The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria Part 20

Accompanying these threats, the actions indicated were symbolically performed by the exorciser on effigies of the witches made, in this case, of bitumen covered with pitch.

Corresponding again to the potions prepared by the witches, the priests prepared draughts compounded of various weeds and herbs that were given to the victim, or concoctions that were poured over his body. This const.i.tuted the medicinal phase of the priest's labors, and marks the connection between magic and medicine. Naturally such herbs and weeds were chosen as through experience had proved effective.

The G.o.ds of the Incantation Texts.

A feature of the incantation texts is the appeal to the G.o.ds, which is seldom, if ever, wanting. Just as the kings sought, by the enumeration of a large pantheon, to secure the protection of as large a number of powers as possible, so the priests endeavored to strengthen their magic formulas by including the mention of all the chief and a varying number of the minor deities. This invocation of groups of deities, as the invocation of groups of spirits, became more or less conventional, so much so that, instead of mentioning the G.o.ds individually, the scribe would content himself with an indication, at the proper point, of the number of G.o.ds to be appealed to,--six, ten, fifteen, as the case may be, to as many as fifty.[364] Precisely what G.o.ds he had in mind we are no longer in a position to know, but no doubt the chief members of the pantheon were included in the first place. Lists of these deities are often added. The superior triad, Anu, Bel, and Ea, head the list, at times accompanied by their consorts, at times standing alone. The second cla.s.s of triads, Sin, Shamash, and Ramman, follow, and then the other great G.o.ds, Nin-ib, Marduk, Nergal, Nusku, and Gibil; and finally the chief G.o.ddesses are added, notably Ishtar, Nin-karrak, or Gula, and Bau.

But besides the chief deities, an exceedingly large number of minor ones are found interspersed through the incantation texts. Some are well known, as Nin-girsu, Zamama, and Papsukal. Many of them are found in other branches of the religious literature or in invocations attached to historical texts, commemorative of some work undertaken and completed by the kings; but a large proportion of these powers, not often distinguishable from mere spirits, only appear once in the literary remains of Babylonia. It is manifestly impossible, under such circ.u.mstances, to specify their traits. In most cases, indeed, the phonetic reading is unknown or uncertain. While a considerable proportion may be put down as local G.o.ds, enjoying an independent, albeit obscure, existence, at least an equal number will turn out to be mere epithets of G.o.ds already known. In all cases where the G.o.d's name actually appears as an epithet, we may be certain that such is the case.

So when a G.o.d is called simply _Dainu_, _i.e._, Judge, there can be little doubt that Shamash, the sun-G.o.d, is meant; a G.o.d, 'great mountain,' is none other than Bel; and similarly, such names as 'merciful,' 'hearer of prayer,' 'conqueror of enemy' are manifestly t.i.tles belonging to certain well-known deities, and used much as among the Greeks the G.o.ds were often referred to by the traits, physical or moral, that distinguished them. As for the residue, who are independent deities, while of course our knowledge of the Babylonian religion would be increased did we know more of them than their names, it is not likely that the worship of these G.o.ds, nor the conceptions connected with them, involved any new principle. A mere enumeration would of course be of little use. Moreover, such an enumeration would not be exhaustive, for new deities are found in almost every additional text that is published.

Already this list counts considerably over two hundred. At most, such an enumeration would merely ill.u.s.trate what we already know,--the exceedingly large number of local cults that once existed in Babylonia and a.s.syria, and disappeared without leaving any trace but the more or less accidental preservation of the name of the deity, who was once regarded as the patron of the place. Lastly it is to be noted that, besides G.o.ds, stars are invoked, as well as rivers, temples, and even towns,--in short, anything that has sacred a.s.sociations.

