. For dila ( = saladhu
sa [ameli]), see W.A.I, ii. 39, 14. Comp. W. A. I. iv. 12., 31, 32,
and 29. 16 — 18, where dila is rendered dalili. Tiglath-Pileser I. calls
himself dalil Hi rabi ana dalali, "judging according to the judgment
of the great gods." Delitzsch (Lotz's Tiglath-Pileser, p. 149) and
Zimmern (Basspsalmen, p. 74) have entirely missed the true meaning
of the expression.
2 The following incantation is in Semitic-Assyrian only, and was
probably appended to the old hymn in the time of Assur-bani-pal.
3 NamtabbL
4 Also called " (female) devourers of men," W. A. I. ii. 32, 77. Comp.
the legend of the Descent of Istar into Hades, line 19.

174 LECTURE III.
I.1 "Incantation.— 0 Sun-god, from the foundation of the sky
thou comest forth (takhkhar),
2. a god whose journeying none can (rival),
3. a god who setteth at rest his father's heart.
4. Ea (Nu-dimmud) has enlarged for thee (thy) destiny among
the gods.
5. The seat (sulit) of the earth (he has filled) into thy hand.
6. The fear of thy divinity (overwhelms) the world.
7. From the  the gods are born (?).
8. The Sun-god from the midst of heaven rises."
In the closing days of the Babylonian monarchy,
Nabonidos, after restoring the temple of the Sun-god at
Sippara, addresses him in the following words: "0
Samas, (mighty lord) of heaven and earth, light of the
gods his fathers, offspring of Sin and Nin-gal, when thou
enterest into E-Babbara, the temple of thy choice, when
thou inhabitest thy everlasting shrine, look with joy
upon me, Nabonidos, the king of Babylon, the prince
who has fed thee, who has done good to thy heart,
who has built thy dwelling-place supreme, and upon my
prosperous labours; and daily at noon and sunset, in
heaven and earth, grant me favourable omens, receive
my prayers, and listen to my suppbcations. May I be
lord of the fbmly-established sceptre and sword, which
thou hast given my hands to hold, for ever and ever !"
Nabonidos, the Babylonian, the peculiar protege* of
Merodach, could not regard Samas with the same eyes
as the old poets of the city of the Sun-god. His supreme
Baal was necessarily Merodach, whose original identity
with Samas had long since been forgotten ; and Samas of
Sippara was consequently to him only the Baal of another
and a subject state. Samas is therefore but one of the
1 S 690, Obv.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 175
younger gods, who illuminates his divine fathers in the
higher heaven. He shares the power and glory of his
fathers only as the son shares the authority of the father
hi the human family. Nothing can illustrate more clearly
the local character of Babylonian religion than this dif
ference between the position assigned to Samas in the
hymns and in the inscription of Nabonidos. In the one,
he is the supreme god who brooks no equal ; in the other,
the subordinate of Merodach and even of the Moon-god
Sin. As Semitic influence extended itself in Babylonia, the
Sun-god of Sippara came to absorb and be identified
with the numerous local solar deities of the Chaldaean
cities. It was only where a solar divinity was wor
shipped by the Semitic race under another name, as at
Babylon or Eridu or Nipur, or where the Semites had
already adopted another deity as the supreme object of
their worship, as at Ur, that this process of absorption
and identification did not take place. At times the local
divinity became the son of Samas. Thus the Kossaean
Sun-god Kit, who had been introduced by the Kossaean
conquest, along with other gods like Simalia and Suga-
muna, under the Semitised name of Kittum, was made
his son,1 and Makhb, the god of dreams, through an
error occasioned by the want of any indices of gender in
Aceadian, was termed his daughter.2
1 W.A.I, ii. 58, 11. The Semitic worshipper no doubt identified
the name with his own word kittum, "right."
2 W. A. I. ii. 58, 13. In v. 70. 1. 9. 15, on the contrary, Makhir
is a god. He was the god of revelation, since a knowledge of the
future was declared through dreams. Hence the Aceadian me-gal-zu,
"knowledge of the oracle," is interpreted suttu pasaru, "to explain a

176 LECTURE III.
This absence of any marks to denote grammatical
gender, which Aceadian shared with other agglutinative
languages, must have been a sore puzzle and difficulty
to the Semite when he first began to worship the gods
of his more cultured neighbours. Nin, for instance, in
Proto-Chaldaaan, signifies at once "lord" and "lady," its
primary meaning being "the great one." But the
whole grammatical thought of the Semite was based
upon a difference of gender. Not only were nouns dis
tinguished into masculines and feminines, as in our own
Indo-European family of speech; the distinction was
further carried into the verb. A masculine without a
feminine was as inconceivable to him as the man without
the woman, the husband without the wife, the father
without the mother. But as in Semitic grammar, so
also in the Semitic conception of social life, the male was
the source of life and authority, the female being but
his weaker double, the pale reflection as it were of the
man. The father was the head of the family, the supreme
creator was the masculine BeL This was the exact con
verse of the ideas that prevailed among the Accadians.
Here it was the mother, and not the father, who stood at
the head of the family ; and in the bilingual texts we
find that in the Aceadian original the female is always
mentioned before the male, while the Semitic translator
is careful to reverse the order. Woman in Accad occu
pied a higher position than she did, or does, among
the Semites.
The goddesses of Accad, accordingly, were independent
dream" (v. 30, 13), and kibu sakanu, "to establish a (divine) message"
(v. 30, 14). Suttu pasaru may, however, be read supartu pasaru, " to
explain a command,"

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 177
beings, like the gods whose equals they were. But it was
quite otherwise with the Semitic Babylonians. Except
where they had borrowed and more or less assimilated
an Aceadian goddess, their female deities were simply
the complement of their male consorts — little more, in
fact, than the grammatical feminines of the gods. We
may almost say that they were created by grammatical
necessity. The Sun-god, therefore, as we have seen in
a former Lecture, was provided with his feminine com
plement, with his "face" or reflection, as it was some
times termed.
The Semites gave her the general title of Bilat matati,
" the lady of the world." It was the title of most of the
goddesses. They were seldom deemed worthy of a name
of theb own ; they shone by the reflected light of their
consorts ; and as the supreme god of the worshipper was
Bel, and more especially Bil matati, " the lord of the
world," his wife was necessarily also Bilat or Beltis, and
more especially Bilat matati. Sometimes, too, she was
called Bilat Hi, "the lady of the gods," in reference to
the fact that the supreme Bel was their lord and master.
One of the Aceadian solar divinities with whom the
Bilat matati, when regarded as the wife of Samas, was
identified, was A or Sirrida.1 A had originally been a
1 A bilingual hymn to the Sun-god, which was recited by the priests
at sunset, has been translated by Mr. Pinches (TV. Soc. Bibl. Arch.
viii. 2) as follows :
" 0 Sun-god, in the midst of heaven, in thy setting
may the bolts of the glorious heavens speak peace to thee !
may the door of the heavens be gracious to thee !
may Misaru, thy beloved messenger, guide thee !
At E-Parra, the seat of thy lordship, thy greatness shines forth.
May A, thy beloved wife, gladly receive thee !
N

178 LECTURE III.
male divinity representing the solar disk, " the light of
the sun" (Bir-Utu and Utu-Utu), as he was also entitled
in Aceadian. But the solar disk, the face as it were of
the Sun-god, was his female consort, according to the
religious conceptions of the Semites, and among them,
therefore, the old Aceadian god was transformed into a
goddess. A, or Sbrida, thus became a Semitic goddess,
and sank into a colourless representative of the female
element in the divinity. The transformation was aided
may thy heart take rest !
¦ may the glory of thy godhead be established to thee !
Warrior, hero, sun-god, may they glorify thee !
lord of E-Parra, may the course of thy path be true !
O Sun-god, make straight thy path, go the everlasting road to thy
rest.
0 Sun-god, of the country the judge, of her decisions the director
art thou."
The same hymn was also chanted in the morning, with the substitution
of " 0 Sun-god, from the glorious heaven rising," for the first line. It
was evidently originally intended for the temple of Samas at Sippara,
but came in later times to be used in the worship of Nebo at Borsippa,
Nebo being recognised as the local Sun-god of Borsippa.
The original Sumerian form of the name of A was Sirrigam. In
W. A.I. ii. 57. 21 — 31, we have examples of the various ways in
which it might be written : Sir-ri-ga-ma, Sur-ga-ma, 'Sir-ga-m, 'Sir-da-m
(Aceadian), Sir-da (NiR-da), 'Sir-gam with the ideograph of the sun
inserted, 'Sir-da-m (where the ideograph of the sun has the phonetic
value of da transferred to it). From line 26 it appears that A was
properly a title, meaning "the father." A gloss on line 28 reads Tsab-
Utu instead of Bir-Utu, but this is a mistake, since tsab was Semitic,
and signified "warrior" (erim in Aceadian) and not "light." Pinches
(Proceedings of the Society of Bib. Archaeology, Nov. 1885) would
connect A with Yahveh ; but this, of course, is philologically impossible,
while the supposed instances of an Assyrian god Ya are all due to misin
terpretation of the texts, and the name of the Edomite king A-rammu
does not prove that the Edomite deity A was identical with the Baby
lonian. Oppert's proposal to identify A with Malik or Moloch finds
no support in the monuments.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 179
by the absence of gender in Aceadian, to which I have
already alluded. Where there were no external signs
of gender, and where Nin-Gan, one of the epithets
applied to A, might mean indifferently "lord of light"
or " lady of light," it was not difficult to bring it about.
One of the deities partially absorbed by the Sun- god
was the ancient god of Fire. Among most primitive
peoples, fire is endowed with divine attributes. It moves
and devours like a living thing ; it purifies and burns up
all that is foul ; and it is through the fire upon the altar
— the representative of the fire upon the hearth — that
the savour of the burnt sacrifice ascends to the gods in
heaven. But fire is itseb a messenger from above. It
comes to us from the sky in the lightning-flash, and we
feel it in the rays of the noontide sun. The Eire-god
tended therefore to become on the one side the messenger
and intermediary between gods and men, and on the
other side the Sun-god himself.
In pre-Semitic times, however, the Eire-god retained
all his primaeval privileges and rank. He is still one of
the leading gods or "creators" of the pantheon. It is
he who controls the lower spirits of earth and heaven,
and to whom the prayers of the faithful are addressed.
Thus he is celebrated in an old hymn in the following
strains :J
1. " The (bed) of the earth they took for their border,2 but the god
appeared not,
2. from the foundations of the earth he appeared not to make
hostility ;

1 W. A. I. iv. 15.
2 In the Semitic rendering, " (In the bed) of the earth their necks
ere taken."
N 2

180 LECTURE III.
3. (to) the heaven below they extended (their path), and to the
heaven that is unseen they climbed afar.1
4. In the Star(s) of Heaven was not their ministry ;2 in Mazzaroth
(the Zodiacal signs)3 was their office.
5. The Fire-god, the first-born supreme, unto heaven they pursued
and no father did he know.
6. 0 Fire-god, supreme on high, the first-born, the mighty, supreme
enjoiner of the commands of Anu !
7. The Fire-god enthrones with himself the friend that he loves.
8. He reveals the enmity of those seven.
9. On the work he ponders in his dwelling-place.
10. 0 Fire-god, how were those seven begotten, how were they
nurtured ?
11. Those seven in the mountain of the sunset were born ;
12. those seven in the mountain of the sunrise grew up.
13. In the hollows of the earth they have their dwelling;
14. on the high-places of the earth their names are proclaimed.
15. As for them, in heaven and earth they have no dwelling, hid
den is their name.
16. Among the sentient gods they are not known.
17. Their name in heaven and earth exists not.
18. Those seven from the mountain of the sunset gallop forth;
19. those seven in the mountain of the sunrise are bound to rest.
20. In the hollows of the earth they set the foot.
21. On the high-places of the earth they lift the neck.
22. They by nought are known ; in heaven and earth is no know
ledge of them."
Eire was produced in Babylonia, as in other countries
of the ancient world, by rubbing two sticks one against
the other. The fire-stick, therefore, whose point was
ignited by the friction, was regarded with special vene-
tion. The idea of ' ' fire ' ' was expressed by two ideographs
(gis-bar and gis-sir) which signified literally "the wood
1 So the Semitic rendering. The original has, " the heaven which
has no exit they opened."
2 Iphtael of idu, " to know."
8 In the original : " the watch of the thirty."

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 181
of light." This " wood of light" was exalted into a god.
Sometimes it represents Gibil or Kibir, the fire-god, some
times it is itself worshipped as a divinity under the name
of 'Savul (in Semitic, 'Savullu). 'Savul seems to have
been adored more particularly in Babylon ; at all events
he was identified with Merodach as well as with Samas
in those later ages when the cult of the Aceadian fire-
god passed into the cult of the Semitic Sun-god, and his
name forms part of that of the Babylonian king 'Savul-
sarra-yukin or Saosdukhinos, the brother of Assur-bani-
pal. It even made its way into the far west. The names
of the kings of Edom preserved in the 36th chapter
of Genesis throw a curious light on Edomite mythology,
and show that 'Savul of Babylon was worshipped among
the mountains of Seir. We are told that Hadad the son
of Bedad, Samlah of Masrekah or the "Yine-land," and
Saul of Eehoboth by the river Euphrates, succeeded one
another. Now Hadad, as we shall see, was the Sun-
god of the Syrians, whom the Assyrians identified with
their own Eamman or Eimmon; and the name of his
father Bedad is simply Ben-Dad, "the son of Dad,"
another form of Hadad according to the cuneiform inscrip
tions, and possibly the same as the David of the Hebrews,
the Dido, or "beloved one," of the Phoenicians. Samlah
of the "Wine-land" is the Semele of Greek mythology,
the mother of Dionysos the Wine-god. Her Phoenician
origin has long been recognised, and her name has
recently been met with in a masculine form in a Phoe
nician inscription. Saul of Eehoboth by the river
Euphrates is, letter for letter, identical with the Babylo
nian 'Savul, and his Babylonian origin is further betrayed
by the statement that he came from the Euphrates.

182 LECTURE III.
Eehoboth means merely the "public places" of a city;
and when we remember that in the 10th chapter of
Genesis (v. 11), Eehoboth ('Ir) is the name appbed to
the suburbs of Nineveh, it seems probable that in the
Eehoboth of the Euphrates we may discover the suburbs
of its sister-city Babylon.
Let us now turn back again to Sippara, the city whose
Sun-god swallowed up so many of the primaeval deities
of Accad, like the Kronos of Hellenic myth. By the side
of Sippara of Samas, I have said, arose the twin-city of
Sippara of Anunit. The final dental shows that Anunit
was a female divinity, and shows furthermore that she
was of Semitic origin. But it was only as a female
divinity that she came from a Semitic source. She was,
hi fact, the Semitic feminine of Anuna, one of the pri
mordial gods of ancient Accad. Anuna, it would appear,
must have been adored in Sippara in pre-Semitic days,
and subsequently worshipped for a time by the Semites,
who created out of his name his female consort Anunit.
Anunit was identified with Istar, and thus survived,
while her lord and master, to whom she owed her very
existence, passed into almost entire oblivion. Eor this
it is possible to assign a reason. Anuna signifies " the
master," and is the masculine correlative of Innina or
Inina, the "mistress" of the ghost- world, to whom I
have had occasion to refer before.1 Like Inina, he pre
sided over the lower world, and was consequently the
local god of primitive Sippara, who corresponded to the
Mul-lil of Nipur. But the name was also a general one,

1 As Innina stands for an nina, the vowel of an, " divine one," being
assimilated to that of Nina, Anuna stands for an nuna, " the great god."

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 183
and might be applied to any of the deities whom the
Accadians regarded as specially endowed with power.
Hence it is that in a bilingual hymn the Anunas of the
lower world are called " the great gods;"1 while another
text declares that while "the great gods are fifty in
number, the gods of destiny are seven and the Aniina
of heaven are five."2 Besides the five Anunas of the
heaven, there were the more famous Anunas of the lower
world, whose golden throne was placed in Hades by the
side of the waters of life. They were called the Anii-
na-ge, " the masters of the under- world," a term which
the Semites pronounced Aniinaki. These Andnaki were
opposed to the Igigi or angels, the spbits of the upper
ab, and, the real origin of theb name being forgotten, took
the place of the older Anunas. In one of the texts I
have quoted, the Semitic translator not only renders the
simple Anunas by "Aniinaki," he even speaks of the
"Andnaki of heaven," which is a contradiction in terms.3
1 W. A. I. ii. 19, 8. " The Anunas of the lower world to the" upper
firmament return." The hymn must be of Semitic origin, as the Acea
dian version shows Semitic influence. Another hymn (ii 19. 49, 50)
declares that " the Anunas of the lower world in the hollows I cause to
grope like swine." In a hymn in which the Fire-god is identified with
Samas, the latter is called " the judge of the Anunnaki" (K 2585,
Obv. 9).
2 K 4629, Rev.
3 Upon the analogy of Aniinaki, the Semites have added a final gut
tural to several of the words they borrowed from the Accadians, like
asurraku, "a bed," from the Ace. asurra. Similarly the analogy of
issakku, " a high-priest," from the Semitic root nasaku, " to pour out
libations," has called into existence other nouns with final -akku. The
Aceadian abrik, " a vizier," borrowed by the Semites under the form of
abrikku (82. 8 — 16. Obv. 18), whence the abhrek of Gen. xii. 43 helped
in the same direction. The adverbs in -ku of Zimmern (Babylonkche
Busspsdlmen, p. 94), like martsaku or zazalcu, should be read martsatus
and zazatus.

184 LECTURE III.
Though Anunit was considered merely a local form
of Istar (W. A. I. ii. 49, 12), the great temple of Ulbar1
— if that is the right pronunciation of the word — which
had been erected by Zabu about B.C. 2340, preserved
her special name and cult at Sippara, from whence it
passed into Assyria. Nabonidos tells us that he restored
the temple " for Anunit, the mistress of battle, the bearer
of the bow and quiver, the accomplisher of the command
of Bel her father, the sweeper away of the enemy, the
destroyer of the wicked, who marches before the gods, who
has made (his) omens favourable at sunrise and sunset."
In calling her the lady of battle and daughter of Bel,
Nabonidos identifies her with Istar, an identification
which is made even more plain a few Hnes further on
(col. hi. 42, 48 — 51), where he makes her the sister of
Samas and daughter of Sin.
This identity of Anunit and Istar brings Sippara into
close connection with Erech, the modern Warka, the city
specially consecrated to the goddess of love. Erech, we
are told in the story of the plague-demon Nerra,2 was
" the seat of Anu and Istar, the city of the chobs of the
festival-girls and consecrated maidens of Istar,"3 where
inE-Ana, "the house of heaven," dwelt her priests, "the
festival-makers who had devoted theb manhood in order

1 The word is found in E2. i. 10, (b)ennd ul-bab-mes an u ki itkhuzu,
" the lights (1) of heaven and earth kept the bond." According to
W. A. I. ii. 61, 11, the temple of Ulbar was in Agadhe or Accad, thus
identifying Accad with Sippara of Anunit, and suggesting that the first
foundations of the temple went back to the time of Sargon, the father
of Naram-Sin.
2 Col. ii, 4 sq.
3 Kitsriti samkhdtu u kliarimatu sa Istar, For samkhdtu (niflb),
comp. Lev. xxiii, 40, Deut, xii. 18,

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 185
that men might adore the goddess, carrying swords,
carrying razors, stout dresses and flint-knives,"1 "who
minister to cause reverence for the glory of Istar." 2 Erech,
too, was the city with whose fortunes the legend of
Gisdhubar was associated ; it was here that he slew the
bull Anu had created to avenge the slight offered by
him to Istar; and it was here in TJruk Suburi, "in Erech
the shepherd's hut," that he exercised his sovereignty.
Erech is thus connected with the great epic of the Semitic
Babylonians, and it is probable that its author, Sin-liqi-
unnini, was a native of the place. However this may be,
Erech appears to have been one of the centres of Semitic
influence in Babylonia from a very early period. The
names of the kings stamped upon its oldest bricks bear
Semitic names, and the extent to which the worship of
Istar as developed at Erech spread through the Semitic
world points to its antiquity as a Semitic settlement.
It was not of Semitic foundation, however. Its earhest
name was the Aceadian Unu-ki or Unuk, " the place of
the settlement," of which the collateral form Uruk does
not seem to have come into vogue before the Semitic
period. If I am right in identifying Unuk with the
Enoch of Genesis, the city built by Kain in commemora
tion of his first-born son, Unuk must be regarded as
having received its earhest culture from Eridu, since
Enoch was the son of Jared, according to Gen. v. 18, and
Jared or Irad (Gen. iv. 18) is the same word as Eridu.3
1 Naspadhri nas naglabi dupie'u tsurri.
2 Sa ana suplukh kaptat D. P. Istar itakkalu.
3 Zeitschrift fur Keilschriftforschung, ii. 4, p. 404, where I further
suggest that the name represented by the two varying forms of Methu-
selakh and Methusael should be Mutu-sa-ilati, "the husband of the

186 LECTURE III.
The local god of Erech, however, was not Ea, the god
of the river and sea, but Ana, the sky. Thus whereas
at Eridu the present creation was believed to have origi
nated out of water, the sky being the primaeval goddess
Zikum or Zigara, mother alike of Ea and the other gods,
at Erech the sky was itself the god and the creator of the
visible universe. The two cosmologies are antagonistic
to one another, and produced manifold inconsistencies in
the later syncretic age of Babylonian religion.
But it was not hi Erech alone that the sky was con
sidered divine. Throughout Chaldaea, Ana, "the sky,"
goddess," i.e. the Sun-god Tammuz, the husband of Istar. He had a
shrine in the forest of Eridu, while Istar was the presiding deity of
Erech. Lamech would be the Semitic equivalent of Lamga, a name of
the Moon-god, according to ii. 47, 66, when represented by the character
which had the pronunciation of nagar, nangaru, in Semitic (3. 572).
Naga-r is probably a dialectic form of Lamga. In S769. 1, 2, the ideo
graph preceded by ab, "lord" is rendered in the Semitic line by gurgurru.
Cp. " Nin-nagar, the great workman (nagar) of heaven," W. A. I. iv.
25, 27. Adah and Zillah, the wives of Lamech, would correspond with
the Assyrian edit and tsillu, " darkness" and " shade." Jabal and Jubal,
the sons of Lamech, are merely variant forms of the same word, which
is evidently the Assyrian ablu, "son" (from abalu, "to bring down"),
like Abel (as Dr. Oppert long since pointed out). Ablu refers us to
"the only son" Tammuz (W. A. I. ii. 36, 54), who was "a shepherd"
like Jabal and Abel, and whose untimely death was commemorated by
the musical instruments of Jubal. In Kypros, in fact, he was known as
the son of Kinyras, a name that reminds us of the kinnor, or " harp."
Adonis-Tammuz, it was said, was slain by Ares in the form of a boar,
and Ares was identified with the Babylonian god Adar or Uras (see
above, p. 1 52), " the god of the pig," whose name (an-bar) was used ideo
graphically to denote "iron," in curious parallelism to the fact that
Tubal-Cain, the son of Lamech, was the " instructor of every artificer
in brass and iron." There are some who would aver that the Tubal-
Cain of Genesis is but the double of Cain, and that it was he and not
his father Lamech who had slain the "young man" (yeled, Assyrian
ilattu, a title of Tammuz). Adar, it may be noticed, was " the lord of
the date," and therefore of agriculture (see above, p. 153).

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 187
received worship, and the oldest magical texts invoke
"the spirit of the sky" by the side of that of the earth.
What distinguished the worship of Ana at Erech was
that here alone he was the chief deity of the local cult,
that here alone he had ceased to be a subordinate spirit,
and had become a dingir or "creator."1
Of this pre-Semitic period in the worship of Ana we
know but little. It is only when he has become the Anu
of the Semites and has undergone considerable changes
in his character and worship, that we make our first true
acquaintance with him. We come to know him as the
Semitic Baal-samahn, or "lord of heaven," the supreme
Baal, viewed no longer as the Sun-god, but as the whole
expanse of heaven which is illuminated by the sun.2
How early this must have been is shown by the exten
sion of his name as far west as Palestine. In the records
of the Egyptian conqueror Thothmes III., in the 16th cen
tury before our era, mention is made of the Palestinian
town of Beth-Anath, "the temple of Anat," the female
double of Anu. Another Beth-Anath was included
within the borders of the tribe of Naphtali (Josh. xix.
1 We must not forget that in many passages in the Proto-Chaldasan
literature ana denotes simply " the sky," and not a divine being at all,
though the Semitic translators, misled by the determinative of divinity
with which the word is written, have usually supposed it to represent
the god Anu.
2 Compare the Phoenician account of the creation as reported by
Philo Byblius : " Of the wind Kolpia and of his wife Baau (i.e. Baku,
bohu), which is interpreted night, were begotten two mortal men, Ai6n
and Protogonos so called, and Ai6n discovered food from trees. Those
begotten from these were called Genos and Genea (? Kain), and inha
bited Ph<Bnicia, and when great droughts came they stretched forth
their hands to heaven, towards the sun, for this they supposed to be
the only god, the lord of heaven, calling him Beel-samin."

188 LECTURE III.
38); and Anathoth, whose name shows us that, besides the
Ashtaroth or "Astartes," the Canaanites venerated theb
local goddesses under the title of "Anats," was a city of
the priests. Anah or Anat was the daughter of the Hivite
Zibeon and mother-in-law of Esau (Gen. xxxvi. 1, 14),
and by her side we hear of Anah or Anu, the son of the
Horite Zibeon, who "found the mules (or hot-springs) in
the wilderness as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father."
But Anu did not make his way westward alone. In the
Assyrian inscriptions Anu is coupled with Dagan, "the
exalted one," ] whose female consort seems to have been
Dalas or Salas. Thus Assur-natsb-pal calls himself " the
beloved of Anu and Dagon ;" and Sargon asserts that he
"had extended his protection over the city of Harran,
and, according to the ordinance of Anu and Dagon, had
written down theb laws." Here Dagan or Dagon is
associated with Harran, the half-way house, as it were,
between the Semites of Babylonia and the Semites of the
west. Erom Harran we can trace his name and cult to
Phoenicia. Beth-Dagon was a city of Asher, in the neigh
bourhood of Tyre and Zidon (Josh. xix. 27), and the
fragments of Philon Byblios, the Greek translator of the
Phoenician writer Sankhuniathon, tell us expressly that
Dagon was a Phoenician god. That the statement is
genuine is made clear by the false etymology assigned to
the name, from the Semitic ddgdn, "corn."2 But it was
1 W. A. I. iv. 20, 16 ; 79. 7-8. 68. The Aceadian da means "sum
mit" (W. A. I. v. 21. 45. 6 ; ii. 26, 49), and gan is the participle of
the substantive verb. In W. A. I. iii. 68, 21, Dagon is identified with
Mul-lil. For his wife Dalas or Salas, see W. A. I. iii. 68, 22.
2 "Ouranos, succeeding to the kingdom of his father, contracted
marriage with his sister GS, and had by her four sons, Iios (El), who

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 189
among the Philistines in the extreme south of Palestine
that the worship of Dagon attained its chief importance.
Here he appears to have been exalted into a Baal, and
to have become the supreme deity of the confederate
Philistine towns. We hear of his temples at Gaza
(Josh. xvi. 21 — 30) and at Ashdod (1 Sam. v. 1 sq.), as
well as of a town of Beth-Dagon, and we gather from
the account given of his image that he was represented
as a man with head and hands.
It is probable that the worship of Anu migrated west
ward along with the worship of Istar. The god and
goddess of Erech could not well be dissociated from one
another, and the spread of the worship of the goddess
among the Semitic tribes brought with it the spread of
the worship of the god also. I am inclined to think
that this must be placed at least as early as the age of
Sargon of Accad. The worship of Istar found its way to
all the branches of the Semitic family except the Arabic ;
and, as we shall see in a future Lecture, the form of the
name Ashtoreth, given to the goddess in Canaan, raises
a presumption that this was due, not to the campaigns
of the early Babylonian kings, but to the still earlier
migrations of the Semitic population towards the west.
The old sky-god of the Accadians must have become the
Semitic Anu at a very remote period indeed.
But it was the sky-god of Erech only. It does not
follow that where the divine Ana, or " sky," is mentioned
is called Kronos, and Betylos (Bethel), and Dagon, which signifies
corn, and Atlas .... Kronos gave (a concubine of Ouranos) in marriage
to Dagon, and she was delivered and called the child Demaro6n ....
And Dagon, after he had found out bread-corn and the plough, was
called Zeus Arotrios."

190 LECTURE III.
in the Aceadian texts, the god who became the Semitic
Anu is referred to, even though the Semitic translators
of the texts imagined that such was the case. There
were numerous temples in Chaldaea into whose names the
name of the deified sky entered, but in most cases this
deified sky was not the sky-god of Erech. It is only
where the names have been given hi Semitic times, or
where the Aceadian texts are the production of Semitic
literati composing hi the sacred language of the priests,
like the monks of the Middle Ages, that we may see the
Anu of the mythological tablets. Without doubt the
Semitic scribes have often confounded theb Anu with
the local sky-god of the ancient documents, but this
should only make us the more cautious in dealing with
theb work.
The original sky-god of Erech denoted the visible sky.
He is opposed to the visible earth, and was consequently
in most of the Chaldaean cities an inferior deity, subor
dinate to a Mul-lil, an Ea or a Sun-god, who ruled over
the sky and the earth. But when the Aceadian Ana
became the Semitic Anu, he assumed a more spbitual
character. It was no longer the visible heaven that was
represented by him, but an invisible one, above and
beyond the heaven that we behold. Henceforward "the
heaven of Anu" denoted the serene and changeless regions
to which the gods fled when the deluge ha"d broken up
the face of the lower heaven, and which an Assyrian poet
calls " the land of the silver sky." It was to this spiri
tualised heaven that the spirit of Ea-bani, the friend of
Gisdhubar, ascended, and from which he gazed placidly
on the turmoil of the earth below ; and it was from his
scat therein that Anu assigned their places in the lower

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 191
heaven to Samas, Sin and Istar, the Sun, the Moon and
the Evening Star, according to the legend of the seven
wicked spbits.
But the spiritualisation of Anu did not stop here. As
a Semitic Baal he had become a supreme god, the lord
and father of the universe. It was only a step further,
therefore, to make him himself the universe, and to resolve
into him the other deities of the Babylonian pantheon.
We read occasionally in the hymns of "the one god."
"The ban, the ban," a poet writes, personifying the
priestly sentence of excommunication, like the Ara of
JEskhylos or the divine burden of Zechariah (ix. 1), " is
a barrier which none may overpass j1 the barrier of the
gods against which they cannot transgress, the barrier of
heaven and earth which cannot be changed ; the one god
against whom none may rebel; god and man cannot
explain (it); it is a snare not to be passed which is
formed against the evil, the cord of a snare from which
there is no exit which is turned against the evil." The
conception of Anu, however, as "the one god" was
pantheistic rather than monotheistic. The cosmological
deities of an older phase of faith were in the first instance
resolved into him. In place of the genealogical, or gnostic,
system which we find in the account of the Creation in
days, we have a pantheistic system, in which Lakhama
and the other primaeval forces of nature are not the
parents of Anu, but are identified with Anu himself.2 It
is easy to conceive how the old deity An-sar, " the upper
firmament," with all its host of spirits, might be iden-
1 W.A. I. iv. 16, 1.
2 W.A.I, ii. 54, 40, "Lakhnia is Anu, the god of the hosts oi
heaven and earth." So in ii. 54, 34, &c, and iii. 69, 1.

192 LECTURE III.
tified with him ; but when we find Uras also, the Sun-god
of Nipur, made one with Anu, "the hearer of prayer,"
and the eagle-like Alala, the bridegroom of Istar and
double of Tammuz, equally resolved into the god of
Erech, it is plain that we have to do with an advanced
stage of pantheism. This monotheistic, or rather pan
theistic, school of faith has been supposed by Sir Henry
Eawlinson to have grown up at Eridu ; but the fact that
it centres round the name of Anu points rather to Erech
as its bbth-place. How long it flourished, or whether it
extended beyond a narrow group of priestly thinkers, we
have no means of ascertaining. It is interesting, how
ever, as showing that the same tendency which in Assyria
exalted Assur to the position of an all-powerful deity
who would brook neither opposition nor unbelief, among
the more meditative Babylonians produced a crude system
of pantheism. Whatever question there may be as to
whether the pure and unmixed Semite is capable of ori
ginating a pantheistic form of faith, there can be bttle
doubt about it where the Semite is brought into close
contact with an alien race. The difference between the
Assyrian and the Babylonian was the difference between
the purer Semite and one in whose veins ran a copious
stream of foreign blood.
The early importance and supremacy of Erech in
Semitic Babylonia caused its god to assume a place by
the side of Ea of Eridu and Mul-lil, the older Bel. It
is possible that the extension of his cult had already
begun in Aceadian days. The Ana, or Sky-god, to whom
Gudea at Tel-loh erected a temple, may have been the
Sky-god of Erech, more especially when we remember
the connection that existed between Erech and Eridu on

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 193
the one hand, and between Tel-loh and Eridu on the
other.1 However this may be, from the commencement
of the Semitic period Anu appears as the first member
of a triad which consisted of Anu, Bel or Mul-lil, and Ea.
His position in the triad was due to the leading position
held by Erech; the gods of Nipur and Eridu retained
the rank which their time-honoured sanctity and the
general extension of theb cult had long secured to them ;
but the rank of Anu was derived from the city of which
he was the presiding god. The origin of the triad was
thus purely accidental ; there was nothing in the religious
conceptions of the Babylonians which led to its formation.
Once formed, however, it was inevitable that a cosmolo
gical colouring should be given to it, and that Anu, Bel
and Ea, should represent respectively the heaven^ the
lower world and the watery element. Later ages likened
this cosmological trinity to the elemental trinity of the
Sun, the Moon and the Evening Star ; and below the triad
of Anu, Bel and Ea, was accordingly placed the triad of
of Samas, Sin and Istar. But this secondary trinity
never attracted the Babylonian mind. Up to the last,
as we have seen, Sin continued to be the father of Samas
and Istar, and Babylonian religion remained true to its
primitive tendency to dualism, its separation of the divine
world into male and female deities. The only genuine
trinity that can be discovered in the religious faith of
early Chaldaea was that old Aceadian system which con
ceived of a divine father and mother by the side of their
son the Sun-god.
1 The importation of the worship of Istar into Tel-loh, with her
temple of E-ana, or " house of heaven," would, however, fully account
for the importation of the worship of Anu at the same time.
0

.194 LECTURE III.
The Semitic Anu necessarily produced the feminine
Anat, and as necessarily Anat was identified with the
earth as Anu was with the sky. In this way the Acea
dian idea of a marriage union between the earth and the
sky was adapted to the newer Semitic bebefs. But we
must not misunderstand the nature of the adaptation.
Anat never became an independent deity, as Dav-kina,
for example, had been from the outset; she had no
separate existence apart from Anu. She is simply a
Bilat matati, " a mistress of the world," or a Bilat Hi, "a
mistress of the gods," like the wife of Bel or of Samas;
she is, in fact, a mere colourless representation of the
female principle in the universe, with no attributes that
distinguish her from Anunit or Istar except the single
one that she was the feminine form of Anu. Hence
it is that the Canaanites had not only their Ashtaroth,
but their Anathoth as well, for the Anathoth or " Anats"
differed from the Ashtaroth or "Ashtoreths" in little
else than name. So far as she was an active power, Anat
was the same as Istar; in all other respects she was
merely the grammatical complement of Anu, the goddess
who necessarily stood at the side of a particular god.
There are still two other gods of whom I must speak
before I conclude this Lecture — Nergal, the god of Cutha,
and Eamman or Eimmon, the air-god. Nergal occupies
a peculiar position. He was the local deity of the town
called Gudua, " the resting-place," by the Accadians — a
name changed by the Semites into Kutu or Cutha — which
is now represented by the mounds of Tel-Ibrahim. Eor
reasons unknown to us, the necropolis of Cutha became
famous at an early time; and though the Babylonian
kings, like the kings of Assyria and Judah, were buried

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 195
in their own palaces,1 it is probable that many of their
subjects preferred a sepulchre in the neighbourhood of
Cutha. The original name of the god of Gudua was Nerra or
Ner, a word which the Semitic scribes render by gasru,
"the strong one," and less accurately namru, "the bright
one." 2 Later legends had much to say about this ancient
hero-god. Like Etana, his throne was placed in Hades,
where he sat crowned, awaiting the entrance of the dead
kings of the earth. But the hero-king of the myths was
one and the same with the god whom his primitive wor
shippers at Gudua made king of ardli or Hades. He
was, in fact, the personification of death. Hence his
title of " the strong one," the invincible god who over
powers the mightiest of mortal things. The realm over
which he ruled was "the great city" (uru-gal); great,
indeed, it must have been, for it contained all the multi
tudes of men who had passed away from the earth.
Like the city over which he ruled, the god, too, was
himself "great." He came, therefore, to be familiarly
known as Nergal — Nirwal in the dialect of Accad — " the
great Ner," or "hero." A punning etymology connected
his name with "the great city" (uru-gal), as if it had
been Ne(r)-uru-gal, " the Ner of Hades." But he was
also "king of Cutha," as well as of "the desert" on
1 See the dynastic fragment published by George Smith in the
Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch. iii. 2, lines 27, 29, 30, 32, 34, 37.
2 W. A. L iv. 9, 36. Ner is rendered namru in K4245, Rev. 13
(where "the god of the high voice" is said to be ner). A play seems
to be intended on gir (ngir), " the lightning-flash," which was numru
in Assyrian, rendered by ner in W. A. I. iv. 5, 15. Numru in the
Accado-Semitie of northern Babylonia was written in rebus fashion
kum-gib, i.e. num-mir. Nerra was pronounced Ngirra ; hence the gloss
lira.
o2

196 LECTURE III.
whose borders Cutha stood and where its necropolis was
probably situated ; while other titles made him " king of
heaven," "the king who marches before Anu," "the
king Nerra," and "the mighty sovereign of the deep."1
At Cutha he had been known in pre-Semitic days as
Aria, "the founder," and his worshippers had called him
Allamu and Almu, the god " who issues forth in might."2
But his most frequent appellation is U-gur, the god of
" the falchion,"3 and under this name he tended to become
separate from Nergal, the god of the tomb, and to be
regarded as, like the Sun-god Adar, the champion of the
gods. It was as the death-dealing lord of Hades that Nergal
first became "the hero of the gods," "who marches in
theb front." The metaphor was taken from the champion
who, like Goliath, places himself before bis comrades and

1 W. A. I. ii. 54, 5. The title "king of heaven" must go back to
days when the sky-god of Erech was as yet unknown at Cutha, while
the title "great king of the deep" indicates a connection with Eridu.
In Phoenicia, we are told, he was known as Sar-rabu, " the great king,"
and among the Shuites on the western bank of the Euphrates as Emu.
Emu is letter for letter the national god of the Ammonites, Ammi,
which, as Dr, Neubauer has shown, appears as 'Am in such Hebrew
names as Jerobo-am and Eehobo-am.
2 Allam-ta-ea. Allam may be connected with alam, " an image,"
which probably has the same root as alad, " a colossus," alal or ala,
"a demon," alala, "the Sun-god," who was afterwards identified with
Anu, and alim, " a steer," literally " the strong animal." But the word
also seems to have been read 'Sulim (see W. A. I. ii. 61. 72, 73).
3 W. A. I. ii. 2, 342. As Ugur, the god was also worshipped as
"Nergal of the khddhi," or "apparitions" (W.A.I, iii. 67, 70). In
later times the name may have been divided into U-gur, " lord of the
gur," which would then have been confounded with gur, " the deep"
(in Sumerian), one of the titles of Ea being En-gur, "lord of the deep"
(W. A. I. ii. 58, 53).

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 197
challenges the enemy to combat. It is thus that we read
in the story of the Deluge, when the flood of rain and
destruction is described as coming upon the guilty world :
" Eimmon in the midst of (heaven) thundered, and Nebo
and the Wind-god went in front ; the throne-bearers went
over mountain and plain; Nergal the mighty removes
the wicked ; Adar goes in front and casteth down." l
As lord of Hades, too, he was made the son of Mul-hl.
A hymn (K 5268), the colophon of which tells us that it
was composed in Cutha, begins with the words : " Let
Nergal be glorified, the hero of the gods, who cometh
forth as the strong one, the son of Mul-lil." In the same
hymn, Marad is declared to be his city, from which we
may infer that Marad was near Cutha. Its protecting
divinity, however, was, strictly speaking, Lugal-tdda, "the
royal offspring," or perhaps "valiant king," a personi
fication of the thunder -cloud and bghtning; but it is
evident from the hymn that he had been identified with
the death-dealing god of Cutha. Of Laz, the wife of
Nergal, we know bttle or nothing. Her name survived
as the local divinity of Cutha, but her office and attri
butes were taken by Allat. Even Nergal himself as
the lord of Hades belongs rather to the Aceadian than
to the Semitic period. Among the Semites he was the
hero and champion of the gods, and as such the destroyer
of the wicked, rather than the king of death who slays
abke the wicked and the good. The sovereignty of
Hades had passed out of his hands, and he had become

1 It was in this capacity also that he appears as Nerra, the plague*
demon (misread Lubara by George Smith), whose adventures formed
the subject of a long poem.

198 LECTURE III.
the companion of the solar Adar and the warrior of the
gods of heaven.
Under his old name of Ner, however, a curious remi
niscence of his primitive character lasted down to late
times. In the hymns and other poetical effusions, we
not unfrequently come across the phrase, "mankind, the
cattle of the god Ner." I have abeady drawn attention
to the agricultural nature of early Chaldaean civilisation,
and the influence that agriculture had upon the modes
of thought and expression of the population. Not only
was the sky regarded as the counterpart of the Baby
lonian plain, and the heavenly bodies transformed into
the herds and flocks that fed there, but the human
inhabitants of the earth were themselves likened to the
cattle they pastured and fed. One of the earhest titles
of the Babylonian kings was " shepherd," remindmg us
of the Homeric toi^v Aawv, "shepherd of nations;" and
in the Epic of Gisdhubar the sovereign city of Erech is
termed the Subur, or "shepherd's hut." Just as the
subjects of the king, therefore, were looked upon as the
sheep whom theb ruler shepherded, so too mankind in
general were regarded as the cattle slain by the god of
death. They were, in fact, his herd, whom he fed and
slaughtered in sacrifice to the gods.1
But apart from phrases of this kind, which embalmed
the behefs and ideas of a half -forgotten age, Nergal of
Cutha was a decaying godhead. His power waned with

1 So in a fragmentary hymn composed by order of Assur-bani-pal on
the occasion of an eclipse of the moon, mankind are called " the people
of the black heads, the living assembly (pukhar napisti), the cattle
(put) of the god Ner, the reptiles (nammasse) [whom] thy [governance]-
has overlooked" (K 2836, Obv. 11— 13).

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 199
the rise and growth of Semitic influence in Babylonia.
He thus formed a strong contrast to the god of the air
and wind, whose cult belongs essentially to the Semitic
period. The primitive inhabitant of Babylonia paid a special
worship to the winds. He beheld in them spirits of good
and evil. He prayed for "the good wind" which cooled
the heats of summer and brought moisture to the parched
earth, and he saw in the storm and tempest, in the freez
ing blasts of winter and the hot wind that blew from the
burning desert, "the seven evil spbits." They were the
demons "who had been created in the lower part of
heaven," and who warred against the Moon-god when
he suffered eclipse. They were likened to aU that was
most noxious to man. The first, We are told, was "the
sword (or hghtning) of rain ;" the second, " a vampbe j"1
the thbd, "a leopard;" the fourth, "a serpent;" the
fifth, "a watch-dog" (?); the sixth, "a violent tempest
which (blows) against god and king ;" and the seventh,
"a baleful wind.." But theb power caused them to be
dreaded, and they were venerated accordingly. It was
remembered that they were not essentially evil. They,
too, had been the creation of Anu, for they came forth
from the sky, and all seven were " the messengers of Anu
theb king." In the war of the gods agamst the dragon
of chaos, they had been the allies of Merodach. We
read of them that ere the great combat began, the god

1 Usumgdlu, expressed by ideographs that signify "the solitary
monster." It denoted a fabulous beast which " devoured the corpses
of the dead" (W. A. I. ii. 19, 62), and was therefore not exactly a vam
pire, which devoured the living, but corresponded rather to one of the
creatures mentioned in Is. xiii. 21, 22, xxxiv. 14,

200 LECTURE III.
"created the evil wind, the hostile wind, the tempest,
the storm, the four winds, the seven winds, the wbirl-
wind, the unceasing wind." When Merodach had slung
forth his boomerang1 and hit the dragon, " the evil wind
that seizes behind showed its face. And Tiamat (the
dragon of the sea) opened her mouth to swallow it, but
(the god) made the evil wind descend so that she could
not close her lips ; with the force of the winds he filled
her stomach, and her heart was sickened and her mouth
distorted." Down to the closing days of the Assyrian
empbe, the four winds, "the gods of Nipur," were still
worshipped in Assyria (W.A.I, hi. 66, Rev. 26), and
Saru, the Wind-god, is mentioned as a separate divinity
in the story of the Deluge.
Among the winds there was one whose name awakened
feebngs of dread in the mind of every Babylonian. This
was the tempest, called mdtu in Aceadian,2 and abub hi
Semitic. It was the tempest which had been once sent
by Bel to drown guilty mankind in the waters of a deluge,
and whose return as the minister of divine vengeance
was therefore ever feared. As each year brought with it
the month of Sebat or January, with its " curse of rain,"
the memory of that terrible event rose again in the Baby-

1 The word means literally " the cord of a snare." Zimmern there
fore thinks of "net," but the sculptures show that a boomerang is
meant. 2 The word is written with the determinative of water A. It is pro
bably a contraction of Martu, since in the name of the god who after
wards came to correspond to the Semitic Eamman, the first syllable is
represented by the character which usually has the value of mar. But
¦we know from another character which has the same value that the
same word could assume in different dialects or periods of Aceadian the
varying forms of mal, mar and md.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 201
Ionian inind. Matu was a god whose favour had to be
conciliated, and whose name accordingly appears on
numbers of early cybnders.
But though Matu was thus specially identified with
the great tempest which formed an era in Babylonian
history, it was not forgotten that he was but one of several
storm-gods, who were therefore spoken of as " the gods
Matu."1 Like the clouds, they were children of the sea,
and were thus included in the family of Ea. It is possible
that this genealogy was due to the systematismg labours
of a later day ; but it is also possible that the gods Matu
were primarily adored in Eridu, and that Eridu, and not
Surippak, was the original city of the Chaldaean Noah.
It is at least noticeable that the immortal home of the
translated Xisuthros was beyond the mouth of the Eu
phrates, near which Eridu was built. .
If Eridu were the birth-place of M&tu, it would explain
why the god of the tempest was also the god of the
western wind. Elsewhere in Babylonia, the western
wind blew from across the desert and brought heat with
it rather than rain. But in those remote days, when the
northern portion of the Persian Gulf had not as yet been
filled up with miles of alluvial deposit, a westerly breeze
could still come to Eridu across the water. In a peni
tential psalm,2 Matu, "the lord of the mountain" (mulu
mursamma-lil), whose wife, " the lady of the mountain,"
is mentioned on the monuments of Tel-loh, is invoked
along with his consort Gubarra, Ea, " the sovereign of
heaven and earth and sovereign of Eridu," Dav-kina,
Merodach, Zarpanit, Nebo and Nana — in short, along
» W. A. I. ii. 56. 41, 42. « W. A. I. iv. 21, 2.

202 LECTURE III.
with the gods of Eridu and the kindred deities of Baby
lon. It is true that the M&tu of this psalm is not the
M&tu of the west, but of the eastern mountains of Elam ;
we have seen, however, that more than one M&tu was
worshipped in primitive days, and it is the cradle and
starting-point of the name which we are now seeking to
discover. But whether or not Eridu were really the first home
of the cult of a god (or gods) Matu, it was with the
west that he came to be chiefly identified. Titnim, the
old Aceadian name of the land of Canaan, became the
land of Matu, which the Semites, who faced the rising
sun in their prayers, rendered by Akharru, "the hinder
country." His worship was carried by Aramaean tribes
across the desert to Syria and Damascus. But before
this happened, a change had taken place in the character
of M&tu himseb. He had ceased to be Aceadian and
had been transformed into a Semitic god, absorbing into
himself at the same time the name and attributes of
another deity.
This other deity was the god of the town of Muru, who
represented the air, more especially the atmosphere when
lighted up by the rays of the sun. His Aceadian name
was Meri, "the exalted" or "glorious," known also as
Mer-mer, " the very glorious." He represented what the
Semitic Babylonians termed the saruru, or " shining fir
mament." His Aceadian name was literally translated
into Semitic as Eamanu, "the exalted one," which later
generations connected witha root signifying "to thunder,"
and so wrote Eammanu (for Bamim&mi), "the thun-
derer." The Hebrew Masoretes started yet another false
etymology. They identified the word with rimmon,' "a

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 203
pomegranate," and punctuated it accordingly in the pas
sages in which it occurs in the Old Testament. As,
however, the form Eimmon has thus become familiar to
Engbsh ears, while Eamman is of strange sound, it is
best to adhere to the Hebraised f orm of the god's name,
in spite of its etymological incorrectness. Eimmon, there -
fore, and not Earn an or Eamman, is the form which 1
shall employ in these Lectures.1
Now Eimmon, as we learn from the books of Kings,
was the supreme god of the Syrians of Damascus. He
was there identified with the Sun-god Hadad, the all-
powerful Baal of the northern Syrian tribes. As far
south as the plain of Jezreel, according to Zechariah
xii. 11, the worship of Hadad-Eimmon was celebrated,
and Hadad-Eimmon is but a compound form which ex
presses the identity of Eimmon and Hadad. The same
fact is made known to us by the Assyrian inscriptions.
Not only has Mr. Pinches2 brought to light a series of
four documents belonging to the beginning of the reign
of Nabonidos, in which mention is made of a Syrian
named Bin-Addu-natanu or Ben-Hadad-nathan, " the son
of Hadad has given;" we find also the names of Aramaean
chieftains written with the ideographs which denote the
Assyrian Eimmon, but pronounced, as variant copies of
the texts inform us, as Dadda or Dadi. Thus we read
of a North- Arabian prince called Bb-Dada, and the Ben-
Hadad of Scripture appears as Dada-idri, the Bibbcal

1 The name of Eamman is preserved in the S6sarmos of KtSsias,
which represents the Samas (Sawas)- Eamman of the monuments, —
a sufficient indication of the way in which the god's name was pro
nounced in Assyria.
2 Guide to the Nimroud Central Scdoon, pp. 92, 93.

204 LECTURE III.
Hadad-ezer, in the records of Shalmaneser II. The name
made its way to the non-Semitic tribes of the Taurus.
A Komagenian sovereign bears the name- of Kigbi-Dada,
which appears also under the abbreviated form of Giri-
Dadi; and Dalilu was a Kaskian or Kolkhian king in
the time of Tiglath-Pileser III. ; while Dadi was a ruler
of Khubuskia, to the south-west of Armenia. That Hadad
was adored even in Edom is shown by the names of the
Edomite kings, Hadad the son of Bedad, and Hadad the
adversary of Solomon.
In Bedad, which stands for Ben-Dad, the exact equiva
lent of Ben-Hadad, we meet with the same shortened
form of the name as that which we find in the Assyrian
inscriptions. It is possible, therefore, that it was confused
with another title of the Sun-god in Canaan, Dod or David,
" the beloved one," the feminine correlative of which is
found in the familiar Dido. Dido was the goddess of
Carthage, not unnaturally confounded, by the piety of
later ages, with Elissa, the foundress of the city. Like
Hadad of Edom, David of Israel will thus have borne a
name which the people about him applied to their sove
reign god. It may be that those scholars are right who
bebeve that the real name of the sweet psalmist of Israel
was El-hanan or Baal-hanan ; if so, David will have been
a popular title derived from a popular appellation of the
Deity. He will thus have shared the fate of his son and
successor, whose true name Jedidiah was changed into
Solomon — the name of the old Semitic " god of peace" —
when David sat at rest within the walls of his new
capital, Jerusalem, the city of " peace," and had rest from
his enemies on every side.1
1 See above, p. 57.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 205
Hadad, Addu or Dadda, never superseded the native
name of Eamanu (Eamman) in Babylonia and Assyria,
and remained foreign to the last. Eamanu, however, was
sometimes addressed as Barqu or Barak, " the lightning;"
and it is possible that antiquarian zeal may have also
sometimes imposed on him the Aceadian title of Meru.
He grew continuously in popular favour. In Semitic
Babylonia, and yet more in Semitic Assyria, his aid was
constantly invoked; and, like Anu, Bel and Ea, he tended
as time went on to become more and more national in
character. Eamman is one of the least local of Baby
lonian gods.
This was due in great measure to the nature of his
origin. He began as the amalgamation of two distinct
deities, the wind-god and the ab-god, and the extension
of his cult was marked by the absorption into his person
of the various deities of the winds adored by the older
faith. He continued to grow at their expense. The
spirits of the winds and storms sank lower and lower ;
and while the beneficent side of theb operation attached
itself to Eamman, there remained to them only that side
which was harmful and demoniac.
The evolution illustrates the way in which the Baby
lonian sought to solve the mystery of evil. The divine
powers he worshipped had once been alike the creators
of good and the creators of evil ; like the powers of nature
which they represented, they had been at once beneficent
and malevolent. By degrees, the two aspects of their
character came to be separated. The higher gods came
to be looked upon as the hearers of prayer and the
bestowers of all good gifts; while the instruments of
their vengeance and the inflictors of suffering and misery

206 LECTURE III.
upon man were the inferior spirits of the lower sphere.
But the old conception, which derived both good and evil
from the same source, did not wholly pass away. Evil
never came to be regarded as the antagonist of good ; it
was rather the necessary complement and minister of good.
The supreme Baal thus preserved his omnipotence, while
at the same time the ideas of pain and injustice were
dissociated from him. In his combat with the dragon of
chaos, Merodach summons the "evil wind" itseb to
his assistance; and in the legend of the assault of the
seven wicked spirits upon the Moon, they are nevertheless
called " the messengers of Anu theb king." Nerra, the
god of plague and destruction, smites the people of Baby
lonia on account of theb sins by the command of the
gods, like the angel with the drawn sword whom David
saw standing over Jerusalem at the threshing-floor of
Araunah ; and in the story of the Deluge it is because
of the wickedness of mankind that the flood is brought
upon the earth. The powers of darkness are degraded
from theb ancient position of independence, and either
driven, like Tiamat, beyond the bounds of the created
world, or reduced to the condition of ministers of divine
wrath. If we would realise how widely removed is this con
ception of them as the instruments of divine anger from
that earlier view in which they are mere elemental
powers, in themselves neither good nor evil, we cannot
do better than compare these legendary compositions of
the Semitic period with the old Aceadian hymns that
relate to the seven harmful spirits. Let us bsten to one,
for instance, which probably emanated from Eridu and
applied originally to the "Malu gods:"

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 207
1. " They are the destructive reptiles, even the winds that create
evil !
2. as an evil reptile, as an evil wind, do they appear !
3. as an evil reptile, as an evil wind, who marches in front are
they!
4. Children monstrous (gitmalutu), monstrous sons are they !
5. Messengers of the pest-demon are they !
6. Throne-bearers of the goddess of Hades are they !
7. The whirlwind (matu) which is poured upon the land are they !
8. The seven are gods of the wide-spread heaven.
9. The seven are gods of the wide-spread earth.
10. The seven are gods of the (four) zones.
11. The seven are gods seven in number.1
12. Seven evil gods are they !
13. Seven evil demons are they !
14. Seven evil consuming spirits are they '
15. In heaven are they seven, in earth are they seven !"2
Another poet of Eridu, in a hymn to the Fire-god,
speaks of the seven spirits in similar language :
1 The Semitic translator misrenders : " gods of the hosts (of the
firmament)." 2 W. A. I. iv. 1. ii. 65 — iii. 26. The hymn is interrupted by a
magical text, a later portion of it being quoted further on (2. v. 30 — 59)
as follows :
1. " Seven are they, seven are they !
2. In the hollow of the deep, seven are they !
3. (In) the. glory of heaven, seven are they !
4. In the hollow of the deep in a palace grew they up ! (In the
original, "from the hollow .... came they forth").
5. Male they are not, female they are not !
6. They are tbe dust-storm, the travelled ones (?) are they I
7. Wife they possess not, child is unborn to them.
8. Order and kindliness know they not.
9. They hearken not to prayer and supplication.
10. From the horse of the mountain came they forth.
11. Of Ea are they the foes.
12. The throne-bearers of the gods are they.
13. To trouble the canal in the street are they set.
14. Evil are they, evil are they !
15. Seven are they, seven are they, seven doubly said are they!"

208 LECTURE III.
" 0 god of Fire," he asks, " how were those seven begotten, how
grew they up ?
Those seven in the mountain of the sunset were born ;
those seven in the mountain of the sunrise grew up."
Throughout they are regarded as elemental powers,
and theb true character as destructive winds and tempests
is but thinly veiled by a cloak of poetic imagery. But
it will be noticed that they abeady belong to the harm
ful side of nature ; and though the word which I have
rendered " evil," after the example of the Semitic trans
lators, means rather " injurious" than " evil" in our sense
of the word, they are already the products of night and
darkness ; theb bbth-place is the mountain behind which
the sun sinks into the gloomy lower world. In the 22nd
book of the great work on Astronomy, compiled for Sar
gon of Accad, they are termed "the seven great spbits"
or galli,1 and it is therefore possible that they had abeady
been identified with the "seven gods of destiny," the
Amina-ge or " spirits of the lower world," of the cult of
Nipur. In theb gradual development into the Semite Eimmon,
the spbits of the ab underwent a change of parentage.
Matu, as we have seen, was, hke his kindred wind-gods
of Eridu, the offspring of Ea. But the home of the wind
is rather the sky than the deep, and Meri, "the shining
firmament," was naturally associated with the sky. When
Ana, "the sky," therefore, became the Semitic Anu,
Eimmon, who united in himseb Matu and Meri and other
local gods of wind and weather as well, was made his
son. It is possible that there was another cause working
1 W. A. I. iii. 62, 12. Gallu was a loan-word from the Sumerian
gidla, mulla in Aceadian.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 209
towards the same result. In Syria, Eimmon was iden
tified with Hadad the Sun-god, and there are indications
that in parts of Babylonia also he had at one time a solar
character. As Meri (or Meru), he could easily pass into
a solar divinity, more especiaUy as the re -duplicated
Mer-mer, " the most glorious," was a title of the meridian
Sun, who was identified in later days with Adar of Nipur,1
while it was also the name of Eimmon himseb as adored
in one of the smaUer towns of Chaldaea.2 We are told,
moreover, that Eimmon was the god who had gone under
the Aceadian appeUation of Utu-edina-guba, " the ever-
glowing sun of the desert."3 The elements,. therefore,
existed among the Babylonians, as weU as among the
Aramaeans, out of which Eimmon could have been trans
formed into a solar deity ; it was only the stronger non-
Semitic influence which caused them to be displaced by
the associations and conceptions that confined his sphere
to the ab. Eimmon, accordingly, among the Babylonians
and Assyrians, is the god of winds and cloud, of thunder
and hghtning, of storm and rain; he is the inundator
who is called upon to cover the fields of the impious and
unjust with water, and to pour his refreshing streams
into a thbsty land. His wbe went by the Aceadian
1 W. A. I. ii. 57, 76.
2 W. A. L ii. 48, 35. " Nebo, the binder of law," is also identified
with " the god Mermer" in W. A. I. ii. 60, 37, but this was in refer
ence to Nebo's original character as the god of the visible universe, who
bound its several parts together. When mermer is explained by mekhu,
"storm," in W.A.I, v. 11, 46, nothing more is meant than that the
god Mermer had come to represent the storm. It is an illustration
of the caution needed in dealing with the statements of the so-called
lexical lists.
» W. A. I. ii. 49, 30. P

210 LECTURE III.
name of Sala, " the mercbul" (?).x As her husband had
been identified with " the lord of the mountain," so she
too was identified with " the lady of the mountain,"2 to
whom Gudea had built a temple at Tel-loh. As " lady
of the mountain," however, she was more strictly the con
sort of the Sun-god of Eridu ; and a mythological tablet
speaks accordingly of a " Sala of the mountains, the wife
of Merodach."3 It is to Zarpanit, the wife of Merodach,
again, and not to Sala, that Nebuchadnezzar refers, when
he tells us how he " built in Babylon the House Supreme,
the temple of the lady of the mountain, for the exalted
goddess, the mother who had borne" him. Sala and
Zarpanit, therefore, must once have been one and the
same divinity.

1 The Aceadian equivalent of riminu, " merciful," is written with
the ideographs sag or sa, "heart," lal or la, "filling," and dud or su,
"extending" (W. A. I. iv. 9, 27, &c). But the final character is pro
bably a determinative only, giving the idea of "long-suffering," in
which case we should read sala instead of saladu. In W. A. I. iv. 19,
41, the word is apparently written phonetically, as sag-lil-da; if so, wo
must read saglal instead of sala. The name of the goddess might then
be explained as " woman," sala having this meaning in Aceadian. The
name seems to be interpreted "the goddess of reptiles" (nalsi and
namse), as well as "the lady of the place of gold," in W. A. I. ii. 57,
33 (where, by the way, the character niL has the meaning of " place,"
which it has in Amardian or " Protomedic," and in gis-dil-te, the ideo
graphic mode of writing guza, "a throne"). The mountains, more
especially those of the north, were " the land of gold."
2 W. A. I. ii. 57, 33.
s In W. A. I. iii. 67, 34, Sala is stated to be "the wife of Mul-lil
in the ghost-world." But this seems to refer only to Mul-lil as the
Semitic Bel, a Sun-god who rules among the shades below. It is thus
that she is called the wife of Duzu or Tammuz (ii. 57, 34) like A (ii.
57, 12). She was, in fact, originally the goddess of the Sun, and con
sequently her connection with Eamman must have been the result of
his amalgamation with Mer or Mermer.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 211
Sala was, furthermore, the "lady (or exalted lady) of
the desert" — a title which brings to one's recollection
the similar title of Eimmon, as " the ever-glowing sun
of the desert-land." It is under this title that she is
addressed in a penitential psalm, where she is named,
not Sala, but Gubara, "the fire-flame," and associated
with Matu (Mato), "the lord of the mountain."1 As
the other deities invoked along with her are Ea and
Dav-kina, Merodach and Zarpanit, Nebo and Tasmit,
while the whole psalm is dedicated to Nana, the goddess
of Erech, it is clear that the psalm is the composition
of a worshipper of Nana and native of Erech, whose gods
were the gods of Eridu and those who claimed kindred
with them.
We may, therefore, see in the primitive Sala the female
consort of the Sun-god of Eridu — the original, in fact, of
the Babylonian Zarpanit, who became identified on the
one side with the "lady of the mountain," and on the
other with the wife of Meri, the "bright firmament" of
the starry sky. Her name, Gubara, points to her solar
connection, and makes it probable that she was not the
moon — which does not seem to have been regarded as
a goddess in any part of Babylonia — nor the dawn, but
the evening and morning star. This will explain why
it is that she was known as the goddess of the mountains,
over whose heights Venus arose and set, or as the mistress
of wisdom and hidden treasure, or, again, as the goddess
of the copper hand.2 Other mythologies have stories of
1 W. A. I. iv. 21, No. 2.
2 W. A. I. ii 57, 35. The Sun-god Savitar is called " the golden-
handed " in the Yeda, a term explained in later Sanskrit literature by
the statement that the hand of the god had been cut at a sacrifice and
?2

212

LECTURE III.

a solar hero whose hand has been cut off and replaced
by one of gold and bronze, and it is in the light of such
stories that the epithet must be explained. We are
expressly told that Sala of the copper hand was the wbe
of Tammuz, the beautiful Sun-god of Eridu;1 and we
know that Tammuz, the son of the Eiver-god Ea,2 was
the spouse of Istar, the evening star. What wonder,
then, that her later husband Eimmon should have become
the Sun-god of the Syrians, whose untimely death was
mourned in the plain of Jezreel, as the untimely death
of his double, the Babylonian Tammuz, was mourned by
the women of Phoenicia and Jerusalem ?
I must reserve the story of Tammuz and Istar for
another Lecture. We have almost completed now our
survey of the principal deities of Babylonia, of those who
in the struggle for existence outdistanced their compeers,
and in the official inscriptions of Assyria and later Baby
lonia appear at the head of the divine hierarchy. Purely
local in their origin, their worship gradually extended
itself chiefly through the influence of the cities that wor
shipped them, and absorbed at the same time the local-
cults that came in their way. The adoption of Aceadian
forms of worship by the Semites was accompanied by a
process of generalisation and systematisation. The reli
gion of Accad was adapted to the religious ideas of the
Semites, and was transformed accordingly. The Baalim of
the Semite took the place of the dingirene or " creators" of
the Aceadian. The Sun-god assumed a new and impor-
replaced by a golden one. The Teutonic Tyr is similarly one-handed,
and the Keltic Nuad with the silver hand offers a close parallel to the
Chaldsean goddess with the copper hand.
* W. A. I. ii 57, 34. 2 W. A. I. ii. 56, 31.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 213
tant place. Wherever the Semite was wholly triumph
ant, wherever he succeeded in founding an empire, as at
Sippara and Babylon, the Sun-god acquired undisputed
sway. Wherever the older population maintained its
ground, as at Nipur or Eridu, the older deities, leavened
and transformed though they may have been by Semitic
thought, still continued to hold theb own. In places
like Erech, where Aceadian and Semitic influences seem
to have long struggled for the mastery, the old sky-god
remained indeed in name, but was changed into a Semitic
Baal. But the process of transformation was long, and it
needed many centuries before it was complete. We
have glimpses out of the distant past of a time when the
two populations lived side by side in peace or war, fight
ing, trading and intermarrying, of Semitic conquerors
filling their courts with Aceadian scribes and patronising
the study of Aceadian literature, and of Aceadian dynasties
irising at times in Semitic states. Babylonia in those
days must have afforded a close parallel to Egypt during
the centuries of Hyksos dominion. The Semitic invaders
of Egypt soon submitted to the spell of the higher culture
in the midst of which they found themselves. They
borrowed the titles of the Eharaohs ; they patronised the
learning of their Egyptian subjects ; and while asserting
the supremacy of their own Baal Sutekh, they yet identi
fied him with the Egyptian Set and adopted the divinities
of the Egyptian pantheon. The learned court of an
Apepi Ea-aa-user, which produced one of the two treatises
on Egyptian geometry that have survived to us, offers a
close parallel to the court of a Sargon of Accad, which

214 LECTURE III.
witnessed the compilation of the standard Babylonian
works on astrology and terrestrial omens.
But there was one important difference between Egypt
and Babylonia. With the help of Nubian albes, the
Egyptians of the south succeeded, after five hundred
years of submission, in driving the Semitic stranger from
the northern land he had made his own. The older
population of southern Babylonia was never so fortunate.
The Semite had come into Chaldaea not only as a warrior,
but as a trader as well. He had planted himself too
firmly in the cities of the north to be ever expelled. In.
Genesis we see Nimrod, the representative of Semitic
domination, establishing his kingdom, not only in Babel
and Erech and Accad, but also in Calneh or Kulunu in
Shinar (Sumer) of the south. And a time came when
Calneh ceased to be the only state of Sumer which
acknowledged the supremacy of the foreigner. Eridu
itself, the sacred city of an immemorial past, the primal
home of Chaldaean culture, became Semitic, and the
monarchs of Babylonia assumed the imperial title of
kings of Accad and Sumer.
But all this happened long before the age of Kham
muragas, with whom the history of the city of Babylon
begins. The Babylonia of Khammuragas differs but
bttle from the Babylonia of Nabonidos. The religious
system of the country is already fully formed. Nay,
more; already in the remote age of Sargon of Accad
there are indications that the process of assimilation and
absorption had long been at work. The son and suc
cessor of Sargon was Naram-Sin, "the beloved of the
Moon-god," a sign that the Moon-god of Ur was even

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 215
now in favour in the court of Accad. In fact, if must
have been among the priestly literati of Sargon that the
union of Aceadian and Semitic religious belief took defi
nite shape. It marked the union of the Aceadian and
Semitic elements in the population under Semitic rule.
It is possible that some of the mythological tablets in
which an attempt is made to harmonise the deities of the
various local cults and to bring them into genealogical
order, may go back to this early date. It is more pro
bable, however, that they all belong to that later period
when northern and southern Babylonia had long formed
an united monarchy.
Unchecked, the tendency of Semitic religious thought
would have been to resolve the gods of the popular faith
into one supreme Baal, by the side of whom was throned
his colourless double or wife. This tendency actually
found expression in certain cases. But the cities of
Babylonia had too venerable a history to allow theb local
deities to be thus confounded and lost, and the non-
Semitic element in the population, though less and less
represented in official documents, placed a check upon it.
It was the genealogical theory, resuscitated in after times
in the Gnostic doctrine of emanations, which obtained
most favour. The gods became a family, and theb
temples palaces in which attendant spirits ministered to
their wants.
At the head of the pantheon stood the trinity of Anu,
Bel of Nipur and Ea. The order in which they were
ranked indicates the relative periods at which the three
gods and the cities which originally worshipped them
became the property of the Semitic race. The rise of
Babylon, however, brought with it the displacement of

216 LECTURE III.
the older Bel of Nipur. He was forced to yield to his
younger rival Bel Merodach, causing endless confusion
to the Babylonian mythologists.
Around the three chief gods were grouped the multi
tudinous deities which Aceadian superstition or Semitic
piety had invented and dreamed of. Assur-natsir-pal
declares that there were "65,000 great gods of heaven
and earth;" and though we may doubt whether the
Assyrian king was not indulging in a little royal exag
geration, it is certain that the task of enumerating them
all would have exhausted the most indefatigable of
priestly scribes. Besides the numberless minor deities of
the towns and villages, there were the divine titles out of
which new gods had been evolved ; divinities which owed
theb existence to the linguistic or literary errors of the
Semites ; and, finally, foreign gods hke Kittum and Suma-
liy a of the Kossaeans, or Lagamar of Susa. As if this goodly
host were not enough, phrases from the ritual of the
A
temples were elevated to the rank of gods. E-Sagil, for
instance, the temple of Merodach at Babylon, was deified
under the name of " What does my lord eat ?" and the
spirit of E-Sagil was known as "What does my lord
drink?"1 while the divine porters of the temple were
termed respectively " the binder of the waters of the god
of the sea," and "the giver of water for (purifying) the
hand."2 When we remember how the background of
this vast pantheon was filled with the obscure deities and
spirits of the ancient Aceadian cult, whose names survived
hi magical charms and exorcisms, while the air above was
occupied by the " 300 spbits of heaven," and the earth
1 W. A. I. ii. 56. 16, 17. 2 W. A. I. ii 56. 18, 19.

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 217
below by "the 600 spbits of earth," we begin to realise
the force of the expression which made the supreme gods
rulers of the " legions " of earth and sky. Bit kissat, " the
lord of hosts," was a phrase full of significance to the
believing Babylonian.
It would be useless to waste our time over deities who
never obtained a prominent place in the official hierarchy
of the gods, and of whom we know little beyond the names.
Nowand again, when the Assyrian kings made a triumphal
march through Babylonia, they sacrificed to the gods of
the cities through which they passed, and we hear of
Latarak the son of Anu, of Subulu, or of Utsur-amat-sa ;
but they probably knew as little about them as we do.
It is only from local documents like contracts and boun
dary-stones that we can expect to learn anything about
such deities as Supu of Der, and Tug of Kis with the
dragon's face, and what we learn will seldom throw
much light on Babylonian religion as a whole. When
Nebuchadnezzar gathered the gods of Babylonia into his
capital in token that the god of Babylon was henceforth
lord of all the Chaldaean gods, with two exceptions it is
only to deities like' Sin and Samas, Eimmon and Gula,
that he erected shrines. "The lady of the house of
heaven" and "the divine son of the house" are the only
divinities whom he mentions that bear unaccustomed
names, and they are doubtless merely titles of Beltis and
Adar or Nergal.
As long, however, as these multitudinous deities were
believed to exist, so long was it also believed that they
could injure or assist. Hence come such expressions as
those which meet us in the Penitential Psalms, " To the
god that is known and that is unknown, to the goddess

218 LECTURE III.
that is known and that is unknown, do I bft my prayer."
Hence, too, the care with which the supreme Baal was
invoked as " lord of the hosts of heaven and earth," since
homage paid to the master was paid to the subjects as
well. Hence, finally, the fact that the temples of the
higher gods, like the Capitol at Eome, became gathering-
places for the inferior divinities, and counterparts on the
earth of "the assembly of the gods" in heaven. That
curious product of Mandaite imagination, the " Book
of Nabathean Agriculture," which was translated into
Arabic by Ibn Wahshiya in the 10th century, sets before
us a curious picture of the temple of Tammuz in Babylon.
"The images (of the gods)," it tells us, "congregated
from aU parts of the world to the temple of el-Askul
(E-Sagil) in Babylon, and betook themselves to the temple
(haikal) of the Sun, to the great golden image that is
suspended between heaven and earth in particular. The
image of the sun stood, they say, in the midst of the
temple, surrounded by all the images of the world. Next
to it stood the images of the sun in all countries ; then
those of the moon ; next those of Mars ; after them the
images of Mercury ; then those of Jupiter ; next of
Yenus ; and last of all, of Saturn. Thereupon the image
of the sun began to bewail Tammuz and the idols to
weep ; and the image of the sun uttered a lament over
Tammuz and narrated his history, whilst the idols all
wept from the setting of the sun till its rising at the end
of that night. Then the idols flew away, returning to
their own countries."
The details are probably borrowed from the great temple
of pre-Mohammedan Mecca, but they correspond very
faithfully with what we now know the interior of one of

THE GODS OF BABYLONIA. 219
the "chief temples of Babylonia and Assyria to have been
like. Fragments have been preserved to us of a tablet
which enumerated the names of the minor deities whose
images stood in the principal temples of Assyria, attend
ing like servants upon the supreme god. Among them
are the names of foreign divinities, to whom the catholic
spirit of Babylonian religion granted a place in the
national pantheon when once the conquest of the towns
and countries over which they presided had proved theb
submission to the Babylonian and Assyrian gods ; even
Khaldis, the god of Ararat, figures among those who
dwelt in one of the chief temples of Assyria,1 and whose
names were invoked by the visitor to the shrine. The
spectacle of such a temple, with the statue or symbol of
the supreme Baal rising majestically in the innermost
cell, and delivering his oracles from within the hidden
chamber of that holy of holies, while the shrines of his
wife and offspring were grouped around him, and the
statues of ministering deities stood slave-like in front,
was a fitting image of Babylonian religion. " The gods
many and lords many" of an older creed still survived,
but they had become the jealously-defined officials of an
autocratic court. The democratic polytheism of an earlier
day had become imperial. Bel was the counterpart of
his vicegerent the Babylonian king, with this difference,
that whereas Babylonia had been fused into an united
monarchy, the hierarchy of the gods still acknowledged
more than one head. How long Anu and Ea, or Samas
and Sin, would have continued to share with Merodach
the highest honours of the official cult, we cannot say ;

1 W. A. I. iii. 66, Rev. 7.

220 lecture in.
the process of degradation had already begun when
Babylonia ceased to be an independent kingdom and
Babylon the capital of an empbe. Merodach remained
a supreme Baal — the cylinder inscription of Cyrus proves
so much — but he never became the one supreme god.

Lecture IV.
TAMMUZ AND ISTAE; PEOMETHEUS AND
TOTEMISM.

Among the mythological poems bequeathed to us by
ancient Babylonia is one which, though doubtless based
on Aceadian materials, has survived to us only in a Semi
tic form. It recounts the descent of the goddess Istar
into Hades in search of the healing waters which should
restore to bfe her bridegroom Tammuz, the young and
beautiful Sun-god, slain by the cruel hand of night and
winter. The poem is as follows :
1. "To the land whence none return, the region of (darkness),
2. Istar, the daughter of Sin, (inclined) her ear,
3. yea, Istar herself, the daughter of Sin, inclined (her) ear
4. to the house of darkness, the seat of the god Irkalla,
5. to the house from whose entrance there is no exit,
6. to the road from whose passage there is no return,
7. to the house from whose visitors the light is excluded,'
8. the place where dust is their bread (and) their food is mud.
9. The light they behold not, in darkness they dwell,
10. they are clad like birds in a garment of feathers.
11. Over the door and the bolt the dust is scattered.
12. Istar, on arriving at the gate of Hades,
13. to the keeper1 of the gate addresses the word:
14. ' Opener (keeper) of the waters, open thy gate \
15. Open thy gate that I may enter !
1 Literally " opener" (pitie or muselu).

222 LECTURE IV.
16. If thou openest not the gate that I may enter,
17. I will smite the door, the bolt I will shatter,
1 8. I will smite the threshold and pass through the portals.
19. I will raise up the dead to devour the living,
20. above the living the dead shall exceed in number.'
21. The keeper opened his mouth and speaks;
22. he says to the princess Istar :
23. ' Stay, 0 lady, thou must not break it down !
24. Let me go and declare thy name to Nin-ki-gal, the queen of
Hades.'
25. The keeper descended and declares (her name to Nin-ki-gal
[Allat]) :
26. ' O goddess, the water thy sister Istar (is come to seek) ;
27. trying (batqirtu) the mighty bars (she has threatened to break
open the doors) (?).'
28. When Allat (heard) this (she opened her mouth and says :)
29. ' Like a cut-off herb has (Istar) descended (into Hades);
30. like the lip of a drooping reed1 she has prayed for (the waters
of life).
31. What matters to me her wish ? what (matters to me) her anger?2
32. (When she says :) this water with (my bridegroom)
33. Hke food would I eat, like beer would I drink :
34. let me weep for the heroes who have left (their) wives;
35. let me weep for the handmaids whom from the bosom of their
husbands (thou hast taken) ;
36. for the little child let me weep whom thou hast taken ere his
days are come.
37. Go, keeper (nevertheless), open for her (thy) gate ;
38. Strip3 her also according to the ancient rules.'
39. The keeper went, he opened for her (his) gate :
40. < Enter, O lady, let Cutha be glad (at thee);
41. let the palace of Hades rejoice before thee.'
1 See W. A. I. ii. 22, 8. Instead of sapat, " lip," Jeremias (Die
Hollenfahrt der Istar, 1886) reads sabat, "cutting off;" but he has
misunderstood the reference of lines 29, 30.
2 Literally, " What has her heart brought me 1 what has her liver
(brought me)?"
3 Uppidh, see W. A. I.- ii. 29, 38. This is preferable to my old
reading vppis, " bewitch."

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 223
42. The first gate he made her enter, and shut1 (it); he .threw
down the mighty crown of her head.
43. 'Why, 0 keeper, hast thou thrown down the mighty crown of
my head?'
44. 'Enter, O lady, (for) thus are the orders of Allat.'
45. The second gate he made her enter and he shut; he threw
away the earnings of her ears.
46. ' Wherefore, O keeper, hast thou thrown away the earrings of
my ears V
47. ' Enter, 0 lady, (for) thus are the orders of Allat.'
48. The third gate he made her enter and he closed; he threw
away the precious stones of her neck(lace).
49. 'Wherefore, O keeper, hast thou thrown away the precious
stones of my neck(lace) ? '
50. ' Enter, O lady, (for) thus are the orders of Allat.'
51. The fourth gate he made her enter and closed ; he threw away
the ornaments of her breast.
52. ' Wherefore, O keeper, bast thou thrown away the ornaments of
my breast?'
53. 'Enter, 0 lady, (for) thus are the orders of Allat.'
54. The fifth gate he made her enter and closed ; he threw away
the gemmed girdle of her waist.
55. ' Wherefore, 0 keeper, hast thou thrown away the gemmed
girdle of my waist?'
56. ' Enter, 0 lady, (for) thus are the orders of Allat.'
57. The sixth gate he made her enter and closed ; he threw away
the bracelets of her hands and her feet.
58. ' Wherefore, 0 keeper, hast thou thrown away the bracelets of
my hands and my feet ?'
59. 'Enter, O lady, (for) thus are the orders of Allat.'
60. The seventh gate he made her enter and closed; he threw
away the cincture of her body.
61. ' Wherefore, 0 keeper, hast thou thrown away the cincture of
my body V
62. ' Enter, O lady, (for) thus are the orders of Allat.'
63. After that Istar had descended into the land of Hades,
64. Allat beheld her and was haughty before her.

1 Not "unclothe," as Jeremias. Matsu means "" to shut," "discon
tinue."

224

LECTURE IV.

65. Istar took not counsel, she besought her with oaths.1
66. Allat opened her mouth and says,
67. to Namtar (the plague-demon), her messenger, the word she
utters :
68. ' Go, Namtar, (take Istar from) me, and
69. lead her out ; sixty times (strike) Istar (with disease) :
69. the disease of the eyes (into) her (eyes) ;
70. the disease of the side (into) her (side) ;
71. the disease of the feet into her (feet) ;
72. the disease of the heart into (her heart) ;
73. the disease of the head strike (into her head) ;
74. into her, even the whole of her, and into (each limb strike dis
ease).'
75. After that the lady Istar (into Hades had descended),
76. with the cow the bull would not unite (the ass would not
approach the female),
77. the handmaid (in the street would not approach the freeman),
78. the freeman ceased (to give his order),2
79. (the handmaid ceased to give her gift 1).
80. Pap-sukal, the messenger of the mighty gods, bowed his face
before (the Sun-god) :
81. ' There is woe below,3 (for all things) are full of destruction
(nadi).'
82. The Sun-god went ; in the presence of Sin his father he (stood),
83. in the presence of Ea the king (his) tears flowed down :
84. ' Istar descended to the earth and has not re-ascended.
85. From the time that Istar has descended to the land of Hades,
86. with the cow the bull will not unite, the ass will not approach
the female,
87. the handmaid in the street will not approach the freeman,
88. the freeman has ceased to give his order,
89. the handmaid has ceased to give her (gift ?).'
90. Ea in the wisdom of his heart formed (a man) ;*
1 Jeremias, " she threw herself on her." This, however, could
hardly be the sense of the shaphel of bu, "to come."
2 Perhaps better with Jeremias : " slept while giving."
3 Saplis ; if we read labis, we must translate, with Jeremias, " clothed
in a dress of mourning." But in this case, it would be difficult to
account for the omission of the words of Pap-sukal,
4 So Jeremias.

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. .225
91. he created Atsu-su-namir (' His rising is seen'), the androgyne ;l
92. ' Go, Atsu-su-namir, towards the gate of Hades set thy face ;
93. let the seven gates of Hades be opened before thee ;
94. let Allat see thee and rejoice at thy presence,
95. when her heart is at rest and her liver is appeased.
96. Conjure her also by the names of the great gods.
97. Turn thy heads ; to the resting-place2 of the stormy wind set
thine ear ;
98. the home of the pure one,8 the resting-place of the stormy wind,
let them prepare (?) ; the waters in the midst let her drink.
99. When Allat heard this
100. she struck her girdle, she bit her thumb :
101. ' Thou hast asked of me a request none should request !
102. Go, Atsu-su-namir, let me injure thee with a great injury 1*
103. May the garbage of the sewers of the city be thy food !
104. May the vessels of the daughters5 of the city be thy drink !
105. May the darkness of the dungeon be thy habitation 1
106. May the threshold be thy seat !
107. May drought and famine strike thine offspring !'
108. Allat opened her mouth and says,
109. to Namtar her messenger the word she addresses :
110. 'Go, Namtar, strike open the firmly-built palace,
111. shatter the thresholds (which) bear up the stones of light;
112. bid the spirits of earth (Aniinaki) come forth and seat them on
a throne of gold ;
1 Addinnu explained as "the female man" or "creature in W. A. I.
ii. 32, 22. Zimmern is probably right in connecting the word with
idinu, "a festival," since the tablet in which it appears seems to enu
merate various classes of priests ; and in W. A. I. ii. 27, 58, " the man"
or "creature of Istar" is called kalu, i.e. one of the Galli. Atsu-
su-namir may be also read Atsu-sunamir, "Eising, cause to shine"
(Shaphael imperative). Dr. Oppert reads Uddusu-namir, " renewal of
light," but this would require the form Uddus-namari (or nameri). In
an unnumbered text given above (p. 81, note 2), the addinnu appears
as the eunuch-priest of Bel armed with a flute.
2 'Suklial, from dakhalu, for which see W. A. I. v. 40, 11, and K161.
i. 26. According to George Smith, dakhalu is a synonym of sadakhu,
" to reach."
3 Jeremias, " (Say,) No, my lady." * See W. A. I. ii. 10, 3.
* See, however, W. A. I. ii. 22, 20.

226 LECTURE IV.
113. over Istar pour the waters of life and bring her before me.'
114. Namtar went (and) smote the firmly-built palace,
115. he shattered the thresholds (which) bear up the stones of light,
116. he bade the spirits of earth come forth, on a throne of gold did
he seat (them),
117. over Istar he poured the waters of life and brought her along.
118. The first gate he passed her out of and restored to her the
cincture of her body ;
119. The second gate he made her pass, and restored to her the
bracelets of her hands and her feet.
120. The third gate he made her pass, and restored to her the
gemmed girdle of her waist.
121. The fourth gate he made her pass, and restored to her the
ornaments of her breasts.
122. The fifth gate he made her pass, and restored to her the jewels
of her necklace.
123. The sixth gate he made her pass, and restored to her the earrings
of her ears.
124. The seventh gate he made her pass, and restored to her the
mighty crown of her head.
125. ' If she (i.e. Allat) has not given thee that for which the ransom
is paid her, turn back to her again
126. for Tammuz the bridegroom of (thy) youth.
127. Pour over him the pure waters, (anoint him) with precious oil.
128. Clothe him with a purple robe; a ring(?)1 of crystal let him
strike upon (the hand).
129. Let Samkhat (the goddess of joy) enter2 the liver .  '
130. (Before this) the goddess Tillili had taken her jewels,
131. the eye-stones also (which) were unbroken;
132. the goddess Tillili had heard of the death3 of her brother
(Tammuz) ; she broke the jewels4 (which she had taken),
1 Gibu is not to be read ideographically, as is supposed by Jeremias
(who has misunderstood lines 135 — 137); comp. gibd in Strassmaier,
p. 227, and gabu in K 4223, eoL ii. (ana kharran sarri halak-su gabd
la illik). See, however, the text I have quoted above, p. 81, note 2.
8 Linaha ; the word is explained by passages in the legends of the
shepherd ennun-ka-ti (K 2-546, Obv. 11), and of Atarpi (col. iii. 47, 57).
8 Ikrim; in W. A, I. v. 50, 62, the verb ikrimu is used of the vio
lent " carrying below " of a hero by " the handmaid of a lilu " or
"demon." Jeremias reads ikkil, "cry of woe."
4 More literally, "jewelled circlet" (sutartum); see W.A.L v. 6, 45.

