The Old Testament In the Light of The Historical Records and Legends Part 6

Here the text breaks off, but sufficient of it remains to show of what the devotion of the Babylonians and a.s.syrians to their G.o.ds consisted, and what their beliefs really were. For some reason or other, the writer recognizes that the divinity whom he worships is displeased with him, and apparently comes to the conclusion that the consort of the G.o.d is displeased also. He therefore prays and humbles himself before them, asking that his misdeeds may be forgotten, and that he may be separated from his sins, by which he feels himself to be bound and fettered. He imagines to himself that the seven winds, or a little bird, or a fish, or a beast of the field, or the waters of a stream, may carry his sin away, and that the flowing waters of the river may cleanse him from his sin, making him pure in the eyes of his G.o.d as a chain of gold, and precious to him as the most precious thing that he can think of, namely, a diamond ring (upon such material and worldly similes did the thoughts of the Babylonians run). He wishes his life (or his soul-the word in the original is _napiti_, which Zimmern translates _Seele_) to be saved, to pa.s.s away from his evil state, and to dwell with his G.o.d, from whom he begs for a sign in the form of a propitious dream, a dream that shall come true, showing that he is in reality once more in the favour of his G.o.d, who, he hopes, will deliver him into the gracious hands of the merciful Merodach, that he and all his city may praise his great divinity.

Fragment though it be, in its beginning, development, and climax, it is, to all intents and purposes, perfect, and a worthy specimen of compositions of this cla.s.s.

It is noteworthy that the suppliant almost re-echoes the words of the Psalmist in those pa.s.sages where he speaks of his guarding the court of the temple of his G.o.d and dwelling in his temple (e-sagila, the renowned temple at Babylon), wherein, along with other deities, the G.o.d Merodach was worshipped-the merciful one, into whose gracious hands he wished to be delivered. The prayer that his sin might be carried away by a bird, or a fish, etc., brings up before the mind's eye the picture of the scapegoat, fleeing, laden with the sins of the pious Israelite, into the desert to Azazel.

To all appearance, the worshipper, in the above extract, desires to be delivered by the G.o.d whom he worships into the hands of the G.o.d Merodach.

This is a point that is worthy of notice, for it seems to show that the Babylonians, at least in later times, regarded the other deities in the light of mediators with the chief of the Babylonian Pantheon. As manifestations of him, they all formed part of his being, and through them the suppliant found a channel to reconciliation and forgiveness of his sins.

In this there seems to be somewhat of a parallel to the Egyptian belief in the soul, at death, being united with Osiris. The annihilation of self, however, did not, in all probability, recommend itself to the Babylonian mind any more than it must have done to the mind of the a.s.syrian. To all appearance, the preservation of one's individuality, in the abodes of bliss after death, was with them an essential to the reality of that life beyond the grave. If we adopt here Zimmern's translation of _napiti_ by "soul," the necessity of interpreting the above pa.s.sage in the way here indicated seems to be rendered all the greater.

The Creation legend shows us how the G.o.d Merodach was regarded by the Babylonians as having attained his high position among the "G.o.ds his fathers," and the reverence that they had for this deity is not only testified to by that legend, but also by the many doc.u.ments of a religious nature that exist. This being the case, it is only natural to suppose, that he would be worshipped both under the name of Merodach, his usual appellation, and also under any or all of the other names that were attributed to him by the Babylonians as having been conferred upon him by the G.o.ds at the time of his elevation to the position of their chief.

Not only, therefore, was he called Marduk (Amaruduk, "the brightness of day"), the Hebrew Merodach, but he bore also the names of Asaru or Asari, identified by the Rev. C. J. Ball and Prof. Hommel with the Egyptian Osiris-a name that would tend to confirm what is stated above concerning the possible connection between the Egyptian and Babylonian beliefs in the immortality of the soul. This name Asaru was compounded with various other (explanatory) epithets, making the fuller names Asari-lu-duga (probably "Asari, he who is good"), Asari-lu-duga-namsuba ("Asari, he who is good, the charm"), Asari-lu-duga-namti ("Asari, he who is good, the life"), Asari-alima ("Asari, the prince"), Asari-alima-nuna ("Asari, the prince, the mighty one"), etc., all showing the estimation in which he was held, and testifying to the sacredness of the first component, which, as already remarked, has been identified with the name of Osiris, the chief divinity of the Egyptians. Among his other names are (besides those quoted from the last tablet of the story of the Creation and the explanatory list that bears upon it) some of apparently foreign origin, among them being Amaru (? short for Amar-uduk) and Sal-ila, the latter having a decidedly western Semitic look.(2) As "the warrior," he seems to have borne the name of Guur (? "the strong"); another of his Akkadian appellations was Gudibir, and as "lord" of all the world he was called Bel, the equivalent of the Baal of the Phnicians and the Beel of the Aramaeans. In astronomy his name was given to several stars, and he was identified with the planet Jupiter, thus making him the counterpart of the Greek and Latin Zeus or Jove.