On a different level from the G.o.ds enumerated in groups stand those deities who are introduced into the incantation texts at essential points individually and for a special reason. Such deities are comparatively few,--hardly more than half a dozen. These G.o.ds may be called the G.o.ds of the incantation texts _par excellence_. Their help is essential to ensure the effectiveness of the exorciser's task. They stand in close and direct connection with the troubles from which relief is prayed for. For physical ills, they act as healers. If the evil for which the individual or the country suffers is due to some natural phenomena,--an eclipse of the moon, of which people stood in great terror, or a deluge or a famine,--the moon-G.o.d, the storm-G.o.d, some phase of the sun-deity, or an agricultural G.o.d would naturally be implored; while in a general way the heads of the pantheon, Marduk in Babylonia and Ashur in a.s.syria, come in for a large share of attention.

As already intimated in a previous chapter,[365] the G.o.d who plays perhaps the most prominent role in the incantation texts is Ea. He occupies this rank primarily by virtue of his being the G.o.d of humanity; but another factor which enters into consideration, though in an indirect fashion, is his character as a water-G.o.d. Water, being one of the means of purification frequently referred to in the texts, acquires a symbolical significance among the Babylonians, as among so many other nations. Ea, therefore, as the water-G.o.d of the ancient sacred town, Eridu, acquires additional popularity through this circ.u.mstance. The t.i.tles that he receives in the texts emphasize his power to heal and protect. He is the great physician who knows all secret sources whence healing can be obtained for the maladies and ills caused by the demons and sorcerers. He is therefore in a peculiar sense 'the lord of the fates' of mankind, the chief exorciser, the all-wise magician of the G.o.ds, at whose command and under whose protection, the priest performs his symbolical acts. Not only does humanity turn to Ea: the G.o.ds, too, appeal to him in their distress. The eclipse of the moon was regarded by the popular faith as a sort of bewitchment of the great orb through the seven evil spirits. All the heavenly bodies are affected by such an event. Anu is powerless. It is only through Ea that Sin is released, just as though he were a human individual. But Ea is rarely approached directly. At his side stands his son Marduk, who acts as a mediator.

Marduk listens to the pet.i.tion addressed to him by the exorcising priest on behalf of the victim, and carries the word to Father Ea. The latter, after first declaring Marduk to be his equal in knowledge, proceeds to dictate the cure. Marduk, accordingly, is given the same t.i.tles as his father, Ea. He, too, is the lord of life, the master of the exorcising art, the chief magician among the G.o.ds.

The importance thus given to Marduk is an indication of a later period, and must be taken in connection with the supremacy accorded to the G.o.d after the union of the Babylonian states. Originally, Ea is the G.o.d to whom the direct appeal was made. Marduk is an afterthought that points to the remodeling of the ancient texts after the period of Hammurabi.

Damkina, the consort of Ea, is occasionally invoked, but it is significant that Sarpanitum, the consort of Marduk, is rarely mentioned.

The burning of images and witches, or of other objects, being so frequently resorted to as a means of destroying baneful influences, the G.o.d of fire occupies a rank hardly secondary to Ea. Here, too, the mystical element involved in the use of fire adds to the effectiveness of the method. Water and fire are the two great sources of symbolical purification that we meet with in both primitive and advanced rituals of the past.[366] The fire-G.o.d appears in the texts under the double form of Gibil and Nusku. The former occurs with greater frequency than the latter, but the two are used so interchangeably as to be in every respect identical. The amalgamation of the two may indeed be due to the growth of the incantation rituals of Babylon. In some districts Gibil was worshipped as the special G.o.d of fire, in others Nusku, much as we found the sun-G.o.d worshipped under the names of _Shamas_ and _Utu_, and similarly in the case of other deities. On the supposition that the incantation rituals are the result of a complicated literary process, involving the collection of all known formulas, and the bringing of them into some kind of connection with one another, this existence of a twofold fire-G.o.d finds a ready explanation. At Babylon we know Nusku was worshipped as the fire-G.o.d. Gibil belongs therefore to another section, perhaps to one farther south. He is in all probability the older G.o.d of the two, and the preponderating occurrence of his name in the texts may be taken as a proof of the ancient origin of those parts in which it occurs. There being no special motive why he should be supplanted by Nusku, his preeminence was not interfered with through the remodeling to which the texts were subjected. While bearing in mind that Gibil and Nusku are two distinct deities, we may, for the sake of convenience, treat them together under the double designation of Gibil-Nusku.