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 227
133. even the eye-stones which were full of the face (of light?),
134. (crying) ' 0 my brother, the only one, do not destroy me.'
135. In the day that Tammuz bound on me a ring (?) of crystal and
a bracelet of turquoise, at that time he bound (them) on me,
136. at that time he bound (them) on me. Let the wailing men
and wailing women
137. bind (them) on the funeral pyre, and smell the sweet savour.'
Colophon. The property of Assur-bani-pal, king of multitudes,
king of Assyria."
The poem throws light upon certain passages both in
the Old Testament and in classical authors, and in turn
receives light from them. On the one hand, we now
know who was that Tammuz in whose honour Ezekiel
saw the women of Jerusalem weeping at the gate of
" the Lord's house."1 On the other hand, it is clear that
the Tammuz and Istar of the Babylonian legend are the
Adonis and Aphrodite of Greek mythology. Like Tam
muz, Adonis, the beloved one of Aphrodite, is slain by
the boar's tusk of winter, but eventually ransomed from
Hades by the prayers of the goddess. It has long been
recognised that Aphrodite, the Kyprian goddess of love
and war, came to Hellas from Phoenicia, whether or not
we agree with Dr. Hommel in seeing in her name a
mere etymological perversion of the Phoenician Ashtoreth.
Adonis is the Phoenician Adoni, "my lord," the cry
with which the worshippers of the stricken Sun-god
mourned his untimely descent into the lower world.
The cry was familiar throughout the land of Palestine.
In the valley of Megiddo, by the plain of Jezreel, each
year witnessed "the mourning for Hadad-Eimmon"
(Zech. xb. 11), while hard by Amos heard the men of
1 Ezek. viii. 14. - :
G2

228 LECTURE IV.
Israel mourning for "the only son" (Am. vhi. 10), and
the prophet of Judah gives the very words of the refrain:
"Ah me, my brother, and ah me, my sister ! Ah me,
Adonis, and ah me, his lady!" (Jer. xxn. 18). The
words were carried across the western sea to men of an
alien race and language. " Cry ailinon, ailinon ! woe,
woe!" says the Greek poet of Athens,1 and abeady in
Homeric days2 the dbge was attributed to a mythic
Linos whose magic fate was commemorated in its open
ing words: "0 Linos, Linos!" Linos, however, had
no existence except in a popular etymology ; the Greek
ailinos is in reality the Phoenician ai-lenu, " alas for us !"
with which the lamentations for the death of the divine
Adonis were wont to begin. Like the refrain quoted by
Jeremiah, the words eventuaUy go back to Babylonia,
and find their counterpart in the closing lines of the old
Babylonian poem I have translated above. When Tillili
commences her wail over the dead Tammuz, she cries,
like the women of Judah and Phoenicia, " O my brother,
the only one !" It was, above all, in the Phoenician town
of Gebal or Byblos that the death of Adonis was com
memorated. Here, eight miles to the north of Beyrut,
the ancient military road led from eastern Asia to the
shores of the Mediterranean, and brought from early
days the invading armies of Babylonia and Assyria to
the coasts and cities of Canaan. Hard by was the river
of Adonis, the Nahr Ibrahim of to-day, which rolled
through a rocky gorge into the sea. Each year, when
the rams and melting snows of spring stained its waters
with the red marl of the mountains, the people of Gebal
1 ^Eskhylos, Agam. 121. 2 H. xviii. 570.

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. - 229
beheld in it the blood of the slaughtered Sun-god. It was
then, in the month of Tammuz or June, that the funeral-
festival of the god was held. For seven days it lasted.
"Gardens of Adonis," as they were called, were planted,
pots fiUed with earth and cut herbs, which soon withered
away hi the fierce heat of the summer sun — fitting
emblems of the lost Adonis himself. Meanwhile, the
streets and gates of the temples were filled with throngs
of wailing women. They tore their hair, they disfigured
the face, they cut the breast with sharp knives, in token
of the agony of their grief. Their cry of lamentation
went up to Heaven mingled with that of the Galb, the
emasculated priests of Ashtoreth, who shared with them
their festival of woe over her murdered bridegroom;
Adonis, the young, the beautiful, the beloved of Ash
toreth, was dead ; the bright sun of the springtide, like
the verdure of nature which he had called into bfe, was
slain and withered by the hot blasts of the summer.
In later times, after the revolt of Egypt from the
Assyrian king and the rise of the 26th Dynasty, the cult
of Adonis at Gebal entered upon a new phase. Egyptian
beliefs and customs made their way into Phoenicia along
with Egyptian political influence, and the story of Adonis
was identified with that of the Egyptian Osiris. As the
Sun-god Osbis had been slain and had risen again from
the dead, so, too, had the Ehoenician Adonis descended.
into Hades and been rescued again from its grasp. How
long, indeed, he had remained hi the world below was
a matter of doubt. There were some who said that he
shared half the year with the goddess of death, and the
other half only with the goddess of love; there were
others who declared that his year was divided into three—

230 LECTURE IV.
four months was he condemned to dwell in Hades, four
months he was free to live where he might choose, while
the other four were passed in the companionship of Ash
toreth, and that it was to Ashtoreth that he devoted his
months of freedom. But all agreed that the Sun-god of
spring was not compelled to live for ever in the gloomy
under-world; a time came when he and nature would
alike revive. It was inevitable, therefore, that in the days
of Egyptianising fashion, Adonis and Osiris should be
looked upon as the same god, and that the festival of
Adonis at Gebal should be assimilated to that of Osiris
in Egypt. And so it came about that a new feature was
added to the festival of Adonis ; the days of mourning
were succeeded by days of rejoicing ; the death of Adonis
was followed by the announcement of his resurrection.
A head of papyrus came from Egypt over the waves;
while, on the other hand, an Alexandrian legend told
how the mourning Isis had found again at Gebal the
chest in which the dismembered limbs of Osiris were laid.
It is clear that the Babylonian poet who sang of the
descent of Istar into Hades had no conception of a festival
of joy that followed immediately upon a festival of mourn
ing. Nevertheless, the whole burden of his poem is the
successful journey of the goddess into the under-world
for the sake of the precious waters which should restore
her beloved one to life. Even in Babylonia, therefore,
there must have been a season when the name of Tammuz
was commemorated, not with words of woe, but with joy
and rejoicing. But it could have been only when the
fierce heats of the summer were past ; when the northern
wind, which the Accadians called " the prospering one,"
began again to blow; and when the Sun-god regained

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 231
once more the" vigour of his spring-tide youth. That
there had once been a festival of this kind is indicated
by the fact that the lamentations for his death did not
take place in all parts of Syria at the same time. We
learn from Ammianus that when Julian arrived at Antioch
in the late autumn, he found the festival of Adonis being
celebrated "according to ancient usage," after the in
gathering of the harvest and before the beginning of the
new year, in Tisri or October. It must have been in
the autumn, too, that the feast of Hadad-Eimmon was
observed, to which Zechariah alludes ; and Ezekiel saw
the women weeping for Tammuz in " the sixth month."
Nay, Macrobius1 even tells us that the Syrian worshippers
of Adonis in his time explained the boar's tusk which had
slain the god as the cold and darkness of winter, his
return to the upper world being his "victory over the
first six zodiacal signs, along with the lengthening day
light." We can draw but one conclusion from all this. The
resurrection of Tammuz had once been commemorated as
well as his death, and the festivals had been identified,
not only with that of the Egyptian Osiris, as at Gebal,
but also with those of other Semitic forms of the Sun-god,
of Hadad and of Eimmon. When Macrobius states that
Adad meant "the only one" in Syrian, he implies that
Adad or Hadad — the Sun-god whose festival fell after
the harvests of autumn — was identical with Tammuz.
In Babylonia, Tammuz was the Sun-god of spring ; his
foe was the summer heat ; his death was mourned in the
month of June. If there was another feast in which
grief gave place to joy at his restoration to life, it was
1 Saturn, i. .21.

232

LECTURE IV.

separate from that which celebrated his death, and must
have taken place at a different time of the year. In its
transplantation to the west, however, the cult of Tammuz-
Adonis underwent a change. He was identified with
other forms of the solar deity ; his festivals were merged
into theirs; and, except in places like Gebal, where a
natural phenomenon prevented the alteration, the anni
versary of his death was shifted to the fall of the year.
Ha ceased to be the Sun-god of spring, and became
the Sun-god of summer. In the highlands of Syria the
summer was not the dangerous foe it was in Babylonia ;
it was, on the contrary, a kindly friend, whose heats
quickened and fostered the golden grain. Winter, and
not summer, was the enemy who had slain the god.
The story of Tammuz was not of Semitic invention,
however much it may owe, in the form in which we know
it, to Semitic imagination. The month of Tammuz was
called in the Aceadian calendar " the month of the errand
of Istar," a clear proof that the legend of the Descent of
the goddess into Hades was already known. Nor is the
name of Tammuz itself of Semitic origin. The Semites
did not agree about the precise form which it should
assume, and it is probable that the form (Tammuz) which
prevailed in the west was due to a " popular etymology."
At all events, the Assyro-Babylonian form is not Tammuz,
but Duzu, itseb contracted from Duwuzu, and a fair
representative of the original Aceadian Dumu-zi or
Duwu-zi, " the son of life." The word was interpreted
by the Semites as meaning the "offspring," "the only
son;"1 but it may be merely a shortened form of the
name Dumu-zi-apzu, " the son of the spbit of the deep."
1 W.A.I. ii 36,54.

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 233
The "spirit of the deep" is of course Ea, as is expressly
stated in a mythological tablet,1 where Dumu-zi-apzu is
given as the name of one of his six sons. How early the
designation must be, is shown by the fact that Ea appears
in it as not yet a god, but as a spirit only. We are
carried back to the first dawn of Chaldsean religious
belief. The name was translated by the Semites ' ' Timmuz
(or Dimmuz) of the flood" (W.A.I, ii. 47, 29), and the
solar character of the deity was indicated by writing his
name with ideographs that signified "the maker of fire"
(tim-izi).2 But this very mode of writing the name,
which probably grew up in the court of Sargon of Accad,
proves that already the name had lost its last element.
The "son of the spirit of the deep" had become "the
son of life," "the only son" of the god Ea. It is thus
that a mythological tablet gives " the Eiver-god," who is
but Ea under another title, a single son Duzi,3 where
the name has assumed its contracted Semitic form, and
is written with ideographs that mean " the heart of life."4
1 W. A. I. ii. 56, 33—38.
2 Tim-izi, or Dim-izi, is a good example of what Halevy has termed
the rebus. As in several other cases, notably that of the Fire-god
Gibil, the two elements of the name are transposed in writing (Izi-tim
instead of Tim-izi). The tablet in which the name is explained is a
commentary on an old astrological text, giving explanations of the rare
words and ideographs contained in the text. The text may have
emanated from the court of Sargon at Accad. Izi is given as the pro
nunciation of the Aceadian word for "fire" in 82. 8 — 16. 1. Rev. 15.
» W.A.I, ii. 56, 31.
4 The spelling may have •originated at Accad. At all events, both
A, the wife of the Sun-god of Sippara, and Sala, " of the mountain of
gold," are called the wives of Duzu in W.A.I, ii. 57. 12, 34. It is
possible that in W. A. I. ii. 54. 8, 9, we ought to read Duzu and Dazu ;
if so, the two primordial principles, the male Duzu and the female

234 LECTURE IV.
We have just seen that the pronunciation Timmuz
was once known to the Babylonian scribes. But it never
found its way into the language and literature of the
country. The medial labial became a semi-vowel ; and
the attempt to give a Semitic colouring to the word
by hardening the initial consonant, never succeeded in
expelling the pronunciation which their Aceadian neigh
bours had made familiar to the Semites of Babylonia.
The case, however, was different in other portions of the
Semitic world. Here there was no Aceadian population
to prevent the Semitised form from holding full sway,
and it was accordingly as Tammuz (or Timmuz) that the
name passed to the west. It is probable that the inter
mediaries were those Aramaean tribes who stretched across
the desert from the borders of Babylonia to the fields of
Syria, and were known in after days under the compre
hensive title of Nabathseans. At any rate, the worship of
Tammuz could not have been introduced into Palestine
by the Assyrian conquests, as has been suggested ; had
it been so, the name of the god would have had a
different form. Nor again, had such been the case, could
we have explained the early prevalence of the cult of
Adonis in Phoenicia and Cyprus,1 and the traces that it
left even upon Homeric Greece. The name and story of
Tammuz must have come to Phoenicia in those remote
times when it was whispered that "Kronos" or Ea had

Dazu, will be here identified with Anu (and Anat). What makes this
the more likely is that a few lines further Alala and Tillili are also
identified with Anu and Anat.
1 The name of Tamassos, the city in whose neighbourhood were the
famous copper-mines of the island, perhaps preserved a recollection of
the name of Tammuz. It is called Tametsi by Esar-haddon.

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. « 235
taken Yeud,1 his "only begotten son," and arraying
him in royal robes had sacrificed him on an altar in a
season of distress.2
Greek mythology itself knew the name of Tammuz as
weU as that of Adonis. Theias or Thoas3 was not only
the Lemnian husband of Myrina and the king of the
Tauric Khersonese who immolated strangers on the altars
of Artemis, he was also king of Assyria and father of
Adonis and his sister Myrrha or Smyrna. In the Kyprian
myth the name of Theias is transformed into Kinyras ;
but, like Theias, he is the father of Adonis by his daughter
Myrrha. Myrrha is the invention of a popular etymo
logy ;4 the true form of the name was Smyrna or Myrina,
a name famous in the legendary annals of Asia Minor.
Myrina or Smyrna, it was said, was an Amazonian queen,
and her name is connected with the four cities of the
western coast — Smyrna, Kyme, Myrina and Ephesos —
whose foundation was ascribed to Amazonian heroines.
But the Amazons were really the warrior priestesses of
the great Asiatic goddess, whom the Greeks called the
Artemis of Ephesos, and who was in origin the Istar of
Babylonia modified a little by Hittite influence. It was
she who, in the Asianic cult of Attys or Hadad, took the
place of Istar and Aphrodite ; for just as Attys himseb
was Tammuz, so the goddess with whom he was asso
ciated was Istar. At Hierapolis, which succeeded to the
religious fame and beliefs of the ancient Hittite city of
1 Assyrian edu, " only one." 2 Philo Bybl. p. 44.
8 Thoas is practically identical with the Ssabian Ta'uz. For Theias,
the Assyrian king, see Apollod. iii. 14, 4 ; Tzelzes, ad Lykoph. 91.
4 The Aramaic marthd, "mistress," or the Assyrian martu, "daughter,"
may have assisted the etymology ; compare the Biblical name Miriam.

236 LECTURE IV.
Carchemish, the name under which the goddess went
seems to have been Sembamis,1 and it is possible that
Sembamis and Smyrna are but varying forms of the same
word. However this may be, in the Kyprian Kinyras
who takes the place of Theias we have a play upon the
Phoenician kinnor, or " cither," which is said to have been
used in the worship of Adonis. But its real origin seems
to be indicated by the name of Gingras which Adonis
himself bore.2 Here it is difficult not to recognize the
old Aceadian equivalent of Istar, Gingba or Gingbi,
" the creatress." 3
The fact that Tammuz was the son of Ea points unmis
takably to the source both of his name and of his worship.
He must have been the primitive Sun-god of Eridu,
standing in the same relation to Ea, the god of Eridu,
that Adar stood to Mul-lil, the god of Nipur. It is even
possible that the boar whose tusk proved fatal to Adonis
may originally have been Adar himseb. Adar, as we
have seen, was called the "lord of the swine" in the
Aceadian period, and the Semitic abhorrence of the ani
mal may have used it to symbolise the ancient rivalry
between the Sun-god of Nipur and the Sun-god of Eridu.4
Those who would see in the Cain and Abel of Scripture
the representatives of elemental deities, and who follow
Dr. Oppert in explaining the name of Abel by the Baby
lonian ablu, " the son," slightly transformed by a popular
etymology, may be inclined to make them the Adar and
Tammuz of Chaldsean faith.
1 Lucian, De Dea Syria, 33, 39.
2 Athen. iv. 174, xiv. 618.
8 W. A. I. ii. 48, 29; K170. Rev. 7 (AX-gi-ri).
* See above, p. 153.

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 237
As mother of Tammuz, Dav-kina, the wife of Ea, had
a special name. She is called Tsirdu, or 'Sirdu1 — a word
in which I believe we may see the Assyrian Surdu, " a
falcon." Now it will be remembered that 'Sirrida, also
written 'Sirdam, and pronounced 'Sirgam, 'Sirrigal or
'SirrigEi, 'SurgS, and Nirda,2 in the different dialects of
pre-Semitic Chaldaea, was a title of A, the wife of the
Sun-god of Sippara or Accad. As we are told that a
temple of Tammuz existed at Accad, where it was known
by the double name of " the tower of mighty bulk" and
"the shrine of observation,"3 it would seem that the
worship of Tammuz had been transported from Eridu
to the capital of Sargon at the time when the culture of
southern Babylonia made its way to the north, and the
empire of Sargon was fusing the civilisation and religion
of the country into a single whole. It was then that
the Sun-god of Eridu and the Sun-god of Accad would
naturally be identified together, and that the wbe of
Samas of Accad should become the goddess whom mytho
logy represented as at once the wbe and the mother of
Tammuz. But the primitive home of Tammuz had been in that

1 W. A. I. ii. 59, 9. As she seems to be identified with Istar in the
same passage, we may conclude that the compiler of the mythological
list regarded her as equally the mother and the wife of Tammuz.
2 W. A. I. ii. 57. 11, 24, 23, 21, 22, 26. In line 26 the name of A
is also written phonetically by means of the ideograph for father (a).
In lines 30, 31, sir-dt-kan and sir-ot-am must each be read 'Sirdam
(or 'Sirudam). See above, p. 178.
3 W. A. I. ii. 50. 10, 1 1. It would appear from this that the pardku,
or "shrine," was, like that of Bel-Merodach at Babylon, in the highest
chamber of the ziggurat, or " tower," from whence observations of the
sky could be made.

238 LECTURE IV.
"garden" of Edin, or Eden, which Babylonian tradition
placed in the immediate vicinity of Eridu.1 The frag
ment of an old bilingual hymn has been preserved,
which begins in the following way :
1. "(In) Eridu a stalk2 grew over-shadowing; in a holy place
did it become green ;
2. its root ([sur\sum) was of white crystal which stretched towards
the deep ;
3. (before) Ea was its course in Eridu, teeming with fertility f
4, its seat was the (central) place4 of the earth ;
5. its foliage (?) was the couch of Zikum (the primaeval) mother.
6. Into the heart of its holy house which spread its shade like a
forest hath no man entered.
7. (There is the home) of the mighty mother who passes across
the sky.
8. (In) the midst of it was Tammuz.
10. (There is the shrine ?) of the two (gods)."
The description reminds us of the famous Tgg-drasil
1 Hence his mother (and wife) is called " the lady of Edin" (W. A. I.
ii. 59. 10, 11.
2 See K 165, 22 (rr-Qi gesdin), " the stalk of a grape." Qi ( = lamma)
tur is the Assyrian epitdtu, "a small stalk" (W. A. I. ii. 41. 52, 56).
U-qi is also explained as ritu sitehu, "a growing slip " (W. A. I. ii. 41, 8).
We are reminded of the old story of Jack and the Bean-stalk as well
as of the Polynesian tree which enables the climber to ascend into the
heavenly land. The mother of Tammuz was called " the (mistress) of
the vine" (W.A.I, ii. 59, 11). Hommel (Die Semitischen VbTker,
p. 406) very ingeniously reads the "Qi-tree" as gis-kin, in Aceadian
mus-kin, from which he derives the Assyrian mudukkanu or muddikannu,
" a palm." But the Semitic rendering is not ukkanu, as he reads, but
kiskemu, from the Aceadian giskin. The palm was the sacred tree of
Babylonia, and Adar was " lord of the date."
3 The original seems to be literally, "while (before Ea) it went
( =grew), Eridu was richly fertile."
4 This appears to be the meaning of the line, the site of the tree
being regarded as, like Delphi among the Greeks, the 6fi<f>a.\bs of the
earth. The Sumerian equivalent of " earth" is si-mad, which must be
read mad (W. A. L v. 38, 59) with the determinative prefix.

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 239
of Norse mythology, the world-tree whose roots descend
into the world of death, while its branches rise into
Asgard, the heaven of the gods. The Babylonian poet
evidently imagined his tree also to be a world-tree, whose
roots stretched downwards into the abysmal deep, where
Ea presided, nourishing the earth with the springs and
streams that forced their way upwards from it to the
surface of the ground. Its seat was the earth itself,
which stood midway between the deep below and Zikum,
the primordial heavens, above, who rested as it were
upon the overshadowing branches of the mighty " stem."
Within it, it would seem, was the holy house of Dav-
kina, "the great mother," and of Tammuz her son, a
temple too sacred and far hidden in the recesses of the
earth for mortal man to enter. It is perhaps a remi
niscence of this mystic temple that we find in the curious
work on "Nabathaean Agriculture," composed in the
fourth or fifth century by a Mandaite of Chaldaea, where
we are told of the temple of the sun in Babylon, in
which the images of the gods from all the countries of
the world gathered themselves together to weep for
Tammuz.1 What the tree or "stalk" was which sprang
1 Ibn Wahshiyah, the translator of the Nabathman Agriculture of
Kuthami into Arabic, adds that he had " lit upon another Nabathiean
book, in which the legend of Tammuz was narrated in full ; how he
summoned a king to worship the seven (planets) and the twelve (signs
of the Zodiac), and how the king put him to death, and how he still
lived after being killed, so that he had to put him to death several
times in a cruel manner, Tammuz coming to life again after each time,
until at last he died ; and behold, it was identical with the legend of
St. George that is current among the Christians." Abu Sayid Wahb
ibn Ibrahim, in his calendar of the Ssabian festivals, says under the
month Tammuz : "On the 15th of this month is the festival of the
weeping women, which is identical with Ta'uz, a festival held in honour

240 LECTURE IV.
up like the bean-stalk of our old nursery tale, is indicated
in the magical text to which the fragment about it has
been appended.1 In this, Ea describes to Merodach the
means whereby he is to cure a man who is possessed of
the seven evil spbits. He is first to go to "the cedar-
tree, the tree that shatters the power of the incubus,
upon whose core the name of Ea is recorded," and then,
with the help of "a good masaV or phylactery which
is placed on the sick man's head as he lies in bed at
night, to invoke the aid of the Fbe-god to expel the
demons. It is the cedar, therefore, which played the
same part in Babylonian magic as the rowan ash of
northern Europe, and which was believed to be under
the special protection of Ea ; and the parallel, therefore,
between the ash Ygg-drasil of Norse mythology and the
world-tree of the poet of Eridu becomes even closer than
before. Long after the days when the hymns and magical
texts of Eridu were composed, the mystic virtues of the
cedar were still remembered. A tablet which describes
of the god Ta'uz. The women weep over him, (telling) how his lord
slew him, and ground his bones in a mill, and scattered them to the
winds ; and they eat nothing that has been ground in a mill, but only
soaked wheat, vetches, dates, raisins and the like" (Chwolson's Die
Ssabier, ii. p. 27).
1 W.A.I, iv. 15. Rev. 10 — 13. It is pretty clear from the sculp
tures that the sacred tree of the Babylonians was the cedar, which was
subsequently displaced by the palm ; so that Homniel's view, which
sees a palm in " the stalk" of Eridu, may still be maintained. On the
other hand, in W. A. I. ii. 59. Rev. 10, "the divine Lady of Eden" is
called "the goddess of the tree of life" in the Aceadian of north Baby
lonia, "the goddess of the vine" in the Sumerian of south Babylonia.
It is clear from this that the sacred tree was also conceived of as the
vine. According to the Old Testament, it will be remembered, there
were two sacred trees in the garden of Eden.

TAMMUZ AND ISTAE. 241
the initiation of an augur, and states how he must be
" of pure lineage, unblemished in hand and foot," speaks
thus of the vision which is revealed to him before he is
" initiated and instructed hi the presence of Samas and
Eimmon in the use of the book and stylus" by "the
scribe, the instructed one, who keeps the oracle of the
great gods : " he is made to descend into an artificial
imitation of the lower world, and there beholds "the
altars amid the waters, the treasures of Anu, Bel and
Ea, the tablets of the gods, the delivering of the oracle
of heaven and earth, and the cedar-tree, the beloved of
the great gods, which their hand has caused to grow." 1
It was possibly the fragrance of the wood when lighted
for sacrificial purposes that gave the tree its sacred
character. But the cedar was something more than a world-tree.
It was employed, as we have seen, in incantations and
magic rites which were intended to restore strength and
life to the human frame. It was thus essentially "a tree
of life," and the prototype and original of those conven
tional trees of life with which the walls of the Assyrian
palaces were adorned. Those who have visited the
Assyrian collection of the British Museum will remember
the curious form which it generally assumes, as well as
the figures of the two cherubs which kneel or stand before
it on either side. At times they are purely human ; at
other times they have the head of a hawk and hold a
cone — the fruit of the cedar — over the tree by whose
side they stand.
It is possible that, as time went on, another tree became
1 K 2486, Obv. 2 — 4. A fragment of a duplicate of this text is
published in W. A. I. ii. 58, No. 3. R

242 LECTURE IV.
confounded with the original tree of life. The palm was
from the earliest period characteristic of Babylonia ; and
while its fruit seemed to be the stay and support of bf e,
the wine made from it made " glad the heart of man."
Date -wine was largely used, not only in Babylonian
medicine, but in the religious and magical ceremonies of
Babylonia as well. It is not at all improbable, therefore,
that the later Babylonian tree of bfe, with its strange
conventional form, was an amalgamation of two actual
trees, the cedar and the palm. It is even possible that
while one of them, the cedar, was primarily the sacred
tree of Eridu, the other was originally the sacred tree of
some other locality of Chaldaea.
What gives some colour to this last suggestion is, that
in later Babylonian behef the tree of lbe and the tree of
knowledge were one and the same. The text which
describes the initiation of a soothsayer associates the
cedar with " the treasures of Anu, Bel and Ea, the tablets
of the gods, the delivering of the oracle of heaven and
earth." It was upon the heart or core of the cedar, too,
that the name of Ea, the god of wisdom, was inscribed.
And it was wisdom rather than bfe, the knowledge of
the secrets of heaven and the magical arts that benefit or
injure, which the priesthood of Babylonia and the gods
they worshipped kept jealously guarded. Only the ini
tiated were allowed to taste of its fruit. In this respect,
consequently, there was a marked difference between the
belief of the Babylonians and the account which we find
in the earlier chapters of Genesis.
We can trace the first steps by which the name and
worship of Tammuz made theb way from Eridu north
wards. In the same part of Babylonia, a few miles only

TAMMUZ AND ISTAE. 243
to the north, lie the mounds of Tel-loh, which have
yielded to French enterprize the earliest monuments of
Chaldaean art we as yet possess. We learn from them
that the god of Tel-loh was Nin-gbsu. It was in honour
of Nin-gbsu that the kings who reigned at 'SbguUa
built and adorned theb chief temples ; and in the inscrip
tion of Sukal-duggina (?) he is brought into association
with the god of Nipur and entitled " the valiant warrior
of Mul-lil." Nin-girsii was, in fact, " the lord of Gbsu,"
the native name, probably, of Tel-loh. When the cult
of Mul-lil found its way to Gbsu, the god of Gbsu
necessarily entered into relation with him ; and as " the
lord of Gbsu" seems to have been a Sun-god, he took the
place of Adar and became " the valiant warrior of Mul-
lil." It was on this account that the mythologists sub
sequently identified Adar and Nin-gbsu.1 In Accad,
however, an earlier identification had been discovered, in
whose justification, it is probable, more might have been
said. After the establishment of the worship of Tammuz
in Sippara, and the introduction of the divinities of
southern Babylonia into the north, Tammuz came to be
addressed there as Mul-Mersi or En-Mersi, the Aceadian
or North-Chaldeean form of Nin-gbsu. In forgetfulness
of the real origin of the name, the Semitic scribes of
Sargon and his successors seem to have interpreted the
title as if it meant "lord of the horned crown," the head
dress worn by the Babylonian kings. A broken text,
which was probably the compilation of a bilingual Semite,
breaks out into these words : 2 "0 Merodach, go, my
1 W.A.I, ii. 57,74.
2 W. A. I. iv, 27, 6, completed from S 1208, which reads akala in
stead of akali in line 17 (W. A, I. 57). Mir-di is found in an unnum-
r2

244 LECTURE IV.
son^ take the hand of the white offspring of Mul-Mersi
(Tammuz) ; lull the plague of the sick man to rest ;
change his heart; assist the man;1 grant the spell of
Ea ; the offspring of his heart whom thou hast taken
away and the strong food of the man restore (to him)."
"The white offspring of Mul-Mersi" is perhaps an
equivalent of a common phrase in these old texts : " the
man the son of his god." It represents that close
relationship which was supposed to exist between the
Babylonian and the god he worshipped, and which the
Egyptian symbobsed by the assumption of an identity
between himseb and the divine being. But whereas the
pantheistic Egyptian believed in his absorption into the
divinity, the pious Babylonian, who regarded his gods as
creators and generators, called himself their son.
The worship of the Sun-god of Eridu had embodied
other elements before it reached northern Babylonia,
besides those which resulted in the identification of
Tammuz and Nin-Gbsu. It was probably as Nin-Girsii
that he became the patron and lord of the green marsh-
plants which flourished in the neighbourhood of Tel-loh ;
it was as Nin-gbsu that he was adored as the son of Ea
the river-god, rather than of Ea the god of the deep ;
and it was from the story of his untimely death that he
came to be the Nergal of southern Chaldaea, the Sun-god
of winter and night who rules, like Ehadamanthos, in the
bered bilingual fragment belonging to the series K ( Obv. 6) : bitsa mirdi.
For Mul-mer^i, see W. A. I. ii. 59, 8. Girdu seems to mean the " bank"
of a river. At all events, in S 1366, Obv. 3, 4, the Aceadian me-ir-si
gu id UD-KiP-NUN-Ki-LiL-mos is rendered by the Semitic ina girde sa
Puratti, " on the bank of the Euphrates."
1 The Semitic is literally, "put the man into the hand;" the Acea
dian, " take the hand of the man."

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 245
lower world. But he was more than this. The Chal-
deeans were a people of agriculturists and herdsmen;
theb monarchs were addressed as " shepherds ;" and just
as Abel in the Old Testament is "a keeper of sheep,"
so, too, Tammuz in Babylonia was accounted a shepherd.
This is how an old Aceadian hymn speaks of him ( W. A. I.
iv. 27, No. 1) :
" 0 Tammuz, shepherd and lord, bridegroom of Istar the lady of
heaven,
lord of Hades, lord of the shepherds' cot,1
the green corn2 which in the meadow3 has not drunk the water,
its progemy in the desert is not green of leaf;
the acacia (?) tree which in the canal is planted not,4
the acacia (?) tree whose foundation is taken away ;
the grain5 which in the meadow has not drunk the water."
The poem is written in the artificial dialect which
sprang up in the court of Sargon, and it probably ema
nated from the city of Accad.6 It may have been one
of the dirges chanted in commemoration of the death of
Tammuz, the shepherd who was cut off like the unwa-
tered corn, or the tree from beneath whose roots the
soft soil of the canal slips away.
The story of Tammuz of Eridu did not stand alone.
There were other cities of Babylonia which knew of a
hapless Sun-god cut off in the prime of his bfe, or perish-
1 Tul, i.e. "tel" or "mound." 2 Aram, Una.
8 Comp. Jensen, Z. f. K. ii. 16.
4 For erisu, "to be planted," see W. A. I. v. 24, 12.
5 W. A. I. ii 33, 73, compared with v. 21, 7, 8.
6 The Aceadian is Semitised and the Semitic is Accadised. Thus in
the Aceadian we have dimba for diba, " shepherd," the Semitic tul, and
gu from the Semitic qu; in the Semitic, musarS, a derivative from the
Aceadian dar, "grass," radi, borrowed from the Aceadian rat (more
correctly radh, W. A. I. ii. 38, 18), and gu instead of qu.

246 LECTURE IV.
ing through love of a heartless goddess. But in these
legends, it would appear, the goddess herseb was the
cause of the hero's death; so far from venturing into
the glooms of Hades for the sake of her youthful bride
groom, it was she who had herself lured her lover to
his destruction. This was the light in which Istar was
represented at Erech, and this was the interpretation
put there upon the name of the Aceadian month of the
Errand of Istar. The fate of the suitors of Istar is
glanced at in the sixth book of the Epic of Gisdhubar.
1. " For the favour of Gisdhubar the princess Istar lifted the eyes ;
2. '(Look up), Gisdhubar, and be thou my bridegroom !
3. I am thy vine,1 thou art its bond ;
4. be thou my husband and I will be thy wife.
5. I will give thee a chariot of crystal and gold,
6. whose pole is of gold and its horns are of glass,2
7. that thou mayst yoke (thereto) each day the mighty coursers.
8. Enter our house in the gloom of the cedar.
9. When thou enterest our house
10. let (the river) Euphrates kiss thy feet.
11. Let kings, lords (and) princes (bow) beneath thee !
12. The tribute of the mountain and the plain let them bring thee
as an offering.
13. (In the folds?) let thy flocks bring forth twins ;
14. (in the stables) let the mule seek (its) burden ;
15. let thy (horse) in the chariot be strong in galloping ;
16. let (thine ox) in the yoke have no rival.'
17. (Gisdhubar) opened his mouth and speaks,
18. (he says thus) to the princess Istar :
19. '(I will leave) to thyself thy possession,
20. (in thy realm are) corpses and corruption (?),
21  disease and famine.
[The next seven lines are too mutilated to be translated.]
29. The wind and the blast hold open the back-door (of thy palace).
30. The palace is the destroyer of heroes.
1 'Sabi. Haupt reads inbi, " fruit."
2 Elmesu; see W. A. I. iv. 18, 42, and ii. 30, 42.

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 247
31. A deceitful (?) mouth are its hidden recesses
32. A destructive (?) portent are its columns.
33. A girdle of dark cloth are its columns.
34. Of white stone is the construction (musab) of the stone fortress.
35. As for me, 'tis the mouth of the land of the enemy.
36. A devouring flame (?) is its lord.
37. Never may I be (thy) bridegroom for ever !
38. Never may a god make thee joyous.
39. Go, and let me tell (the story) of thy enslavements
40. of those into whose hands thou puttest no ransom.
41. To Tammuz the bridegroom (of thy youth) thou didst look ;
42. year after year with weeping didst thou cling to him.
43. Alala, the eagle, also didst thou love ;
44. thou didst strike him and break his wings ;
45. he remained in the forest ; he begged for his wings.
46. Thou didst love, too, a lion perfect in might ;
47. seven by seven didst thou tear out his teeth, seven by seven.
48. And thou didst love a horse glorious in battle ;
49. he submitted himself; with spur and whip didst thou cling to
him;
50. seven leagues didst thou cling to him galloping ;
51. in his trouble and thirst didst thou cling to him :
52. to his mother the goddess 'Silili with tears didst thou approach.
53. Thou didst love also the shepherd Tabulu,
54. who continually poured out for thee the smoke (of sacrifice).
55. Every day was he slaughtering for thee the victims ;
56. thou didst bring him forth and into a hyena didst change him ;
57. his own sheep-cote drove him away
58. and his own dogs tore his wounds.
59. Moreover, thou didst love Isullanu1 the gardener of thy father,
60. who was ever raising for thee costly trees.
61. Every day had he made bright thy dish.
62. Thou didst take from him (his) eye and didst mock him :
63. ' O my Isullanu, come, let us eat thine abundant store,
64. and bring out thy hand and dismiss all fear of us.'
65. Isullanu says to thee :
66. 'As for me, what dost thou ask of me 1
67. O my mother, thou cookest not (and) I eat not ;
1 In W. A. I. iii. 68, 23, Isullanu is called by his Aceadian name of
Si-sigsig or Si-simsini, "he who makes green the living things."

248 LECTURE IV.
68. the food I have eaten are garlands and girdles ;
69. the prison of the hurricane is (thy) hidden recess.'
70. Thou didst listen and (didst impose) punishment ;
71. thou didst strike him ; to bondage thou didst (assign him);
72. and thou madest him sit in the midst of (a tomb ?).
73. I will not ascend the height ; I will not descend to the (depth) ;
74. and yet thou lovest me that thou (mayest make) me as they are.'
75. When Istar (heard) this,
76. Istar was enraged and (mounted up) to heaven.
77. Moreover Istar went before Anu (her father),
78. before Anu she went and she (says) :
79. '0 my father, Gisdhubar has kept watch on me ;
80. Gisdhubar has counted my garlands,
81. my garlands and my girdles.'"
Like Potiphar's wife, Istar thus accuses Gisdhubar of
doing the exact contrary of what he really had done.
The portion of the tablet which contained the conver
sation between her and Anu is broken, but enough
remains to show that she eventually persuaded him to
punish the hero. Anu accordingly created a divine bull
of monstrous size ; but without much result, as Gisdhubar
and his friend Ea-bani succeeded in destroying the animal
and dragging its body in triumph through the streets
of Erech. With Gisdhubar and the divine bull of Anu,
however, we are not at present interested. What con
cerns us just now is the list given by Gisdhubar of
the unhappy victims of Istar's coquetry. Of the first,
Tammuz, there is but bttle said. Even Sin-liqi-unnini,
the author of the Epic of Gisdhubar, could find but little
in the story of Tammuz which could throw discredit on
the goddess. The next mentioned is Alala, " the eagle."
Now the eagle is stated to be " the symbol (tsalam) of
the noon-tide sun;" and that Alala, whose name is of
Aceadian origin signifying " the great Spirit," has solar
connections, is indicated not only by the fact that his

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 249
consort Tillili is the sister of Tammuz in the legend of the
Descent of Istar, but also from the compound title Aldla
alam, " Alala of the image."1 In one of the local cos
mogonies of Chaldaea, however, he and his consort took
the place of Assoros and Kissare, the primordial heavens
and earth. Like them, he was resolved into Anu by the
monotheistic school ;2 and a text associates both him and
Tillib with the cosmogonic deities Lukhma and Lakhama,
" the gods who are immanent in the heaven and in the
earth."3 Who the lion and the horse were we do not
yet know; we hear of "a god of lions" (W.A.I. iii. 66,
34), and one of the Assyrian names of the month Sebat was
"the month of 'Silili" (K 104, Rev.). In the shepherd
Tabulu, however, we have the double of the shepherd
Tammuz himself. The name reminds us of Abel and
Tubal-Kain, more especially when we remember that it
is but a tiphel formation — so common in Assyrian — from
the simpler abalu. His fate recalls that of the hunter
Akteeon, torn by his own dogs through the anger of
1 W.A.I. ii. 54, 12.
2 W. A. I. ii. 54, 11. In W. A. I. iii. 66, 15, we have (an) Sam-su
(an) alam; comp. 11. 18, 20, 26.
3 D.T. 122, 17—20. Laban(?)-same, "the brick foundation of
heaven" is also mentioned in the same text. Nabonidos, when de
scribing the rebuilding of the temple of the Moon-god at Harran, says
that he set about it "by the commission (not "work," as Latrille) of
the god Laban(?), the lord of foundations and brick-work" (libndti,
W. A. I. v. 64. i. 53), and that on either side of the eastern gate of
the building he placed " two Lukhmu gods who sweep away my foes."
Laban is mentioned (W. A. I. iii. 66, 6) among the gods whose images
stood in the temple of Anu at Assur, and it is probable that he was of
foreign importation. According to Genesis, Harran was the home of
Laban. The name would mean " the white one." " The god of the
Foundation" (ur) is mentioned in 79. 7-8. 68. This was the horizon
of heaven as opposed to the zenith or Nebo.

250 LECTURE IV.
Artemis, the Asianic representative of the Babylonian
Istar. Isullanu, the gardener of Anu, is probably the
mythic prototype of the historical Sargon of Accad, whom
later legend turned into a gardener beloved by the
goddess Istar. As it was upon the famous king of Accad
that the old myth was fastened, it is possible that Isullanu
had been the representative of Tammuz at Accad before
the cult of the god of Eridu had been introduced there
from the south.
But who, all this while, was the goddess, whom one
legend made the faithful wbe enduring even death for
her husband's sake, while another regarded her as the
most faithless and cruel of coquettes? I have abeady
spoken of her as the goddess of love, and such, indeed,
she was to the Babylonian or Assyrian of later days. In
the story of her descent into Hades, her residence in the
lower world is marked by all cessation of intercourse
between male and female in the animal creation, as well
as among the gods of heaven. It was this feature of the
story which caused it to find its way into the bterature
of another people, and to survive the days when the clay
tablets of Assyria and Babylon could still be read. We
find it serving to point a moral hi the pages of the
Talmud. We are there told how a pious rabbi once
prayed that the demon of lust should be bound, and how
his petition was granted. But society quickly fell into
a state of anarchy. No children were born; no eggs
even could be procured for food; and the rabbi was at
length fain to confess that his prayer had been a mistaken
one, and to ask that the demon should again be free.
But though a moral signification thus came to be read
into the old Babylonian myth, it was a signification that

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 251
was originally entirely foreign to it. Prof. Tiele has
clearly shown that the legend of Istar's descent into
Hades is but a thinly-veiled description of the earth-
goddess seeking below for the hidden waters of life,
which shall cause the Sun-god and aU nature with him
to rise again from theb sleep of death.1 The spirits of
earth, the gnomes that guard its treasures below, watch
over the waters, and not until they are led forth and
placed on theb golden throne can theb precious treasure
be secured. It is the earth who loses her adornments,
one by one, as she passes slowly downward into the
palace-prison of the infernal goddess, and it is the earth
who is once more gladdened at spring-time with the
returning love of the youthful Sun-god.
Istar, then, must primitively have been the goddess
of the earth, and the bride of Tammuz at Eridu must
accordingly have been his mother Dav-kina. This alone
will explain the persistent element in the myth as it
made its way to the Greeks, according to which the
mother of Tammuz was also his sister. Istar, Tillili,
Dav-kina, were all but different names and forms of the
same divinity. We have just seen that Tillili, at all
events, was the primordial earth.
What Istar was primitively, however, will not explain
what she became in those later ages of Babylonian history
to which our monuments belong. Her origin faded more
and more into the background; new elements entered
into her character ; and she absorbed the attributes and
functions of numberless local divinities. The Istar of
Assur-bani-pal or Nabonidos was the inheritress of cults
1 Actes du sixieme Congres international des Orientalistes, ii. 1,
pp. 495 sq.

252

LECTURE IV.

and beliefs which had grown up in different localities
and had gathered round the persons of other deities.
The Istar of the historical period is essentially Semitic.
But let me not be misunderstood. What is Semitic in
her nature is an after-growth, which cannot be explained
unless we assume that it has grown out of non-Semitic
elements. The Semitic superstructure presupposes a
non-Semitic basis. It is only thus that we can explain
both the name of Istar and the striking difference that
exists in regard to her character between the Semites of
Babylonia and those of the west. It is only where the
Semite had come into contact with the Aceadian that we
find the name and worship of Istar at all. We look in
vain for it among the Arabs of central Arabia, among
the descendants of those who parted from theb Semitic
brethren of the north before they were affected by the
culture of primaeval Babylonia. We find the name of
Aththor, it is true, on the southern coast of Arabia ; but
we find there also the name of the Babylonian Moon-god
Sin, and other traces of the influence which Babylonian
trade could not fail to exert in comparatively late days.
Inland, Istar remained unknown.
All attempts to discover a Semitic etymology for the
name have been unavailing. And there is a good reason
why they should be so. The name itseb bears evidence
to its non-Semitic origin. We find it in its earliest form
in Babylonia ; and here, though it denotes the name of a
female goddess, it is unprovided with that grammatical
sign of the feminine — the dental suffix — which marks
the names of other genuinely Semitic goddesses. Belit,
Zarpanit, Anat, Tasmit, all show by theb termination
their source and meaning ; and Istar, without that termi-

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 253
nation, in spite of its meaning, shows equally plainly
what its source must be. As the name traveUed further
to the west, away from its old associations with Chaldaea,
the grammatical instincts of the Semites could no longer
be held in check, and Istar was transformed into the
Ashtoreth of the Old Testament and the Phoenician
monuments, the Astarte of the Greeks. Even in Baby
lonia and Assyria, when Istar became the representative
of all other female divinities, and the name passed into
a common term signifying "a goddess," the Semitic
feminine suffix was attached to it. But the suffix was
attached to it only when it was thus used, no longer as
a proper name, but as one of the words of the Semitic
dictionary; whenever it still retained its ancient sense
and denoted a specific deity, it retained also its ancient
genderless appearance. As a foreign name, it continued
to the last a stranger in the province of Semitic grammar.
We can thus understand why it was that the Semites
sometimes changed the old Chaldaean goddess into a
male divinity. On the Moabite Stone, Mesha declares
that he dedicated Nebo of Israel to Istar-Kemosh, "to
Istar who is the god Kemosh;" and an astronomical
tablet1 informs us that Dilbat, the planet Yenus, which,
as we shall see, was the primitive Istar, is " a female at
sunset and a male at sunrise," the word employed for
male being a curiously artificial coinage, such as " maless"
would be hi English. In fact, the tablet goes on to add
that Venus was not only a male by reason of her identifica
tion with the morning star, she was also the rising Sun-god
himseb, and thus " a male and the offspring (of a male);"
1 W. A. I. iii. 53. 30—39.

254 LECTURE IV.
while at sunset she was the god Adar, and thus "an
androgyne and the offspring (of an androgyne)." After
this, we are told that " Yenus at sunrise is Istar of Accad
by name," while at sunset she is " Istar of Erech by
name;" at sunrise she is "Istar of the stars," at sunset
bilat Hi, "the mistress of the gods." The doubt as to
whether Istar were male or female was the same as that
which was felt by the Semites in regard to other Acea
dian deities.1 Where there was no grammatical indica
tion, where the same word might mean "master" or
"mistress" according to the context, the zealous but
half-educated Semitic neophyte might well be forgiven
the mistakes he sometimes made in his adoption and
adaptation of the older divinities. It was thus that the
ambiguity of the Aceadian nin, which signified at once
"lord" and "lady," led him at times to transform the
god Adar into a goddess; and I have abeady pointed
out in an earlier Lecture how in like manner the god
A became the wife of the Sun. But that a similar doubt
should hang over the sex of Istar proves more plainly
than anything else the non-Semitic origin of her name
and character.2
When, however, we come to look closely into this
character, we shall find here also clear traces of a non-
1 In W. A. I. ii. 35, 18, we are told that the god Tiskhu was " Istar
of Erech ;" and yet in ii. 57, 35, Tiskhu appears as the equivalent of
Adar as "god of libations." But it must be remembered that the
Semites were doubtful about the sex of Adar. On the other hand,
Iskhara, another name of Istar (ii. 49, 14 ; K 4195, 7), is said to be a
male deity whose wife was Almanu or (Al)manati (Strassmaier, 3901).
2 That the Phoenicians also knew of a male Istar is perhaps indi
cated by the Greek myth which made Europa the wife of Asterios,
the king of Phoenician Krete.

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 255
Semitic descent. In the first place, Istar is distinguished
from the other goddesses of the Semitic world by her
independent nature. She is not the mere reflexion of
the male divinity, like Anat or Beltis or Zarpanit ; in so far
as she is Istar, she is placed on an equal footing with the
male deities of the pantheon. In this respect she stands
in marked contrast to the goddesses of the pure Semitic
faith, and to the purely Semitic conception of the divine
government of the world. She holds equal rank with
the Sun-god Baal ; Babylonian mythology, in fact, makes
her his sister, and treats her as if she were a god. We
may even say that she takes rank before him, at all
events in early times, in conformity with the old Aceadian
custom of setting the woman before the man, but in fla
grant violation of the contrary practice of the Semitic race.
So far, indeed, from being the double and shadow of the
god, Istar is rather the divinity who gives lbe and sub
stance to her divine lovers. Tammuz himself is but
"the bridegroom" of Istar; it was only for the sake of
Istar that his name was held in honour. Istar, in short,
is an anomaly in the Semitic pantheon ; she is there as a
goddess who masquerades in the garb of a god.
Away from Aceadian influences, in the Phoenician
lands of the west, the character, like the name, of the
goddess was more closely accommodated to Semitic ideas.
Istar had become Ashtoreth, and Ashtoreth had put on
the colourless character of the Semitic goddess. Hence
it was that, just as Baal became the common designation
of the male deity, Ashtoreth was the common designa
tion of the female. By the side of the Baalim stood the
Ashtaroth — those goddesses whose sole right to exist was
the necessity of providing the male divinity with a con-

256 LECTURE IV.
sort. Asherah, the southern Canaanitish goddess of fer
tility, alone retained some of the independence of the
Babylonian Istar.
In the second place, there is a very important differ
ence between the Istar of Babylonia and the Ashtoreth
of Phoenicia. Ashtoreth was the goddess of the moon ;
Istar was not. It was in the west alone that Astarte was
" Queen of heaven with crescent horns ;
To whose bright image nightly by the moon
Sidonian virgins paid their vows and songs."
It was in the west alone that the shrine was erected to
Ashtoreth Karnaim,1 "Ashtoreth of the double horn;"
and Greek legend described the wandering Astarte, under
the name of Europa, crossing the celestial sea on the bull
that Anu had created for her so long before to punish
the disdainful Gisdhubar. In Babylonia and Assyria,
however, Istar and the moon were separate one from
another. The moon was conceived of as a god, not as a
goddess, in conformity with pre-Semitic ideas ; and the
Moon-god Sin was never confounded with the goddess
Istar. It must have been the same wherever the worship
of Sin extended, whether in Harran in the north or in
Yemen and the Sinaitic desert in the south. But the
worship never made its way to Canaan. Sin failed to
establish himself there, and the moon accordingly re
mained the pale mbror and double of the mightier Baal.
The Semites of Phoenicia were too distant from the cul
tured kingdoms of the Euphrates to allow their religious
instincts to be overridden and transformed. The name
and cult of Istar were indeed introduced among them,
1 Gen. xiv. 5, where the word is wrongly punctuated " Ashteroth."

TAMMUZ AND ISTAB. 257
but a new interpretation was given to both. Istar sank
to the level and took the place of the older goddesses of
the Canaanitish faith.
Perhaps you will ask me what is the meaning of the
name of Istar? This, however, is a question which I
cannot answer. The Babylonians of the historical age
do not seem to have known what was its origin, and it is
therefore quite useless for us to speculate on the subject.
Its true etymology was buried in the night of antiquity.
But its earliest application appears to have been to the
evening star. This is the oldest signification that we can
assign to the word, which by the way, it may be noticed,
does not occur in any of the Aceadian texts that we
possess.1 The legend of the assault of the seven wicked spirits
upon the moon tells us pretty clearly who the goddess
Istar was primarily supposed to be. Mul-lil, it is said,
" had appointed Sin, Samas and Istar, to rule the vault of
heaven," and, "along with Anu, had given them to share
the lordship of the hosts of heaven. To the three of
them, those gods his children, he had entrusted the night
and the day ; that they cease not their work he urged
them. Then those seven, the wicked gods, darted upon
the vault of heaven; before Sin, the god of light, they
came in fierce attack ; Samas the hero and Eimmon the
1 From which we may infer that the name originated in one of the
smaller cities of the country. It is possibly a side-form of Iskhara
Is-tar and Is-khara being alike compounds of is. The suffix -ra or -r
is common in Proto-Chaldsean, and the Semitic spelling of the first syl
lable (with 'ain), like that of the first syllable of Anu, points to its
having originally been as. Istar appears as Esther in the book of
Esther, where Mordechai, it may be noted, is a derivative from Mero
dach. S

258 LECTURE IV.
warrior turned and fled ; Istar set up a glittering throne
by the side of Anu the king, and plotted for the sovereignty
of heaven."1 Thus once more the mythologist gives the
goddess an unfavourable character, though it is easy to
see what the story means. When the moon is eclipsed,
the evening star has no longer any rival in the sky ; it
shines with increased brilliancy, and seems to meditate
ruling the night alone, in company only with the heaven
itself. Already, before the days of Sargon of Accad and the
compilation of the great Babylonian work on astronomy,
it had been discovered that the evening and morning
stars were one and the same. Not only, therefore, was
Istar the evening star, the companion of the moon ; she
became also the morning star, the companion and herald
of the sun. It was thus that she assumed the attributes
and titles of a male deity, since Dun-khud-e, " the hero
who issues forth at daybreak," was both a god and the
morning star. As the morning star, therefore, Istar was
a god and the successor of a god, so that it is not won
derful b the bewildered Semite, who found no visible
sign of gender in the name of the divinity he had adopted,
should sometimes have regarded Istar as the masculine
form of Ashtoreth. Some of the early Aceadian titles-
of Istar belong to her as the star of the morning, though
the title of "Lady of Eising,"2 given her as "the wife
1 W. A. I. iv. 5, 60—79.
2 W. A. I. ii. 54, 20. As "Lady of the dawn" she was called Bis-
bizi, a re-duplicated form, apparently, of bis or pes, which is rendered
by mamlu (W. A. I. iv. 69, 33; 21, 66), a synonym of allallu (ii. 31, 65)
and rahdbu (ii. 35, 35). Comparers, " a pig." Rahdbu is the Hebrew
rahdb, "the crocodile" as a symbol of Egypt, and denoted in Assyrian
"a sea-monster." Hence George Smith seems to have been right in

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 259
of Anu" (W. A. I. ii. 54, 15), would apply equally to the
evening star.
In making her the wbe of the Sky-god, the mytho-
logists were only expressing in another way what the
poet of the legend of the seven evil spbits had denoted
by saying that Istar set up her throne by the side of
Anu. More usually, however, the relation between Istar
and Anu was regarded as a genetic one ; she was the
daughter, rather than the wife, of the Sky.1 At times,
again, she is called the daughter of the Moon-god, the
Moon-god being here the larger body which begets the
smaller star. It is possible that these different views
about her descent are derived from different centres of
worship ; that which made her the daughter of Sin
having its origin in Ur, while that which made her the
daughter of Anu emanated from Erech. At any rate,
her connection with the Moon-god seems to have been
the more popular view in Semitic times.
As a planet, Istar's ordinary name was the Aceadian
Dilbat, or "Announcer." One of the smaller cities of
Babylonia had the same name, and was probably the chief
seat of the worship of the goddess under this particular
form. It is obvious that the name must have been
originally applied not to the evening but to the morning
star. It was only as the announcer of day and the
herald of the sun that Yenus could be the Aceadian
representative of the Semitic Nebo. The other mes-
identifying the bis-bis or "dragon" Tiamat with Eahab, since is bis-bis
is interpreted turbuhtu (W. A. I. ii. 32, 9), " the locust-swarm of the
sea," according to ii. 5, 4. .
1 Both at Erech and Tel-loh her temple was called E-Ana, "the
temple of the Sky."
s2

260 LECTURE JV.
sengers of the gods were male ; and in Semitic times
the fact that there had once been a female messenger
was forgotten. The name of Dilbat, it is true, remained,
but only as the name of a star ; the place of Istar as the
herald of the Sun-god was taken, at Babylon at all events,
by Nebo.
It is possible that the records of the city of Dilbat, if
ever they are recovered, will show us that this was the
primal home of the name of Istar itseb, and the centre
from which it first spread. If so, however, it was little
more than the primal home of the goddess's name. The
real source and centre of the worship of Istar at the dawn
of the historical period, the starting-point from which
it was handed on to the Semites and became overlaid
with Semitic beliefs and practices, was not Dilbat, but
Erech. In the days when Erech had been a leading
state, when the cult of the Sky-god had been carried by
its people to other parts of the Eastern world, the cult
of Istar also had been carried with it. Wherever the
worship of Anu had gone, the worship of Istar, the
daughter of Anu, went too. But the Istar of Erech was
originally known by a different name. She was Nana,
" the lady," a title which does not appear to have been
replaced by the name of Istar until after the beginning of
the Semitic period. At all events the common title of
the goddess in the Aceadian texts is Nana ; the word
Istar is never found in them. As Nana,1 " the lady," she
-continued to be known at Erech down to the most recent
times. It was the famous image of Nana that the Elamite
1 As the name is always written in combination with the prefix of
divinity, the compound character was called In-Nana, for An-Nana
(see above, p. 116),

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 261
invader Kudur-naukhundi had carried off 1635 years
before the generals of Assur-bani-pal recovered it in the
sack of Shushan, and late texts draw a distinction between
Nana and Istar. Thus in a tablet of exorcisms, the patient
is told to address " Istar, Nana and Kasha,,"1 and an
augural tablet is careful to distinguish between Nana and
"Istar the queen" (milkatu).2
It was, in fact, easy to identify a goddess who bore so
general a name as that of "the lady" with any other
female divinity. At Borsippa, for instance, Nana was
made one with an otherwise unknown deity 'Sutitil (?),
" the goddess who quickens the body." A text copied for
Assur-bani-pal from a tablet originally written at Babylon,
contains part of a hymn which had to be recited " in the
presence of Bel-Merodach when he had seated himseb
(ittasbu) in the house of sacrifice (akituni) in the beginning
of Nisan." The latter portion reads as follows :
" (0 Bel, why) dost thou not take thy seat in Babylon 1 In E-Sag
gil is set thy dwelling-place. ' His is the . . . .' they have not said to
thee, and Zarpanit has not cried to thee. 0 Bel, why dost thou not
take thy seat in Borsippa ? In E-Zida is set thy dwelling-place. ' O
Nebo, I am here,' they have not said to thee ; Nana the goddess who
quickens the body has not cried to thee. O Bel, why dost thou not
take thy seat in Kis ? In E-Dubba (the house of libation) is set thy
dwelling-place. '0 Zamama,3 why dost thou not take thy seat?'
1 K 3464, 18.
2 K220, Obv. 4, 13. The divine names in this tablet follow in this
order : Istar of Babylon, Nana, Kani-surra, the god of Kibib, Nebo,
Tasmetu, Gula, 'Sakin of E-Ana, Samas, Sala, Istar the queen, Nergal
(Ugur), Eimmon, Zamama, Mul-lil.
3 Zamama (in Sumerian Zagaga) was the Sun-god of Kis (W. A. I.
ii. 60, 7 ; 61, 52), and was consequently identified with Adar by the
mythologists (W. A. I. ii. 57, 70). On a contract-stone he is symbol
ized by an eagle, which is said to be " the image of the southern sun

262 LECTURE IV.
Bahu, the queen of Kis, has not cried to thee. 0 Bel, why dost thou
not take thy seat in Cutha ? In E-'Sulim [sit-lam] is set thy dwelling-
place. '0 Nergal (Ugur), why dost thou not take thy seat?' Laz
and the goddess Mamit have not said unto thee. ' O my pure one,'
they have not cried unto thee."1
It wiU be noticed that in this hymn, while Nana has
ceased to be the special goddess of Erech and has become
the goddess of Borsippa, she is ranked with Bahu of Kis
and Laz and Mamit — that terrible "Ban" which even
the gods must obey — who presided over Cutha. Laz
disappeared almost entirely from the pantheon of later
Babylonia, and was remembered only by antiquarians,
except perhaps in Cutha itseb;2 but the name of Bahu
remained better known. Bahu probably was the Gurra
of Eridu, the great mother "deep" which was the home
of the seven evil spirits,3 and represented the waters of
the abyss in their original chaotic state before they were
reduced to order by the creator Ea.4 She seems to have
been the Bohu of Genesis, the Baau of the Phoenician

of Kis." We gather also from W. A. I. ii. 57, 53, that he was symbol
ised (like Alala) by the eagle.
1 Unnumbered ; a few lines are quoted by Strassmaier, 6049.
2 Yet in 2 Kings xvii. 30, "the men of Cuth" are said to have
"made Nergal" only, from which we may infer that the ordinary popu
lation even of Cutha had forgotten the special name of their ancient
goddess. 3 W.A.I, iv. 15, 5.
4 Zikum and Zigarum or Zikiira are the names of Gurra when
regarded as the whole body of chaos out of which the heaven and the
earth were formed (W. A. I. ii. 48. 26, 27). Zigarum or Zikdra stands
for Zi-Giira, " the spirit of Giira." Cp. Gen. i. 2. If the king of
Telloh whose name reads Ur-Bahu is to be identified with the well-
known Chaldaean monarch Ur-Bagas or Ur-Zikum, the identity of Bahu
md Zikum would be certain. Bahu is of Semitic origin, but was bor
rowed by the Accadians at an early period.

TAMMUZ AND ISTARr 263
Sanchuniathon, whose Greek interpreter identifies her
with the night and makes her the mother of the first
mortal men. The Semitic Bohu, however, was no deity,
much less a goddess; the word signified merely "empti
ness," and was thus a quite unsuitable rendering of the
old Aceadian Gurra, " the watery deep." There is little
reason for wonder, therefore, that the recollection of
what Bahu had primitively been should have faded out
of the memories of the Semitic Babylonians. As the
gods of the Accadians had become Baalim, so Bahu, like
the other goddesses of primaeval Chaldaea, was swept
into the common vortex of Ashtaroth. She became
the wife of the Sun-god of Kis (W. A. I. iii. 68, 63), and,
when he was identified with the Sun-god of Nipur, of
Adar also (K133, 21). She thus passed into Gula, "the
great goddess," who, though carefully distinguished from
both Bahu and Nana in the earlier texts, ended in the
Semitic period by becoming confounded with both. She
was originally the local goddess of Nisin,1 and had the
titles of "lady of the evening," "lady of the house of
death," "lady of life and death." In one of the prayers
prescribed for recitation hi the temple of Merodach at
Babylon, she is invoked as " the mother who has begotten
the black-headed race (of Accadians)." She thus takes
the place that is occupied by Istar in the story of the
Deluge, who is there made to declare that "I have
begotten my people," and is called Eubat, the Assyrian
equivalent of the Aceadian Gula. In fact, it is pretty
clear from the local titles of Gula that she must once
have been the evening star ; and we can therefore under-

1 W. A. I. ii. 67, 31.

264 LECTURE IV.
stand why it is that on the one hand she is termed " the
wife of the southern sun," l and on the other hand is made
the consort of Adar by the mythologists. She forms the
common meeting -point of the various local deities of
Chaldaea who were connected with the Sun-god; Bahu,
A, Sala, all alike are Gula, " the great one ;" and Gula is
but the Aceadian original of Eubat, the Semitic Istar.
In this way we may explain the statement that Gula is
" the heaven" (W. A. I. v. 31, 58), the sky of the evening
which was ruled by the evening star.
But it is also quite possible that, as Hommel thinks,
one of the elements which went to make up the character
of the later Istar was a goddess of the sky who corre
sponded to the Sky-god of Erech. If so, this might well
have been Gula, whose assimilation to Istar would have
been assisted by the close relation existing between Anu
and Nana. However that may be, the Istar of the
Semitic period inherited the attributes of Dav-kina, the
goddess of the earth. The bride of Tammuz of Eridu
was not the Istar of Erech, not the Istar of the evening
star, but a goddess of the earth. At Eridu, the goddess
of the earth was Dav-kina, his own mother, and we can
thus trace to its primitive home those forms of the myth
of Adonis which made his mother his sister as weU. In
Cyprus, the Phoenicians called him Gingras, and declared
that Kinyras was his father's name. Kinyras, however,
is but a popular perversion of Gingras, slightly changed
in pronunciation so as to remind the speaker of the
Phoenician kinnor, "the zither," just as Kenkhreis, the
wife of Kinyras, is again but Gingras in an Hellenised
1 W. A. I. i. 70. 4, 5.

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 265-
form. Now the title of Gingras seems to bear the marks
of its origin upon its face. It is the old Aceadian
Gingbi, or Gingira, which we are told was the Aceadian
name of Istar.1 Gingbi, however, meant nothing more
specific than " goddess." It was the feminine equivalent
of the masculine dingir, and, like dingir, signified "creator."
The "great" goddess of southern Babylonia was thus
the creator of the world just as much as the god who
stood by her side.
The identification of Istar and Gingira simplified the
process whereby the worship of the goddess spread through
Babylonia. Each city had its own Gingba, or "creatress ;"
each city, therefore, gave a welcome to its own Istar.
When the empbe of Sargon had transported the deities
of southern Chaldaea to Accad, Istar naturaUy accom
panied her bridegroom Tammuz. Whether the Semitic
colouring which the worship of Istar received was given
to it now for the first time at Accad, or whether it had
already been received at Erech, we have no means of
determining. The fact remains that from henceforth
Istar became a Semitic goddess ; her cult was almost
1 W. A. I. ii. 48, 29. The ideographs of which it is a gloss read
Sar-sar, a name of Ea, according to ii. 55, 54. Perhaps therefore we
should look to Eridu as the source of the name, where Ea and Dav-
kina would be grouped together as " the gods Sar-sar," corresponding
to the An-sar and Ki-sar of another system of cosmogony. However,
the words explained in the portion of the text which gives the gloss
Gingira seem to belong to a document that emanated from the court of
Sargon of Accad ; see 11. 40, 47, and the astronomical notices. In the
early Aceadian inscriptions Gingira has the more correct form Gingiri
(written GiNGi-ri). The mode of writing the name proved very con
venient for the Semites, who regarded it as expressing their Ista-ri
(instead of Istar or Istaru), as well as for the people of Van in after
times, who employed it to denote the name of their own goddess 'Sari
(instead of 'Saris). See also above, p. 143.

266

LECTURE IV.

purely Semitic in character, and the two great centres of
her worship were the Semitic cities of Erech and Accad.
Her worship was a reflexion of that worship of nature
which underlay the Semitic conception of Baalism. The
fierce passions excited by an Eastern sun found theb
expression in it. Prostitution became a religious duty,
whose wages were consecrated to the goddess of love.
She was served by eunuchs and by trains of men and
boys who dressed like women and gave themselves up to
women's pursuits. Istar, in fact, had ceased to be the
"pure" goddess of the evening star. The other elements
in her hybrid character had come to the front, aided by
the Semitic conception of the female side of the divinity.
She was now the fruitful goddess of the earth, teeming
with fertility, the feminine development of the lbe-giving
Sun-god, the patroness of love. The worshipper who
would serve her truly had to share with her her pains
and pleasures. Only thus could he live the divine lbe,
and be, as it were, united with the deity. It was on this
account that the women wept with Istar each year over
the fatal wound of Tammuz ; it was on this account that
her temples were filled with the victims of sexual passion
and rebgious frenzy, and that her festivals were scenes
of consecrated orgies. As the worship of the goddess
spread westward, the revolting features connected with
it spread at the same time. The prophets of Israel
denounce the abominations committed in honour of Ash
toreth and Baal within the sacred waUs of Jerusalem
itseb ; the Greek writers stand aghast at the violations
of social decency enjoined as religious duties on the
adorers of the oriental Aphrodite; and Lucian himself
— b Lucian indeed be the author of the treatise — is

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 267
shocked at the sob-mutilation practised before the altar
of the Syrian goddess of Hierapolis. From Syria, the
cult, with all its rites, made its way, like that of Attys-
Adonis, to the populations beyond the Taurus. At
Komana in Kappadokia, the goddess Ma was ministered
to by 6000 eunuch-priests, and the Galb of Phrygia
rivalled the priests of Baal and Ashtoreth in cutting
their arms with knives, in scourging their backs, and hi
piercing their flesh with darts. The worship of the
fierce powers of nature, at once life-giving and death-
dealing, which requbed from the believer a sympathetic
participation in the sufferings and pleasures of his deities,
produced alternate outbursts of frenzied seb-torture and
frenzied lust.
There was, however, a gentler side to the worship of
Istar. The cult of a goddess who watched over the
family bond and whose help was ever assured to the
faithful in his trouble, could not but exercise a human
ising influence, however much that influence may have
been sullied by the excesses of the popular religion.
But there were many whose higher and finer natures
were affected only by the humanising influence and not
by the popular faith. Babylonia does not seem to have
produced any class of men like the Israelitish prophets ;
but it produced cultivated scribes and thinkers, who sought
and found beneath the superstitions of theb countrymen
a purer religion and a more abiding form of faith. Istar
was to them a divine "mother," the goddess who had
begotten mankind, and who cared for theb webare with
a mother's love. It is true that they seem to have pre
ferred addressing her by some other name than that
which was polluted by the Galb and their female com-

268 LECTURE IV.
rades ; it was to Gula, rather than to Istar or Eubat, that
the priest of Bel was told to pray ; and the translators of
the penitential psalms turn the Nana (Innana) of the
Aceadian original into istaritu, "the goddess," instead of
Istar. But b questioned, they would have said that the
goddess to whom theb petitions and praises were addressed
was indeed Istar, and that Gula and Nana and Milkat
were but various names under which the same deity was
adored. The people, it is true, may have regarded the
goddesses of Babylonia as separate divinities, even as the
peasant of Spain or Italy may to-day regard his local
Yfrgins as distinct each one from the other ; the educated
Babylonian knew them to be but one — divers forms of
the godhead, but no more. Ln fact, he did not scruple
to translate by the common name of Istar the several
names under which the chief goddess of Babylonia went
in the old Aceadian hymns. It is thus that we read in
one of these :
" The light of heaven, who blazeth like the fire, art thou,
0 goddess (istaritum), when thou fixest thy dwelling-place in the
earth ;
thou who art strong as the earth !
Thee, the path of justice approaches thee
when thou enterest into the house of man.
A hysena, who springs to seize the lamb, art thou I
A lion, who stalks in the midst, art thou !
By day, 0 virgin, adorn the heaven !
O virgin Istar, adorn the heaven !
Thou who art set as the jewelled circlet of moonstone1 adorn the
heaven !

1 Subi, from the Aceadian suba, the Assyrian equivalent of which was
(aban) yarakhu (W. A. I. ii. 40, 59). In the legend of the Descent of
Istar (p. 227) the sutartum or "jewelled circlet" belongs to Tillili, and
is composed of "eye-stones." The Suba was the name of a god (ii. 58, 46),

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 269
Companion of tbe Sun-god, adorn the heaven !
'To causo enlightenment to prevail1 am I appointed, alone2 am I
appointed.
By the side of my father the Moon-god3 to cause enlightenment
to prevail am I appointed, alone am I appointed.
By the side of my brother the Sun-god to cause enlightenment
to pievail am I appointed, alone am I appointed.
My father Nannaru has appointed me ; to cause enlightenment to
prevail am I appointed.
In the resplendent heaven to cause enlightenment to prevail am I
appointed, alone am I appointed.
In the beginning was my glory, in the beginning was my glory.
In the beginning was I a goddess (istaritum) who marched on
high.
Istar4 the divinity of the evening sky am I.
Istar the divinity of the dawn am I.
Istar the opener of the bolts of the bright heaven is my (name of)
glory.
My glory extinguishes the heaven, it spoils the earth.
The extinguisher of the heaven, the spoiler of the earth is my
glory.
That which glows in the clouds of heaven, whose name is re
nowned in the world, is my glory.
As queen5 of heaven above and below may my glory be addressed.
My glory sweeps0 away the mountains altogether.
and of a river which was consecrated to Tammuz (ii. 50, 12). As the
god Suba is stated to be a form of the Sun-god, like Ilba, he is doubt
less to be identified with Tammuz as "god of the Moon -stone."
1 In the Aceadian, " the gift of light."
2 Gitmalu. The word has no connection with gamdlu, " to finish,"
and means "sole," "unique" (as here, where the Aceadian equivalent
signifies "going alone"). The statement in W.A.I, iv. 69, 76, that
gitmalu is the Aceadian sar, " big," is derived from the secondary sense
of gitmalu as "monstrous" or "gigantic."
8 Mistranslated in the Assyrian, which has wrongly construed the
Aceadian postpositions.
4 In the original Aceadian, " mistress of the sky."
5 In the original, " the unique monster" (usugal).
6 The Assyrian translation misrenders : " I sweep away." .

270 LECTURE IV.
Thou art1 the mighty fortress of the mountains, thou art their
mighty bolt, 0 my glory.'

May thy heart rest, may thy liver be tranquil.2
O lord (Bel) Anu the mighty one, may thy heart be at rest.
0 lord (Bel), the mighty mountain Mul-lil, may thy liver be tran-
quIL
O goddess (istaritum), lady of heaven, may thy heart be at rest.
0 mistress, lady of heaven, may thy liver be tranquil.
0 mistress, lady of E-Ana, may thy heart bo at rest.
0 mistress, lady of the land of Erech, may thy liver be tranquil.
0 mistress, lady of the land of the city of precious stones,3 may
thy heart be at rest.
O mistress, lady of the mountain of mankind,4 may thy liver be
tranquil.
O mistress, lady of the temple of the pasturage of mankind, may
thy heart be at rest.
O mistress, lady of Babylon, may thy liver be tranquil.
0 mistress, lady of the name of Nana, may thy heart be at rest.
0 lady of the temple, lady of spirits, may thy liver be tranquil.
(Colophon.) — Tearful supplication of the heart to Istar.
Like its old copy written and published. Palace of Assur-bani-
pal, king of Assyria."
But Istar was not merely the goddess of love. By the
side of the amorous goddess there was also a warlike one.
The Syrian goddess who migrated westward was a war-
1 The Assyrian mistranslates : " I am."
2 The concluding litany probably belongs to a later period than the
rest of the hymn, to which it has been attached, and is of the age when
Erech and Babylon were the leading cities of Chaldsea.
3 "The city of Sula." "The river of Sula" is called "the river of
Tammuz" or of Suba in W. A. I. ii. 50, 12.
4 Kharsag-kalama, the name of a temple at Kis (W. A. I. ii. 61, 15),
or 'Sabu (v. 12. 49, 50), also called Icapar ri'i, "the village of the
shepherd," or kapar garradi, "the village of the warrior" Tammuz (ii.
52. 66, 67).

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 271
rior as web as a bride. Among the Hittites and their
disciples in Asia Minor, she was served not only by Galb,
but by Amazons — warrior priestesses — as well. The
Artemis of Ephesos, her lineal descendant, was separated
by a wide gub from the Aphrodite of Cyprus. Both
Artemis and Aphrodite were alike the offspring of the
same Babylonian deity, but in making their way to Greece
they had become separated and diverse. The goddess
of the Hittites and of Asia Minor preserved mainly her
fiercer side ; the goddess of Phoenician Cyprus her gen
tler side. Both sides, however, had once been united in
the Istar of Chaldaea. The Greek myths which recounted
the story of Sembamis recorded the fact. For Sembamis
is but Istar in another guise. As Istar was called "queen"
by the Assyrians, so is Sembamis the queen of Assyria ;
as Sembamis deserts Menon for Ninos or Nineveh, so
did Istar desert her old haunts for her later temple at
Nineveh. The dove into which Sembamis was changed
was the bbd sacred to Istar. Her passion for her son
Ninyas, "the Ninevite," whom another version of the
myth names Zames or Samas, is an echo of the passion
of Istar, the Dav-kina of Eridu, for Tammuz the Sun-
god. The warrior-queen of Assyria, in fact, was the
great Babylonian goddess in her martial character.
While the gentler-mannered Babylonians preferred to
dwell upon the softer side of Istar, the Assyrians, as was
natural in the case of a military nation, saw in her mainly
the goddess of war and battle. Like Babylonia, with its
two centres of her worship at Erech and Accad, Assyria
also had its two great sanctuaries of Istar at Nineveh and
Arbela. That she should have had no famous temple in

272 LECTURE IV.
Assur,1 the old capital of the kingdom, shows clearly the
comparatively late development of her cult. Doubtless
the earhest inhabitants of the Assyrian cities had brought
with them the name and worship of Istar, but it could
only have been long afterwards that it attained its final
celebrity. Indeed, we can trace its progress through the
historical inscriptions until it culminates in the reign of
Assur-bani-pal. There was a particular cause for this gradual develop
ment which was connected with the warlike attributes
of the Assyrian Istar. The Assyrians were an essen
tially Semitic people. Theb supreme goddess accordingly
was that vague and colourless Bibt iii, " the mistress of
the gods," who sat as a queenly shadow by the side of
Bel. They had none of those associations with the
older Aceadian goddesses, with theb specific names and
functions, which the natives of the Babylonian cities
possessed ; apart from Istar, the evening star, there was
no goddess among them who could claim a more inde
pendent position than that of a Bilit iii. Assur himself
had no special consort, like Zarpanit at Babylon or even
A at Accad.2 Except Istar, therefore, the Assyrian pan
theon was destitute of a goddess who could assert her
equality with the gods.
But the name of Istar, supported as it was by the

1 Tiglath-Pileser I. speaks of building one there along with temples
of Martu and of Bel-labaru, "the old Bel" (Col. vi. 86, 87). He gives
Istar the title of Assuriti, "Assyrian," not "Assurite."
2 Tiglath-Pileser III. once mentions Seruha apparently as the con
sort of Assur (Lay. 17, 15), but this is in connection with his occupa
tion of Babylonia.

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 273
traditions, the sacred teaching and the literature the
Assyrians had brought from Babylonia, sufficed to keep
alive a recollection of the fact that such female divinities
had once been recognised. Accordingly, while Istar on
the one hand tended to be merged into the vague and
general Bilat iii, on the other hand she absorbed theb
attributes into herself. With the increasing fame of her
shrines at Nineveh and Arbela, and the rise of Nineveh
as the capital of the country, the second process went on
rapidly. Istar, therefore, while still preserving her indi
viduality, took upon herseb all the offices and attributes
of Beltis, the wbe of the Sun-god. The ancient myths
which had made her the bride of Tammuz and Alala,
and her identification with A in Semitic Accad, had
already paved the way. It was thus that the fiercer
aspect of the Sun-god as a warrior, first reflected on his
consort, the Bilat iii, became transferred to the Assyrian
Istar. Istar of Arbela was primarily a Habitant deity,
the bearer of the bow of war. If the Assyrians were
to have a goddess at all, a deity with an independent
character and position of her own, it was necessary that
she should be a goddess of war. The earlier kings of
Assyria, Eimmon-nbari I.,Tiglath-Fileser I., Assur-natsir-
pal and his son Shalmaneser IL, pay her but slight atten
tion, invoking her only at the end of theb list of gods ;
and when they address her, it is as " the lady of onset,
the strengthener of battle," " the lady of battle and war,"
"the chief tainess of heaven and earth who makes perfect
the face of the warriors." Even Sargon and Sennacherib
are chary of their references to her; while Tiglath-
Pbeser III. in Babylonia sacrifices to Nana of Erech
T

274 LECTURE IV.
rather than to Istar,1 and Shalmaneser II. distinguishes'
between the military goddess Istar and Beltis (Nin-lil),
" the wbe of Bel, the mother of the (great) gods." But
with Esar-haddon ab is changed Oracles of encourage
ment and prophecies of victory pour in for him from the
priestesses and priests of the temple of Istar at Arbela ;
Istar declares herseb to be his mistress, " who will do
battle with the enemies before (his) feet." She promises
to give his foes into his hand : " Fear not, O Esar-had
don," is the prophecy delivered through the mouth of
the priestess Bay&, "I am thy strong Baal, I devise the
might2 of thy heart: I am jealous3 as thy mother, for
thou hast given me power; the sixty great gods, my
strong ones, shall protect thee; the Moon-god shall be
on thy right hand, the Sun-god on thy left." Another
oracle is even more explicit :
"lam Istar of Arbela, O Esar-haddon, king of Assyria ; in Assur, in
(Nineveh), in Calah, in Arbela, long days and everlasting years will I
give to Esar-haddon my king. I am the lover of thy limbs,4 thy nurse
and (thy guardian) am I. For long days and everlasting years thy
throne I have established in earth and heaven the mighty. For my
veil of gold in the midst of heaven I am jealous. I will cause the
light which clings to it to shine before the face of Esar-haddon, king
of Assyria, Hke the crown of my head, (and) behind his feet. Fear
not, O king, I have spoken with thee, I have not withheld myself (?)
1 Similarly Sennacherib (W.A.I, i 43, 31—33) speaks of "the
Sun-god of Larsa, the Lady of Eub-esi (?), the Lady of Erech Nana,
the goddess Utsura-amatsa, the Lady of Life, the god Kasdinnam, the
goddess Kassitu, and Nergal." Kassitu probably means " the Kassite"
or Kossaean goddess ; in Kasdinnam we may see an Aramaean form of
the Biblical Kasdim.
2 Literally, " strong beams of wood."
3 Akharidi, akin to khardatu, " solicitude."
4 "Testicles," according to Haupt.

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 275
(from thee). (Thy) foeman shall cease to be. The river, in despite of
opposition, I will cause thee to cross. 0 Esar-haddon, the faithful son,
Bon of Beltis, .... with my hands do I make an end of thy foes."
Assur-bani-pal inherited his father's devotion to Istar,
as web as her care and protection. It was, however,
upon Istar of Nineveh, "the queen of Kidmur,"1 rather
than upon Istar of Arbela, that his attention was more par
ticularly bestowed. Nineveh was for him "the supreme
city of Istar," and it was " by the command of Assur and
Istar" that his wars were undertaken, and by their help
that they were crowned with suceess. When Teumman
of Elam threatened the empire with invasion, he went
into the temple of the goddess, and, like Hezekiah when
he received the letter of Sennacherib, knelt there at the
feet of his deity, and laid before her the scornful message
of the Elamite king The whole passage in which Assur-
bani-pal describes his conduct at this moment of danger
is a striking parallel to what we read in the Old Testa
ment concerning the Jewish monarch.
"When Teumman," says Assur-bani-pal, " strengthened himself in
Elam, in the assembly of his forces, I looked to Istar who looks on me.
I obeyed not the command of his rebeUious mouth, I surrendered not
the fugitives (he had demanded). Teumman devised evil, (and) the
Moon-god devised for him omens of evil ; in the month Tammuz, an
eclipse during the morning watch obscured the lord of light and the
sun was darkened ; and as he rested, so too did I rest for three days,
that the regnal years of the king of Elam might be ended and his
country destroyed. (Thus did) the Moon-god (give) me his command,
which may not be altered  In the month Ab, the month of the
appearance of the star of the Bow, the festival of the glorious queen
the daughter of Bel (Mul-lil), in order to worship her, the great (god
dess), I stayed in Arbela, the chosen city of her heart. Of the invasion
1 Also written Kidimuri, K 11, 35. It was the name of the part of
the palace set apart for the royal harem.
T2

276 LECTURE IV.
of the Elamite, who marched godlessly, they reported to me as follows :
' Teumman says thus and thus of Istar,' and they reported the tenor of
his message that he would not depart until he had gone against Assur-
bani-pal to make war. On account of this threat which Teumman had
uttered, I prayed to the exalted one, Istar ; I wept before her, I bowed
beneath her, I did honour to her divinity, (and) she came with favour
to me. ' 0 lady of Arbela,' I prayed, ' I am Assur-bani-pal, the creation
of thy hands (and the creation of Assur), the father who created thee,
that I might restore the shrines of Assyria and complete the fortresses
of Accad  I seek after thy courts, I go to worship (thy divinity) ;
and now he, Teumman, king of Elam, who values not the gods, has
come up to (make war). Thou art the lady of ladies, the terror of
conflict, the lady of war, the queen of the gods, . . . who in the presence
of Assur, the father that created thee, utterest blessings. In the ....
he hath desired me .... to make glad the heart of Assur and to give
rest to the liver of Merodach  As for Teumman, king of Elam,
who has sinned (grievously) against Assur (the king of the gods), the
father that created thee, and against Merodach thy brother and com
panion .... and (against) me, Assur-bani-pal, whom (thou hast desired)
to give rest to the heart of Assur and (Merodach), he has gathered his
army, has made ready for war, has asked his soldiers to march to
Assyria ; do thou that art the archer of the gods, strike him down like
a weight in the midst of the battle, and smite him as a tempest of evil
wind.' My lamentable supplication did Istar hear, and ' Fear not,' she
said ; she caused me to overflow with (joy of) heart : ' For the lifting
up of thy hands which thou hast lifted up, for thine eyes (that) are
filled with tears, I have compassion.' In that very hour of the night
when I prayed to her, a certain seer slept, and he dreams a prophetic (?)
dream. A revelation during the night Istar revealed to him (which)
he repeated to me thus : ' Istar who dwells in Arbela entered, and
right and left was a quiver uplifted. She held a bow in her hand ; she
drew a heavy falchion to make war ; her countenance was wrathful,
Like a fond mother she speaks with thee, she cries to thee. Istar, the
exalted of the gods, appoints thee this message : ' Thou entreatest to
gain victory; the place lies before thee ; I am coming !' Thou shalt
answer her thus : To the place to which thou goest with thee let me
go ! The lady of ladies even she declares to thee thus : I will defend
thee that thou mayest dwell in the sacred precincts of Nebo : 1 eat food,
drink wine, keep festival, glorify my divinity ; when I have gone, this
1 See W. A. I. ii. 29, 18. The library of Kouyunjik seems intended.

TAMMUZ AND ISTAR. 277
message shall be accomplished. I will cause the desire of thy heart to
prevail ; thy face shall not grow pale, thy feet shall not stumble, thy
beauty (?) shall not fade. In the midst of battle, in her kindly womb
she embosoms thee and embraces thee on every side. Before her a fire
is kindled (fiercely) to overcome thy foes."1
Istar is here represented in human form, with a quiver
on either shoulder and a bow in the hand. This, in
fact, is the ordinary fashion in which Assyrian art por
trayed the warlike goddess. But Assyrian art was not
peculiar in thus depicting the goddess of love and war.
In the older art of Babylonia, of which that of Assyria
was but a modification, the deities of the popular faith
were all represented in human shape. The oldest cylin
ders of Semitic Chaldaea agree in this respect with the
bas-reliefs of the palaces of Nineveh. It is only the
demons and inferior spbits, or mythical personages like
Ea-bani, the friend of Gisdhubar, who are portrayed as
animals, or as composite figures partly human and partly
bestial. Ea alone, in his character of "god of bfe,"2 is
given the fish's skin, and even then the skin is but thrown
over his back bke a priestly cloak. The composite mon
sters, whose forms Berossos saw painted on the walls of
the temple of Belos, were the brood of chaos, not of the
present order of the world. The legend of the creation
preserved by the priests of Cutha declares that the crea
tures, hab men and half bbds, which were depicted in
sacred art, were suckled by Tiamat, the dragon -like
personification of anarchy and chaos. Their disappear
ance marked the victory of light over darkness, of the
gods of heaven over the Titanic monsters of an extinct
1 G. Smith's Assur-bani-pal, pp. 117 — 126.
2 On an early cylinder in the British Museum.

278

LECTURE IV.

age. The deities of Babylonia were emphatically human ;
human in character and human in form. They stood in
marked contrast to the animal-headed gods of Egypt,
and harmonised with the Semitic belief that made the
deity the father of the human race, who had created man
in his own image. Even in pre-Semitic days, Chaldaean
art had abeady fobowed the same line of thought, and
had depicted its divinities hi the likeness of men ; but
in pre-Semitic days this was a tendency only; it was
not until the Aceadian came in contact with the Semite
that he felt the fub force of the Semitic conception, and
aUowed his ancient deities of light and bfe to take per
manently upon them the human shape.1
For there are many indications that it had not always
been so. The very fact that the divine beings who in
the Semitic era were relegated to the realms of chaos or
the inferior world of subordinate spirits, were to the last
represented as partly bestial in form, proves pretty clearly
that the Babylonians had once seen nothing derogatory
to the divine nature in such a mode of representation.
1 The fact that the gods of Babylonia were represented in human
form leads us to expect to find also the converse fact, the apotheosis of
men. Our expectation is fulfilled, at any rate as regards the earlier
period of Semitic Babylonia. A haematite cylinder, found by Gen. di
Cesnola in Cyprus, gives Naram-Sin, the son of Sargon, the invader of
the island, the title of god, and on the bricks of Amar-Agu or Buru-Sin
of Ur (W. A. I. i. &, xix.) the divine title is prefixed to the royal name.
It is significant that this deification of the monarch is coeval with the
rise of Semitic supremacy, and that it never took firm hold of the reli
gious faith of the people. At all events, there is no trace of it from
the time of Khammuragas downwards. It is true that the Kassite
sovereign Agu-kak-rimS (cir. B.C. 1630) claims to be descended from
the god Sugamuna (W. A. I. v. 33. i. 4) ; but Agu-kak-rimS was neither
a Semite nor a Sumerian, and to claim descent from a god is not the
same as claiming to be a god oneself.

PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. 279
The winged bubs who guarded the approach to the
temple and protected it from the invasion of evil spbits,
or the eagle-headed cherubs who knelt on either side of
the sacred tree, were survivals of a time when " the great
gods of heaven and earth" were themselves imaged and
adored in similar form. The same evidence is borne by
the animals on whose backs the anthropomorphic deities
are depicted as standing in later art. When the gods
had become human, there was no other place left for the
animals with whom they had once been so intimately
connected. The evidence, however, is not borne by art
alone. The written texts aver that the gods were sym
bolised by animals, like the Sun-god of Kis, whose
"image" or symbol was the eagle. It is these symbols
which appear on the Babylonian boundary-stones, where
in the infancy of Assyrian research they were supposed
to represent the Zodiacal signs.
That they were originally something more than mere
symbols is expressly indicated in the myths about the
goddess of love. Gisdhubar taunts her with her treat
ment, not only of Alala, the eagle, but also of the horse
and the bon, whose names are not given to us. Here, at
any rate, popular tradition has preserved a recollection of
the time when the gods of Babylonia were still regarded
as eagles and horses and lions. We are taken back to
an epoch of totemism, when the tribes and cities of
Chaldaea had each its totem, or sacred animal, to whom
it offered divine worship, and who eventually became its
creator-god. Not less clear is the legend of the first
introduction of culture into the valley of the Euphrates.
Oannes, or Ea, it was ever remembered, had the body of
a fish, and, like a fish, he sank each night into the waters

280 LECTURE IV.
of the Persian Gulf when the day was closed which he
had spent among his favoured disciples of Eridu. The
culture-god himself had once been a totem, from which
we may infer how long it was before totemism disap
peared, at all events from southern Babylonia, where
the contact with Semitic thought was less strong and
abiding than was the case further north.
We can learn a good deal about this totemism from the
old ideographic representations of the names of the chief
deities. They are like fossils, embodying the bebefs of
a period which had long passed away at the date of the
earliest monuments that have come down to us. The
name of Ea himseb affords us an example of what we
may find. It is sometimes expressed by an ideograph
which signifies literally " an antelope" (dara in Aceadian,
turakhu hi Assyrian, whence perhaps the Biblical name
of Terah).1 Thus we are told that Ea was called "the
antelope of the deep," "the antelope the creator," "the
antelope the prince," "the lusty antelope;"2 and the
"ship" or ark of Ea in which his image was carried at
festivals was entitled "the ship of the divine antelope of
the deep." 3 We should, indeed, have expected that the
animal of Ea would have been the fish rather than the
antelope, and the fact that it is not so points to the con
clusion that the culture-god of southern Babylonia was
an amalgamation of two earlier deities, one the divine
1 Turakhu is the Arabic arkhu, " an antelope," and is a tiphel form
ation from the Assyrian verb ardkhu, " to run quickly." The word
has no connection with the Aceadian dara. Friedrich Delitzsch long
ago suggested that it represented the Biblical Terah (Assyrische Studien,
i. p. 51).
3 W. A. I. ii. 55, 27—30, 8 W. A. I. ii. 02, 39.

PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. 281
antelope, and the other the divine fish. Perhaps it was
originally as the god of the river that Ea had been adored
under the form of the wbd beast of the Eden or desert.
There was yet another animal with which the name of
Ea had been associated. This was the serpent. The
Euphrates in its southern course bore names in the early
inscriptions which distinctly connect the serpent with Ea
on the one hand, and the goddess Innina on the other.
It was not only called "the river of the great deep" —
a term which implied that it was a prolongation of the
Eersian Gub and the encircling ocean; it was further
named the river of the Subur lilli, "the shepherd's hut
of the libu" or "spfrit," "the river of Innina," "the
river of the snake," and "the river of the gfrdle of the
great god."1 In-nina is but another form of Innana or
Nana, and we may see in her at once the Istar of Eridu
and the female correlative of Anuna. Among the chief
deities reverenced by the rulers of Tel-loh was one whose
name is expressed by the ideographs of "fish" and "en
closure," which served in later days to denote the name
of Nin& or Nineveh. It seems clear, therefore, that the
pronunciation of Nina was attached to it ; and Dr. Oppert
may accordingly be right in thus reading the name of
the goddess as she appears on the monuments of Tel-loh.
Nina, consequently, is both the fish -goddess and the
divinity whose name is interchanged with that of the
snake.2 Now Nina was the daughter of Ea, her eldest
1 W. A. I. ii. 51, 45—49.
2 In W. A. I. iv. 1. 33, 38, In-nana is mentioned along with Nina,
but, as Hommel has already pointed out ( VorsemitischeKidturen,^. 360),
this magical text includes older and newer elements, the mention of
In-nana belonging to the later portion of the text.

282 LECTURE IV.
daughter being described in a text of Tel-loh as " the lady
of the city of Mar," the modern Tel Id, according to
Hommel, where Dungi built her a temple which he called
" the house of the jewelled cfrclet" (sutartu). This latter
epithet recalls to us the Tillili of the Tammuz legend as
well as the Istar of later Babylonia. In fact, it is pretty
clear that Nina, " the lady," must have been that primi
tive Istar of Eridu and its neighbourhood who mourned
like Tillib the death of Tammuz, and whose title was
but a dialectic variation of that of Nana given to her at
Erech. After this, it is not difficult to disentangle the primitive
relation that existed between the totems of the antelope,
the fish and the serpent, at Eridu. Ea was the antelope
as god of the river ; as god of the deep he was Oannes
the fish. His daughter was denoted by a compound
ideograph which represented her bbth from the residence
of the fish-god, though she was herseb one of the poisonous
reptiles that swarmed in the marshes at the mouth of the
Euphrates. It was in this way that the serpent became
connected with the god of wisdom, "more subtb than
any beast of the field" which had been created in the
land of Edina.
It is now possible to explain the abusions in an old
Aceadian poem, hi which Merodach (?) is made to describe
bis weapon of war. After comparing it with "the fish
of seven fins," he goes on to say: "The tempest (matu)
of battle, my weapon of fifty heads (I bear), which like
the great serpent of seven heads is yoked with seven
heads, which like the strong serpent of the sea (sweeps
away) the foe." 1 Here the serpent is regarded as essen-
1 W.A.I, ii. 19, 11—18.

PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. 283
tially a serpent of the sea, and in its seven heads we may
see the primitive conception of its divine power. The
" evb spbits" were seven in number also, like the spbits
of the earth , and the mythical fish which may be the
totem of the fish-god is provided with seven fins.1 The
destructive character of the great serpent is naturaby
insisted on. Doubtless the serpent-god of the primitive
Sumerian was moraby of a negative nature, or else
regarded as injuring only his enemies, while he did good
to those who propitiated him. But this early serpent-
worship faded away with the transformation of the totem
into an anthropomorphic deity. The goddess Nina ceased
to retain her serpentile attributes, and after the era of
the monuments of Tel-loh passed almost entirely out of
memory; while the serpent became, what indeed he
always seems to have been in genuine Semitic behef, the
incarnation of wickedness and guile. We read in the
bilingual lists of "the evil serpent," "the serpent of
darkness ;" 2 and it is probable that the imagination of a
later time confounded this serpent of darkness with the
dragon Tiamat, the leader of the powers of night and
chaos. It was a curious process of development which
eventually transformed the old serpent -goddess, "the
lady Nina," into the embodiment of all that was hostile
to the powers of heaven ; but, after all, Nina had sprung
from the fish-god of the deep, and Tiamat is herseb " the
deep " in a Semitic dress.
At times Ea was regarded as a gazeUe3 rather than
1 W. A. I. ii. 19, 65.
2 W. A. I. ii. 24. 10, 12. The "evil serpent" is called "the mon
strous (russu) serpent of the sea" in W. A. I. ii. 19, 17.
3 Elim in Aceadian, ditanu in Assyrian (W. A. I. ii. 6, 7; 59, 5;

2^4 LECTURE IV.
as an antelope. It was thus that he was entitled " the
princely gazelle," " the lusty gazebe," " the gazebe who
gives the earth" (W.A.I, b. 55. 31 — 33); and Merodach
as his son is termed Asari-ehm, " the mighty one of the
gazelle-god." A hymn which celebrates Merodach under
a number of his archaic names, declares that he is " Asari-
ehm, the mighty prince, the light (of the gods), the
dfrector of the laws of Anu, Bel (Mul-lil) (and Ea)."1
The gazebe, however, was more correctly appropriated to
Mul-lil of Nipur, who was specially called "the gazebe-
god."2 We may infer, accordingly, that the gazebe had
once been the totem of Nipur, and the representative of
its god of the under- world. It was, indeed, a peculiarly
sacred animal. We find it repeatedly on the early Chal
dsean cylinders, sometimes being offered in sacrifice to a
deity, sometimes simply standing at his side as a symbol.
It frequently takes the place of the goat, which was also
sacred, and as such was exalted into the Zodiacal sign of
Capricornus. Since Tebet, the tenth month, corresponds
to the sign of Capricornus and was dedicated to Pap-sukal,
it is possible that Pap-sukal, " the messenger of the gods,"
was himseb the goat-god. At any rate, there was a
deity called Uz,3 the Aceadian word for a goat ; and a
iv. 70, 55). The position of the name in the list of animals (W. A. I.
ii. 6, 7), shows what species of animal must be meant. Lulim, " a stag,"
seems to be a re-duplicated form of the same word. Both lulim and
elim are said to be equivalent to sarru, "king."
1 K2854, 5, 6. In line 10, Merodach is apparently identified with
the god Tutu, of whom it is said that " he confronts their life" (ba-an-te
ana napisti-sunu). In the first Hne he is called Asari, sabis zalmat
kakkadi, " nourisher (?) of the black-headed race." Comp. W. A. I. ii
55, 69.
2 W. A. I. iv. 70, 55 ; ii. 59, 5.
3 In W. A. I. ii. 48, 34, the archaic Babylonian form of the character

PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. .285
curious piece of sculpture on a stone tablet found by
Mr. Eassam in the temple of the Sun-god at Sippara
describes " Sin, Samas and Istar," as being " set as com
panions at the approach to the deep in sight of the god
Uz."1 The "crown of the Sun-god" is further said to
be the uz, or " glory," of the eyes, with a play upon the
resemblance of the Semitic word uzzu, "glory," to the
Aceadian us, "a goat." The god Uz himseb is depicted
as sitting on a throne, watching the revolution of the
solar disk, which is placed upon a table and slowly turned
by means of a rope. He holds in his hand a ring and
bolt, and is clad in a robe of goats' skin, the sacred dress
of the Babylonian priests. It reminds us of "the skins
of the kids of the goats" which Eebekah put upon Isaac
in order that he might receive his father's blessing. The
milk of the goat appears in the liturgical texts along with
other offerings to the gods ; thus we read in a hymn : 2
" The milk of a light-coloured3 goat which in a pure feeding-place
the shepherd of Tammuz4 has reared,
Uz is glossed by Utuki, " the (great) spirit," and explained to be synony
mous with the Sun-god. As the document or documents upon which
this tablet is a commentary seem to have been a product of the court
of Sargon at Accad, we may infer that Uz, " the goat," was a title of the
Sun-god of Sippara. The mythical " goat with six heads" is referred
to in a bilingual text ( W. A. I. iv. 30, 1 1).
1 W. A. I. v. 60. Timi here means " companions," from emu, " to
make like." The common word birit has nothing to do with either
birit, " chain," or birtu, " a citadel," but is from baru, " to see."
2 W. A. I. iv. 28, 3.
8 Asundu, Aceadian dig-diga, " the long-horned," rendered banu, ot
" light-coloured," in W. A. I. iv. 24, 11 ; ii. 6, 32. The species of goat
was called zur (Semitised into surru) in Aceadian (W.A.I, ii. 2. 284,
285, compared with 21. 41).
4 Not " the shepherd Tammuz," which would require the converse
order of words.

236 LECTURE IV.
the milk of the goat let the shepherd give thee with his pure hands.
Mingle (it) in the middle of the skin of a suckling1 yet unborn.
Let the god Azaga-suga,2 the supreme goat of Mul-lil, with his
pure hands cause (it) to be eaten.
Merodach the son of Eridu has given the charm ;
O Nin-akha-kiida,3 lady of the purely-gleaming water, make the
worshipper pure and bright !"
Here the divine goat is associated with Mul-hl, and
perhaps we may therefore conclude that it was specially
adored at Nipur. The inference is not certain, however,
1 Vniki, Aceadian qae-us , in a liturgical fragment (S 712, 5) we
read of "the wool (or hair) of a qar-us yet unborn;" and in S 2073,
K. 9, mention is made of " the flesh of the qar."
2 "The god of far-reaching purity" or perhaps "the distant gleam "(?).
'Suga, however, may represent diga, " the horned one." In W. A. I.
ii. 4, 662, digga is written diqqa, and in 6, 5, seqa, and rendered by the
Assyrian atudu, "he-goat." In W. A. I. iii. 68, 12 — 14, Azaga-^uga
(sud), the wife of Eimmon, is called the milch-kid of Mul-lil, and the
names of its two shepherds are given in lines 36, 37.
3 Nin-akha-kuda is invoked in other magic formulae : so in W. A. L
iv. 15, 39, it is said of the sick man, " May Nin-akha-kudda seize upon
his body and rest upon his head !" and in Haupt's Keilschrifttexte, ii. 26,
she is mentioned along with Bahu and Gula. In W. A. I. ii. 58. 48, 49,
we read of " the pure water of Ea, the purely-gleaming water of Nin-
akha-kudda, the water of the pure hand, of the pure deep," where the
goddess is associated with Ea and the deep; and in D.T. 57. Obv. 14 — 16,
we have " the spell of Ea and Merodach, the speU of Damu and Gula,
the spell of Nin-akha-kudda." Similarly in 1266. 12, 13, an invocation
is addressed to " Nin-akha-kuddu, Nin-kurra, [En-nu-]gi the son of
Nin-si-nagar-bu, and Nin-zadim." In K4195, 12, Nin-akha-kuddu is
identified with Iskhara or Istar. In M 192, 4 sq., "the daily food" is
enumerated of Mul-lil, Ea " the king of the deep," " the divine king of
the gods and the queen (of the gods)," Samas " the lord of crowns, the
decider of (destiny)," "the god who prospers all above and below,"
Merodach, Adar "the first-born of Mul-lil," Nin-akha-kuddu, Nin-
karratim and Istar. Nin-akha-kudda means " the lady who divides the
rising (fresh) water" as appears from the statement in W. A. I. iii. 68, 40,
that she was " the lady of the rising waters (a-khad) of Ea." The fol
lowing line shows that Agubba, " the purely-gleaming water" (sunqu in
Assyrian), was also deified.

PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. 287
as the text belongs to that later period when the cities
and deities of Babylonia had been brought into union
with one another.
I have abeady alluded to the fact that the Sun-god of
Nipur was connected with the pig. Adar was " lord of
the swine, " and the swine would therefore seem to have
once been a totem of the city in which he was worshipped.
Nothing could show more clearly that Babylonian tote
mism belongs to the pre-Semitic history of the country,
and the conclusion is supported by the large place
occupied by the dog in what I may cab the zoological
mythology of Chaldaea. In Semitic times the dog was
as distasteful to the Babylonians as he was, and is, to
the Semitic inhabitants of other parts of the world. We
have a proof of this hi a prayer against the powers of
evil, in which we read :
" (From) the baleful fetter, the fetter which injures the feet .... the
dog, the snake, the scorpion, the reptile, and whatsoever is baleful, the
possession of the heart, the possession (of the body, may Merodach
preserve us)."1
The dog is avoided by the earlier art of Assyria ; and
even in Babylonia, where a particular and much-esteemed
breed existed, almost the only representation of the animal
that is known is on a terra-cotta plaque of the Sassanian
period.2 Nevertheless, there was a time when the Baby-
1 K (unnumbered), 19 — 21, buanu limnu buanu naptsu sa sepa ....
OE-ku tsir girtab nammas(tuv) u nin limnu tsibit libbi tsibit (zumri).
2 See the illustration of a " Terra-cotta Tablet from Babylon, repre
senting an Indian dog," in Layard's Nineveh and Babylon, p. 527. In
Assyria, it is not until we come to the time of Assur-bani-pal that we
find the dog represented in the bas-reliefs. The five clay figures of dogs,
with their names inscribed upon them, now in the British Museum,
belong to the same monarch. The names are (1) Epar tallik epus
nabakha, " He ran and barked ;" (2) Musetsu limnuti, " the producer

288 LECTURE IV.
Ionian dog was otherwise regarded. Merodach and the
dog were brought into connection with one another.
The beneficent god of later Babylonian religion owned
four divine hounds, named Ukkumu, "the seizer," Akkulu,
"the devourer," Iksuda, "the capturer," and Iltebu,
" the pursuer."1 We may suspect that the dogs were not
always sent on errands of mercy, and that originally they
had been devastating winds who followed in the track of
a death-dealing god. An incantation begins with the
words : "0 Merodach, the lord of death, thy hand esta
blishes the house of light,"2 where perhaps we have a
tradition of the age when Merodach was not as yet the
god who raises the dead to bfe, but the god of death
only. At all events, the hounds appear in no favourable
character in the fragment of a legend which related to
the shepherd Matsarat-pi-baladhi (?).3 After a reference
to Eimmon, the shepherd's heart is told to rejoice because
of the message sent him by Ea through the lips of Mero
dach. "(Ea) has heard thee," it is said to him; "when
the great dogs" assault thee, then "Matsarat-pi-baladhi,
shepherd of the flock, seize them from behind and lay
them down. Hold them and overcome them. Strike
their head, pierce (nihi) their breast. An expedition
they are gone ; never may they return ! With the wind
of mischief;" (3) Dayan rits-su, "the judge of his companions;" (4)
Munasiku gari-su, " the biter of his foes ;" (5) Kasid abi, " the seizer of
enemies." See Houghton on " The Mammalia of the Assyrian Sculp
tures" in the Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch. v. 1.
1 W. A. I. ii. 56, 22—25. Etebu may be derived from lahbu, "to
be violent."
2 E2. 11. 153. Rev. 7,8.
3 K 2546. The name is written ennun-ka-ti, " watch of the mouth
of life."

PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. 289
may they go, with the storm above it ! Take their road
and cut off theb going. Seize their mouth, seize their
mouth, seize theb weapons ! Seize theb teeth (sut), and
make them ascend, by the command of Ea, the lord of
wisdom ; by the command of the Sun-god, the lord of all
that is above ; by the command of Merodach, the lord of
revelation" (bar-bar-ti). The recitation of this curious
legend formed part of a religious ceremony, and was
ordered to be followed by the triple repetition of a prayer
"before the god Azag-suga." This god, as we have
seen, was primarily a goat, and it was no doubt on this
account that a portion of an old poem about a shepherd
who had driven away the dogs from his flock was intro
duced into the service. The poem, however, like the
service, transports us to Semitic days; the dog has
become a hateful creature, and what divinity he has is
of a demoniac character.
Unlike the dog, the ox remained in honour among the
Babylonians, and the mythologists accordingly did not
wholly forget that one at least of "the great gods" had
once been identified with this animal. An early geogra
phical list calls Dapara, " the mountain of the Bub-god,"
the country of crystal j1 and that this was to be sought
hi southern Babylonia is indicated by the name of the
Uknu, the river of "crystal." There is some evidence
that the primitive Bull-god was Merodach himseb. Ea
and his wife had each two divine "bulls" attached to
them, those of Ea being named "the god of the field of
Eden" and "the god of the house of Eden."2 These
bull-gods must be distinguished from the colossal figures,
1 W. A. I. ii. 51, 13. 2 W. A. I. ii. 56, 59—62.

290 LECTURE IV.
the winged bulls, that guarded the entrance to a temple.1
We may speak of the latter as "Assyrian bubs," but
such was never their name among either Babylonians or
Assyrians. To them they represented divine beings, the
gods or genii of the household, in fact, but not bulls. The
face was wanting which was needed to transform the
colossus into an image of the animal. The human head
showed that the creature was endowed with humanity
as much as Ea-bani, the friend of Gisdhubar, whose
body terminated in the legs of a goat, but who was
nevertheless in all respects a man. The bull-like body
of the divine guardians of the household symbolised
strength, at all events to the Semitic Babylonian, who
persistently paraphrased the Aceadian word for "bub,"
when used as a proper name, by words that denoted
"hero" and "strong one." The winged bulls and the
divine bulls of Eridu were not one and the same, however
much the imagination of a later day may have tended to
confound them together.
The fact that the two great deities of Eridu were thus
attended by a body-guard of divine bubs, makes us in
clined to connect the Bull-god of Dapara very closely
indeed with the city of Eridu. We need not be astonished,
therefore, at finding Merodach entitled in early astrono
mical literature Gudi-bir, " the bull of light." The sky,
as we have seen, was regarded as a second Babylonian
plain, over which the sun ploughed his way along the
ecliptic or " furrow of heaven." The pole-star was called
1 In Aceadian, alad and lamma ; in Assyrian, s&du, buhidu and
lamaddu. The last word seems to have been borrowed from the Acea
dian lamma in its primitive form (lamas). Alad is " the spirit/' from
ala, with the suffix d(a).

PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. 291
its "yoke,"1 and Jupiter, the nearest of the planets to
the ecbptic, was known as Lubat-Gudibfr, "the wether"
or "planet of the Bub of Light." The Bull of Light,
therefore, was himself the ploughman of the celestial
fields, the Sun-god who trod his steady path through the
heavenly signs, like the patient ox who dragged the plough
through the fields below. It was as the Sun-god, moving
through the twelve Zodiacal signs of the year, that Mero
dach, it is asserted, was known by this particular name.
Now the explanation of the name of Gudibb as Mero
dach, the Sun-god, comes from a tablet which seems to
have been a philological commentary on the astronomical
works compiled for the court of Sargon of Accad. We
know that Sargon's patronage of science produced the
great standard Babylonian work on astronomy and astro
logy, in seventy-two books, which went under the name
of the " Observations of Bel." It was translated into
Greek by the Chaldaean historian Berossos, and large
portions of it, including a table of contents, are among
the tablets found on the site of the library of Kouyunjik.
In the course of centuries it had undergone a large
amount of interpolation and addition; marginal glosses
had crept into the text, and new paragraphs had been
inserted recording the observations that had been made

1 Or rather, perhaps, the constellation of Draco generally, o Dra-
conis being at the time the pole-star. The star (or constellation) was
called mu-bu-khir-da in Aceadian, which the Semitic astronomers
paraphrased by "the star of Anu, the arbiter (mamit) of heaven"
(W. A. I. ii 47, 16), and more literally " the yoke of heaven" (v. 18,
24). The Aceadian (or rather Sumerian) is probably to be read gusir
kesda, "yoke of the enclosure." Gidra and gidrara, gidda, giddilla and
gunirra, are given as dialectical forms of the Aceadian word for "yoke"
(W. A. I. v, 18. 17, 19, 20, 21; 15, 28).

292

LECTURE IV.

by the astronomers and astrologers of Babylonia during
the whole length of the historical period. In the form,
therefore, in which it was edited for the library of
Nineveh, it was very different from the original work
that had been composed by the orders of Sargon. Old
and new matter had been mixed up in it, and the enlarge
ments introduced into it had probably nearly doubled its
original size. But the original work was itseb a com
pilation of records and observations that had been made
during an untold number of previous years. These
records and observations had for the most part been
written in Aceadian ; the result being that, although the
astronomy of the Chaldaeans, as we know it, is purely
Semitic in form and character, many of its technical
terms are non-Semitic, as web as the names of the celestial
bodies. Hence it is that we find a remarkable inconsis
tency between certain facts reported by the astronomical
tablets and the astronomical system which they set before
us. This astronomical system is based upon the assump
tion that the sun enters the first point of the constellation
Aries at the time of the vernal equinox. The system
must therefore have come into existence later than the
26th century before the Christian era, when Aries first
became the starting-point of the Zodiacal signs. But
the signs themselves were named, and the path of the
sun through them was mapped out, when the vernal
equinox still coincided with the sun's entrance, not into
Aries, but into Taurus. The whole pre-Semitic nomen
clature of the Zodiacal signs, and the months of the year
that correspond to them, rests on the supposition that the
Zodiacal bull ushers in the vernal year. Its Aceadian
name was "the directing Bull," the bull that directs

PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. 293
the course of the year ; and the sign which faced it, the
Scorpion of a later age, was correspondingly termed the
star "that is opposite to the foundation" of the year.
We can now understand why the Sun-god Merodach,
whom even the astronomers of the historical period con
tinued to identby with the typical constebations of the
twelve months of the year,1 should have been entitled
" the Bull of Light" in the primitive astronomical records.
He was, in fact, the celestial bub who ploughed the
the great furrow of the sky, and from whom the first
sign of the Zodiac borrowed its name. We may see in
him the prototype of that famous bub of later legend
whom Anu created in order to avenge upon Gisdhubar
the slight offered by the latter to Istar. The Sun-god
eventuaby became the monster slain by a solar hero.
Such are the results of time working upon the half -for
gotten beliefs and tales of an earlier age.
While in some instances the old totemistic conceptions
were evaded by the degeneration of a god into a mere
animal, in others the reverse process took place, the
bestial element being eliminated from the nature of the
god. It was thus that "the divine storm-bird" of the
ancient Aceadian faith passed into the god Zu of the
Semitic epoch. " The divine storm-bbd" was a ravenous
bbd of prey, of large size and sharp beak, who darted on
its spoil and devoured the flesh. The Semitic Babylonians
identified it with their Zu, partly because su signified a
1 W. A. I. iii. 53, 2. In Nisan, the first month, he was accordingly
identified with Dun-kun-e, " the hero of the rising dawn," or Mercury,
who is elsewhere called " the prince of the men of Harran" (iii. 67, 28),
in consequence of the cult that was carried on there. In Adar, the last
month, he was "the fish of Ea" or Pisces. "The Bull of heaven"
(Gud-ana) is mentioned in iii. 53, 56

294 , LECTURE IV.
"stormy wind," partly because a species of vulture was
called by the same name. But the conception of the
tempest as a bbd which rushes on its prey is common to
many mythologies. In Aryan mythology the storm-
cloud appears under the varying forms of the eagle, the
woodpecker, and the robin redbreast, the sacred bird of
Thor; while in Chinese folk-lore the storm-bbd is "a
bird which in flying obscures the sun and of whose quills
are made water-tuns." The roc of the Arabian Nights,
with its wings ten thousand fathoms in width, and its
egg which it was a sin in Aladdin to wish to take from
the place where it hung, is but an echo of the Chinese
storm-bird. It is in the nest of the storm-bird that the
tempest is brewed; it swoops upon the earth with the rush
of his wings, and the lightning itself is but the gleam
of his flight. Even a poet of to-day instinctively speaks
of the curlews as "dreary gleams about the moorland
flying over Locksley Hall."
"The divine storm-bbd" was known as Lugal-banda,
"the lusty king," and was the patron deity of the city
of Marad, near Sippara. He brought the lightning, the
fire of heaven, from the gods to men, giving them at
once the knowledge of fire and the power of reading the
future in the flashes of the storm. Like Prometheus,
therefore, he was an outcast from the gods. He had
stolen theb treasures and secret wisdom, and had com
municated them to mankind. In Babylonia, as in Greece,
the divine benefactor of primitive humanity was doomed
to suffer. The knowledge and the artificial warmth man
has gained are not the free gbts of the gods ; they have
been wrenched from them by guile; and though man
has been allowed to retain them, his divine friend and

PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. 295
benefactor is condemned to punishment. The culture-
god of totemistic Marad is thus a very different being
from the culture-god of Eridu; both, indeed, are clad
in animal form; but whereas the fish-god of Eridu is
the wbling and unhindered communicator of civilisation,
whose successor, Merodach, becomes a god of light and
healing, the bfrd-god of Marad is a pariah among his,
divine brethren, hunted out of heaven by the great gods,
and wresting from them by craft man's future knowledge
of good and evb. It was only in the later syncretic age,
when these uglier facts of the earlier mythology were
glossed over or forgotten, that the divine "bull" was
described as "the offspring of the god Zu" (W. A. I. iv.
23, 19).
The scribes of Assur-bani-pal have preserved for us
the mutilated copy of a bilingual poem, or part of a
poem, which recounted the flight of Zu to the mountain
of 'Sabu or Kis. It begins thus : 1
" Lugal-tudda (fled) to the mountain a place remote
In the hill of 'Sabu he (dwelt).
No mother inhabits it and (cares for him).
No father inhabits it and (associates) with him.
No priest2 who knows him (assists him).
He who (changed) not the resolution, even the resolution of his
heart,
in his own heart (he kept) his resolution.
Into the likeness of a bird was he transformed,
into the likeness of Zu the divine storm-bird was he transformed.
His wife uplifts the neck.3
The wife of Zu, the son of Zu, may he cause them to dwell in a
 cage, 
1 W. A. I. iv. 14, No. 1.
2 Kal, "the gallus -priest" in the Aceadian. The Semitic version
has aqru, "noble."
3 Assyrian tu(lle) ; see W. A. I. iv. 15, 41.

296 LECTURE IV.
even the god of the river-reeds (Enna) and the goddess the lady
of the basket of river-reeds (Gu-enna).1
From his mountain he brought (her),
as a woman fashioned2 for a mother made beautiful,3
the goddess of plants,4 as a woman fashioned for a mother made
beautiful.
Her paps5 were of white crystal ;
her thighs6 were bathed in silver and gold.
[Here follow many mutilated lines.]
On (his) head he placed a circlet ;
.... on his head he set a coronal
(when) he came from the nest of the god Zu.
(In a place) unknown in the mountain he made his tomb."
It will be seen that the identity of the god Zu with a
bird is explained in accordance with the ideas of a modern
time. It has become a transformation voluntarily under
gone by the deity, for the sake, as it would seem, of
securing a beautiful bride. The old faith of totemism is
1 Nin-Gu-enna was resolved into the Semitic Bilat-ili (W. A. I. ii.
55, 11); but according to W.A.I, iii. 67, 56, she was peculiarly the
utuk, or " spirit of the temple of Mu . . ." The Gu-enna, or guardian
of the river, was the title of an officer (K 177, 30).
2 Not " clever," as Lyon.
3 In the Semitic translation : " a mother who has been appointed
for beauty."
4 In the Aceadian original, Nin-ka-si. Her nine sons are enumerated
in W. A. I. iii. 68, 25—32, the eldest being 'Siris, " the goddess of
plants," herself ! Among the others are " the god of the pure tongue,"
''the god of the strong tongue," "the god of the beautiful tongue,"
"the god of the palate of the fat mouth," and "the god who is not
powerful." Nin-ka-si should probably be read Nin-gu-siga, "lady of
the full mouth."
5 Aceadian kakkul. The Assyrian mazu is the Hebrew rtTtt, and
means "to suck," not " to pour out," as Zimmern supposes. Namzitum
is also found in K161. iii 24, and E358, 4 (where it signifies "a
bowl"). 6 Comp. W. A. I. ii. 1, 175, and 41, 53. The Aceadian seems to be
[lam-di-~\di.

PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. 297
thus changing into a fairy-tale. But there were other
stories which remembered that the transformation of the
god was not the voluntary act it is here represented to
have been. A long but broken text explains why it was
that he had to take refuge in the mountain of 'Sabu
under the guise of a bbd of prey. We learn that Zu
gazed upon the work and duties of Mul-lil; "he sees
the crown of his majesty, the clothing of his divinity,
the tablets of destiny, and Zu himseb, and he sees also
the father of the gods, the bond of heaven and earth.
The desire to be Bel (Mul-lil) is taken in his heart ; yea,
he sees the father of the gods, the bond of heaven and
earth ; the desbe to be Bel is taken in his heart : ' Let me
seize the tablets of destiny of the gods, and the laws of
ab the gods let me establish (lukhmum) ; let my throne
be set up, let me seize the oracles ; let me urge on the
whole of all of them, even the spbits of heaven.' So his
heart devised opposition; at the entrance to the forest
where he was gazing he waited with his head (intent)
during the day. When Bel pours out the pure waters,
his crown was placed on the throne, stripped from (his
head). The tablets of destiny (Zu) seized with his hand ;
the attributes of Bel he took; he debvered the oracles.
(Then) Zu fled away and sought his mountains. He
raised a tempest, making (a storm)."
Then Mul-lil, " the father and councillor " of the gods,
consulted his brother divinities, going round to each in
turn. Anu was the first to speak. He " opened his
mouth, he speaks, he says to the gods his sons : ' (Who
ever will,) let him subjugate Zu, and (among all) men
let the destroyer pursue him (?).' (To Eimmon) the first
born, the strong, Anu declares (his) command, even to

298 LECTURE IV.
him : ... '0 Eimmon, protector (?), may thy power of
fighting never fail ! (Slay) Zu with thy weapon. (May
thy name) be magnified in the assembly of the great gods.
(Among) the gods thy brethren (may it destroy) the
rival. May incense (?) (etarsi) be offered, and may
shrines be built ! (In) the four (zones) may they esta
blish thy strongholds. May they magnby thy fortress
that it become a fane of power in the presence of the
gods, and may thy name be mighty?' (Eimmon)
answered the command, (to Anu) his father he utters
the word : ' (0 my father, to a mountain) none has seen
mayest thou assign (him) ; (never may) Zu play the thief
(again) among the gods thy sons ; (the tablets of destiny)
his hand has taken; (the attributes of Bel) he seized, he
delivered the oracles ; (Zu) has fled away and has sought
his mountains.' " Eimmon goes on to decline the task,
which is accordingly laid upon another god, but with
like result. Then Anu turns to Nebo : " (To Nebo), the
strong one, the eldest son of Istar, (Anu declares his
will) and addresses him : ... ' O Nebo, protector (?),
never may thy power of fighting fab ! (Slay) Zu with
thy weapon. May (thy name) be magnified in the as
sembly of the great gods ! Among the gods thy brethren
(may it destroy) the rival ! May incense (?) be offered
and may shrines be built ! In the four zones may thy
strongholds be estabbshed ! May they magnify thy
stronghold that it become a fane of power in the presence
of the gods, and may thy name be mighty ! ' Nebo
answered the command : ' 0 my father, to a mountain
none hast seen mayest thou assign (him) ; never may Zu
play the thief (again) among the gods thy sons ! The
tablets of destiny his hand has taken ; the attributes of

PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. 299
Bel he has seized ; he has debvered the oracles ; Zu is
fled away and (has sought) his mountains.' " Like Eim
mon, Nebo also refused to hunt down and slay his brother
god, the consequence being, as we have seen, that Zu
escaped with his lbe, but was changed into a bbd, and
had to live an exbe from heaven for the rest of time.
The " divine storm-bird," however, who invested him
self by stealth with the attributes of Mul-lil, and carried
the knowledge of futurity to mankind, served to unite
the two species of augury which read the future in the
flight of bbds and the flash of the lightning. The first
species was but a branch of the general pseudo-science
which discovered coming events from the observation of
animals and theb actions, while the second species was
closely allied to the belief that in the thunder men heard
the voice of the gods. The old behef marked its impress
upon Hebrew as well as upon Assyro-Babylonian thought.
" The voice of thy thunder was in the whirlwind,'' says
the Bsahnist;1 and nothing can show more clearly what
must once have been the Canaanitish faith than the poetic
imagery of another Psalm (xxix.) : " The voice of the
Lord is upon the waters ; the God of glory thundereth ;
the Lord is upon many waters. The voice of the Lord is
powerful ; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The
voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars; yea, the Lord
breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. . . . The voice of the
Lord shaketh the wilderness ; the Lord shaketh the wil
derness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord maketh the
hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests." In the
Talmud, " the voice of the Lord" has become the bath qol,
1 Ps. lxxvii. 18.

300 LECTURE IV.
or " daughter of the voice," a supernatural message from
heaven which sometimes proceeded from the Holy of
Holies, sometimes, like the Saifioviov of Socrates, assumed
the form of an intuition directing the recipient as to his
course in bfe.1
This prophetic voice of heaven was heard m the thunder
by the Accadians as well as by the Semites. I have
already noticed that the Accadians believed the sounds
of nature to be divine voices, from which the initiated
could derive a knowledge of the future. At Eridu it
was more especially the roar of the sea in which the
Sumerian priest listened to the revelations of his deities,
and this perhaps was the oracle through which Oannes
had spoken to men. In the rival city of northern Baby
lonia, where the supreme god presided over the realm of
the dead, and not over the waters of the sea, the divine
voice came to men in the thunder. By the side of Mul-
lil, the lord of the ghost -world, stood Mul-me-sarra
(Wul-mo-sara), " the lord of the voice of the firmament."
Mul-me-sarra, in fact, was but Mul-bl himseb in another
form, and hence, as lord of Hades, was the author, not
only of the thunder, but of subterranean noises as well.
It is thus that he is addressed hi a hymn, which is, how
ever, not older than the Semitic period : 2
1 See Dr. S. Louis in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical
Archaeology, Ap. 6, 1886, pp. 117, 118.
2 K 48. It is probably quite late, but embodies earlier ideas. There
is no Aceadian text attached to it. On the reverse, which is almost
entirely destroyed, mention is made of " six hymns" to Samas, Mero
dach and Anu, besides other hymns to Merodach which had to be
recited on the north side of the altar, and a hymn or hymns to Nusku
on the east side of it. "Altogether," it is stated, "there are fifteen
hymns (to be saidj on the north and east sides. On the west, nine

PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. 301
" 0 lord of the voice of the firmament, lord of the earth, prince of
Hades,
lord of the place1 and the mountain from whence none returns,
even the mountain of the spirits of earth,
ordainer of the laws of the earth, the mighty bond of heaven and
earth,
mighty lord, in whose absence Nin-girdu will not direct in garden
and canal, will not create the crop (appuna) ;
lord of the fetter (umasi), who in his might rules the earth,
strengthening the broad (earth), holding the bolts of the lower
world,
giving sceptre and reign to Anu and Mul-lil ;
by thy command let the foundation-stone of this place
last long before thee at all seasons ;2
like the seat of thy lordship let it be a judgment-hall on earth.
Upon it may Anu, Bel and Ea firmly establish the throne."
Perhaps Mul-me-sarra is also the deity who is addressed
in another hymn3 as "the warrior-god (Erimmu), the
bright one, the sword (or lightning) of Istar," and of
whom it is said: "May he give thee rest with kindly
hand (rittu), may he rain life and tranquillity upon thee
with his hand ! " Under the name of Iskhara, Istar herself
was called "the sword" or "lightning of heaven," and
as such was identified with the constellation of the
Scorpion;4 and the hand of the goddess Bunene is enti
tled "the inundator of the bghtning," that of the Ela-
mite god Lagamar being "the inundator of the earth,"
hymns to Assur, Mul-me-sarra, the Sun of midday, Laz (?), and the
Hero-god (Dun) who quiets the heart, Bel of cattle, the Lady of cattle,
Bel of the pure mound (Birs-i-Nimrud), (and) the Lady of the pure
mound. Offer sacrifices, lay reeds which have been cut up, offer food
and oil ; let the hand of the prince take honey and butter, the food of
the god of revelations (bar-bar), and recite the following."
1 Asri, possibly for asari, " destruction," here.
2 Or, perhaps, "aU the cardinal points" (im-kak-a-bi).
3 K2. 111. 150. Obv. 4 K4195, 8—10.

302 LECTURE IV.
and that of the god of impurity "the inundator of the
crown (?)."1
The voices heard by the Babylonian in nature, however,
were not a whit more sacred to him than the inarticulate
voice which found expression hi the name. Like all
primitive peoples, the Chaldaeans confounded the person
and the name by which he was known. The name, in
fact, was the personality, and whatever happened to the
name would happen equally to the personality. Injury
could be done to a person by using his name in a spell ;
and, similarly, to pronounce the name of a deity compelled
him to attend to the wishes of the priest or exorcist.
As among the ancient Egyptians, the secret names of
the gods — many of them heirlooms from a primaeval age,
whose actual meaning was forgotten — were not only
especially holy, but also especially efficacious. Names,
consequently, Hke the persons or things they represented,
were in themselves of good and evil omen; and the
Babylonian would have sympathised with the feeling
which made the Eoman change Maleventum into Bene-
ventum, or has caused the Cape of Storms to become the
Cape of Good Hope. Whether this superstition about
oames was of purely Semitic origin, or whether it was
shared in by the Accadians, we have no means of deter
mining at present ; the analogy of other races, however,
in a corresponding stage of social development would
lead us to infer that the superstition was the independent
possession of Accadians and Semites alike. At all events,
it was deeply imprmted upon the Semitic mind. The
sacredness attached to the name of the God of Israel
1 K 220, Rev.

PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. 303
among the later Jews, and the frequent employment of
the name for the person of the Lord, bear witness to the
fact. When Moses was ordained to his mission of lead
ing his people out of Egypt and forming them into a
nation, it was prefaced by what was henceforth to be
the sacred and national name of theb God.
There were names of good fortune and names of evil
fortune,1 and special significance was attached to a
change of name. Three successive usurpers of the throne
of Assyria — Pul, Ululat or Ilulaios, and the father of
Sennacherib — all discarded their old names on the suc
cessful accomplishment of their usurpation. Pul and
Ululi adopted those of the two famous monarchs of the
older Assyrian dynasty, Tiglath-Pileser and Shalmaneser,
retaining theb original designations only in Babylonia,
where the names they had adopted were associated with
ideas of hostility and invasion; while Sargon, who claimed
to be lord of Babylonia as well as of Assyria, identified
himseb with the past glories of the ancient kingdom by
taking the name of Sargon of Accad. The adoption of
these time-honoured names of itseii conferred legitimacy
upon the new claimants of the throne; along with the
name they inherited the title and the elaim to veneration
of those who had borne them. It must have been for a
similar reason that Esar-haddon's name, according to
Sennacherib, was changed to that of Assur-etil-yukin-
abla, "Assur the hero has established the son," "for
affection's sake,"2 though the prince preferred to retain
his earlier appellation of Esar-haddon or Assur-akh-
1 W. A. I. v. 27, 49—52.
2 Ki ruha, W.A.I, iii. 16, 3. Possibly the change of name was
occasioned by the death of an elder brother.

304 • LECTURE IV.
iddina, " Assur has given the brother," after his accession
to the throne. We are reminded of the records of the
Jews, from which we learn that Jedidiah became the
Solomon of later history, and the Pharaoh of Egypt
"turned the name" of Eliakim into Jehoiakim.
The preservation of their names was a matter about
which the kings of Babylonia and Assyria were especially
anxious. Terrible curses are denounced against those
who should destroy or injure "the writing of theb
names," and substitute theb own names instead. On
the other hand, the gods are invoked to allow the names
of the kings to last " for ever," or to " guide their names
aright." Even captured cities have theb names altered
in token of conquest, and it is possible that the scru
pulous care with which the names of foreign potentates
are recorded in the Assyrian annals, as well as the interest
shown by both Babylonians and Assyrians in the lan
guages of theb neighbours, had to do with the peculiar
respect they paid to the name.
In the ancient hymns, the phrase, " mankind, what
soever be theb name," is of frequent occurrence, and
seems to signby that as the special favours of the gods
could be showered only on those whose names were recited,
a vague and general expression of the kind would avoid
the difficulty of enumerating by its own name each divi
sion of the human race. So, too, when the author of a
penitential psalm speaks of a god or goddess whom he
"knew not," it is probable that he is thereby deprecating
the wrath of some offended deity with whose name he is
unacquainted.1 A hymn to the creator calls upon him
1 A fragment from the great medical work (M. 1101, Obv. 3 — 14),
in which the patient is allowed his choice of a practitioner's receipt or

PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. 305
under his various names to dbect the laws of the world,
to raise the dead to life, to overthrow the wicked and
hostbe, and to guide the stars of heaven, and puts into
the mouth of Ea the foHowing words : " Since his name
has made his offspring strong, let his name be Ea even
as mine is ; all the bonds of my laws may he carry (to
them) ; all my secret wisdom may he bear away, through
the fifty names of the great gods." After this, it is said,
his hearers " pronounced his fifty names and wrote down
his precepts."1 As " the great gods" were fifty in num
ber,2 the ascription of theb fifty names to the creator
was equivalent to identifying him with all of them.
When they lost theb names, they lost their individual
personality as web.
Closely connected with the mystical importance thus
assigned to names was the awe and dread with which
the curse or excommunication was regarded. Once uttered
with the appropriate ceremonies, the binding of knots
and the invocation of divine names, it was a spell which
even the gods were powerless to resist. In Assyrian it

a charm, makes this pretty clear. The whole passage runs : " Cut up
some eyebright (?), the slice of a bird, the tongue of a dog, the plant
that grows in the plain, the flesh of the daslum, and the golden kakis
of the sheep (kakis lunum khuratsi, a species of grebe, according to
Houghton), and compound these six ingredients: (or make a khutesitiya
of herbs, offer beer, and repeat a spell seven times to the heart :) drink
the mixture in wine ; continue drinking (it) for three days, and on the
fourth day your health will be restored. (This is)- the spell : ' Thou,
whoever he is, who like a road has determined the path,' (which) repeat
in addition : ' The god, whoever he is, who like a road has determined
the path, like long-drawn brandings (ke sadduti) he has loved my
ganni.'" 1 See above, p. 141.
2 K 4629, Rev.

306 LECTURE IV.
was called the mamit, in Aceadian the sabba,1 and was
naturally considered to be divine. In Aceadian, Mami
had been a goddess ;2 the borrowed Assyrian deity, there
fore, assumed the Semitic feminine termination. In the
tenth book of the Epic of Gisdhubar, the goddess Mam-
metu, as her name is there spelt, is called "the maker of
fate" who "has fixed the destinies" of mankind, "along
with" the spirits of the earth ; " she has established death
and lbe, but the days of death are unknown."3
Mamit thus bore a striking resemblance to the Eate
of the Eomans and the Ate of the Greeks. Like Ate,
her operations were usually conceived of as evil. Just as
Namtar, the plague-demon, was also the personification
of doom and destiny, so too Mamit was emphatically
the concrete curse. If she established life as well as
death, it was only because the term of lbe is fixed by
death; death, and not life, was the real sphere of her
work. Hence the mamit was known among the Acca
dians as the (nam-) erima or "hostile doom;" and though
Anu, as we have seen, might as the pole-star be called
" the mamit of heaven," it is in no friendly guise that the
mamit is presented to us in the magical texts. It was,
1 In Sumerian, dagga, from an earlier dangua, perhaps connected
with danga, "a bond," whence the Semitic danaqu, "to bind." A
special class of priests, "attached," like the Levites, to particular sanc
tuaries, took their name from danga.
2 W. A. I. ii. 51, 55, " Mami the queen." " The river of Mami the
queen" seems to have been near Cutha, since both it and " the river of
the companion of Mami" come between " the river of the fortress of
Nergal" and " the river of the place of ascent of Laz." In K 220, Obv.
27, the goddess Mamiti is mentioned immediately before Nin-gur, "the
lady of the abyss."
8 Haupt, Babylonische Nimrodepos, p. 66. The Aceadian equiva
lents of " the maker of fate" are given in W. A. I. v. 9, 10.

PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. 307
in fact, like the power of excommunication in the Middle
Ages, the most terrible weapon that could be used by the
priestly exorcist. Eor the power of invoking the aid of
the goddess Mamit by pronouncing the curse was com
pletely in his hands. All that was needed was the per
formance of certain rites and the repetition of certain
words. Armed with the magic wand,1 he could lay the
terrible excommunication on the head of his enemy, and
cause it to issue forth from the body of his friend. " Let
the mamit come forth that I may see the light," is one of
the petitions we meet with in the tablets ;2 and Tiglath-
Pileser I. states that after his conquest of the kings of
Nahri he " freed them, prisoners and bound as they were,
in the presence of the Sun-god (his) lord, and made them
swear to be his servants from henceforth and for ever,
under pain of the curse (mamit) of (his) great gods."3
In the hymns the mamit occupies a conspicuous place.
Thus we read :
" The river-god is bright like the digger of the ground. The curse
(flies) before him ; its cry (is) like that of a demon.4 All the land
glows like the height of the sunset-horizon. May the sun at his rising
remove the darkness, and may there never be gloom in the house. May
the curse go forth to the desert, to a pure place. O spirit of heaven,
conjure the curse; O spirit of earth, conjure it ! — The formula for undo
ing the curse when the water of the river surrounds a man."5
1 Called gilgillum in Assyrian, "the reed of doom" in Aceadian
(W. A. I. ii. 24. 2, 3). In a ritual text (1266, 1—6) the worshipper
is ordered to come into the presence of Ea, and, turning his face to the
rising sun, to " place the point (gir) of the reed of the free-will offerings
and the reed of the priests (qan nindabi qan urugalli), the implements
(unut) of the gods as many as exist, the implements of the sons of the
people." 2 W. A. I. iv. 7, 7. 3 W. A. I. i 13. Col. v. 12—16.
4 In the Aceadian, "the monstrous beast."
» W.A.I, iv. 14, No. 2.
x2

308 LECTURE IV.
Another hymn begins in the following way :
" 0 curse, curse, the boundary that none can pass ! The limit of
the gods (themselves) against which they may not transgress I The
limit of heaven and earth which altereth not ! The unique god against
whom none may sin ! ' Neither god nor man can undo (it). A snare
not to be passed through, which is set for evil. Whether an evil utuk,
or an evil alu, or an evil ekimmu, or an evil gallu, or an evil god, or an
evil incubus, or a labartu, or a labatsu, or an aJdikha.ru, or a lilu, or a
lilat, or the maid of a lilu, or the evil plague-demon, or a disease-bring
ing asakku, or a bad sickness, which has set its head towards the drop
ping2 water of Ea, may the snare of Ea seize it ! which has stretched
its head against3 the wisps of Nirba (the Corn-god), may the lasso of
Nirba bind it! Against the limitation (of the curse) it has transgressed.
Never may (the limitation) of the gods, the limitation of heaven and
earth, depart from it. (The limitation of the great) gods it reverences
not. May (the lasso of) the great gods bind it ! May the great gods
curse it ! May they send back (the demon) to (his) home! The home
of (his) habitation may they cause him to enter ! As for him who has
turned to another place, to another place, a place invisible, may they
bring him ! As for him who has turned into the gate of the house,
the gate of a place from whence there is no exit may they cause him
to enter ! As for him who has stationed himself in the door and bolts,
in the door and bolts may they bind him with bonds from which there
is no release ! As for him who has blown (?) into the threshold and
socket, who into threshold and hinge has crept, like water may they-
pour him out, like a cup may they shatter him, like a quarry-stone
may they break him to pieces ! As for him who has passed across the
beam, his wings may they cut ! As for him who has thrust his neck
into the chamber, may they twist his neck !"4
This is a fair sample of the incantations by means of
which the Babylonians believed that they could free
1 The Assyrian plays upon another meaning of the Aceadian word,
and renders, " whom none may humble." Jensen is mistaken in con
sidering the Assyrian word to stand for musepilu.
2 "Tidal" seems to be meant. In W. A. I. iv. 3. 15, 16, izarrurn
is interchanged with inattuku, " spits out," as a rendering of biz-biz-ene
(alternate renderings being, "thy weapon is the great monster \usum-
f/allu] which from its mouth spits out the breath" or "drips blood").
s Assyrian, " drips upon." 4 W. A. I. iv. 16, No. 1.

PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. 309
themselves from the demoniac agencies that surrounded
them. The power of the mamit was such that the gods
themselves could not transgress it, and the mamit was
accordingly invoked to protect the mortal from the demons
of plague and sickness. But the plague itseb might be
regarded as a mamit or " doom" inflicted by heaven upon
the guilty earth. Such is the view taken in the following
fragment, which I once compared with the Biblical account
of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Perhaps
the doom of Sennacherib's host may furnish a closer
parallel : x
" A darkness came from the middle of the deep,
The doom des(cended) from the midst of the heaven,
The sword (mowed down) the earth like grass ;
Towards the four winds the flash (went) overthrowing like fire.
It sickened the men of the city, it tortured their bodies.
In city and land it caused lamentation; smaU and great2 (alike)
it (smote).
Freeman and handmaid it bound ; with wailing it filled (them).
In heaven and earth Hke a storm-cloud it rained ; it made a prey.
To the place of supplication of their god they hastened and raised
high the voice.
They received his mighty (aid) and like a garment it concealed
(them).
They .... him and the poison (was expelled ?).
(they embraced) his feet.
[The next line is completely destroyed]*
his body was tried.
(In lamentation) he smites3 his breast."
The Babylonian, at all events in early times, did not
1 W. A. I. iv. 9, No. 1.
2 In the Aceadian original the order is reversed : "great and small."
3 Udannis ; cf. S 949, Rev. 17, ina kuri u sakparim ramani udannis,
"with scourges and in expiation I beat myself." Zimmern misreads
utannis, "he weakens."

310 LECTURE IV.
hold a very consistent theory about the origin of disease.
On the one hand, all sickness was ascribed to demoniacal
possession ; the demon had been eaten with the food, or
drunk with the water, or breathed in with the ab, and
until he could be expelled there was no chance of recovery.
But, on the other hand, a pestilence, an epidemic, which
swept over a whole country, was regarded with the
same feelings of awe-struck veneration as the greater
gods themselves. It was believed to be an instrument
in theb hands for punishing the sins and shortcomings
of mankind. As we shall see, the same theory was held
by the authors of the penitential psalms in respect of
maladies that attacked some single individual only ; but
it was the general persuasion when a wide-reaching cala
mity like a plague afflicted the country. The plague
consequently was held to be a divine being who was sent
by the gods, like the storm or the deluge, to take ven
geance on men for theb misdeeds.
But this plague-god could be viewed under two aspects.
Under the older one he was Namtar, the plague-demon,
who was the minister of the gods of the lower world and
the arbiter of human fate. In Semitic times the minister
of divine anger approached more nearly the Jewish con
ception of the angel of death. He was himseb a god,
and had under his command not only the " seven gods,"
but also a special messenger, Isum or Itak, " the street-
traverser."1 Isum was represented by the colossi which

1 On a cylinder in the possession of Dr. Huggins ; also in W. A. I.
iv. 2. 23, 24, where the word "traverser" is represented by nagir, and
the Aceadian name of Isum — 'Sig-sagga, "the head of destruction" — is
given. Like the seven evil spirits, Isum was regarded as having the
form of a whirlwind.

PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. 311
stood at the approach to a temple;1 his master's name
was Nerra (Nera), who, as we have seen, was one and
the same as Nergal, the god of the dead. Nerra, "the
warrior of the gods," as he is termed, appears in an old
legend, first brought to light by Mr. George Smith, as
bringing death and desolation upon the states of Ba
bylonia, apparently in consequence of theb evil-doing.
" Anu had heard" the report of the seven gods who had,
perhaps, been sent to investigate what was going on upon
the earth. Accordingly he summoned Nerra ; "Let thy
hands march," he said, "since the inhabitants of the
country have seditiously broken their bond ; 2 and I have
set thy heart to cause desolation ; 3 thou shalt strike the
people of the black heads unto death with the desolation (?)
of the god Ner ; may thy weapons be their sword of
destruction, and let thy hands go !"4
Babylon is one of the first cities to feel the destroying
sword of the Chaldaean angel of death. It is besieged by
its foes, and during the siege, the sword, the famine and
the plague are let loose in its streets. Mul-lil is repre
sented as looking on, and at last saying in " his heart : "
" Nerra is crouching at his great gate among the corpses of the noble
and the slave : Nerra is crouching at the gate ; thou hast set his seat
(there). Their foes have besieged the men of Babylon,5 and thou art
1 W.A.I. ii. 50, 10.
2 Ki sa nisi dadme khubur-sina ka-ka imkhatstsu.
8 Vbld-va libba-ka ana sakan kamarri. Kamarri is not "snare" here.
4 Zalmat-kakkadi ana sumutti taqqud puqu an Ner ; lu kakki-ka iz-
QiR-ti-sunu-va lilliku iddka.
5 The same siege of Babylon may possibly have been referred to in
a tablet (S 2037), of which the ends only of a few lines remain. They
begin thus: (1) . . . "he lamented; (2) .... he cried out; (3) . . ,
seize me ; (4) . . . Babylon is taken."

312 LECTURE IV.
then.' curse. Thou didst bind them with chains (?) and didst fix the
doom (?), 0 warrior Nerra. Thou didst leave one and go forth against
another. The form of a dog dost thou assume and enterest into the
palace. The people saw thee ; their weapons were broken. The heart
of the high-priest, the avenger of Babylon, is full of valour ; when he
urged on his troops to take the spoil of the enemy, before the people
he has done wickedness. In the city to which I shaU send thee thou
shalt fear no man, shalt reverence none ; small and great slay together,
and leave not the youngest of the evil race. Thou shalt spoil the first
that come to Babylon, the people of the king which is gathered toge
ther and entered into the city, shaking the bow and setting up the
spear, auxiliaries who have transgressed against Anu and Dagon ; thou
shalt set up their weapons ; Hke the waters of the storm shalt thou give
their corpses to the open places of the city ; thou shalt open their trea
sures (?) and bid the river carry them away."1
Merodach mourned over the doom pronounced agamst
his city, and apparently with some effect ; for after a good
many broken and lost lines, the tablet goes on to describe
the despatch of the terrible plague-god to Erech, " the seat
of Anu and Istar, the city of the choirs of the festival-
makers and consecrated maidens of Istar," who " dreaded
death," for the nomad 'Suti of the desert had combined
against their state. The eunuch-priests were now com
pelled to bow the face before another deity than the
peaceful Istar, who " cried and was troubled over the
city of Erech. ' ' Eventually, however, Nerra was ' ' quieted' '
by " Isum his councillor, the illustrious god who goes
before him," " and the warrior Nerra spake thus : ' Sea-
land against sea -land, 'Sumasti against 'Sumasti, the
Assyrian against the Assyrian, the Elamite against the
Elamite, the Kossaean against the Kossaean, the Kurd
against the Kurd, the Lullubite against the Lullubite,
country agamst country, house against house, man against
1 M 55, col. 1,4—26.

PROMETHEUS AND TOTEMISM. 313
man, brother against brother, let them destroy one another,
and afterwards let the Aceadian come and slay them all,
and fall upon their breasts.' x The warrior Nerra (further)
addresses a speech to Isum, who goes before him : ' Go,
Isum, inebne all thy heart to the word thou hast spoken.'
(Then) Isum sets his face towards the land of the west ;
the seven warrior gods, unequalled, sweep (all things)
away behind him. At the land of Phoenicia, at the
mountains, the warrior arrived; he lifted up the hand,
he laid it on the mountain ; the mountain of Phoenicia
he counted as his own soil."
In thus marching to the west, the minister of the Ba
bylonian god of death approaches the country in which
another angel of pestilence was seen by the king of
Israel. " By the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite,"
David had beheld the angel of the Lord " stretching out
his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it." As in Babylon,
so too in Israel, the plague had been a visitation for the
sins of man. It was the instrument of God's anger
wielded by the hands of his angel-minister. That same
angel-minister had once before stood before Balaam, and
with a drawn sword in his hand had threatened the Syrian
prophet with death. He was not a demon from the
lower world, like the old Chaldaean plague-spbit Namtar ;
he was not the inexorable law of destiny, before whom
even the gods had to submit their wills ; but a member
of the celestial hierarchy, the messenger of a beneficent
God. He came to destroy, but it was to destroy the
guilty. The sins of man, and not the malevolence or
passionless law of a supernatural being, brought death
1 Comp. Is. xix. 2 — 4.

314

LECTURE IV.

and suffering into the world. The Babylonian legend of
Nerra, like the records of the Old Testament, tells the
same tale as the Babylonian story of the Deluge.
So remarkable an agreement, on the one hand, between
the religious conceptions of Semitic Babylonia and Israel,
and, on the other, their equally remarkable contrast to
the older Aceadian doctrines embodied in the plague-
demon Namtar and Mamit the goddess of fate, can be
explained hi only one way. Even if the fact stood alone,
and we had no knowledge of the earlier history of
Chaldaea, we should be forced to conclude that while the
later population of Babylonia belonged to the same race
as that which inhabited Palestine, it was essentially dif
ferent from the race which had formulated the older
beliefs. The Semitic belief, in fact, stands out in striking
contrast to beliefs which betrayed no consciousness of
human sin, and the necessity of finding in this an ex
planation of malevolent action on the part of the gods
above. The difference between the plague-god of Cutha
and the agencies which had once been imagined to work
evil to mankind, is a difference that cannot be bridged
over by any theory of development ; it is necessarily due
to a difference of race.

Lecture V.
THE SACEED BOOKS OF CHALDJ3A.

To Francois Lenormant, whose untimely death was
an irreparable loss to the progress of Assyrian research,
belongs the merit of first describing and defining the
sacred books of ancient Babylonia. With the keenness
of perception that characterised him, he pointed out two
main collections of Babylonian sacred texts ; one contain
ing magic incantations and exorcisms ; the other, hymns
to the gods. The magical texts obviously belong to an
earlier and less advanced stage of religious belief than
the hymns ; they presuppose, in fact, a sort of Shamanism,
according to which each object and power of nature
has its si or "spirit," which can be propitiated only
by a sorcerer-priest and certain magical rites ; while the
hymns, on the other hand, introduce us to a world of
gods, and their language from time to time approaches a
high level of spiritual expression. The collection of
hymns Lenormant very happby named the Chaldaean
Eig-Yeda, and to them he subsequently added a third
collection, consisting of penitential psalms which in many
respects resemble the psalms of the Old Testament. All
three collections are generally composed in both Aceadian
and Semitic Babylonian, the Semitic Babylonian being a
translation of the presumably older Aceadian text which

316

LECTURE V.

is written line by line above it. It was natural to sup
pose that what has happened in the case of other sacred
books happened also in Babylonia ; that the magical texts
were first collected together, the collection subsequently
acquiring a sacred character ; and that a similar process
took place in the case of the hymns. The whole work
would have been complete before the culture and literature
of the Accadians were handed on to the Semites : in this
way the preservation of the Aceadian originals would be
accounted for, the very words of the primitive documents
and theb correct pronunciation having come to be looked
upon as sacred and inspired; while the Semitic interlinear
translation served, like the Aramaic Targums of the Old
Testament, to assist the priests in understanding the
object of theb recitations. As time went on, the reli
gious beliefs which underlay the magical texts became
so far removed from those of a later age that the texts
themselves gradually passed into the background, the
collection of hymns taking more and more their place as
pre-eminently the Babylonian Bible.
The theory as thus stated is at once simple and pro
bable. But although in its main outlines it is no doubt
correct, further research has shown that its simplicity is
due to the imperfection of the materials upon which
Lenormant had to work, and that it will have to be very
considerably modified before ab the facts now known to
us are accounted for.
In the first place, there are numerous magical texts
which are later, and not older, than many of the hymns.
Nothing is more common than to find a magical text
breaking off into a hymn or a fragment of a hymn the
recitation of which forms part of the spell or ceremony.

THE SACRED BOOKS OP CHALD^iA. 317
A large number of the hymns that have come down to
us are thus embedded in the magical documents of which
they form an integral part. The hymn to the seven
evil spirits, for instance, quoted in a former Lecture, is
reaby a portion of one of the most famous of the magical
texts. In such instances there can be no question that
the hymn is older than the text in which it is found.
Moreover, it is difficult to distinguish the hymns when
used in this way from similar poetical addresses to divine
beings, which, so far from being especially sacred, were
employed as spells in medical practice.
Thus in a great work on Babylonian medicine, frag
ments of which I have published and explained,1 receipts
for the cure of diseases, which scarcely differ from those
that would be prescribed to-day, are mingled with charms
and spells for driving away the demons of sickness.
The sick man, in fact, was given his choice between a
scientific treatment and a recourse to the old system of
the primitive "medicine-man;" and it was left to his faith
or superstition to determine whether he would employ
the regular practitioner or his spiritual predecessor the
exorcist-priest. Thus in the middle of a list of various
medicines, carefully prepared from different ingredients
and mixed with date-wine or water, we find an alter
native spell, which the patient was instructed to " place
on the big toe of the left foot," and there cause it to
remain. The spell was as follows :
" 0 wind, my mother, wind, wind, ruler of the gods art thou, wind
among the storm-gods !
1 Zeitschrift fiir Keilschriftforschung, ii. 1, 3.

318

LECTURE V.

Yea, thou makest the water1 to stream down (tutsilsa), and with
the gods thy brothers liftest up the stream (etsits) of thy
wisdom."
Now these two verses are introduced by a word which
was read en in Aceadian, siptu in Assyrian, and had the
meaning of "spell" or "incantation." The same word
introduces also a certain number of the hymns to .the
gods, and thus throws light on the object of theb quota
tion and use. They were, in fact, spells, and the sacred
ness with which they were invested was due to the fact
that they were so.2
We now have an explanation of two further facts
which would otherwise be puzzling. On the one hand,
by the side of the hymns to the gods there exist texts
which agree with the hymns in form and character, but
differ from them in being addressed, like the medical
speb I have just quoted, to an inferior order of super
natural beings. On the other hand, the place of a hymn
may be taken by a legendary poem or a portion of a
legendary poem. The transformation of the god Zu into
a bird, which I cited in the last Lecture, is an example of
this. If the legendary poem had to do with the divine
powers who were to be invoked or whose wrath had to
be deprecated, its use as a spell was as efficacious as
that of a hymn. Our own folk-lore shows that nothing
comes amiss to the inventor of popular spells ; the Lord's
Prayer or a verse from the Bible are as serviceable in
1 Literally, " the urine," which indicates the object of the spell.
2 The hymns to the Sun-god of Sippara, composed by Semitic priests,
form, however, an exception to this rule. The introductory word siptu
with them merely means " to be recited," its old signification having
come in time to take this meaning upon itself.

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALDJ5A. 319
curing disease or in removing the curse of a witch as the
most time-honoured combination of unintelligible words.
The relation between the magical texts and the hymns
of ancient Babylonia is now, therefore, clear. In many
cases, at least, the hymns formed part of the magical
texts; they were the mystical incantations around the
recitation of which the rites prescribed in the texts were
intended to revolve. The magical text was not complete
without the repetition of a form of words as well as a
dbect appeal to the names of certain supernatural beings ;
and the form of words was in many instances furnished
by hymns to the gods or analogous kinds of composition.
It is not only the magical texts, however, in which we
find the hymns embedded and prefaced by the significant
word siptu, " incantation." They are still more nume
rous in the ritual texts — in the texts, that is to say, which
describe the rehgious ceremonies the Babylonian was
called upon to perform. These ceremonies had for the
most part the same end and object as the magical texts ;
they were not so much a communion with the deities of
heaven, as an attempt to compel them by particular rites
and words to relieve the worshipper from trouble, or to
bestow uponbim some benefit. Divine worship, in short,
was a performance rather than an act of devotion, and
upon the correctness of the performance depended entirely
its efficacy. The mispronunciation of a single word, the
omission to tie a knot at the right moment, would inva
lidate the whole ceremony and render its repetition neces
sary. The ritual, therefore, was a sort of acted magic,
and it is consequently not surprising that the hymns
should play the same part in it as they did in the incan
tations of the magical texts.

320 LECTURE V.
It follows from all this that many of the magical texts
are, like the ritual texts, later than many of the hymns.
The fact must necessarily introduce some modification
into Lenormant's theory of the origin of the sacred books
of Chaldaea.
In the second place, not only the hymns, but even the
magical texts are at times composed in Semitic Baby
lonian only. There is no trace of an Aceadian original
of any kind whatever. And not only is this the case,
but these purely Semitic hymns occasionally glide into
what is neither more nor less than unadulterated magic.
Here is a specimen of one, which begins with an address
to the Sun-god full of deep feeling and exalted thought,
and finally passes into an incantation equally full of dull
bathos and debasing superstition : x
" 0 Sun-god, king of heaven and earth, director of things above
and below,
0 Sun-god, thou that clothest the dead with life, delivered by thy
hands,
Judge unbribed, director of mankind,
the mercy is supreme of him who is the lord over difficulty (Ml
namratsit),
bidding son and offspring to come forth, light of the world,
creator of all thy universe, the Sun-god art thou !
O Sun-god, when the ban (mamit) for many days
is bound behind me and there is no deliverer,
expulsion of the evil and of the sickness of the flesh is brought
about (by thee) ;
among mankind, the flock of the god Ner, whatever be their
names, he selects me :

1 S 949 Obv. The upper part of the tablet is lost. All that remains
of it are the two last lines : " He clothes with life, and to the blessed
hands of my god and my goddess for grace and life entrust me." Then
comes a line of separation, and the hymn to Samas is introduced by the
word siptu.

THE SACRED BOOKS OP CHALDiEA. 321
after trouble fill me with rest,
and day and night I will stand undarkened.
In the anguish of my heart and the sickness of my flesh I was
bowed down.
0 father supreme, I am debased and walk to and fro.
With scourges1 and in expiation I beat myself.
My littleness (?) I know not, the sin I have committed I knew not.
I am smaU and he is great ;
The walls of my god may I pass.
0 bird, stand still and hear the hound !
0 Sun-god, stand stiU and hear me !
Overpower the name of the evil ban that has been created,
whether the ban of my father, or the ban of my begetter,
or the ban of the seven branches of the house of my father,
or the ban of my family and my slaves,
or the ban of my free-born women and concubines,
or the ban of the dead and living, or the ban of the adult (?) and
the suckHng,
or the ban of my father and of him who is not my father.
For father and mother I pronounce the spell ; and for brother and
child I pronounce the speU.
For friend and neighbour I pronounce the spell, and for labourer
and workman I pronounce the speH.
For the field thou hast made and thy pasturage I pronounce the
spell.
May the name of my god be a father where there is no justice.
To mankind, the flock of the god Ner, whatever be their names,
who are in field and city,
speak, 0 Sun-god, mighty lord, and let the evil ban be at rest."
1 Kuri ; so in W. A. I. iv. 7, 4 : " the incantation is laid as a scourge
(leuru) upon his back." The Aceadian equivalent was Mba (sometimes
written with the determinative prefix al, W. A. I. v. 16. 24, 25), which
is also translated by the Assyrian sidhtum (Heb. shodh). Sadi was
another Accado-Sumerian equivalent (iv. 1, 42). The word is expressed
ideographically ("cord-hand-cutting," and "cutting cord") in v. 14.
54, 55, where we also find mention of " the scourge," sa ina tabqirti
nadd, " which is used in penal examination" (Heb. biqqoreth). The
ideographic equivalent of the latter is " rope-length (darda)-ma}:mg."
Rappu is further the Assyrian rendering of the ideographic compounds
"rope-skin-cutting" and " rope-hand-cutting " (v. 14. 57, 58).
Y

322 LECTURE V.
Here the hymn to the Sun-god is made a vehicle for
removing the ban or " curse" that has faben on the sick
man. The behefs which produced the magical texts
must stib have been active, although the hymn belongs
to a late period of Babylonian history ; the old doctrine
of an inexorable fate, even b degraded into a behef in
the witch's art, still existed along with the worship of a
god who restored the dead to bfe and was "supreme in
mercy to those that were in trouble." We have only to
turn to our modern newspapers to discover how slowly
such primaeval behefs die out, and how long they may
linger among the uneducated and superstitious by the
side of the most exalted faiths and the mightiest triumphs
of inductive science. The fact that one text is magical,
while another contains a hymn to the deity, does not of
itseb prove the relative ages of the two documents.
Then, thfrdly, it has become increashigly manbest that
a good many of the so-called Aceadian texts are not
Aceadian in theb origin. As I pointed out several years
ago,1 the old Accado-Sumerian language was learned by
the Semitic Babylonians as Latin was learned by the medi
aeval monks, and for much the same reasons. It was the
language of the oldest sacred texts ; it was also the early
language of law; and both priests and lawyers were
accordingly interested in its preservation and use. What
happened to Latin in the Middle Ages had already hap
pened to Aceadian in Babylonia. The monks spoke and
wrote in a language which was Latm indeed, but which
had lost its classical purity ; monkish Latin was full of
modern words and idioms, and its grammar was not
1 Babylonian Literature, pp. 64, 71, 72.

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALD2EA. 323
always scrupulously accurate. .On the other hand, it
contributed multitudes of words, and even forms of
expression, to the languages of every-day lbe that were
spoken around it, and the words were frequently modified
to suit the pronunciation and genius of the languages that
borrowed them, just as the modern words which monkish
Latin had itseb adopted were furnished with classical
terminations and construed in a classical fashion. The
case was precisely the same in ancient Chaldaea. Here,
too, there was a monkish Aceadian, both spoken and
written, some of which would have shocked the Aceadian
speakers of an earlier age. The literati of the court
of Sargon of Accad had been partly Aceadian, partly
Semitic ; the Aceadian scribes wrote and spoke Semitic,
the Semitic scribes wrote and spoke Aceadian. The
result was necessarily a large amount of lending and
borrowing upon both sides, and the growth of an arti
ficial bterary language which maintained its ground
for centuries. The way for the rise of this artificial
dialect had abeady been prepared by the long contact
there had been between the two chief languages of primi
tive Chaldaea. When two languages thus exist side by
side — like Welsh, for example, by the side of English —
they will borrow one from another, the language of supe
rior culture and organisation being that which exerts the
greatest influence. The pupils wib imitate the speech of
theb masters in art and science even if, as in the case of
Greece and Eome, the masters in art and science are the
subjects in pobtical power.
From a very early epoch, therefore, possibly before the
separation of the Semitic family, the old agglutinative
dialects of Chaldaea had been influencing theb Semitic
t2

324 LECTURE V.
neighbours. The work carried on at the court of Sargon
was accordingly but a continuation of an older process.
But it was distinguished from the older process in two
ways. It was the work of cultivated men, working upon
literary models with a definite object in view. It was,
moreover, a work that was carried on under Semitic
patronage and supremacy, with the necessary result that
in the new artificial language the influence of Semitic
thought and speech upon the decaying speech of pre-
Semitic Accad tended constantly to become greater. The
Aceadian texts, which were first composed by Semitic
scribes, and subsequently handed down through genera
tions of Semitic copyists, could not fail to show theb
origin and history plainly stamped upon theb face.
And such is actually the case as regards a good many
of the texts which in the early days of Aceadian study
could not be distinguished from the genuine productions
of Aceadian writers. It was as yet impossible to separate
classical from monkish Aceadian ; to determine whether
the Semitic text were a translation of an older Aceadian
one, or whether the Aceadian was a literary rendering of
a Semitic original. Even now, with all the progress that
has been made during the last few years in our know
ledge of the pre-Semitic dialects of Chaldaea, it is not
always easy to decide the question. It is not enough to
show that the Aceadian text contains Semitic words or
idioms. The words may have been introduced by copy
ists ; while what we imagine to be Semitic idioms may
really be imitations of earlier Aceadian modes of speech,
borrowed when the ancestors of the Semitic family still
lived together in their tents by the western banks of the
Euphrates. Apart from the monuments of Babylonia

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALD.EA. 325
and Assyria, we have no records of Semitic speech which
reach back even approximately to that remote epoch
when the dialects which afterwards became the languages
of Assyria, of Aram and of Bhcenicia, were still spoken
within the limits of a single community, and when that
community was still leading the life of the Bedouin of
to-day. It is always possible that words and forms of
expression which we bebeve to be distinctively Semitic
may, after all, have had an Aceadian origin ; before this
can be settled, it will be necessary to exhume more
monuments which, like those of Tel-loh, belong to the
pre-Semitic era, and to subject the non-Semitic language
in which they are written to a searching examination.1
Enough now, however, is known about the charac
teristic features of pure and unadulterated Accado-Su
merian to enable us to assign most of the hymns and
magical texts to theb true origin, and to determine
whether their parentage is Semitic or Aceadian. Not
unfrequently the conclusions which have been arrived at
on philological grounds are confirmed by the contents of
the texts. Texts which refer to Semitic deities or to
Semitic sanctuaries disclose at once theb real age and
source. It is equally impossible to refer to an early date
compositions which breathe a philosophical spirit, or are
in accord with the Semitic conceptions of the divine
government of the world. The only question is, to how
1 Arabic is of little assistance in settling the question, since our
knowledge of it is so recent that it is impossible to say in many cases
whether the lexical and idiomatic points of agreement between it and
the North Semitic languages may not be due to borrowing. Aramaean
tribes have Hved in immediate proximity to the original speakers of
Arabic from very early times, and must have lent many words, if not
idioms, to their neighbours.

326 LECTURE V.
late a period such compositions belong; whether, for
example, the account of the Creation in days, which
bears so curious a resemblance to the first chapter of
Genesis, goes back to the epoch of Khammuragas, or is,
as I believe, a product of the age of Assur-bani-pal.
But even when we have determined the relative date
and origin of a particular composition, our difficulties are
by no means over. An ancient literature hke that of
Babylonia must necessarily contain comparatively little
that is original. Most of the works that have come down
to us are based on older bterary productions, and are
often mere centos of earber compositions. The great
Epic of Gisdhubar is little more in its present form than
a redaction of earlier poems relating to the Herakles of
Erech. It is full of episodes hke that of the Deluge,
which have no very close connection with the main
subject of the work. And the episode itseb may be
pieced together out of more than one earlier poem. Thus
the story of the Deluge shows clear traces of having been
compounded out of at least two older narratives, in one
of which the catastrophe was ascribed to the Sun-god, in
the other to Bel (Mul-hl). The Descent of Istar into
Hades, again, begins with a description of the infernal
world, which, with a few slight differences of expression,
is found again in the sixth book of the Epic ; a com
parison of the two passages goes to show that the authors
of both have alike copied the description from an earlier
source. The Descent of Istar, indeed, abounds with pas
sages which are plainly borrowed from other poems, and
whose richly poetical language stands out in marked
contrast to the dull and prosaic character of their setting ;
while its concluding lines have httle connection with

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALDAEA. 327
what precedes them, and are obviously an extract from
a separate work. The authors of the penitential psalms
are fond of adding to theb productions a litany of varying
length, in which the names of certain divinities are in
voked ; the litany was a common possession which existed
in an independent form, and had been handed down from
an early period. Even the hymns are sometimes put
together out of older materials, like certain of the Old
Testament psalms; not only do the same phrases and
lines recur, but whole passages as well. It is the same
with the magical texts. Here, too, we have repetitions
and borrowing ; here, too, we have older fragments incor
porated into later texts.
It wib be seen from this how much remains to be
done before the sacred books of ancient Babylonia can
be made fully to tell theb tale, and to what an extent
the first theory about their origin and history must
reqube modification. In its main outlines, nevertheless,
the theory first sketched by the brilliant insight of
Lenormant stib continues true ; it is only in its details
that it needs correction and improvement.
The magical texts formed the earliest sacred literature
of Chaldaea. This fact remains unshaken. They reach
back to a period when the Semitic conception of a
supreme Baal was utterly unknown — when, indeed, there
was no definite conception of a god at all. The " crea
ting" deity of later Aceadian behef had not yet emerged
from the rehgious consciousness of the Chaldaean. The
inhabitant of Babylonia was as yet in the purely Shaman
istic stage of rehgious development. The world about
him was peopled by supernatural powers, each of which
was to him a si or " spbit." But it was not a spirit in

328 LECTURE V.
our sense of the word, nor in the sense in which the
term was used by the Semitic scribes of a later day.
The si was simply that which manifested bfe, and the
test of the manifestation of life was movement. Every
thing that moved, or seemed to move, was endowed with
life, for only in this way could primitive man explain
the fact. He himself moved and acted because he had
life ; life, therefore, was the cause of movement. Hence
the objects and forces of nature were ab assigned a si
or spbit. The arrow that flew through the air, the
stone that struck and injured, the heavenly bodies that
moved across the sky, the fire that blazed up from the
ground devouring ab that f eb in its way, had ab alike
their spirits. The spirits were as innumerable as the
objects and forces which surrounded the Chaldaean, and
as mysterious and invisible as his own spbit or life.
In this phase of faith the moral element was wholly
wanting. The Chaldaean had not yet entered the Garden
of Eden, and eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil. The visible things of nature may benefit or
injure; but theb benefits and injuries seem altogether
capricious and accidental, entbely independent of the
actions and thoughts of man. The same stone which has
kibed a man to-day may help to build his son's house
to-morrow; the fire which scorches to death wbl also
cook the food to sustain bfe. In each event, ab seems
determined by blind chance ; the spbits of nature may
live and move, but they have no passions, no emotions.
If theb mvisible spirits are to be influenced, it must be
by other means than appeals to theb love, their anger,
their jealousy or theb pride.
Shamanism accordingly implies, not a priesthood, but

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALDJ3A. 329
a body of "medicine-men," or exorcists, who know the
spells whereby the spirits of nature can be compebed
either to cease from injuring or to ib-treat the foe.
Whether the medicine-men of primaeval Chaldaea had to
undergo any initiatory course of training, or whether
the profession were open to all alike, we do not know ;
our records do not reach back to the remote period of
pure Shamanism, the magical texts being merely sur
vivals which in their present form belong to a later time.
It is this class of exorcists, however, which distin
guishes the early Shamanism of Chaldaea from what Dr.
Tyler has termed simple Animism. Shamanism, is, in
fact, organised Animism ; Animism controlled and regu
lated by a body of exorcists who take the place of the
priesthood of a higher cult. It was doubtless the exist
ence of disease which first called this body of exorcists
into being. The prevention and cure of disease is the main
object of the magical texts and incantations. Disease
was looked upon, as it still is in many parts of the uncivi
lized world, as possession by a malevolent spirit. Just as
an external wound might be caused by a piece of stone
or metal, so it was inferred an internal malady must be
caused by an invisible agent of a similar kind — that is,
by the spirit of the stone or metal. The same means
that were adapted for getting rid of the visible stone and
metal would be suitable for getting rid of their invisible
spirits. There is no evidence to show that the exorcists
of Chaldaea ever professed to extract pieces of actual
stone or metal from the body of the sick, like the medi
cine-men of Austraba or America ; but they claimed by
theb spells to expel the spirits which enabled these pieces
of stone and metal to afflict and injure. Listen, for

530

LECTURE V.

instance, to the opening words of the great collection of
Chaldaean magical texts :
" The evil god, the evil demon, the demon of the field, the demon of
the mountain, the demon of the sea, the demon of the tomb, the evil
spirit, the dazzling fiend, the evil wind, the assaulting wind which
strips off the clothing of the body like an evil demon, — conjure, 0
spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth ! . . . . That which is mis-
formed, that which is diseased, that which is racked (with pain), even
a diseased muscle, a constricted muscle, a swollen muscle, an aching
muscle, a painful muscle, a broken muscle, an injured muscle, — conjure,
0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !
The sickness of the entrails, a sick heart, faintness of the heart,
disease, disease of the bile, headache, violent vomiting, a broken blood
vessel (?), disease of the kidneys, difficult miction, painful sickness
which cannot be removed, a dream of iH omen, — conjure, O spirit of
heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !
Him who is the possessor of the likeness of another, the evil face, the
evil eye, the evil mouth, the evil tongue, the evil lips, the evil breath,
— conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth ! . . . .
The painful fever, the virulent fever, the fever which quits not a
man, the fever-demon who leaves not (the body), the fever unremov
able, the baleful fever, — conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit
of earth !
The painful plague, the virulent plague, the plague which quits not
a man, the plague-demon who leaves not (the body), the plague unre
movable, the baleful plague, — conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, O
spirit of earth !"
The exorcisms for driving away the spirits of disease
gradually introduced a moral element into the character
of the old spirits of nature. But the moral element was
wholly on the dark side. The spirits of disease were
essentially evil and malevolent. In so far as human
passions could be ascribed to them, the passions were those
of the wicked, not of the good. The worship of the spirits
of nature thus tended to become a religion of fear.
Side by side, however, with the growing belief in the
malevolence of the spirits of nature, there existed the

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALD^A. 331
totemism of which I have spoken in the last Lecture.
Animals, as well as other objects, had each theb special
spirit, and these spirits naturally shared the feelings
and passions which moved the animals to which they
belonged. The sacred animals were regarded as moral
agents, like men; the ox, whose labours benefited mankind,
protected his worshipper from the attacks of evil ; while
the fish which supplied the inhabitants of Eridu with
food, also brought to them the elements of culture and
civilisation. In this way the Shamanism of earlier and
ruder times began to pass into a higher form of creed ;
the exorcist approximated more and more to the priest,
and the spells he used tended to recognise the distinction
between good and evil in the world of spirits as well as
in the world of men.
It was at this point that cosmogonic speculations first
exercised an influence upon the religion of the Chaldaean
states. The Babylonian began -to generalise and to sum
up his individual impressions of outward phenomena in
wider and more abstract ideas. Earth and heaven took
the place of the individual objects and forces whose
sphere of action was in the one or the other ; the spbits
of these separate phenomena were subordinated to the
spbits of the earth and the sky. The stereotyped con
clusion of the old Aceadian exorcism, as we have just
heard, is, " Conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spbit
of earth!" The earth out of whose bosom the agricultu
rist received the bounties of life, the heavens from which
the fertilising rain and dew dropped upon the ground,
and the rays of the sun warmed all nature into activity,
became the supreme powers whose spirits dominated
over all others and demanded the reverence of man.

332 LECTURE V.
Unlike the malevolent spirits of disease, the great cosmo-
gonic spirits were essentially beneficent ; the moral con
ceptions of Chaldaean faith were enlarged by the belief in
the existence of good as well as of evil spbits, and the
superiority of the good to the evil. It was an immense
step hi advance, and it corresponds with the time when the
religious literature of Babylonia first commences with the
oldest surviving magical texts. The earliest portions of
the latter belong to the age when the crude Shamanism of
the past had been tempered and modified by the first
beginnings of a theory of the world.
From this point onward we can trace the further de
velopment of the older creed. The struggle between
good and evil had abeady begun in the mind of the
Chaldaean thinker. The supernatural beings he wor
shipped were now divided, for the most part, into two
hostile camps. On the one side stood the demons of
disease and nightmare; on the other, the great cosmo-
gonic powers of earth and heaven. It is true that the
terrible spbits of disease, who loved the darkness of night
and the solitary places of the wilderness, were not yet
consciously conceived as demons, but the moment was
not far off when such would be the case. Light and
darkness now stood opposed to one another in the spbitual
as well as hi the physical world. The old medicine-man
was fast becoming a priest.
The introduction of cosmological ideas and speculations
into Chaldaean religion brought with it two results. First
of all, there grew out of it the conception of creating
gods. We have already had occasion to observe the
essential distinction that existed between the Aceadian
and Semitic conceptions of the universe : with the one,

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALDAEA. 333
all things were made ; with the other, they were begotten.
The Semitic Baal was a father ; the Aceadian divinity a
creator. According to the Semite, the heavens and the
earth were carved out of a pre-existent chaos ; according
to the Aceadian, the heavens and the earth were them
selves primordial powers, mamtaining an eternal struggle
with the chaos of darkness and anarchy. The temporary
triumph of chaos means the irruption of anarchy into
the fab order of nature — the destructive hurricane, the
devastating tempest, the darkening eclipse. The return
of light and sunshine, of bright skies and germinating
seeds, marks the victory gained over the encroaching
forces of the lower world.
The earth and the sky became the first creators, the
first gods. It is they who create ab the good things
which man enjoys below, including man himseb. The
spbit of the earth and the spbit of the heaven thus de
veloped into creating gods. But it was before the old
habits of thought and expression could be quite eradicated
from the Chaldaean mind. The spbits which had de
veloped into gods were themselves provided with spbits ;
there was a spbit of Ea and Dav-kina, of Ana and Mul-
lil, as well as of water and earth, of heaven and hell.
When the gods took upon them human shape, these
spbits were regarded as similar to the spbits of indi
vidual men; and the functions and attributes of the
human spbit were reflected upon the spirits of the gods.
At the outset, however, it was with the animal and not
with the human world that the new gods were associated.
They were, in fact, confounded with the old totems. Just
as the heavenly bodies, which seemed to move of their

334 LECTURE V.
own accord like living beings, were identified with the
sacred animals, so too the spirits of earth and heaven,
of water and air, to whom a creative power had been
given, were similarly identified with them. The god
was a beast before he became a man, and the spbit that
moved him was that of the brute.
In the second place, the deification of the spirits of
earth and heaven necessarily brought with it the deifica
tion of other spbits which resembled them in character
and power. The test of supernaturalism — of the exist
ence of a spbit — was the power of movement possessed
by an object or a force of nature; this power now
became itself the supernatural being, the god or spbit.
The spbit of the moon, for example, developed into a
god ; but the god was abstracted from the visible moon
itseb, and identified with the creative force of the lunar
orb which manbested itself in motion. The new god
might in turn be abstracted from the creative force, more
especiaby b he were assimilated to the sacred steer ; in
this case the creative force would become his spbit, in
no way differing, it wib be seen, from the spbit that
was believed to reside in man.
We have now reached the culminating point of the
old Aceadian rehgion. Spbits bmumerable stih exist,
but they are controlled and overawed by creative gods.
The gods represent the order and law of the universe
embodied by the sabba, or " fate," to which even the gods
themselves must submit. Over agamst them are the
malevolent spbits of disease, of chaos and of darkness ;
while beside them are other spbits which still retain
their primitive character of moral indifference, neither

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALDiEA. 335
good nor bad, though some might approximate more to
the good and others to the bad. But gods and spbits
alike were amenable to the spells and exorcisms used by
the sorcerer-priest, for a priest he had now become. By
his magical words he could remove the sickness which
was caused by demoniac possession, or bewitch the person
and the property of his enemy; he could compel the
gods to listen to his petition and to perform his com
mands. In his hands and on his lips was the power of
the terrible sabba, which even the gods were forced to
obey. The sorcerer was still the intermediary between
mankind and the spiritual world.
But, as I have just said, he had lost much of his old
character. Among the spells he employed were hymns
which imply a more advanced cult than that of mere
magic. Indeed, the very conception of a creative deity
necessarily brought with it a service of praise and adora
tion and the formation of a fixed ritual. A beneficent
god required another kind of worship than that which
was appropriate to the non-moral spirits of Shamanism.
When the spirit of heaven became Anu, temples were
raised in his honour, and the worshippers who entered
them required something else than that the priest should
"conjure" the object of his cult. We leave the era
which witnessed the rise of the magical texts, and enter
on the era of the hymns.
The Penitential Psalms, of which I shall speak further
on, frequently have a sort of litany attached to them,
written in Aceadian only, and invoking the aid of certain
deities under theb pre-Semitic names or titles. The
litany was an old hebloom, selections from which were
taken by the authors of the psalms and added to theb

336 LECTURE V.
compositions. One of those translated by Dr. Zimmern1
concludes as follows :
" O my god, the lord of prayer, may my prayer address thee !
O my goddess, the lady of suppHcation, may my supplication
address thee !
O Mato (Matu), the lord of the mountain, may my prayer address
thee!
0 Gubarra, lady of Eden, may my prayer address thee !
0 lord of heaven and earth, lord of Eridu, may my supplication
address thee !
O Merodach (Asar-mulu-duga), lord of Tin-tir (Babylon), may my
prayer address thee !
O wife of him, (the princely offspring (?) of heaven and) earth,
may my supplication address thee !
0 (messenger of the spirit) of the god who proclaims (the good
name), may my prayer address thee !
0 (bride, first-born of) Uras(?), may my suppHcation address thee !
0 (lady, who binds the hostile (?) mouth), may my prayer address
thee !
O (exalted one, the great goddess, my lady Nana), may my sup
plication address thee !
May it say to thee : ' (Direct thine eye kindly unto me).'
May it say to thee : ' (Turn thy face kindly to me).'
(May it say to thee : ' Let thy heart rest.')
(May it say to thee : 'Let thy liver be quieted.')
(May it say to thee : ' Let thy heart, like the heart of a mother
who has borne children, be gladdened.')
('As a mother who has borne children, as a father who has begot
ten a child, let it be gladdened')."
The btany belongs to a period considerably later than
that which witnessed the rise and first collection of the
magical texts. It is written in the Aceadian dialect of
north Babylonia, which exhibits the old Sumerian of the
south hi an advanced stage of decay, and further shows
traces of contact with a Semitic language. The deities
1 From Haupt's Akkadische Keilschrifttexte, pp. 116 sq.