As has been said above, Merodach was the G.o.d that was regarded by the Babylonians and a.s.syrians as he who went about doing good on behalf of mankind. If he saw a man in affliction-suffering, for instance, from any malady-he would go and ask his father Aa, he who knew all things, and who had promised to impart all his knowledge to his royal son, what the man must do to be cured of the disease or relieved of the demon which troubled him. The following will give some idea of what the inscriptions detailing these charms and incantations, which the G.o.d was supposed to obtain from his father, were like-

"Incantation: The sickness of the head hath darted forth from the desert, and rushed like the wind.

Like lightning it flasheth, above and below it smiteth, The impious man(3) like a reed it cutteth down, and His nerves like a tendril it severeth.

(Upon him) for whom the G.o.ddess Itar hath no care, and whose flesh is in anguish, Like a star of heaven it (the sickness) flasheth down, like a night-flood it cometh.

Adversity is set against the trembling man, and threateneth him like a lion- It hath stricken that man, and The man rusheth about like one who is mad- Like one whose heart is smitten he goeth to and fro, Like one thrown into the fire he burneth, Like the wild a.s.s that runneth (?), his eyes are filled with cloud, Being alive, he eateth, yet is he bound up with death.

The disease,(4) which is like a violent wind, n.o.body knoweth its path- Its completed time, and its connection n.o.body knoweth."

(Here come abbreviations of the set phrases stating that the G.o.d Merodach perceived the man who was suffering, and went to ask his father Aa, dwelling in the Abyss, how the man was to be healed of the sickness that afflicted him. In the texts that give the wanting parts, Aa is represented as asking his son Merodach what it was that he did not know, and in what he could still instruct him. What he (Aa) knows, that Merodach shall also know. He then tells Merodach to go and work the charm.)

"The ?altigilla plant groweth alone in the desert Like the sun-G.o.d entering his house, cover its head with a garment, and Cover the ?altigilla plant, and enclose some meal, and In the desert, before the rising sun Root it out from its place, and Take its root, and Take the skin of a young goat, and Bind up the head of the sick man, and

May a gust (?) of wind carry it (the disease) away, and may it not return to its place.

O spirit of heaven, exorcise; spirit of earth, exorcise."

The numerous incantations of this cla.s.s, in which the G.o.d Merodach is represented as playing the part of benefactor to the sick and afflicted among mankind, and interesting himself in their welfare, are exceedingly numerous, and cover a great variety of maladies and misfortunes. No wonder, therefore, that the Babylonians looked upon the G.o.d, their own G.o.d, with eyes of affection, and worship, and reverence. Indeed, it is doubtful whether the Hebrews themselves, the most G.o.d-fearing nation of their time, looked upon the G.o.d of their fathers with as much affection, or reverence, as did the Babylonians regard the G.o.d Merodach. They show it not only in the inscriptions of the cla.s.s quoted above, but also in numerous other texts. All the kings of Babylonia, and not a few of those of a.s.syria, with one consent pay him homage, and testify to their devotion. The names of princes and common people, too, often bear witness to the veneration that they felt for this, the chief of their G.o.ds.