Gibil and Nusku are called 'sons of Anu'; Gibil, indeed, is spoken of as the first-born of heaven, and the image of his father. The conception is probably mythological, resting upon the belief in the heavenly origin of fire held by all nations. Gibil-Nusku is exalted as the 'lofty one'

among the G.o.ds, whose command is supreme. He is at once the great messenger of the G.o.ds and their chief counsellor. Clothed in splendor, his light is unquenchable. A large variety of other attributes are a.s.signed to him, all emphasizing his strength, his majesty, his brilliancy, and the terror that he is able to inspire. The importance of fire to mankind made Gibil-Nusku the founder of cities, and in general the G.o.d of civilization. As the fire-G.o.d, Gibil-Nusku is more especially invoked at the symbolical burning of the images of the witches. With a raised torch in one hand, the bewitched person repeats the incantation recited by the exorciser. Frequently the instruction is added that the incantation is to be recited in a whisper, corresponding to the soft tones in which the demons, witches, and ghosts are supposed to convey their messages. The incantations in which the fire-G.o.d is exalted in grandiloquent terms belong to the finest productions of this branch of the religious literature. The addresses to Gibil-Nusku are veritable hymns that are worthy of better a.s.sociations. One of these addresses begins:

Nusku, great G.o.d, counsellor of the great G.o.ds,[367]

Guarding the sacrificial gifts[368] of all the heavenly spirits, Founder of cities, renewer of the sanctuaries, Glorious day, whose command is supreme, Messenger of Anu, carrying out the decrees of Bel, Obedient to Bel, counsellor, mountain[369] of the earthly spirits, Mighty in battle, whose attack is powerful, Without thee no table is spread in the temple.

Without thee, Shamash, the judge executes no judgment.

I, thy servant so and so, the son of so and so,[370]

Whose G.o.d is so and so, and whose G.o.ddess so and so,[371]

I turn to thee, I seek thee, I raise my hands to thee, I prostrate myself before thee.

Burn the sorcerer and sorceress, May the life of my sorcerer and sorceress be destroyed.

Let me live that I may exalt thee and proudly pay homage to thee.

This incantation, we are told, is to be recited in a whisper, in the presence of an image of wax. The image is burnt as the words are spoken, and as it is consumed the power of the witch is supposed to wane. The reference to the indispensable presence of the fire-G.o.d in the temple is rather interesting. Sacrifice always entailed the use of fire. To whatever deity the offering was made, Gibil-Nusku could not in any case be overlooked. The fire const.i.tuted the medium, as it were, between the worshipper and the deity addressed. The fire-G.o.d is in truth the messenger who carries the sacrifice into the presence of the G.o.d worshipped. Even Shamash, though himself personifying fire, is forced to acknowledge the power of Gibil-Nusku, who, we are told elsewhere, is invoked, even when sacrifices are made to the sun-G.o.d.

Besides being the son of Anu, Gibil-Nusku is brought into a.s.sociation with the two other members of the triad, Bel and Ea. He is the messenger of Bel and the son of Ea. The former conception is again mythical. Fire is also the instrument of the G.o.ds, and Nusku is particularly called the messenger of Bel because Bel is one of the highest G.o.ds. In reality he is the messenger of all the G.o.ds, and is frequently so designated. His connection with Ea, on the other hand, seems to be the result of the systematizing efforts of the schoolmen. Ea occupying the chief rank in the incantations, the subsidiary role of Gibil-Nusku is indicated by making him, just as Marduk, the son of Ea. In this way, too, the two great means of purification--water and fire--are combined under a single aspect. The combination was all the more appropriate since the fire-G.o.d, as the promoter of culture, shared with Ea the protection of humanity.