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALDiEA. 337
whose names are invoked belong to different parts of
Babylonia, and point to a time when not only the separate
states of Chaldaea had begun to recognise a common pan
theon, but when northern and southern Babylonia had
abeady been united into a single empire. Nevertheless,
the litany is earlier than the age of Sargon of Accad and
the supremacy of the Semitic population. Though Mero
dach has abeady migrated from Eridu to Babylon, still
referred to under its old Aceadian name of Din-Tir, the
Sun-god of Sippara and Accad is altogether unknown.
There is no allusion to either city or to the divinities
they adored. Nana herself, the queen of Erech, is not
yet known as Istar, and the Tasmit of a later day is
"the bridal goddess, the first-born of Uras."
We are still, therefore, lingering on the verge of the
pre-Semitic epoch. The Semite may be in the land, but
the official religion does not as yet recognise him. The
difference, however, between the religious ideas of the
litany and those which inspired the old magical texts is
immense. A whole age of religious development lies
between them. The fundamental conception of the pre
ceding period, it is true, still survives ; the deities must
be influenced by the spoken word of their worshipper.
But the spoken word has ceased to be the spell or incan
tation ; it has become a prayer and supplication. Its
efficacy depends no longer on the exorcisms of a medicine
man, but on the faithful petitions of the worshipper
himself. And along with this change in the nature of
the cult has gone a corresponding change in the divine
beings to whom the cult is dedicated. They have become
gods, bound together hi a common brotherhood, like the
brotherhood of the cities over whose fortunes they preside.

338 LECTURE V.
Babylonia possesses not only gods; it possesses a pantheon,
an Olympus, as well.
It was, of course, only among the more cultivated
classes that this newer and higher conception of the divine
government of the world was likely to be found. The
masses, doubtless, still clung to theb old superstitions,
their old Shamanism. The formation of magical texts,
therefore, never ceased. The older texts continued to be
interpolated until theb antiquity at last threw such a halo
of holiness around them that it was considered impious
to tamper with their words. Other texts of a similar
character were composed, which in course of time came
to receive as much reverence as the more ancient collec
tion. Far down into Semitic times, exorcisms and incan
tations continued to be written, and to receive the impri
matur of the official priesthood. They even entered largely
into the ritual of the temples. But the sanctity attached
to them became fainter and fainter as years went on.
Although the sorcerer maintained his ground among the
uneducated multitude, like the witch in modern times,
the spells with which he served himseb were simply
means for curing the bite of a scorpion, and such-like
necessities of popular medicine. They were dissociated
from the worship of the gods and degraded to vulgar
uses. Even in medicine the cultivated Babylonian gen
tlemen preferred to employ the drugs prescribed by
scientific practitioners ; the spells were left to the igno
rant and superstitious. The old collections of magical
texts, indeed, remained among the sacred books of the
ration ; but this was on account of their antiquity, and
not because they any longer expressed the religious
feelings of the day. The litany at the end of the peniten-

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALDiEA. 339
tial psalms marks the beginning of a new era hi religious
thought. This era is represented by the hymns to the gods. Dr.
Hommel has pointed out that the hymns fall into two main
classes. There are, firstly, the hymns which show no
trace of contact with the magical texts, and, secondly, other
hymns which are either partly magical in character or else
are introduced by the significant word en (siptu), "incan
tation." These latter hymns emanate for the most part
from Eridu and its neighbourhood, and bring Merodach
before us as carrying out the behests of his father Ea for
the good of man. Most of them, moreover, are dedicated
to those older divinities who, like Gibil the fire-god, were
eclipsed by the more human deities of the later cult.
But the division must not be pressed too far. The intro
ductory en, "incantation," merely indicates that the hymn
is of sufficiently early date to be incorporated in a magical
text, or that it was selected as a spell, like the Lord's
Prayer or the fragments of Latin which have served the
same object in modern times. It is of importance, how
ever, to observe whether the hymn is of a semi-magical
character, like that to the Fire-god which I have quoted
in a former Lecture, or whether it was originally alto
gether independent of the use to which it has been put.
In the first case, we may confidently assign it to the period
when Eridu was still the religious capital of Chaldaea,
and the faith of the people was only emerging out of its
earlier Shamanistic phase. In the other case, where the
hymn itseb is free from all taint of magic and Shamanistic
superstition, we may as confidently ascribe it to a later
date. Its precise age will depend upon that of the text
in which it is embodied. If the latter is one of those
z2

310

LECTURE V.

late survivals which proved how deeply rooted the belief
in magic and witchcraft was among the lower strata of the
population, the hymn or fragment of the hymn which is
incorporated in it may be of almost any period. To deter
mine its age more exactly, we must have recourse to the
language in which it is written and the other indications
of date it may contain. Sometimes these may point to an
early epoch, at other times to a comparatively recent one.
The hymns to the Sun-god of Sippara afford a fixed
point of departure for settling the relative antiquity of
the hymns. They form a separate class by themselves,
and were part of the daily service performed by the
priests in the temple of Samas. It is plain, therefore,
that they had been collected for liturgical use, and had
been invested with a sacred character. There were
hymns that had to be recited at sunrise and sunset, or
on the special festivals held in honour of the god. The
individual hymns had doubtless been composed on db-
ferent occasions and at different times, and it is possible
that they had been revised and altered more than once
before they were put together as a single whole. But
whatever may have been the respective ages of the indi
vidual hymns, they were ab alike of Semitic origin.
They all belong to the epoch when Sippara and Accad
were ruled by Semitic princes, and were a centre and
focus of Semitic influence. It is true that the hymns
are provided with an Aceadian text, which is followed,
line by line, by the Semitic rendering, as is the case with
the other bilingual texts of early date. But it is equally
true that the Aceadian text is really a translation of the
Semitic. It may have been made by Aceadian scribes ;
it may have been made, and more probably was made,

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALDIEA. 341
by Semitic scribes, like the Aceadian texts which ema
nated from the library of Assur-bani-pal ; but it is not
original. The Semitic words and idioms it contains bear
witness to its secondary character. There is only one
period in the history of Sippara, of which we know, to
which such a work is attributable. This is the age of
Sargon and his son Naram-Sin. The pre-Semitic epoch
of northern Babylonia was but just passing away; the
sacred texts, the hymns to the gods, the older incanta
tions, were ab in the agglutinative language of the first
inhabitants of the country. Though the ancient Sun-god
of Sippara had become the Semitic Samas, it was natural
to suppose that he would be better pleased with the lan
guage hi which the spbits and deities of Chaldaea had
been addressed than with the vulgar speech of every-day
lbe. Like the monk of the Middle Ages, accordingly,
who composed his prayers and hymns in Latm, the priest
of Samas addressed his god in the older and more sacred
tongue. The sentiment, the expression, might be Semitic,
but the form in which it must be clothed before it could
be acceptable to the divinity was Aceadian.
In a later age there was no longer the same strong
motive for assimilating the hymns to the Sun- god to
those addressed to the more purely Aceadian deities of
Babylonia. The Semitic language became first bterary
and then a fit vehicle of devotion. Not only were magical
texts written in it, but hymns also, without any endeavour
to render them into the obsolete Aceadian. Assur-bani-
pal, antiquarian as he was, thinks it no sin to pubhsh
hymns to Nebo and Samas in Semitic only, and the in
vocations addressed to the gods by Nebuchadnezzar and
his successors are hi the same Semitic language as the

342 LECTURE V.
rest of theb inscriptions. The translation of the hymns
to Samas into Aceadian presupposes a time when the
Aceadian influence was still powerful, and when Aceadian
was still believed to be the language of the gods.
If, then, we can assign the hymns to Samas of Sippara
to the age of Sargon of Accad, it becomes more easy to
find an approximate date for the hymns to the other
great gods of Babylonia. Like the hymns to Samas, we
must suppose them to have belonged to different col
lections employed liturgically in the chief temples of
Chaldaea. We know, indeed, that this was the case as
regards the hymns addressed to Bel-Merodach of Babylon.
With few exceptions they are bilingual, in Aceadian and
Semitic ; and in the larger number of them the Aceadian
text is the original. Where this is the case, and the
hymns belong to the sanctuaries of northern Babylonia,
we may consider them older than the age of Sargon. As
the ancient language of the country continued to be
spoken in southern Babylonia long after his time, the
same conclusion cannot be drawn in regard to the hymns
employed there, but it is probable that the majority of
them are quite as early as those of the north.
How far they have come down to us in theb original
condition and form it is hard to say. In some instances
we can show that they have been modified and interpo
lated, and analogy would lead us to suppose that such
was generally the case. Nor is it possible to determine
at present whether the collections of sacred hymns used
in the different temples of Babylonia were formed into a
single whole, and thus constituted a sort of Babylonian
Rig- Veda, as Lenormant conjectured. It is very probable,
however, that the unification of the country brought with

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALDiEA. 343
it a unification of the sacred books used in its several
temples, and that the copies of the hymns we possess
were not made by the scribes of Assur-bani-pal from
the hymn-books of different sanctuaries, but from a com
mon hymn-book in which the special collections had been
grouped together.
At the same time, b such a common hymn-book ever
existed, it must have contained selections only from the
hymn-books of the individual sanctuaries. One of the
few hymns to Nergal, for instance, which we possess,
was, we are told, copied from the service-book of Cutha,1
and this is by no means an isolated example of the kind.
On the other hand, the hymns — or more usually the
fragments of hymns — which are incorporated in the
magical texts, perhaps imply the existence of a sacred
volume which was in common use among the priestly
schools of Babylonia. This is a point which it must be
left to future research to decide.
But whether or not such an authorised collection of
hymns existed for the whole of Chaldaea, it is certain
that a considerable number of the hymns were composed
when the chief cities of Babylonia and their presiding
deities had been, as it were, confederated together. The
matter is, indeed, complicated by our ignorance of the
extent to which the hymns have been altered and inter
polated before their present text was finally fixed; on
the whole, however, it seems pretty evident that Ana,
Mul-lil and Ea, had abeady been linked together in a
divine brotherhood, and that the other "great gods"
had been assigned theb places in a common pantheon,
1 K 5268, Rev. 12.

344

LECTURE V.

before a considerable proportion of the hymns had been
composed. A distinct advance had thus been made
beyond the religious conceptions of the litany of the
penitential psalms ; not only are the gods of different
cities invoked side by side, but they are now connected
together in the bonds of a single family. The family
system, in fact, has taken the place of a system of mere
co-ordination. Now the family system implies an entbe change in
the conception of the gods themselves. They cease to
be creators; they become fathers and children. Along
with this change necessarily goes another. The gods
become human. The last vestiges of primitive totemism
fade away, and Merodach is no longer "the bull of
light," the son of " the antelope of the deep," but an
anthropomorphic god, standing in the same relation to
Ea that a human son stands to his human father. Baby
lonian religion had long been tending to regard the gods
as supernatural men ; the introduction of the family
relation completed the work.
The work, however, in its final form bears clear marks
of artificiality. The whole family system, in which the
deities of different states are each given a definite posi
tion, must have been deliberately built up. Family
relationships may grow up naturally among the divinities
worshipped in the same locabty or in the colonies sent
out by a mother- state ; where these relationships are
found existing among divinities, originaby independent
and each adored as supreme in its own primitive seat of
worship, they must belong to an artificial system, and
be the product of intentional arrangement. Eeligion, in
the hands of its official representatives in Chaldaea, had

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALDiEA. 345
not only passed out of the sphere of simple and spon
taneous belief, it had become organised and reflective —
a subject to be discussed and analysed, to be arranged
and methodised.
Can all this have been the natural and uninterrupted
development of the old pre-Semitic Shamanism ? With
Francois Lenormant, I think not. Between the religion
of the magical texts, of the earlier semi-magical hymns
and of the btanies on the one side, and the religion of
the later hymns on the other, there seems to me to be
an almost impassable gub, which can be bridged over
only by the assumption of an intrusive foreign element.
What this element must have been we know abeady.
The Semitic nomads of the western desert in the days
of theb barbarism had come into contact with the cul
tured kingdoms and people of the valley of the Euphrates.
At first they were content to be pupils ; eventually they
became masters themselves. The amalgamation of the
two races produced the Babylonian population of later
times, and along with it the history, the civilisation and
the religion of a subsequent era. Berossos expressly notes
that Babylonia was the home of different races ; he might
have added that it was the home also of different faiths.
The Semite sat at the feet of his Aceadian Gamaliel
when the crude Shamanism of the latter had passed into
a higher phase of religion, and the creator-gods had been
evolved out of the spirits of the earlier creed. He adopted
the gods, but at the same time he adapted them to his
own notions concerning the divine government of the
world. They became Baahm, so many manbestations of
the supreme deity whose children we are, and who exhi
bits himself to us in the solar energy. The old goddesses,

346 LECTURE V.
with the exception of Istar, sank to the rank of Ash
taroth and "mistresses of the gods," mere companions
and doubles of the male divinity.
Now, as I have abeady tried to point out, the key
stone of Semitic belief was the generative character of
the deity. A language which divided nouns into mascu
lines and fern in in es, found it difficult to conceive of a deity
which was not masculine and feminine too. The divine
hierarchy was necessarily regarded as a famby, at the
head of which stood " father Bel." If the gods of Accad
were to be worshipped by the Semite, they must first
conform to the requirements of his rehgious conceptions,
and allow themselves to be grouped together as members
of a single family. All that stood outside the family
were servants and slaves — the hosts of heaven and earth
who performed the behests of theb masters, and carried
the messages of Baal to all parts of the universe. The
rest of the supernatural world, if such existed, was rele
gated to the domain of the enemy; it comprised the
empire of chaos and night, which, like the gods of foreign
nations, might at times invade the realms of the Baalim,
only, however, to be beaten back once more into the
outer darkness. The empire of chaos, however, was
really a stranger to genuine Semitic belief; it was a
legacy left by the Accadians, which was assimilated and
adapted by the Semites as best they could. Where the
Semitic faith existed in its full purity, Satan, the adver
sary, himseb was but an angel and minister of the Lord,
and the supreme god was the creator alike of good and
evil, of light and darkness.
The rise of Sun-worship at Sippara, the prominence
given to the solar element in Babylonian religion gene-

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALD^A. 347
rally, the obliteration of the older gods whose attributes
could not be harmonised with those of a Sun-god, and
the identification of deity after deity with the solar Baal,
was again the result of the introduction of Semitic ideas
into the religion of Chaldaea. Perhaps the most striking
transformation ever undergone by any object of religious
faith was the conversion of Mul-lil, the lord of the ghost -
world, into a Bel or Baal, the god of light and life.
Such a transformation could not have been produced
naturally ; it needed the grafting of new religious con
ceptions upon an older cult ; it is a sudden change, not
a development. Equally hard to explain, except by calling in the aid
of a foreign religious element, is the degradation of the
spirits of the primitive faith into demons. We have
traced the process whereby certain of these spirits deve
loped into deities, while others of them were invested
with a distinctly malevolent character ; but they are not
yet demons. The evil spirits who brought disease or
caused eclipse might be the brood of chaos, and therefore
hostile to the gods of light ; but they were all the subjects
of Mul-lil, and even of the sorcerer and the medicine
man. It was the necessity the Semite was under of
accommodating his beliefs to the doctrine of an empire
of chaos that turned them into veritable demons, work
ing for evil agamst the gods in a world of evil of their
own. Eersian dualism was no new thing in Babylonia ;
the gods of good and the spbits of evil had been struggling
there one agamst the other smce the remote days of
Sargon of Accad.1
1 Nothing can be more striking than the following expression in a
prayer to "Ea, Samas and Merodach, the great gods, the supreme

348

LECTURE V.

In what precedes I have, of course, been describing
only the official religion of Babylonia, as it is known to
us from the sacred literature of the country. It was
the religion of the upper classes, of the priesthood and of
the court. What the mass of the people may have be-
beved, and how far they may have participated in the
official cult, we can only guess. The later magical texts
and incantations were condescensions to their necessities
and superstitions, like the legends of the gods which
formed the subject-matter of popular poetry. The differ
ences that exist to-day between the creed of a Spanish
peasant and that of a scientific savant are not greater
than those which existed in Babylonia of old between
the religion of the multitude and that of the school which
resolved the divinities of the popular theology into forms
of the one supreme god.
The magical texts and hymns were not the only sacred
books possessed by the Babylonians. There was yet a
thbd class of sacred literature — those penitential psalms
to which I have so often alluded. The btany frequently
attached to them belongs, as we have seen, to the pre-
Semitic epoch, though it has been altered from time to
time in later ages. The litany, however, is not written,
like the magical texts and the majority of the hymns, in
the Sumerian dialect of the south, but in the Aceadian
of the north. Dr. Hommel is perfectly right in calling
the Aceadian of the north neo-Sumerian; it represents
the Sumerian of the early texts in an advanced stage of
powers who establish the ban,"—" the sins of my father and my mother
I saw not ([sa~\abi-ya u ummi-ya khidati ul amrd) . . . from darkness I
stepped forth and (became) the soldier of Samas" (ultu edhuti utsav-va
tsab Samas [assald?i]), R 278, Obv. 7 — 9.

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALDiEA. 349
decay. But this does not prove that it was spoken at a
later period than the Sumerian of the south, or that it is
the dbect descendant of the latter dialect. There were
several dialects of the Aceadian or pre-Semitic language
of Chaldaea ; one of these gave rise to the Aceadian of
northern Babylonia at a time when the Sumerian dialect
in the south still preserved its pristine purity. What
hastened the decay of the northern dialect was its contact
with Semitic. The Semites established themselves in
the northern part of the country long before they settled
in the south. The kingdom of Sargon rose and waned
at Accad more than a thousand years before Sumerian
dynasties ceased to rule in the southern cities. It is not
strange, therefore, if the Aceadian of the north decayed
long before its sister dialect of Eridu, borrowing at the
same time Semitic words and modes of expression. It
is in this Aceadian of the north that the penitential
psalms are written. They belong neither to the same age
nor to the same city. But they are ab distinguished by
the same characteristics, which lend to them a striking
resemblance to the Psalms of the Old Testament. Let us
take one, for example, which has been preserved to us in
a fairly complete condition : x
" The heart of my lord is wroth ; may it be appeased !2
May the god whom I know not be appeased !
May the goddess3 whom I know not be appeased !
May the god I know and (the god) I know not be appeased !
1 W. A. I. 4, 10. Zimmern's Busspsalmen, pp. 61 sq.
2 Literally, " return to its place."
3 The Assyrian translation here has Istar instead of Istarit, which
indicates its antiquity. The expression "whom I know not" means
" whose name I know not." The author of the psalm is uncertain as
to the particular god who has punished him.

350

LECTURE V.

May the goddess I know and (the goddess) I know not be ap
peased !
May the heart of my god be appeased !
May the heart of my goddess be appeased !
May the god and the goddess I know and I know not be appeased !
May the god who (has been violent against me) be appeased) !
May the goddess (who has been violent against me be appeased) !
The sin that (I sinned I) knew not.
The sin (that I committed I knew not).
A name of blessing (may my god pronounce upon me).
A name of blessing (may the god I know and know not) record
for me.
A name of blessing (may the goddess I know and know not) pro
nounce upon me).
(Pure) food I have (not) eaten.
Clear water I have (not) drunk.
The cursed thing1 of my god unknowingly did I eat ;
The cursed thing of my goddess unknowingly did I trample on.
0 lord, my sins are many, my transgressions are great !
0 my god, my sins are many, my transgressions are great !
0 my goddess, my sins are many, my transgressions are great !
O god whom I know and whom I know not, my sins are many,
my transgressions are great !
0 goddess whom I know and whom I know not, my sins are many,
my transgressions are great !
The sin that I sinned I knew not.
The transgression I committed I knew not.
The cursed thing that I ate I knew not.
The cursed thing that I trampled on I knew not.
The lord in the wrath of his heart has regarded me ;
God in the fierceness of his heart has revealed himself to me.
The goddess has been violent against me and has put me to grief.
The god whom I know and whom I know not has distressed'me.
The goddess whom I know and whom I know not has inflicted
trouble.
1 The Assyrian ikkib, as Mr. Pinches has pointed out, is borrowed
from the Aceadian iv-giba, " what is harmful." Zimmern quotes Haupt's
Texts, p. 119 (6 sq.), "the handmaid eateth the cursed thing, she has
committed the cursed thing." We may compare the words of Gen.
ii. 17, "in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALD.EA. 351
I sought for help and none took my hand ;
I wept and none stood at my side ;
I cried aloud and there was none that heard me.
I am in trouble and hiding ; I dare not look up.
To my god, the merciful one, I turn myself, I utter my prayer ;
The feet of my goddess I kiss and water with tears.1
To the god whom I know and whom I know not I utter my prayer.
0 lord, look upon (me ; receive my prayer !)
0 goddess, look upon (me ; accept my prayer !)
0 god whom I know (and whom I know not, accept my prayer !)
0 goddess whom I know (and whom I know not, accept my
prayer !)
How long, 0 god, (shaU I suffer ?)
How long, 0 goddess, (shall thy face be turned from me ?)
How long, 0 god whom I know and know not, shall the fierceness
(of thy heart continue ?)
How long, 0 goddess whom I know and know not, shall thy
heart in its hostility be [not] appeased ?
Mankind is made to wander and there is none that knoweth.
Mankind, as many as pronounce a name, what do they know ?
Whether he shall have good or ill, there is none that knoweth.
O lord, destroy not thy servant !
When cast into the water of the ocean (?) take his hand.
The sins I have sinned turn to a blessing.
The transgressions I have committed may the wind carry away.
Strip off my manifold wickednesses as a garment.
0 my god, seven times seven are my transgressions ; forgive my
sins !
O my goddess, seven times seven are my transgressions ; forgive
my sins !
O god whom I know and whom I know not, seven times seven
are my transgressions ; forgive my sins !
0 goddess whom I know and whom I know not, seven times seven
are my transgressions ; forgive my sins !
Forgive my sins ; may thy ban be removed.2
1 See W. A. I. v. 19. 35—38 ; 20. 55 ; ii. 21. 53 ; 24. 45.
2 Zimmern has mistaken the meaning of this passage. In W. A. I
iv. 12. 32, 33, sa-mun-dillalil is rendered unakkaru. Ka-tar (perhaps
pronounced kus) is "spoken judgment," "excommunication ;" thus in

352. LECTURE V.
May thy heart be appeased as the heart of a mother who has borne
children.
As a mother who has borne children, as a father who has begotten
them, may it be appeased !
Colophon. — Psalm of 65 lines ; a tablet for every god.
Its repetition ensures my peace.2
Like its original copied and published : palace of Assur-bani-pal,
king of legions, king of Assyria."
It is only necessary to read the psalm to see in it
distinct traces of contact on the part of the Accadians
with Semitic thought. The god cannot be addressed
alone ; the goddess necessarily stands at his side. The
introspection, moreover, which the psalm reveals is hardly
reconcilable with the religious conceptions presupposed
by the magical texts and the earlier hymns. The con
sciousness of sin is a new feature in Chaldaean religion,
and belongs to the age that saw the rise of poems like
that on the Deluge, which ascribed the sufferings of man
kind to their wrong-doing. Hitherto the evil that existed
in the world had not been given a moral significance.
It was due to the action of malevolent spirits or the
decrees of inexorable fate rather than to the wickedness
of man, and it was removed by spells and ceremonies
which occasioned the interference of the god of wisdom
and his son Merodach. At most, it was considered a
punishment for offences against the divine order of the

1253. Rev. 1, 2, we have ina KA-GA-ka lu-ub(Kv)-ludh ka-tar-zu ka
libbi-ka lusapi, " by thy word may I live ; may I honour thy command
ment, the word of thy heart." In W. A. I. iv. 29, 16 — 18, dalali, " exal
tation" (not " subject"), is the equivalent of the Aceadian ub (for which
see ii. 35, 36, dri = tanittu, "exaltation").
2 This is the conclusion of the original Aceadian colophon. The
next line is in Assyrian, and was added by the scribes of Assur-bani-
pal.

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALDiEA. 353
world, like the punishments inflicted by human judges
for disobedience to the laws. Unassisted by intercourse
with Semitic belief, Aceadian religion never advanced
beyond the idea of vicarious punishment, which grew
out of the doctrine of primitive society that demands an
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. It is a doctrine
that lies at the root of the institution of sacrifice, and it
marks the high tide of Aceadian faith before the Semite
appeared upon the stage.
Along with these indications of Semitic influence,
however, the psalm bears equally clear evidence of its
Aceadian origin. The consciousness of sin is still but
rudimentary ; the psalmist knows that one of the gods is
angry with him because he is suffering pain. He has
eaten what has been cursed by heaven, or else has un
wittingly trampled on the forbidden thing. In the
language of the Polynesians, he has touched what is
tabooed, and the curse of heaven accordingly falls upon
him. Even when he speaks of his transgressions, he falls
into the language of the old magical texts ; his sins are
seven times seven, that mystical number which was so
closely connected with the spirits of earth. The belief
in the mysterious power of names, moreover, is still
strong upon him. In fear lest the deity he has offended
should not be named at all, or else be named incorrectly,
he does not venture to enumerate the gods, but classes
them under the comprehensive title of the divinities with
whose names he is acquainted and those of whose names
he is ignorant. It is the same when he refers to the
human race. Here, again, the ancient superstition about
words shows itself plainly. If he alludes to mankind, it
2a

354

LECTURE V.

is to " mankind as many as pronounce a name," as many,
that is, as have names which may be pronounced.
We must, then, regard the penitential psalms as origi
nating in the Aceadian epoch, but at a time when the
Aceadian population was already profoundly influenced
by Semitic ideas. This agrees well with the language
and contents of the psalms themselves. They all belong
to northern Babylonia, more especially to Erech and
Nipur. But there is no reference in them to Sippara
and its Sun-god, no trace of acquaintanceship with the
empire of Sargon. It would therefore seem that they
mount back to an earlier date than the rise of the city of
Accad, and may consequently be placed midway between
the older hymns and those which were composed in
honour of the Sun-god.
But just as the sacred hymns were constantly added
to, new hymns being introduced into the ancient collec
tions perhaps as late as the time of Assur-bani-pal, so,
too, the number of the penitential psalms was increased
from time to time. At first the additions were in Acea
dian; afterwards they were written in Semitic only,
the character of the psalm being at the same time con
siderably changed. "Yain repetitions" were avoided,
and the psalm was more and more assimilated in form to
a prayer; on the other hand, forms of expression were
borrowed from the semi-magical hymns of Eridu, and
a stronger element of superstition gradually entered into
the composition of it. Here, for example, is a fragment
which I have elsewhere termed a prayer after a bad
dream, but which Dr. Zimmern, perhaps more correctly,
would entitle a psalm. The tablet which contains it is

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALDIEA. 355
broken, the beginning and end of the prayer or psalm
being consequently lost.1
" 0 my god who art violent (against me), receive (my supplication).
0 my goddess, thou who art fierce (towards me), accept (my prayer).
Accept my prayer, (may thy liver be quieted).
0 my lord, long-suffering (and) merciful, (may thy heart be ap
peased).
By day, directing unto death that which destroys me,2 0 my god,
interpret (the vision).
O my goddess, look upon me and accept my prayer.
May my sin be forgiven, may my transgression be cleansed.
Let the yoke be unbound, the chain be loosed.
May the seven winds carry away my groaning.
May I strip off my evil so that the bird bear (it) up to heaven.
May the fish carry away my trouble, may the river bear (it) along.
May the reptile of the field receive (it) from me ; may the waters
of the river cleanse me as they flow.
Make me shine Hke a mask of gold.
May I be precious in thy sight as a goblet (?) of glass.
Burn up (?) my evil, knit together3 my life ; bind together thy altar
that I may set up thine image.
Let me pass from my evil, and let me be kept with thee.
Enlighten me and let me dream a favourable dream.
May the dream that I dream be favourable ; may the dream that
I dream be established.
Turn the dream that I dream into a blessing.
May Makhir the god of dreams rest upon my head.
Yea, let me enter into E-Sagil, the palace of the gods, the temple
of life.
To Merodach, the merciful, to blessedness, to prospering hands,
entrust me.
Let me exalt thy greatness, let me magnify thy divinity.
Let the men of my city honour thy mighty deeds."
The psalm or prayer, it will be seen, was composed
by a native of Babylon, and probably formed part of the
1 W. A. I. iv. 66, No. 2. 2 Pasdhi.
3 Kidstsur ; we may read (with Zimmern) utsur, " protect."
2 a2

356

LECTURE V.

ritual used in the service of the great temple of Mero
dach. In any case it could hardly have been included
in the old cobection of penitential psalms. These were
written in Aceadian, and it is not probable that any were
admitted among them whose language showed plainly
theb more recent date. Assur-bani-pal informs us1 that
after putting down the rebellion of his brother, the
viceroy of Babylonia, he "pacified the angry gods and
wrathful goddesses with a public prayer (takribti) and a
penitential psalm, restoring and estabhshing in peace
theb festivals, which had been discontinued, as they
were in former days." As the word for penitential psalm
is expressed by the compound ideograph which served
to denote it in Aceadian, it is possible that on the occa
sion hi question a psalm was selected from the ancient
coUection ; but it is also possible that a new psalm was
composed specially for the event.
That, such special compositions were not unusual among
the Assyrians of Assur-bani-pal's days, is proved by a
hymn or prayer on behalf of the king which the compiler
of a list of the gods in the chief temples of Assyria has
added to his catalogue. It seems to have been intended
for use in one of them. Where the text first becomes
legible, the hymn reads as follows : 2
" Joy of heart, production of purity, production of enlightenment
(sukallimtu), the explanation of what is revealed and concealed (?),
reveal to the city of Assur ; long days and years unending, a strong
weapon, a reign hereafter, names abundant and long, first-born who
shall be rulers, adjudge to the king my lord who has given all this to his
gods. Habitations (?) many and far-extended adjudge to his people (?).
As a man may he live and be at peace. Over kings and princes may
he exercise wide empire. May he come to a hoar old age. For the
1 W. A. I. v. 4, 88 sq. 2 W. A. I. iii. 66, Rev. 6 sq.

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALDiEA. 357
men who pronounce these prayers may the land of the silver sky,1 oil
unceasing and the wine of blessedness, be their food, and a good noon
tide2 their light. Health to my body and prosperity is my prayer to
the gods who dweU in the land of Assyria."
This prayer introduces us to a subject without a dis
cussion of which no description of a religion can be com
plete. What were the views about a future lbe enter
tained by the Babylonians and Assyrians? Was their
religion intended for this world only, to avoid evil here
and to bve happily, or did they look forward to a world
beyond the grave, with joys and miseries of its own?
The reference to "the land of the silver sky" in the
prayer I have just cited would seem to show that Assy
rian religion was neither a faith which, like that of the
Buddhist, hoped for the annihilation of consciousness,
nor yet a faith which, like that of the Greeks of old,
saw in the future nothing but a dreary existence in a
sunless world, a passage from the world of light and
lbe to the darkness and the night.
But this conclusion would not be in accordance with
the testimony of the older texts. The incantations and
exorcisms, the semi-magical hymns of Eridu, bmit the
horizon of their view to the present bfe. The spbits
1 We may compare with this expression a phrase in a small fragment
(E 528) which runs : "At dawn a hymn (khir) before Samas .... four
hymns to Ea the pure god of the land of the (silver ?) sky .... (begin
ning with) the incantation : The pure seat."
2 Kiriru, allied to kararu, rendered an-izi, " divine fire," in W. A. I.
iv. 15. 18, 19, where we read, "in the noon-tides of day and night" (ie.
the dead of night). In W. A. I. ii. 47, 61, an-izi is translated urru,
" full day," and in iii. 55. 49, 50, as Jensen points out, we have the
four periods of the day enumerated : " On the nineteenth day enter in
the morning the presence of Bahu, at noon (an-izi) the presence of the
supreme god, in the afternoon the presence of Eimmon and in the
evening the presence of Istar."

358

LECTURE V.

with whom they people the universe are to be dreaded
or praised by the bving only. The pains man seeks to
remove, the blessings he asks for, all cease with death.
There is little or no trace of any thought of a world
beyond. In the hymns, it is true, Merodach, the bene
factor of the human race, is described as raising the dead
to lbe, but the lbe to which they are raised is the life of
the present world. Whatever might have been the sense
afterwards attached to the expression, in the early hymns
it means nothing more than a belief in the power of
spells to restore the dead to life. The recovery of the
sick was considered hi no way more wonderful than a
recovery from a state of trance or from death itseb ; b
the god of wisdom and magic could effect the one, he
could equally effect the other.
I do not deny that the primitive Chaldaean may have
believed in the continuation of existence after death.
The belief in a Mul-lil, a lord of the ghost- world, pre
supposes this. The lost friends who returned to him in
his dreams would have assured him that they had not
vanished utterly. But I can find no traces of ancestor-
worship in the early literature of Chaldaea which has
survived to us. Whatever views the Chaldaean may have
entertained about the ghost-world, they were vague and
shadowy ; it was a subterranean region, inhabited for the
most part by spirits who were not the spbits of the dead,
but of the objects of nature. They were typified by the
spbits of earth, and were all the subjects of Mul-lil.
The ghost- world of Nipur lay beneath the earth. It
was here that the golden throne of the Anunas, the
spirits of earth, was erected, hard by the waters of lbe
which they were appointed to guard. When the cult

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALDJiA. 859
of Nipur and the cult of Eridu were united into one,
this underground region was necessarily connected with
the great ocean-stream which encbcled the earth. Here
accordingly was placed the home of the Anunas, and
it became the entrance to the realm of Hades. As
primitive Aceadian geography, however, identified the
Euphrates and the Persian Gulf with the ocean-stream,
the approach to Hades passed into Datiba, the river of
death ;J and Xisuthros, the hero of the Deluge, was trans
lated to dwell among the gods beyond the mouth of the
Euphrates.2 This was the land set apart for the im
mortal deities in the belief of the people of Eridu, for
theb gods were gods of the sea whose waters washed
their shore. The unification of the creeds of Nipur and
Eridu thus brought with it an identification of the ghost-
world with the world of Ea, of the empbe of Mul-lil
with the deep over which Ea ruled. The world of the
ghosts and the world of the gods were accordingly con
founded together, the distinction between them being
that whereas the ghosts were still left in theb subter
ranean abodes, Mul-lil was elevated to the world above,
there to dweb with Ea and his son Merodach, the god of
light. But this upper world of the gods was immediately
above the world of the ghosts, and was in fact the passage
into it.
This theological geography is perfectly incompatible
1 W. A. I. ii. 62, 50. "The ship of the river Datilla is the ship of
the Lady of Hfe and death."
2 The story here preserves a feature of the original myth. In the
time of the composition of the poem, the seat of the gods was regarded
as being in heaven, so that the author of the Gisdhubar epic, Sin-liqi-
annini, has admitted a contradiction into his narrative.

360

LECTURE V.

with another theory of the abode of the gods, which
placed it on the summit of Kharsag-kurkura, " the moun
tain of the world." This mountain of the world is de
clared by Sargon to be the mountain of Arallu or Hades :
" The gods Ea, Sin, Samas, Eimmon, Adar and theb
august wives, who were truly born in the midst of the
temple of Kharsag-kurkura, the mountain of Arabu, have
excellently founded glistering sanctuaries and well-
wrought shrines in the city of Dur-Sargon."1 Famous
temples were named after it, in Assyria at all events,
and its site was sought in the mountainous region of the
north-west. An old geographical table tells us that
Arallu was the land or mountain of gold,2 a statement
which reminds us of the words of Job (xxxvii. 22), " Out
of the north cometh gold," as well as of the Greek legend
of the griffins who guarded the hidden gold in the distant
north. We find an allusion to the Babylonian myth in
the 14th chapter of Isaiah (ver. 13). There the Baby
lonian monarch is described as having said in his heart :
u I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above
the stars of El ; I will sit also upon the mount of the
assembly (of the gods), in the extremities of the north ;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds ; I will be
like the Most High." Here, in this Chaldaean Olympos,
the gods were imagined to have been born and to have
theb seats ; its summit was hidden by the clouds, and
the starry firmament seemed to rest upon it. It is pos
sible that it was identified, at any rate in later times,
with the mountain on which the ark of the Chaldaean
1 Khors. 155 sq. See Delitzsch, Wo lag das Paradies, pp. 117 — 122.
2 W.A.I, ii. 51, 11.

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALD.EA. 361
Noah rested, " the mountain of Nizb," the modern Eo-
wandiz. Eowandiz towers high above its fellows in the
Kurdish ranges, and the Babylonian might well believe
that its peak had never been ascended by mortal man.
If Xisuthros had touched the sacred soil with his ship,
he was qualified by the very fact to take his place amid
" the assembly of the gods."
"The mountain of the world" was peculiarly sacred
among the Assyrians. Perhaps theb nearer proximity
to the great mountainous chains of the north-west, and
theb distance from the sea, had made them more ready
to adopt the behef which placed the home of the gods
in the mountains of the north than beside the waters of
the Persian Gub. It is difficult to tell in what part of
Babylonia the belief first arose. If Kharsag-kalama, " the
mountain of mankind," the name given to the tower of
the chief temple of Kis, is the same as "the mountain of
the world," we might discover its cradle in the neigh
bourhood of Babylon. It will be remembered that in
the hymn to the Fire-god the seven spirits of earth are
declared to have been born in " the mountain of the sun
set," and to have grown up "in the mountain of the sun
rise." Here the sun is distinctly regarded as rising and
setting behind a mountain; and since there were no moun
tains on the western side of the Babylonian plain, we must
consider the poet to have looked upon the mountain
behind which the sun rose and set as one and the same.1
During the hours of darkness the Sun-god must have
1 I have assumed that the poet's horizon was bounded by the plain
of Babylonia. He may, however, have lived after the Babylonians had
become acquainted with Palestine, and "the mountain of the sunset"
may therefore be the mountainous land of Dhidhi or Phoenicia.

362

LECTURE V.

been supposed to have journeyed underneath the earth,
traversing, it may be, the realms of Hades on his way.
Whether this mountain, which thus fringed, as it were,
the sides of the earth, can be connected with " the moun
tain of the world," I cannot say. In any case, by the
side of a behef in a subterranean Hades and a paradise of
the gods beyond the mouth of the Euphrates, there was
also a belief in a Hades and a paradise which were esta
blished on the loftiest of the mountains of the north.
A bilingual Babylonian hymn, which appears to have
been connected with Nipur relates to the latter belief.
It is thus that it begins :x
" 0 mighty mountain of Mul-lil, Im-kharsag (the mountain sky),
whose head rivals the heavens ; the pure deep has been laid
as its foundation.
Among the mountains it lies like a strong wild bull.
Its horns glisten like the splendour of the Sun-god.
Like the star of heaven that proclaims (the day) it is full of glit
tering rays.
The mighty mother Nin-lilli (the lady of the ghost-world), the
reverence2 of E-Sara (the temple of the hosts of heaven), the
glory2 of E-Kiira (the temple of the hosts of earth), the adorn
ment of E-Giguna (the temple of the city of darkness), the
heart of E-Ki-gusiira (the temple of the land of light)."
In this hymn the world-tree of Eridu, whose roots were
planted in the deep, has made way for a world-mountain,
with its head reaching unto heaven like the tower of
Babel, and its feet planted upon the deep. As the con
ception of the world-tree belonged to Sumb or southern
1 W. A. I. iv. 27, No. 2.
2 The female and male organs of generation are referred to. As the
word for "shame" or "reverence" in the Aceadian text is the Semitic
uru, the text must either belong to the Semitic period or have been
revised by Semitic copyists.

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALD^IA. 363
Babylonia, so the conception of the world-mountain
belongs to Accad or northern Babylonia ; it is expressly
termed the mountain of Mul-lil, and is identified with
Nin-lil, the " reverence of E-Sara," whose son was the
Sun-god Adar. It is at least noticeable that one of the
hymns to the Sun-god which originated at Sippara begins
by declaring that he "rose from the mighty mountain,"
"from the mountain of the stream," "the place of the
destinies."1 The introduction of an Olympos into Babylonian mytho
logy must necessarby have modified the conception of
the Chaldaean Hades, more especiaby when we find that
Mul-hl, the lord of the ghost-world, was himself asso
ciated with it. The world of the gods was separated
from the abode of the dead ; the latter remained below,
while the gods who had once presided there ascended to
the upper world. Their places were taken by the god
Irkalla and the goddess Allat, originaby mere forms of
Mul-lil and Nin-lil, but now distinguished from the Bel
and Beltis into whom Mul-lil and Nin-lil had been trans
formed. The addition of the sky-god of Erech to the
common pantheon of Babylonia stbl further tended to
divide the two worlds. The Olympos became a ladder
1 W.A.I v. 51, 1 — 6. Can "the mountain of the stream" have
any reference to Gen. ii. 10 ? This mountain of the sun is described in
the second column of the ninth tablet of the Epic of Gisdhubar (Haupt,
Babylonische Nimrodepos) : " When he arrived at the twin (mdsi)
mountains, where day by day they guard the rising (and setting of the
sun), their crown (touched) the massy vault of heaven, below their foot
ing reached to (kasdat) Hades ; scorpion-men guard its gate, whose ter-
ribleness is dread and their appearance death; the greatness of their
splendour overthrows the forests. At the rising of the sun and the
setting of the sun they guard the Sun-god, and when Gisdhubar saw
them, fear and dread took possession of his face."

364 LECTURE V.
to the heavens in which the visible deities of light —
Samas, Sin and Istar — ruled over the visible firmament,
while the other gods dwelt in a yet more remote region
of the universe, " the heaven of Anu."
This is the point at which the religious development
of Babylonian belief had arrived when the majority of
the legendary poems — or at least the older portions of
them — were composed. Hades is still the gloomy realm
beneath the earth, where the spirits of the dead flit about
in darkness, with dust and mud for their food and drink,
and from whence they escape at times to feed on the
blood of the living. Here the shades of the great heroes
of old sit each on his throne, crowned and terrible, rising
up only to greet the coming among them of one like unto
themselves. The passage to these subterranean abodes
is through the seven gates of the world, each guarded
by its porter, who admits the dead, stripping him of his
apparel, but never allowing him to pass through them
again to the upper world. Good and bad, heroes and
plebeians, are alike condemned to this dreary lot ; a state
of future rewards and punishments is as yet undreamed
of ; moral responsibility ends with death. Hades is a land
of forgetfulness and of darkness, where the good and evil
deeds of this life are remembered no more ; and its occu
pants are mere shadows of the men who once existed, and
whose consciousness is like the consciousness of the
spectral figures in a fleeting dream. The Hades of the
Babylonian legends closely resembles the Hades of the
Homeric poems.
But side by side with this pitbul picture of the world
beyond the grave, there were the beginnings of higher
and nobler ideas. In the Epic of Gisdhubar, the ghost of

THE SACRED BOOKS OF CHALD^A. 365
Ea-bani is described as rising bke a dust-cloud from the
earth and mountmg up to heaven, where he bves among
the gods, gazing on the deeds that are done below.
" On a couch he reclines and pure water he drinks. He who is slain
in battle, thou seest and I see. His father and his mother (support)
his head ; his wife addresses the corpse. His body in the field (is
placed) ; thou seest and I see. His ghost in the earth is uncovered ;
of his ghost he has no overnight ; thou seest and I see. The food at
the edge of the tomb is bewitched (?) ; the food which is thrown into
the street he eats."
Ea-bani, however, was half a god. Gisdhubar, too,
who seems to be associated with him in his future lot,
was hab divine. If while E-bani and Gisdhubar were
thus permitted to "live and lie reclined
On the hills, like gods together, careless of mankind,"
the other heroes of ancient renown, Ner and Etana, were
relegated to the shades below, it was because Ner had
once been Nergal, the prince of the infernal world, and
Etana seems to be the Titan of Berossos who made war
against Kronos or Ea. But when the semi-human heroes
of epic song had thus been permitted to enter heaven, it
could not be long before a similar permission was extended
to heroes who were wholly human. Little by little, as
the conception of the gods and their dwelling-place became
spfrituahzed, "the mountain of the world" passing first
into the sky and then into the invisible " heaven of Anu,"
the conception of the future condition of mankind became
spiritualised also. The doctrine of the immortality of the
conscious soul began to dawn upon the Babylonian mind,
and along with it necessarily went the doctrine of rewards
and punishments for the actions committed in the flesh.
The Babylonian was already familiar with the idea of
sacrifice for sin and of vicarious punishment; all that

366 LECTURE V.
remained was to enlarge the horizon of his faith, and to
extend his belief in the divine awards for piety and sin
to the life beyond the grave. The prayer I quoted just
now from the compiler of the list of the gods in the
Assyrian temples, proves that some at least of the Assyro-
Babylonian people asked theb deities for something more
than merely temporal blessings. They might pray that
their monarch should bve " a hundred years,"1 but they
prayed also that they themselves might live "for ever"
hereafter in "the land of the silver sky." The world-
mountain had followed the fate of the world-tree, and
been consigned to the mythologists and the mytholo-
gising poets; even the invisible "heaven of Anu" itseb
had vanished into the deep blue of the visible firmament;
above and beyond them all was the true home of the gods
and the spirits of the blest, a home towards which the
smoke of the altar might ascend, but into whose mysteries
none could penetrate till death and the grace of Baal had
freed him from the shackles of the flesh.
1 While 60 was the numerical unit of Aceadian literature, the Semitic
Assyrians made 100 their standard number. The stereotyped form
of addressing the monarch accordingly was, "A hundred years to the
king my lord; may he live to old age; may offspring be multiplied to
the king my lord 1" (K 501, 12—16 ; K 538, 13—16).

Lecture VI.
COSMOGONIES AND ASTEO-THEOLOGY.

More than once I have had to allude to the speculations
the Babylonians indulged in regarding the origin of the
world. In an early age these speculations naturally
assumed a theological form. As the elements themselves
were regarded as divine, or at any rate as possessed of a
divine spirit, theb source and shaping must have been
divine also. They were deities who had formed them
selves into their present order and appearance, or else
they had been so formed by other and superior powers.
In course of time this theological conception became
mythological. The elements themselves ceased to be
divine, but they represented and symbolised divine beings
whose actions produced the existing order of nature.
The mythological conception in turn gave way to another,
which saw in the elements inert matter created, begotten
or moulded by the gods. Lastly, schools of philosophy
arose which sought to find in matter the original cause
of all things, including even the gods, though they veiled
the materialism of their views under a mythological sym
bolism. Broadly speaking, the cosmological theories of Chaldaea
divide themselves into two main classes, the genealogical
and the creative. According to Aceadian ideas, the world

368 LECTURE VI.
was created by the gods ; the Semite saw in it rather a
birth or emanation. A time came, it is true, when the
two sets of ideas were harmonised; and by the assumption
of a chaos which had existed from " the beginning," and
the further assumption that " the great gods" had created
the objects we see about us, room was left for the creative
hypothesis, while the belief in the birth of the elements
one out of the other was at the same time stoutly main
tained. The form taken by the combination of the two
ideas will be best seen in the latest product of Assyro-
Babylonian cosmogonical systems, that which describes
the creation of the world in a series of days.
First of all, however, let us read the account given by
Berossos of the creation of the world, and professed by
him to be derived from the writings of Oannes, that semi-
piscine being who rose out of the waters of the Persian
Gulf to instruct the people of Chaldaea in the arts and
sciences of lbe. It is pretty certain that B&rossos had
access to documents which purported to come from the
hand of Oannes or Ea, and consequently to deal with
events which preceded the appearance of man on the
earth. The Chaldaean system of astronomy which Beros
sos translated into Greek was likewise asserted by him
to have been composed by a god, namely Bel ; and the
fragments of the original work which we now possess
show that his assertion was correct, inasmuch as the work
bears the title of the Observations of Bel. The inscrip-*
tions, moreover, expressly inform us that Ea was not
only the god of wisdom, but himself an author. We
learn from a tablet, "with warnings to kings against
injustice," that b the king " decrees according to the
writing of Ea, the great gods will establish him in good

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGY. 369
report and the knowledge of justice."1 There is, there
fore, no reason to doubt the statement of Berossos that
the account of the creation which he gives was extracted
from a document that professed to have been inscribed
by the god of Eridu himseb.
" The following is the purport of what he said : There was a time
in which there existed nothing but darkness and an abyss of waters,
wherein resided most hideous beings, which were produced by a two
fold principle. There appeared men, some of whom were furnished with
two wings, others with four, and with two faces. They had one body,
but two heads ; the one that of a man, the other of a woman ; they
were likewise in their several organs both male and female. Other
human figures were to be seen with the legs and horns of a goat ; some
had horses' feet, while others united the hind-quarters of a horse with
the body of a man, resembling in shape the hippocentaurs. Bulls like
wise were bred there with the heads of men ; and dogs with four-fold
bodies, terminated in their extremities with the tails of fishes ; horses
also with the heads of dogs ; men, too, and other animals, with the
heads and bodies of horses and the tails of fishes. In short, there were
creatures in which were combined the limbs of every species of animal.
In addition to these, there were fishes, reptiles, serpents, with other
monstrous animals, which assumed each other's shape and countenance.
Of all which were preserved delineations in the temple of Belos at
Babylon. The person who was supposed to have presided over them was a
woman named Omoroka, which in the Chaldsean language is Thalatth
(read Thavatth), which in Greek is interpreted Thalassa (the sea) ; but
according to the most true interpretation it is equivalent to the Moon.
All things being in this situation, Belos came and cut the woman
asunder, and of one half of her he formed the earth, and of the other
half the heavens, and at the same time destroyed the animals within
her (in the abyss).
All this was an allegorical description of nature. For, the whole
1 W.A.I, iv. 55. 7, 8. Sipar is HteraUy "a message," but as the
message was in later times a written one, it signifies "a letter" or
" writing." I have translated sitilti (for sitidti), " good report," on the
strength of W. A. I. v. 17, 4 — 7, and the meaning of its ideographic
equivalent, " fatherliness ;" but it may signify " study."
2b

370 LECTURE VI.
universe consisting of moisture, and animals being continually generated
therein, the deity above-mentioned (Belos) cut off his own head ; upon
which the other gods mixed the blood, as it gushed out, with the earth,
and from thence men were formed. On this account it is that they
are rational, and partake of divine knowledge. This Belos, by whom
they signify Zeus, divided the darkness, and separated the heavens from
the earth, and reduced the universe to order. But the recently-created
animals, not being able to bear the light, died. Belos upon this, seeing
a vast space unoccupied, though by nature fruitful, commanded one of
the gods to take off his head, and to mix the blood with the earth, and
from thence to form other men and animals, which should be capable
of bearing the light. Belos formed also the stars and the sun and the
moon and the five planets."1
The account of the cosmological theories of the Baby
lonians thus given by Ber6ssos has not come to us imme
diately from his hand. It was first copied from his book
by Alexander Polyhistor, a native of Asia Minor, who
was a slave at Eome for a short period in the time of
Sulla ; and from Polyhistor it has been embodied in the
works of the Christian writers Eusebios and George the
Synkellos. It is not quite certain, therefore, whether
the whole of the quotation was originally written by
Berossos himseb. At all events, it evidently includes
two inconsistent accounts of the creation of the world,
which have been awkwardly fitted on to one another. In
one of them, the composite creatures who filled the watery
chaos, over which Thavatth, the Tiamat or Tiavat of the
inscriptions, presided, were represented as being destroyed
by Bel when he cut Thavatth asunder, formmg the heavens
out of one portion of her body, and the earth out of the
other. In the second version, the monsters of chaos
perished through the creation of hght, and their places
were taken by the animals and men produced by the
1 Euseb. Citron, i. 4.

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGY. 371
mixture of the earth with the blood of Bel. What this1
blood meant may be gathered from the Phoenician myth
which told how the blood of the sky, mutilated by his
son Kronos or Baal, fell upon the earth in drops of rain
and filled the springs and rivers. It was, in fact, the
fertilising rain.
Both versions of the genesis of the universe reported
by Berossos agree not only in the representation of a
chaos that existed before the present order of things, but
also in the curious statement that this chaos was peopled
with strange creatures, imperfect first attempts of nature,
as it were, to form the animal creation of the present
world. In these chaotic beginnings of animal lbe we
may see a sort of anticipation of the Darwinian hypo
thesis. At any rate, the Babylonian theory on the sub
ject must have been the source of the simbar theory
propounded by the Ionic philosopher Anaximander in the
sixth century before our era. The phbosophical systems
of the early Greek thinkers of Asia Minor came to them
from Babylonia through the hands of the Phoenicians,
and it is consequently no more astonishing to find Anaxi
mander declaring that men had developed out of the fish
of the sea, than to find his predecessor Thales agreeing
with the priests of Babylonia in holding that all tilings
have originated from a watery abyss.
The fact that Anaximander abeady knew of the Baby
lonian doctrine shows that it could not have been sug
gested to Berossos himseb, as we might be tempted to
think, by the colossal bubs that guarded the gates, and
the curious monsters depicted on the walls, of the temple
of Bel. And we' are now able to carry the belief back
to a period very much earlier than that of Anaximander.
2b2

372 LECTURE VI.
The library of Nineveh contained the copy of a tablet
which, according to its concluding lines, was originally
written for the great temple of Nergal at Cutha.1 The
words of the text are put in the mouth of Nergal the
destroyer, who is represented as sending out the hosts of
the ancient brood of chaos to theb destruction. Nergal
is identified with Nerra, the plague-god, who smites them
with pestilence, or rather with Ner, the terrible "king
who gives not peace to his country, the shepherd who
grants no favour to his people."2 We are first told how
the armies of chaos came into existence. " On a tablet
none wrote, none disclosed, and no bodies or brushwood
were produced in the land ; and there was none whom I
approached. Warriors with the body of a bird of the
valley, men with the faces of ravens, did the great gods
create. In the ground did the gods create theb city.
Tiamat (the dragon of chaos) suckled them. Theb pro-

1 Col. iv. 11. 9 sq. Atta sarru patedi rium lu nin sanama sa Uu
inambu (u) sarruta tebus dup suatu ebus-ka nard asdhur-ka ina ali
gu-DU-a-ki ina bit su-lim (i)na parak\ixtil\ d. p. u-gur ezibakka :
" Thou, king, priest-ruler, shepherd, or whatever thou art, whom God
shall proclaim to govern the kingdom, for thee have I made this tablet,
for thee have I written the record-stone ; in the city of Cutha, in the
temple of 'Sulim, in the sanctuary of Nergal, have I left it for thee."
2 Ana pale mind ezib anaku sarru la musallimu mati-su H rieum la
musallimu ummanu-su ki ustakkan pagri u bieti usetsi salum mati nisi
musi mMu namtar arur-su : " What have I left for (my) reign ? I am
a king who gives not peace to his land, and a shepherd who gives not
peace to his people ; since I have made corpses and produced jungle,
the whole of the land and the men I have cursed with night, death and
pestilence." Buti means " thickets" or "jungle," and corresponds with
the Aceadian dag ; see gis-ba dag and gis-ba-pal = bUtum, W.A.I, ii.
41. 70, 71 (for nam-ba = kistu, cf. v. 11, 3, also qistu, "offering");
. ... dag = butum ("thickness"), v. 20, 48; dag = Mtum, v. 29, 56.
In 82. 5—22. 196. Rev. 8, buti is opposed to dibiri, "pasture-lands."

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGY. 373
geny (sasur) the mistress of the gods created. In the
midst of the mountains they grew up and became heroes
and increased in number. Seven kings, brethren, ap
peared and begat children. Six thousand in number
were theb peoples. The god Banini theb father was
king ; their mother was the queen Melih." It was the
subjects and the offspring of these semi-human heroes
whom the god Ner was deputed to destroy.
It is clear that the legend of Cutha agrees with Beros
sos in the main facts, however much it may differ in
details. In both alike, we have a first creation of bving
beings, and these beings are of a composite nature, and
the nurselings of Tiamat or Chaos. In both alike, the
whole brood is exterminated by the gods of light. A
curious point in connection with the legend is the descrip
tion of chaos as a time when writing was as yet unknown
and records unkept. Perhaps we may see in this an
allusion to the fact that the Babylonian histories of the
pre-human period were supposed to bave been composed
by the gods.
The date to which the legend in its present form may
be assigned is difficult to determine. The inscription
is in Semitic only, bke the other creation-tablets, and
therefore cannot belong to the pre-Semitic age. It be
longs, moreover, to an epoch when the unification of the
deities of Babylonia had abeady taken place, and the
cbcle of "the great gods" was complete. Ea, Istar,
Zamama, Anunit, even Nebo and " Samas the warrior,"
are aU referred to in it. We must therefore place its
composition after the rise not only of the hymns of
Sippara, but also of the celebrity of the Semitic god of
Borsippa. On the other hand, the reference to the pateSi

374 LECTURE VI.
or priest-king in the concluding lines seems to prevent
us from assigning too late a date to the poem. EerhapS
we shall not be far wrong in ascribing it to the era of
Khammuragas. Tiamat or Tiavat, the Thavatth of Berossos, is the
Vhom or " deep " of the Old Testament, and the word is
used in Assyrian, in the contracted form tamtu, to denote
" the deep sea." It was upon the face of the fhom or
"deep" that "the breath of Elohim" brooded, according
to the first chapter of Genesis. The word is not only
Semitic, but, in its cosmological signification, of Semitic
origin. It has, however, an Aceadian descent. The
belief that the watery abyss was the source of all things
went back to the worshippers of the sea-god Ea at Eridu.
But with them the deep was termed apzu, which a pun
ning etymology afterwards read ab-su, " the house of
knowledge," wherein Ea, the god of wisdom, was imagined
to dwell. The Sumerian abzu was borrowed by the Se
mites under the form of apsu. The Sumerians had
endowed it with a spirit, in accordance with the Sha-
nanistic faith of early days, and as such had made it the
mother of Ea and of the other gods. But I have already
pointed out in a previous Lecture that the absu, or deep,
of which Ea was lord, was not only the ocean-stream
that surrounded the earth, and upon which the earth
floated, like Delos in Greek myth ; it was also the deep
which rolled above the firmament of heaven, through
whose windows its waters descended in the days of the
deluge. Consequently the mother of Ea was usually
known by another name than that of Apzu. She was
Zikum or Zigarum, "the heaven" (W.A.I, b. 48, 26;
50, 27), whom a mythological list describes as " the

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGY. 375
mother that has begotten heaven and earth" (W. A. I.
ii. 54, 18). In the same passage she is declared to be
" the handmaid of the spirit of E-kura," the lower firma
ment or earth ; and with this agrees the statement that
Zikura, a dialectic form of Zigarum,1 is the earth itseb
(W. A. I. ii. 48, 27). But it was not the existing earth
or the existing heaven that was represented by Zikum ;
she was rather the primordial abyss out of which both
earth and heaven were produced. Possibly an old myth
may have related that she was torn asunder when the
present world was made, the upper hab of her becoming
the sky and the lower half the earth. This at least is
what we may gather from the story given by Berossos.
As far back as the days of the priest-kings of Tel-loh,
Zikum was honoured in southern Babylonia under the
name of Bahu.2 She was " the daughter of heaven," to
whom they had erected a temple at Zerghul. Like Gula,
she was "the great mother," and in the era of totemism
was known as " the pure heifer." Bau, or Bahu, is the
bohu of the Old Testament, the Baau of Phoenician mytho
logy, of whom Philon Bybbos informs us that " of the
wind Kolpia and of his wife Baau, which is interpreted
' night,' were begotten two mortal men, Aion and Pro-

1 Zi-kum, Zi-garum, Zi-kura, are all compounds of Zi, " a spirit," and
are explained by Zi-(E-)kura, " the spirit of the lower firmament." It
is possible that Zi-kum was originally "the spirit of the earth" alone,
Ea being the spirit of the deep. Zi-kura and Zi-garum may have
different etymologies, since garum seems to be connected with gur, a
Sumerian synomym of apzu. In W. A. I. iv. 15, 5, e-gur-ra is ren
dered by the Assyrian apdu. There seems to have been a confusion
between E-kura and E-gura.
2 See Hommel, Vorsemitische Kulturen, p. 380. I do not feel quite
certain, however, about the identification.

376

LECTURE VI.

togonos."1 According to the book of Genesis, the earth
created by God in the beginning was " without form
and void," the word translated "void" being bohu or
"chaos." The wind or spirit which the Phoenicians
associated with Baau is the Sumerian spbit of the deep,
the Zi Zikum invoked in the magical texts.2
An allusion to the creation of the heavens out of the
watery abyss, and the subsequent formation of the earth,
is found in a mythological document, where we read :
" The heaven was made from the waters ; the god and
the goddess create the earth."3 The god and the goddess
must of course mean the heaven and the deep, and thus
presuppose a cosmological theory inconsistent with that
of the rulers of Tel-loh, who entitle Bahu the daughter
of the sky. We may gather from this that Bahu and
Zikum were not originally the same divinities, and that
it was only through a belief that the ocean-stream was
fed from heaven that Bahu became identified with it.
The Semites, therefore, could not have come into contact
with the cosmogony of the Sumerians until after the age
of the pateSis of Zerghul.
But whatever form the old cosmogony may have
assumed, the fundamental element in it remained un
changed. The watery abyss was always the primal
source of the universe. Whether it was the heaven
which first rose out of the deep, and then in combination
with the deep produced the earth, or whether the deep
1 Euseb. Prop. Evang. i. 10.
2 So in W. A. I. iv. 1. ii. 36.
8 K 170, Obv. 6, 7. The word "goddess" is phonetically written in
Aceadian r>m-gi-ri, which settles the reading of the form DiNGi-n on the
early bricks.

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGY. 377
itseb developed into the heavens and the earth, the deep,
and the deep alone, was the first of things to exist. If
Bahu, therefore, was ever identified with the deep in the
mind of the southern Babylonian, it must have been
when the deep had ceased to be the watery abyss of
chaos and had become the home of the creator Ea, deriving
its waters from the heavens above.
But it is more probable that the identification was due
to a total misconception of the true character of Bahu.
In the Phoenician mythology as in Genesis, Bohu is sim
ply " chaos," but it is the chaos which existed on earth,
not within the waters of the abyss. It represents that
pre-human age which, according to the legend of Cutha,
witnessed the creation of the monsters of Tiamat. These
monsters had their home, their " city," in " the ground ; "
there was therefore abeady an earth by the side of the
deep. But this earth was the abode of chaos, of Bahu,
and had originated, like the sky, out of the waters of the
abyss. There were thus two representatives of chaos,
the primaeval Apzu, the Tiamat of the Semitic epoch,
and the secondary Bahu who presided over the chaos of
the earth. Later ages failed to distinguish between the
two, and Apzu and Bahu thus became one and the same.
But a new distinction now took the place of the older
one. Bahu was no longer distinguished from Apzu;
she was distinguished, on the other hand, from Tiamat.
Bahu became one of the great gods, while Tiamat was
left to personate chaos and all the anarchy and evil that
proceeded out of chaos. The spbits of earth were trans
formed into the seven evil demons who had their dwelling
in the deep, and the cosmological sundering of the body

378

LECTURE VI.

of Zikum took a mythological shape. It appears in the
legendary poems as the struggle between Merodach and
the dragon Tiamat, which ended in the rout of Tiamat
and her allies, and the tearing asunder of the body of the
fiend. The poems are all of the Semitic age ; and though
the materials upon which they are based doubtless go
back to a pre-Semitic era, we have no means at present
of determining how much in them belongs to primitive
Chaldaea, and how much is the invention of Semitic
imagination. That Merodach appears in them as the
champion of the gods, proves only that the legends they
embody originated hi either Eridu or Babylon.
Nothing can show more plainly the wide gub that lies
between the rebgions of pre-Semitic and Semitic Chaldaea,
than the contrast between the Zikum of Eridu, the mother
of gods and men, and the wicked Tiamat of the legends,
with her misshapen body and malignant mind. In the
watery abyss in which the first philosophers of Eridu
saw the origin of all things, there was nothing unholy,
nothing abhorrent. On the contrary, it was the home
and mother of the great god Ea, the primal source of his
wisdom and his benevolence towards man. It was from
its waters that Oannes had ascended, bringing the light
of knowledge and art to the human race. But the
watery abyss personified by the Tiamat of the poems
belongs altogether to another category. It represents all
that is opposed to the present orderly course of the uni
verse ; it stands outside and in opposition to the gods of
heaven, and is thus essentially evil. Not only has the
problem of the origin of evil presented itseb to the Baby
lonian ; he has found a solution of it in his dragon of

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGY. 379
chaos. It is thus that the great fight between Bel and
the dragon is described : x
"He (Anu ?) estabHshed for him (Merodach ?) also the shrine of
the mighty,
before his fathers for (his) kingdom he founded (it). 2
Tea, thou art glorious among the great gods,
thy destiny has no rival, thy gift -day is Anu ;
from that day unchanged is thy command ;
high and low entreat thy hand ;
may the word that goes forth from thy mouth be established, the
unending decision of thy gift-day.
None among the gods surpasses thy power,3
as an adornment has (thy hand) founded the shrine of the gods ;
may the place of their gathering (?)4 become thy home.
' 0 Merodach, thou art he that avenges us ;
we give thee the sovereignty, (we) the multitudes of the universe ;
thou possessest (it), and in the assembly (of the gods) may thy
word be exalted !
Never may they break thy weapons, may thine enemies tremble !
0 lord, be gracious to the soul of him who putteth his trust in thee,
and destroy (literally, pour out) the soul of the god who has hold
of evil.'
1 Fragments of an Assyrian copy of the text from the library of
Assur-bani-pal at Nineveh were discovered by Mr. George Smith, and
published by him in the Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archae
ology, iv. 2, a revised edition of them being subsequently published
by Prof. Fr. Delitzsch in his Assyrische Lesestiicke. They have since
been supplemented by a tablet brought by Mr. Hormuzd Eassam from
Babylonia, which gives the beginning and end of the text, and shows
that it belonged to the fourth tablet of the Creation series. This
important tablet has been copied by Mr. Budge, who has been kind
enough to allow me the use of his copy. He gave an account of it in
the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, Nov. 6th, 1883,
reserving a complete paper on the subject for the Transactions of the
same Society.
2 These are the last two lines of the third tablet of the Creation
series. 8 Literally, " passes by thy hand."
* 'Sagi, which occurs also in K 2584, 10 (Mil sagi-sunu).

380 . LECTURE VI.
Then they placed in their midst by itself his plan ;J
they spoke to Merodach their first-born ;
' May thy destiny, 0 lord, go before the gods, and
may they confirm the destruction and the creation of all that is said.
Set thy mouth, may it destroy his plan ;
turn, speak unto him and let him produce again his plan.'2
He spake and with his mouth destroyed his plan ;
he turned, he spake to him and his plan was re-created.
Like the word that issues from his mouth, the gods his fathers
beheld (it) ;
they rejoiced, they approached Merodach the king ;
they bestowed upon him the sceptre (and) throne and reign,
they gave him a weapon unrivalled, consuming the hostile :
' Go' (they said) ' and cut off the life of Tiamat ;
let the winds carry her blood to secret places.'
They showed his path and they bade him listen and take the Toad.
There was too the bow, his weapon (which) he used ;
he made the club swing, be fixed its seat ;
then he lifted up his weapon, (which) he caused his right hand to
hold;
the bow and the quiver he hung at his side ;8
he set the lightning before him ;
with a glance of swiftness he filled his body.
He made also a snare to enclose the dragon of the sea.
1 Or " word." It is impossible in a translation to preserve the play
upon words in the original. The god of evil (Kingu, the husband of
Tiamat) is represented as having uttered a word which becomes a plan
or plot : it is this which Merodach is called upon to destroy and re-nreate.
2 Literally, " lift up his word."
3 The arming of Merodach with the bow of Anu in " the assembly
of the gods," was the subject of a special poem, of which a fragment
is preserved. One of the constellations was named " the Star of the
Bow ;" and according to the story of the Deluge (Col. iii. 51, 52), when
Xisuthros had left the ark and offered his sacrifice on the peak of Mount
Nizir, " Istar (the great goddess) at (her) coming lifted up the mighty
shafts (na.mzabi) which Anu had made." That the bow is here referred
to seems evident from a passage in a hymn (W.A.I, ii. 19. 7, 8), where
allusion is made to "the bow of the deluge," in Aceadian gisme (gis-bam)
matu. The word "bow" is here translated, not by the ordinary Assy
rian midpanu, but by qastu, the Heb. qesheth. Comp. Gen. ix. 13 — 16.

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO -THEOLOGY. 381
He seized the four winds that they might not issue forth from her,
the south wind, the north wind, the east wind (and) the west wind.
His hand brought the snare near unto the bow of his father Anu.
He created the evil wind, the hostile wind, the storm, the tempest,
the four winds, the seven winds, the whirlwind, the unending wind ;
he caused the winds he had created to issue forth, seven in all,
confounding the dragon Tiamat, as they swept after him.
Then Bel Hfted up the hurricane (deluge), his mighty weapon.
He rode in a chariot of destiny that fears not a rival.1
He stood firm and hung the four reins at its side.
unsparing, inundating her covering.
. their teeth carry poison.
they sweep away the learned (?).
might and battle.
On the left they open ....
fear
With lustre and (terror) he covered his head.
He directed also (his way), he made his path descend ;
Humbly he set the .... before him.
By (his) command he kept back the ....
His finger holds the ....
On that day they exalted him, the gods exalted him,
the gods his fathers exalted him, the gods exalted him.
Then Bel approached ; he catches Tiamat by her waist ;
she seeks the huge bulk (?) of Kingu her husband,
she looks also for his counsel.
Then the rebellious one appointed him the destroyer of the com
mands (of Bel).
And the gods his helpers who marched beside him
beheld (how Merodach) the first-born holds their yoke.
He laid judgment on Tiamat, but she turned not her neck.
With her hostile lips she declared opposition :
. . . . 0 lord, the gods swept after thee.
They gathered their (forces) together to where thou wast.
Bel (launched) the deluge, his mighty weapon ;
(against) Tiamat who had raised herself (?) thus he sent it.
1 If Delitzsch's copy is correct, it is possible to extract sense out of
the line only by supposing that the negative is misplaced, and that we
should read makhri la galidta. In W. A. I. iii. 12, 32, galitti is used
of the "ebbing" sea.

382 LECTURE VI.

(Against) the gods my fathers thy enmity hast thou directed.
Thou harnesser of thy companions, may thy weapons pierce their
bodies.
Stand up, and I and thou will fight together.'
When Tiamat heard this,
she uttered her former spells, she repeated her command.
Tiamat also cried out violently with a high voice.
From its roots she strengthened (her) seat completely.
She recites an incantation, she casts a spell,
and the gods of battle demand for themselves their arms.
Then Tiamat attacked Merodach the prince of the gods ;
in combat they joined ; they engaged in battle. .
Then Bel opened his snare and enclosed her ;
the evil wind that seizes from behind he sent before him.
Tiamat opened her mouth to swallow it ;
he made the evil wind to enter so that she could not close her lips.
The violence of the winds tortured her stomach, and
her heart was prostrated and her mouth was twisted.
He swung the club; he shattered her stomach;
he cut out her entrails ; he mastered her heart ;
he bound her and ended her life.
He threw down her corpse ; he stood upon it.
When Tiamat who marched before (them) was conquered,
he dispersed her forces, her host was overthrown,
and the gods her allies who marched beside her
trembled (and) feared (and) turned their back.
They escaped and saved their lives.
They clung to one another fleeing strengthlessly.
He followed them and broke their arms.
He cast his snare and they are caught in his net.
They recognise the spot(?), they are filled with grief;
they bear their sin, they are kept in bondage,
and the elevenfold offspring are troubled through fear.
The brilliancy (of Bel) the spirits as they march clearly perceived.
His hand lays darkness (upon their host).
At the same time their opposition (fails) from under them,
and the god Kingu who had (marshalled) their (forces)
he bound him also with the god of the tablets (of destiny in) his
right hand ;
and he took from him the tablets of destiny (that were) with him;

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGV. 383
with the string of the stylus1 he sealed (them) and held the (cover ?)
of the tablet.
From the time he had bound and laid the yoke on his foes
he led the illustrious enemy captive like an ox ;
the victory of the Firmament (an-sar) he laid fully upon (his)
antagonists ;
Merodach the warrior has overcome the lamentation of Ea the
lord of the world.
Over the gods in bondage he strengthened his watch, and
Tiamat whom he had bound he first turned backward ;
so Bel trampled on the foundations of Tiamat.
With his club unswung (la maddi) he smote (her) skull,
he broke (it) and caused her blood to flow ;
the north wind bore (it) away to secret places.
Then his father beheld, he rejoiced at the savour,
he bade the spirits (?) bring peace to himself ;
And Bel rested, his body he fed.
He strengthened his mind (?), he formed a clever plan,
and he stripped her Hke a fish of (her) skin according to his plan ;
he described her likeness and (with it) overshadowed the heavens ;
he stretched out the skin, he kept a watch,
he urged on her waters that were not issuing forth ;
he lit up the sky, the sanctuary rejoiced,
and he presented himself before the deep the seat of Ea.
Then Bel measured the offspring of the deep,
the mighty master established the Upper Firmament (E-Sarra) as
his image.
The mighty master caused Anu, Bel (Mul-lil) and Ea
to inhabit the Upper Firmament which he had created, even the
heavens, their strongholds.
[First line of the 5th tablet] : — He prepared the stations of the
great gods.
[Colophon] : — One hundred and forty-six lines of the 4th tablet
(of the series beginning) : ' When on high unproclaimed.'
According to the papyri of the tablet whose writing had been
injured.2
1 Kidibu, see W. A. I. v. 32, 53.
2 Tsullupu. A fragmentary prayer to Merodach (E601, Rev. 12),
in which mention is made of the man who "forsakes (issir) the com
mand of Merodach" and of how " Merodach will purify thy sin" (gillati-

384 LECTURE VI.
Copied for Nebo his lord by Nahid-Merodach, the son of the
irrigator, for the preservation of his life
and the life of aU his house. He wrote and placed (it) in E-Zida."1
The legend of the great battle between light and dark
ness thus took the form of a poem addressed to Merodach,
and constituted the fourth tablet or book of the story of
the creation in days.
This story, which bears a curious resemblance to the
account of the creation in the first chapter of Genesis,
was first brought to hght by Mr. George Smith. The
first tablet of the series to which it belongs opens as
follows :
" At that time the heaven above had not yet announced,
or the earth beneath recorded, a name ;
the unopened2 deep was their generator,
Mumrnu-Tiamat (the chaos of the sea) was the mother of them all.
Their waters were embosomed as one,3 and
the corn-field4 was unharvested, the pasture was ungrown.
At that time the gods had not appeared any of them,
ki Maruduk izakkii), ends with the colophon : (Bab-)ili kima mustdldir
khir tsullupi, " (copy of) Babylon ; Hke one who causes an injured text
to be written.
1 This copy seems to have been made in the Persian age, and the
text does not appear to be always correct. This would be explained by
the statement that the original was injured. Of much older date is a
short incantation (M 1246, 3, 4) which concludes with the words : " 0
lord exalted (and) great, destroy (aped) Tiamat, strike (pudhur) the
unpitying (la edheru) evil one."
2 La pattl ; Delitzsch reads, ristti, " the first-born."
3 S 1140, 8, shows that this is the meaning of istenis.
1 For gipara, see W. A. I. v. 1, 48 — 50 : D. p. Nirba kdn yusakhnapu
giparu dippdti summukha inbu, " the corn-god continuously caused the
corn-field to grow, the papyri were gladdened with fruit ;" and S799, 2,
ana gipdri eltu erubbi (Aceadian, mi-para-ki azagga imma-dan-tutu),
"to the holy corn-field he went down." The word has nothing to do
with "clouds" or "darkness," as has been supposed.

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGY. 385
by no name were they recorded, no destiny (had they fixed).
Then the (great) gods were created,
Lakhmu and Lakhamu issued forth (the first),
until they grew up (when)
An-sar and Ki-sar were created.
Long were the days, extended (was the time, and)
the gods Anu, (Bel and Ea were born).
An-sar and Ki-sar (gave them birth)."
The cosmogomy here presented to us bears evident
marks of its late date. The gods of the popular religion
not only have their places in the universe fixed, the period
and manner of theb origin even is described. The ele
mentary spbits of the ancient Aceadian faith have passed
into the great gods of Semitic belief, and been finally
resolved into mere symbolical representatives of the pri
mordial elements of the world. Under a thin disguise of
theological nomenclature, the Babylonian theory of the
universe has become a philosophic materialism. The gods
themselves come and go like mortal men ; they are the
offspring of the everlasting elements of the heaven and
earth, and of that watery abyss out of which mythology
had created a demon of evil, but which the philosopher
knew to be the mother and source of all things. The
Tiamat of the first tablet of the Creation story is a very
different being from the Tiamat of the fourth.
The old Semitic confusion between names and things
was, however, as potent as ever. Heaven and earth
existed not in the beginning because no name had been
pronounced hi them, and they themselves were nameless.
It was the same with the gods. The gods, too, came into
being only when they received names. The day on which
the names of Lakhmu and Lakhamu were first heard was
the day on which they first " issued forth."
2c

386 LECTURE VI.
I doubt much whether the story in its present form is
older than the time of Assur-bani-pal. It is true that a
copy of the fourth tablet, originally deposited in the
temple of Nebo at Borsippa, is now in the British Museum,
but this cannot be earlier than the reign of Nebuchad
nezzar ; and although the last two words of the first line
of the story are quoted in it in an Aceadian form, this
proves but little. The scribes of Assur-bani-pal's court
frequently amused themselves by composing in the old
language of Chaldaea, and the introduction of Aceadian
words into theb texts gave them a flavour of antiquity.
However this may be, the cosmogony of the poem
eventually found its way into the pages of a Greek writer.
Damaskios, an author of the sixth century, has preserved
an account of the cosmological system of the Babylo
nians, which he probably borrowed from some older
work.1 " The Babylonians," he tellsus, " like the rest of
the barbarians, pass over in silence the one principle of the
universe, and they constitute two, Tavthe and Apason,
making Apason the husband of Tavthe, and denominating
her ' the mother of the gods.' And from these proceeds
an only-begotten son, Mumis, which, I conceive, is no
other than the intelligible world proceeding from the two
principles. From them also another progeny is derived,
Lakhe and Lakhos;2 and again a thbd, Kissare and
Assoros ; from which last three others proceed, Anos and
Illinos and Aos. And of Aos and Davke is born a son
called Belos, who, they say, is the fabricator of the
world."

1 De Prim. Princip. 125, p. 384, ed. Kopp.
2 So we must read, in place of the Dakhe" and Dakhos of the MSS.

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGY. 387
There is only one point in which the account of Da-
maskios differs from that of the cuneborm text. Mumis
or Mummu becomes in it the only son of Tavthe and
Apason, that is to say, of Tiamat and Apsu, " the deep,"
instead of being identified with Tiamat: He takes the
place of the heaven and the earth, which the Assyrian
poet represents as born of Apsu and Mummu-Tiamat.
The alteration seems to be due to a later Babylonian
striving to reconcile the Assyrian cosmological system
with the belief that Bel-Merodach was the creator of the
visible world. The birth of the gods is thus thrown back
beyond the creation of the heavens and the earth ; whereas
in the Assyrian poem, as in the first chapter of Genesis,
the creation of the heavens and the earth is placed in
the forefront.
Between the cosmogony we have just been considering
and the Babylonian cosmogony reported by Ber6ssos, no
reconciliation is possible. In the one, Tiamat is already
the teeming mother of strange creatures before Bel Mero
dach creates the light, and by tearing her asunder forms
the heaven and the earth. In the other, Tiamat is the
mummu, or " chaos," which, in combination with Apsu,
" the deep," produces Lakhmu and Lakhamu, from whom
Ansar and Kisar, "the hosts of heaven" and "the hosts
of earth," are begotten; and then after long ages the
gods come into existence, to whom, with Merodach the
son of Ea, the origin of all living things is ascribed. The
names of Ansar and Kisar have, however, wandered far
from their primitive signification. They have come to
represent the firmament above and the earth below — not
only the visible sky and the visible earth, but also the
2c2

388 LECTURE VI.
invisible " heaven of Anu" and the underground world
of Hades.
Like Lakhmu and Lakhamu, they were resolved into
forms of Anu and his female counterpart Anat by the
monotheistic, or rather pantheistic, school to whom I
have abuded in a former Lecture. It was to this pan
theistic sehool that the materialistic school of the cosmo-
gonists was most sharply opposed. In the lists in which
the views of the pantheistic school find expression, Lakh
mu and Lakhamu appear as Lakhma, or Lukhma, and
Lakhama, an indication that the names are of non-Semitic
origin. It is possible that they denote the element of
"purity" presupposed by the creation of the world out
of the watery abyss. At all events, they are placed in
one of the lists between Du-eri and Da-eri, " the children
of the state," and E-kur and E-sarra, " the temples of
earth and heaven." Like so many of the Babylonian
deities, their names and worship were probably carried
to Canaan. Lakhmi seems to be the name of a Philistine
in 1 Chron. xx. 5, and Beth-lehem is best explained as
" the house of Lekhem," like Beth-Dagon, " the house of
Dagon," or Beth-Anoth, " the house of Anat."1
It is unfortunate that the Assyrian cosmological poem
has reached us only in a fragmentary state. The latter
part of the first tablet is lost, and the second and third
tablets have not yet been recovered. The first half of the
fifth tablet, however, is complete; and as it describes

1 Lakhmu is mentioned but rarely in the inscriptions. His name,
however, occurs in K2866, 18, between those of Gula and Eimmon.
Perhaps it is connected elymologically with Lakhamun, the name of
Zarpanit in Dilvun.

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGY. 389
the creation of the heavenly bodies, we may compare it
with the work of the fourth day according to Genesis,
more especially as the Assyrian poet assigns to the fourth
tablet the overthrow of Tiamat and her hosts. It begins
thus: " (Anu) prepared the (seven) mansions of the great gods ;
he fixed the stars, even the twin-stars, to correspond to them ;
he ordained the year, appointing the signs of the Zodiac1 over it;
for each of the twelve months he fixed three stars,
from the day when the year issues forth to the close.
He founded the mansion of the god of the ferry-boat (the Sun-god)
that they might know their bonds,
that they might not err, that they might not go astray in any way.
He established the mansion of Mul-lil and Ea along with himself.
He opened also the great gates on either side,
the bolts he strengthened on the left hand and on the right,
and in their midst he made a staircase.
He illuminated the Moon-god that he might watch over the night,
and ordained for him the ending of the night that the day may be
known,
(saying) : ' Month by month, without break, keep watch (?) in thy
disk;
at the beginning of the month kindle the night,
announcing (thy) horns that the heaven may know.
On the seventh day, (filling thy) disk,
thou shalt open indeed (its) narrow contraction^2
At that time the sun (will be) on the horizon of heaven at thy
(rising).'"
The rest of the text is in too mutilated a condition
to offer a connected sense, and we may therefore pass on
to another fragment which perhaps belongs to the seventh
tablet. At ab events it records the creation of the
animals. " At that time," it declares,
1 Mizrdta yumazzir. Oppert and Schrader have misunderstood the
expression. Mizrdta is the mazzdroth of Job xxxviii. 32.
2 Sutkhurat meskhir(rdti sa pu-)u.

390 LECTURE VI.
" The gods in their assembly created (the beasts) ;
they made perfect the mighty (monsters) ;
they caused the living creatures of the (field) to come forth,
the cattle of the field, the wild beasts of the field, and the creep
ing things of the (field) ;
(they fixed their habitations) for the living creatures (of the field),
(and) adorned (the dwelling-places of) the cattle and creeping things
of the city.
(They made strong) the multitude of creeping things, aU the off
spring (of the earth)."
The lines that follow are too much broken for transla
tion ; the only matter of remark which they contain is a
statement put into the mouth of some deity that he had
" destroyed the seed of Lakhama." Here, therefore,
there seems to be a clear reference to the monstrous brood
of chaos which the ancient cosmogony of Cutha regarded
as the offspring of Tiamat. The place of Tiamat has
been taken by the cosmological principle Lakhama, and
the crude conceptions of an earlier day have been worked
into the philosophical system of the later cosmology.
The Babylonian Genesis, then, it will be seen, is
neither simple nor uniform. Its history forms a close
parallel to the history of the Babylonian pantheon. Like
the pantheon, it is essentially local in character ; but the
local elements have been combined eventually so as to
form that great epic of the Creation whose fragments
have come to us from the library of Nineveh. Local,
however, as these elements were in their origin, they all
agree in certain main particulars. In each case the
watery abyss is the primary source of all things ; in each
case the present creation has been preceded by another.
How far these common features are due to the compara
tive lateness of the documents from which we derive our

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGY. 391
information we cannot say. For my own part, I suspect
that the legend of Cutha originally knew nothing of the
sea-serpent Tiamat, the chaotic hosts of which it speaks
having been the progeny of the mountains and not of
the deep. But in its present form it agrees with all the
other Babylonian cosmogonies that have been preserved,
in making Tiamat their mother and nurse. The Baby
lonian of the historical period was firmly persuaded that
in the ocean-stream that encircled the world lay the
germs of the whole universe.
This belief stands in marked contrast to that pre
historic belief in a " mountain of the world" which sur
vived only in mythology. No doubt the two conceptions
could be reconciled by those who undertook the trouble ;
it was possible to hold that this mountain of the world
was not the central shaft around which the earth and
heavens were built, but merely the centre of the existing
world. If this view was not generally taken, b in Baby
lonia, hard by the Persian Gulf, the world-mountain
was allowed to drop out of sight, it must have been
because the ideas associated with it did not readily com
bine with the cosmological theories of a later day. At
any rate, the cosmologies of Babylonia, whatever might
be the locality in which they were taught, were all based
on the assumption that the watery abyss was the first of
things. This assumption agrees strikingly with the character
of the Sumerian culture-god. Ea, the god of Eridu,
Oannes who rose out of the Persian Gulf, was primarily
a water-god. His home was in the deep ; his mother
was the watery abyss. We shall not go far wrong if we
trace the fundamental doctrine of Chaldaean cosmology.