"Merodach is lord of the G.o.ds," "Merodach is master of the word," "With Merodach is life," "The dear one of the G.o.ds is Merodach," "Merodach is our king," "(My, his, our) trust is Merodach," "Be gracious to me, O Merodach," "Direct me, O Merodach," "Merodach protects," "Merodach has given a brother" (Marduk-nadin-a?i, the name of one of Nebuchadrezzar's sons), "A judge is Merodach," etc., etc., are some of the names compounded with that of this popular divinity. Merodach was not so much in use, as the component part of a name, as the G.o.d of wisdom, Nebo, but it is not by any means improbable that this is due to the reverence in which he was held, which must, at times, have led the more devout to avoid the p.r.o.nunciation of his name any more than was necessary, though, if that was the case, it never reached the point of an utter prohibition against its utterance, such as caused the p.r.o.nunciation of the Hebrew Yahwah to become entirely lost even to the most learned for many hundred years. Those, therefore, who wished to avoid the profanation, by too frequent utterance, of this holy name, could easily do so by subst.i.tuting the name of some other deity, for, as we have seen above, the names of all the G.o.ds could be applied to him, and the doctrine of their identification with him only grew in strength-we know not under what influence-as time went on, until Marduk or Merodach became synonymous with the word _ilu_, "G.o.d," and is even used as such in a list where the various G.o.ds are enumerated as his manifestations. The portion of the tablet in question containing these advanced ideas is as follows-

81-11-3, 111.

"... is Merodach of planting.

Lugal-a-ki- ... is Merodach of the water-spring.

Ninip is Merodach of the garden (?).

Nergal is Merodach of war.

Zagaga is Merodach of battle.

Bel is Merodach of lordship and dominion.

Nebo is Merodach of wealth (or trading).

Sin is Merodach the illuminator of the night.

ama is Merodach of truth (or righteousness).

Rimmon is Merodach of rain.

Ti?u is Merodach of handicraft.

Sig is Merodach of....

Suqamuna is Merodach of the (irrigation-) reservoir."

As this tablet is not complete, there is every probability that the G.o.d Merodach was identified, on the lost portion, with at least as many deities as appear on the part that time has preserved to us.

This identification of deities with each other would seem to have been a far from uncommon thing in the ancient East during those heathen times. A large number of deities of the Babylonian Pantheon are identified, in the a.s.syrian proper names, with a very interesting divinity whose name appears as Aa, and which may possibly turn out to be only one of the many forms that are met with of the G.o.d Ya'u or Jah, who was not only worshipped by the Hebrews, but also by the a.s.syrians, Babylonians, Hitt.i.tes, and other nations of the East in ancient times. Prof. Hommel, the well-known a.s.syriologist and Professor of Semitic languages at Munich, suggests that this G.o.d Ya is another form of the name of Ea, which is possible, but any a.s.similation of the two divinities is probably best explained upon the supposition that the people of the East in ancient times identified them with each other in consequence of the likeness between the two names.

In any case, the identification of a large number of the G.o.ds-perhaps all of them-with a deity whose name is represented by the group Aa, is quite certain. Thus we have Aur-Aa, Ninip-Aa, Bel-Aa, Nergal-Aa, ama-Aa, Nusku-Aa, Sin-Aa, etc., and it is probable that the list might be greatly extended. Not only, however, have we a large number of deities identified with Aa, but a certain number of them are also identified with the deity known as Ya, Ya'u, or Au, the Jah of the Hebrews. Among these may be cited Bel-Yau, "Bel is Jah," Nabu-Ya', "Nebo is Jah," A?i-Yau, "A?i is Jah," a name that would seem to confirm the opinion which Fuerst held, that _a?i_ was, in this connection, a word for "G.o.d," or a G.o.d. In Ya-Dagunu, "Jah is Dagon," we have the elements reversed, showing a wish to identify Jah with Dagon, rather than Dagon with Jah, whilst another interesting name, Au-Aa, shows an identification of Jah with Aa, two names which have every appearance of being etymologically connected.

There is then but little doubt that we have in these names an indication of an attempt at what may be regarded as concentration-a desire and tendency towards monotheism. When this began, and what the real opinions of the more thoughtful upon the subject of the unity or the plurality of the deity may have been, we have at present no means of finding out. There can be no doubt, however, that it sprang from more than one cause-the desire not to offend either heavenly or earthly powers by seeming to favour one divinity more than another, the difficulty of dividing and apportioning the domain in nature of every divinity, the wish to identify the divine patrons of the various nationalities with a view to understanding what they really were, and describing their nature for either religious or political purposes-all these things, and probably others, would tend to counteract not only polytheistic bigotry, but also the exclusive appropriation by one tribe or people of any particular divinity, who was their own special helper against their enemies, and to whose particular protection they defiantly laid claim. When in conflict or in dispute with another, there is no doubt that the man bearing the name of ama-nuri, for instance, would be met with the fierce taunt, "The Sun-G.o.d is not more thy light than he is mine," and, as an answer to Ya-abi-ni, "Jah is our father too, and more so than he is yours," would at once spring to the lips of any Jew with whom the bearer of the name may have had a dispute.