Accordingly, all the t.i.tles of Ea are bestowed in one place or the other upon Gibil-Nusku. But, after all, Gibil-Nusku is merely a phase of the solar deity,[372] and hence by the side of this fire-G.o.d, Shamash and the other solar deities, though in a measure subsidiary to Gibil-Nusku, are frequently invoked. Shamash, as the great judge, was a personage especially appropriate for occasions which involved a decision in favor of the bewitched and against the witches or demons. Gibil-Nusku, like Shamash, is exalted as the great judge who comes to the aid of the oppressed. Similarly, the fire-G.o.d receives the attributes belonging to Ninib, Nergal, and the various phases of the latter, such as Lugal-edinna, Lugal-gira, and Alamu. These G.o.ds, then, and their consorts, because of their relationship to the fire-G.o.d, are introduced into the incantations, and what is more to the point, the various phases of Nergal and Ninib are introduced without any trace of the distinctions that originally differentiated them from one another.[373] Besides the great solar deities, minor ones, as Nin-gish-zida[374] and I-shum, are frequently added in long lists of protecting spirits to whom the appeal for help is directed. The attempt is also made to ill.u.s.trate their relationship to the great fire-G.o.d. So I-shum becomes the messenger of Nusku, while Nin-gish-zida (though in the days of Gudea a male deity[375]) appears to be regarded, as Tallqvist has suggested, as the consort of Nusku.

Night being a favorite time for the recital of the incantations, it was natural that the orb of night, the G.o.d Sin, should be added to the pantheon of the exorciser. Though playing a minor role, the moon-G.o.d is never omitted when a long series of protecting spirits is invoked. But there are occasions when Sin becomes the chief deity invoked. Reference has already been made to the general terror that moon eclipses inspired.

The disappearance of the moon was looked upon as a sign of the G.o.d's displeasure or as a defeat of the moon in a conflict with other planets.

Disaster of some kind--war, pestilence, internal disturbances--was sure to follow upon an eclipse, unless the anger of the G.o.d could be appeased or his weakness overcome. In the case of such general troubles affecting the whole country, it is the kings themselves who seek out the priests.

Rituals were prepared to meet the various contingencies. The king begins the ceremony by a prayer addressed to Sin. One of these prayers begins:[376]

O Sin, O Nannar! mighty one ...

O Sin, thou who alone givest light, Extending light to mankind, Showing favor to the black-headed ones,[377]

Thy light shines in heaven ...

Thy torch is brilliant as fire; Thy light fills the broad earth.

Thy light is glorious as the Sun ...

Before thee the great G.o.ds lie prostrate; The fate of the world rests with thee.

An eclipse has taken place, portending evil to the country, and libations have been poured out on days carefully selected as favorable ones. The king continues:

I have poured out to thee, with wailing,[378] a libation at night; I have offered thee a drink-offering with shouts; Prostrate and standing erect[379] I implore thee.

With the prayer to Sin, appeals to other G.o.ds and also G.o.ddesses are frequently combined,--to Marduk, Ishtar, Tashmitum, Nabu, Ramman, and the like. The incantations themselves, consisting of fervent appeals to remove the evil, actual or portending, are preceded by certain ceremonies,--the burning of incense, the pouring out of some drink, or by symbolical acts, as the binding of cords; and the G.o.d is appealed to once more to answer the prayer.

Again, just as Gibil-Nusku entails the invocation of a large variety of solar deities, so Ea, as the water-G.o.d, leads to the introduction of various water-G.o.ds and spirits. Perhaps the most prominent of these is the G.o.d Naru, whose name, signifying 'river,'[380] is clearly the personification of the watery element, though of the minor bodies of water. Next in order comes the G.o.ddess Nin-akha-kuddu.[381] She is invoked as 'G.o.ddess of purification.' From her a.s.sociation in several pa.s.sages with the great deep, and with the city of Eridu--metaphorically used for the great deep--one may be permitted to conclude that she, too, was conceived of as a water-G.o.d or a water-spirit. She is 'the lady of spells,' who is asked to take possession of the body of the sufferer, and thus free him from the control of demons or witches. By the side of this G.o.ddess, Gula, 'the great physician,' is often appealed to. Again, the demons being in some cases the ghosts of the departed, or such as hover around graves, Nin-kigal, or Allatu, the mistress of the lower world, is an important ally, whose aid is desired in the struggle against the evil spirits. Lastly, it is interesting to note that Izdubar, or Gilgamesh, the famous hero of the great Babylonian epic, occurs also in incantations[382]--a welcome indication of the antiquity of the myth, and the proof, at the same time, that the epic is built on a foundation of myth. From the mythological side, Gilgamesh appears to be a solar deity. The connection of a solar G.o.d with fire would account for his appearance in the magical texts. However obscure some of the points connected with the G.o.ds of the incantation texts may be, so much is certain, that the two factors of water and fire, and the part played by these elements in the ceremonies, control and explain the choice of most of the G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses introduced, though--be it expressly noted--not of all occurring in the magical texts.