392 LECTUEE VI.
to Eridu and its worship of the deities of the deep.
Eridu did not communicate to the rest of Babylonia only
the seeds of culture or the adoration of Ea, the god of
wisdom ; it impressed upon all the cosmogonies of Baby
lonia the stamp of its own, and originated that view of
the origin of the world which found its western prophet
in the first of Hellenic philosophers. Like so much else
that had its primal home in Shinar, it was carried west
ward to the shores of the Mediterranean. Phoenician
cosmology also began with an abyss of waters in which
the seeds of all things were begotten;1 and even the
Hebrew writer tells us that "in the beginning," before
Elohim "carved out the heavens and the earth," "the
earth had been waste and void, and darkness was upon
the face of the deep."
It does not seem, however, that the belief in a pro
visional creation, in the existence of composite animals
who perished when the present world came into being,
can have emanated from Eridu. At Eridu the deep was
not the representative of chaos and confusion ; quite the
contrary, it was a venerable divinity, the mother of Ea
himself. So far, moreover, from the composite animals
of mythology being subjects of abhorrence, Oannes, the
god of culture, the god of pure life, as the inscriptions
term him, was actually one of them. It was he who is
described hi the fragment of Berossos as half-human, with
the tail of a fish.
These composite creatures were reaby the offspring of
totemism and the attempts of a later age to explain the
figures which totemism had bequeathed to art and mytho-
1 Euseb. Prcep. Evang. i. 10; Damaskios, De Prim. Princip. 123,
p. 381, ed. Kopp.

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO -THEOLOGY. 393
logy. A place had to be found for the colossal bulls with
human heads and eagles' wings, for the hawk-headed
cherubs who guarded the tree of life, for " the scorpion-
men" who watched the sun at his rising and setting, or
for the centaurs, half-man and half -horse, whose forms are
engraved on Babylonian boundary-stones, and who passed
over to the Greeks through Phoenician hands. Many of
these, it is true, were beneficent beings, like the man-
headed bulls; but the majority belonged to those spirits
of the earth and air against whom the sorcerer-priest had
prepared his spells. They had no place or portion in the
existing order of the universe ; when, therefore, Tiamat
had become a cosmological principle, symbolised by the
serpent or dragon and opposed to the gods of light, it
was easy to banish them all to her domain and to regard
her as theb mother and nurse.
It may be that this was the work of the priests of
Babylon. At any rate, Bel-Merodach is credited with
having been their destroyer, as he was also the destroyer
of Tiamat herself; and it is difficult to believe that this
belief grew up anywhere else than in the city which
owned Merodach as its lord. It is certainly noticeable
that Berossos refers to the images of the monsters painted
in vermilion on the walls of the temple of Merodach when
he is describing the strange creatures of the pre-human
world. In the epic of the Creation, whether or not it owes its
existence, as I have suggested, to an Assyrian poet of
the age of Assur-bani-pal, we may see the final unifica
tion of the varying cosmological legends of Babylonia.
They are here combined and harmonised together ; and
though the whole is thrown into a mythological form, as

394 LECTURE VI.
befits the requirements of poetry, its spirit is unmistak
ably materialistic. In spite of the fragmentary condition
in which it has come down to us, it is possible to guess
at the order of its arrangement by comparing it with the
first chapter of Genesis.
The first tablet or book was occupied with the cosmo
gony proper and the creation of the gods. The birth of
the gods of light necessarily brought with it the creation
of the hght itself. This would have been followed by a
second tablet, in which the creation of the firmament of
heaven was described. The gods needed a habitation,
and this was provided by the firmament of the sky. A
mythological tablet, it wbl be remembered, states that
"the heaven was created from the waters," before that
" the god and goddess," or Ansar and Kisar, " created
the earth," in exact agreement with the account in Genesis.
Here, too, the firmament of the heaven is created out
of the waters of the deep on the second day, dividing
" the waters which were under the firmament from the
waters which were above the firmament," while the earth
does not emerge above the surface of the deep until the
third day. It is therefore probable that the thbd tablet
of the Assyro-Babylonian epic recounted the formation
of the earth. Unlike the Biblical narrative, however, in
place of the vegetable creation of the third day, it would
seem to have interpolated here the appearance of the
brood of chaos. The legend of Cutha declares that when
the earth was peopled by them, there were as yet neither
"bodies nor brushwood," neither the animal nor the
vegetable world of to-day. However this may be, the
fourth tablet recorded the great struggle between Mero
dach and Tiamat, of which no trace appears in the book

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGY 395
of Genesis, though we seem to have allusions to a similar
conflict in the spiritual world in other parts of the Bible.
In Isaiah xxiv. 21, 22, we read " that the Lord shall
visit the host of the high ones that are on high, and the
kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be
gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit,
and shall be shut up in prison;" while a well-known
passage in the Apocalypse (xii. 7 — 9) tells how "there
was war in heaven : Michael and his angels fought against
the dragon ; and the dragon fought and his angels, and
prevailed not; neither was theb place found any more
in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old
serpent, called the Devil, and Satan." The fifth tablet,
as we have seen, was concerned with the appointment of
the heavenly bodies, the work of the fourth day in
Genesis ; the sixth probably related the creation of vege
tables, birds and fish; and the seventh that of animals
and mankind.1 In two respects, therefore, the epic
would have differed from the Biblical account : firstly, in
the interpolation of the appearance of the monsters of
chaos and of the combat between Merodach and the
dragon ; and secondly, in making the seventh day a day
of work and not of rest.
The epic never succeeded wholly in supplanting what
we may regard as the local legend of the Creation current
at Babylon. Its cosmogony was indeed known to Da-
1 A passage in one of the magical texts indicates that a similar view
as to the creation of the woman from the man prevailed in Babylonia, to
that which we read of in the book of Genesis. In W. A. I. iv. 1.
i. 36, 37, it is said of the seven evil spirits : "the woman from the
loins of the man they bring forth," in conformity with the Semitic
belief which derived the woman from the man. This part of the magical
text, at all events, must belong to the Semitic period.

396 LECTURE VI.
maskios, and doubtless suited the philosophic conceptions
of the Graeco-Eoman age far better than the older crea
tion-stories of Babylonia ; but it is ignored by Berossos,
who collected the materials of his narrative from the
priests of Bel-Merodach at Babylon. As one of their
order himself, he preferred to give theb own version of
the creation of the world, rather than a version which
was less peculiarly Babylonian, however consonant the
latter might be with the opinions of his Greek readers.
The contents of the fifth tablet introduce us to a side
of Babylonian rehgion which occupied an important and
prominent position, at all events in the official cult. At
the beginning of the present century, writers upon the
ancient East were fond of enlarging upon a Sabaistic
system of faith which they supposed had once been the
dominant form of religion in Western Asia. Star- worship
was imagined to be the most primitive phase of Oriental
religion, and the reference to it in the book of Job was
eagerly seized upon as an evidence of the antiquity of
the book. Dupuis resolved all human forms of faith into
Zodiacal symbols, and Sb William Drummond went far
in the same dbection. That the first gods of the heathen
were the planets and stars of heaven, was regarded by
high authorities as an ^controvertible fact.
The plains of Shinar were held to be the earliest home
of this Sabaism or star- worship. The astronomy and astro
logy of Babylonia had been celebrated even by Greek and
Latin authors, and scholars were inclmed to see in the
" Chaldaean shepherds" the first observers of the heavens.
The "astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognos-
ticators" of Babylon, are enumerated in the Old Testa
ment (Is. xlvii. 13); and. the small cylinders brought by

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGY. 397
travellers from Bagdad, with their frequent representations
of a star or- sun, seemed to leave no doubt that the deities
of Babylonia were in truth the heavenly bodies. The
decipherment of the cuneiform inscriptions has shown
that the belief in Babylonian "Sabaism" was, after all,
not altogether a chimaera.
Babylonia was really the cradle of astronomical obser
vations. Long before the lofty sigurrdti or " towers" of
the temples were reared, where the royal astronomers
had their stations and from whence they sent their reports
to the king, the leading groups of stars had been named,
a calendar had been formed, and the eclipses of the sun
and moon had been noted and recorded. The annual
path of the sun through the sky had been divided into
twelve sections, like the twelve kasbu or double hours ol
the day, and each section had been distinguished by its
chief constellation or star. It was thus that the Zodiac
first came into existence. The names given to its con
stellations are not only Aceadian, but they also go bacL
to the totemistic age of Aceadian faith. The first sign,
the first constellation, was that of " the dbecting bull,'1
so named from the solar bull who at the vernal equinox
began to plough his straight furrow through the sky,
directing thereby the course of the year. The last sign
but one was "the fish of Ea;" while midway between
the two, presiding over the month whose name was
derived from its " facing the foundation" or " beginning"
of the year, was the great star of the Scorpion. The
fact that the year thus began with Taurus proves the
antiquity of the Chaldaean Zodiac, and of the months
of thirty days which corresponded to its several signs.
From about B.C. 2500 and onwards, the precession of

398 LECTURE VI.
the equinoxes caused Aries, and not Taurus, to be the
asterism into which the sun entered at spring-time ; the
period when Taurus ushered in the year reached back
from that date to about B. C. 4700. The Zodiacal circle
may therefore have been invented nearly a thousand
years before Sargon of Accad was born ; and that it was
invented at an early epoch is demonstrated by its close
connection with the Aceadian calendar.
With the Semitic domination of Sargon of Accad,
however, Babylonian astronomy entered upon a new
phase. To him, tradition ascribed the compilation of the
standard work on Babylonian astronomy and astrology
called the " Observations of Bel," and afterwards translated
into Greek by Berossos. But the edition of the work
which we possess presupposes a much later date. Aries,
and not Taurus, marks the beginning of the year, and
the text contains references to political and geographical
facts, some of which are probably not much older than
the age of Assur-bani-pal. This is explained by the
nature of the work. It was not so much a treatise on
astronomy, as on the pseudo-science that had been evolved
out of the observations of astronomy. The Chaldaean
priests had grasped but imperfectly the idea of causation ;
theb fundamental assumption was " post hoc, ergo propter
hoc;" when two events had been noticed to happen one
after the other, the first was the cause of the second.
Hence their anxiety to record the phenomena of the
heavens and the occurrences that took place after each ;
if a war with Elam had followed an eclipse of the sun on
a particular day, it was assumed that a recurrence of the
eclipse on the same day would be followed by a recur
rence of a war with Elam. In this way a science of

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGY 399
astrology was created whose students could foretel the
.future by observing the signs of the sky.
It is obvious that a work whose object was to connect
astronomical observations with current events must have
been constantly undergoing alteration and growth. New
observations would from time to time be introduced into
it, sometimes causing confusion or even omissions in the
text. There are instances in which we can detect the
presence of observations placed side by side, though
belonging to very different periods, or of older records
which have been supplemented by the calculations of a
later age.1 In their present form, therefore, the " Obser
vations of Bel" have to be used with caution if we would
argue from them to the beliefs and practices of early
Babylonia. But the astrological science, or pseudo-science, which
underlies the whole work, shows that even in its earliest
form it was a product of the Semitic epoch. Between
the attitude of mind presupposed by this pseudo-science,
and the attitude of mind presupposed by the magical
texts and Shamanistic cult of Sumerian Chaldaea, there
lies an impassable gulf. According to the latter, events
are brought about by the agency of the innumerable
spirits of earth and air, and can be controlled by the
spells and exorcisms of the sorcerer; according to the
astrologer of Sargon's court, they are natural occurrences,
caused and determined by other natural occurrences

1 See the examination of the Venus-tablet (W. A. I. iii. 63), by Mr.
Bosanquet and myself in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astrono
mical Society, xl. 9, pp. 572, 578, where it is shown that a later
scribe has interpolated a series of fabricated observations in the middle
of an older and genuine record.

400 LECTURE VI.
which can be discovered and noted by the observer.
Out of the astrologer the astronomer could be born;
between science and sorcery there can be only an eternal
feud. It does not follow, however, that the pre-Semitic
population of Chaldaea took no notice of the phenomena
of the sky. Unusual phenomena, such as an eclipse, must
necessarily excite the attention of superstitious and half-
civilised tribes; and the formation of a calendar, the
invention of the Zodiac, and the naming of the principal
constellations, show that a rudimentary astronomy was
already in existence. Indeed, the " Observations of Bel"
not only contain technical terms of Aceadian origin, but
embody notices of phenomena like eclipses which pre
suppose a long period of earber observations. Unless
such observations had existed, even the first compilation
of the work would have been impossible. It was astro
logy, not the rudiments of astronomy, for which the
Semites of Babylonia can claim the entire credit.
In the "Observations of Bel" the stars are already
invested with a divine character. The planets are gods
like the sun and moon, and the stars have already been
identified with certain deities of the official pantheon, or
else have been dedicated to them. The whole heaven, as
well as the periods of the moon, has been divided between
the three supreme divinities, Anu, Bel and Ea. In fact,
there is an astro-theology, a system of Sabaism, as it
would have been called hab a century ago.
This astro-theology must go back to the very earliest
times. The cuneborm characters alone are a proof of
this. The common determinative of a deity is an eight-
rayed star, a clear evidence that at the period when the

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO -THEOLOGY. 401
cuneborm syllabary assumed the shape in which we know
it, the stars were accounted divine. We have seen, more
over, that the sun and moon and evening star were
objects of worship from a remote epoch, and the sacred
ness attached to them would naturally have been reflected
upon the other heavenly bodies with which they were
associated. Totemism, too, implies a worship of the stars.
We find that primitive peoples confound them with
animals, theb automatic motions being apparently expli
cable by no other theory ; and that primitive Chaldaea
was no exception to this rule has been abeady pointed
out. Here, too, the sun was an ox, the moon was a
steer, and the planets were sheep. The adoration of
the stars, like the adoration of the sun and moon, must
have been a feature of the rebgion of primaeval Shinar.
But this primaeval adoration was something very db-
ferent from the elaborate astro-theology of a later day.
So elaborate, indeed, is it that we can hardly believe it
to have been known beyond the circle of the learned
classes. The stars hi it became the symbols of the official
deities. Nergal, for example, under his two names of
Sar-nerra and 'Suiim-ta-ea, was identified with Jupiter
and Mars.1 It is not difficult to discover how this
curious theological system arose. Its starting-point was
the prominence given to the worship of the evening and
morning stars in the ancient religion, and theb subsequent
transformation into the Semitic Istar. The other planets
were already divine ; and theb identification with specific
deities of the official cult f obowed as a matter of course.
As the astronomy of Babylonia became more developed,
as the heavens were mapped out into groups of consteL-
1 W. A. I. iii. 57, 52.
2d

402 LECTURE VI.
lations, each of which received a definite name, while the
leading single stars were similarly distinguished and
named, the stars and constellations followed the lead of
the planets. As Mars became Nergal, so Orion became
Tammuz. The priest had succeeded the old Sumerian sorcerer,
and was now transforming himseb into an astrologer. To
this cause we must trace the rise of Babylonian astro-
theology and the deification of the stars of heaven. The
Sabianism of the people of Harran in the early centuries
of the Christian era was no survival of a primitive faith,
but the last echo of the priestly astro-theology of Baby
lonia. This astro-theology had been a purely artificial
system, the knowledge of which, like the knowledge of
astrology itseb, was confined to the learned classes. It
first grew up in the court of Sargon of Accad, but its
completion cannot be earlier than the age of Kham
muragas. In no other way can we explain the pro
minence given in it to Merodach, the god of Babylon.
But side by side with this " cunningly -devised"
system of theology, the ancient cult of the stars — not as
manbestations or symbols of the official gods, but as
divine beings themselves — maintained itseb not only
among the multitude, but among the higher orders as
well. The hemerology of the intercalary Elul, enume
rating the feasts and fasts of the month and the religious
services to be performed on each, states that the tenth
day was sacred to the Lady of the Lower Firmament
(Bilat-Ekur) and the divine judges of the starry sky,
and that offerings and sacrifices should be made during
the night of it to two particular stars.1 Towards the
1 W. A. I. iv. 32, 47—50. See above, p. 72.

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGY. 403
close of the. Assyrian empire, we find an Assyrian scribe
similarly laying down that the king should offer sacrifices
"before the stars, before Assur, before Merodach," and
other gods.1 The stars, be it noticed, here take the first
place, even before Assur, the god of Assyria, and Mero
dach, the god of Babylon, and hold the same rank as the
colossal bulls and sacred rivers mentioned by the same
author as objects of veneration.2
In a country which owed so much to its great rivers
as Babylonia, we should naturally expect to find traces
of river-worship. And such indeed is the case. But
the rivers of Babylonia were not, bke the Nile, the
bringers of unmixed good. They might indeed be termed
"the bearers of fertility," but theb destructive floods
needed curbing by dams and canals; and " the curse of
rain" that descended on the land during the winter
months made the rivers also curses instead of blessings.
Hence it was that, by the side of the cult paid to the
streams, and more especially to the supreme river-god,
the divine Euphrates, in whom the people of Eridu had
seen the features of Ea, there was a feeling of dread and
fear, which prevented the cult from attaining its full
development. Nevertheless, an old Aceadian text declares
that " the name of the man shall perish who destroys the
body of a river ;"3 and a Semitic hymn, which is prefaced
by the word siptu, "incantation," addresses the river
(Euphrates ?) in words of adoration and respect :4

1 W.A.I. iii. 66, Rev. 12 sq.
2 W. A. I. iii. 66, Obv. 30—33.
8 W. A. I. ii. 17, 26, completed by Strassmaier.
* S 1704, Rev.
2d2

404

LECTURE VI.

" Thou, 0 river, I have made thee I1
At the time I dug thee, the great gods (were) on thy bank.
Ea, the king of the deep, has created blessings in thy heart.
He has presented his deluge before thee.
Fire, might, brilliance (and) terribleness
have Ea and Merodach presented unto thee.
Judgment (?) hast thou given mankind,
O mighty river, river supreme of limb.2
Grant me (to bathe in) the straight course of thy waters.
The (impurity) which is in my body to thy channel carry it, even
to the channel.3
(Take) it, bear it down into thy stream.
(Deliver) me, and it shall not come nigh my altar.
(Purify) my sin that I may live.
May I glorify (that which the god) has created.
May I exalt (ludlul) (thy) spring (enu)."*
Side by side with this primitive worship of rivers and
1 Atti, ndru, ebusu kasum.
2 Di(1)ni teniseti tadin atti ndru rabiti, ndru tsiriti mesreti.
8 Sa ina zumri-ya basti. (ki-pub = ) kibir-ki uri-su kibir-ki.
4 Here several lines are lost. The text becomes legible again in the
fourth Hne of the obverse, from which it appears that the tablet con
tains charms against the bites of serpents. The lines which are legible
read as follows :
" Save me (suzibaninni) from the venom of these serpents.
Myself and my house never may it destroy, never may it poison,
never may it approach ;
never may it overcome me ; may it cross the river, may it pass
over my life.
[Lacuna] pouring their poison into my body like the star-coloured
bird (tarri).
May it mount to heaven like an arrow, pouring forth the zikhi of
its mission.
May (the serpents), 0 lord, be far from my body.
May they depart . . . and let me glorify your lul-gir.
Let me exalt (ludlul) the making of your god, 0 Ea, Samas and
Merodach."
The last line shows that we have here to do with a product of the
school of Sippara, as the name of Samas is interpolated between the
old god of healing speUs and his ministering son.

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO -THEOLOGY. 405
springs, we find traces of a worship of the mountains.
But this worship belonged rather to the days when the
early colonists of Chaldaea had not as yet descended from
the mountains of the East, and its traces are a survival,
assisted perhaps by the conquest of the country in the
historical epoch by the Kossaean highlanders. At any
rate, in Babylonia itseb the primitive cult of the moun
tains could be carried on only artificially. The sacred
mountains of the plain were the mounds which marked
the sites of ancient temples, or the towers which rose
within them in order that the priest might continue on
theb summits that close communion with heaven which
he had once enjoyed on the high places of the mountain-
tops. In the story of the Deluge, the mountain peak of
Nizir, where the rescued hero of the legend built his
altar and poured out his offerings, is called a siggurrat,
or temple -tower. Conversely, "the mountain of the
world" was the name given to a temple at Calah; and
the mountain of 'Sabu, to which the god Zu took his flight,
was Kharsak-kalama, "the mountain of mankind," an
artificial mound near Kis. The most famous of these
sacred tels or mounds, however, was the famous tilu ellu,
"the blustrious mound," at Borsippa, now represented
by the Birs-i-Nimrud. Nebo, to whom the great temple
of Borsippa was dedicated, is called its god (W. A. I. ii.
54, 71). One of "the three great" or secret "names of
Anu" was that of " the lord who issues forth from the
illustrious mound" (W. A. I. iii. 68, 19), in reference to
the fact that the Aceadian prototype of Nebo was once
the universe itseb, in which the seven spheres of light
were set, and around which the ocean-stream wound like
a rope or serpent. When the old god of Borsippa had

406

LECTURE VI.

passed into the Semitic Nebo, the attributes which had
formerly connected him with the firmament of heaven
were transferred to Anu, the sky-god of the official cult.
A fragmentary tablet, which gives us, as I believe, the
Babylonian version of the building of the tower of Babel,
expressly identifies it with "the illustrious mound."
Here we are told of the leader of the rebellion that when
"the thought of his heart was hostile" and he "had
wronged the father of all the gods," when "he was
hurrying to seize Babylon," and "small and great were
mingling the mound," "the divine king of the illustrious
mound" intervened, " Anu lifted up (his hand) in front"
and prayed "to his father the lord of the firmament."
"All day long he troubled "them; "as they lamented
on theb couch he ended not" their "distress." "In
his wrath he overthrows (their) secret counsel; in his
(fury) he set his face to mingle (their) designs ; he gave
the command (?), he made strange theb plan."1 The
very word that the Hebrew writer uses hi order to
explain the origin of the name of Babylon, and which
the Authorised Version translates "confound," is here
employed of those who "mingled together" the mound,
and whose designs were afterwards themselves " mingled"
by the god of heaven.
"The illustrious mound" was known as far back as
the time when the months of the Aceadian year were
named. The month which corresponded to the Semitic
Tasrit or Tisri, and our September, was " the month of
the illustrious mound." It would seem, therefore, that
legend had referred the attempt to build the tower whose
1 The text has been published by Mr. Boscawen in the Transactions
of the Society of Biblical Arclueology, v. 1.

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGY. 407
head should reach to heaven to the autumnal equinox ;
at any rate, it is clear that the mound of Borsippa was
not only in existence, but was already in a state of ruin
when the Aceadian calendar was first drawn up.
The sacred mounds of Babylonia, in fact, bke the
Gilgals of Palestine, appear to have been the sites of
older structures which had long fallen into decay, and
around which fancy and tradition were allowed to play
freely. They had in this way become veritable hills —
tumuli, as we should term them in our modern archaeo
logical vocabulary — and as such deserved the venerable
title of sadu, or "mountain." New temples like that of
"the mountain of the world" could be named after them,
but this did not imply a recollection that the sacred
mounds had once been temples themselves. They were
rather, like the mountains of the eastern frontier, the
everlasting altars of the gods, on whose summits worship
could most fittingly be paid to the deities of heaven.
And, like the mountains, they were something more than
altars ; they were themselves divine, the visible habita
tions of the spbits of the ab. It is possible that Prof.
Friedrich Debtzsch is right in proposing to see in the
Assyrian sadu, or "mountain," the explanation of the
Hebrew title of the Deity, El Shaddai.1 At all events,
God is compared to a rock in the Old Testament (Deut.
xxxii. 15, Ps. xvib. 2), and the worship of sacred stones
was widely spread through the Semitic world.

1 Mul-lil is called kur-gal, sadil rabd in Semitic, "the great mountain,"
W.A.I, iv. 18, 15; 23, 30; and in v. 44, 41, "the god Kur-gal" is
rendered by Bel. In the list of Babylonian kings in which the mean
ing of their names is explained, the Aceadian E-Guzi-kharsag-men is
interpreted E-Saggil-saddu-ni, " E-Saggil is our mountain."

408

LECTURE VI.

Between the sacred mounds of Babylonia, however,
and the sacred stones of Semitic faith, there was a wide
difference, answering to a difference in the minds of the
two races to whom these separate cults belonged. The
sacred stone was a Beth-el, or " house of god ;" no habita
tion of a mere spbit, but the dwelling-place of deity itseb.
Its sanctity was not inherent ; it was sacred because it
had been transformed into an altar by the oil that was
poured out upon it in libation, or the priest who was
consecrated to its service. The worship of these sacred
stones was common to all the branches of the Semitic
family. The famous black stone of the Kaaba at Mecca
is a standing witness of the fact. So firmly rooted was
the bebef in its divine character among the Arabs of
Mohammed's day that he was unable to eradicate it, but
was forced to make a compromise with the old faith by
attaching to the stone the traditions of the Old Testament.
The black stone, though more sacred than any others, did
not stand alone. All around Mecca there were similar
stones, termed Ansab, three of which may still be seen,
according to Mr. Doughty, at the gates of the city, where
they go by the names of Hobbal, Lata and Uzza. North
ward of Mecca, at Medain-Saleh, the burial-place of the
ancient kingdom of the Nabatheeans, Mr. Doughty has
discovered niches in the rock containing sacred stones.
Above one of them is an inscription which shows that
the stone was the symbol or habitation of the god Auda
(or Aera) : " This is the place of prayer which Seruh
the son of Tuka has erected to Auda of Bostra, the great
god, in the month Nisan of the first year of king Malkhos."
Within the last few years, bas-reliefs have been found in
Sicily and Tunisia representing persons in the act of

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGY. 409
adoration before a smab triad of stone. We are here on
Phoenician territory, and it is not strange therefore that
classical writers should speak of the Bam>A.oi or Beth-els,
the meteoric stones which had fallen from heaven like
" the image" of Artemis at Ephesos, and were accord
ingly honoured by the Phoenicians. In the mythology
of Byblos, Heaven and Earth were said to have had four
sons, Iios or El, Betylos or Beth-el, Dagon and Atlas ;
and the god of heaven was further declared to have
invented the Baityli, making of them living stones.1
Bethuel is connected with Aram in the Old Testament
(Gen. xxii. 21, 22); and we all remember how, on his way
to Haran, Jacob awakened out of sleep, saying, " Surely
the Lord is in this place," and "took the stone that he
had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and
poured oil upon the top of it, and cabed the name of that
place Beth-el." In Palestine, however, the Beth-els were
arranged in a cbcle or Gilgal, rather than singly; the
isolated monuments were the cones of stone or the bare
tree-trunks which symbobsed Asherah, the goddess of
fertility, and Baal the Sun-god. The sun-pillars and
the asherim meet with frequent mention in the Bibbcal
records; and we may gain some idea as to what the latter
were bke from the pictures we have on coins and gems
of the famous conical stone that stood within the holy of
holies in the temple of the Paphian Aphrodite, as well as
from the description given of it by Tacitus.2 On a gem

1 Euseb. Praep. Evang. i. 10. Halevy's arguments against the iden
tification of Baitylos and the Beth-el amount to very Jifctfs.
2 Hist. ii. 2 : " Simulacrum deas non effigie humana, continuus orbis
latiore initio tenuem in ambitum raelae modo exsurgens."

410 LECTURE VI.
in the British Museum, Sin, " the god of Harran," is repre
sented by a stone of the same shape surmounted by a
star. The " pillars of the Sun" were also stones of a like
form. When the Phoenician temple in the island of Gozo,
whose ruins are known as the Temple of the Giants, was
excavated, two such columns of stone were found, planted
in the ground, one of which still remains in situ. We
cannot forget that even in Solomon's temple, built as it
was by Phoenician workmen, there were two columns of
stone, Boaz and Yakin, set on either side of the porch
(1 Kings vii. 21), like the two columns of gold and
emerald glass which Herodotos saw in the temple of
Melkarth at Tyre (Herodt. ii. 44).
The sacred stones which were thus worshipped in
Arabia, in Phoenicia and in Syria, were worshipped also
among the Semites of Babylonia. There is a curious
reference to the consecration of a Beth-el in the Epic of
Gisdhubar. When the hero had been dismissed by the
Chaldaean Noah, and his sickness had been carried away
by the waters of the sea, we are told that " he bound
together heavy stones," and after taking an animal for
sacrifice, "poured over it a homer" hi bbation. He
then commenced his homeward voyage up the Euphrates,
having thus secured the goodwill of heaven for his
undertaking.1 1 W.A.I, iv. 51, v. 52. vi. 1 — 4. The stones or asMrim which
had thus been consecrated by oil being poured over them, are frequently
mentioned in the Babylonian and Assyrian inscriptions under the name
of kidalli. Kidallu is a word borrowed from the Aceadian ki-zal, " place
of oil" or " anointing," and represented the " altar," so often depicted on
Assyrian gems and bas-reliefs, which consisted of an upright post or
column, sometimes with an extinguisher-like top. A good representation
of three of these columns, of different forms, will be seen on a Phoeni-

COSMOGONIES AND ASTRO-THEOLOGY. 411
The homeward voyage of the Chaldaean hero is a
reminder that we, too, have finished our survey of Baby
lonian religion, so far as our present knowledge of it will
allow. Two facts in regard to it stand prominently
forth; its essentiaby local character, and its hybrid
origin. We cannot understand even its most elementary
features unless we bear in mind that it is the product of
different races and different pobtical systems. In detail,
indeed, it may not always be easy to distinguish between
Aceadian and Semitic, or between the gods of Eridu and
the gods of Babylon ; but the main outbnes of the picture
are clear and distinct, and any attempt to obliterate or
forget them wbl lead only to confusion and error. That
the materials are still wanting for a complete history of
the rise and development of Babylonian religion, I am
only too well aware ; but where completeness is unattain
able, even an imperfect sketch has its merits and value.
And the importance of Babylonian religion to the student
of theology need not be pointed out. Apart from its
general interest in illustrating the history of religion
among one of the few races of mankind who have been
the pioneers of civilisation, it has a special interest from
its bearing on the faiths of Western Asia, and more espe
cially on that of the people of Israel, li I have not
more frequently drawn attention to the latter, it has been
due to my desbe to keep faithfully to the subject of my
Lectures. I have undertaken to treat of Babylonian reli
gion only, not of Semitic religion hi general. For such
eian gem procured by Dr. Hayes Ward at Bagdad, and published by
him in the American Journal cf Arch otology, June 1886, p. 156. They
correspond to the "sun-pillars" and asherim., or symbols of the goddess
Asherah, so frequently alluded to in the Old Testament.

412 LECTURE VI.
a task there are others far more competent than myseb ;
great Arabic or Syriac or Hebrew scholars, who have
devoted theb lives to the study of one or more of these
better-known Semitic tongues. My own studies have of
late years lain more and more in the ever-widening circle
of Assyrian research; here there is enough, and more
than enough, to fill the whole time and absorb the whole
energies of the worker ; and he must be content to confine
himseb to his own subject, and by honest labour therein
to accumulate the facts which others more fortunate than
he may hereafter combine and utilise. This is the day of
speciabsts; the increased application of the scientific
method and the rapid progress of discovery have made
it difficult to do more than note and put together the
facts that are constantly crowding one upon the other
in a special branch of research. The time may come
again — nay, wbl come again — when once more the ever-
flowing stream of discovery wib be checked, and famous
scholars and thinkers will arise to reap the harvest that
we have sown. Meanwhile I. claim only to be one of the
humble labourers of our own busy age, who have done
my best to set before you the facts and theories we may
glean from the broken sherds of Nineveh, so far as they
bear upon the religion of the ancient Babylonians. It is
for others, whose studies have taken a wider range, to
make use of the materials I have endeavoured to collect,
and to discover in them, b they can, guides and beacons
towards a purer form of faith than that which can be
found in the official creeds of our modern world.

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX.

The primitive language and population of Chaldaea have excited so
much discussion, and the views held on the subject by Assyriologists
have undergone so much modification as their knowledge of the inscrip
tions has become more extensive and exact, that it is necessary for me
to state precisely the conclusions to which, as it seems to me, the
evidence now at our disposal would lead us. Others besides Assyrian
students are probably aware that the question has aroused more than
one fierce controversy ; every step in advance has been gained after a
good deal of fighting ; and not only the name and relationship of the
pre-Semitic language of Babylonia, but its priority to the Semitic
Babylonian and even its very existence, have been made the subjects of
animated discussion. The discussion, it is true, has usually been the
result of misunderstandings and errors, of hasty conclusions and misin
terpreted facts ; but in this respect it has not differed widely from
most other discussions in science or theology.
The decipherment of the Assyrian inscriptions had not proceeded
far before it became clear that the Assyrian syllabary was not of
Semitic origin. This, at least, seemed to the first decipherers the most
natural way of accounting for the curious fact that the characters pos
sessed phonetic values which did not correspond to the Semitic words
represented by the same characters when used ideographicaUy. The
character which denoted " a head," for example, not only possessed the
Semitic value of ris, but also the non-Semitic value of sag. Moreover,
the syUabary expressed very imperfectly the sounds of a Semitic lan
guage. The distinctive Semitic sounds of ayin, teth and tsadde, were
wanting in it, or else represented defectively. In place of the clear
pronunciation of the consonants which distinguishes a Semitic idiom,
it was found that surds and sonants were confounded together at the
end of a syllable. It appeared evident, therefore, that the syllabary,
the pictorial origin of which was soon recognised, must have been

416 APPENDIX I.
invented by a non-Semitic people, and handed on by them to the
Semitic populations who inhabited the valleys of the Tigris and Eu
phrates during the historical period. Dr. Hincks proposed the name
of "Aceadian" for the old language and its speakers, and Dr. Oppert
believed that he saw in it marks of relationship to the languages of
the "Turanian" or Ural-Altaic family.
It was not long before this view of the origin of the Assyrian sylla
bary appeared to find a verification, partly in the discovery of early
Babylonian inscriptions written by means of it in a non-Semitic idiom,
partly in the "bilingual texts" of Assur-bani-pal's library, in which the
words and documents of the old idiom were interpreted by interHnear
or parallel translations in Semitic Assyrian. All that remained was to
analyse the words and forms of the old language — no easy task, how
ever, when it is remembered that they are for the most part written
ideographically, and not phonetically. Dr. Oppert's first essays in this
direction were followed by an article of mine in the Journal of Philology
for 1870, in which I endeavoured to give the first fairly complete
sketch of " Aceadian" grammar. Three years later this was systema-
tised and extended by the briUiant and inexhaustible pen of Francois
Lenormant. Dr. Oppert objected to the term "Aceadian," which had been
adopted from Dr. Hincks by Lenormant, Delitzsch and myself, and
proposed instead of it the term " Sumerian." From an early epoch
Chaldsea had been divided into two main divisions, called respectively
Accad and Sumer ; and the monarchs who claimed sovereignty over the
whole country entitled themselves accordingly " kings of Sumer and
Accad," in contradistinction to those who could claim to be rulers of
" the land of Accad" only.1 To Dr. Haigh belongs the credit of first
pointing out that Sumer is the Shinar of the Old Testament f while
George Smith, with his usual divinatory instinct, perceived that it
must represent southern Babylonia, Accad being the district round the
capital city of Accad, or Agade (formerly read Agan§). George Smith's
views, however, were not at first adopted by other Assyriologists, and
1 Kengi Agade, misinterpreted in later daya to mean " Sumer and Accad.''
2 Halevy's " Rabbinical" etymology of Shinar does not require refutation.
Already in Gen. xi. 2, the name of Shinar has been extended to denote the
whole of Babylonia, aa in Daniel and Zech. v. 11, juat aa in Micah v. 6, the
dominion of Nimrod seems to be extended to Assyria ; but in Gen. x. 10,
the name is still confined to southern Babylonia, and is therefore used to
indicate the southern position of Calneh,

APPENDIX I. 417
it is only within the last three or four years that newly-found inscrip
tions have shown them to be correct.
The arguments by which Dr. Oppert supported his proposal were
not convincing, and for some time he secured no converts. But the
researches of Professor Paul Haupt, one of the ablest and best-trained
of the younger band of Assyriologists, threw an entirely new light on
the matter. I had noticed (in 1874) the existence of more than one
dialect in Proto-Chaldsean, and in a paper on Aceadian Phonology (in
1877) had tried to show that our "Aceadian" texts contain newer as
well as older forms, and that many of them are composed in a language
which exhibits all the signs of long decay ; but it was reserved for
Prof. Haupt to demonstrate scientifically that there were two clearly-
marked dialects of Aceadian, and to point out the principal charac
teristics of each. He assumed that the standard dialect, that which
preserved the old language in its purest and most archaic form, was
the dialect of Accad or northern Babylonia ; the second dialect, which
he regarded as standing to the other in the relation of a daughter or a
younger sister, being the dialect of Sumer or the south. My own view
had originally been the converse of this, but Prof. Haupt's arguments
brought me over to his side. Subsequently, however, his assumption
was attacked by Dr. Hommel; and after a considerable amount of
hesitation, I have arrived at the conviction that Dr. Hommel is right.
" The dialect" which Prof. Haupt would make Sumerian and Dr.
Hommel Aceadian, exhibits the language of early Chaldaea in a decayed
and degenerated form. It is largely affected by Semitic influence ;
not only has it adopted Semitic words, but Semitic idioms as well.
These Semitisms, moreover, are partly popular, partly literary in origin ;
some of them, that is, are manifestly the introductions of a learned
class who have imported them into Proto-Chaldasan much in the same
way as Greek terms have been imported into English by men of
science, or French expressions by litterateurs. Now it was in northern
Babylonia, and not in the south, that Semitic influence and Semitic
supremacy first made themselves felt. It was at Accad that the earliest
Semitic empire, that of Sargon, first grew up, and it was there that
the first Semitic library was founded under the patronage of a Semitic
monarch. Sumer continued much longer under Proto-Chaldsean rule ;
and it is possible, if not probable, that one or more Proto-Chaldaean
dialects continued to be spoken in Sumer down to the days of Nebu
chadnezzar himself.
Whether the Semitic name of Accad is derived from the Proto-Chal
dsean Agade, or the Proto-Chaldsean Agade from the Semitic Accad, we
2E

418 APPENDIX I.
do not know ; but it is certain that the importance of the city dates
only from the Semitic epoch of Babylonia. The name is represented
by a compound ideograph (bur-bur) which signifies " a mound," and
a gloss informs us that this ideograph was pronounced tilla.1 Sir
Henry Eawlinson saw in tilla a derivative from elu, " to ascend," with
the signification of " high-lands ;" and I formerly believed that support
for this view could be found in the word Accad itself, which I con
nected with a supposed Proto-Chaldsean aka, " to Hft up." But this
belief was entirely wrong. Accad has nothing to" do with aka, which
means " to love," and tilla is the common Assyrian tillu, "a tel." It
signifies the mound on which a city or temple stood, as well as the
mound formed by the debris of a ruined town. Accad was therefore
known as Tilla, either because it stood on the site of an earlier pre-
Semitic city, or because of the lofty artificial platform on which it
was built.
The compound ideograph to which the pronunciation of Tilla was
attached was applied by Sargon to the country of Ararat or Armenia.
This may have been due to a simple confusion of two geographical
names which had nothing to do with one another. In the tablet
which gives us the name of Tilla, and which appears to have been
intended to explain difficult words in texts emanating from the Hbrary
of Accad, Tina is interpreted to mean Urdhu. Since the Euphrates
at Sippara was termed the ITrudtuv, or " river of bronze" (from the
Proto-Chaldsean urud, "bronze"2), it seems probable that Urdhu is a
Semitised form of Urud, a name which we may suppose to have been
given to Sippara or Accad and the surrounding district in consequence
of the bronze with which their edifices were adorned. The resemblance
of Urdhu to Urardhu or Ararat, the Assyrian designation of Armenia,
may have led the Assyrian king to transfer an ideograph which pro
perly denoted the north of Babylonia to the mountainous land of
Armenia. However this may be, Dr. Hommel has, I believe, made it clear
that the texts whose primitive home can be shown to have been
Sumer are in the older and standard Proto-Chaldsean dialect, while
those which display a later and more Semitised phase of the language
belong primarily to Accad. At the same time, it must not be forgotten
that the priests of Accad not unfrequently attempted to write in the
archaic and revered language of Sumer ; while, on the other hand, texts
which originated in Sumer have undergone such extensive modifi-
1 W. A. I. ii. 48, 13. 2 W. A. I. ii. 48, 47.

APPENDIX I. 419
cations by repeated revision as to be overlaid with the characteristics
of the northern dialect. It is also not impossible that changes similar
to those undergone by the old language in Accad may at a later time
have overtaken the dialect of the south, so that phonetic peculiarities,
which seem to us to belong to Accad, may reaUy belong to the lan
guage of Sumer in a later stage of decay.
I must here diverge for a moment in order to emphasise the fact
that very few of the earlier texts of Sumer and Accad have come down
to us in their original form. With the exception of the contempo
raneous inscriptions of the kings of Tel-loh or Mugheir, and perhaps
also of the hymns to the Sun-god of Sippara, which were composed in
literary "Aceadian" at a time when the old language had long become
extinct, the earlier literature of Chaldaea has been subjected to altera
tions and modifications of the most extensive kind. Documents of
different age and origin have been pieced together ; words, lines, and
even whole passages have been freely interpolated ; glosses have crept
into the text from the margin ; the language has been modernised again
and again ; and the errors of copyists, intentional or unconscious, have
made their way into the text. The corruption of the text has been
further increased by the imperfect acquaintance of many of the later
editors with the pre-Semitic dialects of Chaldsea. This has been a
frequent cause of error, and in one case at least has resulted in maca
ronic verses, the Semitic portion of which has no real connection with
the Sumerian.1 It is true that the scribes were assisted in under
standing the earlier texts by commentaries, in which explanations
were given of the more difficult words and ideographs ; but the expla
nations of the commentators were not always correct, while the com
mentaries or so-called "bilingual lists" have themselves suffered from
the mistakes and ignorance of later editors. The scrupulous care with
which the scribes of Assur-bani-pal copied the tablets brought from
Babylonia, noting the places where there was " a lacuna" (khibi) or
"a recent lacuna" (khibi essu), giving alternative characters where the
scribe was uncertain as to the Assyrian character to which the Baby
lonian original corresponded, and at times frankly confessing the
inability of the copyist to understand his copy (ul idi, " I do not
know"), was a growth of comparatively modern date. The Babylonian
scribes may have shown the same carefulness for a few centuries before
the age of Assur-bani-pal, and efforts may have been made to secure
the accurate reproduction of the religious texts as soon as they acquired

1 See above, p. 80.
2e2

420

APPENDIX I.

a sacred character ; but for at least two thousand years after the era of
Sargon of Accad all the causes of corruption above enumerated were
freely at work, and it was just during this period that the larger part
of the Babylonian Hterature we possess assumed its present form. The
only wonder is that the non-Semitic portion of it should have been
handed down as correctly as it is. It was probably in the time of
Khammuragas (B.C. 2300) that the main bulk of it came into exist
ence. There seems to have been a literary revival at that period, not
unlike the literary revival in Wales in the 12th and 13th centuries.
A considerable number of the older commentaries were probably
composed at the time ; at all events, the Epic of Gisdhubar and other
similar works are in all likelihood to be referred to this date. Under
Khammuragas, Babylon became the dominant state in Babylonia, and
absorbed the older fame of the Semitic empire at Accad and Sippara ;
hence it is that the Hst of Babylonian dynasties begins with the
dynasty of Khammuragas, and that while the antediluvian kings of
Ber6ssos belong for the most part to Larankha or Surippak, the near
neighbour of Accad, the first of them, Aloros, is made a native of
Babylon. But behind the Semitic legends of Accad and Babylon, as may be
seen from the foregoing Lectures, lie older non-Semitic legends which
speak of the origin of culture and civilisation in Chaldaea. These
legends describe it as beginning on the shores of the Persian Gulf and
working its way to the cities of the north. This is in complete harmony
with what we have found to be the evidence of the native inscriptions.
Eridu, the primseval capital of the south, was the first home of the
god of culture and healing, and it is with Eridu and its deities that the
oldest religious texts are intimately associated. As these texts are in
the standard dialect, it would follow that Dr. Hommel is right in
regarding it as the dialect of Sumer.
But yet more. The cuneiform system of writing was at the outset
pictorial, and its earliest documents would therefore be mainly written
with ideographs, and not with phonetic signs. Now this is one of the
peculiarities which distinguish the texts of the standard dialect from
those composed in the second dialect, and consequently justifies us in
assigning them to Eridu and the surrounding district. If once we
assume that the standard dialect is that of Sumer, and the secondary .
dialect that of Accad, everything falls naturally into its place.
The so-called "biHngual lists'' sometimes qualify a word or form
belonging to the secondary or Aceadian dialect by a couple of ideographs
which literally mean " the language of woman." This " woman's Ian-

APPENDIX I. 421
guage" has been supposed to have a grammatical reference, denoting
perhaps what we should call a " weak form ;" but though grammatical
terms were certainly used by the compilers of the lists, it is only those
of a more obvious character, such as " singular" and " plural," " mas
culine" and "feminine ;" and I prefer to see in the expression, "woman's
language," a reference to one of those numerous cases in which the
language of the women and the nursery is distinguished from that of the
men. In northern Babylonia, where Semites and non-Semites inter
mingled from an early period, there would have been reasons in plenty
for such an appellation. Semitic wives would not have spoken Sume
rian with the same purity as their non-Semitic husbands ; while, on the
other hand, the dialect of the Sumerian wife would have been regarded
by her Semitic husband as essentially a feminine idiom.1
That more than one dialect prevailed in Chaldsea before its complete
occupation by the Semites, is not only necessary from the nature of
things, but is also borne out by facts. Besides the two main dialects
of Sumer and Accad, our texts, in spite of the corruption they have
suffered, permit us to recognise other sub-dialects, among which may
be noted the dialects of Sippara and Eridu. To these must be added
the literary dialect which probably grew up in the court of Sargon of
Accad, and is distinguished by its incorporation of Semitic words and
idioms, as well as by its mixture of archaic and more modern non-
Semitic forms. An indication of its date may be found in the Semitic
loan-word gabiri, " a mountain" (Arabic jebel),2 which had ceased to
be used in Assyro-Babylonian long before the age of Khammuragas.
Corresponding with this literary Aceadian was the literary Assyro-
Babylonian whose beginnings also go back to the era of Sargon of
Accad. While the language of Aceadian literature borrowed Semitic
words and expressions, the language of Semitic literature borrowed
from Aceadian. Where the scribes were either Semites who had learnt
Aceadian, or else Accadians who had learnt Semitic, this was only
1 The ideographic designation of Sumer in late Assyrian inscriptions,
eme-ku, is probably an example of what Halevy has happily termed a
rebus, and should be read emequ^emgu in Babylonian^that is, "wise" or
" secret," in reference to the fact that the old language of Sumer was chiefly
employed in later days in the composition of spells. Ku was chosen instead
of QU, partly because of its resemblance in sound to the Sumerian kua, " an
oracle," partly because the similarity of the Semitic asabu, " to sit," to asapu,
" to divine," had given the Sumerian Im, " to sit," the further signification
of " soothsaying." '
2 W. A. I. ii. 50, 56.

422 APPENDIX I.
natural; and since Chaldsean culture and writing were of Sumerian
origin, while most of the religious and other texts were composed in
the Sumerian language, it was inevitable that tbe amount of borrowing
on the Semitic side was greater than that on the Aceadian side. The
technical terms of Sumerian science, or pseudo-science, whether this
dealt with magic or with astrology, were introduced into Semitic docu
ments, and the Semitic vocabulary was enriched with words like
asakku, " fever," and ribanna, " a conjunction." As time went on, it
seems to have become more and more fashionable to import Aceadian
or Sumerian words into Hterary Babylonian, and an imperfect know
ledge of the old language not unfrequently assigned to these words a
wrong form or a wrong meaning. The most curious errors, however,
on the part of the borrowers were caused by the ideographic character
of the script. When tbe cuneiform system of writing was first learned
by the Semites, it was still in process of formation. Its pictorial origin
was stiU remembered, and the Semitic scribes considered themselves at
liberty not only to create new ideographs by combining two or more
together, but even to invent ideographs for which there was no prece
dent in the Sumerian syUabary. New phonetic values were introduced,
derived from the Semitic words which expressed the meaning of the
several ideographs, and the characters received new ideographic signi
fications due to the similarity of two Semitic roots, one of which only
was the real representative of the ideograph in question. As the second
root was often translated back into Accado-Sumerian, and the Accado-
Sumerian word so obtained was sometimes used as a phonetic value
of the ideograph, the Accado-Sumerian texts which originated under
Semitic influence came to be filled with a strange medley of Sumerian
and Semitic.
It was in the Semitic texts, however, that literary affectation was
carried to the greatest lengths. In the more modern epoch of cuneiform
writing, when the dialect of literature and the dialect of every-day
life had come to stand more and more apart, the learning of the scribes
was displayed in an almost Kabbalistic play upon the characters of
the syllabary. Not content with borrowing words and phrases from.
the Sumerian literature, which had now entered upon a stage analogous
to that of monkish Latin, they read the ideographs phonetically, and
then imported them bodily into the inscriptions of the Semitic kings.
Thus the Sumerians had a word dur, signifying " a table of shewbread,"
and represented by the two ideographs ki-gal, literally " great place ;"
and we actuaUy find this ki-gal, under the Semitic form of kigallu, used
in the inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors, and inter-

APPENDIX I. 423
preted to mean " a platform." A large number, however, of these far
fetched and erroneous forms are to be found only in the so-called
"bilingual lists," and it is probable that they never made their way into
any actual text. The compiler of one of these lists was proud of
showing his erudition by heaping words together which only the ini
tiated could understand.
But of course it was not the artificial literary Semitic dialect alone
that was indebted to the Sumerian for the enrichment of its vocabulary.
Two languages cannot be in contact one with another without mutual
borrowing, and the more cultivated language is the one which usually
gives more than it takes. The existence of the Sumerian language,
therefore, postulates not only a large number of Sumerian loan-words
in the Assyro-Babylonian of daily intercourse, but also, as students of
the science of language know wen, a certain amount of influence upon
its structure and grammar. Thus I have long believed that the dis
tinction made in Assyro-Babylonian between the present asakkin and
the aorist askun — a distinction so contrary to the ordinary character of
the Semitic verb — is due to the influence of the Sumerian, which pos
sessed a real verb with a present and an aorist; and it is difficult to
explain in any other way the order of the Assyro-Babylonian sentence
which followed the Sumerian in placing the verb at the end, thus
setting at defiance the primary law of Semitic structure. Equally
instructive is the comparatively little use made by Assyro-Babylonian
of the permansive, which answers to the perfect of the other Semitic
tongues. The Semitic perfect could flourish only where the verb
expressed condition and not time ; a language which had developed
real tenses with a temporal signification had but slight need of its
employment. In fact, if he did not already know of the existence
of Sumerian, the comparative grammarian, like the discoverers of the
planet Uranus, would have to presuppose it.
The same would also be the case with the comparative philologist
who undertook an examination of the Assyro-Babylonian vocabulary.
Not only the literary dialect, but the spoken language as well, contained
an enormous number of words, of which we seek in vain for any satis
factory representatives in the other Semitic languages. Now it is a
commonplace of scientific philology that when we come across a large
residuum of words in a language for which we can find no allied words
in the other languages of the same family of speech, we must conclude
that a considerable proportion of them have been borrowed from else
where. In Greek, Mr. Wharton has shown that, besides 641 words whose
foreign origin can be traced, there are about 520 which seem to hava

424 APPENDIX I.
no Indo-Europsean etymology, and presumably, therefore, come for the
most part from a foreign source ;T and what is true of Greek is true
also of Semitic Babylonian. The roots preserved by one member of a
linguistic family and lost by all its sisters can never be very numerous;
the roots — or words — which it has invented are fewer still ; and hence
the long list of words peculiar to Assyro-Babylonian points with an
unerring hand to borrowing from a foreign source. If we would feel
the fuU force of the argument, we must compare Assyro-Babylonian
with Hebrew, to which it bears so close a relationship. The words
peculiar to Hebrew, and probably for the most part of foreign extrac
tion, like har, "a mountain," are in the proportion of only one to
ten when compared with the words pecuHar to the language of Semitic
Babylonia used, so far as we can judge, in the daily intercourse of the
people. Many of the latter we know to be derived from Sumerian,
and Jt is therefore probable that as our knowledge of Sumerian increases
¦we shall find many more which have had the same origin. At the
same time it must not be supposed that Sumerian was the only foreign
tongue upon which the Semites of Babylonia levied their contributions.
At one period or another they were in contact with Elamites, Kossseans,
Sutians and the like, and it is only reasonable to conclude that they
borrowed something from each. We know, indeed, that they adopted
certain of the Elamite and Kossaean deities, and those who adopt deities
are likely to adopt other things as weU. !No Semitic paraUel has yet
been pointed out for the common Assyro-Babylonian verb kasadu, " to
possess ;" it is equally difficult to discover for it a Sumerian derivation ;
may it not then be a word, not evolved out of the inner consciousness
of the . Babylonians, nor preserved by them while forgotten by their
Semitic brethren, but taken from the language of one of their numerous
neighbours ?
There are two facts which make it specially difficult to determine
whether a given word peculiar to Assyro-Babylonian, but not discover
able in Sumerian, is really a loan-word or not. The first is our un
certainty as to the primitive home of the speakers of the Semitic
parent-speech before its separation into the languages of the north and
the south. If, as I believe, this home was in the desert on the western
side of the Euphrates, in the immediate proximity of the Sumerian
kingdoms of Chaldaea, the parent-speech itself would have been in
contact with Sumerian long before one of its dialects developed into
the Semitic language of Babylonia, and we should therefore expect to
1 Etyma Orceca, p. vi

APPENDIX I. 425
find traces of Sumerian influence not only in the Semitic languages of
the north — Assyro-Babylonian, Phceniko-Hebrew and Aramaean — but
in the Semitic languages of the south as well. The second fact is the
want of any early monuments of Semitic speech except those composed
in the dialects of Babylonia and Assyria. The next oldest monuments
are in Phoenician and Hebrew; but the Phoenicians and Hebrews,
according to their own traditions, had migrated from Babylonia, and a
large part of the literature of the Old Testament belongs to the period
of the Babylonish Captivity. We know nothing of Arabic before the
fifth century of the Christian era ; and who can tell the extent to which
it had already been influenced by the Aramaic dialects which had
themselves been so long in contact with Babylonia ? For these reasons
it is somewhat rash to conclude, with Dr. Zimmern, that the occurrence
of the same phrase or idiom in an Aceadian and a Semitic text neces
sarily proves that the Aceadian text has been composed under Semitic
influence. The rashness, indeed, is paralleled by the same scholar's
assertion that the interjections ua and d have been introduced into an
Aceadian text from Semitic Babylonia. As Professor Friedrich De
litzsch remarks, interjections are much the same all over the world.1
But Professor Delitzsch has himself put forward statements which
make one wish that Assyriologists would submit to a training in
scientific philology. His conception of a root is still that of Ibn
Khayyuj, if we may judge from his assertion that the Semitic word for
" mother" is derived from the idea of " spaciousness ;"2 and his opinion
that the word ad, in the sense of " father," is of Semitic origin, is a
greater crime against linguistic science than Dr. Zimmern's belief in
the peculiarly Semitic character of certain vocalic interjections.3 It is
only necessary to glance over a list of the words for " father" in the
various languages of the world, to discover that ad or at is one of the
commonest of titles given by the child to the parent.* Professor De-
1 Zimmern, Busspsabnen, p. 116.
' The Hebrew Language viewed in the Light of Assyrian Research, p. 60.
3 Zimmern, Busspsabnen, p. 114.
* E. g. in Keltic, Albanian, Turkish, Kirgiaa, Moko, Akra, Dacotan. See
Buachmann in the Abhandlungen der Berliner Akademie, 1852, pp. 391 so. I
have often wished that Assyriologiats would devote some study to phonetics.
A page bristling with diacritical marks may look scientific, but not unfre
quently the appearance is greater than the reaUty. Diacritical marks are
objectionable for two reasons, first of all because they cannot be reproduced by
an ordinary printing-press, and secondly because they often serve to conceal
an ignorance of what the sounds really were which were intended to be

42 G APPENDIX I.
Htzsch, however, after turning half the Semitic Babylonian vocabulary
into Aceadian, has now gone to the opposite extreme, and would
transform what is Aceadian into Semitic. The cause of both exaggera
tions is the same. He has put his faith in the so-called syllabaries and
bilingual lists rather than in the actual texts which we possess. Far
be it from me to disparage either the value of these lists or of the
work which has been accomplished by Professor Delitzsch and his
pupils. We owe it in great measure to him that the decipherment of
Assyrian stands at its present level of scholarship, and the publication
of his long-promised but long-delayed Assyrian Dictionary will tend
to place the -study of Assyrian on the same footing as that of the
better-known Semitic languages. But the Leipzig school has, with
one or two striking exceptions, been far too one-sided. Archaeology,
history, religion, mythology, have been neglected in favour of the almost
exclusive study of words : words, too, not as bound together in the
sentences of untranslated texts, but isolated and apart. Their explana
tion has been sought in syllabaries and lists of synonyms, rather than
in the context of the documents which have come down to us. This
excessive devotion to vocabularies has been too often accompanied by
a misconception or forgetfulness of the real nature of the " bilingual
lists." They are for the most part commentaries upon older texts,
made we know not when, and intended to explain the meaning of rare
expressed. If the Assyrian tsaddS was pronounced ts, it is better to write it
so than to denote it by a symbol which may mean anything or nothing.
Where the two letters belong to different syllables, which is rarely the case
in Assyrian, they can be separated by a hyphen (t-s). In fact, when the
Assyriologists come to represent their diacritical marks by letters to which
an intelligible pronunciation can be assigned, I find them flying in the face
of phonetic possibilities. It is all very well to represent the simple sibilant
of Assyrian by s; but this is the symbol chosen by Sievers and otheT pho-
nologists to express the sound of sh, and it is accordingly replaced at times
by sh by those Assyrian scholars who make use of it. Unfortunately, pho
netics prove that the Assyrian sibilant could not have had this value, as
Eawlinson and Oppert long ago perceived. A well-known phonetic rule of
Assyrian ia for a dental followed by the sibilant to become samech, the
dental being first assimilated to the 8ibilant. Now ss is samech, but not
shsh. The representation of the Assyrian teth by t is another phonetic error.
The Assyrian teth had affinities with daleth and not with tau, as is proved
by its frequent interchange with the former, as well as by the fact that the
same characters were employed to express the daleth and the teth. Its pro
nunciation waa in all probability that of the English dh (as in the). As for
the qoph (which in Babylonian passed into g), palaeography and phonetics
alike sanction its sjinbolisation by q.

APPENDIX I. 427
or obsolete words, ideographs and expressions. The original text was
sometimes in Accado-Sumerian, sometimes in an older form of Semitic
Babylonian ; while at other times texts in both languages were com
mented on together by the scribe. In the so-called non-Semitic column
of the " bilingual lists," accordingly, we must expect to find not only
Accado-Sumerian, but also Semitic words as weU as ideographs which
may be either of Sumerian or of Semitic origin. Now and then the
scribe displays his learning by introducing synonyms or equivalent
ideographic combinations, many of which had probably never been
used in any real text at all. The mythological lists, which contain a
medley of divine names and epithets drawn from sources of all kinds
and ages, partly Accado-Sumerian, partly Assyrian, partly purely
. ideographic, partly even Elamite or Kossaean, afford a good example of
the difficulty and danger of trusting implicitly to such guides. It is
from this cause that Assyrian has been mistaken for Aceadian, Acea
dian for Assyrian ; while ideographs have been read phonetically, and
phonetic characters as if they were ideographs. We must never forget
that the object of the commentators was not to provide a bilingual
vocabulary ; the distinction between Aceadian and Assyrian was one
which they hardly understood. Their task was to explain everything
that seemed obscure to the current language of their own time, and
consequently obsolete or unusual Semitic words and forms, as well as
rare modes of writing otherwise well-known words, stood for them on
precisely the same footing as the words of the old dialects of Sumer
and Accad. The lists of Semitic synonyms must be studied with equal
caution. The Assyrian scribe had not the same fine discrimination as
the modern lexicographer ; it was sufficient for him to group words
together which had the same general sense or could be employed in
parallel phrases. Moreover, in these lists he had an excellent oppor
tunity of displaying the extent of his erudition, and it is therefore by
no means always certain that all the words included in them were
ever used either in literature or in the language of daily life.
Another fact must be remembered which seriously detracts from the
value of the " bilingual lists." Where an Accado-Sumerian word is
translated by an Assyrian one, the latter has generally been taken by
the commentator from what may be termed the authorised translation
of the non-Semitic texts. But the Babylonian translator had not the
same ideas in regard to translation as a modern scholar. At times,
indeed, he was slavishly literal — so literal, in fact, as to contravene the
common idiom of Semitic speech ; but more usuaUy his rendering was
a paraphrase rather than a translation. It was sufficient for him if he

428

APPENDIX I.

gave the general sense of the original, or what appeared to him the
general sense ; since the notes attached to the bilingual texts given in
this volume will show that the translators were not always thoroughly
weU acquainted with the language they undertook to explain. Hence
it is that different Accado-Sumerian words are rendered by the same
Semitic equivalent, that Accado-Sumerian verbs are apt to be repre
sented by the same monotonous ideas of " giving" or " placing," and
Accado-Sumerian adjectives by the same conceptions of " strong" or
" great." Conversely, the same Accado-Sumerian word is made a
synonym of different Semitic ones. The result is, that the labours of
the Leipzig school have made us acquainted with a prodigious number
of Assyrian words aU signifying " to go," or " to bind," or " to give,"
or " to be strong." This is weU enough for a beginning, but we
naturally wish to know what kind of " going," or " binding," or
" giving," is denoted in a particular case.
All this goes to show how needful it is to criticise the native voca
bularies, and more especiaUy to control them by the evidence of
connected texts, if we would employ them with success. But there is
yet a further and important reason for criticism and control. These
native vocabularies are not infallible. Not only must we admit mis
takes on the part of the original translator and the original com
mentator ; we must admit them also on the part of the later copyists.
The Leipzig school has done valuable work by insisting on the necessity
of having exact facsimiles of the tablets which have come down to us ;
but when these facsimiles are made, there is a further necessity for
vigorously applying to them the canons of textual criticism. The time
is past when we can accept a reading simply because it is found on
one of the tablets of Assur-bani-pal's library.
The Semitic character of Assyrian has been recognised from the first;
the linguistic relationship of Accado-Sumerian has been a more dis
puted matter. Dr. Oppert long ago pointed out its agglutinative nature,
and endeavoured to connect it with the Turanian or Ural-Altaic family
of speech. I foUowed in the same path in 1870, and have ever since
felt convinced, for reasons which I need not here specify, that it would
eventually prove to be an early representative of the Ural-Altaic lan
guages, though separated from the existing members of the family by
a wide interval of time and space. Lenormant's attempts, however, to
demonstrate its affinity with the languages of the Uralic branch were
not very successful, and the adverse judgment of Dr. Donner seems to
have definitely decided the question against them. These attempts,
in fact, brilliant as they were, were nevertheless premature, and, as I

APPENDIX I. 429
said in 1877, until Accado-Sumerian phonology has been determined
in its main outlines, it is useless to continue them. Before we can
compare Sumerian with other languages, we must first ascertain approxi
mately how it was pronounced, and what changes its pronunciation
underwent in the course of eenturies.
Thanks to Prof. Haupt and Dr. Hommel, these conditions have now
been fulfilled. Our knowledge of Sumerian is still, it is true, imperfect ;
but we now know enough about it to be able to compare it with other
languages with some chance of success. No unprejudiced student of
linguistic seience can resist the conviction that Dr. Hommel's com
parison of the Sumerian grammar and vocabulary with the grammar
and vocabulary of the Turko-Tatar languages is founded on a solid
basis of fact. Some of his comparisons may indeed be disputable, but
this does not affect the net result. He has succeeded in discovering
the leading laws of phonetie change between Accado-Sumerian and the
modern Turkish dialects, and has thus fulfilled the primary conditions
of proof demanded by linguistic science. The structure, the grammar,
the phonology, the vocalic harmony and the vocabulary, all go to show
that the primitive language of Chaldsea is a remotely ancient repre
sentative of the Altaic family of speech. The unexpected resemblances
that can be pointed out between such widely-severed members of the
same family as Accado-Sumerian on the one side, and the modern
Turkish idioms on the other, are a remarkable illustration of the fixity
of human language. In this, as in his historical combinations, Dr.
Hommel's work has been at once so brilliant and so good, that I cannot
refrain from formally expressing my admiration of it. Doubtless he is
rash at times, but rashness is the privilege of the pioneer.
After what precedes, it seems hardly necessary to discuss seriously
M. Halevy's curious contention that Accado-Sumerian had no existence.
Indeed, a writer who maintains that Mugheir is not "Ur of the Chaldees,"
appears to be beyond the reach of argument. But M. Halevy is not only
,& good Semitic scholar, he has also a keen eye to the weak points in his
adversary's harness, and he has defended and re-modeUed his paradox
with a perseverance and audacity worthy of a better cause. Started
while as yet he was ignorant of Assyrian, it has been supported and
preached by him with renewed vigour since his enrolment in the band of
Assyriologists. But his arguments and theory have alike changed a
good deal during the progress of his Assyrian studies, although his
main thesis remains unaltered, that "Aceadian is not a language, but
a form of writing." His chief arguments, however, have been directed,
not towards the demonstration of his own theory, but against the

430 APPENDIX I.
assumptions and assertions of certain Assyriologists. As these assump
tions and assertions have too frequently been based on hasty general
isations and imperfectly known facts, their demoHtion has been a com.
paratively easy matter ; but it has left the chief question at issue — that
of the existence of Sumerian — wholly untouched. The early relations
between Sumerians and Semites, the period when Sumerian became
an extinct language, the pronunciation and meaning of particular
Sumerian words— these are all subsidiary questions, the answers to
which may be right or wrong without affecting the main point in dis
pute. The views attacked by M. Halevy are for the most part views
which I, at least, have never shared ; for years I have maintained that
many of the Aceadian texts we possess were written by Semites, and
that the language of them is comparable to monkish or even " dog"
Latin ;J while M. Halevy will bear me witness that I have myself long
ago called his attention to Semitisms in the Accado-Sumerian portion
of the bilingual inscriptions. To argue from the presence of these
Semitisms that the rest of the texts must be in a strangely deformed
kind of Semitic, is an argumentum per saltum which, whatever force it
may have against the views of other Assyriologists, has certainly never
had any force against mine.
Apart from arguments which merely criticise the peculiar historical
theories or misreadings of certain writers, I find M. Halevy advancing
two only of any apparent weight against the beHef that Sumerian was
a real language. One of these is, that it is expressed by the same cha
racters as Semitic Babylonian. The statement is not quite exact ; but
granting that it is, we have only to glance at the numerous languages
which make use of the Latin alphabet to discover its weakness. Even
within the cuneiform system of writing itself, the Alarodian language
of Van is written in the characters of the syllabary of Nineveh. M.
Halevy's second argument is more specious, but unfortunately it is not
correct. He asserts that the syntax and idioms of the Sumerian sen
tence are the same as those of the Assyrian sentence. But it is not
necessary to translate many of the bilingual hymns before discovering
that the Semitic rendering not unfrequently differs a good deal from
the Sumerian original ; and that even in such small matters of idiom as
the order of two paraUel words, the Semitic scribe has not cared to
disturb the famiHar Semitic expression by a literal translation of the
Sumerian text. Thus where the Sumerian has "female and male,"
" day and night," " fire and stones," the Semitic version ostentatiously
1 See, for example, my Babylonian Literature, p. 71.

APPENDIX I. 431
gives "male and female," "night and day," "stones and fire." It is
the same disregard of exact rendering which causes different Sumerian
words to be represented by the same Semitic one, or the same Semitic
word by different Sumerian ones. Nothing, however, can better iUus-
trate the diversity of the syntax of the two languages than the incorpo
ration of the pronouns and the extensive employment of postpositions
which meet us in almost every line of a Sumerian text ; while the
agreement of Assyro-Babylonian and Sumerian in regard to the position
of the verb is, as we have seen, one of those contraventions of Semitic
structure which indicate the disturbing influence of a foreign idiom on
the Semitic language of Babylonia and Assyria.
M. Halevy's own explanation of the phenomena which, in the
opinion of other Assyriologists, prove the existence of the Sumerian
language, belongs rather to the age of the Kabbalists than to that of
linguistic science. It ignores. aU that we now know of the condition
of men in an early stage of culture, as weU as of the development of a
system of writing. It is neither more nor less than the supposition
that the inventors of the Atbash and Kabbala presided over the
beginnings of cuneiform writing. It revives the old theory of a secret
writing invented by a primitive priesthood, and understood only by
the initiated few. Such a theory is inconsistent with the doctrine of
evolution ; it inverts the history of writing, and ascribes what is neces
sarily a very late phenomenon to the first beginnings of a written
literature. Men who are laboriously developing a system of writing
out of pictorial hieroglyphs, are not the inventors of cipher and
•" Atbash," or the elaborators of a secret script. A system of writing
must have become old and widely used before the idea can arise of
evolving out of it a mysterious script whose meaning shall be known
only to a few. To refer such a script to a primitive age of culture is
to misconceive utterly the conditions of human progress. The student
of anthropology can only wonder that a theory of the kind can have
been seriously promulgated in this age of scientific knowledge.
M. Halevy does indeed support his hypothesis by appealing to the
fact that ideographs are of frequent occurrence in the Semitic inscrip
tions of Assyria and Babylonia, and that one of the chief difficulties
presented by Assyrian proper names arises from their being expressed
ideographically. But the fact shows just the contrary of what he
would have it prove. No one doubts that the ideographs occurring in
a Semitic cuneiform text represent Semitic words, and not a system of
secret or "hieratic" writing; why, then, should they be supposed to
represent a system of secret writing when found in texts which do not

432 APPENDIX I.
contain a single phonetically-written Semitic word ? If M. Halevy's
"hieratic" script had ever existed, we should meet with it in inscrip
tions of whose Semitic character there is no question. But the best
disproof of such a " hieratic" system is the nature of so many of the
documents which, according to the Assyriologists, are composed in the
Sumerian language. A " hieratic" script would have been used for
magical texts and charms, conceivably also for religious literature, but
certainly not for historical annals or the legal documents of private
individuals. Yet we find historical texts like those of Khammuragas
written in this hypothetical secret writing, and — still more wonderful
to relate — with a translation in ordinary Semitic Babylonian at the
side ; while there are numberless deeds relating to the sale of slaves,
the loan of money or the purchase of property, composed in the same
mysterious script and without any Semitic version attached to them.
To believe that such documents are drawn up in a hieratic system of
writing requires the robust faith of a mediaeval rabbi.
Apart, however, from a certain love of paradox which M. Halevy
seems unable to resist, it is probable that this curious theory of a
KabbaHstic script as old as the oldest known inscriptions of Chaldaea
would never have been started, but for the premature theories, and
still more the erroneous readings, enounced by Assyriologists on the
subject of Sumerian. The correct reading of Sumerian words is a
matter of extreme difficulty, and a considerable number of the readings,
given in earlier works on the language, and not unfrequently quoted
at second-hand by philological paradoxers in support of their peculiar
theories, were mere makeshifts, which had no pretensions to accuracy.
What increases the difficulty is that the Semitic scribes, through whom
we have to obtain our knowledge of the ancient language of Chaldsea,
were often as ignorant as ourselves, and either read phonetically what
was really written ideographically, or else substituted a Semitic for
the genuine Accado-Sumerian word. It is only gradually that we are
acquiring a better knowledge of the Accado-Sumerian vocabulary, and
are becoming able to control the statements made by the compilers of
the " bilingual lists." Sumerian, it must be remembered, started with
pictorial hieroglyphs ; it was only by degrees that these came to be
used phonetically ; and long before the system of writing had attained
completeness, it was adopted and further developed by a Semitic
population. The cuneiform script is therefore Hke a palimpsest where
the original Sumerian text has been overlaid by a Semitic one ; and in
order to reach this text, the decipherer must first work his way through
what overlays and conceals it. If we would read it rightly, we must

APPENDIX I. 433
divest our minds of the prejudices derived from the study of its later
Semitic phase, and endeavour to interpret it by the analogy of similar
ideographic systems of writing, like the old Egyptian or the Chinese.
It is only in this way that we shaU come to- understand the principles
that have guided its growth. We shall then discover, for instance,
that determinatives have played a much more important part in its
constitution than the Assyriologists, or indeed the Semitic scribes
themselves, have supposed. The determinatives retained by the
Semitic syUabary are but a remnant of those that enter into the com
position of the old Sumerian ideographs. The ideograph of " water,"
for example, is not only a determinative in the compound character
which signifies " to drink" (nak), but also in the word which denotes
a "storm" or "deluge" (mdtu). Of equal importance with the recog
nition of this extended use of determinatives, is the recognition of a
principle which prevails widely in aU pictorial systems of writing.
When phonetic values are beginning to attach themselves to the
primitive ideographs, an attempt is made to assist the memory in
remembering the pronunciation and meaning of a particular word, by
writing it in ideographs which denote words whose sound and signifi
cation alike recaU the word intended to be expressed. Thus " a fetter"
was called saggid or sagida in Sumerian ; but it was represented by the
two characters, su, " a hand," and gid, " to extend," sugid being suffi
ciently near saggid in pronunciation, while the idea of "a fetter" was
caUed up by that of " extending the hand."1 At other times the
meaning and pronunciation of an ideograph were defined by coupling it
with another, which either gave its pronunciation — in which case the
ideograph became a simple determinative, as in A-pur, " water" — or else
indicated the precise shade of meaning with which it was used. An
iUustration of the latter mode of combining characters may be taken from
the Semitic texts composed in the court of Sargon at an epoch when the
cuneiform system of writing was still in process of formation. Here, for
example, we find the ideograph of hand — idu in Semitic — further defined
by the attachment to it of the character which had the phonetic value
of gap, and accordingly reminded the reader of kap, " a hand." It is
from a neglect of these and similar devices common to all pictorial
forms of script, that the Sumerian vocabulary has been filled by Assy
riologists with monstrous or hybrid forms. It is only of late that
Assyrian students have begun to realise that the characters of an ideo
graphic system of writing are seldom to be read phonetically. When
1 W.A.I. v. 29, 71., 41, 47.
2f

434 APPENDIX I.
a word is expressed by a combination of characters, its pronunciation
can only be recovered either by a gloss or by a comparison of the
various modes in which it is written. The error of the Semitic scribes,
who read ki-gal as kigal instead of dur, has been too often repeated in
these latter days.
It cannot be supposed that the criticisms of a scholar so erudite and
keen-sighted as M. Halevy should remain wholly barren. In fact, they
have helped to further the progress of science, though not exactly in
the direction he desired or intended. His earner objections led to
Prof. Schrader's discovery that the characters of the cuneiform script
had all been catalogued and named in the Accado-Sumerian period,
and that many of the values assigned to them in the third column of
the so-caUed syUabaries are merely Semitised forms of these names.
He has himself done much towards forcing his brother Assyriologists
to recognise, not only that a goodly number of the Aceadian texts
belong to the Semitic period and were composed or re-modelled by
Semitic scribes, but also that from the first what he has termed the
rebus played an important part in the formation of compound ideo
graphs and ideographic expressions. The rebus was always a favourite
plaything in the hands of Semitic litterateurs, though it attained its
greatest proportions in the later ages of cuneiform writing, when the
ideograph of " crown" was used to denote izzu, " strong," because one
of its values was gir, which also signified " power," and the name of
Darius was written Dari-musu, in order to assimilate it to the Assyrian
daru and musu, " everlasting" of " name." But the theory itself
which M. Halevy's " rebus" has been called upon to support, will share
the fate of similar curiosities of philological Hterature, and be classed
with Sir William Jones's denial of the existence of Zend, and Dugald
Stewart's demonstration that Sanskrit was an invention of the Brah-
mans, palmed off upon the unsuspecting mind of the modern European.
M. Halevy, however, is not alone in denying to the Sumerians the
credit of originating the culture which most Assyriologists ascribe to
them. I cannot pronounce an opinion on Prof. De Lacouperie's theory
that the ancestors of the Chinese were once in contact, probably in
Elam, with the inventors of the cuneiform system of writing, since I
am not a Sinologist ; though I find it difficult to believe that " the
Bak tribes" could have carried not only the forms of the Sumerian
ideographs, but also their pronunciation with so Httle alteration as Prof.
De Lacouperie maintains, across nearly the whole length of barbarous
Asia. But there are other writers who would substitute for the Sume
rians of the inscriptions the shadowy race of Cushites ; and since in

APPENDIX I. 435
recent years the Cushite theory has been revived and defended by so
great an authority as Lepsius, it is necessary for me to state in a few
words why I feel myself compeUed to reject it. That Babylonian tra
dition brought the early civilisation of the country from the waters of
the Persian Gulf is perfectly true, and we have seen that the evidence
of the monuments tends to corroborate it. It is also perfectly true
that there seems to have been intercourse, if not between Chaldsea and
Egypt, at all events between Chaldsea and the Sinaitic Peninsula, as
far back as the days of the Fourth Egyptian Dynasty, and there is no
reason why this intercourse should not have brought with it certain
elements of Egyptian art and civilisation. But the cuneiform system
of writing was already developed, and the culture of Tel-loh had already
entered upon its later stage. There is nothing that would lead us to
believe that the beginnings of this writing and culture came to Eridu
from abroad.
If Lepsius were right, the primitive hieroglyphs out of which the
cuneiform characters were evolved would offer resemblances to the hiero
glyphs of Egypt. But this is not the case. With the exception of such
obvious symbols as a circle to denote the sun, which occur in every
pictorial system of writing, the ideographs of Chaldsea and Egypt have
nothing in common. Even the idea of divinity is represented differentlv
in them. In Chaldsea it is expressed by an eight-rayed star ; in Egypt,
by a stone-headed axe. The existence of the famous " Cushite race," in
fact, depends on a misinterpretation of a verse of the Old Testament,
eked out by the loose terminology of Greek writers who spoke of " Ethio
pians" in the east as well as in the west. The basis of the whole
Cushite theory are the words of Gen. x. 8, "And Cush begat Nimrod."
Critics, however, have long since agreed that the passage about Nimrod
is a later insertion in the ethnographical table of Genesis, and the pre
ceding verses show that in the original text Cush is understood in the
same geographical sense as elsewhere in the Old Testament. Properly
speaking, Cush denoted Ethiopia or Nubia, and was a name borrowed
from the Egyptians, who called that part of the world Kesh ; but since
the southern coasts of Arabia were peopled by colonies from Ethiopia,
it was further extended to them. The regions adjacent to Cush, Phut
or Punt on the Somali coast, Egypt, and even Canaan, with its Philistine
emigrants from the Delta, were described as the children of Cush, just
as the Libyans or Lehabim were described as the children of Egypt.
There is nothing to show that between the geographical Cush of Gen.
x. 6, 7, and Cush the father of Nimrod, there is anything more than a
similarity of name; for aught we know, the latter may be the Sumerian
2f2

436

APPENDIX I.

god of darkness and eclipse, Kus or Kusi. In Gen ii. 13, it is true, a
land of Cush is brought into connection with Assyria and Babylonia;1
but the text here is probably corrupt. Instead of Cush, the original
reading was probably Cash, that is Kassi or Kossseans, the vowel w
having slipped into the k'thibh from the q'ri. It is possible that the
father of Nimrod was also Cash rather than Cush, in which case Nimrod
would be a representative of the Kossseans. However this may be, Cush
is never found elsewhere in the Bible with any other meaning than that
of Nubia or southern Arabia, while the Kusu of the Assyrian inscriptions
means Nubia alone. The hypothesis started by Mr. Pinches2 that the
Chaldseans came out of Kappadokia because a Kappadokian district is
called Kusu on an Assyrian tablet, reminds us of the ethnographical.
speculations of a former age, which identified the Cymry with the
Cimbri, and derived them both from Gomer.
For the Cushites, Mr. Bertin would, like M. Halevy, substitute the
Semites ; only, unlike M. Halevy, he believes that the Semites, after
inventing the cuneiform system of writing, handed it over to the Sume-,
rians. But this is to invert the real order of events. The arguments
brought forward by Mr. Bertin in support of his thesis tell a contrary
tale ; the primitive ideographs and their primitive phonetic values are
Sumerian and not Semitic. When Mr. Bertin can show that the
Semitic ris was used by the Sumerians as a phonetic value of the
ideograph for " head," while the value of Sag was not known to the
early Semitic texts, it will be time to listen to his theory. Meanwhile
we may rest content with the old doctrines, however commonplace
they may be, engaged in the less ambitious task of strengthening and
testing their foundations, and working out the problems which they
still present.
1 The Asshur of verse 14, however, ia not Assyria, but the city of Assur.
Gihon, which watered Cush, seems to be a Hebraised form of Gikhinnu, " a
snare," borrowed from the Sumerian gi-khan (W. A. I. iv. 22, 31). Gi-lehan
is usually written sA-khan, with the determinative of " a cord," and sA-Jchan
(pronounced gikhan) is said, in W. A. I. ii. 35, 6, to be a name of the
Euphrates. We must not forget that the first syllable of the classical
" Kosssean" gives us the vowel o instead of a. Gikhinnu will have been
assimilated to the Hebrew word Gikhdn.
2 Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archceology, Dec. 6th, 1881.

n.
ME. G. SMITH'S ACCOUNT OF THE TEMPLE OF BEL *

" I have discovered a Babylonian text, giving a remarkable account
of the Temple of Belus at Babylon ; and as my approaching departure
for Nineveh does not allow me time to make a fuU translation of the
document, I have prepared a short account for your readers, giving the
principal points in the arrangement and dimensions of the buildings.
Additional interest attaches to this inscription from the fact that it
is the first time any detailed description of a temple has been found
in the cuneiform texts ; it thus supplies the first information as to the
dimensions of the great temples, and it is fortunate that the one
described was the most famous in the valley of the Euphrates.
The importance of this temple is well known ; it was the grandest
religious edifice in the country, the centre of the national worship, and
one of the wonders of the capital, Babylon.
This temple was founded centuries before Babylon became the chief
city in the state, and retained its fame even down to Eoman times.
Herodotus and Strabo have given us accounts of the Temple of Belus,
the former representing the principal building as one stade in length
and breadth, and as consisting of eight stages or towers one above
another, forming a pyramid, the highest stage being the sanctuary.
Strabo states that this building was a stade in height, a stade being
supposed to equal about 600 EngHsh feet.
The height given by Strabo for the tower of the Temple of Belus
has already been considered very questionable (see Eawlinson's ' An
cient Monarchies,' vol. ii. p. SI 5), and, now that we have the dimen
sions of the building, must be rejected.
First, I must remark on the Babylonian measures used, that they
are principaUy the cubit, equal to about 1 foot 8 inches EngHsh ; and
the gar or sa, equal to 12 cubits, or 20 feet English; but there is
another series of numbers used in measuring, consisting apparently of
* Athenseum, Feb. 12th, 1876.

438

APPENDIX II.

numbers of barleycorns arranged in sixties ; thus the first number is a
length of 11-33-20, which consists of 11 x 3600 + 33 x 60 + 20 barley
corns, in all 41,600 barleycorns, or 1155 feet, 7 inches. The barleycorn
was the standard unit of measure among the Babylonians, and for this
reason was used sometimes in measures of length without the other
terms. First in the tablet we have the measures of the outer court, called
the 'Grand Court,' which is given as 11-33-20 in length (that is,
about 1156 feet) and 9- in breadth (that is, 900 feet). There is a
calculation as to the area of this court, which I pass over, and come
to the next court, called the ' Court of Ishtar and Zamama.' This
space is reckoned as 10-33-20 in length (1056 feet) and 4-30 (450 feet)
in breadth. There is again here a calculation of area, which I omit.
Bound the court were six gates admitting to the temples. There
were, 1, the grand gate ; 2, the gate of the rising sun (east) ; 3, the
great gate ; 4, the gate of the colossi ; 5, the gate of the canal ; and
6, the gate of the tower-view.
The next division is the space or platform apparently walled, and
called a ki-galli, sur, or bind. It is uncertain if this was paved, and
its extent is also uncertain. It is stated as a square, three ku in length
and three ku in breadth, but the value of the ku is uncertain. The
four walls faced the cardinal points, in this agreeing with the other
parts, all the buildings having their sides west, north and south.
There were four gates, one in the centre of each side of this division :
1, the gate of the rising sun (east) ; 2, the southern gate ; 3, the gate
of the setting sun (west) ; 4, the northern gate.
Inside stood some building or enclosure, the name of which is
damaged. It was 10 gar long and 10 gar broad (200 feet by 200),
connected with the great Ziggurat or tower, which was the inner and
crowning edifice of the group. Bound the base of the Ziggurat or
tower were ranged the chapels or temples of the principal gods, on its
four sides, and facing the cardinal points.
On the eastern side stood a sanctuary or temple, 70 or 80 cubits
long and 40 cubits broad (117 or 133 feet by 67 feet), with sixteen
shrines, the principal being the shrines devoted to the god Nebo and
Tasmit his wife. Nebo was considered the eldest son of Bel, the great
deity of the temple.
On the northern side stood two temples, one devoted to the god Ea,
the other to Nusku. The temple of Ea was 85 cubits long and 30
broad (142 feet by 50 feet), and that of Nusku was a square, 35 cubits
each way (58 feet by 58 feet).

THE TEMPLE OF BEL. 439
On the southern side stood a single temple dedicated to the two great
gods, Anu and Bel. This was 70 cubits long and 30 cubits broad
(117 feet by 50 feet).
On the western side were the principal buildings, consisting of a
double house, with a court between the two wings. On the one side
the wing was 100 cubits long and 20 cubits broad (166 feet by 34 feet).
On the other side the wing was 100 cubits long and 65 cubits broad
(166 feet by 108 feet), and the space between them was 35 cubits wide
(58 feet). The building at the back was 125 cubits long and 30 cubits
broad (208 feet by 50 feet). I do not properly comprehend the dis
position of the buildings on this side, and my description of the position
of the western temples must be taken as conjectural. In these western
chambers stood the couch of the god, and the throne of gold mentioned
by Herodotus, besides other furniture of great value. The couch is
stated to have been 9 cubits long and 4 cubits broad (15 feet by 6 feet,
8 inches). In the centre of these groups of buildings stood the grandest portion
of the whole pile, the great Ziggurat, or temple-tower, built in stages,
its sides facing the cardinal points.
The bottom or first stage was a square in plan, 15 gar in length
and breadth, and 5£ gar in height (300 feet square, 110 feet high). This
stage appears to have been indented or ornamented with buttresses.
The next or second stage of the tower was also square, being 13 gar
in length and breadth, and 3 gar in height (260 feet square, 60 feet
high). The epithet applied to this stage is obscure ; it had probably
sloping sides.
The third stage differs widely from the lower ones, and commences
a regular progressive series of stages, aU of equal height. It was 10 gar
in length and breadth, and 1 gar in height (200 feet square, 20 feet
high). The fourth stage was 8J gar in length and breadth, and 1 gar in
height (170 feet square, 20 feet high).
The fifth stage was 7 gar in length and breadth, and 1 gar in height
(140 feet square, 20 feet high). Probably by accident, the dimensions
of the sixth stage of the tower are omitted in the inscription, but they
can be easily restored in accordance with the others. This stage must
have been 5£ gar in length and breadth, and 1 gar in height (110 feet
square, 20 feet high).
On this was raised the seventh stage, which was the upper temple or
sanctuary of the god Bel. This building had a length of 4 gar, a

440

APPENDIX II.

breadth of 3| gar, and a height of 2| gar (80 feet long, 70 feet broad,
and 50 feet high).
Thus the whole height of this tower above its foundation was 15 gar,
or 300 feet, exactly equal to the breadth of the base ; and as the foun
dation was most probably raised above the level of the ground, it would
give a height of over 300 feet above the plain for this grandest of Baby
lonian temples.
The only ruin now existing at or near Babylon which can be supposed
to represent the temple of Belus is the mound and enclosure of Babil,
the ruins corresponding fairly with the account of these structures in
the Greek authors and in the inscription. The sides of the building
face the cardinal points, like those in the inscription ; the remains of
the two sides of the enclosure now existing indicate a circumference
about equal to the Greek measurement, and slightly in excess of that
in the inscription ; but it must be remembered that the exact length
of the Babylonian measures is not known, and there are different
opinions even as to the length of the Greek stade, while the present
remains of the wall require careful measurement to determine more
exactly their length and the dimensions they indicate. On the other
side of the Euphrates stands a ruin, Birs Nimroud, also consisting of
an enclosure, various temples, and a temple-tower ; but this represents
the site of the temple of Nebo at Borsippa, and its angles, instead of
its sides, face the cardinal points, while not a single one of its known
dimensions agrees with the corresponding point in the inscription.
The mound of Babil, which is already identified by the best authorities
with the temple of Belus, consists now of the lower stage of the tower
and the ruins of the buildings round it."