For the thoughtful, G.o.d was one, and all the various G.o.ds of the heathen were but His manifestations, misconceived and misunderstood by the ignorant and thoughtless, but, rightly regarded, full of deep significance. The Jews in later times had, in all probability, no tendency to polytheism, yet it is certain that they had but little objection to bearing heathen names, and of all the examples that might be adduced, there is probably not one that is more noteworthy than Mordecai, or Mardecai, the worshipper of Merodach as typical of the G.o.d beside whom there was none other, of whom, as we have seen,-and that from a Babylonian tablet,-all the other deities of the Babylonian Pantheon were but manifestations.

The G.o.d Aa, Ae, Or Ea.

As the primitive deity of the Babylonian Pantheon, and as apparently closely identified with the well-known deity Jah, who was worshipped by a large section of the Semitic nations, and whose name is one of the words for "G.o.d" in the a.s.syro-Babylonian language, the G.o.d Ea, Ae, or Aa, deserves notice here not only on account of his being the creator of all the G.o.ds, but also on account of his fatherhood to Merodach, who, in Babylonian mythology, was conceived as supplanting him-not by any unfair means, but by the right of being the fittest to exercise power and dominion over the world, the universe, and even over "the G.o.ds his fathers."

a.s.syriologists early recognized the attributes of the G.o.d whose name they then read Hea. They saw that he was regarded by the ancient Babylonians and a.s.syrians as the G.o.d of streams, rivers, seas, and the watery abyss of the under-world-the waters under the earth. Of the G.o.d Ae or Ea all sorts of wonderful stories were told by the Babylonians, who attributed to him, as the G.o.d of wisdom and knowledge, the origin of the civilization which they enjoyed. His name, as G.o.d of deep wisdom, was Nin-igi-azaga, "the lord of the bright eye," a name which would seem to show that the Akkadians (the names of most of the deities of the a.s.syro-Babylonian Pantheon are written in Akkadian) a.s.sociated, as we also do at the present day, intelligence with brightness of the eyes, or, more correctly, with alertness of appearance.

But this G.o.d had many other names than those mentioned above. He was En-ki, "lord of the world"; Amma-ana-ki, "lord of heaven and earth"; Engur, "G.o.d of the Abyss"; Nudimmud, "G.o.d of creation"; Nadimmud, "G.o.d of everything"; Nun-ura, "G.o.d of the potter"; Nin-agal, "G.o.d of the smith"; Dunga, "G.o.d of the singer" (?); Nin-bubu, "G.o.d of the sailor"; Kuski-banda, "G.o.d of goldsmiths";-in fact, he seems to have been the G.o.d of arts and crafts in general. He was also called Ellila-banda, "the powerful lord"; En-uru and Nin-uru, "the protecting lord"; Lugal-ida, "king of the river"; Lugal, En, Nuna, and Dara-abzu, "king," "lord,"

"prince," and "ruler of the abyss"; Dara-dim, Dara-nuna, and Dara-banda, honorific t.i.tles as "creator," "princely ruler," and "powerful ruler"; Alima-nuna, Alima-banda, and Alima-um-ki, "princely lord," "powerful lord," and "lord disposer of the earth." He bore also besides these a large number of names, among which may be cited, as an example of his many-sidedness, the following-

arara, apparently "the overwhelmer," probably as lord of the sea and its teeming myriads.

En-ti, "lord of life."

Gana-si, probably "the enclosure full (of life)."

Nam-zida, "righteousness."

Idima (Akk.) or Naqbu (Bab.), "the deep."

Sa-kalama, "ruler of the land."

anabaku and anabi, the G.o.d "40."