The Ritual and Formulas.

Coming to the incantations themselves, they can best be characterized as appeals interspersed with words of a more or less mystic character. The force and efficacy of the incantation lie not so much in the meaning of the words uttered, as in the simple fact that they _are_ to be uttered.

These incantations were combined into a ritual, and indications were given of the occasions on which the incantations were to be used. An a.n.a.lysis of one of these rituals will serve to ill.u.s.trate this branch of the religious literature of the Babylonians. I choose for this purpose the series known as Maklu, _i.e._, Burning,[383] the interpretation of which has been so considerably advanced by Dr. Tallqvist's admirable work. The first tablet of the series opens with an invocation to the G.o.ds of night. After complaining of his sad condition, the bewitched individual continues as follows:

Arise ye great G.o.ds, hear my complaint; Grant me justice, take cognizance of my condition.

I have made an image of my sorcerer and sorceress; I have humbled myself before you and bring to you my cause Because of the evil they (_i.e._, the witches) have done, Of the impure things which they have handled,[384]

May she[385] die! Let me live!

May her charm, her witchcraft, her sorcery (?) be broken.

May the plucked sprig (?) of the _binu_ tree purify me.

May it release me; may the evil odor[386] of my mouth be scattered to the winds.

May the _mashtakal_ herb[387] which fills the earth cleanse me.

Before you let me shine like the _kankal_ herb.

Let me be as brilliant and pure as the _lardu_ herb.

The charm of the sorceress is evil; May her words return to her mouth,[388] her tongue be cut off.

Because of her witchcraft, may the G.o.ds of night smite her, The three watches of the night[389] break her evil charm.

May her mouth be wax[390] (?), her tongue honey.

May the word causing my misfortune that she has spoken dissolve like wax (?).

May the charm that she has wound up melt like honey, So that her magic knot be cut in twain, her work destroyed, All her words scattered across the plains By the order that the G.o.ds have given.

The section closes with the ordinary request of the exorciser to the victim: "Recite this incantation." It will be seen how closely the principle of sympathetic magic is followed. The individual having been bewitched by means of certain herbs concocted probably into potions, other herbs are prepared by the exorciser as an antidote. The emphasis laid upon purification, too, is noteworthy. There are numerous synonyms employed for which it is difficult to find the adequate equivalent in English. The terms reach out beyond the literal to the symbolical purification. The victim wishes to become pure, cleansed of all impurities, so that he may be resplendent as the G.o.ds are pure, brilliant, and glorious, pure as the water, brilliant and glorious as the fire.

The length of the formulas varies. Often they consist only of a few lines. So the one immediately following appeals to Gilgamesh in these words:

Earth, Earth, Earth, Gilgamesh is the master of your witchcraft.

What you have done, I know; What I do, you know not.

All the mischief wrought by my sorceresses is destroyed, dissolved-- is gone.

At times the conditions under which the witches are pictured as acting are very elaborate. They are represented as dwelling in places with which mythological conceptions are connected; they are ferried across the river separating their city from human habitations; they are protected against attacks by the walls which surround their habitations.

To effect a release, the exorcisers, it would appear, made representations by means of drawings on clay of these habitations of the witches. They thereupon symbolically cut off the approaches and laid siege to the towns. This, at least, appears to be the meaning of an incantation beginning:

My city is Sappan,[391] my city is Sappan; The gates of my city Sappan are two, One towards sunrise, the other towards sunset.[392]

I carry a box, a pot with _mashtakal_ herbs; To the G.o.ds of heaven I offer water; As I for you secure your purification, So do you purify me!