III.
THE MAGICAL TEXTS.

I. (Haupt, Akkadische und Sumerische Keilschrifttexte, ii. pp. 82 sq. ;
W.A.I. n. 17, 18. Sumerian with Semitic translation in parallel
columns. Also Sumerian text only in E 612.)
Col i. 1. Incantation (siptu). The evil (hostile) god, the evil demon
(utuk),
2. the demon of the field, the demon of the mountain,
3. the demon of the sea, the demon of the tomb,
4. the evil spirit (sedu, Heb. shed), the dazzling fiend (alu, Sum.
galla),
5. the evil wind, the assaulting wind,
6. which strips off the clothing of the body as an evil demon,
7. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !

8. The (possessing) demon which seizes a man, the demon (ekimmu)
which seizes a man,
9. the (seizing) demon which works mischief, the evil demon,
10. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !

11. The sacred prostitute whose heart is sick, the sacred prostitute
of the oracle (T),
12. the sacred prostitute of heaven (Ass. Anu) who rests not,
13. the embryo of the beginning of an incomplete month,
14. the unburied in the earth,
15. who turns not the breast, who lets not the hand fall,
16. the hostile one who smites the head of the mountain,
17. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !

18. That which is misformed, that which is unlucky (Ass. unesta^
blished),
19. that which is racked, even a diseased muscle,

442

APPENDIX III.

20. a constricted muscle,1 a swoUen muscle, an aching (lit. shrieking)
muscle, a painful muscle,
21. a broken muscle, an evil muscle,
22. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !

23. Sickness of the entrails, a sick heart, faintness of the heart,
24. sickness, disease of the bile, headache, an evil vomit,
25. a broken blood-vessel (?),
26. disease of the kidneys, difficult miction,
27. painful sickness which cannot be removed,
28. a dream of ill omen,
29. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !
30. Him who is the possessor of the images of a man,
31. the evil face, the evil eye,
32. the evil mouth, the evil tongue,
33. the evil Up, the evil breath,2
34. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !
35. The nurse,
36. the nurse whose breast is sweet,
37. the nurse whose breast is bitter,
38. the nurse whose breast is wounded,
39. the nurse who has died through a wound of the breast,
40. the pregnant woman whose womb3 is opened,
41. the pregnant woman whose womb is struck,
42. the pregnant woman whose womb is loosed,
43. the pregnant woman whose womb is unprosperous,
44. conjure, O spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !

45. The painful fever, the potent fever,
46. the fever which quits not a man,
47. the fever-demon who departs not,
48. the fever unremovable,* the evil fever,
49. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !
1 Maskadu, see W. A. I. v. 21, 8 ; ii. 28, 14 ; iv. 16, 11, and Deluge Tablet,
iv. 5.
2 Ivtu, Heb. khavvdh, not " poison."
3 Kirimma, cf. the Atarpi-legend (iii. 49) : lipalkit Mrim-sa, sammu yd
yutsd-su akalu yd ihru, " may its (the field's) womb rebel, may food not come
forth from it, may bread not be produced."
4 "UnassaUing" in the Assyrian translation.

THE MAGICAL TEXTS. 443
50. The painful plague, the potent plague,
51. the plague which quits not a man,
52. the plague-demon who departs not,
53. the plague unremovable, the evil plague,
54. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !

55. The disease, of the appearance which indicates disease,
56. the disease of the shadow1 (of a man),
57. the disease which departs not, the disease of the form,
58. the disease unremovable, the evil disease,
59. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !

60. The spittle and breath which are foully formed in the mouth,2
61. the expectoration3 of the spittle which is foully enclosed (in the
mouth) \_sallis\
62. the shaving of the privy parts, the shaving of the body,
63. the cutting of the nails, circumcision,4 a rag,5
64. an old ring, a broken chain,6
65. the sipped (water) which is returned from the body,
66. the food which is excreted from the body of a man,
67. the food which is returned in eating,
68. the water which in drinking is spued out,
69. the baleful breath which hides not the dust,
70. even the wind of the desert that departs not,
71. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !

72. The cincture which is buried (etsrit) in the ground,
73. the cloth which is severed from a man's body,
Col. u. 1. tbe curse upon the head (which) strikes (?) the earth,
2. which among the ignorant leads the hand of the man astray,
1 Katsdti.
2 The Asayrian translatea, " the product of the mouth and evil breath."
" Spittle" is arsasu in Assyrian; comp. the Heb. rasds.
3 Naruqu, Heb. rule.
4 Arlu, Heb. 'aril, where the word has the reverse sense to that which
the Aceadian text shows it to have had in Assyrian. The corresponding
ideographs mean "the shaping of the phallus." That circumcision was
practised in early Chaldsea is indicated by the primitive form of the charac
ter which denoted a phallus (Amiaud and Mechineau : " Tableau compare
des Ecritures Babylonienne et Assyrienne," No. 74).
6 Malu, Heb. mcWchim, Jer. xxxviii. 11, 12.
8 Comp. W. A. I. v. 47, 13, laqd sa isiri ina ur ipti, " the link of the chain
from the penis he unloosed," and the Latin infibulare.

444

APPENDIX III.

3. the baleful thirst (which ....),
4. the fear1 of the coming of death (which ....),
5. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !

6. Him who is placed in the ground (or laid in) the field,
7. with his phaUus (purrud) uncut,
8. (in) a grave concealed or unconcealed,
9. the vampire who lies in wait continuaUy,
10. the destroying one who is unconcealed,
11. whose head is unconcealed (in) the dust,
12. the son of the king who is buried in the desert or in the palace,
13. the mighty one who has been slain by a weapon,
14. conjure, O spirit of heaven ! conjure, O spirit of earth !

15. That I may eat during the day,
16. that I may drink during the day,
17. that I may sleep during the day,
18. that I may satisfy myself during the day,
19. deliver
20. 0 spirit of heaven, (and) conjure, conjure, O spirit of earth I

21. Him who dies from hunger and watching,
22. him who dies from thirst and watching,
23. the feaster who in his feasting
24. his crumbs has not collected,
25. him whom the flood of a river
26. has destroyed so that his name perishes,
27. him who dies in the desert or in the marsh,
28. him who the Air-god has drowned in the field,
29. the handmaid of a lilu over whom death has no power,
30. the lilu himself who has no wife,
31. him whose name is remembered,
32. him whose name is not remembered,
33, 34. him who rises not from satisfying his hunger,
35. the noxious breast (of a nurse) at the beginning of an incomplete
month,
3'6. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !

37. May the divine attendant of Pap-sukal,
38. the creator of the life of the man,

1 Oilittam; so in 79. 7-8. 158, Rev. 8, atta naplisa gilittam, " do thou look
on (our) fear."

THE MAGICAL TEXTS. 445
39. stand in the presence of the Sun-god,
40. May the divine spirit (sedu) and the divine colossos (lamaddu),
the givers of blessings,
41. alight upon his head.
42, 43. Over his life never may they cease (to watch).
44. Conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth

45. The pure figure of gossamer (I)1
46. which is placed in the hand of the god of pure eating,
47. that he may rest his eyes upon it,
48. bind it to his right hand :
49. the ring of reverential fear, a pure stone,
50. which has been brought from his country,
51. for the satisfaction (rikani)'2 of his eyes,
52. set on the little finger of his right hand :
53. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth \

54. The white cloth, the cloth which is folded double,3
55, 56. bind both to the side and to the frame4 of his couch;
57. the black cloth, the cloth which is folded double,
58. bind upon his left hand.
59. The evil demon, the evil fiend (alu), the evil demon (ekimmu),
60. the evil gallu, the evil god, the evil incubus,
61. the female colossus,s the spectre,6 the vampire,7
62. the lilu, the lilat, the handmaid of the lilu,
1 Kammeda, cf. " cloth of kammeda" W. A. I. iv. 25, 6. The combination
of kamme with dim in the ideographic representation 'of dimme, "ghoat" or
" female colossus," seems to show that kammeda must mean " cloud-Hke" or
" unsubstantial." 2 Rikani (as in line 47, amur rikani) is akin to rikdtu, by which bar,
"bright," is rendered (W.A.I, ii. 30, 35).
3 The Assyrian damu, "a fold," is borrowed from the Aceadian tabba.
The Aceadian sur(ra) is rendered by damA and kapalu, " to fold," in W. A. I.
iii. 70, 159. It is here represented by izkhad (as in W.A.I, v. 19, 29), which
Zimmern reads itspa from etsepu. For damu=kilallan, " double," see W. A. I.
v. 15, 44.
4 In the Aceadian, " head" (sabba).
B Lamastu, Ace. dimme, " creative spirit."
6 Labatsu, Ace. dimmea ("that which comes of the dimme"), is probably
the same as dimma, rendered by ulalu, W. A. I. ii. 28, 66, with which ululu,
" a spirit," is connected. Cf. dim rendered by makutu, " feebleness," W. A. I.
ii. 2, 332.
7 Ikhlcham, literally "the seizer;" Ace. dimme-gur.

446 APPENDIX III.
63. the sorcery,1 the breathing,2 the breaking of wind,
64. the sickness, the sickly constitution,
65, 66. their head against his head,
67, 68. their hand against his hand,
69. their foot against his foot,
70. never may they set,
71. never may they turn !3
72. Conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !

Col. iii. 1. The god Asari-eHm-nuna (Merodach, " the mighty royal
steer"),
2. the first-born son of Ea (" the lord of the earth"),
3. glittering water, pure water,
4. holy water, resplendent water,
5, 6. the water twice seven times may he bring,
7, 8. may he make pure, may he make resplendent.
9. May the evil incubus depart ;
10. to another place may he betake himself;
11. may the propitious spirit (sedu) (and) the propitious colossus
12. rest upon his body.
13. Conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !
14. Bind this man with wisps of straw ;
15. with wisps of straw which the wind has dried ;
16, 17. bind the gate of the court on the right hand and on the left :
18, 19. unriddle the curse and all that is baleful :
20. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !

21. Into the house never may they enter ;4
22. into the house of the living (?) never may they enter;
23. into the house of another's ringed fence never may they enter ;
24. into the hollow of a yoke never may they enter ;
1 Kispu, in the Ace. "evil breath."
2 In the Ace. " breath of knowledge."
3 AVe learn from a fragment (S 1140) what were the different parts of the
body upon which the several kinds of evil spirit were supposed to act : " The
evil ekimvmu attacks his breast ; the esvUgalbi attacks his hand ; the evil god
attacks his foot ; those seven have seized (the man) together (istenis) ; his
body in another place like consuming fire they (burn)." In S 1366. 2, 10,
the gallu is the Semitic translation of the Aceadian (north Babylonian)
libirri and libirra.
4 In the Aasyrian rendering, " never may he enter."

THE MAGICAL TEXTS. 447
25. into the hollow of the tomb never may they enter ;
26. into (the . . . .) of the prison (?) never may they enter ;
27. into (the . . . .) of the weU(?) never may they enter;
28. into (the . . . .) of the tomb never may they enter ;
29. into (the . . . .) of the furnace (?) never may they enter;
30. into (the . . . .) of the son of the Sun-god the glowing (naple)
never may they enter ;
31. into (the place that is un)illuminated never may they enter;
32. into the shadow never may they enter ;
33. into the darkness never may they enter ;
34. into the cup (?) never may they enter ;
35. into the cup (?) of the libation-bowl never may they enter ;
36. into the ravines never may they enter ;
37. into the ravines of the mountain never may they enter ;
38. into the vaUey never may they enter;
39. into the vaults of the house never may they enter ;
40. into the vaults of the tomb never may they enter ;
41. into the body1 of a man who goes out never may they enter ;
42. into the body of a sick man never may they enter ;
43. into the shadow of a man's step never may they enter ;
44. with his goddess2 never may they enter ;
45. after his goddess never may they enter ;
46. into the gate of the house never may they enter ;
47. into the doorposts of the house never may they enter ;
48. into the door of the house never may they enter ;
49. into the bolt of the house never may they enter ;
50. into the fastening3 of the house never may they enter;
1 The Assyrian renders, " with the traveller may he never descend."
2 Aceadian D. P. sigga-ni. 'Sigga ia the Sumerian form of which simma
was the Aceadian equivalent : in col. ii. 56, on the contrary, we had the
Aceadian sabba, " head," instead of the Sumerian sagga, showing the extent
to which this originally Sumerian text has been interpolated by the Aceadian
scribes of northern Babylonia. If gisal, " a ravine" (iii. 36), is Semitic, it
will be an example of a Semitic word foisted into the text by the scribes of
Accad. Lines 36 and 37, in fact, are mere ampHfications of the original
line 38.
3 The Aceadian sakkul has been borrowed from the Semitic sikkur, but
the change in the pronunciation shows that the borrowing waa on the part
of the people, and not of the Hterary class, and that it probably goes back
to an early period. As Hues 49 and 50, however, repeat the aame state
ment, it is probable that line 50 is an interpolation. In line 51 the Sume
rian sigar has, as usual, been confounded by the litterati of Sargon's court
with the Semitic sigaru, "a cage" or "fetter," the Aceadian form beinn-
simar (W.A.I, iv. 18, 29).

448 APPENDIX III.
51. into the lateh of the house never may they enter ;
52. into the border (tupqat) of the house never may they enter ;
53. into the side of the house never may they enter ;
54. into the upper hinge1 (of the door) never may they enter ;
55. into the lower hinge never may they enter ;
56. into the upper hole for the hinge2 never may they enter;
57. into the lower hole for the hinge never may they enter !
58. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth 1

59. 0 female colossus, the daughter of Anu,3
60. who declarest4 the name of the gods,
61. the goddess Innin(a), the heroine (itillaf)
62. among the (divine) mistresses (beleti),
63. the binder of the sickening fever,
64, 65. the glorious spirit (alitu) among mankind,
66. the female colossus supreme in might
67. against (those who dare) not face (her) ;
68. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !

69  the chosen place of the Moon-god
71, 72. Destroyed.
73. Conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth I
Col. iv. 1, 2. (Against) the evil (demons) who return,
3. may the prince, Merodach,
4. the prince, the hero of heaven and earth,
5. the first-born of Ea,
6. (reveal) an omen of life,
7. may he alight on the man's head,
8, 9. over his life may he never cease (to watch) ;
10. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !
11. May the fire-god (Kibirra) the son of the earth ....
12. (the offspring) of Ea the mighty ....
13. (the lord) of the demons (utuki) ....
14. (the minister?) of the great gods ....
15. (the companion ?) of the hero Adar ....
1 The Semitic nukusu has been borrowed, doubtless by the Hterary class,
from the Aceadian nu-kusu, " the unresting."
2 Tsirri, borrowed (by the people) from the Aceadian Kara; see W. A. I.
iv. 24. 47, 48.
3 lu the original Aceadian, "The dimme, the son of heaven."
4 " Understands," kha(sisu), in the Assyrian version.

THE MAGICAL TEXTS. 449
16. (reveal) an' omen for the life (of the man),
17. may he alight upon his head,
18, 19. over his life may he never cease (to watch) ;
20. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !

21. May Nin-akha-kudda, the mistress of spells,
22. the spell of Eridu
23. utter with pure mouth ;
24. may Bahu the great mother,
25. the generatress of mankind,
26, 27. restore the blessing of health to the body; may Gula
28. with quieting hand the consecrated water, the water which the
air has warmed,
29. send into his body ;
30. the sickness of the head, the sickness of the mouth, the sick
ness of the heart,
31. the sickness of the entrails, (the sickness of the eye,)
32, 33. the ebbing sea, the rising sea,
34. the flood, the high-tide,
35. the water of the Tigris, the water of the Euphrates,
36. the mountain of the night, the mountain of the sunrise,
37. the mountain of the centre,1
38. may they turn back their breast ;
39. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth 1

40. May Nin-ki-gal, the wife of Nin-a-zu,
41. set her face towards the place of another;
42. may the baleful demon (utuk) depart,
43. may he betake himself to another spot ;
44. may the propitious spirit (sedu) (and) the propitious colossus,
45. settle in the man's body ;
46. conjure, O spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !

47. May the god Isum, the mighty Heutenant (nagiru),2 the supreme
incubus
48. of the gods, like the god who made him3
49. rest upon his head ;
1 Idguruti, or idgurti (W.A.I. v. 26. 15, 22; ii. 46, 54; 2, 294), means
" the hollow of a cup," the Sumerian equivalent being gil, and the Aceadian
dii. Comp. adagwr, " a cup," in the story of the Deluge, iii. 47.
2 Isum was the minister of Nerra, the plague-god.
8 In the Aceadian text, "like the head-god" (dingir sa-ag-ga).
2e

450

APPENDIX III.

50, 51. over his life never may he cease (to watch) ;
52. conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !
53. May the sick man by offerings of mercy
54. (and) peace hke copper1 shine
55. brilliantly.2 To this man
56. may the Sun-god give life.
57. 0 Merodach ("the great princely steer"), first-born son of the
deep,
58. the blessing and the dazzling glory3 are thine !
59. Conjure, 0 spirit of heaven ! conjure, 0 spirit of earth !
60. (Colophon.) (The next tablet begins :) Spirit of the legions of
earth and of the legions of heaven.4
The property of Assur-bani-pal, the king of multitudes, the king of

II. The 5th tablet of the coUection of the Magical Texts (W.A.I, iv.
1,2).
Col. i. 1. "Incantation. — The storm-like-ghost,5 the tormentor6 of all
things,
1 KSmassi, a literary loan-word from the Aceadian (D. P.) kdmas.
2 In the Aceadian, susubbi lalaghgha-Ul. For susubbi, " girdle'' or "loins,"
see W. A. I. v. 15. 30, 43. Susvh is rendered by the Assyrian esipu and usap,
and susubu, "a girdle," was a literary loan-word in place of the native
Semitic dumsu. Instead of susubbi lalaghgha-Kl, the Semitic version has
limmasis, "may he be polished." Comp. esipati chili, "the harvest (?) ot
the field," K 61, 5. Comp. W. A. I. iv. 4, 42.
3 Tatag-gubbi, Assyrian mhwnu. The Semitic version reveraea the order
of theae two words.
4 The Semitic version reverses this order, giving, " spirit of (An-)sax and
Ki-sar." 8 Surwppu, from rapH, " to be weak," Heb. rlphdim. See Zimmern, Buss
psabnen, pp. 26, 27. Jensen is wrong in making it " fever." In W. A. I. iv.
15, 38, it means "weakness." The Aceadian equivalent signiftea "one who
is gone to his reat," and, aa Zimmern shows, ia probably to be read seddhe
or side (in W.A.I, iv. 15, 38, seddhe is translated kutstsu, " skmlessness").
From this the Semites would have borrowed their sidu (Heb. shid, see above,
p. 441), for which no satisfactory Semitic etymology can be found. Sidu is
also the Semitic equivalent of the Aceadian alad, or " warrior spirit," which
along with the larnma, or " divine colossus," guarded the entrance to a palace
or temple. Zimmern is doubtless right in holding that the collection of
Magical Texts was known to the Assyrian scribes under the title of surpu
in consequence of the first tablet of the series having begun with this word,
6 See next page.

THE MAGICAL TEXTS. 451
2. and the demon (utukhu) who disturbs the disturbers of Anu,
3. the plague-demon (namtaru) the beloved son of Mul-Hl,
4. the begetter1 of Nin-ki-gal (the goddess of Hades),
5. above destroy like consumption (kutstsu) and below cut down.
6. They are the creation of Hades, even they I
7. Above they roar, below they peep ;
8. the bitter breath of the gods are they.
9. The great worms2 who have been let loose from heaven are they !
10. The mighty ones (khudi, W. A. I. ii 37, 13, Strass. 3440) whose
roar is in the city ;
11. who east down the water of heaven, sons who have come forth
from the earth ! [In the Assyrian version .- who disturb the
disturbers of Anu, children of the wife of the earth are they.]
12. The lofty beam, the broad beam they encircle like a crown.
13. From house to house they make their way.
14. As for them, the door restrains them not, the bolt turns them
not back.
15. Into the door like a snake they glide,
16. into the socket like a wind they blow.
17. The woman from the loins of the man they bring forth;
18. the child from the knees of the man they cause to issue.3
19. The freeman from the house of his fecundity they call forth.
20. They are the scourging voice which they bind to the man's back.
21. The god of the man, O shepherd who lookest after the sheep-
cote, (is) towards the man
which is an equivalent of suruppu. From the root rapt, was formed the
Assyrian tarputu (W.A.I. v. 38, 27 ; 40, 35), the Heb. terdphvm, which Dr.
Neubauer has already connected with the root raphd. The worship of the
terdphvm, indicates an early ancestor-worship among the Semites.
6 Munassir, see W.A.I, iv. 16, 54; in the Atarpi legend (hi. 56) the Air-
god is said to have " ruined" (issur) the field.
1 Here the Assyrian translator has used the feminine alidti, hereby getting
into a difficulty, as the demon waa called " son" (maru) in the preceding
line. 2 Ud-gal ; the Ud-gallu is conjoined with the ur-bat, or " beast of death,"
in K 3938, 6, and in S 477, ii. 11, the mention of " the flesh of the ud-da"
follows that of the flesh of the gazelle, of man, of the dog, of the boar, of
the ass, of the horse, and of the wild ass. In R 149, udda-khul is " poison."
Perhaps the udda was a species of serpent. At all events, in W.A.I. v.
41, 6, umu is the synonym of nammassu, " reptile."
3 Compare S 1366, Obv. 5 — 8 : " (The gallu) has opened my loins and my
wife (has issued forth) ; he has opened my knees and the child (has been
born)."
2g2

452

APPENDIX III.

22. whom his god1 has carried away to the veiLa
23. Whether it be a ghost (dimme),
24. whether it be a spectre (dimmed),
25. whether it be a vampire,
26. whether it be the lord of sickness,
27. whether it be the nurse,
28. whether it be the tear ....
29. whether it be the man ....
30. whether it be the incubus (utuk) ....
31. whether it be the handmaid (of the incubus),
32. whether it be the side ....
33. whether it be the day .....
[The next six lines are too much broken for translation.]
34. whether it be the milk that has descended or the milk that has
not descended (?),
35. whether I am hungry,3 may I eat food,
36. whether I am thirsty, may I drink water,
Col. ii. 1. whether I am insect-bitten (?), let me anoint myself with oil,
2. whether I am stripped (sedde-tagga), let me put clothing round
my loins.
3. The fever, the curse of the spirits of earth, conjures thee.
4. Baleful is the fever ; the curse of the spirits of earth conjures
thee.
5. The fever which has approached has confronted the sick man.
6. The fever may the spirit of heaven conjure, may the spirit of
earth conjure.
7. Whether it be the spirit of the divine lord of the earths ;
1 In the Sumerian, " gods."
2 Kurwmmati, rendering the Sumerian (ku) suku. The determinative
shows it to be an article of dress, and in W. A. I. ii 39, 67, it is stated to
have been worn on " the head of a female slave," the Aceadian equivalent
of suku being soba (11. 68 — 72). The . latter is translated ipru, " a veil" (ii.
39, 50, siba in Une 53 being nalbasu, " clothing"). Compare epartum =
nakhlaptu, "a veil" (W.A.I, v. 28, 68). Hence "a dark veil" is vaguely
rendered simtu, "ornament," in W.A.I. v. 16, 17. Xisuthros, in the story
of the Deluge, tells his wife to " fold up (epi) the veil" of Gisdhubar and
place it on his head. The ideographic equivalent of nindabu, " a free-will
offering," is suku Innana, " the veil of the goddess," in reference to the sacri
fice of their virginity by the women of Babylonia in honour of Istar. The
reference in the text is to a sort of monastic vow, whereby a man placed
himseK under the protection of the deity, and, as in the case of Gisdhubar,
by wearing a veil on bis head became proof against all evil spells.
3 In K 4207, 15 (nis)lib-sa-an-TUK-a (sagar-tagga) is rendered by biruta.

THE MAGICAL TEXTS. 453
8. whether it be the spirit of the divine lady of the earths;
9. whether it be the spirit of the divine lord of the stars ;
10. whether it be the spirit of the divine lady of the stars ;
11. whether it be the spirit of the divine lord of seed's ;
12. whether it be the spirit of the divine lady of seeds ;
13. whether it be the spirit of the god Mul-Da-uhma ;l
14. whether it be the spirit of the goddess Nin-Da-uhma;
15. whether it be the spirit of the divine lord of the illustrious
mound (Birs-i-Nimrud) ;
16. whether it be the spirit of the divine lady of the Illustrious
mound';
17. whether it be the spirit of the divine lord of the dayspring of
life;
18. whether it be the spirit of the divine lady of the dayspring of
Hfe;
19. whether it be the spirit of the divine lord of the voice of the
firmament ;
20. whether it be the spirit of the divine lady of the voice of the
firmament ;
21. 0 spirit, divine lord of the father and mother of Mul-lil, conjure !
22. 0 spirit, divine lady of the father and mother of Mul-lil, conjure !
23. 0 spirit of the Moon-god whose ship crosses the girdle (?) of its
river, conjure !
24. 0 spirit of the Sun-god, king and judge of the gods, conjure !
25. 0 spirit of Istar, who to the command of the spirits of earth
alone turns not the head, conjure !2
26. 0 spirit of Zikum, mother of Ea, conjure !
27. O spirit of Nina, daughter of Ea, conjure !
28. 0 spirit of the divine lord (Aceadian, lady) of growth, shepherd
of the pastures, conjure !
29. 0 spirit of the fire-god, that makest pure (?) thy head towards
the earth, conjure !

1 The printed text has, falsely, Dazarma.
2 The three lines 23 — 25 are evidently an interpolation. They interrupt
the context, as the father and mother of the primitive god of Nipur must
naturally have been fallowed by the mother of the primitive god of Eridu —
the Moon-god, the Sun-god and Istar, belonging to a whoUy different and
later theological system — while the alliteration in the Semitic version of
the 25th line shows that it must be the original of which the Aceadian is a
translation. It contains a play upon the name of Istar : " nis Istari sa ana
kibiti sa Aniinaki istdnu la isaru (istaru)."

454

APPENDIX III.

30. 0 spirit of the lady of the magic wand,1 throne-bearer of the
earth, conjure !
31. O spirit of the seven doors of the earth, conjure !
32. 0 spirit of the seven bolts of the earth, conjure !
33. 0 spirit of the opening fire-god, opener of the earth, conjure !
34. 0 spirit of the strong goddess with the cup of blessing (?), wife
of the plague-demon, conjure !
35: 0 spirit of the pure cloud-spirit, the daughter of the deep,
conjure !
36. The man, the son of his god,
37. when2 he is angry,8 or when he is violent, or when
38. he eats food, or when he drinks water,
39. the cup (?) of the father above thee, even Mul-HL thy hand
places ;
40. (when) the water of the sea, the waters of the marsh-lands
(Merathaim), the water of the Tigris, the water of the Euphrates,
41. the water of the pool, (and) the water of the river fail,
42. to the god he betakes himself, his sceptre he grasps,
43, a seat he sets, he sits down ; he establishes thee ....
44. the man, the son of his god, confronts (them, and) they return.
45. Conclusion (of the speU regarding) the evil incubus.

46. Incantation. — Destructive reptiles, baleful winds are they !
Col. iii. 1. As a baleful reptile, as a baleful wind do they appear;
2. as a baleful reptile, (or) a baleful wind do they march in front ;
3. monstrous children, monstrous sons are they ;
4. the messengers of the plague-demon are they !
5. the throne-bearers of Nin-ki-gal (queen of Hades) are they ;
6. a deluge which has been collected upon the land are they ;
7. (they are) the seven gods of the wide-spread heaven,
8. the seven gods of the broad earth,
9. the seven gods confederated together.4
1 Ois Zida, "the eternal wood." In W.A.I. iv. 25, 12, it seems to mean
" a mast." The Lady of the Magic Wand was Allat, the queen of Hades.
2 Enna, to be distinguished from (AN)enna, which in It 204, Obv. 7, is
rendered by lilu.
3 Ba-ran-tarin. In K 4874, Obv. 19, ne-tarrin seems to correapond with
tsirikhum; cf. khe-nib-tarri-ne, rendered ligazziru, W.A.I, iv. 16, 65.
* The Aceadian ur-uTri, as in K 4874, Rev. 9, where ab-khal 4r-urri-ene
is rendered by yarrura tamdti, "he bound the speU together." Cf. W.A.I.
iv. 11, 45, mu-nib-ur-ti/rri = imtanassar.

THE MAGICAL TEXTS. 455
10. The seven are gods seven in number,1
11. seven evil gods are they !
12. Seven evil demons (lamastuv) are they !
13i Seven evil consuming spirits (labatsi) are they!
14. In heaven are they seven, in earth are they seven !
15. The evil incubus (utuk), the evil alu, the evil maskim, the evil
gallu, the evil god, the evil succubus,
16. 0 spirit of heaven, conjure ! 0 spirit of earth, conjure !
17. 0 spirit of Mul-lil, kinga of the world, conjure !
18. 0 spirit of Nil-lil, lady of the world, conjure !
19. 0 spirit of Uras (Adar), son of Itsarra (the temple of the hosts
of the firmament), conjure !
20. 0 spirit of Innana (Istar), lady of the world, illuminator of the
night, conjure !
21. when the body of the man, the son of his god,
22. eats food (or) drinks water.

23. Incantation. — The plague (namtar), the fever8 which will carry
the people away,
24. the sickness, the consumption (dilibti) which will trouble man
kind,
25. harmful to the flesh, injurious to the body,
26. the evil incubus, the evil alu, the evil maskim,
27. the evil man, the evil eye, the evil mouth, the evil tongue,
28. from the flesh of the man, the son of his god, may they be
expeUed, from his body may they be driven forth.
29. Against my body never may they come ;
30. my eye never may they injure ;
31. against my back never may they go;
32. into my house never may they enter ;
33. over the beams of my (house) never may they pass ;
34. into the house of my seat never may they descend !
35. 0 spirit of heaven, conjure ! 0 spirit of earth, conjure !
36. 0 spirit of Mul-lil, king of the world, conjure !
37. 0 spirit of Nin-lil, mistress of the world, conjure !
38. 0 spirit of Uras, mighty warrior of Mul-lil, conjure !
39. 0 spirit of Nusku, supreme messenger of Mul-lil, conjure !

1 In the Semitic translation, " the seven are gods of multitudes."
2 In the Semitic version, bel, " lord."
8 Asakku, an Assyrian loan-word from the Aceadian a-sig, "strength-
iestroying."

456 APPENDIX III.
40. 0 spirit of Mul-zu-na (the Moon-god), first-born son of Mul-lil,
conjure !
41. 0 spirit of Innana (Istar), lady of the people (ummani), conjure !
Col. iv. 1. 0 spirit of Eimmon, the king1 whose shout is good, con
jure !
2. 0 spirit of the Sun-god, the king1 of judgment, conjure 1
3. 0 spirit of the Anurias,2 the great gods, conjure !3

4. Conclusion (of the spell regarding) the evil incubus.

5. Incantation. — The waster of heaven and earth, the warrior-spirit
(sidu) waster of the earth,
6. the warrior-spirit, waster of the earth, whose power is exalted,4
7. whose power is exalted, whose step is exalted ;
8. the gallu, madly-rushing bull, the bull supreme,5
9. the bull who runs through the houses,
10. the gallu who has no member, are those seven.
11. Mistress they know not.
12. The land like husks they devour.
13. Compassion they know not.
14. Against mankind they rage.
15. The flesh they devour, the seed they sicken, the blood they drink.
16  the image of the gods are they.
17. In the house of the god of the holy mound,6 on the fruit of the
god of corn, are they fattened.
18. Demons (gallu) are they, filled with wickedness.7
19. Devourers of blood, unceasing are they.
20. Cut off from them (their power of) sorcery, and to highland
and lowland never may they return.
21. 0 spirits of heaven, conjure ! 0 spirits of earth, conjure !

1 Bili, " lord," in the Semitic version.
2 In the Semitic version, Anunnaki, " the spirits of the lower world."
8 Lines 41 — iv. 2 are interpolations, the original exorcism having ema
nated from Nipur, and being, therefore, concerned only with Mul-lil and
hia attendant deities.
4 Su-ana, " of heavenly power," in Aceadian, whence the Hterary name of
Babylon, Su-ana-Ki, " place of heavenly power."
5 Paraphrased in the Assyrian rendering by " great ekimmu."
6 The temple of Nebo at Borsippa. We may infer from this that the
incantation in linea 5 — 21 emanated from Babylon.
7 In the Aceadian, "fining the front with witchcraft."

THE MAGICAL TEXTS. 457
22. Conclusion (of the spell regarding) the evil incubus.

23. Incantation. — The apparition, the apparition, which treads down
all things whatever their name ;
24. the troublers of the earth, the troublers of the heaven ;
25  like the heaven not receiving.
[The rest of this incantation is destroyed.]
40. Incantation. — The warriors .... are they.
Col. v. 1. Troublers unique are they,1 troublers of heaven have they
been born.2
2. They are whirlwind-like ghosts ; travellers are they.
3. Wife they possess not ; child they beget not.
4. Lusty offspring they know not.
5. Horses which have come forth3 from the mountain are they.
6. Unto Ea are they hostile.
7. The throne-bearers of the gods are they.
8. To trouble the canal4 in the street are they set.
9. Before Nergal the mighty warrior do they go to and fro.
10. 0 spirit of heaven, conjure ! 0 spirit of earth, conjure !
11. 0 spirit of the Moon-god, lord over difficulty,5 conjure !
12. 0 spirit of Isum,6 traverser (nagir) of the street), drinker up of
the water, conjure !
13. To the body of the man come not nor return;
14. before him depart, behind him depart !

15. Conclusion (of the spell regarding) the evil incubus.

16. Incantation. — Seven are they, seven are they,
17. in the hollow of the deep seven they are ;
18. gleams of the sky are those seven.
19. In the hollow of the deep, in a palace, they grew up.
20. Male they are not, female they are not.
1 The Semitic translator has made nonsense of this line, rendering it,
" whose troublers are unique."
2 In the Semitic rendering, " troublers of Anu have they been created."
3 In the Semitic version, " descended."
* Aceadian esirra, perhaps borrowed from the Semitic isaru, "to be
(straight," as conversely the Assyrian sulu is a loan-word from the Aceadian
stia, " a cutting" or " canal." As in HoUand, " canal" and " street" were
synonymous terms.
6 Namratsit. In the Aceadian, " god of the throne of Hght."
6 Aceadian sig-sagga, " head-destroying.

458

APPENDIX III.

21. They are whirlwind-like ghosts ; traveUers are they.
22. Wife they possess not, child they beget not.
23. Compassion1 and kindness know they not.
24. Prayer and suppHcation hear they not.
25. Horses which are bred in the mountains are they.
26. Unto Ea are they hostile.
27. The throne-bearers of the gods are they.
28. To trouble the canal in the street are they set.
29. Evil2 are they, evil are they !
30. Seven are they, seven are they, seven twice again are they !
31. 0 spirit of heaven, conjure ! 0 spirit of earth, conjure !

32. Conclusion (of the speU regarding) the evil incubus.
Col. vi. 1  the evil incubus (utuk) is violent;3
2. (that which) is unnamed has begotten him.
3. that which has not issued forth from a body has begotten him
4. His hand one sculptured,4 and made his hand ;
5. his foot one sculptured, and made his foot ;
6. his head one sculptured, and made his head.
7. For his destiny the meadow of gold (was prepared).
[Three Unes lost.]
10. The (evil) incubus .... may he never enter the house
11. May the evil incubus remove his seat to another place.
12. May the prospering incubus (and) the colossus of the land go
to and fro !
13. Conclusion (of the spell regarding) the evil incubus.

14. Incantation. — The evil incubus, the incubus of the mountain
ravine. [The first Hne of the next tablet.]
15. Fifth tablet of (the series concerning) the evil incubi."

III. Incantation against madness (W. A. I. iv. 3, 4).
Col. i. 1. " Incantation. — The disease of the head coils (like a serpent)
in the desert, like a wind it blows.
2. Like the lightning it lightens ; above and below it has wrought
destruction.
1 Edhvra, from edheru, " to spare." 2 Aceadian sissi.
3 Itarus, iphteal of arasu, " to be strong," connected with ursanu. It is
doubtful whether the corresponding Aceadian rus is borrowed from arasu or
arasu from rus.
4 Assyrian " cut," Aceadian " took."

THE MAGICAL TEXTS. 459
3. Unfearing its god, like a reed has it cut (the man) off.
4. Its cord (buani) like a snare1 has it wound around (him). .
5. It destroys the body of him who has not mother Istar as his
guardian.
6. Like a star of the heavens it shoots (itsarrur), like water it
traverses the night.
7. Against the sick man it turns its front, and like the day it
overpowers2 him.
8. This man it smites, and
9. the man, like one who is faint at heart, staggers ;
10. like one whose heart is taken from him, he passes away.
11. Like one who is fallen in the fire, he quivers;
1 2. Hke a wild ass inflamed with love, his eyes are filled with mist.
1 3. With his Hf e it devours the man,3 to death it binds him.
14. The madness is as a heavy storm whose path there is none that
knoweth.
15. Its perfect bewitchment,4 its bond, there is none that knoweth.
16. Merodach ! substance of myself ! go, my son !5
17. With the plant that gladdens life6 which grows in the desert
before him,
18. Hke the Sun-god when he enters his house, cover the clothing
of thy head.
19. With the plant that gladdens life surround it like a covering.7
20. At dawn,8 when the sun has not yet risen,
1 Gikhinu, from the Aceadian gilchan (also written sA-khan). In W.A. I.
ii. 35, 6, we are told that Gikhan (sA-khan) was a synonym of the Euphrates,
which explains the Gihon of Gen. ii. 13, where the word has been assimi
lated to the Heb. gtkhdn, " a spring."
2 In the Semitic version ikhrne, " scorches" (?).
3 Aceadian uru. 4 Ittu, " sign," " omen."
6 Fragments of Aceadian from the words put into the mouth of Ea in
other magical texts inserted here by way of a charm.
6 Aceadian khul-til-gillan (for gilla, "to Hve," see W.A. I. iv. 23, 5),
whence the Semitic khiltalti (ii. 28. 16), though the latter word may be
read khilpalti, and compared with the Aramaic khilpd, " sedge." It was a
plant that grew on the mountains (ii. 28. 16, 17).
7 The Semitic translator, in his word-for-word rendering, has here pro
duced an extraordinary violation of Semitic grammar : " (with) the plant
that gladdens life cover Hke [as it were] and enclose" (!).
8 Agu-ziga in Aceadian, Hterally " the hour of the fresh breeze." Thus
we have the following hymn (D. T. 57, Rev.) : (1) " At dawn (agu-ziga) the
bird proclaims not the fresh breeze (ziga) ; (2) the waters of the deep (gurra)
his mouth brings not ; (3) the lord of strength is unsatisfied (saga nu-s'ia,

460 APPENDIX III.
21. pluck it from its place.
22. Seize its stem.1
23. Take the skin of a suckling that is still ungrown,
24. and bind (with it) the head of the sick man,
25. bind also the neck of the sick man.
26. May (the sickness) of the man's head which is produced in the
street2 be removed;
27. (which) the curse of the wind has borne to him, never may it
return to its place !
28. 0 spirit of heaven, conjure ! 0 spirit of earth, conjure ¦

[The first 19 lines of the next speU are destroyed; then we read :]
Col. ii. 1. On cries of woe he feasts daily.
2. Merodach ! substance of myself ! go, my son !
3. Take the skin of a suckling that is still ungrown ;
4. let the wise woman bind (it) to the right hand and double it
on the left.
5. Bind the knot twice seven times ;
6. lay (upon it) the spell of Eridu ;
7. bind the head of the sick man ;
8. bind the neck of the sick man ;
9. bind his life ;
10. bind firmly his limbs;
11. approach his bed ;
12. pour over him the magical waters ;s
13. may the disease of the head, like the eye when it rests itself,
ascend to heaven.
14. Like the waters of an ebbing (flood), to the earth may it descend.
15. May the word of Ea issue forth.
16. May Dav-kina direct.
17. 0 Merodach, first-born of the deep, thou canst make pure and
prosperous ! 
18. Incantation. — The disease of the head is fallen on the man;
Ass. la isbH) ; (4) take the green corn (gis sunni, Ass. binu) as food (u innus,
Ass. patatan)."
1 Aceadian ana, connected with anu, " an ear of corn." The ideograph ,
denotes " what grows long." The Semitic rendering surut is connected with
the Heb. sur, " a vine-shoot."
2 Or perhaps we should read sa ina zumur (ame)li basil, " which is in the
body of the man."
• Literally, " the waters of the speU."

THE MAGICAL TEXTS. 461
19. madness, even the disease of the muscle "of the neck, has fallen
on the man. ;
20. The disease of the head like' a crown coils (around him) ;
21. the disease of the head, from the rising of the sun to the setting
of the sun,
22. unto the disease of the head answers in thunder.
23. In the sea and the broad earth
24. the little crown is the crown that has departed,
25. the crown gigantic (is) its crown.
26. Make broad the ears, 0 (Merodach) son of Ea !
27. the disease" of the head, like an ox, walks with rolling gait.
28. To his father (Merodach) approached and (his) decision1 re
ported :
29. ' O my father, the disease of the head is fallen on the man ;
30. like a wall .... it is laid upon him.
31. (As with) a weapon .... let me cut off his sickness.'
33. (Ea unto his son Merodach) made reply :
[Several Hnes lost :]
39. The sickness of the head, (like) a dove to (its) nest,
40. like a raven to the sky,
Col. iii. 1. like a bird into broad space, let it fly away.
2. To the prospering hands of his god let him be confided.

3. Incantation. — The madness is bound in heaven, from the earth
it is driven away.
4. The power of the freeman, the master of power, is opened
(afresh).
5. The hand of the fruitful handmaid returns not,2
6. which is laid on the body of the sick.
7. As for Istar, who rejoices in quietude, one that exists not3 causes
her train4 to descend from the mountain.
8. To the form of the sick man they approach ;5
9. she raises a cry of lamentation over the man :
10. 'Who takes (it) away, who gives (him) health ?8
1 Aceadian gu-kud, elsewhere written KA(gu)-kud.
2 In the Aceadian, " the blessed handmaid turns not back her hand."
3 In translating "one that exists not" (literally, "none is"), the Semitic
scribe has mistaken the meaning of the Aceadian mulu nu- tilla, "the
eunuch." 1 Ulmanu, connected with alamu, a synonym of sadadu, " to draw."
5 "He approaches" in the Semitic text.
6 In the Aceadian, " takes away."

462

APPENDIX III.

11. Even Istar, the daughter of Sin;
12. the mighty father,1 the son of Mul-lil ;
13. (and) Merodach, the son of Eridu.
14. May they give health to the body of the sick man.'
15. The god who adorns the gate (?), who (issues ?) the command,
has bound his (body).
16. On the butter which is brought from a pure staU,
17. the milk which is brought from a pure sheep-cote,
18. the pure butter of the pure stall lay a speU.
19. May the man, the son of his god, recover;2
20. may the man be bright and pure as the butter ;
21. may he be white as this milk ;
22. like refined (tsurrupi) silver may his firm flesh3 glisten,
23. like copper may it shine as a polished vessel.
24. To the Sun-god, the first-born of the gods, confide his body.
25. May the Sun-god, the first-born of the gods, to the prospering
hands of his god confide him. — Incantation.4

26. Incantation. — Seizing the face, the middle of the head, of the
man who is strengthless and ignorant,
27. like the covering (?) of a man (the disease) conceals ;
28. it directs the path of the man who has no god.
29. He carves an image, but encloses not the enclosure.
30. Like a water-snake, like a water-snake the roof of the yard
31. by day casts not a shadow, by night casts not a shadow.
32. Merodach looks on; 'Substance of mine art thou' (says Ea),
go, my son !
33. The slice of a snake, sisi, siman, abi,
34. human flesh, kharkhar, medicine of the mountains,6
35. the seed of the male organ, the herb of Adar, his mouth,
36. the breath of the god of the river of the quarryman,6 the body of
the god of the river of the quarryman,
37. his strong food,
38. mix together and rub into oil,
1 Pap-svm-nun-bada, a title of Adar. 2 LiteraUy, " be turned."
3 Aceadian mubu, for the older Sumerian gubbu.
4 The references to Istar, Mul-lil and Samas, as weU as the linguistic
forms, show that this incantation is of very much later date than those of
the obverse of the tablet. It probably emanated from Sippara.
6 These are aU medicines used both by the exorcists and by the medical
practitioners. 6 According to W. A I. ii. 62, 40, this deity was " the river-god," Ea.

THE MAGICAL TEXTS. 463
39. rub on the body with pure hand.
[The foUowing Unes are too much broken for translation, like the
last incantation of the tablet : then comes the colophon :]
Col. iv. 35. The 9th tablet (of the series beginning :) A spell for diseases
of the head : thoroughly complete.
36. The palace of Assur-bani-pal, the king of legions, king of Assyria,
37. who puts his trust in Assur and Nin-lil."

IV. The 16th tablet concerning evil spirits (W.A.I, iv. 5, 6).
Col. i. 1. "The reptiles that creep round and round, the evil gods are they
2. The warrior spirits (sidu) that spare not, who were created in
the cloudy vault of heaven, are they.
3. They are they who produce disease.
4. Enlarging (their) evil heads, .... to lay the yoke (upon it they
march).
5. Among those seven, the first is a scorpion of rain,
6. The second is a monster (whose) mouth (no) one (can bridle).
7. The third is the lightning-flash, the strong son of ... .
8. The fourth is a serpent ....
9. The fifth is a watch-dog which (rages) against (his foes).
10. The sixth is a rushing (tempest) which to god and king (submits
not).
11. The seventh, Hke a messenger, is the evU wind which (Anu
made ?).
12. Those seven are the messengers of Anu their king.
13. In city after city do they cause the rainy wind.
14. The storm that is in heaven they bind together strongly.
15. The fleecy clouds that are in heaven making the rainy wind are
they.
16. The rushing blast of the wind which produces darkness on a
clear day are they.
17. With baleful wind, with evil wind, they darted forth.
18. The deluge of Eimmon, mighty whirlwinds are they,
19. at the right hand of Eimmon they march.
20. On the horizon of heaven Hke the lightning (they flash).
21. To impose the yoke they march in front.
22. In the wide heaven, the seat of Anu the king, they set them
selves with evU purpose and had no rival.
23. On that day Mul-lil heard of this matter and carried the word
to his heart.

464 APPENDIX III.
24. With Ea, the supreme adviser of the gods, he was king,1 and
25. had appointed Sin, Samas and Istar to direct the cloudy region
of heaven.
26. Along with Anu he had divided among them the sovereignty1
of the hosts of heaven.
27. Among the three of them, the gods his chUdren,
28. he had divided the night and the day; that they cease not (their
work) he urged them.
29. On that day those seven, the evil gods, in the cloudy region of
heaven darted forth.
30. In front of Nannar2 violently they beset the Moon-god.
31. The hero Samas and Eimmon the warrior returned to their
quarters ;
32. Istar set (her) holy seat with Anu the king, and over the king
dom of heaven is exalted.
Col. u. [The first 19 lines are destroyed.]
20  (Sin) was troubled and sat in grief ;
21. (night and) day in darkness, on the throne of his dominion seated
not.
22. The evil gods, the messengers of Anu their king,
23. enlarging (their) evil heads, assisted (one another).
24. Evil they plotted together.
25. From the midst of heaven, like the wind on the land they
swooped.
26. Mul-lil beheld the darkness of the hero Sin in heaven.3
27. The lord (Bel) says to his messenger Niisku :
28. '0 Niisku, my messenger, carry my word to the deep ;
29. the news of my son the Moon-god, who is grievously darkened
in heaven,
30. to Ea in the deep convey.'
31. Niisku exalted the word of his lord;
32. to Ea in the deep he went with the message.
1 ImtaUk means " he was king," not " he took counsel," here, as is shown
by its equivalent in the Aceadian text (d-gdgd). The Semitic parsu,
"adviser," has been adopted in the Aceadian version, pointing (like the
mention of Sin, Samas and Istar) to the composition of the poem in the
Semitic era.
2 The Aceadian text read3, " at the beginning they beset with violence
the festival of the Moon-god."
3 The Aceadian imitates the Semitic idiom in this sentence, proving that
the Semitic version is the older.

THE MAGICAL TEXTS. 465
33. To the divine prince, the counseUor supreme, the lord, the sove
reign of the world,
34. Niisku conveyed the word of his lord on the other side.
35. Ea in the deep listened to the tale, and
36. he bit his lip, with outcry he fiUed his mouth.
37. Ea addressed his son Merodach and roars out (isakhkliats) the
word:
38. ' Go, my son Merodach !
39. Grievous is the eclipse of the son of the festival, the Moon-god;1
40. his ecHpse in heaven is proceeding.
41. Those seven, the evil gods, the serpents of death,2 who have no
fear,
42. those seven, the evil gods, who swoop (tebuni) like the deluge,
43. swoop upon the world like a storm.3
44. Before Nannar, the Moon-god violently (they beset) ;
44. the hero Samas and Eimmon the warrior (return) to their
quarters ;4
45. (Istar plants her holy seat with Anu the king, and over the
kingdom of heaven is exalted).'
,. [Many lines are lost here.]
Col. iii. 31. In the gate of the palace the mask (fold) doubly ....
32. In a cloak5 of many colours, the skin of a suckling still ungrown
the skin of an ungrown calf, make suppHcation.
32. Bind (the magic knots) round the hands and feet of the king,
the son of his god ;
33. the king, the son of his god, who, like Nannar, the Moon-god,
completes the life of the land ;
34. Hke Nannar, the resplendent, his head upholds favour.
[Many lines lost.]
46  make his .... pure and brilliant ;
47  (the evil (god), the evU spirit (utuk), the evil gallu:
48  the evU incubus (maskim).

1 The Semitic version is different here : " the news is that of my son the
Moon-god, who is grievously ecHpsed in heaven." The text published by
Haupt has, " the son of the prince Nannar."
2 In the Aceadian, " men of death."
3 In Haupt's text, " they seek the land, upon the world Hke a storm they
swoop." 4 Lines 26 — 44 have been pubHshed by Haupt in his Akkadische und
Sumerische Keilschrifttexte, ii. pp. 76, 77.
5 The Semitic samlin (Heb. simldh) has been introduced into the Aceadian
text. The genuine Aceadian equivalent was sik (W.A I. iv. 21, 4).
2h

468 APPENDIX III.
49. Never may they enter (the house) ;
50. never may they approach (the doors) of the palace ;
51. never may they approach (the chamber) of the king ;
52. never may they surround the ....
53. never may they enter the ....
[Col iv. containing another incantation against the evil spirits, in which
"the spirit of Mul-lU" is invoked and "the spell of Ea" named,
is too mutilated for translation.]
Col. v. 36. Conclusion (of the speU) for cursing1 the evil gods accursed.

37. Incantation. — The huge reed of gold, the pure reed of the marsh,
38. the pure dish of the gods,
39. the reed of the double white cup which determines favour,2
40. the messenger of Merodach am I.
41. When I deliver the pure incantation,
42. I lay a foundation of bitumen below in the centre of the gate.
43. May the god of the house dweU in the house !
44. May the propitious spirit (utuk) and the propitious god enter
the house !
45. May the evil utuk, the evil (god), the evil ekimmu, the evil gallu,
and the evil (alu),
46. (never approach) the king.
47. 0 spirit of heaven, conjure ! (0 spirit of earth, conjure !)

48. Conclusion (of the speU) cursing the evU gods.

[The beginning of the next incantation is lost.]
Col. vi. 1. Never may they enter the palace ;
2. never may they approach the king !
3. 0 spirit of heaven, conjure! 0 spirit, of earth, conjure!.

4. Conclusion (of the speU) of the light-coloured goat-skin which
is ... .
5. Incantation. — Evil is the evil man, evil is that man ;
6. that man among men is evu, that man is evil ;
7. in the bed of a man he places a snake.
8. That man among men lays a snare misleadingly to ensnare
(others).
1 Tarruda, rendered "to curse" in W.A. I. iv. 16, 39, "to shatter" in iv.
S, 41.
2 The divining cup is referred to

THE MAGICAL TEXTS. 467
9. The fear of him is the herald of his cry ; the breath of the man
destroys.
10. The place of his sickness the evil creeps into ; his heart it cuts
(in two).
[The following lines are too mutilated for translation.]
17. Conclusion (of the spell) cursing the evU gods.
18. Incantation. The Sun-god ....
19. The 16th tablet (of the series beginning) 'the evU spirits.'
20. Palace of Assur-bani-pal, the king of legions, the king of Assyria,
21. who has put his trust in Assur and Nin-lil,
22. to whom Nebo and Tasmit
23. have given broad ears,
24. that he might have seeing eyes ;
25. the store of written tablets,
26. as regards which, among the kings that have gone before me,
27. there was none who undertook this business ;
28. the hidden wisdom of Nebo, the Hnes of characters as many as
singly exist,
29. on tablets I wrote, I connected together, I published, and
30. for the inspection of my readers
31. I placed within my palace.
32. Thine is the kingdom, 0 Assur, light of the king of the gods !
33. Whoever carries (them) away and his name with my name
34. shall write, may Assur and Nin-lil mighty and violently
35. overthrow him and destroy his name (and) his seed in the land."

V. W.A. I. ii. 51, 1 — 31, revised by Jensen in the Zeitschrift fiir
Keilschriftforschung, n. 4, pp. 320, 321.
1. [Lost.]
2. " never may they approach . . . his hands.
3. Against such and such a man, the son of his god, may (the evil
spirits) never come.
4. Like a dove may he ascend1 .... to his place may he never
return.
5. Whatever is evil, whatever is bad, which is in the body of such
and such a man,
6. Hke the water [perspiration] of his body and the purifications (?)2
of his hands,
1 Comp. D. T. 57, Obv. 13, kima tarri etilli ana same sa an Anum, "Hke
a dove he ascends to the heaven of Anu."
2 Mus'dti. In S 1896, Rev. 9, we have rabits musdti.
2h2

468

APPENDIX III.

7. may he strip off, and may the river carry to the bottom of its
bed.
8. The curse, 0 spirit of heaven, conjure ! 0 spirit of earth, conjure!

9. The coal (which) the great gods have polished, on the torch I
have kindled :
10. I offer the corn-god, the assembler of the gods of heaven and
earth.
11. May the establishers of the fortresses of the great gods station
themselves here, and
12. may they promise life to such and such a man, the son of such
and such a man, the son of his god.
13. May his god and his goddess remain here, and on this day may
they grant him grace.

14. Incantation. — The milk of a light-coloured goat I prepare in
plenty, and I light the fire.
15. The coal I place, I burn the whole offering.
16. The libation pure and white of Ea, the messenger of Merodach
am I.
17. May the gods, as many as I have invoked, produce a flame.
18. May Ea and Merodach never have (wrath), though the god and
the goddess are angry.

19. (The coal I have kindled), the fire I have quieted, I burn, I
increase ;
20. the corn-god I have offered ; I am great and glorious.
21. May (the god of herbs), the assembler of god and man, deUver
from his bond.
22. Like a coal I have blazed, I have quieted the bird :
23. like the fire I have burned, I have increased food ;
24. like the corn-god I have offered, I am great and glorious.
25. May the god of herbs, the assembler of god and man, deliver
from his bond.
26. Deliver such and such a man the son of his god, and may he
be saved.
27. Incantation. — The directress ascends, the offspring of the house
of the life of the prince.
28. Like its old copy, written and published.
29. Tablet of Adar-sum-tir-su the Z6gan&3 (sagan), the librarian :
his utterance."

THE MAGICAL TEXTS. 469
VI. Magical text from Eridu (W.A.I, iv.. 15). See p. 179.
Col. i. 1. "The (bed) of the earth was taken for their border, but the
god appeared not;1
2. he appeared not on the horizon of the earth, making hostility ;
3. (to) the heaven below they extended (their path), and to the
heaven that is unseen they climbed afar.2
4. Among the star(s) of heaven was not. their ministry (knowledge);
in the watch of the thirty (stars)3 was their office.
5. The Fire-god, the first-born, supreme, unto heaven they pursued,
and no father did he know.
6. 0 Fire-god, supreme on high, the first-born, the mighty, supreme
enjoiner of the commands of Anu !4
7. The fire-god enthrones with himseK the friend that he loves.
8. He reveals the enmity of those seven.
9. On the work he ponders in his dwelling-place;
10. O Fire-god, how were those seven begotten, how were they
nurtured ?'
11. Those seven in the mountain of the sunset were born;
12. those seven in the mountain of the sunrise grew up ;
13. In the hoUows of the earth they have their dweUing;
14. on the high-places of the earth their names are proclaimed.
15. As for them, in heaven and earth they have no dwelling, hidden
is their name:
16. Among the sentient gods they are not known.
17. Their name in heaven and earth exists not.
18. Those seven from the mountain of the sunset gaflop forth ;
19. those seven in the mountain of the sunrise are bound to rest.
20. In the hoUows of the earth they set the foot;
21. on the high-places of the earth they lift the neck.
22. They by nought are known ; in heaven and' earth is no know
ledge of them.
23. To Merodach5 approach, and this word may he say to thee :
24. 'May he give thee the message6 for those evU ones, the seven,
as many as go straight before thee ;
1 A'eopyist has substituted la for nu, "not," in the Aceadian text.
2 In the original Aceadian, "the heaven that has no exit they opened.
8 Matstsardti, " the Zodiacal signs," in the Semitic version.
* " Heaven" in the Aceadian;
6 Called Asari in the Aceadian text
8 Amma, for the earlier Sumerian agga.

470

APPENDIX III.

25. he the command of whose mouth is favourable, the supreme
judge of heaven.'1
26. The Fire-god to Merodach approaches, and this word he speaks
to thee ;
27. in the canopy of the bed at night 'he hears this word ;
28. to his father Ea he descends into the house and says :
29. ' 0 my father, the Fire-god flames up at the rising of the sun
and their hiding-place approaches.
30. The paths of those seven he knows, and he seeks2 their quarters
in various places.8
31. Enlarge the ears, 0 son of Eridu!'
32. Ea answered his son Merodach :
33. ' My son, those seven dwell in the earth ;
34. those seven from the earth have issued forth j
Col. ii. 1. those seven in the earth were born ;
2. those seven in the earth grew up.
3. To tread down the sides of the deep have they approached.
4. Go, my son Merodach !
5. Let the fire of the cedar-tree, the tree that destroys the wicked
ness of the incubus,
6. on whose core the name of Ea is recorded,
7. with the speU supreme, the speU of Eridu, (and) of purity,
8. to foundation and roof4 let (its fire) ascend, and to the sick man
never may those seven approach.
9. Like a wide snare in a wide place outspread5 the hand :
10. at noon and midnight on his head let it He ;
11. by night let him charm (?)6 the canal and the street, and by
day with his hand.
12. In the night let him place on the couch a sentence (masal) from
a good book on the sick man's head.'
13. The warrior sends (the message) to his friend:
14. ' May the Fire-god seize that incubus.
1 " Anu" in the Semitic version, which is nonsense.
2 Siteh, iphteal permanaive.
8 In the Aceadian, "he turns his head in front" (W.A. I. iv. 21, 29).
* In the Semitic version, " to roof and foundation."
6 LiteraUy, " cause to recline."
6 Lunasi; comp. itanasa (W.A.I, iv. 7, 15), which the Aceadian equiva
lent shows must mean " lay a speU upon," or something similar. In the
present passage the Aceadian enege is probably the older form of enem, " a
word" or " command."

THE MAGICAL TEXTS. 471
15. The evil ones,, those seven, may he carry them away and drive
(them) from the man's body.
16. By day smite the incubus unrestingly (?).
17. May the Fire-god, the power supreme, restore his foundation.
18. May Nin-ki-gal, the wife of Nin-asu-ga, establish his face to be
with good fortune (?).
19. May his madness (and his) faintness . . . vanish away.
20. May Nin-akha-kiida take possession of his body, and rest upon
his head.'
21. Such (is) the speech of Nin-akha-kuda,
22. (such is) the speU of Eridu ;
23. pronounce the spell of the deep and of Eridu supreme ....
24. May Isum,1 the leader (nagir) of the incubus supreme among
the gods, rest upon his head, and in the night protect him.
25. By night and day to the prospering hands of Samas may he
consign him. Incantation.

26. (In) Eridu2 a stalk (palm-tree ?) grew overshadowing ; in a holy
place did it become green.
27. Its root was of white crystal, which stretched towards the deep.
28. . (Before) Ea was its course in Eridu, teeming with fertility.
29. Its seat was the (central) place of the earth.
30. Its foHage3 was the couch of Zikum the (primaeval) mother.
31. Into the heart of its holy house, which spread its shade Hke a
forest, hath no man entered.
32. (There is the home) of the mighty mother who passes across
the sky.
33. (In) the midst of it was Tammuz.
34. .
35. (There is the shrine ?) of the two (gods)."

VII. The sixth tablet of the series concerning " the weakening disease,"
( W. A. I. iv. 7, 8) ; translated by Jensen, Keilschriftfiir Keilschrift-
forschung, i. 4, ii. 1.
Col. i. 1. " Incantation. — The evil curse like a demon (gallu) has fallen
on the man.
1 Aceadian Kun-sagga. The original text is Sumerian and of an early
date, as is shown by forms like digga, " to grow" or " flame up ;" but it has
been modified and interpolated by Aceadian and Semitic copyists, who have
introduced words like amma and la, and Hues like the concluding one (col.
ii. 25).
2 See p. 238. (Ar)kit-su .

472 APPENDIX III.
2. The voice as a scourge has fallen upon him.
3. The voice ill-boding has fallen upon him,
4. the evil curse, the ban (mamit), the madness.
5. The evil curse has cut the throat of this man like a sheep.
6. His god has gone far from his body.
7. His goddess, the giver of counsel, has stationed herself without.
8. The scourging voice like a garment has covered him and be
witched (I)1 him.
9. Merodach has regarded him.
10. To his father Ea into the house he descends and says :
11. '0 my father, the evU curse like a demon (gallu) has faUen on
the man.'
12. Twice did he speak to him, and (says) :
13. '(What) this man should do I know not; what wiU give him
rest?'
14. (Ea) to his son Merodach made answer :
15. '0 my son, what dost thou not know ? what shall I teU you
more ?
16. 0 Merodach, what dost thou not know ? what shaU I add to
thy (knowledge) ?
17. What I know, thou too knowest.
18. Go, my son, Merodach !
19. Take the man to the house of pure sprinkHng, and
20. remove his ban and expel his ban,
21. the evU that troubles his body,
22. whether it be the curse of his father,
23. or the curse of his(mother,
24. or the curse of his elder brother,
25. or the curse of the destruction2 of a man (which) he knows not.
26. May the ban by the speU of Ea
27. like garlic be peeled off,
28. Hke a date be cut off,
29. like a branch be torn away.'
30. The ban, 0 spirit of heaven, conjure ! O spirit of earth, conjure 1

31. Incantation. — Like this garHc which is peeled and cast into the
fire,
32. the burning flame shaU consume (it) ;
33. in the garden it shall not be planted,
34. in pool or canal it shall not be placed ;
35. its root shall not take the earth ;
1 See note 6, p. 470. 2 Sakkastum, from sakasu, "to destroy."

THE MAGICAL TEXTS. 47S
36. its stem shaU not grow, and shall not see the sun ;
Col. ii. 1. for the food of god and king it shall not be used.
2. (So) may the guardian-priest1 cause the ban to depart from him
(and) unloose the bond
3. of the torturing disease, the sin, the backsliding, the wickedness,
the sinning,
4. the disease which exists in my body, my flesh (and) my muscles.
5. Like this garlic may it be peeled off, and
6. on this day may the burning flame consume.
7. May the ban depart that I may see the Hght.

8. Incantation. — Like this date which is cut and cast into the fire,
9. the burning flame shaU consume (it),
10. to its stalk he who plucks (it) shall not restore (it),
11. for the dish of the king it shall not be used;
12. (so) may the guardian-priest cause the ban to depart from him
(and) unloose the bond
13. of the torturing disease, the sin, the backsliding, the wickedness,
the sinning,
14. the disease which exists in my body, my flesh (and) my muscles.
15. Like this date may it be cut, and
1 6. on this day may the burning flame consume (it).
17. May the ban depart that I may see the Hght.

18. Incantation. — Like this branch which is torn away and cast
into the fire,
19. the burning flame shall consume (it),
20. its leaves to the trunk shall not return ;
21. for the work of dyeing it shall not be used.
22. (So) may the guardian-priest cause the ban to depart from him
(and) unloose the bond
23. of the torturing disease, the sin, the backsHding, the wickedness,
the sinning,
24. the disease which exists in my body, my flesh (and) my muscles.
25. Like this branch may it be torn away, and
26. on this day may the burning flame consume (it).
27. May the ban depart that I may see the light.

28. Incantation. — Like this wool which is torn and cast into the fire,
29. may the burning flame consume (it) ;
30. to the back of its sheep it shall not return ;
1 Turta, whence turta/m, "commander-in-chief;" cf. W. A. I. ii. 31, 26.

474

APPENDIX III.

31. for the clothing of god and king it shall not be used.
32. (So) may the guardian-priest cause the ban to depart from him
(and) unloose the bond
33. of the torturing disease, the sin, the backsliding, the wickedness,
the sinning,
34. the evU which exists in my body, my flesh (and) my muscles.
35. Like this wool may it be torn, and
36. on this day may the burning flame consume (it).
37. May the ban depart that I may see the Hght.

38. Incantation. — Like this goat's hair, which is torn and cast into
the fire,
39. the burning flame shall consume (it) ;
40. to the back of its goat it shall not return,
41. for the work of dyeing it shaU not be used.
42. (So) may the guardian-priest cause the ban to depart from him
(and) unloose the bond
43. of the torturing disease, the sin, the backsliding, the wickedness,
the sinning,
44. the disease which exists in my body, my flesh (and) my muscles.
45. Like this goat's hair may it be torn, and
46. on this day may the burning flame consume (it).
47. May the ban depart that I may see the Hght.

48. Incantation. — Like this dyed thread (which) is torn and cast
into the fire,
49. the burning flame shall consume (it),
50. the weaver into a .garment shaU not weave (it),
51. for the clothing of god and king it shall not be used.
52. (So) may the guardian-priest cause the ban to depart from him
(and) unloose the bond
53. of the torturing disease, the sin, the backsliding, the wickedness,
the sinning,
54. the disease which exists in my body, my flesh (and) my muscles.
55. Like this dyed thread may it be torn, and
56. on this day may the burning flame consume (it).
57. May the ban depart that I may see the Hght.

Col. iii. 1. (This) seed of the pea(?)J (I cast into the fire),
2. (speaking) thus : (May) a flame that (ceases) not (consume thee),
1 So Halevy (from the Talmudic). The Assyrian word is upunti, ex
pressed ideographicaUy by " husk-like plant of the mountain" (ku-KUR-lil).

THE MAGICAL TEXTS. 475
3. may the guardian-priest cause the (evU) ban to depart from him
4. (and) unloose the bond of the ban,
5. the torturing disease, the sin, the backsliding, the wickedness,
(the sinning),
6. the malady of the heart, the malady of the flesh that (is in my
body),
7. the bewitchment,1 the destruction,2 the pain,3 the foul spittle ;
8. like the seed of this pea (?) it shaU (be consumed) with fire,
9. the son of the gardener shall not plant (it) in the field,
10. in pool or canal it shall not be laid,
11. its root shall not take the ground,
12. its stalk shaU not rise on high nor see the sun.
13. Never may the bewitchment be produced in my heart,
14. never may (the destruction) seize the spine,
15. never may (the pain) seize the root of my heart ( = angina
pectoris) ;
16. may the guardian-priest (cause the ban to depart from it) and
unloose the bond.
17. (The torturing disease, the sin, the) backsliding, the wickedness,
the (sinning),
18. (the disease which is in my body), my flesh and (my) muscles,
19. (like this seed of the pea may it be destroyed, and)
20. on (this day may) the burning flame (consume it).
21. May the ban depart that I may see the light.

22. Incantation. — On her maiden (Istar) has laid the command (?),
23. Istar4 has directed (her maiden).
24. The maiden has settled (the man in her bed ?) ;
25. with white thread (and) black thread the rod has folded a snare
double upon the distaff,
26. a huge snare, a great snare, a varicoloured snare, a snare that
removes the ban.
27. (Against) the curse of the evil ban of mankind,
28. (against) the malediction of the gods,
29. the snare that removes the ban
30. (the man) binds about (his head), his hands and his feet.
1 Kispu, ideographicaUy " evil breath."
2 Rukhd, ideographicaUy " breath of violence."
8 Rus% ideographicaUy " breath of casting down" (© 255). In W. A. I.
ii. 29, 34, pinnaru rusS is interpreted " the demon who injures the womb."
4 Nin-Hl in the Aceadian text.

476 APPENDIX III.
31. Merodach, the son of Eridu, the prince, with his pure hands
breaks (it) ;
, 32. may he send the ban of that snare to the desert, a pure place.
33. May the evU ban settle elsewhere.
34. May this man be pure and resplendent !
35. To the prospering hands of his god may he be entrusted !
, 40. Conclusion (of the speU) for breaking the ban.

41. Incantation. — I upHft a vessel large and stately and kindle the
fire.
42. I kindle the coal, I burn the whole offering.
Col. iv. 1. The pure pourer of libations to Ea, the messenger of Mero
dach am I.
2. The coal I have kindled (and) I lull to rest.
3'. The fire have I Hghted (and) I increase;
4. The whole offering I have offered (and) I glorify.
5, Like the coal I have kindled, I wUl lull to rest ;
6. (like) the fire I have lighted, I wiU increase ;
7. (like) the whole offering I have offered', I will glorify.
8. May the god of herbs, the assembler of god and man,
9. unloose the knot he has knotted!.
10. From the knot of the heart may the god and goddess- of so-
and-so, the son of so-and-so, deliver him.
11. May his backsliding be outpoured on this day.
12. May they forgive him, may they deliver him !

13. Incantation. — Eest, 0 Fire-god the warrior I
14. Along with thee may the mountains (and) rivers rest !•
15. With thee may the Tigris and (Euphrates) rest !
16. With thee may the sea (and) the seas rest !
17. With thee may the road (kharran) rest, the daughter of the
(great) gods !
18. With thee may the plant of the high-place rest, the growth of
the height (suli) !
19. With thee may the heart of my god and my goddess who are
angry rest !
20. With thee may the heart of the god of my city and the goddess
of my city who are angry rest !
21. On this day may the heart of my god and my goddess unloose
the knot,
22. and may the ban depart from my body !
23. Since thou (enlightenest) the judge with thy Hght,

THE MAGICAL TEXTS. - 477

24. and (grantest) thy protection to the arbitrator,
25. judge my judgment, decide my decision !

26. [First line of the next tablet :] Incantation. — Wherefore has
the locust issued forth from (the heaven) ?
27. The (sixth) tablet of the surpu {consumption) series.
28. (Like its) copy (written and published).
29. Property of (Assur-bani-pal, king of legions,) king (of Assyria)."
VIII. K 1284, pubHshed by Lenormant, Atudes accadiennes, ii. 1, pp.
239 sq.
1. "Incantation. — The evil plague-demon burns up1 the land Hke
fire.
2. The plague-demon Hke the fever (asakku) attacks the man.
3. The plague-demon in the desert like a cloud of dust makes his
way.
4. The plague-demon like a foe takes captive the man.
5. The plague-demon like a flame consumes the man.
6. The plague-demon, thongh he hath neither hands nor feet, ever
goes round and round,
7. The plague-demon like destruction cuts down the sick man."

' LX. Magical formula? published by Haupt, Akkadische und Sumerische
Keilschrifttexte, ii. pp. 77 — 79.
Obv. 1. " Incantation. — The pure waters ....
2. The waters of the Euphrates whose place is ... .
3. The water which in the deep is firmly established.
4. The pure mouth of Ea purifies them.
5. The sons of the deep are those seven.
6. The waters glisten purely, the waters are bright, the waters
shine.
7. In the presence of your father Ea,
8. may he be pure, may he be bright, may he shine.
9. May the evil tongue depart elsewhere.
10. Conclusion of the spell. — Before a vessel of pure water repeat
the prayer thrice.
1 1 . Incantation. — The river-god is fresh and bright like a wrestler (?).
12. The cry of the ban before him is like (that of) a demon (ali).
1 Ikhimu. In S 1425. 1, 2, the ideograph is rendered by iqarrmti. The
fragment runs : " (The demons) burn up the land Hke water-(?), .... com
passion they know not, .... against mankind they rush."

478

APPENDIX III.

13. All the earth it encloses like the height of the firmament
(simetan).
14. May the Sun-god at his rising banish its darkness, and never
may there be night in the house.
Rev. 1. May the ban depart to the desert (to) a pure place.
2. The ban, 0 spirit of heaven, conjure ! 0 spirit of earth, conjure!
3. Conclusion of the speU. — For undoing the ban when with the
water of the river-god thou assistest him (tukattar-su).
4. Incantation. — 0 Fire-god, the sentient chief who art exalted in
the land,
5. the warrior, the son of the deep, who art exalted in the land,
6. 0 Fire-god, in thy holy fire,
7. in the house of darkness thou settest the light.
8. Of all that is called by a name thou fixest the destiny, and
9. of bronze and lead thou art the mingler (i. e. melter).
10. Of gold and silver1 thou art the prosperer.
11. Of Nin-KA-si thou art the companion.
12. Thou art he who turns the breast of the foe at night.
13. May the limbs of the man, the son of his god, be bright !
14. Like the heaven may he be pure !
15. Like the earth may he be bright !
16. Like the midst of heaven may he shine !
17. May the evU tongue (depart) elsewhere!
18. Conclusion of the speU for undoing the ban ....

S 504. Rev.
1. Incantation. — Land land, land ....
2. thine, thine, thine ....
3. (is) the mouth, the mouth, the mouth, the mouth ....
4. of the lord, the lord, the lord, the lord, the lord, the lord, the
lord, ....
5. the unique, the unique, the unique, the unique ....
6. unique (among) men ....
7. 0 spirit of heaven, conjure !
8. 0 spirit of Mul-lil, king of the world, (conjure !)
9. 0 spirit of Nin-lil, lady of the world, (conjure !)
10. 0 spirit of Adar, son of E-sarra, (conjure !)
11. 0 spirit of Nergal, king of Cutha, (conjure !)
12. O spirit of the Sun-god, king of Larsa, (conjure !)
13. 0 spirit of Nusku  "
1 In the Semitic version, " of sUver and gold."

IV.
HYMNS TO THE GODS.

I. Hymn to Adar (Haupt, Akkadische und Sumerische Keilschrifttexte,
ii. No. 10).
1. " The sting of the scorpion (labi),1 the mighty serpent of the god,
thou removest, making (its poison) to turn away from the land.
2. Adar, the king, the son of Mul-Hl, has caused it to turn into
itself.
3. He is the warrior whose lasso overthrows the foe.
4. 0 Adar, the fear of thy shadow inclines towards the world.
5. He assembles his people in strength to invade the hostile country.
6. Adar, the king, the son of his father, has made them turn the
face against distant lands.
7. On the throne of the shrine supreme, even on his seat, is a
brilliant light2 when he lights it up.
8. At the festival they establish him joyfully in his seat.
9. He is the rival of Anu and Mul-lil, he maketh the wine to be
good.
10. Bahu supplicates him with a prayer for the king.
11. Adar the lord, the son of Mul-lil, is the determiner of destiny.
12. The time is the weapon of my lord, in the mountain are his ears.
13. The god who binds the hosts of the firmament speaks to the
lord, to Adar!
14. * 0 lord, a station on high (is thy habitation) ....
15. O Adar, thy command changes not . . . .'

16. Anu the lord has created the earth.
17. Adar, the warrior who knows not fear, (has driven away) the pest.
18. The son of the nurse, the unresting, has (suckled) the essence of
mnk.

1 Not "Hon."
2 Compare the Shekinah of the Hebrew writers, the Hght which shone
over the mercy-seat.

480 APPENDIX IV.
19. 0 lord, the offspring that knows not a father, the smiter of the
mountain,
20. the strong (darru) hero, before whom the foe exists not,
21. Adar, manly exalter, who makes joyful his side,
22. 0 warrior, Hke a bull, mayest thou strengthen the side.
23. The lord who (grants) pardon to his city (and) action to his
mother,
24. has driven the chariot over the mountain, has scattered wide
the seed
25. (Men) altogether have proclaimed his name dady for sovereignty
over them.
26. In their midst, like a great wild bull, has he lifted up his horns.
27. The du stone, the precious stone, the strong stone, the snake-
stone and the mountain-stone,
28. the warrior — the fire-stone too — their warrior carries away to
the cities.1
29. The tooth of the worm (kusi) that comes forth from the moun
tain he binds.
30. To their hand, their city, their god and their land he brings it
back." 
II. W.A. I. H. 19. No. 2. Hymn to Merodach.
Obv. 1. "The smiter of the neck, the falchion, the blade that proclaims
me Anu,2 (I bear).
2. That from whose hand the mountain escapes not, the lasso of
battle, (I bear).
3. The spear (Sum. agar) of the hero, the long shaft of battle, (I
bear).
4. The strap which is bound fast to the man, the bow (qastu) of
the deluge (abubi),3 (I bear).
1 This Une is evidently corrupt, and since the Semitic qarradu has been
introduced into the Aceadian text, it muat be regarded as an interpolation.
The line must originaUy have run, urn-sag eri bab-s'ig-s'ig, " the hero has
carried to the city."
2 In the original Aceadian, " the blade of my divinity."
" Is this an aUusion to the "bow" of Gen. ix. 13 — 16 ? At any rate the
original phrase, "the bow of the deluge," is Aceadian (gisme mdtu), and the
word gisme, " bow," is rendered not by the usual Assyrian midpanu, but by
qastu, the Heb. qesheth. [For the pronunciation of gis-bam, "bow," see
W. A. I. ii. 39, 31.] A fragmentary text gives an account of the arming of
Merodach with " the bow of Anu" in " the assembly of the gods" before his
combat with Tiamat, and one of the consteUations was named " the star of,
the bow."

HYMNS TO THE GODS. 481
5. Destroying the temples of the foe, the bow and the arrow (kababa)
(I bear).
6. The deluge of battle, the weapon of fifty heads, (I bear).
7. That which like the monstrous snake bears the yoke on its
seven heads (I bear).
, 8. That which Hke the strong serpent of the sea (drives ?) the foe
before it,
9. the overthrower of mighty battle, prevailing over heaven and
earth, the weapon of (fifty) heads, (I bear).
10. That whose light gleams forth like the day, the god of the eastern
mountain, who binds the hand, (I bear).
11. The establisher of heaven and earth, the god whose hand has
no foe, (I bear).
12. The weapon, the terror of whose splendour (overwhelms) the
earth,
13. which in my right hand mightily is made to go, (and) with gold
and crystal (is covered),
14. (which) is set for the view (of mankind), the god who ministers
to Hfe, (I bear).
15. The weapon (which like) .... battles against the hostile land,
the weapon of fifty heads, (I bear). • • •
Rev. 1. Like a bird ....
2. May their habitation be pure !
3. Against the terror of my splendour, which is glorious as Anu,
who can stand ?
4. I am lord of the tower-like mountains, as high as the winds
they look.1
5. With a mountain of diamond (?),2 of turquoise and of crystal, I
fiU my hand
6. The spirits of the earth like a swine grope in the hollows.
7. In the mountain, to the hand of my supreme warriorship, I . . . .
my hand.
8. In my right hand the god who binds the hosts of the firmament
I bear.
9. In my left hand the god who slays the hosts of the firmament
I bear.
1 This is the Semitic paraphrase, the translator having punned upon the
resemblance of the Semitic sdri, " winds," to the Aceadian sarra, " the hosts-
of the firmament." The original Aceadian text is literaUy, " which to the
dwelling-place of the hosts of the firmament turn the head."
2 Literally, "stone of Hght."
2i

482.

APPENDIX IV.

10. The Sun-god of fifty faces, the falchion which proclaims me as
Anu, I bear.
11. The hero who destroys the mountain, the Sun-god who lifts not
up the offering, I bear.
12. The weapon, which Hke a monster (usumgalli) devours the
corpses (of the dead), I bear.
13. The destroyer of the mountain, the glorious weapon of Anu, I
bear.
14. The subduer (musaknis) of the mountain, the fish with seven
fins, I bear.
15. The offspring of battle, the flail of the hostile land, I bear."1

III. W.A. I. ii. 19. No. 1. Compared with E 126 (Hymn to Adar).
Obv. 1. " Below in the deep a loud voice is heard (lit. taken) ;
2. the terror of the splendour of Anu in the midst of heaven is
the extension of his path.
3. The spirits of the earth, the great gods, urge him on (?).
4. The lord Hke the deluge descends.2
5. Adar, the destroyer of the fortress of the hostile land, descends
like the deluge.
6  the hostelries in the precinct (?) of heaven ....
7. (He establishes) his path by the command of Mul-hl, destroying
the temple.
8. The hero of the gods who sweeps away the land.
9. To Nippur from afar (nidis) he draws not near.
10. Nuzku, the supreme messenger of Mul-lil, receives him in the
temple (E-kur).
11. To the lord Adar he addresses words of peace.
12. '0 my king, thou makest warlike deeds perfect (suMulat), to
thyself give ear.
13. O my king, thou makest warlike deeds (qarradat) perfect, to
thyself give ear.
14. The terror of thy splendour like a . . . .
Rev. 1. Thy chariot is the voice of its thundering (ana rigim rimeme-sa).
2. In thy marching, heaven and earth are its face.
3. To the Hfting up of thy hands is the shadow turned.
4. The spirits of the earth, the great gods, return to the winds.3
1 It is probable that the places of the obverse and reverse ought to be
interchanged. 2 Literally, "opens the clouds," iptah, for which see W.A I. iv. 23, 11.
3 This is the Semitic " translation," which, however, is due to bad ety-
ologising on the part of the translator, who has identified the Semitic sdru,

HYMNS TO THE GODS. 48b
5. Thy father on his seat thou fearest not.
6. Mul-Ul on his seat thou fearest not
7. The spirits of the earth on the seat of the height of the assembly
thou bindest not.
8. May thy father present thee with a gift in the hands of thy
warriorship.
9. May Mul-lil present thee with a gift in the hands of thy warrior-
ship.
10. A mighty king is Anu, the first-born of the gods.
11. The creation (sitkin) of Mul-lil, the creation of the Hfe of E-kur.
12. (Thou art) the warrior of the mountain who subjugatest,
13  the one god wiU not urge on.'"
IV. E117.
Obv. 10. "For the lord .... he took and utters the prayer :
11. 'O lord, in thy city (which) thou lovest may thy heart be at
rest!
12. 0 lord Adar, (in the house which) thou lovest may thy heart
be at rest !
Rev. 1. In the temple of Nippur, thy city which thou lovest, (may thy
heart be at rest !)
2. Into the house of prayer and listening, the seat of the goodness
of thy heart, in joy descend.
3. The (handmaid) of thy wife is the servant of Nin-Hl.
4. Speak to her from thy heart, speak (to her) from thy liver.
5. Declare (in) the land the goodness of the king unto distant
regions.'"
V. K 5001.
1. " O lord, who liftest up the torch (dipari), who pursuest swiftly
(mukhammedh) the foe,
2. who carriest away the land of the disobedient, may thy heart
be exalted !
3. Thou who destroyest (mupalli) the life of the evil one, may thy
heart be. exalted !
4. Thou who rainest fire and stones1 upon the enemy, may thy
heart be exalted ! "
" wind," and taru, " to return," with the Aceadian sarra, " the hosts of the
firmament," and nam-tar, "destiny." The Aceadian original is reaUy, "as
far as the hosts of the firmament determine destiny."
1 In the Semitic translation, " stones and fire." Compare the account of
the destruction of the cities of the plain in Gen. xix. 24 : " The Lord rained
upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire."
2i2

484. APPENDIX IV.
VI. W.A. Liv. 11.
Obv. 1. " (The chief shepherd [damgarru]) became hostile (ittakhap) ;
aU the world was troubled.
2. (The lord) of the chief shepherd became hostUe ; aU the world
was troubled.
3. He cried in the house (es) of Nipur :
4. ' In E-kur is the dwelling of the hero of the house of life.'
5. In Sippara he was hostile :
6. ' The temple of Babara is the house of the judge of the world.'
7. In Babylon was he hostile :
8. ' E-Saggil is the house of the temple of the resting-place of the
world.'
9. In Borsippa did he become hostile :
10. 'In E-Zida is the house of the supreme temple of life ;
11. the (temple) of the foundations of heaven and earth is the house
of the temple of the antelope of heaven.'
12. His lord sets the offering.1
13. (On) a throne of pain he seats himself.
14. His lord behind him delivered not the oracle.
15. Ul-Hlli (Mul-Ul) descended to the ghosts.
16. With tears he weeps and mourns.
17. In the distance one far off he (sees).
18. (On) his mound a fire (he kindled ?).
19. His god with the reed of weeping ....
20. The anointer-priest speaks not.
21. The gallos-priest says not : ' When shaU thy heart (be pacified) ?'
22. The anointer comes forth from the (place of) anointing (kuzbi).
23. His lord comes forth from the corn-field.
24. The gaUu-priest comes forth from his (place of) supplication.
25. His lord sits not down, his mistress sits not down.
26. His lord shouted and rode upon the mountain.
27. His mistress shouted and rode to the mountain.
28. ' The fox is tied by his tail.'2
29. Lifting up his voice with the many-coloured bird he answers.
30. His heart is ... .
Rev. 6. The incantation (in Sippara) is evil.
7. The house of the temple of Babara is evil.
8. The incantation in Babylon is evil.
9. The incantation in E-Saggil is evil
1 In the Semitic version, " trembles."
8 " Turned round" in the Semitic version.

HYMNS TO THE GODS. 485
10. The incantation in Borsippa is evil.
11. The incantation in E-Zida is evil.
12. In the supreme temple of life it is evil.
13. In the temple of the foundations of heaven and earth it is evil.
14. In the temple of the antelope of heaven it is evil.
15. What is that which is in the heart of my lord?'
16. What is there in his ear?
17. What has he perceived with his holy ear?
1 8. The god has wrought destruction (sakhluqta).
19. He has caused the river to carry away (the people).
20. He has caused (the simoom ?) of sickness (pusti) to come forth
from the desert.
21. The (hair ?) of the head has been sown as seed in the field.
22  he cries out ; words he addresses to him :
23. ' 0 (Mul)-Hl and wife (of thee) Nin-Hl !
24. His (spouse), the lady of the temple of .... '
25. (To the queen) the divine lady of Nipur he utters the cry.
26. .... the world he completes.
29  thou restorest.
30  during the night thou completest.
31  among the flocks thou art set.
32  night by night a watch thou estabHshest.
33  and write the tablet of his blessedness."