That the sea was the abode of the G.o.d of knowledge seems to have been the belief of the Babylonians from the earliest times. According to Berosus, whose record has been preserved by Apollodoros, Abydenus, and Alexander Polyhistor, there appeared more than once, from the Erythraean Sea (the Persian Gulf), "the Musaros Oannes, the Annedotos," a creature half man and half fish, probably conceived in shape of the deity answering to this description found on certain Babylonian cylinder-seals, in a sculpture with representations of marine monsters, now preserved in the Louvre, and in the divine figures in the shape of a man clothed with a fish's skin, preserved in the form of clay statuettes and large sculptures (bas-reliefs) in the British Museum. Abydenus apparently understands Berosus differently, for he makes Annedotos and Oannes to be different personages. All those who have quoted Berosus, however, agree in the main point, that these beings, half man and half fish, came out of the sea to teach mankind. There is hardly any doubt that in some of these cases the deity that is intended is the G.o.d whose name is now read Ae or Ea, who was called Aos by Damascius. After the appearance of the fourth Annedotos, there came another person, also from the Erythraean Sea, named Odakon, having, like the former, the same complicated form, between a man and a fish. To these names Abydenus, still quoting Berosus, adds those of four more "double-shaped personages" named Euedocos, Eneugamos, Eneuboulos, and Anementos. These last came forth in the reign of Daos (probably Dumuzi (Duwuzi) or Tammuz) the shepherd, of Pantibiblon (Sippar or Sippara), who reigned for the s.p.a.ce of ten sari (360,000 years)! "After these things was Anodaphos, in the time of Euedoreschos."

Besides his son Merodach, who, in Babylonian mythology, became "king of the G.o.ds,"-like Jupiter, in the place of his father-Ae or Ea was regarded as having six other sons, Dumu-zi-abzu, "Tammuz of the abyss"; Ki-gulla, "the destroyer of the world"; Nira (meaning doubtful); Bara, "the revealer" (?); Bara-gula, "the great revealer (?)"; and Burnunta-sa, "the broad of ear." One daughter is attributed to him, her name being ?i-dimme-azaga, "the glorious spirit's offspring," called, in one of the incantations (W.A.I. iv., 2nd ed., col. ii., line 54), "the daughter of the abyss." He had also two bull-like guardians (probably those composite creatures, winged bulls with human heads, representations of which guarded the approaches to the a.s.syrian palaces), one seemingly named Duga, "the good," and the other Dub-ga, apparently meaning "he who causes (the bolt) to be raised," giving the suppliant access to the palace of his lord. To all appearance, the gates giving access to his domain were guarded by eight porters, the names of most of whom are unfortunately broken away on the tablet that gives these details, but one of them seems to have borne the name of Eniw-?engala, "the bespeaker of fertility," whilst another was named Igi-?en(?)gala, "the eye of fertility," and the third had a name beginning, like that of the first, with the element Eniw, a circ.u.mstance which would lead one to ask whether this may not be the element Eneu found in the names of the two creatures Eneugamos and Eneuboulos, mentioned by Berosus.

His consort was called Damkina, "the lady of the earth," the Dauke of Damascius, or Dam-gala-nuna, "the great princely lady." She likewise had two bull-like attendants, A-eru and E-a-eru, of whom but little or nothing is known.

The tablet already quoted (W.A.I. iv., pl. 1, col. ii., ll. 36-39) names Engur (the deep) as being the mother of Ae or Ea, and attributes to him another daughter, Nina, with whom the name of Nineveh is apparently connected.

Down in the Abyss, in the city called Eridu, "the good city," there dwelt Ae, with all his court. Sitting on his throne, he waited for the time when his son Merodach, the good of heart, came to ask him for those health-bringing incantations for the benefit of mankind. Sometimes, seemingly, instead of Merodach, his sixth son Burnunsia (Burnunta-sa), "the broad of ear," would perform this office. Ae was always ready to help with his counsels, and no one whose case Merodach forwarded was spurned by the King of the Abyss.

Here, too, dwelt "Tammuz of the Abyss," one of Ae's sons, but whether this was the well-known Tammuz who was the husband of the G.o.ddess Ishtar, is uncertain. Judging from the legends of the Babylonians, Ishtar's husband descended, not to the abode of the lord of the deep, but to the realms of the Babylonian Persephone, the consort of Nergal, in Hades, "the land of no return," whither Ishtar once descended in search of him. Concerning the Babylonian paradise, where Ae dwelt, see the following chapter.