VII. W. A. I. iv. 13. No. 1. On the execution of a stone image of
Adar.
Obv. 1, 2. "(The god) Adar, the lord, the son of Mul-(lil, who can
rival thee ?)
3. The strong stone (urn), which in my battle (the bow contains),
4. like a glorious eye (is seen).
5. Thy hand thou raisest not ....
6. In sovereignty the lord is alone (supreme).
7. 0 Adar, the lord, the son of Mul-lil, who can rival (thee) ?
8. From, the lofty mountains of Elam may it be fetched.
9. From the mountain of Magan (Sinai) may it be brought down.
10. Thou art (as) strong bronze, like the skin (thou art smooth ?)
11. I am lord; to the hands of my warriorship mightily I (commit
it?).
1 2. (I am) the king who establishes his name for a Hfe of long days.
13. His image is resplendent unto future days.
14. In the temple of Mul-lil (l) the temple of completion ....
15. a place of drinking (and eating), for beauty (constructed),

486 APPENDIX IV.
16. the lord has made good the stone.
17. For his body has he made its stonework.
18. Adar, the lord, the son of Mul-Hl, (drives away?) the curse of
rain.
19. The stone which when it is harmful (?) to me, he ... .
20. that stone, which for my battle the bow holds (talmikh]),1
21. mayest thou, when thou ragest like a wild boar, overshadow.
23. It is laid, and according to the message is wrought, to its smaUest
parts it is made perfect.
24. May he who knows thee bring thee back to the waters.
25. My king has taken the stone of the papyrus for a stone,
26. Adar, the lord, the son of Mul-Hl, cuts it not.
27. The opening (of) the ear thou makest holy (tuqdis) ; mayest
thou send terror.
Rev. 1. In the land of the foe, in aU the world together, mayest thou
proclaim my name.
2. In peace with thee have I walked uprightly.
3. May thy might2 be hard upon him that is made smaU.
4. My command in thy body let it guide aright.
5. In the slaughter of the weapon the warrior whom thou slayest
is utterly destroyed.
6. On the altar supreme mayest thou lay the table of shewbread
(birutu) !
7. May one purify the land happUy for thee, and establish it in
exaltation.
8. My king has taken the mountain-stone for a stone.
9. To its strength he gives answer.
10. Adar the lord, the son of Mul-Hl, cuts it not.
11. (He is) the hero exalted, the Hfting up of the Hght of whose
eyes is upon other lands.
12. The mountain-stone (it is) which in the hostile land utters
strongly (?) (its) cry to you.
13. A woman (?) did not faU(?) into my hand.
14. With the strong I was not weak (attadhu).
15. At the foot of thy men thou didst pour out the ... .
16. May the command of the Sun-god be a command unto thee !
17. Like a judge direct the world aright.
18. He who knows the command, whatever be his name,

1 The hymn must be of some antiquity, since stone arrow-heads are here
referred to.
2 Rahbui, Aceadian gurra ; see W. A. I. v. 20, 22.

HYMNS TO THE GODS. 487
19. to the command may he guide thee."
Vin. W. A. I. iv. 13. No. 2.
1. " Thy hand is clean, thy hand is white ;
2. may the hands of the gods that accompany thee be clean, may
their hands be white !
3. On a pure dish eat pure food.
4. In a pure vessel drink pure water.
5. May the king, the son of his god, give ear to thee for judgment
( = at the judgment-seat)."

LX. W. A. L iv. 14. No. 2.
Obv. 1. " Incantation. — The pure waters ....
2. The waters of the Euphrates which in a place ....
3. The waters which are for ever collected together1 in the deep,
4. the pure mouth of Ea has made resplendent.
5. The sons of the deep, those seven,
6. have made the waters resplendent, have made the waters white,
have made the waters shine.
7. In the presence of your father Ea,
8. in the presence of your mother Dav-kina,
9. may it be resplendent, may it be white, may it shine.
10. May the evU mouth, unresting, be closed
1 1. End of the incantation. Eepeat it three times, using pure water.

12. Incantation. — The curse is before him ; its cry is like that of a
demon ;
13. it binds aU the world Hke the zenith of the dawn,
14. The Sun-god at his rising scatters its darkness, and never may
there be gloom in the house !
Rev. 1. May the curse depart to the desert, a pure place !
2. The curse, 0 spirit of heaven, conjure ! 0 spirit of earth, conjuTe !
3. Conclusion of the incantation for exorcising the evil speU.. The
earth, 0 river-god, thou dost surround (tukattar).

4. Incantation. — The fire-god (is) the prince (vizier) who is high in
the earth,
5. the warrior, the son of the deep, who is high in the earth.
6. 0 Fire-god, by thy pure fire,
7. in the house of darkness thou makest Hght.
1 LiteraUy, " firmly established," in the Semitic version,

488

APPENDIX IV.

8. Thou determinest the destiny of all that is called by a name.
9. Of bronze and lead thou art the mingler.
10. Of gold and silver1 thou art the benedictor.
11. Thou art the companion of the god Nin-gusi.
12. Thou art he that turnest (to flight) the breast of the evil man
at night.
13. Mayest thou enUghten the limbs of the man the son of his god.
14. Like heaven may he be pure !
15. Like the midst of heaven may he shine !"

X. W. A. I. iv. 14. No. 3. Hymn to Nebo.
1. " To Nebo the supreme messenger, who binds all things together,
2. the scribe of aU that has a name, for thy purity2 (ascribe) the
lordship.
3. The lifter up of the stylus supreme, the director of the world
4. The possessor of the reed of augury, the traverser of strange
(lands),
5. the opener of the wells, the fructifier of the corn,
6. the god without whom8 the irrigated land (iku) and the canal
are un(watered),
7. the glorious lord who pours out the oil of anointing and the
unguent,
8. hear the prayer, (consider) the supplication 1
9. 0 mighty hero, king (of E-Zida?)."

XI. W. A. I. iv. 18. No. 1. Hymn on the building of E-Saggil.
1. "(The god who dwells?) in Babylon has proclaimed its name
for ever.4
2  at the gate of the deep he built the house he loves.
3. (The men) of the city he fills with joy and gladness.
4. Its head Hke heaven he raised.5
5. At the gate of the deep founding the house (with) fear and
mercy, for the glory of his godhead he made it march.
6. (0 Bel) and Zarpanit, thy holy shrine he founds.
1 The order is reversed hi the Semitic version.
2 The Semitic version seems to have " wisdom."
3 The Aceadian ha8 " the gods without him," but the Semitic translator
has mistaken the plural for a singular.
4 In the Aceadian, zides, from zida, " perpetual"
6 Conip. Gen. xi. 4.

HYMNS TO THE GODS. 48£
7. He caused (his guardian priests ?) to inhabit the seat of
abundance.
8. The .... for its midst he opened.
9. (In the oracle) a favourable destiny he determines (isama).
10. (The men of the city joy and) gladness estabHshed.
11  the goddess (satisfies) the heart with sounds of music day
and night."1
XII. W. A. I. iv. 18. No. 2. Fragment of a hymn to Merodach.
Obv. 1. " The resting-place of the lord of the supreme temple of Hfe
is thy house,
2. E-Saggil, the temple of thy lordship, is thy house.
3. May thy city speak to thee of a resting-place : (it is) thy house.
4. May Babylon speak to thee of a resting-place : (it is) thy house.
5. May Anu, the chief, the father of the gods, say to thee : ' When
(wdtthou) rest?'
6. May the great mountain (sadu rabu), the father of Mul-lil, (say
to thee) : ' When (wilt thou rest) V
7. May Zikum, (the mistress) of the house, the mighty mother of
Mul-lil, (say to thee) : ' When (wUt thou rest) ?'
8. May the (spirits of the earth) of Mul-Hl, the supreme powers of
Anu, (say to thee) : ' When (wUt thou rest) ? '
Rev. 1. Look down upon thy temple, look down upon thy city, 0 lord
of rest !
2. Look down upon Babylon and E-Saggu, 0 lord of rest !
3. The scenery of Babylon, the enclosure of E-SaggU, the brickwork
of E-Zida, may he restore to their place !
4. May the gods of heaven and earth say unto thee : ' 0 lord, be
at rest!'
5. Give Hfe to Ansar (Assur)2 thy shepherd, thy feeder; hear his
prayer !
6. Lay weU the foundations of the throne of his sovereignty ; may
he nourish the seed of men unto everlasting days !
7. The lifting up of the hand to Merodach."
XIII. W. A. I. iv. 18. No. 3.
1. " On the seat of the holy of holies of the oracle ....
i "Night and day" in the Semitic version.
, a An Assyrian scribe seema to have introduced the name of the old capital
city of Assur into the Une in place of some deity, probably Tammuz, who is
called "the divine son" in the Aceadian text.

490 APPENDIX IV.
2. a staff of crystal for .... of the shepherd .... (place in) his
hand.
3. Honey, milk and abundance of (corn, give to him).
4. The mountain which bears the offering, even the offering of . . . .
5. The desert (and) the field which bear the offering, even the
offering of ... .
6. The garden of fruit which bears the offering, even the offering
of 
7. In the right hand of the king the shepherd of his country may
the Sun-god be (carried ?).
8. In his left hand may the Moon-god be (carried ?).
9. May thy prospering spirit (sidu), thy prospering colossos of the
lordship and sovereignty of the land, rest upon his body !

10. Conclusion of the spell for a storm (?).

11. Incantation. — The weapon which scatters rays of brflliance, that
is made beautiful for kingship,
12. the lofty falchion which has been fitted for the hands of;
sovereignty,
13. the forceful flash, made for the hand to grasp (sutadkhar), there
is none who faces.
14. (It is) for the land of the enemy to sweep away the attacking
foe.
15. Ea, the king of the deep,
16. answered Nin-gur(?), the chief handmaid of Anu, and the word
he takes :
17. ' Go, Nin-gur (?), great handmaid of Anu !
18. In the holy forest of the wood of the locust (?),
19. the great stones, the great stones that are made beautiful with
rejoicing,
20. that are fitted to become the body1 of the gods,
21. the porous stone (khulal) of the eyes, the porous stone of the
snake's sting, the porous-stone, the turquoise, the crystal,
22. the gubsu stone, the precious stone, glass2 completely doubled,3
23. its sapingu stone, (and) gold must be taken,
24. to be set on the pure breast of the man for an adornment.
1 " Flesh" in the Assyrian version. Of courae, stone images are meant.
2 Elmesu, Aceadian sudam.
3 Antasurra, explained in W.A. I. n. 20, 5, by tsuppwru sa libbi, "folding
of the heart." In W.A. I. iv. 26, 38, it is the equivalent of the Assyrian
xarikhu.

HYMNS TO THE GODS. 491
25. The pure god who is exalted afar, the supreme buU of Mul-lil
purifies and enlightens.
26. May the evU prince depart to another place.

27. The great stones, the great stones, the great stones of honour,
28. (the fragment) of crystal, the fragment of crystal,
29. the holy (stones) which are fuU of beauty and rejoicing, that
are fitted to be gazed upon,
30. (which are) the flesh of the gods, very brilliant are they,
31. even the gubsu (stone), the eye-stone of Melukhkha and the
porous stone !"
XIV. W.A.I, iv. 20. No. 2. Hymn to the Sun-god.
1. "0 Sun-god, on the horizon of heaven thou dawnest !
2. The pure bolts of heaven thou openest !
3. The doors of heaven thou openest !
4. 0 Sun-god, thou liftest up thy head to the world !
5. O Sun-god, thou coverest the earth with the bright firmament
of heaven !
6. Thou settest the ear to (the prayers) of mankind ;
7. thou plantest the foot of mankind ....
8. The cattle of the god (Ner thou enlightenest)."

XV. W.A. I. iv. 20. No. 3. Hymn to Nebo.
1. " .... 0 lord of Borsippa !
2. Thou createst (?) the power, 0 son of E-Saggil !
3. 0 lord, there is no power that can compare with thy power !
4. 0 lord, who givest the name to Borsippa,1 there is no power
that can compare with thy power !
5. There is no temple that can compare with thy temple E-Zida !
6. There is no city that can compare with thy city Borsippa !
7. There is no place that can compare with thy place Babylon !
8. Thy weapon is the unique monster (usumgallu), from whose mouth
the breath pours not out (inattuku), the blood drips not
(izarruru).
9. Thy command is unchangeable Hke the heavens; in heaven
thou art supreme !" 
XVI. W.A.I. iv. 21. No. 1.
Obv. 1. " At the Hfting up of your2 hands, with a dark blue dress
(tsubatu) I cover myself.
1 In the Semitic rendering, simply " Nebo."
¦ The Semitic version mistranslates " their."

492

APPENDIX IV.

2. A robe (samlinna) of many colours I place in your hands ; a cedar-
tree whose heart is strong ....
3. The barrier I have completely drawn ; with clean hands the
sagatstsi (destroyers ?) I have brought for you.
4. The .... of the corn god, the curse of the gods I have brought
for you. • ••••*
8. Complete the .... of the image with two-fold knottings of the
image. ,
9. (Set) the image of the baleful gallu-demon on the head of the
sick man on the right hand and the left.
10. (Set) the image of Nergal (Lugal-nerra) who has no rival on the
enclosure of the house.
11. (Set) the image of 'Sulim-ta-e who has no rival ....
12. (Set) the image of Narudu, who (performs) the commands of the
great gods, below on the bed ....
13. Against aU evU that cannot be faced (set) the Honey -god and
Latarak in the gate (of the house).
14. To expel aU that is evil (set) him who1 shatters the offspring of,
evil in front of its gate.
15. (Set) the twin fighters, the sagatstsi, in the midst of the gate.
16. (Set) the twin fighters who bind the hand on the threshold of
the gate on the right hand and on the left.
17. (Set) the image of the watcher of Ea and Merodach in the
midst of the gate on the right hand and on the left.
18. (This?) is the speU of Asari (Merodach) who dwells in the
image ....
Rev. 1. A spell ! a speU ! He laid on him the curse like the going
down of cattle and the coming up of cattle.
2. Ye are the offspring of the pure deep, the children of Ea.
3. Eat what is good, drink honey water, ye are a watch that no
evU (happen).
4. Like a god he concealed (?) the face of the seven images on (his)
hand ....
5. Before them (his) foot was stationary, and to the presence of
the seven images ....
1 Here the Semitic translator, who in the previous Hne has transferred
the Aceadian nu-ti into the Semitic text, has introduced the Semitic relative -
pronoun sa into the Aceadian text. The whole text has evidently under
gone extensive alterations.

HYMNS TO THE GODS. 493
6. of the cedar (and) of the weapons which they lifted up.

7. Incantation. — The slaughterer of the hostile incubus,
8. the presenter of life, the very strong (mugdhasru),
9. who turns the breast of the evil one,
10. the protector of the oracle of Mul-Hl,
11. the fire-god who sweeps away the foe,
12. the falchion which overwhelms the plague,
13. the dragon (mamlu) which shines brightly,1
14. the gods seven, the destroyers of hostility.

15. (The god) who makes perfect the barrier of heaven and earth."

XVII. W.A.I. iv. 22. No. 1.
Obv. 1. "(The demon) from E-kur has come forth.
2. From the temple of Nipur he has come forth.
3. The female spirit devours with a snake's mouth.2
4. He has not overshadowed the .... he has not made good the
evil.
5. The sickness of night and day is he.
6. His hand is the storm-demon (alu), his side is the deluge.
7. His face is that of the god of destruction.
8. His eye is filled with the shadow of the forest.
9. The sole (muzzulu) of his foot is the lullub tree.3
10. May he lift up the muscle as he hurries (it) along.
11. He makes (all) creatures hurry (in fear).
12. Lifting up the body he seizes the ....
..... ¦
20. The side like a brick he breaks in pieces.
21. The breast like a snare he tears in two.
22. The ribs like an old ship he shatters.
23. The very heart like a double frame he seizes.
24. The locust he makes lie down like water-cress.
25. The .... he divides like an ox.
26. The .... he slaughters and the ox he spares not.
27. The ox he slaughters and the wild buU he tames not.
28. He ... . and makes not perfect his horns.
29. He slaughters (the cows) and makes not their oxen.

1 In the Aceadian, "is favourable."
2 In the Semitic version, simply pasidhtuv, "the destroyer."
3 In Aceadian, " the atu of the desert," here described as " the tree of the
supreme spirit."

494

APPENDIX IV.

30. The cattle of the field he slaughters, and Hke a cloud of ... .
locusts sweeps along together.
31. Like a bow made ready (basme) he fills aU that has a name.
32. Merodach beholds him, and
33. to his father Ea into the house he entered and says :
34. ' O my father, the demon of madness has gone forth from fi-kur.'
35. Twice did he address him, and
36. what the man may do he knows not, or how he may be at rest.
Rev. 1. Ea answered his son Merodach :
2. ' My son, what knowest thou not, what can I teach thee ?
3. Merodach, what knowest thou not, what can I teach thee ?
4. What I know, thou too knowest.
5. Go, my son Merodach !
6. Take the .... of the vault and
7. at the mouth of the twin rivers take the waters, and
8. lay thy holy spell on their waters.
9. Purify (them) with thy pure charm.
10. Sprinkle the .... of the man the son of his god.
11. Bind the bond upon his head.
12. Let him be fed abundantly.
13. At the dayspring give the command.
14. In the broad street place (him).
15. Let the madness of his head be removed (from him).
16. May the malady of the head which has descended (kitmuru)
Hke the rain (zunni) of the night be driven away.
17. May the word of Ea issue forth like the dawn !
18. May Dav-kina direct (it) !
19. May Merodach, the eldest son of the deep, be Hght and happiness
unto thee !"
XVIII. W.A. I. iv. 22. No. 2.
1. " Merodach thine enkindler (?) (dali) ....
2. in the night he was in grief, in the day he was troubled
3. And in a dream he sent unto him a warning (gipilutuv) ;
4. revealing (it) in a vision,1 he did not direct him.
5. The questioner (of the oracle) at the altar (mussaltkd) did not
open for him the eye.
6. His sick (neck) was not quiet in the yoke.
7. The .... with pure means did not soothe him.
1 The ideograph used in the Aceadian text for bvru, "a vision," is the
repreaentative of biru, "produce," showing that this text belongs to the
Semitic epoch.

HYMNS TO THE GODS. 495
8. Like an ox (in) the .... was he.
9. Like a lamb (among) the bricks .... was he confounded, and
10. at the mouth of the camp (was he) laid"
XIX. W. A. I. iv. 23. No. 1.
Col. i. 6. " Seven are the gods the sons of Bel who is the voiie of the
firmament ; they heap up the seat.
7. Twelve are the sons of copper; on the heart of the rim they
lay the copper.
8. The rim of the copper is dark (tekil).
9. The great bull, the supreme bull, who treads down the pure
pasturage,
10. has opened the heart (of it), spreading wide (its) fertility,
11. planting the corn, and beautifying the field;
12. my pure hands has he purified before thee !
13. The mouth of the deep (' the sea') which is between the ears
of the buU is made ; on the right is it made ; a rim of copper
I found.
14. On a reed whose head is cut thou shalt press a good reed.
15. The bull, the offspring of the god Zu, art thou !
16. At thy command am I carrying the pails for thee.
17. For ever is the Lady of the eternal tree thy comrade;
18. The great (gods ?), who determine the boundaries,
19. who establish (musim) the laws of heaven and earth.
20  May the rim be watched over, and
21  to Bel may he present (liqdhais).
22  of the buU is made, on the left hand it is made ; the rim1
of copper I found. 
23. How long, O lord of shade, shaU the shade be a cover ?
24. How long, 0 mighty mountain, father of Mul-Hl, who art a
shade ?
25. 0 shepherd that determinest destiny, who art a shade, how long?
Col. ii. iii. and iv. are too mutilated for translation.
1 Lilisu means the metal band which was laid over a door, Hke the metal
bands that bound together and ran across the gates of Balawat. In this text,
therefore, it may denote the " cover" of "the sea" rather than its "rim."

496 APPENDIX IV
Last line : At the time when thou bringest the bull to the^ emple of
Mummu (Chaos). The work of the gaUos-priest."

XX. W. A. I. iv. 26, 1. Hymn to Nergal.
1. " O warrior, the mighty deluge, that sweepest away the hostile
land!
2. 0 warrior of the great city of Hades, that sweepest away the
hostile land !
3. 0 god that comest forth from 'Sulim, that sweepest away the
hostile land !
4. 0 mighty ruler (am), illustrious (nerra) lord, that sweepest away
the hostile land !
5. O lord of Cutha, that sweepest away the hostile land !
6. 0 lord of the temple of 'Sulim, that sweepest away the hostile
land !
7. 0 gallos-spirit (libir) of the divine master of the dawn, that
sweepest away the hostile land !
8. 0 warrior of the god Supulu, that sweepest away the hostile
land!
9. the mighty deluge, who has no rival,
10. the uplifter of the weapon, who threshes out opposition !"

XXI. W. A. I. iv. 26. No. 5.
1. " (He traverses) the canal in his march ;
2. (he disturbs ?) the canal in his march ;
3. (he troubles ?) the public square (ribitu) when he seeks it ;
4. (he troubles ?) the canal (and) the street in his march.
5. The Hbation (and) the outpouring he treads down ;
6. in the waters that run not straight he plants the foot.
7. The waters of an unclean hand does he give.
8. The woman whose hand is unpropitious does he receive.
9. The handmaid whose hand is unclean he looks down on.
10. The woman of impurity he embraces."

XXII. W. A. I. iv. 26. No. 2.
1. " The poison of the snake which infects the sheepcote,
2. the poison of the scorpion which cannot be expelled from the
man,
3. the poisonous water which descends in the dead of night,
4. the snare which is set at the edge of the forest,
5. the outspread net which is stretched unto the sea,

HYMNS TO THE GODS. 497
6. from whose meshes no fish can escape."
XXin. W. A. I. iv. 26. No. 3. Hymn to Nuzku (as the Fire-god).
1. " The lord who giveth rest to the heart, counsellor of the coun
sels1 of the great gods ;
2. Nuzku, who giveth rest to the heart, counsellor of the coun
sels of the gods ;
3. (god) of Nipur, who giveth rest to the heart, counsellor of the
counsels of the gods ;
4. wise prince, the flame of heaven, who giveth rest to the heart,
counsellor of the counsels of the gods ;
5. the chief Mubarra,2 the exalted male,
6. who hurls down terror, whose clothing (?) is splendour ;
7. the forceful Fire-god (Mubarra), the exalter of the mountain-
peaks,
8. the uplifter of the torch, the enlightener of the darkness."

XXIV. W. A. I. iv. 26. No. 4.
1. " Who can escape from thy message (pirid\i or puridi) ?
2. Thy word is the supreme snare which is stretched towards
heaven and earth.
3. It turns to the sea, and the sea dreads it.
4. It turns to the marsh, and the marsh mourns.
5. It turns to the channel3 of the Euphrates, and
6. the word of Merodach disturbs its bed.
7. 0 lord, thou art supreme ! who is there that rivals thee ?
8. O Merodach, among the gods as many as have a name thou art
he that coverest them !"

XXV. W. A. I. iv. 26. No. 7.
1. " . . . . and with a rag (?) which is useless for the body,
2. (and) the water of a pool which the hand has not drawn, fill a
cup that is bound with a cord ;
3. place in it green corn, pieces of broken (?) cane, horned sugar (?)
(ukhula) (and) drops of beer,
4. and lay it upon a double ring,
5. and give the man pure water to drink. ^
1 Malik milki.
2 Aceadian (north Babylonian) form of the Sumerian Gubarra, rendered
"the Fire-god" in the Semitic version.
3 Literally, "band."
2k

498 APPENDIX IV.
6. Pour the water over him, and
7. remove the womb of a crane, and
8. compound the pure wine and pure sugar (?) ;
9. the fat of a crane which has been brought from the mountains
place in it, and
10. seven times anoint (therewith) the body of the man."

XXVI. W. A. I. iv. 27. No. 4. Hymn to Mul-lil. :
1. " (Of thee), 0 Mul-lil, mighty is the power,
2. who upliftest the terror of (thy) splendour, who protectest the
day, who castest abroad (thy) majesty,
3. lord of the morning-star, mighty (is thy) power,
4. destiny supreme, who hurlest abroad (thy) majesty ;
5. the god of ghosts (Lillum)1 was the father and mother that
begat him, mighty is (his) power ;
6. the lasso that overthrows the hostile land ;
7. the great lord (and) warrior, mighty (is his) power ;
8. the house that exalts itself, which destroys the wicked sorcerer.
9. Of thee, the lord of Nipur, even of thee, mighty (is) the power,
10. 0 lord, the Hfe of the land, the hero (maddu) of heaven and
earth."2 
XXVII. W. A. I. iv. 27. No. 5. Perhaps a poem on the Deluge.
1  (it overthrew?) them like a cup of outpoured wine.
2  country to country ran together.
3. It made the handmaid ascend her chamber (?) ;3
4. the freeman it made to depart from the house of her trade.
5. It drove the son from the house of his father ;
6. the doves in their cotes it took.
7. The bird on its wing it caused to ascend ;
8. it made the swallow fly from his nest.
9. The ox it slaughtered, the lamb it slaughtered ;
, l In the Aceadian text, " the man of ghost(s)."
2 In the Aceadian text, "hero of the earth."
3 An(a)taki. The word occurs again in the fragment of a biHngual poem,
of which only the ends of the Unes are preserved (S 704, 19), and which
seems to refer to the deluge. The fragment is as follows (1. 8) : " . . . . they
made a tempest, .... the waters seized the corpses, .... Hke (a fisherman ?)
they caught the fish of the deep, .... they took the dakkani, .... they took
the fortresaea, .... of her chamber (antaki) they took, .... in the park of
Istar they took, .... the lord of the gods received, .... it concealed him,"
&c. .

HYMNS TO THE GODS. 499
10: the great serpents, the evil spirits (utulcku), were their huntsmen.
11. They  of the land
12. In the brickwork of the foundations ....
13. The mountain like a cup that is bound with a cord ....
14. Balum, the mistress of the supreme ones, the mountain of the
bond ....
1 5. The foot to the earth (she set) not.
16. The street of the land (she crossed) not."

XXVIII. W. A. L iv. 27. No. 6.
1. " The lamb, during the day, which Tammuz1 (feeds),
2. make to lie down in front of the sick man ;
3. remove its heart ;
4. place it in the hand of the man.
5. Eepeat the speU of Eridu :
6. ' The offspring of his heart thou hast taken away ;
7. turn back the food the man has swallowed ;
8. expel, pour out, his food, which burns as fire.'2
9. Bind a wisp of straw round the man, and
10. repeat the spell of Eridu : ' 0 spirit of the great gods, conjure
11. the evU incubus (utuk), the evil alu, the evU demon (ekimmu),
12. the phantom (and) the vampire !'"

XXIX. W. A. I. iv. 28. No. 1. Hymn to the Sun-god.
Obv. 1. " 0 Sun-god, the (supreme) judge of the world art thou !
2, 0 lord of the Hving creation, the pitiful one who (directest) the
world !
3. 0 Sun-god, on this day purify and Ulumine the king the son of
his god !
4. Let aU that is wrought of evU which is in his body be removed
elsewhere !
5. Like the cup of the Zoganes, cleanse him !
6. Like a cup of ghee, make him bright !
7. Like the copper of a polished tablet, let him be made bright !
8. Undo his curse !
9. Until the day when he shall live, the supremacy ....
Rev. 1. With Anu and Mul-Hl ....
2. Direct the law of the multitudes of mankind !
3. Thou art eternal righteousness in the heaven !

1 En-mirsi in the Aceadian text.
2 Kendered by the Assyrian kilutu, " a burning," in 82, 9 (cf. M 602)..
2k2

500 APPENDIX IV.
-4. Thou art justice, even the bond1 of the ears of the world !
5. Thou knowest right, thou knowest wickedness !
6. 0 Sun-god, righteousness has lifted up its foot !2
7. 0 Sun-god, wickedness has been cut as with a knife !
8. O Sun-god, the minister of Anu and Mul-lU art thou !
9. 0 Sun-god, the judge supreme of heaven and earth art thou !

XXX. W.A. I. iv. 28. No. 2. Hymn to Eimmon.
8  the god, the lord of the deluge.
9. (Eimmon in) his anger has bound for him the heaven.
10. Eimmon in his strength has shaken for him the earth.
11. The mighty mountain, thou hast overwhelmed it.
12. At his anger, at his strength,
13. at his roaring, at his thundering,
14. the gods of heaven ascend to the sky,
15. the gods of earth descend to the earth.
1.6. Into the horizon of heaven they enter,
17. into the zenith of heaven they make their way."

XXXI. W.A. I. iv. 28. No. 4. (Haupt, Keilschrifttexte, p. 182.)
Obv. 1. "Of Babylon the digging up ... .
2. Of the city the digging up ... .
3. Of Nisin the digging up ... .
4. The city whose corn is cut, in baskets (is carried ?),
5. has let food be seen where there was no food.
6. She whose husband is a lad says : ' Where is my husband V
7. The son of the lad says : ' Where is my son V
8. The handmaid says : ' Where is my brother ?'
9. In the city the mother who bears chUdren says : ' Where is my
son?'
10. The young girl says : ' Where is my father ?'
11. He who resides in the street has driven (them) along.
12. The mean man comes forth, the great man comes forth (to
destroy).
13. (From) Nipur the mean man comes forth, the great man comes
forth.
1 Birit. In W. A. I. iv. 14, 9, the same ideograph si-gal is rendered by
berati, " weU," an iUustration of the artificial character of the language of
the hymns to the Sun-god. The Aceadian of this line is : " Justice in
heaven, a bond on earth art thou."
2 "Neck" in the Aceadian text.

HYMNS TO THE GODS. 501
14. (From) Babylon the mean man comes forth,- the great man
comes forth.
15. (From) Nisin the mean man comes forth, the great man comes
forth.
16  he made perfect the dog; he reared the watch-dog (nadhiru).
17  strength ; he made perfect the hyaena.
18  he filled the dust-cloud.
19  not returning to his place.
.......
Rev. 8. the god .... from the temple came not forth.
9. The goddess of the city of Kur-mina .... from the temple
came not forth.
10. The mistress looked not towards her temple.
11. The mistress looked not towards her city.
12. The .... she knows, of the cities none exist.
13. On the mounds of the temple of her commands she prayed.
14. On the foundations of the temple in the city of her holy border
she stood not.
15. On the hUl of the city of the goddess Kur-niina she sat not.
16. To the pure ear of her city she speaks.
17. To Babylon the evU-doer she speaks :
18. ' My house, the house of my life, has suffered evil ....
19. The temple of Larsa has done . . . .'"

XXXII. W.A. I. iv. 29. No. I. Hymn to Merodach.
Obv. 1. " (0 king) of the land, lord of the world !
2. (0 king), first-born of Ea, powerful (over) heaven and earth !
3  mighty lord of mankind, king of the world, god of gods !
4. (Prince) of heaven and earth, who has no rival !
5. The companion of Anu and Mul-lU !
6. The merciful one among the gods !
7. The merciful one who loveth to give life to the dead !
8. MeTodach, king of heaven and earth !
9. King of Babylon, lord of E-Saggil !
10. King of E-Zida, lord of E-makh-tila ('the supreme house of
life') !
11. Heaven and earth are thine !
12. All round heaven and earth is thine !
13. The spell that giveth life is thine !
14. The breath that giveth life is thine !
15. The holy writing of the mouth of the deep is thine !
16. Mankind, even the black-headed race,

502

APPENDIX IV.

17. the living creatures as many as pronounce a name and exist in
the earth,
18. the four zones, aU that there are,
19. the angels of the hosts of heaven and earth, whatever be their
number,
20. (all worship) thee and (lend to thee their) ears.
Rev. 1. Thou art the ....
2. Thou art the (good) colossos.
3. Thou art the (god) who givest life (to the dead).
4. Thou art the (god) who makest (the sick) whole,
5. the merciful one among the gods,
6. the merciful one who loveth to restore the dead to Hfe,
7. Merodach, king of heaven and earth together.
8. Thy name I celebrate, thy majesty I declare.
9. Let the gods exalt the memory of thy name, let them magnify
and exalt thee !
10. May he expel (littatstsi) the sickness of the sick man !
11. The plague, the fever, the sprain (?),
12. the evil incubus (utuk), the evil alu, the evU ekimmu, (the evil)
gallu,
13. the evil god, the evU succubus,
14. the phantom (and) the vampire,
15. Lilith (and) the handmaid of the ghost (lilu),
1 6. the evil (plague), the fever, and the painful sickness,
17. (along with aU) that worketh evil . . . ."

XXXIII. W.A. I. iv. 29. No. 2.
1. "Incantation. — The injurious fever (rages) against the head.
2. The evil plague against the Hfe.
3. The evil utuk against the neck.
4. The evil alu against the breast.
5. The evU ekimmu against the waist.
6. The evU gallu against the hand."

XXXIV. W.A.I, iv. 30. No. 1.
Obv. 1. " 0 glorious one, who art strong as the heaven !
2. Mighty warrior, who art firm as the earth !
3. Who, Hke the heaven and the earth, art exalted !
4. 0 warrior, on the day when thou marchest against the land of
the enemy !
5. O glorious one who, in difficulty (from which) there seems no
exit,

HYMNS TO THE GODS. 503
6. what is there in the ravine, what is there which thou dost not
overcome ?
7. What is there hi the seas (which) drown (yumalluqu) below ?
8. The lofty stone thou destroyest on the day when in strength
its forces thou smitest.
9. The weak man is among thy weak ones.
10. The gods thou slaughterest with destruction.
Rev. 1. The gods of heaven have set thee to battle.
2. The gods of earth gather themselves together before thee.
3. The spirits of the earth prostrate their faces before thee.
4. The goat with six heads in the mountain contrives death.
5. The storm in the mountain is a destroying sword decreed to it."
XXXV. W.A.I, iv. 30. No. 3.
Obv. 1. "With dark clothing which is the terror of the vampire
(akhkhazu),
2. the dark cloak, the cloak of splendour, he has covered (yusakhlip)
the pure body.
3. The evil .... in the fastening of the gate he ... .
4  a cutting off of the .... along with the weapon ....
5. (With) the knife (kinazi) like a lamb (he cut) the strings (?) of
thy heart.
6. The (evil) utuk, the evU alu ....
7. In the body of the man (the son) of his god, the alu ....
8. In the shrine of Ea thou dost not stand, thou dost not make
the pilgrimage.
9. On the ascent of the temple thou dost not stand, thou dost not
make the pdgrimage.
10. Thou dost not say : ' Let me seize on the house !'
11. Thou dost not say : 'Let me seize on the ascent !'
12. Thou dost not say : 'Let me seize on the (shrine) !'
13. 0 evU utuk, depart to distant places !
14. 0 evU alu, descend into the stream !
15. Thy station (manzaz) is a place hemmed in.
16. Thy resting-place (mamid) is established in the stream."
XXXVI. W.A. I. iv. 30. No. 2, with S 2148. Fragment of a text
about the Deluge.
(S 2148) 1  binding the goat 
2. The cow and its youngling (pupat) he binds.
3. The goat and its offspring (lata) he binds.
4. The cow and its youngling he slaughters.
5. The goat and its offspring he slaughters.

504 APPENDIX IV.
6. Thou didst smite (?) (tuM), and I went as a hero who returns
not to rest.
7. As the flood of the warrior-god U-azu (the lord of medicine),
8. as the flood of my hero the god Damu.
(W.A.I, iv. 30.) Obv. 1. The flood of the (god) 
2. The flood of the god Nangar (the moon), the lord of the bond.
3. The flood of the gallos-spirit (libir) ....
4. The flood of the god Gudi ....
5. The flood of the man of Kharran (the planet Mercury) ....
6. The flood of the great unique mother-goddess ....
7. The flood of the brother of the mother of the male god.
8. It came, it descended upon the breast of the earth.
9. The Sun-god caused the earth to see the dead, spread the dead
over the earth.
10. He was full of lamentation on the day he slaughtered the
leader of the ranks.1
11. In a month imperfect year by year,
12. to a road that benefits men, that pacifies mankind,
13. for the enclosure of his seat,
14. the hero (descended) to the distant earth which had not been seen.

15. When shall that grow up which was bound?2
16. My bond has gone forth, it is carried away (?) ;
17. from the city my bond has gone forth ;
18. from the house of the corn-field it has gone forth ;
19. the hero of the corn-field has gone forth.
Rev. 1. The flood of the warrior-god U-a(zu).
2. The flood of my hero, the god Damu.
3. The flood of the son my lord, the living (Tammuz).
4. The flood of the god Nangar, the lord of the bond.
5. The flood of the spirit (libir), the lord of the gallu.
6. The flood of the god Gudi 
7. The flood of the man of Kharran ....
8. The flood of the great unique mother (Zikum).
9. The flood of the brother of the mother of the male god
10. His youth from the sailing ship he (brought out?).
11. His age from the scattering of the corn he (brought out?).
12. His manhood from the storm he (brought out?)."

1 The Aceadian text has simply, " the day of destruction" (4 siibbd). ¦
2 In the Aceadian text, " How long shaU the hand be bound 1 how long
BhaU the hand be bound 1"

HYMNS TO THE GODS. 505
XXXVII. W.A.I, iv. 58, 59. A prayer against sins.
Obv. Col. i. 22. " (Along with the father his) son they cut off.
23. (along with) the son (his) father they cut off;
24. (along with) the mother (her) daughter they cut off ;
25. (along with) the daughter (her) mother they cut off;
26. (along with) the bridesmaids the bride they cut off;
27. (along with) the bride the bridesmaids they cut off;
28. along with the brother his brother they cut off ;
29. along with the friend his associate they cut off;
30. along with the neighbour his neighbour they cut off.
31. They cease not to capture, they pity not the bondage ;
32. they let not the light in the prison-house be seen.
33. ' Take him to captivity, and bind him in bondage,' they have
said.
34. He knows not (his) sin against the god, he knows not (his) trans
gression (ennit) against the god and the goddess,
35. (yet) the god has smitten,1 the goddess has departed2 (from him).
36. Against his god is his sin, against his goddess is his iniquity
(khablat).
37. (There are) smitings (for the sinner ?),3 there are zirdti for the
guardian-priest (urugal.)
38. (The goddess) has departed (from him) ; against the great lady
(nin-gal) has he acted shamefully.
44. The rod (zibanit) of injustice has taken (itsbat) (thee) ....
45. The doubled cord of injustice has seized thee ....
46. The son has removed (ittadakh) what is estabHshed, the son
has established (what should be removed).
47 In a confederacy of injustice he has confederated thee, for (right
and) justice he has not formed a league.
48. He has laid on the yoke and taken up the landmark.
49. He has entered the house of his companions.
50. He has attacked the property of his companions.
51. He has poured out the blood of his companions.
52. He has stripped his companions of their clothing.
53. His bitterness (wickedness) the freeman has left.
54. The freeman, the workman, has raised his family.
55. He has .... (his) family (qinna) and household (pukhartd).
1 Idaz, akin to dazdti, "battles."
' Imtes, not from rnasu, " to forget," but mdsu, Heb. mush.
* Perhaps bil enni, " lord of sin."

506 APPENDIX IV.
56. He plants, himself where there is no opening.
57. He directs his mouth, (but) his heart is unfaithful.
58. His mouth is sin, his heart is ... .
Col. ii. 1. His speech (gdbi) he has uttered ....
2. The faithful man he has pursued (?)....
3. He has driven away purity ....
4. He has wrought wickedness ....
......
9. The witch comes behind ;
10. at the side the sorceress passes through ;
11. she who bears not children has done (the deed).
12. To the charm and the sorcery he has put his hand.
13. By the painful sickness (from the food) he has eaten,
14. by the multitude of sins he has committed,
15. by the assembly he has overthrown,
16. by the gathered troops he has broken through,
17. by the words of the god and the goddess he has forgotten,
18. by the promises he has made in his heart and his mouth and
has not performed,
19. by the gift (and) the name of his god which he has forgotten,
20. he consecrates himself, he laments, he has drawn back,
21. he has manifested fear, he has spoken contritely,
22. he has purified himself and inclined to the Hfting up of the
hand.
23. He sets down the dish according to rule ;
24. his god and his goddess feed along with him.
25. He stands in the congregation,1 and utters the prayer :
26. 'May I be pardoned,'2 (for) he knew not and was forsworn.
27. He seized and was forsworn.
28. He broke through and was forsworn.
29. With the gift he had given he was forsworn.
30. In Hfe he was forsworn.
31. To the divine colossos his finger he raised.
32. In the divine colossos he has (found) father and mother.
33. The divine colossos (has become to him) the urugal and the
nin-gal.
34. The divine colossos (has restored to him) friend and comrade.
35. The divine colossos (has restored to him) god and companion.
39. The suffering of (his) city ....

ri, see W.A. I. ii. 35, 10.
3 Literally, "may (the Sun-god) deliver!"

HYMNS TO THE GODS. 507
40. The word of (his) city ....
41. The cutting off (?) of his city 
42. At the command thou swearest ....
43. swearing before .....
44. by the rod of affliction thou swearest by, (ask !)
45. by the throne thou swearest by, (ask !)
46. by the dish thou swearest by, (ask !)
47. by the goblet thou swearest by, (ask !)
48. Ask, ask !
49. Ask on the couch !
50. Ask on the seat !
51. Ask at the dish !
52. Ask at the giving of the goblet!
53. Ask at the kindHng of the fire !
54. Ask at the fire !
55. Ask when it is aglow !
56. Ask from the tablet and the stylus of the tablet I
57. Ask of the bond and the fetter !
58. Ask at the side of the tame beast !
59. Ask at the side of the wild beast !
60. Ask at the. side of the foundation !
61. Ask at the edge of the marsh !
62. Ask at the bank of the river !
63. Ask by the side of the ship, at the helm and at the prow !
64. Ask at the rising of the sun and the setting of the sun !
65. Ask among the gods of heaven (and) the sanctuaries of earth !
66. Ask among the sanctuaries of the lord and the lady (Baal and
Beltis) !
67. Ask when thou comest out of the city and when thou goest into
the city !
68. Ask when thou comest out of the city-gate and when thou
enterest the city-gate !
69. Ask when thou comest out of the city and when thou enterest
into the house !
70. Ask in the street !
71. Ask in the temple 1
72. Ask on the road !
73. May the Sun-god, the judge, deliver !
74. Deliver, O Sun-god, lord of all that is above and below,
. 75. director of the gods, king of the world, father (of mankind) !
76. By thy command let justice be accomplished !
77. May he direct his people (teniset-su) before him !

508 APPENDIX IV.
78. Deliver, 0 hero (masu) of the gods, compassionate lord, the god
(Merodach) !
79. (Deliver), O divine lord of the house, deHver, 0 (Ea) !
80. (DeHver), 0 god who art lord ....
. i • . . . •
82. Deliver, 0 Suqamuna and Sima(liya) !
83. Deliver, 0 great gods ....
84. Deliver, 0 fire son of (the Fire-) god !
85. (May) Baal and Beltis (stretch forth) the hand !
86. May Anu and Anat (stretch forth) the hand !
87. May Mul-lil deliver, the king who has created (thee) !
88. May Nin-Hl deliver, the queen of Fi-(kur) !
89. May the temple of Ki . . '. . deliver, the secret abode of ... .
90. May the divine lord of the earth deliver, may the divine lady
of the earth deliver !
91. May the divine lord of the firmament deHver, may the divine
lady of the firmament deliver !
92. May Ea deliver, the king of the deep !
93. May the deep deliver, the habitation of wisdom !
94. May Eridu deliver, may the house of the deep deliver !
95. May Merodach deHver, the king of the angels !
96. May Zarpanit deliver, the queen of E-SaggU !
97. May E-SaggU and Babylon deHver, the seat of the great gods !
98. May Nebo and Nana deliver in E-Zida !
99. May Tasmit deliver, the mighty bride !
100. May the divine judge deHver, the throne-bearer of E-Saggil !
101. May the god who pronounces blessings deHver, who causes good
fortune to enter !
102. May the fortress of heaven and earth and the house of the mighty
bond of the world deHver !
103. May the great god and the goddess Dirituv deliver !
104. May they deHver when (asm) thine eye weeps in trouble and
the god is not ....
105. May the god Yabru and the god Khum(tsi)ru (the swine god)
deliver, the iUustrious gods !
106. May the stars of the south, of the north, of the east and of the
west, (like) winds blow away the name and inscribe its curse
(mamit) !
107. May Istar deliver in Erech, the shepherd's hut !
108. May the Lady of E-Ana (Nana) deliver in E-Ana, the robe (of
her glory ?) !
109. May Anunit deliver in Accad, the city of ... .

HYMNS TO THE. GODS. 509
110. May Accad deliver, the house of ... .
• • • ¦ a ¦
Col. iv. 1. May Iskhara deliver, the mistress of mankind (dadme) !
2. May Siduri deliver, the Istar of wisdom, the living colossos !
3. May Nerra, Nergal and Nergalgal deliver !
4. May Laz and Khani and Mulu-duga-nea deliver !
5. May the divine king of the desert (Eden), Latarak and 'Sarrakhu
deliver !
6. May Dun and Xisuthros and their monster (mamlu) deliver !
7. May Tibul and Sakkut and .... and Immeriya deliver !
8. May Sagittarius and the star of stars (Iku) and Sirius and the
god .... and the god Narudu deliver !
9. May the divine chief of the dawn and Arcturus and the god
Na .... (deliver) !
10. May aU the gods and goddesses whose names (are recorded
deliver) !
11. On this day may they (deliver) ! . . . .
Colophon: Incantation. — ' Every curse which has seized upon the king
the son of his god.' The second tablet of the surpu (' fever') series."

XXXVIIL S924.; 79. 7-8. 65.
Obv. 1. "He whose body is not directed aright ....
2. Merodach (comes) ;
3. to his father Ea (the word he addresses) :
4. ' 0 my father, the outpouring of the libation, the outpouring he
has devised . . . -1
5. In water that flows not straight (he has bathed ?).
6. In the water of the unclean hand he (washes ?).
7. A woman with unlucky hand has approached (him).
8. A handmaid with an unclean hand (has washed him ?).
9. A woman who inspires terror has seized (him).
10. A man of an unlucky hand has approached (him).
11. A man of an unclean hand bas (washed him ?).
12. A man whose body is not directed aright has seized (him).
13. What wUt thou do? as for me . . . .'
14. Ea (answered) his son Merodach :
15. Go, my (son) Merodach ; what thou knowest not (I know) 
Rev. 1. The limpid water (agubbu) which makes the house of the gods
resplendent,
i The second text here interpolates two fragmentary lines which are not
in S 924. The Hues are not provided with a Semitic translation, as they
are in the second text.

510 APPENDIX IV.
2. the limpid water (which makes) the temple of the gods (to
shine)/
'3. the Hmpid water which cleanses (the begetter?) . . . ."

XXXIX. S497.
7. " Incantation. — The water of judgment (nam-di), the waters of
the oracle ....
8. the spell (td) of whosoever it be who (knows) Merodach, the
son of (Ea),
9. has purified the house of the land . . . ."

XL. K2585.
Obv. 8. " May the Lord of justice and righteousness, the director (of
mankind),
9. the judge of the spirits of earth,
10. the Sun-god, him who enchants me (kassip),
11. him who bewitches me and her who bewitches me (mustepisti),^
may he destroying (rakhi)
12. the enchantment and the image of their breath, breaking their
womb (rudi),
13. pass over them so that he may be over them and not ....
14. 0 Sun-god, may the Fire-god thy companion destroy (them) !
15. O Sun-god, may the Fire-god enclosing enclose them, even the
god of fire ....
16. May the Sun-god melt (?) (lissub) their image, may the Fire-
god receive their bodies !
17. May the Fire-god consume (lilcabbib) them, even the god of fire
who causes (destruction) !
18. The Fire-god is wrathful like water.
Rev. 1. May the Fire-god (carry them) to the land whence none return !
2. The Fire-god who illumines the gloom (ukli) of darkness ....
3. The Fire-god (turns?) to the plague-god (Namtaru), the mes
senger of earth.
4. The Sun-god is he who inspires the breath of those who act (?).
5. The god who is king of the dead and living (?) (bad u nun),
6. along with the god and goddess, has been angry with me.
7. In the house of the kindling of the altar- flame (pukhpuklikhu),
8. the Sun-god of the mighty mouth, the living one, knows ; the
goddess A thus
9. (or) not thus knows, (but) I know not. Of the exorciser
10. of him who bewitches me and of her who bewitches me (and) of
the destroyer (rakhi),

HYMNS TO THE GODS. 511
11. their enchantment in the place of thy temple Hke a branch of
wood
12. against these (sorcerers) may they behold ; may the god
13. overwhelm them Hke a goblet, like
14. a . . . . may he injure, may he cut off (?)
15. their life  "  , , .
XLI. 79. 7-8. 68.
Col. ii. 4. " Incantation. — 0 altar son of heaven, may the son of Ea,
5. Merodach, the son of Eridu, purify my hand !
6. May he make pure my mouth, may he make bright my foot I
7. May the evU tongue depart to another place !"
XLII. S 526. Hymn to Nergal.
2. " (In the . . . .) may it be, in thy heart may it be, in thy liver
may it be !
3. (In the . . . .) may it be, in thy liver may it be, in thy heart
may it be ! ,
4. Among the fat oxen thou enterest not on this side.
5  thou bringest not out.
6. Among the sheep the .... thou enterest not on this side.
7. To the sheep the strong sheep thou bringest not out.
8. 0 lord, thou enterest not the temple of beer.
9. The clothing (bursumtu) of the place of the oracle thou gatherest
not together.
10. 0 lord, the place of sovereignty (situlti) thou enterest not.
11. Her, even the servant who knows the word of the oracle, thou
seatest not.
12. 0 lord, the park of Istar thou establishest not.
13. The little ones thou leadest not out of the park of Istar.
14. The place where the bond (enu) is fixed thou enterest not.
15. The smaU chUd (mora) who knows the bond thou bringest not
out.
16. The .... thou dost not remove, its cow (lati) thou dost not
destroy.
17. .... reclining with evil intent, the offering (kurbanna) thou
dost not kiss.
18  in the place of his lord(?) thou dost not smite."
XLIII. K 4874.
Obv. 1. "(0 hero whose) power is over the hosts of heaven and earth
until future days,
2  be is good of mouth for exaltation.

512 APPENDIX IV.
3  men regard the observation of his token (itti).
4. Directing the .... in every fortress he establishes the daily
sacrifice.
5. (The man whom) he exalts he leads forth to headship.
6  he magnifies the command of his heart.
7. Directing the .... in every fortress he establishes the dauy
sacrifice.
8. He urges on ([yumahha]ru) the ending of the deluge.
9  he has established justice great and pure, he has reared
the cedar.
10  Samas and Eimmon, the divine judges.
11  (he is) the faithful one who establishes the foundation of
the land.
12  to future ages, even to future ages.
13. (He is) the .... of the goddess Uban-same (the finger of heaven),
the companion of Ass6ros.
14  the .... of the great (gods) am I.
15  he has doubled the might of former kings.
16  he answered and the wicked woman writes.
17  he grants the offering.
18  lifting up the face .... my storm.
19  the divine hero of justice has established (ittaziz) else
where.
20  and he bound together (emd) their confederacy.
21  his fortress they entered.
22  her counsel she repeated.
23  his fortress did his onset capture (idhruddu).
Rev. 1. ... he founds the shrine.
2  he swoops (over) the world, he beholds (ikhadh) the
confederacy.
3  he uplifts not his gift (kadara).
4  the man whomsoever he has not taken.
5  his wife he binds (yarrura) with oaths (tamdti).
6  multitudes submitted to him.
7  (if) he is angry, may he be quieted whoever he be.
8  the name they behold and his destruction (saladh).
9  the mountain, the man who utters good words.
10  Mul-Hl who exhorts (?) the gods.
11  the prince, the proclaimer of the cry (?) (tsirikhum).
12  (spreading) splendour and glory, casting down fear.
13  his ... . and his lordship."

HYMNS TO THE GODS. 513
XLIV. E 2. in. 150.
Obv. 1. ''0 warrior-god (Erimmu), the shining one, the sword of Istar
in strength (ursi) which accepts not prayer,
2. may the good prayer soothe thee !
3. May the prayer rain life and quietude upon thee !
4. Eaise the cry of the oracle (sakri) (at) the dawning of day, like
the offspring of a gazelle !
5. 0 lord of thy mother, thou marchest and turnest for thyself
thy marching.
6. Like the waters of a marsh, mayest thou be placid (Utakndta) ;
7. Hke the waters of a pool (yarkhi), mayest thou be at rest
(Mnikhdta).
8. Like the herdsman of the reposing ox, may sleep (?) overtake (?)
thee !
9. Hear me and (help me), 0 stalwart king !
10. Mayest thou spread (lutsalldta) (thy) shadow (over me) !"x
XLV. Sp. iii. Bertin, Revue a? Assyriologie, i. 4. Hymn to the Sun.
1. "0 Sun-god, in the midst of heaven, at thy setting,
2. may the enclosure of the pure heaven speak to thee of peace !
3. May the gate of heaven be thy bond !2
4. May the directing god, the messenger who loves thee, direct thy
way:
5. In E-Babara, the seat of thy sovereignty, thy supremacy rises
like the dawn.
6. May A,3 the wife whom thou lovest, come before thee with joy !
7. May thy heart take rest !
8. May the glory of thy divinity be established for thee !
9. 0 Sun-god, warrior hero, may it exalt thee in strength !4
10. 0 lord of E-Babara,6 as thou marchest, may it direct thy course !
11. Direct thy road, march along the path fixed for thy pavement
(durus).
12. 0 Sun-god, judge of the world, the director of its laws art thou !
1 The remainder of the tablet is too mutilated for translation. The final
Unes are: "when the aun sets thou shalt say thus to the Sun-god: like a
father thou wUt draw me to the earth."
2 In the Assyrian version, "May the gates of heaven approach thee!"
3 In the Aceadian, ku-nir-da.
4 MeU-g, in the Aceadian, from meli or meri, " strength" (W. A. I. iv. 30.
18, 19). The Assyrian veraion has simply, " may they exalt thee."
5 Omitted in the Assyrian version. 2l

514 APPENDIX IV.
13. Conclusion of the speU : When the Sun-god may be the setting-
sun.
14. The enchanter after the strengthening (?) of his mother ....
a prayer.
15. [First line of the next hymn.] 0 Sun-god that risest in the
bright sky !
16. Like its original, copied and published.
17. Tablet of Nebo-damiq, son of Ina-ili-bur ....
18. For Nebo his lord, Nebo-baladhsu-iqbi, the son of the man of
frSaggil,
19. for the preservation of his Hfe, has caused Nebo-bani-akhi, the
son of the man of E-Saggil,
20. to write (it), and has placed (it) in E-Zida."

XLVI. Pinches, Texts in the Babylonian Wedge-writing, p. 15. A1H-
terative Hymn.
Obv. 5. Monthly (arkhu) and yearly may the prince of E-Saggil the
supreme assist,
6. the strongholds (arsubbi) of Merodach and its brickwork may
the king assist ;
7. (in) the month (?) (arakh) of life and the festivals of sacrifice
may glad music be sounded ;
8. let the four (arbah) zones behold his countenance !
9. To those that bring (?) (arrihi) his nourishers may he grant Hfe
and goodness of heart !

10. Founding (basimu1) the enceinte of the sanctuary, restoring the
shrine,
11. Babylon (Babilu), the city of multitudes, has he completed as his
mighty fortress ;
12. (its) property (basdti) has he restored, even its vast temples;
13. the daily sacrifices that had been discontinued (batluti) he has
established as of yore ;
14. those who behold (his) mercy and power celebrate (?)2 his ... .

Rev. 3. May the fame (zikir) of ... . mount upon wings !
4. May Zirpanit the princess, the supreme, assist the prince to his
sovereignty !
1 Basamu means properly, "to make suitable" or "prepare;" hence "a
seat." Basmu, a species of large serpent (the usumgal), has no connection
with the root.
2 Ipulu, perhaps connected with pilu, " white."

HYMNS TO THE GODS. 515
5. May his seed (sdru) increase and may his progeny (nannab) be
numerous !
6. May trouble (kiru) never be to him ! may he overcome his woes
(nizmat) !
7. May the blessings (kirri) of happiness and obedience wait upon
him daily !
8. Gardens ( kirrit) of peace and joy of heart may he make for the
midst of Babylon !
9. Within (kirbi) its temples may the women walk and accomplish
his commands !
10. Within Babylon the prosperous exultantly may he establish joy !
11. May its sides (sutaqut)1 be adorned2 with zdkkal wood, and may
he achieve its exaltation !
12. The exits (suputi)3 of its stronghold may he nourish with the
primest oU !
13. The secret chambers (kuttumme) of its temples may he fiU with
unnumbered goods and treasure !
14. As for (supar) their deeds ....
15. The name (sum) of the king . . . ."

XLVII. W.A. I. v. 50, 51. Hymn to the Sun-god.
Obv. Col. i 1. "Incantation. — 0 Sun-god, from the great mountain is
thy rising ;
2. from the great mountain, the mountain of the ravine, is thy
rising ;
3. from the holy mound,4 the plaee of the destinies, is thy rising.
4. To be with heaven and earth (is thy) appearance; from the
horizon (thou risest).
5. The great gods (bowing) the face stand before thee.
6. (The spirits obedient ?) to (thy) command stand before thee.
7. (Men ?).... their .... behold thee.
8  of his four feet.
1 From equ, " to wind." In W. A. I. v. 27, 9, equ is a synonym of amamu,
" to bind," Uru, sibu, rukdu (?) khuratsu. Sutaqutu must be distinguished
from sutuqu, " a passage" (from etiqu).
2 Itstsamir, to be distinguished from tsamaru (itsmur), "to consider," and
zamaru, "to quit." Perhaps we should read izsamir, allied to the Heb.
zimrdh, "music."
3 Or, perhaps, " those who issue forth from its stronghold."
4 In the Semitic rendering, " from the mountain" simply.
2l2

516

APPENDIX IV.

9  are directed towards thee.
10. 0 Sun-god, who knowest (aU things), thine own counsellor art
thou !
11. 0 Sun-god, hero supreme, the lord of heaven and earth art thou !
12. Whatsoever exists in the heart is uttered by (thy) mouth.
13. (Thy) hands bring back to thee the spirits of all men.
14. Wickedness (and) evU-dealing (thou destroyest).
15. Justice and righteousness thou bringest to pass.
16. The wicked man and the injurious (sagsa),
17. he who has sworn an oath in ignorance,
18. he who has offered what he has (not) seen,
19. he whom the, plague has seized,
20. he whom the fever has bound,
21. he upon whom the evil incubus (utuk) has settled,
23. he whom the evU alu has concealed in his bed,
24. he whom the evU ekimmu has cast down at night,
25. he upon whom the mighty gallu has laid the yoke,
26. he whose limbs the evU god has snared (ispuru),
27. he, the clothing of whose body the evU succubus has torn away,
28. (he whom) the .... has taken,
29. (he whom the) .... has cast down,
30. (he whom) the akhkhazu has consumed,
31. he upon whom the handmaid of the lilu has cast the eye,
32. the freedman whom the handmaid of the lilu has embraced
fatally (ikrimu),
33. he whom an evU portent has cut off,
34. he whom the ban has bound,
35. he whom the evil mouth has devoted to destruction,
36. (he whom) the evil tongue has cursed,
37. (he whom) the evil eye has ruined (ikrimu) utterly,
38. (he whom) the stranger has fettered,
39. (he) whose .... has been poured out for him, —
40. may (aU) of them be with thee !
• «*•••
Col. ii. 27. Incantation. — The fever-demon has overwhelmed Hke a
river-flood,
28. the curse has (cut men off) like a green herb in the desert.
29. In the sea, where is the home (of the fish),
30. the fever has cast its shadow (tsulillat) like a garment ....
32. The .... returned to the great waters.
33. In their midst the fire burns, their fish (the fever-demon)
consumes.

HYMNS TO THE GODS.

517

34. To heaven his snare he spreads, and
35. the bird of heaven he inundates like the storm.
36. The antelope by its head and its horns is taken.
37. The goat, the chamois of the mountains, their own young
chamois, is taken.
38. (The fever-demon) bows the neck of the gazeUe (pagma) of the
desert.
39. He slaughters the cattle of the god Ner in the pasture.
40. The furious (demon) overwhelms the man in his own house.
41. ' 0 Merodach, substance of mine' (Ea says), ' go, my son !
42. Enclose in • the ground the image thou hast founded for his
support !
43. Cause to the king to walk over it !
44. Before the Sun-god take his hand !
45. Eepeat the speU of the pure hymn I1
46. The waters of his head (pour upon him) !
47. The waters of prophecy . . . .'
Rev. Col. iu. 12. Incantation. — The king who is pure in faithfulness
of heart ....
13. The oU of the cedar which (grows) in the mountains ....
14. Eenewing the green fruit, creating the glory of sovereignty,
15  of kingship,
16. when thou enterest into the house of libations,
17. may Ea make thee glad !
18. May Dav-kina, the queen of the deep, enlighten thee with her
sheen !
19. May Merodach, the great overseer2 of the spirits of heaven, exalt
thy head !
20. The great messenger, the pure one, of Ea has confirmed their
deeds for ever (?) in the place where they are established.
21. The exalted gods of heaven and earth establish him.
22. In the great shrines of heaven and earth they establish him.

23. He purifies their border (sanctuary), he makes it white ;
24. In his waters the pure are white.
25. The spirits of earth, the great gods, purify themselves.
26. The divine lord of ... . the pontiff (abgal) of mercy, is the
white one of Eridu.
27. The divine lady of ... . the pontiff of mercy, is the white one
of Eridu.

Or "writing" (musaru). " " Priest" in the Aceadian text.

518 APPENDIX IV.
28. He who is the pure mouth1 of the deep fully accomplishes.
29. He who is clothed with the linen stuffs of Eridu fuUy accom
plishes.
30. In the house of libations before the king Ea they establish him.
31. By the commands2 of the Sun-god, the great lord of heaven and
earth,
32. long may he extend to him life and goodness of heart !
33. The king is the heifer of a pure cow.
34. When thou approachest the house of Hbations,
35. in the waters (?) of Merodach of the deep,
36. may the .... of the Sun-god enlighten thee 1
37. May the (robe) of royalty clothe him !
44. With the bent sacrificial reed (suduk) (make) libations with the
hand ....
45. The divine prince, the lord of prophesying ....
46. By his spell of Hfe ....
47. The fish, the bird, the glory of the marsh, the countenance ....
48. Zikum, the mistress of the deep ....
Col. iv. 21. When thou leavest the house of libations,
22. may the spirits (of the earth), the great gods, grant thee long life
and goodness of heart.
23. May Adar, the mighty warrior of Mul-lil, be thy helper on the
field of battle.
24. When thou comest out of the house of Hbations,
25. may the propitious utuk and the propitious colossos turn to thee
in peace.8
26. (Though) the ekimmu be hostUe, and the alu hostile, (may) the
utuk be propitious and the divine colossos propitious.
27. May the spirits (of earth), the great gods, (be propitious).
28. May the Sun-god utter words of blessing unto thee !"

XLVIII. W. A. L v. 52.
Obv. Col. i. 4. " (0 lord) of heaven and earth, divine lord of the star,
divine lady of the star !
5. (0 lord of Da-)uhma, lady of Da-uhma !

1 In the Semitic version, asipu, " augur."
2 Kibdti for qibdU, Aceadian gudu, connected with gudea, "the proclaimer."
3 In the Aceadian text, " extend (khen-dab-s'igilbds) the returning of the
hand."

HYMNS TO THE GODS. 519
6. (Divine lord) of the holy mound, divine lady of the holy
mound !
7. Mother of Nin-lil, father of Mul-lil !
8. Divine lord of the living day, divine lord of F,-sarra !
9. Concubine of the spirit of heaven, divine lady of the mountain
(kharsagga) !
10. Sul-kun-ea (Mercury), lord of the dish !
11. Mother of the Corn-god (Serakh), mother of the seven gods !
12. Divine lord and high-priest of Nipur, mighty lord of Nipur !
13. Prophetess (?), divine lady of Nipur !
14. Nappasi, the lady of ... .
15. The god whose law is supreme, the incubus of E-kur !
16. Mother of the house, 'Sa-dara-nuna (' the bond of the princely
antelope') !
17. Serpent-god (Serakh), the incubus of E-sarra !
18. The propitious colossos (lamaddi) whose splendour is exalted !
19. Son of the mighty prince, Nannaru the Moon-god !
20. Lord of the white image1 of the spirit of Sin, wife of Sin !
21. Glorious image supreme, Mul-Hl of life !
22. Divine beast of the Moon-god, who traverses the sides of the
house !
23  son of E-Saba !

Col. iv. 2  tears I bore, and who is there that gives me rest?
3. (May thy heart) be stiU, may thy liver have rest !
4. 0 supreme judge  may thy heart be still !
5. (0 lady) of the temple of Dim-riri, may thy heart be stiU !
6. 0 lady who takes away Hfe, may thy heart be stiU !
7. 0 lady of Nisin, may thy heart be stiU !
8. 0 lady of the mighty temple supreme, may thy heart be still !
9. 0 lady of the temple of Dim-riri, may thy heart be still !
10. 0 my lady, my goddess Bahu, may thy heart be still !
11. 0 concubine and mother, Bahu, may thy heart be stiU !
12. 0 Bahu, propitious white image, may thy heart be still !
13. 0 namer of the evU name, lady of heaven, may thy heart be still!

14. Lamentation of the heart to the divine lady of life and death ;
lamentation of the heart to the male (divinity) who has created

the white image.

1 Nunuz, in the Assyrian version zir, a word related to zariru, " white
gold."

520 APPENDIX IV.
15. [First Hne of next tablet.] Of the evil deluge. The seizer of
the name ....
16. Sixth tablet (of the series beginning) : ' The male (divinity)
who has created the white image :' quite complete.
17. To Nebo the mighty (gitmalu) son, the overseer of the hosts of
heaven and earth,
18. the holder of the papyrus scrolls, the taker of the stylus of the
tablets of destiny,
19. the lengthener of the day, the restorer of the dead to life, the
establisher of life for men in trouble,
20. the great lord of births (eri), Assur-bani-pal the prince, the
servant of Assur, Bel and Nebo,
21. the shepherd who feeds the sanctuaries of the great gods, the
establisher of their daUy sacrifices,
22. the son of Essar-haddon (the king of hosts), the king of Assyria,
23. the grandson of Sennacherib (the king) of hosts, the king of
Assyria,
24. for the preservation of his Hfe, the length of his days, the
perfecting of his seed,
25. the establishment of the seat of the throne of his royalty, the
obedient to his glory and his honour,
26. the presentation of his prayers that the disobedient to him may
be given into his hands,
27. (he who knows the purity of Ea, the gaUos-priest of secret '
treasure), the pontiff (abkallu),
28. (who has been made to walk that he may give rest to the heart
of the great gods),
29. :(according to the tablets, the copies of Assyria and) Accad,
30. (on tablets I have written, connected together, published), and
31. (in the inner chamber of E-Zida, the temple of Nebo, who is in
Nineveh, my lord, I placed).
32. (For the pleasure of Nebo, the king of the hosts of heaven and
earth, look with joy upon this chamber, and)
32. (support by day the head of Assur-bani-pal, the worshipper of
thy divinity ; grant (his) prayer ;)
' 33. (decree his Hfe that he may exalt thy great divinity.)"

V.
THE PENITENTIAL PSALMS.

I. W.A. Liv. 29. No. 5. Haupt, Keilschrifttexte, iii. No. ^Zim
mern, Babylonische Busspsalmen, i.
Obv. 1. " (Accept) the prostration of the face of the Hving creature ....
2. (I) thy servant ask (thee) for rest.
3. To the heart of him who has sinned thou utterest words of
blessing.1
4. Thou lookest on the man, and the man lives,
5. 0 potentate of the world, mistress of mankind !
6. Compassionate one, whose forgiveness is ready, who accepts the
prayer.
7. [Pbibst.] O god and mother goddess that are angry with him,
he caUs upon thee !
8. Turn (thy face) towards him and take his hand !
Rev. 1. Above thee, 0 god, have I no director.
2. Ever look upon me and accept my prayer.
3. Say, 'How long shaU my (heart be wroth)?' and let thy liver
be quieted.
4. When, 0 my mistress, shall thy countenance be turned, in
pardon ?
5. Like a dove I mourn, on sighs do I feast myself.
6. [Priest.] (From) woe and lamentation is (his) liver rested;
7. he weeps tears, (he utters) a cry."

II. Haupt, Akkadische und Sumerische Keilschrifttexte, Hi. No. 15;
Zimmern, ii.
Obv. 1. "(Thou that performest) the commands of Bel (Mul-lil), (thou
that strengthenest ?) the limbs,
2. the point of the sword ....
1 Zimmern has misunderstood this passage, taking the noun for the verb,
and the verb for the noun. Temeq-su is HteraUy, " thou plantest deep in
him."

522 APPENDIX V.
3. thou that createst the gods, that performest the commands of
(Bel),
4. thou that producest the herbs, mistress of mankind,
5. creatress of the world, creatress of all that has a form,
6. mother goddess (destroyer of evil), whose hand no god attacks,
7. exalted lady, whose command is mighty !
8. A prayer let me utter ; let her do unto me what seems good to
her.
9. 0 my mistress, from the day when I was Httle much am I
yoked unto evil.
10. (Food) I have not eaten ; weeping has been my veil.
11. (Water I have not drunk) ; tears have been my drink.
12. (My heart has rejoiced not) ; my liver has not been enlightened.
13  Hke a hero I have not walked
Rev. 1  bitterly I mourn.
2. (My transgressions ?) are many, my liver is fuU of anguish.
3. 0 my mistress, cause me to know what I have done, establish
for me a place of rest !
4. Absolve my sin, lift up my countenance !
5. 0 my god, the lord of prayer, may the prayer address thee !
6. 0 my goddess, the mistress of suppHcation, may the suppHcation
address thee !
7. 0 Matu, lord of the mountain, may the prayer address thee !
8. 0 Gubarra ('the fire-flame'),1 lady of the border of Eden, may
the supplication address thee !
9. 0 (Ea), ruler of heaven and earth, ruler of Eridu, may the prayer
address thee !
10. 0 Dam-kina, mother of the house supreme, may the supplication
address thee !
11. 0 Merodach (lord of Babylon), may the prayer address thee !
12. His (spouse, the royal bond of heaven) and earth, may the sup
plication address thee !
13. (0 messenger of Hfe), the god (whose good name) is pronounced,
may the prayer address thee !
1 Gubarra is the Sumerian (and older) form of the Aceadian Mubarra,
" the Fire-god" (W. A. I. iv. 26, 39). The ideographic mode of writing the
word " fire," gis-bar, shows that the original form must have been gusbarra,
gus becoming mw (wu) as in m« from the primitive gus, " heaven." Gus,
" the sky," and gus-qin, " the yeUow metal" (gold), probably have the same
root as gus, "fire." Dialectal forma of Gubarra are Kibirra and Gibil.
Gubarra, the wife of M&tu, was aubsequently identified with Sala, the wife
of Rimmon ; and aa Kibirra and GibU were regarded as goda, the female
Gubarra dropped out of sight.

THE PENITENTIAL PSALMS. 523
1 4. (0 bride, first-born of ip)a, may the supplication address thee !
15. (0 mistress of him who binds the mouth of the dog), may the
prayer address thee !
16. (0 exalted one, Gula, my mistress, even the goddess Nan&, may
the suppHcation address thee !')
17. (' Eegard me with favour,' may it say to thee !)
18. (' Turn thy face towards me,' may it say to thee !)
19. (' May thy liver be quieted,' may it say to thee !)
20. (May thy heart, as the heart of a mother who has borne children,
return to its place !)
21. (As a mother who has borne children, as a father who has
begotten (them), may it return to its place !)."

HI. Haupt, Akkadische und Sumerische Keilschrifttexte, ui. No. 19;
Zimmern, Busspsalmen, No. 3.
1. [Priest.] " (Over his face, which for) tears is not lifted up, falls
the tear.
2. (Over his feet, on) which fetters are laid, falls the tear.
3. (Over his hand,) which from weakness is at rest, faUs the tear.
4. Over his breast, which Hke a flute pipes forth in cries, falls the
tear.
5. [Penitent.] 0 my mistress, in the trouble of my heart I raise
in trouble the cry to thee ; say : ' How long (shaU my heart
be wroth)?'
6. 0 my mistress, speak pardon to thy servant ; let thy heart be
at rest !
7. To thy servant who suffers pain, grant mercy !
8. Turn thy neck unto him, accept his supplication !
9. Be at peace with thy servant with whom thou art angry !
Rev. 1. 0 my mistress, my hands are bound, yet I embrace thee.
2. To the warrior, the hero Samas, the husband of thy love, grant
a pledge that I may walk before thee with a life of long days.
3. My god has made supplication unto thee ; may thy heart be at
rest !
4. My goddess has uttered a prayer unto thee ; may thy liver be
quieted !
5. 0 hero, god of heaven, the husband of thy love, may the prayer
address thee !
6  0 god of uprightness, may the supplication address thee !
7. 0 . . . . thy gallu supreme, may the prayer address thee !
8. (0 Sun-god), the potentate of E-Babara, may the supplication
address thee !

524 APPENDIX V.
9. (' Turn thine eye upon me,') may he say unto thee !
10. (' Turn thy face to me,') may he say unto thee !
11. (' Let thy heart be pacified') may he say unto thee !
12. (' Let thy Hver be quieted,') may he say unto thee !
13. (May thy heart, as the heart of a mother who has borne children,)
return to its place !
14. (As a mother who has borne, as a father who has begotten,)
may it return to its place !
15. (Psalm to) the goddess A."
IV. W. A. I. iv. 19. No. 3. Zimmern, No. 5.
1. " How long, 0 my mistress, shaU the powerful stranger (consume
thy land) ?
2. In thy chief city Erech has famine come.
3. In E-ul-bar, the house of thy oracle, is blood poured out like
water.
4. On all thy lands has he laid the fire, and like smoke has out
poured (it).
5. 0 my mistress, greatly am I yoked to evU.
6. 0 my mistress, thou hast surrounded me and hast appointed me
to pain.
7. The strong enemy, Hke a soUtary reed, has cut me down.
8. No message have I received ; myself have 1 not understood.
9. Like a field, day and night do I mourn.
10. I, thy servant, bow myself before thee.
11. May thy heart be quieted ; may thy liver be appeased 1
12  lamentation ; may thy heart be pacified !"
V. W. A. I. iv. 21. No. 2. Zimmern, No. 6.
7. " The lord, whose heart above rests not,
8. the lord, whose heart below rests not,
9. above and below it rests not.
10. He who has bowed me down (and) cut me off,1
11. on my hand has laid the fetter,
12. on my body has placed the chain.
13. The iris of my eyes he fiUs with tears,
14. my heart he fills with depression (and) lamentation.
15. May his pure heart rest, may the prayer address him,
16. may his heart rest in quietude !
1 As there is a play here upon the assonance of the two Semitic words,
yuqaddid and yuqatU, it is probable that the Semitic version is the original.

THE PENITENTIAL PSALMS. 525
17. May the heart of his lordship rest in quietude !
18. ' 0 heart, turn thyself, turn thyself !' let it be said to Mm.
19. ' 0 heart, rest, rest !' let it be said to him.
20. He grants much to his heart who passes judgment on himself.1
21. For the quieting of his heart may the spirits of earth establish
(him) when he prays.
Rev. 1. May the spirits of earth who work trouble in heaven2 (establish
him when he prays) !
2. His god has borne away the supplication : let the prayer (address
him)!
3. Quieting, or exorcising, the cry of anguish, may thy heart be
stilled!
4. 0 lord, the mighty priest, (Adar) the lord of the galli, may the
prayer (address thee) !
5. 0 thou that speakest, lady of Nipur, may the lamentation (come
before thee) !
6. 0 divine ruler of heaven and earth, ruler of Eridu, may the
prayer (address thee) !
7. 0 mother of the house supreme, Dam-kina, may the lamentation
(come before thee) !
8. 0 Merodach, lord of Babylon,3 may the prayer (address thee) !
9. 0 wife of him, royal bond of heaven and earth, may the lamenta
tion (come before thee) !
10. 0 messenger of life (Nebo), the god who proclaims the good
name, may the prayer (address thee) !
11. 0 bride, the daughter of the god ip-a, may the lamentation
(come before thee) !
12. 0 Matu, lord of the mountain, may the prayer (address thee) !
13. 0 Gubarra, lady of the field, may the lamentation (come before
thee) !
14. 'Look favourably upon me !' may he say to thee.
15. 'Turn thy face toward me !' may he say to thee.
16. ' May thy heart be at rest !' may he say to thee.
17. ' May thy liver be quieted !' may he say to thee.
18. May thy heart, like the heart of a mother who has borne children,
return to its place !
19. As a mother who has borne children, as a father who has be
gotten (them), may it return to its place !

1 In the Aceadian, "who judges grace."
2 " To Anu" in the Semitic version.
3 The description of Merodach as "lord of Babylon" indicates a period
subsequent to the rise of Babylon under Khammuragas.

526 APPENDIX V.
20. Penitential psalm, forty-five lines in number, the tablet of Mul-lil.
21. Like its original, copied and published."
VI. W.A.I, iv. 26. No. 3; 27. No. 3. Zimmern, No. 7.
1. [Priest.] "In lamentation is he seated,
2. in cries of anguish (and) trouble of heart,
3. in evU weeping, in evU lamentation.
4. Like doves does he mourn bitterly night and day.
5. To his merciful god like a heifer he roars.
6. Painful lamentation does he raise.
7 Before his god he prostrates his face in prayer.
8. He weeps, he has drawn near,1 he holds not back.
9. [Penitent.] Let me declare my doing, my doing which cannot
be declared.
10. Let me repeat my word, my word which cannot be repeated.
11. O my god, let me declare my doing, my doing which cannot be
declared." 
VII. W.A. I. iv. 61. No. 1. Zimmern, No. 8.
6. "Sickness, a stroke .... (and) wasting press heavily on him ;
weak is (his) groaning ;
7. smiting, evU, fear and oppression have bowed him down (and)
stilled his lamentations.
8. He has sinned, and in anguish (martsatus) he weeps unto thee ;
his Hver is darkened ; he hastens to thee.
9. He is taken ; he causes (his) tears to rain Hke a thunder-cloud ;
he is overpowered, and causes (his) eyelids to weep.
10. Like a shrieking bird he utters troublous cries : he declares his
misery (dulib) with crying.
11. What can my lord's servant say and devise ? May he open his
mouth (for that) which I know not.
12. [Penitent.] Many indeed are my sins I have sinned in all : may
this (curse) pass away (and) depart to a place inaccessible !
13. [Priest.] Sin has been laid (upon him) ; the covering of his
mouth and (eyes ?) has come upon him ; darkness of the face
is his daylight (?) ; he lies prostrate (?).
14. At the gate of his sin his hands are bound ; if ' he shaU deliver
thee' he has no knowledge.
15. He has addressed thee in prayer; may the writing of Ea give
rest to thy heart ! 1 So Zimmern.

*" THE PENITENTIAL PSALMS. 527
16. May his earnest supplication find favour with thee above ; (with)
groaning and casting down (he says :) ' When shall thy heart
(be pacified)?'
17. Behold his painful suffering ; let thy heart rest and grant unto
him mercy.
18. Take his hand, forgive his sin ; remove the madness and the
wasting that is on him.
19. Set thy servant in thy favourable mouth,1 and let thy majesty
bathe his disease in the river.
20. (Loosen) his chain, undo his fetter : erdighten (his face) ; entrust
him to his god who created him.
21. Give life to thy servant, let him exalt thy warlike deeds ; may
aU mankind (magnify) thy greatness !
22. Accept his gift, receive his ransom ; in a land of peace may he
walk before thee ! '
23. With overflowing fulness let him feed thy sanctuary !
24. May the food of thy temple continue (for ever) !
25. May he pour out the oil of thy courts like water ; the oil may
he rain on thy threshold abundantly !
26. May he offer thee2 the odours (?) of cedar, the finest of incense,
the fatness of wheat !
Rev. 1. Look down, 0 lord, upon thy servant who is full of grief ; let
thy wind blow and forthwith3 deliver him !
2. May he pacify thy heavy anger ; strike off his bonds ; let him
breathe freely !
3. (Loosen) his fetter, undo his bonds ! . . . . declare his judgment !
4  pity, pity his life !
..... ¦
I. W.A.I, iv. 25. Eitual Text.
Obv. Col. i. 9. " Its helm is of the wood of ... .
10. Its serpent-like oar has a golden hand
11. Its mast is pointed with turquoise.4
12. Seven times seven lions of Eden occupy its deck.
13. The god Kudur fills its cabin built within.
14. Its side is of cedar from the forest.
1 I.e. address him favourably.
2 LiteraUy, " cast before thee" (UsasU-ka) ; comp. isl4, " he cast away."
3 Zamar. Zamaru is "to come forth;" hence "a door" is caUed rnisar
zamari, " a bar to exit" (W. A. I. ii. 29, 51), and zamaru is used of the
" growing" of plants and the " rising" of stars.
4 See W.A. I. ii. 51, 17.

528 APPENDIX V.
15. Its awning is of the palm- wood of Dilvun.
16. Carrying away the heart is the canal,
17. rejoicing its heart is the rising sun.
18. Its house, its ascent, is a mountain that gives rest to the heart.
19. The ship of the god of Eridu is destiny.
20. Dav-kina is the goddess who promises (it) Hfe.
21. Merodach is the god who pronounces (its) good name.
22. The god who benefits the house makes it go in Eridu.
23. Nin-nangar, the bright one, the mighty workman of heaven,
24. with the pure and blissful hand has pronounced the word of life :
25. ' May the ship before thee cross the canal !
26. May the ship behind thee saU over its mouth !
27. May the heart within thee rejoicing make holiday (?) i'1
Col. ii, 2. Pour out on the sixth day ....
3. pure water (in) the temple of the lower ground ....
4. (Make) prostration towards the gate of the setting (sun) ....
5. From the temple of Borsippa take (thy) departure, and ....
6. his hand the gossamer (?) cloth, the white cloth (and) the fillet2
7. binds, and with a band (?) he covers (his) seat.
8. He heaps up the herbs and the dress ; he offers the sacrificial
goblet.
9. [Recent lacuna.] The man that is made pure, the god who created
him goes a second time.
10. [Recent lacuna.] (When) they have ended, the god inclines over
the seat.
11. [Recent lacuna.] Stretch the linen and tie it about the round
(dakhkharu) cup.
12. Set it down ; a second time the herbs and a mountain (?) dress
13. heap up (and) cut (on) the altar ; offer the sacrificial goble.t,
and the robe of a herald ;
14. on the left side of the man that is purified thou must bind with
dark cloth, white cloth
15. (and) a fillet; on his left hand thou must bind a barsik dress.
16. [Recent lacuna.] The green corn his hand must cut.
17. [Recent lacuna.] Dipping (his hand in water) he says: '0
god of gold, the lusty one,
18. (it is) Ea, who verfly has made the man that has been purified ;
19. I have not made (him).' And the workman who has made the
great wooden tablet,
1 In R 204 (K 2061), 20, the Aceadian mali is interpreted by ruttum.
2 Pusikku (W.A. I. v. 14, 15), Aram, pesiqyd.

THE PENITENTIAL PSALMS. 529
20. dipping his hand in the water of the god, says : ' 0 Nin-igi-nangar-
sir,"'
21. (it is) Ea who verily has made the workman,
22. I have not made (him).' At sunset the garden
23. (thou must enter, and Hfting) the hand to Bel must cover his
throne with linen.
24. The great wooden tablet thou must set up in the garden. At
sunrise,
25. on the bank of the river, a green spot, thou must draw up pure
< water. Three knots
26. to Ea, the Sun-god and Merodach, thou must knot.
27. One knot to. -this god thou must knot.
28. Dates (and) cones (I)1 which thou bast gathered, (with) honey
and butter thou must place (saying) :
29. 'Be strong, be glorious!' Three victims to Bel, Samas and
Merodach, thou must sacrifice.
30. One victim to this god thou must sacrifice. Thou must offer
the sacrificial goblet, but
31. not set (tuken) the great round cup, Hfting (it) up ; and upon
the great round cup
32. cedar, herbs, green corn, fragments of a small trunk,
Col. iii. 1. a strong reed, the cream of abundant butter and good oil
thou must place.
2. Limpid water, which thou hast set before the god, thou must
raise also towards a low place,
• 3. and dipping (the hands therein) must say :
4. Incantation. — The day the image of the god has been made, he
has caused the holy festival to be fully kept.
5. The god has risen among all lands.
6. Lift up the (nimbus of) glory, adorn thyself with heroism, O
hero perfect of breast !
7. Bid lustre surround this image, establish veneration !
.8, The lightning flashes ! the festival appears like gold.
9. In heaven the god has been created, on earth the god has been
created !
10. This festival has been created among the hosts of heaven and
earth.
11.' This festival has issued forth from the forest of the cedar-trees.
12. This festival is the creation of the god, the work of mankind.
1 See W.A.I, ii. 42, 19. A-TlR-tiaru = arusu. Tvgaru is "the cedar"
(W.A.I, ii. 23, 23). The determinative ku denotes "the husk of a seed"
(Assyrian kemu). '.
2 M

530 APPENDIX V.
13. Bid the festival be fully kept for ever,
14. according to the command of the lusty golden god !
15. This festival is a sweet savour even when the mouth is un
opened.
16. (a pleasant taste) when food is uneaten and water un(drunk).
Col. iv. 1. He has brought the pure waters within it,
2. 0 goddess of plants, mighty plant of Anu !
3. With his pure hands he has established thee.
4. Ea, the divine antelope has carried thee to a place of purity,
5. to a place of purity has he carried thee.
6. With his lustrous hands has he carried thee.
7. With honey and butter has he carried thee.
8. He has laid the waters of prophecy on thy mouth.
9. He has opened thy mouth in prophecy.
10. Like the god, like the place (of the god), Hke the heart of the
god, 0 evil tongue !"

II. W.A. I. iv. 13. No. 3.
1. "His fist(?) he (shakes?) towards the four streets,
2. the top of his head he turns (?) towards the fountains (?) of the
land.
3. Draw up (ziriq) the waters of prophesying at his back.
4. Cut the husk of the corn-ears (over) the gate (and) the court.
5. EvU is his face, but he may not capture.
6. In the night injure the master (?) of the house in the street.
7. Spoil, 0 pure one, the rancid oU ;
8. spoil the acid wine !"
ILL S 802.
1. ". . . . seven cedar-trees before you ....
2. (to) Samas and Eimmon (he shaU) speak thus.

3. He prays, turning back the reed (wearing) a mountain (?)

4. ' 0 Sun-god, the judge, (and) Eimmon, the lord of weUs (bin) 1
5. Descend, 0 Sun-god, the judge ! descend, 0 Eimmon, lord of
wells !
6. Descend, 0 Moon-god, lord of the crown ! descend, 0 Nergal,
lord of the weapon !
7. Descend, O Istar, lady of battle !
8. Descend, 0 Iskhara, lady of judgment !

THE PENITENTIAL PSALMS. 531
9. Descend, 0 mistress of the desert, the sadSukkat of the great
gods,
10. the beloved of Anu ! descend 0 lady of the great gods,
11. In my mouth his name is celebrated (mu) in whatsoever he has
done ;
12. and I wUl pray continually (tamid) : let there be justice !'

13. (He prays, taking) the cedar, bowed down (Sukkupi) in a moun
tain (?) dress.
14. ' (0 Sun-god), the judge ! 0 Eimmon, lord of wells 1
15. I approach you in prayer.
16. (0 Istar), supreme mistress, daughter of Anu !
17. (0 gods), the judges !'
S718. 4. The Sun-god and Eimmon make smaU (?) (izazzanu) and ....
5. in whatsoever they have done I wiU pray continuaUy : (let there
be justice !).
6. He prays ....
7. ' 0 Sun-god, the judge ! 0 Eimmon, (lord of wells) !'
8. He has directed the unction in ... .
9. He has been visible on the right hand and on the left . . . ."

2m2

VI.
1
LITANIES TO THE GODS.

I. E 2. i. 159.
Obv. 3. " What have I done that I should bear the sin 1X
4. To the light I have uttered the speU (atma), and yet I bear the
sin. :
5. To Nuzku, the supreme messenger of E-kur, I have uttered the
spell, and yet I bear the sin.
6. To the Moon-god I have uttered the spell, and yet I bear the sin.
' "7. To the Sun-god I have uttered the spell, and yet I bear the sin.
8. To Eimmon I have uttered the speU, and yet I bear the sin.
9. To Ea I have uttered the spell, and yet I bear the sin.
10. To Merodach I have uttered the speU, and yet I bear the sin.
11. To jfebo I have uttered the spell, and yet I bear the sin.
12. To the great god and the great goddess I have uttered the speU,
- and yet I bear the sin. - -
13. To my god I have uttered the speU, and yet I bear the sin.
14. To my goddess I have uttered the spell, and yet I bear the sin.
15. To the god of my city I have uttered the spell, and yet I bear
the sin.
16. To the god and goddess of my city I have uttered the spell, and
yet I bear the sin.
17. To the four streets I have uttered the spell, and yet I bear the
sin.
18. (To) Suqamuna I have uttered the spell, and yet I bear the sin.
19. (To) Sumaliya I have uttered the spell, and yet I bear the sin.
20. (To) the seven gods and the twin gods I have uttered the spell,
and yet I bear the sin.
21. (To) the god whom I know not I have uttered the speU, and yet
I bear the sin.
22. (To) .... khuya I have uttered the spell ; may my sin be
forgiven !"
The rest is too mutilated for translation.
1 Mind ebus-va sertam nasaku.

LITANIES" TO THE GODS. 533
Colophon. 1. " (From) the hand of Di : . . .
2r. in the eponymy of ... .
3. May he have peace !"
H. Unnumbered fragment.
Obv. 1. " 0 hero, the Uluminator of men, (the lord) of lords, the
light (1)....
2. hero supreme, the lord who cometh forth as leader I1

3. 0 Elimma (Mul-lU), the hero who illuminates men as man I
4. O Elimma (the chamois-god), lord supreme 1
5. (0) great chief, lord of the horn, Mul-Hl 1
6. (0 Elim)ma, lord of the god ip-a !
7. (0 divine) great chief, lord of the ghost-world !
8. (0 Elim)ma, master of E-sar(ra) !
9. (0 EHm)ma, lord of the temple of the supreme heart !"
III. 79. 7-8. 28. (W.A. I. v. 52. No. 2.)
Obv. 9. " (0 lord [mulu]) of sacrifice, may the prayer address thee !2
10. (0 lord) of prayer, may the prayer address thee !
11. (Bless ?) the brickwork3 of E-kur, the brickwork of E-kur i;
12. 0  establish (ri) the temple of Mul-Hl !
13. 0 . . . . hero, establish the temple of Nin-Hl L
14. 0 ... . ruler of life, estabHsh the temple of Mul-Hl !
15. 0 . . . , establish the temple of Nin-Hl !
16. 0 . . . . Moon-god, estabHsh the temple of Mul-Hl !
17. O  fifty, estabHsh the temple of Mul-lil !
18. 0 supreme, establish (the temple of) Mul-lU J
19. 0 rising Sun-god, establish (it) !
20. 0 (thou) that comest forth (from) the gate of the temple of
Erech, establish (it) !
21.0 messenger of . . . . fiU (it) with drops4 of rain !
22. He fiUs the land with weeping ....
23. He has sought his place of ... .
24. A stranger has seized the house of the oracle (biristi).
1 (1) Ner-gal mulu ud-du-ne : mulu . . zu . . ud-du-ne : ner-gal-
khu-si ud-du-ne, (2) etilhum khdidh nisi (bil) bili . . nu(ru ?)  : etillum
saqti : bclum swpA 
2 (Mu-)lu arazu di-rab-bi.
3 Libitti, corresponding to the Aceadian a-se-vp.
4 Isis, rendered by tsikhati in W. A, I. iv. 27, 23, and tsikhtnrnAu v. 22, 13.

534 APPENDIX VI.
25. The wine1 is outpoured and the lamentation is outpoured.
Rev. 1. The lamentation he causes to rain like a cloud in the land
2. The lamentation seizes the land like a cloud
3. Like a house of sickness that is destroyed, he sits2 in tears.
4. Like a house of sickness that is destroyed, what has happened
to me?
5. The mighty shepherd's tent is (fuU of) sorrow and painful
weeping.
6. Its broad plain is desolated (?).
7. His chariot supreme mounts the height.
8. His (horse) supreme submits to the yoke.
9. (In) this temple the beer (sikaru) ia not outpoured,3 its food4
is not presented." 
TV. K 4620. ~
3. " . . . . they leave.5
4  they leave the exit (zamar) of the lordship.
5  and they leave the exit of the prison.0
6  from the pure ring (uppi), the pure bar (lilisi), tbey go out.
7  the chain (khalkhallati) and the guard-room (mandhur) of
the pure prison they leave.
8. (0 lord of the gods) who inhabit thy .... may thy liver be
appeased !
9. (0) Elimma, warrior, hero of the gods, (may thy liver be
appeased) 1
1 In the Aceadian text written mu-tuk-in, Le. wiidiin.
2 So in the Aceadian text ; but the Assyrian version offers the alternative
renderings, " he sits" (ittasab) and " he Hes" (irtabits).
3 Immanzi, in the Aceadian text al-surra.
4 In the Assyrian version, " the pure food."
8 I-za-am-mu-(ru), in the Aceadian text munnan-tug-(a).
6 Balaggi. In a fragmentary bilingual psalm (S 2054), referring to one
"who knew not the Sun-god," we read (1. 9), "the prison of weeping he has
caused her to direct" (balag bikiti usteseru-si) ; and then (IL 10 — 12), ". . . weU
wUl he eatabHsh weeping for her; .... (in) lamentation they seat her
(napalsukhu-si ; muna-durrunes) ; . . . . settle the prison (balaggu)." Balaggu
is a loan-word from the Aceadian balag, expressed by an ideograph which
is translated egH, "to surround," and ama/mu, "to bind" (W.A.I. v. 27, 10).
In W.A.I, v. 32. 62—65, tiggti, ("a ring," from egu) is a synonym oikhal-
khallatu (" a chain") and unqu, " a ring," and ia represented by kamkammat
sipca-ri, " a ring of copper," and kamkarrvmat ubani, " a finger-ring," preceded
by the determinative of "vessel" or "copper'' as well aa by the Aceadian
lalab (written balag-hb, preceded by the same determinative).

LITANIES TO THE GODS. 535

10. (0) mighty chief, lord of E-sar(ra, may thy liver be appeased) !
11. (0 sovereign) supreme, mighty mountain, Mul-(H1)!
12. (0 Nin-lU), mighty mother of the gods, (may thy liver be
appeased)!"
V. W.A. I. iv. 67. .No. 2. Prayers.
Obv. 46. "Thou hearestthe prayer, (thou) beholdest my face.
47. By day the worship of (thy) divinity, the goodness of my heart,
48. (and) the daylight thou (grantest), 0 Istar; the darkness thou
wUt not bring back.
49. The prayer of the king is this : his happiness
50. and rejoicing bless (dummiq1) with blessing !
51. He has caused (his) men to take hold of the name of Istar and
call upon it.
52. The exaltation of the king she has made like (yumassil) that of
a god,
53. and the fear of the palace governs (yusallidh) the people.
54. Verily he knows that along with the god thou favourest these
prayers.
55. His people and himself are circumcised (gullubtu2) unto god.
56. As for what is kept back in his heart for his god (and) his
goddess,
57. is there any (du) who can learn the will of the gods in heaven ?
58. The counsel of the divine lord of spirits who can understand
(ikhakkim) 1
59. How can one learn the course of the god of glory (?) ?
60. That which has lived and died at evening (ina amsaf), does he
renew.
61. When the head is uplifted in honour, he brings all high-minded-
ness3 to shame (ikhtapar).
62. When the face is brought low, he exalts (itsammur) and
brightens (it.)
63. At the opening of the light (puridi), I melt Hke honey,
64. when the openings and closings (of day) and night record their
decree.4
65. He has troubled me and has troubled (my) body.5
1 See W.A. Liv. 22, 30.
8 Or rather, perhaps, "eunuchs;" see W.A. I. ii. 24, 58.
Tsamar.
4 See W.A. I. v. 47, 44, where " the openings and shuttings" are explained
to be " day and night."
6 Through " want of food," according to W.A.I, v. 47, 45.

536 ' appendix vr.
66, He prophesies and rivals their divinity,
. . . . . .
Mev. 1, 2. A fetter has he laid upon me and no bracelet.1 . '
3. His rod (khadhru) has destined me, a cruel (dannat) goad
(ziqatu).
4. All day long like a tyrant he pursues (me) ;
5. in the hour of night he lets me not breathe freely.
6. In the work of service my bonds are unloosed.
7. My limbs, my extremities and my sides, belong to another.2
8. In my lying down I roared Hke an ox.
9. I bleated (ubtallil) Hke a sheep in my shame.8
10. The scribe has torn away my aching muscle ;
11. and the augur removes4 my laws.
12. The diviner (asipu) honours not the fact of my sickness,
13. and the augur has not given a command to my prayer.
14. God has not helped, has not taken my hand ;
15. Istar has not pitied me, has not grasped my palms.
16. Thy hand has inclined towards the opening of the face (kima-
klikhi), 0 my prince !
17. That I die not, the queen has conjured my tears.
18. All my people have said that (I am) an evU-doer,
19. and the lamb has heard my rejoicing before him.
20. He will bring good news (yubassiru), his liver is bright,
21. he ... . during the day of all my family ;
22. upon the .... has their divinity had mercy."
VL W. A. I. iv. 64. Ceremonies and Prayers.
Obv. 1. " For an evU sickness thou must bring a .... of medicine to
the mound of the gaUos-priest, sending a messenger but not
approaching the man.
>! 
2. The following ceremony must be observed. — In the night set
up a green branch which has grown in a distant spot before
Merodach.
3. Pile up dates and cones, pouring out oil, and place (there)
water, honey and butter.
4. Set up a vessel containing the third of an ephah ; heap up
inwards (qurbi) and corn ; place green herbs by twos.
1 See W.A. I. v. 47, 60. 2 Literally, "are strange."
; 3 Or, perhaps, "distress" (tabastanu), from abasu, "to bind;" synonym
ailsinatu. 4 Utassi for uttassi, from nasu.

LITANIES TO THE GODS. 537^
5. Offer the cup of sacrificial beer. In front of the "garden (?) arriohg
the .... trees, the cedars and the palms,
6. lay (it). Spread out (sadad) over (it) a strong carpet. Lay
(there) the herbs of the garden and the fruit of the garden.
7. Offer sacrifices. Place consecrated (?) flesh, fatty (?).flesh, roast (?)
flesh.
8. Take oU with wood .... and on the middle of this oil
9. pure im-par, incense (?).... pieces of pure food, clean herbs;
10. wood of the taU tree, thorn wood, the slice of a snake,1 sisi and
'. siman, compound together (istenis),
11. and lay in the midst of the oil. On the mound of the gallos-
priest is the god of the gods of joy. Four fire-stones,
12. four bits of gold, four crystals, and four seals (cylinders) pre
pare. The fire-stone, the gold,
13. the crystal and the seal-stone (must be) between the gods of
joy. Plant (sakak) ....
14. With the dust of plants (?) in a great sacrificial cup which the
god 
15. In oU of the sherbin of Phoenicia and in the wood of ... ^ place-
the cloth ....
16. Take the sick man's hand and thrice repeat this incantation (to
Merodach). 
17. Incantation. — 0 Merodach, lord of the world .... prince,
18. strong one, unique, mighty (gitmalu) .... ;
19. hero (tizqaru) supreme, who (subjugates) hostility ....
20. forceful, king of ... .
21. Merodach, whose view (paqtu) is (extended over the world) ....
22. vision and seership (?)...- the glorious one,
23. divine son of the holy mound ....
24. the deluge of the weapon his hand (directs) ....
30. gladdener (khdda) of the corn and the  creator of the wheat
and the barley, renewer of the herb,
31. creator Of the work of the god and the goddess, their .... art
thou!
31. The dragon (usumgal) of the spirits of earth, the director of the
spirits of heaven,
32. the omniscient lord of heaven and earth, the creator of the law
(terit) of the universe,
33. thou art the lord, and like a crown hast thou made the tablets
¦ of the (destinies).

Or, perhaps, " snake-leaf" (kuda-zir).

538 APPENDIX VI.
34. Thou also like the Sun-god (removest) the darkness ....
61. My god and my goddess have taken me before the judge.
62. By the command of thy mouth may there never approach me
the .... of bewitching and bewitchment !
63. Never may the breath of those who work charms among men
approach me !
64. Never may evU dreams, signs and portents from heaven and
earth approach me !
65. Never may the evU portent of city or country befaU me !
65. Against the evU mouth and the evU tongue among men may
thine eye preserve me (luslim) !
66. The medicine of the god of joy on my neck has fettered (yusin-
niqa) aU the baleful things that do me harm.
67. May it cast the evU curse and the unpropitious mouth into
another place !
68. May my light shine like a fire-stone, and never may I suffer
distress !
Rev. 1. May thy Hfe make my life like a crystal, may it grant mercy !
2. 0 my god and my goddess, who judge me, may my land
3. be blessed like gold in the mouth of men !
4. Like a seal may my troubles be sent far away !
5. Never may the evU and unpropitious curse approach me, never
may it fetter (me) !
6. In thy sight may my name and my double (sini) be guided
aright !
7. May the medicines and the rites (?) which are established before
thee put away (UpSuSu) aU that is harmful to my image !
8. Never may the strength and anger of the god draw nigh to me !
9. May the bondage of wickedness and sin explain to the man the
curse (mamit) !
10. May the lifting up of the hand and the invocation of the great
gods
11. in thy sight, 0 strong one, ask for the command !
12. Like the heavens, may I be pure when enchantments befall me !
13. Like the earth, may I be bright in the time of evil witchcraft !
14. Like the midst of heaven, may I shine, may I make the multi
tude of my evils to fear !
15. May the green corn purify me ; may the herb of Venus absolve
me ; may the tree-trunk take away my sin !
1 6. May the cup of pure water of Merodach confer a blessing !
17. May the twofold fire of the Fire-god and the Sun-god enlighten
me !

LITANIES TO THE GODS.

§39

18. By the command of Ea, the king of the deep, the god (of wisdom),
19. at the lifting up of my hand may thy heart have rest, may Mero
dach, the hero of the gods (give thee tranquilHty) !
20. May the word of Ea be exalted, and may the queen Dav-kina
(be praised) !
21. May I thy servant, such and such an one, the son of such and
such an one, Hve ; may I . . . .
22. May I see thy sun, may I exalt (thy head ?) !
23. May I see my god ....
24. 0 my goddess, may thy heart speak (blessings unto me),
25. and may I, the writer, thy servant, extol the work of thy god !
26. End of speU at the uplifting of the hand to Merodach.

32. (Take) the plant of the god of joy which grows from him, the
oil of the palm-stalk and the top of a palm-stalk ;
33. place (them) together in oil of the sherbin of Phoenicia and with
a green root ; (then) anoint the man.

34. Eepeat this action three times, and raise the form of the god of
joy-
35. Bring forth those stones, together with the plant of the god of
joy ; over the middle of it say :

36. Incantation. — Thou, O god of joy, art the .... weapon of Ea
and Merodach !
37. Behold the enchantment and the witchcraft that has been
devised (?) ;
38. (hear?) 0 god and goddess of mankind !"

VII. W. A. I. iv. 62. No. 2. A Eeligious Ceremony.
Obv. 54. " The foUowing ceremony should be performed. — Before the
pure god place the foot. Set up a green branch, pure water,
some grains of corn and a layer of reeds. Twice place herbs
(on it).
55. Sacrifice a white lamb. Thou must present (tudakhkha) conse
crated (?) flesh, fatty (?) flesh and roast (?) flesh.
56. Offer beer and wine. Lay a pavement of brickwork aslope.
Present a sheep. Surround (tetsen) the entrance with gabsu
stone.
57. The fire on the hearth and the water of the river-god thou must
uplift, and must take hold (tustakhaz) of a feather.

540 APPENDIX VI.
58. Like a feather is one's marching perfect. Cedar-wood, sherbin-
wood, scented reed, prickly grass,
59. the pal grass and saffron (?) thou must heap up (and) offer beer
and wine. This speU three times
60. thou must repeat before Istar : ' He has effected aU that his
(heart) conceived.' (This is) the end of the speU. She WiU
hear the prayer.
61. As for this man, may the god, the king, the lord, the prince,
the .... of the gate of the palace, be at peace with him !
62. May his gods that were angry be at peace with him I On the
day he prevaUs like a hero he marches.
63. He shaU sweep away (his enemies), shaU possess the land and
decree that stabUity be with himself. This man doubly shall
the fire
64. (visit) and go straight unto his house. The impure man and
the impure woman he shaU never see."

INDEX OF WOEDS TO THE LECTUEES.1

A.
AB-AB, 71.
abalu (ablu), 186, 236.
abari, 128.
abgal (A.), 78.
abrik, 183.
abub, 200.
abzu (S.), 374.
addu, 138.
adi, 166.
agagu, 141.
a-gnbba (A.), 286.
aharu, 47.
akitum, 261.
akkulu, 288.
a-khad (A.), 286.
akharidi, 274.
ala, alad (A.), 196, 290.
alala (A), 248.
alam (A.), 196, 249.
alim (A..), 196.
allallu, 258.
allattum, 149.
ama (A.), 181.
amari (A.), 75.
amma (A.), 81.
ainra, 348.
Anuna (A.), 182.
lusapi, 352.
appuna, 301. .
apsi, 63, 166.
aqru, 295.
arakhu, 280,
ari (A.), 352.
aria (A.), 196.
arkhu, 72.
arlu, 83, 443.
aru, 10.
arar, arurti, 78.
asaridu, 47.
asip, ittaspn, assaputu, 51,
79, 81, 95. .
asiru, 124.
asrata, 166.
asri, 301.

asundu, 285.
asurra, 125, 134, 183.
asari (A), 284.
assinnu, 81, 225.
atudu, 286,
Aua, 108.
azkaru, 68. B.
banu, 285.
bar, barbar (A), 149, 153.
barbarti, 289.
Baru, 151, 153.
Barqu, 2C5.
tabarri, 84
batqirtu, 222.
benna, 184.
binu, 245.
birit, 285.
birutu, 64.
bisbia (A.),,S3, 259.
biz-biz-ene (A), 308.
buanu, 287.
buhidu, 290.
buti, 372. .

da (A), 188.
dadil (A), 28.
dadu, 56..
dagan (A.), 188.
dalil, dalali, 173, 352.
ludlul, 404.
dara (A), 280.
daslum, 305.
dibiri, 372.
Dilbat (A.), 259.
PIL-ES, 82. .
dim-sar.(A,), 115.
dimer (S.), 143.
dime, dimma, 143.
dinanu, 94. .
ditanu, 283.
dukhdhu, 84.
Dumu-zi, 232.

dunni, 128.
dupie, 185. E.
ea (A), 133.
edheru, 384.
edhuti, 348. .
edu, 186.
edu, "only,".235.
8-gur (S.), 67.
elim (A), 283.
elinu, 166. .
ellu, elle, 73, 81.
elmesu, 246. .
ema, 82.
emu, 285.
en (A.), 52.
enu, enitu, 63, 404.
epar, 287.
epiru, 161.
epitatu, 238.
epu, 71.
erim, erima (A.), 178, 306.
erisu, 245.
Erua, 111.
esemen (A.), 75.
essepu, 62.
etarsi, 298.
etsits, 318. G.
gabu, 226.
galitti, 381.
gallu, 208.
gamli, 81.
gan (A.),. 179.
ganui, 305.
gari, 288.
gasam (A.); 111.
gasru, 195.
ge (A), 183.
si-bit, 81.
gibu, 226.
gilgillum, 307.
gillati, 383.

1 A. denotes Aceadian, S. Sumerian.

542

INDEX OF WORDS TO THE LECTUEES.

gingiri (A.), 265.
gipara, 384.
gir&, 244.
GIS-BAR, 180.
giskin (A.), 238.
GIS-H-KHU-BI, 9.
gisme (A), 380.
gisra (A.), 291.
gitmalu, 128.
gitmalutu, 207, 269.
gizi (A.), 32.
Gubara (A), 211.
Gudi-bir (A), 107, 290.
Gudua (A.), 194.
gu-enna, 296.
gugal, 128.
gur (S.), 196, 375.
gurgurru, 186.
gurum (A.), 96.
gusir (A), 291.
guzi (S.), 94.

idirtu, 71.
igaru, 68, 75.
iggillum, 132.
Igigi, 141.
ikkib, 350.
ikkil, 226.
ikrim, 226.
iltebu, 288.
innana, innina (A), 116,
182.
ippu, 73.
irkallum, 154.
irriri, 75.
irta, 82.
isimu (A.), 141,
ismnu, 68, 77.
isippu, isipputi, 11, 51, 62,
77.
Iskhara, 257.
issakku, 59, 183.
istaritu, 268.
ivat, 99.
izi (A), 233. K.
kakis, 305.
kakkul (A), 296.
kalu, 62, 225.
kamarri, 311.
kamasu, 62, 79.
kapar, 270.
kasum, 404.
kasdat, 363.
KA-1AB, 351.
katsati, katsuti, 62, 143.
ke, 305.
kesda (A.), 154.
kibir, 404.
kibu, 176.

kiel (A.), 145.
kigallu, 64.
kirbannu, 73.
kiriru, 357.
kisallu, 64, 411.
kisibu, 383.
kisittu, 169.
kiskanu, 238.
kistu, 73, 372.
kisu, 32.
kitsriti, 184.
kua (A.), 95.
kue (A.), 95.
kummu, 171.
kurie, 7.
kuri, 309, 321.
kurkane, 62.
kurke, 62.
kutstsur, 355.

Laban (lihnati), 249.
labar, 62.
lagaru, 62.
lama^su, 290.
Lamga, 185.
lamma (A), 238, 290.
li, 128.
lil, lilu, 103, 145, 281.
lilat, Lilith, 103, 145.
liu, livu, 10.
luba (A), 321.
LUL-GIR, 404.
lulim, 284.
lu-masi, 49, 82.
lunum, 305.
mad (A.), 238.
magir, 70.
makhkhu, 62.
makhru, 76.
maliki, 128.
mamit, 291, 306.
mamlu, 258.
maniti, 72.
martu, 235.
mas, masu, masi, 46, 48,
49, 82, 149.
masal, 240.
masdi, 383.
niaskitum, 161.
Matu (A.), 200, 207, 281.
matsu, 223.
mazu, 296.
yumazzil', 389.
me-gal-zu (A.), 175.
mekhu, 209.
me-lul-ti, 75.
meri, mermer (A.), 202,
209.
mersi (A.), 244.

me-sag (A.), 144.
mesari, 77.
meskhirrati, 389.
mesreti, 404.
me-te (A.), 144.
mikhrit, 166.
takhkhar, 173.
milkatu, 261.
mi-para-ki (A.), 384.
misrata, 389.
mukhibilti, 69.
mummu, 387.
munasiku, 288.
mursamma (A.), 201.
musab, 247.
musalu, 221.
mustaldir, 384.
musaru, 99, 245.
muttallu, 128. N.
nabakha, 287.
Nabiu, 113.
namtabbS, 173.
nadu, nadi, 75, 224.
nadrata, 82.
nagir, 310.
naglabi, 185.
tanidi, 166.
unakkaru, 351.
nalsi, 210.
namari, namru, 9, 195.
namga, nagga (A.), 94.
nammasse, 198.
namratsit, 8, 320.
namse, 210.
namzabi, 380.
namzitum, 296.
Nana (A.), 260.
Nangar, nagar, 67, 186.
Nannar, 157.
napakhn, 119.
napsiti, 82.
naptsu, 287.
taqqud, 311.
inattuqu, 308.
Ner (A.), 195.
Nibatu, 62.
nihi, 286.
linaha, 226.
nikasu, 73.
nin (A), 116, 152, 176,254.
nindabut, 69, 70, 73, 306.
nisakku, 59, 60.
nubattu, 71.
Nunpe, 135. .
nunu, 58. P.
padhri, 185.
ipallas, 64.
papakha, 67, 68.

INDEX OE WORDS TO THE LECTURES.

543

paqata, 82.
parakku, 64, 81, 95, 237.
pasaru, 175.
pasdhi, 355.
pasisu, 61.
patesi (A.), 59, 60.
pes (A.), 153, 258.
suplukh, 185.
pukhu, 94.
pukhur, 198.
pul, 198.
puqu, 311. Q.
qan, 306.
<jar, 286.
qarradi, 270.
qastu, 380.
qistu, 372.
qu, 245. E.
rahabu, 258.
rammanu, 202.
rappu, 143, 321.
lusarsid, 166.
rlbu, 141.
rimini, 96, 210.
rimka, 149.
ri'i, 270.
ritu, 161.
ritu, 238.
rits, 288.
rittu, 301. .
ruha, 303.
russu, 283. S.
sabattu, 76.
sabatu, 76.
sabat, 222.
sabis, 284.
sadakhu, 225.
sadduti, 305.
sadhakhu, 74.
sadi (A), 321.
sadu, 407.
sagan (A), 60, 68.
sagata, 83.
Saggil (A), 94.
sakkanakku, 60, 68, 109.
sakparim, 309.
sakhu, 83.
Sala (A), 210.
saladhu, 173.
Sallimmanu, 57.
salum, 372.
samkhatu, 184.
samrata, 82.
sa-mun-sillalil (A.), 351.
sana, 81.
sar (A), 269.

sararu, 202.

teraphim, 63, 143.

sasur, 373.

terit, 81.

sedu, 290. .

tikpi, 82.

serakh (A), 134.

timi, 285.

sidhtum, 321.

Ti-ti-sal-lat, 27.

sigaru, 75.

Titnum, 27.

sindhu, 138.

tudat, 133.

sipar, sipru, 168, 369.

tudatu, 133.

sipat, 138.

tul, tilu, 245, 405.

siptu, 63,68,149,171,318.

turakhu, 280.

sitehu, 238.

turbuhtu, 259.

sitilti, 369.

subi, 268.

TS.

sukalimtu, 356.

tsab, 348.

sulit, 174.

tsalam, 248.

sulum, 76.

tsatu, 169.

sumutti, 311.

tsibit, 166, 287.

sunqu, 286.

tsiUu, 186.

surbata, 84.

tsullupu, 383.

surpu, 63.

tsurri, 185.

sursum, 238.

sut, 289.

U.

sutartum, 227, 268, 281.

VA, 161.

sutkhurat, 389.

uda-kara (A.), 145.

suttu, 175.

udannis, 309.

uddand, 151.

'S.

Ugur (A.), 196.

sabba (A), 306.

ukkumu, 288.

sabi, 246.

uknu, 289.

s"ag (A), 372.

TJL-BAR, 184.

sagga (S.), 306.

UL-DUA, 169.

fegi, 379.

umasi, 301.

sanaqu, 306.

uniki, 286.

sangu, 59, 61.

unut, 306.

sar (A), 245.

uppidh, 222.

iSig-Sigga (A), 285, 286.

yuqa, 81.

gikhir, 81.

ur ("girdle," "horizon"),

sila, khen-ffle (A.), 173.

118, 249.

si matu, 144.

Uras, 151.

sunba, siba (A.), 245.

urasu, 151.

sippatu, 31, 384.

uri, 404.

Suburu, 75, 185, 198, 2S1.

urtum, 81.

sukhal, 225.

uru, 362.

sukknrutu, 94.

Uru-dug (A.), 106.

sukullu, 75.

Uru-gal (A.), 80.

s"ur (A.), 64.

urn-galli, 306.

surdu, 237.

usa (A.), 141.

usar (A.), 125.
T.
usues (A), 172.
tabbak, 149.
usum-galu, usugal (A.),
tabqirti, 321.
199, 269.
itakkalu, 185.
ussabi, 95.
takkat, 128.
utuk, 107.
takribti, 358.
uz (A.), 284.
taklimu, 73.
uzzu, 285.
taltal (A.), 28.
tamtu, 374.
T.
tamtsi, 81.
yarakhu, 268.
tanitti, 352.
tarbatsu, 75, 161.
z.
tarpu, 63, 143.
zabal, 94.
tarri, 404.
zag [Dilvun), 114.
544

INDEX OF WORDS TO THE LECTURES.

izakku, 384.. .
zaninu, 161.
izarrurn, 308.
ziggurrat, 237.
zikhi, 404.
zikum, zigarum, 374.
zimat, 81.
Zir-banitu, 109.
zu, 294.

zur (A.), 285. •
KH
khadhi, 196.
khal (A.), 77.
khardatu, 274.
kharimatu, 184.
khae-mes, 84.
kharran (A.), 163.

khidati, 348.
khilibu, 94.
lukhmum, 297.
yusakhnapu, 384.
khubur, 311.
khulkhui (A), 164.
khumuntsir (A), khum-
tsir, 83, 153.
khutesitiya, 305.

INDEX.

k or Sirrida, originally a male Aceadian
deity representing the solar disk, be
came his consort, 176-9 and notes;
bilingual hymn recited at sunset, 177-8,
notes.
Aaron, perhaps from Assyrian ATwiru, to
send, 47, note.
Abel, name of, according to Oppert, 236.
Abode of the gods ; beyond the Euphrates;
or, according to another account, on
Kharsag-kurkura, "the mountain of
the -world ;" its situation ; famous tem
ples named after it ; reference to the
words of Job and Greek legends; the
proud boast of the Babylonian king;
the Chaldsean Olympos ; peculiar sanc
tity and site, 359-62 ; bilingual hymn
refers it to NipUr ; its connection with
northern Babylonia ; world -tree and
world-mountain in relation to deities,
362-3 ; the idea of Hades modified ;
the world of the gods separated from
the abode of the dead ; the sky-god of
Erech added to the pantheon, 363-4.
Abraham's removal to Harran, where a
temple of the Moon-god rivalled that
of Ur, 163.
"Abysses" or "deeps" of the great gods,
large basins filled with water for puri
fication, resembling the " sea" in the
outer court of Solomon's temple, 63
and notes.
Aceadian belief that the moon existed
before the sun, the converse of the Se
mitic ; the name of Sin most honoured
in Babylonia, Assyria and the coasts of
Arabia ; the attributes of the Moon-god
transferred to Istar, 165.
Aceadian notion of the universe and the
deep likened to Homer's Okeanos ; the
personified deity Innina assumed to
have afterwards given the name to
Nineveh — meaning "the god Nin," as
Innana signifies " the goddess Nana ;"
the latter associated with Nebo at Bor
sippa, 116-7.
Aceadian religion at first Shamanism, 19. 2

Aceadian rule the earliest ; struggles with
the Semites and varying fortunes, 25.
Accadians the inventors of cuneiform
writing; their language and features
different from the Semites, who inhe
rited their cult and civilisation, 5.
Accado-Sumerian, pure and unadulterated,
shows the true origin and parentage of
most of the hymns and magical texts ;
philological conclusions often verified
by the texts ; the dates of others infer
red from the matter and style of the
compositions, or references to Semitic
deities, philosophical ideas, and con
ceptions of the divine government, 325 ;
account of the creation in days, and
its resemblance to the first chapter of
Genesis, 326.
Accuracy of scribes in general, with occa
sional mistakes in copying, 12, 13.
Adar, the provisional reading of the name
of the Assyrian war-god ; occurs in the
name of a god of Sepharvaim brought
to Samaria by the colonists ; also in the
names of several Assyrian kings and
one of Sennacherib's sons, 7; Adar,
Ninep or Uras, also was champion of
the gods, and originally a solar deity ;
two curious titles explained, and his
relation to Mul-lil ; an implacable war
rior, 153-4.
Agadhe built or restored by Sargon, the
founder of its celebrated library; north
ern Babylonia called Accad from the
city ; diffusion of the cult of Samas at
Sippara in a Semitised form eclipsed
that of Larsa ; change in the language
of the hymns embodying new ideas and
aspirations; worship of the supreme
Baal, the father and creator of the
world, the one omnipotent god ; hymns,
171-4.
Alala and Alala alam explained, 248-9.
Alluvium at the mouths of the Euphrates
and Tigris ; rate of increase and extent
prove the long cult of Ea, 135.
Ana the sky, the local god of Erech; the
N

546

INDEX.

sky itself the god and creator of the
vibible universe ; different from that of
Eridu and inconsistent with the later
belief, 186 ; the sky considered divine
throughout Chaldaea, and Ana invoked
in the oldest magical texts ; but became
a dingir or creator at Erech, 186-7;
his cult changed by the Semites, who
regarded him as Baal-Samaim ; Pales
tine towns mentioned in the conquests
of Thothmes III. called Beth-Anath
and Anathoth ; the daughter of a Hivite
chief was called Anah or Anath ; and
a Horite prince Anah or Anu, 187-8 ;
worship of the Semitic Anu carried
westward about the time of Sargon,
189; confusion of Aceadian Ana and
Semitic Anu, 189-90 ; changed posi
tion when his worship assumed a more
spiritual character ; his heaven exalted
and the refuge of the gods during the
Deluge ; where the spirit of Ea-bani
ascended, and whence Anu assigned
their places to Samas, Sin and Istar;
further spiritualisation and changes ;
the conception rather pantheistic than
monotheistic, 190-1 ; forces identified
with him ; advance of pantheism and in
fluence of aliens onSemitic belief, 191-2.
Antiquity of Babylonian astronomy, 30.
Antiquity of Sin, "the father of the gods ''
according to Sargon and one of the
inscriptions; called by Nabonidos the
father of Samas and Istar ; his temple
at Ur founded by Ur-Bagas, 165-7.
Anunit, the Semitic feminine of Anuna,
one of the primordial gods of Accad ;
identified with Istar ; meaning of the
masculine and feminine names; con
nected with Mul-lil ; the Anunas and
the great gods ; their place in Hades ;
Annunaki opposed to angels, 182-3 and
notes; Anunit considered a local form
of Istar in the temple of Ulbar, who
was addressed by Nabonidos as the mis
tress of battle, bearer of the bow, and
the daughter of Bel ; also the sister of
Samas and daughter of Sin, 184.
Arali, the world beyond the grave, de
scribed ; meaning of the name, 3. 4.
Archaic names and attributes applied to
Merodach in an Aceadian hymn, 284.
\.rks in the form of ships, containing the
symbols of the gods, carried on men's
shoulders, point to the earlier home on
the shores of the Persian Gulf and the
city of Eridu ; identity of the sacred
ships of Eridu and Egypt ; special
names ; hymn in honour of the god
when a new image was enthroned ; its
early date ; the Sumerian ship changed
into an ark by the Semites, 67-8.

Arteios, a mythical personage, 157.
Asherah the Canaanite goddess and the
Babylonian Istar, 256.
Ashteroth Karnaim and the Greek legend
of Astarte under the name Eur6pa, 256.
Assault of the seven wicked spirits upon
the moon; flight of Samas and Eimmon;
whilst Istar plotted for the sovereignty
of heaven; meaning of the legend, 257-8.
Ass&r the god and Assur the capital con
founded and then identified ; hence the
city itself became divine, and all offences
against each were considered alike ; still
the god's individuality and elemental
character were retained, and he was at
once the personification of the city and
its Baal, or "lord;" resemblance to
Yahveh in Israel, a national deity ; no
Assaritu by his side, like Anatu and
Anu, Beltis and Bel ; Istar invoked
with him as an independent goddess,
126-7.
Assoros and Kissave, the primordial hea
vens and earth, 249.
Assur-bani-pal defeats his brother's rebel
lion, and restores the sacred festivals,
354.
Assyrian religion wholly Babylonian with
the sole exception of Assur as the head
of the pantheon ; like Tahveh in Israel,
he is supreme, and king above all gods ;
all acts of sovereignty and conquest are
done in the name of Assur, and to
destroy his enemies ; Babylonian deities
invoked under old titles, but had lost
their definiteness ; Assur looked to in
peril and distress ; a purely local divi
nity at the primitive capital, but when
removed to Nineveh, the new capital of
a more compact kingdom than Baby
lonia, his worship became national ; the
name Assur and its meanings, 124-5 ;
the name of the god and the country,
the same, 125, note.
Assyrians a nation of warriors and traders
rather than students; their literature
an exotic, and a, mere imitation of
Babylonian culture, 122.
Assyrians compared physically and men -
tally with the Babylonians; causes of
the difference; indebted to the Baby
lonians for literature, religion and laws ;
Greek and Roman indifference to Chal-
daaan history, 37-8.
Attributes of deities changed by the
Semites to embody different concep
tions, as Mul-lil and Baal or Bel ; the
elder and younger Bel sometimes con
founded, 148-9.
Au, the goddess, the same as Zikum, con
founded with Ea by Halevy, 108, note.
Augury and belief in the thunder as the

INDEX.

547

voice of the gods; Canaanite faith in
the latter left its impress on the utter
ances of the Hebrews in the Psalms;
the Bath hoi of the Talmud, super
natural and prophetic messages ; Acca
dians believed that the sounds of nature
were divine voices ; hymn to Mul-lil
as lord of Hades, 299 - 301 ; epithets
of Mul-me-sarra, Iskara, Bunene and
Lagamar, 301-2.
Azag-ssuga, a god, and primarily a goat,
289.

Babylon, city of, first made the capital
of the country by Khammuragas, whose
dynasty lasted several centuries, 18-9.
Babylonian and Assyrian modes of writ
ing different on ordinary and religious
topics ; the former intelligible ; the
latter purposely obscure by the priests
to conceal the mysteries of their wor
ship ; system of writing invented by
the Accadians or proto-Chaldseans, 4, 5.
Babylonian clay tablets merely sun-dried ;
Assyrian baked in a kiln ; British
Museum collection chiefly from Nine
veh ; the great bulk that once stocked
the libraries still buried in the mounds,
9.
Babylonian cuneiform more difficult, than
Assyrian, there being no official script,
13.
Babylonian literature consisted of ritual,
hymns, myths, commentaries and text
books ; lists of deities and their titles ;
descriptions of temples and images;
relation and rank of the deities ; also
those of the neighbouring countries;
sacred texts provided with keys and
glosses ; many of the .latter now in our
possession ; and modern researches into
the creeds and beliefs of ancient nations
afford clearer ideas of their origin than
were possessed by the Babylonians them
selves, 16-7.
Babylonian religion ; materials for its his
tory scanty and imperfect, although the
subject has attracted the attention of
Rawlinson, Lenormant, Tiele and Hom
mel ; no systematic investigation has
been previously attempted ; sources of
information ; the monuments, Old Tes
tament, and the Greek Classics ; the
sculptures and inscriptions on the palace
walls, and clay tablets the only reliable
data; inscriptions originally pictorial,
and intended to express a language dif
ferent from the Semitic Babylonian and
Assyrian ; every character had several
values, and could be used phonetically
and ideographically, 3. 2

Babylonian religious conceptions conveyed
westward illustrate the Scriptures; pa
rallel of Sargon and Moses ; both his
torical, but have myths and legends
attached to them, 43-4.
Babylonians of the historical period be
lieved that the ocean stream encircled
the world and contained the germs of
the universe; contrast of pre-historic
belief in a " mountain of the world ;"
Babylonian cosmologies all based on the
assumption that the watery abyss was
the first ; striking agreement with the
character of the Sumerian culture-god ;
Ea and Oannes ; worship of the deities
of the deep impressed on all the cos
mogonies, and carried to the west ; the
same general terms used by the Hebrew
writer respecting " the beginning, "
391-2.
Bahu probably the Gurra of Erech, the
Bohu of Genesis and the Baau of Phoe
nicia; the Semitic Bohu, "emptiness,"
an unsuitable rendering of Gurra, "the
watery deep;" changes and confusion
of the deities by the Semites, as Bahu
and Nana; Rubat the Assyrian equi
valent of Gula, 262-3 ; made the con
sort of Adar by mythologists ; Bahu,
A, Sala, all alike Gula ; Hommel's view
of her character, 264.
Bel of Nipur, the Aceadian Mul-lil, ab
sorbed the Babylonian Bel; his titles
and their meanings ; variations in the
older and later faith, 103-4.
Bel the traditional author of the great
work on astronomy and astrology, 29,
note.
Bela, Bileam and Balaam connected by
Dr. Neubauer with the chief god of
Ammon ; also Jeroboam and Rehoboam,
54, note.
Bible names and their variant forms ex
plained, 184-5, note.
Bilat-ili, a title of the wife of Bel, 177.
Bil-matati, a common Semitic title of
goddesses, 177.
Bit-namri, the tower of the temple of
Istar, 9, note.
Book of Nabathsean agriculture; its de
scription of the temple of Tammuz in
Babylon, 218 ; probable source of the
details ; fragments of a tablet of the
minor and foreign deities in the national
pantheon ; picture of religion ; cylinder
inscription of Cyrus, 220.
Borsippa once an independent town, now
the Birs-i-Nimrod, contained the great
temple of Nebo and Tasmit ; the house
of the seven spheres restored by Nebu
chadnezzar ; the tower of seven stages
coloured to represent the planets, 115.
n2

548

INDEX.

Bull-gods highly honoured ; name Dapara ;
Merodach a primitive bull-god ; the
divine bulls of Ea and his wife named
"the god of the field of Eden" and
" the god of the house of Eden ;" the
winged bulls that guarded the entrance
of a temple represented the genii or
gods of the household ; the human head
and its import, as in Ea-bani; the
winged divine bulls of Eridu distinct,
but confounded in later times ; the
body-guard of the two great deities of
Eridu, 290 ; Merodach called Gudi-bir
in early astronomical literature, and
regarded as the ploughman of the celes
tial fields or zodiacal signs ; name ex
plained on a tablet, 290-1.
"Bull of Anu" and " Bull of Rimmon,"
names of stars ; planets regarded as
sheep ; the star of the " wain," " eagle,"
"the goddess Bahu," and "the shep
herd ; " the last the prototype of the
Greek Bodtes, 48-9.
Canaanite Ashtaroth and Anathoth, only
slightly different, 194.
Captivity of the Jews in Babylon and its
effects, 39-40. •
Cedar essentially a tree of life ; depicted
on the walls of the Assyrian palaces ;
curious figures of cherubim on each side,
standing or kneeling ; sometimes human
and sometimes hawk -headed, holding a
cone in one hand, 241.
Chaldaean early art found at Tel-loh ;
spread of the worship of Tammuz north
ward; the native name of Tel-loh was
Nin-girsu, from the god afterwards
identified with Adar ; after the worship
of Tammuz in Sippara he was addressed
as Mul-mersi, or En-Mersi, 242-3.
Chaldaean trade with India ; teak, muslin ;
Aceadian ideograph for muslin, 137-8.
Chronology, great want of; antiquity of
Babylonian civilisation, and supposed
era of a single monarchy ruled by the
Accadians, with Ur as the capital, 17-8.
Circumcision known to the Babylonians,
83, note.
Clean and unclean, or distinction of law
ful aud unlawful food ; probably refers
to totemism ; distinction common to
Assyrians, Babylonians and Jews; the
flesh of the wild-boar and ox, when
forbidden ; mention of the domestic pig
avoided in the inscriptions, and reptiles
accounted unclean, as by the Jews, 83.
Combat between Merodach and Tiamat;
parallel of Michael and the greatdragon ;
struggle with the powers of darkness,
102-3.
Comparison ,of the Babylonian triad who

shared the great temple ; local character
of the religion, 120-1.
Composite animals of mythology, some
times beneficent beings, as Oannes, the
god of culture and "a pure life," de
scribed as half -man with the tail of a
fish ; but the majority were malignant,
and against whom spells were used by
the exorcist priest, 392-3.
Composite creatures the offspring of totem -
ism ; their nature and uses, 393.
Cosmology of Eridu; the watery abyss;
Ea and Dav-kina; allusion to "tbe
firmament;" Damuzi or Tammuz, 143-4.
Creation epic and its varying legends har
monised; but unmistakably material
istic ; details compared with the Bible,
394-6.
Critical state of the empire before Assur-
bani-pal's death ; Egypt lost ; Babylonia
clamouring forindependence; the north
ern border threatened by semi-barba
rous nations; and before the century
closed, Nineveh sacked and its palaces
destroyed, 11-2.
Cubit, variations of, 33, note.
Culture myths of Babylonia and America
in relation to their primitive civilisa
tion ; questions raised ; the Cushite
theory of population conclusively re
futed by the connection of Babylonian
culture and cuneiform writing, and no
traces of Egyptian theology and astro
nomy, 136.
Cutha legend of creation, and the curse
at the end, 60.
Cyrus on the overthrow of Nabonidos,
from inscription on clay cylinder ; the
anger of Bel and other gods as declared
by the priests had been roused against
him for having brought their images
from the ancient sanctuaries ; Naboni
dos, like Saul, had been rejected from
being king ; Merodach had visited the
deserted shrines in Sumer and Accad,
and sympathised with the people's
wrongs, and had chosen Cyrus, king of
Elam, to the sovereignty of Chaldaea,
as he had been previously hailed by the
Jewish prophet ; a single battle decided
the struggle, and Babylon opened its
gates for his triumphant entry into the
city; the conqueror showed his grati
tude by restoring the gods who had
aided him to their ancient seats and
restoring their temples ; the priests in
turn flattered and held him up as-the
favourite of the national god?, and re
proached Nabonidos in the same way
as Jeremiah had treated Nebuchadnez
zar and the Jewish kings, 86 ; annalistic'
tablet explains why nearly the whole

INDEX.

549

population submitted at once ; central
isation, civil and religious, the real
causes of Nabonidos' disaster and down-
fal, 87-8.
Dagan or Dagon, worshipped in Harran,
Phoenicia and southern Philistia; tem
ples at Gaza, Ashdod and Beth-dagon,
188-9.
Damascius, extract from, on the primaeval
divinities Ana-Seir, Ki-sar, Lakh ma,
Lakhama, Anu, Mul-lil and Ea, 125.
David or Dod, and its connection with
Dido ; corroboration by Socin and
Smend; worship of the supreme god
under the name of Dodo and Tahveh ;
Ddd-i, "my beloved;" the epithet shows
how national affection transferred the
name of the deity to the king, 56-7.
Dav-kina or Dav-ki, the consort of Ea,
personified earth, and the god Ea per
sonified water, as elemental deities ;
theory of Thales, 139; the goddess of
the earth at Erech ; both the mother
and sister of Adonis called Gingras in
Cyprus; Gingiri or Gingra, the name
of Istar, the feminine of Dingir, crea
tor, 264-5; each Babylonian city had
its own Gingira, or "creatress;" Istar
became a Semitic goddess, and naturally
accompanied her bridegroom Tammuz;
Erech and Accad great centres of her
worship, 264-5 and notes.
Date of the pyramid-builders ; develop
ment of hieroglyphics ; high culture and
civilisation of the period, 33-4.
Datillu, the river of death, near the mouth
of the Euphrates, beyond which Xisu
thros was translated to dwell among the
gods, 359.
Deities of the popular faith represented
in human shape ; the warlike Istar with
quiver on each shoulder and bow in
hand ; only demons and inferior spirits
or mythical personages portrayed as
composite creatures, partly human and
bestial ; Ea has only a fish's skin thrown
over his shoulders like a cloak ; the
monsters seen by Berossos painted on
the temple walls of Belos, the brood of
chaos ; the creation-legend of Cutha,
and the creatures suckled by Tiamat ;
their disappearance marked the victory
of light over darkness, and the gods of
heaven over Titanic monsters, 277.
Descent of Istar into Hades ; a mytho
logical poem ; based on Aceadian mate
rials, 221-7; curiously illustrates the
Old Testament and elassic authors, and
in return receives light from them ; ex
planation of particulars, 227-8 ; death
of Tammuz (Adonis) commemorated at

Gebal or Byblos every year ; influence
of Egyptian custom and belief ; Adonis
and Osiris the same; Alexandrian legend
of Isis and Osiris ; autumnal festival in
honour of Tammuz, 230 ; cult changed
in the west, and the god regarded as a
solar deity; origin of the story; the
name Aceadian Dum-zi and its mean
ings ; worshipped in Phoenicia, Cyprus,
and Greece ; cult modified by the Hit
tites, 231-6.
Difficulties in studying the religion from
the mixed languages of the text, and
their different dates, 6.
Dilbat the planetary name of Istar; de
scent, attributes, and correspondence to
Nebo as the Announcer; her temple at
Tel-loh called E-Ana, 259 and notes;
her home the city of Dilbat, but Erech
the real centre of her worship in his
torical times ; common title Nana ; her
image recovered at the sack of Shushan;
late texts distinguish Nana and Istar ;
Dilbat the same as 'Suttil at Borsippa,
259.
Dionysos the wine-god; his worship de
rived from the East, 54, note.
Disease usually ascribed to demoniacal
possession, and expulsion necessary be
fore recovery; pestilence and epidemics
regarded with awe as a punishment
from the gods ; the same theory found
in some of the penitential psalms ; and
a wide-spread calamity like the plague
was held to be a minister of vengeance
sent by the gods on account of sin,
309-10.
Divine names; true pronunciation care
fully concealed from the uninitiated, 4.
Dog disliked by the Semites, and classed
among the powers of evil ; generally
avoided in early art, although the Baby
lonians had a fine breed; Indian dog
represented on terra- eotta tablets; five
of Assur-bani-pal's dogs inscribed on
the bas-reliefs now in the British
Museum, 287-8 ; Babylonian dog es
teemed in later times; Merodach had
four divine hounds not always employed
on errands of mercy ; extract from legend,
288-9.
Ea, the god of the deep and the atmo
sphere ; lord of all rivers and tbe sup
posed ocean-stream, the source of Baby
lonian civilisation ; name not Semitic ;
the god of Eridu once on the shores of
the Persian Gulf ; early connection with
Babylon, 104-5 ; legends from B£r6ssos
and Polyhistor, 131-2; etymology of
name uncertain ; Lenormant's conjec
ture ; Ea's identity with Oannes ; home,

550

INDEX.

duties, and how represented ; shown on
a gem in the British Museum; name
transcribed Aos by Damascius, and may
refer to the time when the inhabitants
lived in pile-dwellings on the shores of
the Persian Gulf, or when he had be
come a household deity ; his symbol a
serpent, compared with Zulu belief,
133-4.
Ea the demiurge addressed by many titles;
invocation ; creator of the black-headed
race, 140-3.
Ea-bani's descent into Hades, 62-3.
Early expeditions against Cyprus and
Sinai ; action and re-action of the two
races in forming the Babylonian reli
gion, 34.
Edin or Eden, " garden of," according to
Babylonian tradition near Eridu ; bilin
gual hymn describing its wondrous tree,
foliage, and shrine of the two (gods),
237 and notes; partial resemblance to
the Norse Tgg-drasil; Babylonian world-
tree; mystic virtues of the cedar; the
work of the augur and his initiation,
240-1.
Edomite mythology illustrated by the
names of the kings, Saul ('Savul),
Hadad and Samlah, 181-2.
Edomite proper names derived from dei
ties, 54.
Egibi banking records carefully preserved
from the time of Nebuchadnezzar to
Darius Hystaspis.
Erech the seat of Anu and Istar ; the city
of the choirs of festival-girls ; the priests
and the ministering attendants, and
connected with Gisdhubar, and where
the hero slew the bull created by Anu
to avenge the slight of Istar; name on
oldest bricks, and first called Unu-ki or
Unuk, the same name as Enoch built
by Cain, 184-5.
Eridu or Eriduga and Eri-zeba, not only
a holy city, but anciently one of the
foremost rank ; its worship of Ea con
tinued till the close of the Babylonian
monarchy; the city, B.C. 3000, on the
shores of the Persian Gulf, 135.
Eridu and Nipur contrasted; their dif
ferent religions systems blended ; infer
ences from geographical position, 150-1.
Erua, Eritu and Eru, 7, note.
Essential distinction between Aceadian
and Semitic ideas of creation and de
scent ; the first gods and spirits ; evo
lution and growth of the Babylonian
religion; resemblance of the gods to
human beings who had been previously
associated with animals and confounded
with the old totems; deification and
tupernaturalism ; abstraction of the

gods from visible objects and creative
force, 333-4; innumerable spirits con
trolled by creative gods representing
the Sabba; opposed by the spirits of
disease, chaos and darkness, and others,
but all amenable to spells or exorcisms,
334-5.
E-Saggil, the temple of Bel-Merodach;
outer courts and walled enclosure; the
ziggurat, or "tower," and chapels in
tended to bring together the images and
worship of Chaldaea ; orientation of the
great temple; like Solomon's temple,
had a "holy of holies" concealed by a
curtain, 64 and notes.
Euphrates valley the early home of the
Jewish race ; Ur, the birthplace of
Abraham ; the Tower of Babel and the
dispersion of mankind ; the first abode
of the Canaanites and Phoenicians
proved by comparative philology, 41.
E-Zida, the chapel of Nebo, where oracles
were delivered to the priests at the
great festivals ; E-Kua, the special
sanctuary of Merodach, supposed to
have contained the golden statue of
Bel, 95-6.
Family ideas of the gods made them hu
man and destroyed totemism, and when
carried out produced an artificial system
of religion more reflective than sponta
neous; cause of further changes; nomad
irruptions and amalgamation of the two
races also modified both religion and
civilisation; absorption of the deities
into Baalim and Ashtaroth; the gods
of Accad transformed into the Semitic
family; all outside were the servants
and slaves who carried the messages of
Baal everywhere ; chaos, night and
foreign gods considered hostile ; Satan,
in pure Semitic faith, an angel of the
Lord, 346-7.
Fire-god partly absorbed by the Sun-god ;
his attributes, privileges and rank ;
hymn to him, 179-80 ; the fire-stick
and its ideographs, Gibil or Kibir, and
worship as Savul ; afterwards considered
the same as Merodach and Samas, 180-1.
Gazelle appropriated to Mul-lil of Nipur,
who was specially called the gazelle-god ;
hence the totem of the city and god of
the under-world; gazelle a peculiarly
sacred animal, represented on Chaldaean
cylinders both as a sacrifice and a sym
bol ; frequently assumed the form of a,
goat, and became a sign of the Zodiac,
284.
Ghost-world of Nipur, beneath the earth,
where the Anunas, on a golden throne,

INDEX.

551

guarded the waters of life ; results of
the unification of the creeds of Nipur
and Eridu, 358-9.
Gisdhubar, originally a fire-god and after
wards a Semitic solar hero, probably
the prototype of Nimrod; name of
three ideographs ; Hommel's readings ;
objection and explanation, 8 and note;
the hero of the national epic, a Baby
lonian conqueror as real as one of the
kings, 17 ; falsely accused by Istar, with
the help of Ea-bani, kills the bull sent
by Anu to punish him ; list of Istar's
victims ; Gisdhubar associated with dei
ties, 248-9.
Gizeh pyramids and the development of
hieroglyphics, 33.
Goat's milk used with other offerings to
the gods ; hymn associating the divine
goat with Mul-lil, and magic formula,
285-6 and notes.
Hadad the supreme Baal or Sun-god;
extent of his worship ; adored as Rim
mon at Damascus ; his name occurs in
the names of persons and places; and
abbreviated to Dada at Aleppo, and
confounded with the Assyrian Dadu,
55-6.
Harran (Kharran) connected with Baby
lonian history ; epithet of Mercury ;
temple restored by Nabonidos; figure
of the god on gems and seals ; restora
tions by Sargon, Shalmaneser and As
sur-bani-pal ; worship of the Moon-god
once the same as in Assyria and Baby
lonia ; ascendency of the god of Ur,
163-4.
High-priest's duties in libations to the
gods; bis dignity at Babylon derived
from Merodach, and at Nineveh from
Assur, 60-1.
Human flesh consumed by the Accadians
in honour of the spirits of the dead, as
in pre-historic Egypt ; but such barba
rous practices almost unknown to the
, Semites, 83-4 and notes.
Human shape and character of the gods
contrasted with the animal-headed dei
ties of Egypt ; harmony of Semitic be
lief that the Creator made man in his
own image; tendency of art among the
two races ; the winged bulls at the
entrance of the temples, and the eagle-
headed cherubs on each side of the
sacred tree, were survivals of a time
when the gods were worshipped under
similar forms, proved by the written
. texts, 278-9.
Hymn to Bel-Merodach in the beginning
of Nisan, 261-2 ; hymns to the Sun-god
. of Sippara, a clue to the relative anti

quity of the rest; used daily in the
service of the temple of Samas ; and at
sunset, sunrise, and on special occasions;
all of Semitic origin, and belong to the
time when Sippara and Accad were
great centres of influence ; internal evi
dence of the period when they were
composed, as during the reigns of Sar
gon, Naram-Sin and Nebuchadnezzar;
general inferences respecting the rest,
341-4; hymns nsed in spells implied a
higher cult than mere magic; the con
ception of a creative deity necessarily
introduced praise, adoration, and a fixed
ritual; contrast with Shamanism, 355.
Incantations, exorcisms and magic, limited
to the present life ; Chaldaean belief in
a ghost-world, or continued existence
after death, under Mul-lil as lord, only
vague and shadowy, 358.
Innina, perhaps the primitive Nebo of
Borsippa, considered as the great deep
in Aceadian mythology; a curious paral
lel to Homer's "golden cord of Zeus,"
116-7; no apparent connection with
the demiurge of Borsippa and the pro
phet-god Nebo ; explained by Aceadian
legends, 117-8.
Invocation of Merodach by the later kings
crowned at Babylon, 109.
Irad and Jared, same name as Eridu, 185.
Irkalla, another name of Mul-gi, the lord
of Hades, 154 and note.
Istar the only goddess who had a place by
the side of Assur, 123 ; Istar in primi
tive and historical times ; no Semitic
etymology of name ; no sign of gender,
as in Beltis, Zarpanit, Anat and Tas
mit ; the Old Testament and Phoenician
Ashtoreth ; sometimes a male divinity;
the Istars of Accad and Erech different,
253 ; Istar ceased to be the pure god
dess of the evening star, and was re
garded by the Semites as the goddess of
fruitfulness and love; the voluptuous
ness and debasing character of her
worship denounced by the prophets of
Israel, andshockedthe Greeks; diffusion
of her cult and its abominable rites,
266-7; the gentler phase, when not
tainted by popular frenzy, said to have
had a humanising effect upon the culti
vated classes; addressed in the peni
tential psalms as Gula, Nana and Mil
kat, 267-8 ; Aceadian hymns to Istar,
268-70 ; the Syrian deity warlike, and
worshipped by the Hittites and their
disciples in Asia Minor; the Gulli and
Amazons; descent of Artemis and Aph-
roditS; story of Semiramis; different
phases of her cult, and temples at Nine-

552

INDEX.

veh and Arbela ; later development as
a war-goddess ; also why invoked by the
earlier kings ; oracle sent to Esar-had
don, 274-5 ; Assur-bani-pal's devotion
and successes, 275-7.
Isullanu, the gardener of Anu, probably
the mythic prototype of Sargon, 250.
Jewish religion and Christianity ; the
former bound up with the fortunes of
the people ; its devotional utterances
and prophecies ; causes of its clearer
views of God as the ruler of all the
world ; purifying effect of the captivity,
39.
Joseph ; etymology of name ; father of
Ephraim and Manasseh ; connected with
an old Canaanite deity; compared with
Bethel; relation to A sip, "a diviner,"
50-2 and notes.
Kali, a class of priests ; meaning and
origin of the term, 62.
Khammuragas, the founder of a new dy
nasty, first made Babylon the capital,
18-9, 23-4.
Kings, like Solomon, exercised priestly
functions; but distinct at Tel-loh; at
first only high-priests, 59.
Kouyunjik library destroyed at the fall of
Nineveh, and its buried treasures lay
beneath the ruins till discovered by Sir
H. C. Rawlinson, who recovered a part
of the contents; Mr. Geo. Smith and
Mr. H. Rassam followed, and the greater
part is now in the British Museum, 12.
Laban, a god whose image once stood in
the temple of Anu at Assur, 249, note.
Legend of seven evil spirits, 106.
Legendary poems and when composed ;
gloomy description of Hades, where
good and bad alike flit about in dark
ness, and the shades of heroes sit en
throned to greet the new-comers ; re
semblance to the Hades of the Homeric
poems ; exaltation and happiness of Ea-
bani, and reasons for Ner and Etana
being retained in the regions below ;
growth of more spiritual ideas and the
doctrine of immortality; faith enlarged,
and the good yearn to live for ever "in
the land of the silver sky," the true
home of the gods and the blest, 365-6.
Lehman on Adrammelech and Adar-Mil-
kat, 7, note.
Lenormant Francois on the Sacred Books
of Chaldaea ; contents of the two main
collections ; a third series consisted of
penitential psalms, in many respects
similar to those of the Old Testament ;
when composed, and order in which

they were collected ; use of interlinear
translations, and formation of the Baby
lonian Bible; modification of some of
Lenormant's views necessary, 315-7.
Library of Assur-bani-pal open to all ; but
literary age short-lived, 11.
Library of Nineveh and its contents ; clay
tablets and rolls of papyri chiefly copies
of older works from Babylonia ; it had
been brought from Calah by Sennache
rib, but mostly collected by Assur-bani-
pal, " a real lover of books ;" he appre
ciated the old texts from Erech, Ur and
Babylon, 1C-1.
Lilatu or Lilith, the night-demon; the
name and conception passed from the
Babylonians to the Jews and Idumaeans,
145-6.
Lists of images and deities in the temples
of Assur and Nineveh ; supremacy of
Assur, thrice invoked at the head of
each ; his name once followed by that
of Istar ; Assur " king of all gods ;" no
wife or son to share his honours; a
jealous and powerful god ; his worship
had all the elements of a pure faith,
127-9.
Literature of Babylonia chiefly based on
older compositions, as the Epic of Gis
dhubar formed from earlier poems on
the exploits of HSrakles of Erech ; the
Descent of Istar exhibits plainly bor
rowed passages ; the penitential psalms,
hymns and magical texts, show the same
traces of repetition and borrowing;
clear indications of a period when the
Semitic idea of a supreme Baal and a
god were unknown, and only pure Sha
manism prevailed, 327-8.
Local character of Ea, Merodach and
Assur, 142.
Local deities, their worship, priests and
temples ; many cities older than Baby
lon, as Sippara and Ur ; the local nature
of Babylonian religion explains much
of its history ; Nabonidos' policy of
centralisation resented by all classes,
and reversed by Cyrus, 89-91.
Lugal-tuda, "the divine storm-bird,"
compared with Prometheos as a bene
factor to mankind, and doomed to suf
fer ; contrasted with the fish-god of
Eridu ; bilingual poem on Zu, 294-6 ;
the old faith of totemism changed ; Zu's
flight ; failure of the council of the gods
to destroy him, and transformation into
a bird, 296-9.
Magan or Magana, land of, with its mines
of turquoise and copper, conquered by
Naram-Sin, 31-2 and notes.
Magical texts and hymns connected with

INDEX.

553

particular rites and ceremonies; wor
ship a performance with rigid adherence
to particulars; inference from thetexts;
sometimes no traces of original ; the Se
mitic passes into mere magic ; hymn to
the Sun-god, a mixture of deep feel
ing and debasing superstition, 319-20;
hymn to remove the ban or curse ; slow
decay of magic and witchcraft ; Accado-
Sumerian language, 322-5.
Makhir, "the god of dreams;" discovery
of his temple at Balawat by Mr. Ras-
sam ; its internal arrangements and con
tents; resemblances to the Israelitish
ark ; temple gates coated with embossed
bronze plates, 65.
Mamit compared with the Roman Fate
and Greek Ate ; a terrible weapon in the
hands of priestly exorcists ; hymn and
incantations against demoniac agency ;
power of the Mamit ; the plague con
sidered as heaven-inflicted for sin ; frag
ment on the destruction of Sennacherib's
army, 306-9.
Masu, hero, an epithet of several deities,
specially Adar, Merodach and the Sun-
god; also "a scribe," or "librarian,"
and in astrology connected with Taurus,
47-8.
Matu, the god of the tempest, dreaded
as the minister of Bel ; one of several
storm-gods, the children of the sea ; his
worship Semitised, and absorbing the
name and attributes of Meri and Mer
mer, carried to Syria and Damascus,
200-2.
Medicine, and the use of clean and un
clean articles of food in relation to old
beliefs, 84; great work on, contains re
ceipts for curing disease mingled with
charms and spells, 317-8.
Medicine-men or exorcists, and their power
over the spirits of nature, 329.
Merodach's titles, attributes and worship ;
description of his temple called B£los
by the Greeks ; further from Nebuchad
nezzar's inscriptions ; its site, name
and entrance-gates ; richly decorated by
Nebuchadnezzar ; the shrine of Zar
panit, 94-5 ; Merodach identified with
an Aceadian deity, but his attributes
beneficent rather than solar ; etymology
of name doubtful ; Uru-dug and Amar-
ud, explained ; pun on the latter; classed
with the constellations, 106-7; becomes
the head of the pantheon; Cyrus his
favourite and worshipper; conception
of Bel-Merodach enlarged ; his place
among the Greeks of Asia Minor, 108-10
and note.
Methuselakh and Methusael, variants of
Mu-sa-ilati, 185-6, note.

Moses, different etymologies of name ; He
brew, Egyptian and Assyrian, 44-7.
Mystery of eviL as explained by the Ac
cadians and Babylonians ; hymn to the
harmful spirits and the fire-god, 206-8 ;
the wind and tempest-gods little besides
elemental powers ; home and parentage
of the spirits of the air, 208.
Moon-god of Ur distinct from that of Ni
pur ; each Babylonian town had its own
local Moon-god and forms of adoration ;
in Chaldaean religion the Sun-god the
offspring of the Moon-god, 155-6.
Mugheir, the site of the ancient Ur, 42.
Mul-lil, " lord of the ghost world," angry
with the gods for allowing Xisuthros
and his companions to escape the waters
of the deluge in a ship ; appeased by
Ea's intercessions ; excepted from the
sacrifice of Xisuthros after the descent
from the ark; Namtar called his be
loved son, 147; ultimately a Bel or
Baal, 347.
Mul-nugi, also called Irkalla; his relation
ship and position at Nipur and Ur, 154.
Mythological tablets ; their probable date,
215.
Naba thaean legend of Tammuz and Ssabian
festival, 239, note.
Nabonidos' discovery of the date of the
reigns of Sargon and Naram-Sin, con
firmed by Mr. Pinches' reading of the
cylinder and other inscriptions and lists
of kings ; Mr. George Smith's previous
supposition ; method of testing the date,
23 ; his attempts to centralise the local
cults, 91-2 and note; resented by all
classes, 97.
Name and person inseparable among the
Chaldaeans; the personality liable to
injury by using the name in a spell ;
and using the name of a deity com
pelled service to the priest or exorcist;
secret names of the Egyptian gods;
some names holy and efficacious, others
of good or evil fortune ; superstition
about names common to both races;
sacredness of the name of the god of
Israel ; kingly pride in the preserva
tion of their names ; those of conquered
cities altered ; dread of unknown deities;
hymn to the creator under the names
of the fifty great gods; mystical impor
tance of names and dread of spells,
304-5.
Name of Esar-haddon changed out of affec
tion by his father, 303-4.
Names of famous monarchs adopted by
successful usurpers, 303.
Namtar, the plague-demon, and the Jewish
angel of death ; his messenger Isum or

554

INDEX.

Itak represented by the colossi at the
entrance to a temple; Nerra and Ner
gal alike; legend discovered by Mr. G.
Smith, 310-1 ; Babylon depicted suf
fering from the destroying angel ; be
sieged by foes ; the sword, famine and
the plague let loose in the streets ; Mul-
lil's soliloquy; Merodach mourns over
the doomed city; the help of other
deities invoked against the nomad 'Suti;
Nerra quieted, and speech of Isum ;
sweep of the warrior-gods westwards
compared with the angel of pestilence
in the time of David ; different from
Namtar; inference from the parallel
and contrast, 311-4.
Nanak and Nanar used as names of heroes
and kings, 157.
Nanar invoked as Sin ; spread of the wor
ship of Sin in southern Arabia, 164-5.
Nebo, the prophet god of Babylon and
Borsippa, the patron of writing and
literature ; association with Istar and
Nergal ; special attributes and titles ;
his ideograph; position and rank at
Borsippa, 115-6 ; honoured in Assyria,
Babylonia, Palestine and Moab, 120.
Nebuchadnezzar's address to Merodach, 97.
Nineveh ideographically expressed by a
fish ; popular etymology, 57.
Nin-girsi or Tammuz, the god of Tel-loh
addressed as a shepherd ; hymn or f une
ral dirge ; a hapless Sun-god of Erech
extract from the epic of Gisdhubar,
245-8.
Nin-ki-gal, or Allat, queen of Hades, 147-
8 ; her proper titles ; dreaded in Hades ;
her messenger, the plague-demon, 149-
50.
Nomads spread the cult of Accad north
and west, proved from the names of
deities in Palestine, as Nebo, Anu,
Anatu and Sin, 42, note.
Nuzku, a solar god ; his ideograph denoted
"daybreak;" also "the scribes' pen;"
confounded with Nebo, 118-9.
"Observations of Bel," the great work on
astronomy and astrology ; object, scope
and contents; evidence of date, 293-4,
399-400 ; Aceadian astronomy included
a knowledge of eclipses, the formation
of a calendar, invention of the Zodiac
and naming of the constellations; the
Semites merely added astrology ; tbe
heavenly bodies considered divine and
dedicated to particular deities; some
had been changed into animals by tote
mism ; the sun was an ox, the moon a
steer, and the planets sheep; the stars

became symbols of deities, and a curious
theological system arose; the heavens
were further divided and named ; Mars
became Nergal, and Orion, Tammuz,
401-2.
Older Babylonian gods partly Semitic and
partly Aceadian adaptations, but all
local, and belonging to tbe cities as
much as the temples; analogies and
differences of the Israelites and Phoeni
cians, 130.
Opposite characters assigned to Istar; Tal-
mudictale; the wife and mother of Tam
muz, 250-1.
Old tablets and papyri preserved at Nine
veh, 9.
Omen tablets in the British Museum, 11.
Origin of the world; the elements re
garded as divine, or possessed of a
divine spirit ; how formed into the pre
sent order of nature ; next, symbolised
divine beings; this mythic view gave
way to the idea that matter was created
or begotten by the gods ; next, matter
regarded as the cause of all things, 367 ;
cosmological theories resolved into ge
nealogy and creation ; Aceadian and Se
mitic ideas harmonised by the assump
tion of a chaos and creation of the world
in days ; Berdssos' account said to have
been derived from Oannes ; extract from
adocument; transmission of the account
of Ber6ssos by Alexander Polyhistor and
early Christian writers, 368-70 ; two
versions, awkwardly joined and incon
sistent; the creation of monsters, ani
mals and men, a sort of anticipation of
Darwin's hypothesis, and the systems
of Anaximander and Thales, 370-1 ;
summary of a copy of a tablet made for
the great temple of Cutha, 372-3 ; de
struction of the monsters, and date of
the legend, 373-4.
Ox, long honoured by mythologists, 289.
Palm and the tree of life ; characteristic
of Babylonia ; date- wine largely used as
a drink in medicine, religious ceremo
nies and incantations; in later belief
the tree of life and tree of knowledge
the same ; the cedar associated with the
treasures of Anu, Bel and Ea ; contrast
"with the first part of Genesis, 241-2.
Pantheon illustrates the names of the
kings Saul, David and Solomon ; paral
lel of the names of Edomite kings, 53-5.
Papyrus titles in the colophons of Assur-
bani-pal's tablets, 9-10, note; the reed
of Magan; Aceadian, gizi, 31-2, note.
ParsondSs' legend explained by the cunei
form tablets ; not a Median satrap, but
the god of Ur; hymn in his honour;

INDEX.

555

language of the hymn, and the relation
ship of Ur and Nipur, 157-62.
Patron deities regarded as creators by
their votaries, 142.
Penitential psalms and litanies; part of
one by Dr. Zimmern ; its language,
style, and signs of a common pantheon,
336-7; development and contrast of the
beliefs of the two races ; the cultivated
classes embraced the newer and higher
views, whilst the masses clung to the
old Shamanism long after magic and
exorcisms had lost much of their power
and sanctity; the litanies mark a new
era in religious thought; Dr. Hommel
points out peculiarities, use, date, and
mere survivals ; also dialects, 339-40 ;
striking resemblance of some to the
psalms of the Old Testament, 349-52;
the two beliefs, and sin and suffering,
352.
Persian and Jewish systems compared,
90-1.
Priests' titles, classes and offices, 61-2.
Position of Samas in the hymns and in
scriptions of Nabonidos ; absorption of
solar divinities ; the Kossaean and others
became his sous, and Makhir his daugh
ter, 175 and note.
Prayer or hymn to Assur connecting him
with Babylonian deities, 127-8, note.
Purification or cleansing of persons and
objects important; ritual observances
of anointing and washing, 61-2.
Relation of the Babylonian to his god
different from the Egyptian pantheistic
notion of absorption, 244.
Religion of the country first Shamanism ;
gradually changed, and the spirits raised
to the rank of deities ; hymns composed
in honour of the gods, and a collection
formed like the Rig-Veda, 19 ; the
Semites introduced sun-worship and his
counterpart, under various phases and
names ; state religion established by
Khammuragas remained nearly the
same till after Nebuchadnezzar's time,
19-21 ; the older faith held a partial
footing at Nipur and Eridu a long time,
212-4.
Religion of the upper classes, priesthood
and court, known from the sacred lite
rature ; that of the masses consisted
chiefly of magic and incantations, 348.
Resurrection views and their origin, 40.
Rimmon or Ramanu, the supreme god of
the Syrians of Damascus, identified with
Hadad, and the same as on the Assyrian
monuments brought to light by Mr. T.
G. Pinches; extent of his worship; his
ideographs, and valiant names, as Dadda

or Dodi, 203-4; the name used by the
tribes of the Taurus and the Kolkians ;
possibly confused by the Edomites with
the Canaanite Ddd or David ; name of
Ramanu never superseded by his other
names, but sometimes addressed as
Barqu or Barak ; how his cult extended
and became more national, 204-5 ; fur
ther changes and their causes, 209-10.
River- worship only partial, and the reason ;
Semitic hymn addressed to the Eu
phrates, 403-4.
Sabaism, or star-worship, earliest home,
396.
Sabianism of Harran in the beginning of
the Christian era, only the last echo of
Babylonian aBtro-theology, 402.
Sabbath, Aceadian, like the Latin nefas-
tus; a "rest day" in Assyrian, and a
" day of rest for the heart ; " in Baby
lonia kept every seventh day, and con
nected with lunar periods ; differences
from the Hebrew institution, 76-7.
Sacred mounds of Babylonia and the Gil-
gals of Palestine the sites of older struc
tures; uses and associations; themselves
divine and the habitations of the spirits
of the air; Delitzsch's explanation of
El-Shaddai, 407.
Sacred stones of the Semitic faith show a
wide difference in the cults of the two
races ; each sacred stone a Bethel, the
reason of its sanctity ; worship of sacred
stones common to all the branches of
the family ; famous black stone of the
Kaaba and others around Mecca ; Na-
bathaean niches in the rock for such
objects ; sacred stones from Sicily and
Tunisia represent the worship of a triad ;
mythology of Byblos and the invention
of Baetyli ; consecration of the stone by
Jacob which had served as his pillow ;
Palestine Bethels generally ranged in
circles, or Gilgals ; cones of stone, or
tree trunks, and other symbols of deities
mentioned in the Bible, depicted on
coins and gems, 408-9 ; Sin of Harran
shown on a gem in the British Museum ;
stone pillars common in Phoenician tem
ples ; two erected in Solomon's by the
Tyrian workmen ; account of a Bethel
in the epic of Gisdhubar before the hero
returns on his homeward voyage, 410.
Sacrifices and offerings nearly the same as
among the Israelites ; Assur-bani-pal's
slaughter of caged lions, and offerings
of wine over them ; human sacrifices ;
children burnt, as in Phoenicia, 77-8 ;
sacrifices accompanied by hymns, in
cantations and prayers ; examples of
prayers ; priests' duties and service the

556

INDEX.

first night of the new year in the temple
of Bel-Merodach ; text and notes of
ceremonial, 79-81 ; special dresses and
ablutions necessary, 82.
Sakkanaku, a special title of the high-
priest of Bel-Merodach, sometimes as
sumed by the kings, 109, note.
Saints' calendar for the intercalary month
Elul ; every day devoted to one or other
of the gods, with certain rites and cere
monies, 70-5.
Sala and Zarpanit once the same divinity,
210 ; Sala of the copper hand expressly
called the wife of Tammuz, the beauti
ful Sun-god of Eridu, 212.
Salliman, or Solomon, name of a king of
Moab, 57-8.
Samas, the son of Sin, the Moon-god ; the
Sun-gods of Babylonia as numerous as
its Moon-gods ; each city had its own,
166; the Samas of Sarsa and that of
Sippara described, 167-8.
Samlah, Semele, and Pen-Samlath, 54,
note.
Sangu, name of an office nearly like the
levitical, 61.
Sargon honoured alike by Accadians and
Semites ; myths relating to his history
compared with those about Kyros, Per
seus, Romulus and Remus, and Moses.
26-8 ; legend respecting Sargon ; Sar
ganu, same origin as the Biblical Serug,
28, note; his early occupation and his
torical character; founded the great
library at Accad ; seal of his librarian ;
the standard works on astronomy and
omens ; afterwards translated by Beros
sos; Sargon's conquest of Elam, Syria
and Cyprus, proved by Cesnola's disco
veries, 29-31.
Sarzec's discoveries at Tel-loh show the
beginnings of Chaldaean art and writ
ing; the latter more pictorial than
cuneitic at the time, 32 ; statues of
diorite from Magan, when the mines
were held and worked by the Egyptians
of the third dynasty ; unit of measure
ment, 137.
Savul or Sawul, a Babylonian deity ; name
carried to Palestine and Edom, 35.
Semitic conception of religion purely local
in Babylon, Canaan and Phoenicia ; its
Baalism in different places, so many
aspects of the Sun-god, 121.
Semitic encroachments and ascendency;
formation of an upper class of soldiers,
traders and priests ; intercourse be
tween the Accadians and the Semitic
intruders generally peaceful ; the former
mostly became serfs and cultivated the
soil, and intermarried ; edicts issued in
two languages; cuneiform writing still

imperfect; new values and signs in
vented ; ideographs retained and script
imitated ; rivalry of the scribes in copy
ing and compiling; rise of a mixed
literary dialect and religious ideas of
the two races; further influenced by
dynastic changes, 35-6.
Seven a sacred number; the Chaldaean
Noah's sacrifice, and use of sevens in
the sacrificial vessels ; the seven magic
knots used by the witch ; the seven
anointings of the sick with oil; the
sabbath or seventh day; the seven pla
nets and demon messengers of Anu;
the god of the same number; the De
luge said to have lasted seven days;
the seven sheep of the hero ; the seven
gates of Hades; the seven zones or
stones of Erech ; and the seven fish
like men from the Persian Gulf, 82,
notes.
Sex introduced into theology by the Se
mites, who provided every god with his
female reflex, 110 ; want of sex in Ac
eadian divinities a sore puzzle to the
Semites from their opposite modes of
thought with regard to rank and pre
cedence, 176-7.
Shamanism and Animism explained, and
use of magical texts, 330; the intro
duction of a moral element, rise of
totemism, and the various stages of a
higher cult; cosmogonic speculations
and the generalisation of phenomena
followed, and faith was enlarged by the
belief in good and evil spirits ; contrast
of the two systems, and their develop
ment reviewed, 332-3.
Shinar, plains of, the earliest home of
Sabianism ; the astronomy and astro
logy of Babylonia celebrated by Greek
and Latin authors, and alluded to in
tbe Old Testament, 396-7 ; where as
tronomical observations were made long
before the towers of the temples were
erected for the purpose; the leading
groups of the stars had been named, a
calendar formed and eclipses recorded ;
the sun's apparent path noted and
divided into twelve sections, and named
from the chief constellations ; the names
refer to the totemistic age of the Acea
dian faith, 396-7 ; probable date of the
invention of the Zodiac, 398.
Sin, name of several localities in Arabia
and Moab, 42.
Sin the Moon-god never confounded with
Istar in Harran, Temen or Sinai, 256.
Sin-muballidh defeated Rim-Agu, 25-6.
Sinai quarries worked 6000 years ago;
diorite statue of king Kephren, and
that at Tel-loh almost similar, 33;

INDEX.

557

mountain and wilderness connected
with moon-worship, 50.
Sippara pre-eminently the city of the Sun-
god ; its great temple E-Babara ; the
city and neighbourhood the original
seat of Chaldaean supremacy; connected
with the empire of Sargon and the story
of the Deluge; legend of the buried
books of Xisuthros, 168 and note; the
Biblical Sepharvaim ; Rassani's disco
veries on the site; said to have been
four Sipparas, but only two historical ;
etymology of name, 168-9; address by
Nabonidos after restoring the temple,
174-5; Sippara of Anunit the twin-
city; the deity the feminine of Anuna,
one of the primordial gods of Accad,
182-3.
Siptu, an introductory word ; its use and
signification, 318 and note.
Sky-god of Erech and his change of posi
tion when his worship became more
spiritualised ; his heaven exalted, and
the refuge of the gods during the deluge;
where the spirit of Ea-bani ascended,
and from whence Anu assigned their
places to Samas, Sin and Istar ; further
spiritualisation and changes ; the con
ception rather pantheistic than mono
theistic, 190-1; forces identified with
him ; advance of pantheism, and influ
ence of aliens on Semitic belief, 191-2.
Solomon, a divine name, proved by the
inscriptions; occurs in the names of
several kings, 57.
Stars worshipped as divine beings, 402-3.
Succoth-benoth, perhaps, the goddess Zar
panit, 95.
Sun-god descent in Chaldaean mythology,
how explained, 155-6.
Sun-god of Nipur connected with the pig ;
Adar, " lord of the swine," apparently
once the totem of his city, 287.
Tablet of exorcisms, and order of divine
names used, 261 and note.
Tabula the shepherd, the double of Tam
muz; Abel and Tubal-Kain, 249.
Taltal-kur-gallu, name of one of the oldest
kings of Tel-loh, 29, note.
Tammuz, the Sun-god of Eridu, the hus
band of Sala of the copper hand ; Tam
muz, son of Ea, was the spouse of Istar,
whose later husband, Rimmon, became
the Syrian Sun-god, 212.
Tasmit, the wife of Nebo, helped him in
his useful labours, 120.
Tebet, consecrated to Papsukal, 32-3 ; the
goat-god, 284.
Tel-loh monuments (see Sinai quarries,
50) ; temple to Ana, the sky-god, erected
by Gudea, 192-3 and note.

Temple of Bel-Merodach embellished by
Nebuchadnezzar with silver and gold ;
its furniture, like Solomon's, of massive
gold, 61-6.
Temple of Sala built by Gudea ; her rela
tion and attributes, 210-1 ; addressed
as Gubarra in a penitential psalm;
story of the goddess of the copper hand
replaced by one of gold and bronze, 212.
Temples of the higher gods compared to
the Capitol at Rome, 218.
Tendency to modify religious thought
among the Semites; trinity of Anu,
Bel of Nipur, and Ea, at the head of
the pantheon ; the elder Bel yielded to
Bel - Merodach ; vast numbers of the
great gods of heaven and earth, besides
minor deities of towns and villages, and
the gods of foreign countries ; temples
and titles also deified; three hundred
spirits of heaven, and six hundred
spirits of earth ; force of the phrase,
" lord of hosts," 216-7.
Teraphim, Assyrian tarpu, 63, note.
Thanksgiving days and days of humiliation
specially ordered by the later kings for
national affairs, 77.
Threat of Istar if refused admission into
Hades, 146.
Tiamat or Tiavit, Thavatth and Heb.
th6m, explained, 374.
Tiele's explanation of Istar's descent into
Hades, 251.
Titnim the old Aceadian name of Pales
tine, 202.
Totemism once common in Chaldaea evi
dent from Gisdhubar's taunt of Istar
for her treatment of Alala, the horse
and the lion ; epoch when each city
had its totem or sacred animal ; Oannes
described, 279-80; ideographs of the
names of the chief deities; Ea some
times expressed by the ideograph for
"antelope," in Assyrian Turakhu, or the
Biblical Terah ; other epithets derived
from the antelope and "ship" used at
festivals to convey Ea's image ; also as
sociated with a divine fish, 280 ; con
nected with the serpent and the goddess
Innina, the correlative of Anunit ; de
signated by the ideographs of "fish"
and "enclosure," afterwards as the
name of Nineveh; interchange with
the snake ; her parentage ; temple
built by Dungi, 281-2 ; explanation of
the totems of the antelope, fish and
serpent ; the serpent of Edina (Edin) ;
poetical description of Merodach's wea
pons, and explanation of the mythical
sevens; the serpent changed into an
anthropomorphic deity, the incarnation
of guile and wickedness; relation to

55£

INDEX.

Nina and Tianiat, 282-3 ; Ea, as a
gazelle, had various titles; Merodach,
as his son, called Asari-elim, 283-4.
Tower of Babel identified with " the illus
trious mound;" Babylonian version of
the building and confusion of the hos
tile leaders of the rebellion; use and
meaning of the word " confound ;" the
mound in ruins before the calendar was
drawn up, 406-7.
Triad of the great gods ; also a secondary
trinity of Samas, Sin and Istar; ten
dency to dualism ; early Chaldaean the j
only genuine trinity, 193.
Triads of Aceadian deities, usually male, j
110.
Tsirdu or 'Sirdu, a name of Dav-kina, I
from the Assyrian 'Sirdu, a falcon ; |
Sirrida, variantly written, was a title j
of the goddess A; the temple and wor- j
ship of Tammuz in Accad, 237. i
Ur-Bagas, first-known king of united
Babylonia ; his monuments at Mugheir,
Larsa, Warka, Niffer and Zerghul ; re
stored temples, founded cities, and esta
blished the religion of the country, 167.
Uz, a goat, an Aceadian deity, represented
sitting on a throne, watching the revo
lution of the solar disk, holding in his
hands a ring, and clad in a robe of goat
skins ; a similar robe put on Jacob to
obtain his father's blessing, 284-5.
Vicarious punishment the limit of Acea
dian belief; modified and expanded by
Semitic influence; epoch of the peni
tential psalms ; later additions; a psalm
or prayer, 353-5.
Water-god of Eridu took the place of the
sky-god of other cities ; his titles and
functions, 139.
Winds specially regarded by the primitive
Babylonians as spirits of good and evil ;
hence, both venerated and dreaded,
199-200.
Worship of mountains a survival of the
days before the Chaldaean colonists de
scended from the mountains of the East ;
sacred mounds on the plains and their
uses; the peak of Nizir ; a temple at

Calah called "the mountain of the
world ; " 'Sabu and Kharsak-kalama,
but the most famous that of Borsippa,
now called Birs-i-Nimrud ; one of the
sacred names of Anu derived from it,
405.
Zakmuka festival celebrated in the temple
of Bel-Merodach, when the divine king
seated himself in the holy place and
received the homage and adoration of
the rest of the gods; the temple con
tained a golden image of the god, and
a golden table in its front ; resemblance
to the Jewish temple, 64-5 ; the festival
supposed to be the same as the Sakaean ;
opening hymns and ceremonies, 68-9.
Zamama (Zagaga), the Sun-god of Kis;
same as Adar, and symbolised by a lion,
261-2, note.
Zarpanitu, Zir-banitu, and Zir-panitu,
local names of Beltis; the name pure
Semitic, but she represented an older
Aceadian divinity; her benevolent office,
110-1; her relation to Merodach and
Ea ; worshipped with Lakhamun and
Elagu; changes in her cult, 111-2.
Ziggurat of eight stages called the founda
tion-stone of heaven and earth ; top
chamber an observatory, 96.
Zi, or spirits, innumerable and mysterious;
assigned to objects and forces of nature;
the moral element unknown in Chal
daean faith ; events determined by blind
chance, 328.
Zikum and Zigarum or Ziki'ira, names of
Gurra, or chaos, defined ; king called
Ur-Bahu, 262, note; Zikum honoured
in the south as Bahu, and in the era of
totemism known as " the pure heifer,"
374-5; Ai6n and Protagonos; Genesis
and mythological documents; the watery
abyss, the primal source of the universe ;
Phoenician mythology ; chaos and evil,
377 ; Zikum and Tiamat contrasted ;
fight between Bel and the dragon ; the
story compared with the first chapter of
Genesis; supposed date in its present
form ; slightly different from the cunei
form tablets, but irreconcilable with
the work of Ber&ssos, 387-8 ; compari
son, and the work of the fourth day,
389-91.

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