The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria Part 3

CHAPTER IV.

BABYLONIAN G.o.dS PRIOR TO THE DAYS OF HAMMURABI.

With these preliminary remarks, we may turn, as the first part of our subject, to a consideration of the oldest of the Babylonian G.o.ds. Our main sources are the inscriptions of the old Babylonian rulers, above referred to. These are, in most cases, of a dedicatory character, being inscribed on statues, cylinders, or tablets, placed in the temples or on objects--cones, k.n.o.bs, stones--presented as votive offerings to some G.o.d. Besides the inscriptions of the rulers, we have those of officials and others. Many of these are likewise connected directly or indirectly with religious worship.

The advantage of the historical texts over the purely religious ones consists in their being dated, either accurately or approximately. For this reason, the former must be made the basis for a rational theory of the development of the Babylonian pantheon through the various periods above instanced. The data furnished by the religious texts can be introduced only, as they accord with the facts revealed by the historical inscriptions in each period.

Taking up the group of inscriptions prior to the union of the Babylonian States under Hammurabi, _i.e._, prior to 2300 B.C., we find these G.o.ds mentioned: Bel, Belit, Nin-khar-sag, Nin-girsu, also appearing as Shul-gur, Bau, Ga-tum-dug, Ea, Nin-a-gal, Nergal, Shamash, under various forms a, who is the consort of Shamash, Nannar or Sin, Nana, Anunit, Ishtar, Innanna or Ninni, Nina, Nin-mar, Dun-s.h.a.gga, Gal-alim, Anu, Nin-gish-zida, Nin-si-a, Nin-shakh, Dumu-zi, Lugal-banda and his consort Nin-gul, Dumuzi-zu-aba, Nisaba, Ku(?)anna, Lugal-erima(?), Dagan, Ishum, Umu, Pa-sag, Nin-e-gal, Nin-gal, Shul(or Dun)-pa-uddu, and Nin-akha-kuddu.

Regarding these names, it may be said at once that the reading, in many cases, is to be looked upon as merely provisional. Written, as they usually are, in the ideographic "style," the phonetic reading can only be determined when the deity in question can be identified with one, whose name is written at some place phonetically, or when the ideographs employed are so grouped as to place the phonetic reading beyond doubt.

The plan to be followed in this book will be to give the ideographic reading[24] as provisional wherever the real p.r.o.nunciation is unknown or uncertain. The ideographic designation of a deity is of great value, inasmuch as the ideographs themselves frequently reveal the character of the G.o.d, though of course the additional advantage is obvious when the name appears in both the ideographic and the phonetic writing. It will, therefore, form part of a delineation of the Babylonian pantheon to interpret the picture, as it were, under which each deity is viewed.

En-lil or Bel.

Taking up the G.o.ds in the order named, the first one, Bel, is also the one who appears on the oldest monuments as yet unearthed--the inscriptions of Nippur. His name is, at this time, written invariably as En-lil. In the Babylonian theology, he is 'the lord of the lower world.'

He represents, as it were, the unification of the various forces whose seat and sphere of action is among the inhabited parts of the globe, both on the surface and beneath, for the term 'lower world' is here used in contrast to the upper or heavenly world. Such a conception manifestly belongs to the domain of abstract thought, and it may be concluded, therefore, that either the deity belongs to an advanced stage of Babylonian culture, or that the original view of the deity was different from the one just mentioned. The latter is the case. Primarily, the ideograph Lil is used to designate a 'demon' in general, and En-lil is therefore the 'chief demon.' Primitive as such a conception is, it points to some system of thought that transcends primitive Animism, which is characterized rather by the equality accorded to all spirits.

The antiquity of the a.s.sociation of En-lil with Nippur justifies the conclusion that we have before us a local deity who, originally the protecting spirit merely, of a restricted territory, acquires the position of 'chief demon' as the town of Nippur grows to be the capitol of a large and powerful district. The fame and sanct.i.ty of Nippur survives political vicissitudes; and, indeed, in proportion as Nippur loses political prestige, the great deity of the place is released from the limitations due to his local origin and rises to the still higher dignity of a great power whose domain is the entire habitable universe.

As the 'lord of the lower world,' En-lil is contrasted to a G.o.d Anu, who presides over the heavenly bodies. The age of Sargon (3800 B.C.), in whose inscriptions En-lil already occurs, is one of considerable culture, as is sufficiently evidenced by the flourishing condition of art, and there can therefore be no objection against the a.s.sumption that even at this early period, a theological system should have been evolved which gave rise to beliefs in great powers whose dominion embraces the 'upper' and 'lower' worlds. It was because of this wide scope of his power that he became known as Bel, _i.e._, the lord _par excellence_; and it is equally natural to find his worship spread over the whole of Babylonia. In the south, the patron deity of Lagash is designated by Gudea as "the mighty warrior of Bel," showing the supremacy accorded to the latter. A temple to En-lil at Lagash, and known as E-adda, 'house of the father,' by virtue of the relationship existing between the G.o.d of Nippur and Nin-girsu, is mentioned by Uru-kagina. The temple is described as a lofty structure 'rising up to heaven.' In the north, Nippur remains the place where his worship acquired the greatest importance, so that Nippur was known as the "land of Bel." The temple sacred to him at that place was a great edifice, famous throughout Babylonian history as E-Kur, _i.e._, mountain house, in the construction of which, a long line of Babylonian rulers took part. From Naram-Sin, ruler of Agade, on through the period of Ca.s.site rule, the kings of Nippur proudly include in their t.i.tles that of 'builder of the Temple of Bel at Nippur,' measuring their attachment to the deity by the additions and repairs made to his sacred edifice.[25] Besides the kings of Agade, the rulers of other places pay their devotions to Bel of Nippur. So, a king of Kish, whose name is read Alu-usharshid by Professor Hilprecht,[26] brings costly vases of marble and limestone from Elam and offers them to Bel as a token of victory; and this at a period even earlier than Sargon. Even when En-lil is obliged to yield a modic.u.m of his authority to the growing supremacy of the patron deity of the city of Babylon, the highest tribute that can be paid to the latter, is to combine with his real name, Marduk, the t.i.tle of "Bel," which of right belongs to En-lil. We shall see how this combination of En-lil, or Bel, with Marduk reflects political changes that took place in the Euphrates Valley; and it is a direct consequence of this later a.s.sociation of the old Bel of Nippur with the chief G.o.d of Babylon, that the original traits of the former become obscured in the historical and religious texts. Dimmed popular traditions, which will be set forth in their proper place, point to his having been at one time regarded as a powerful chieftain armed with mighty weapons, but engaged in conflicts for the ultimate benefit of mankind. On the whole, he is a beneficent deity, though ready to inflict severe punishment for disobedience to his commands. We must distinguish, then, in the case of En-lil, at least four phases:

1. His original role as a local deity;

2. The extension of his power to the grade of a great 'lord' over a large district;

3. Dissociation from local origins to become the supreme lord of the lower world; and

4. The transfer of his name and powers as G.o.d of Nippur to Marduk, the G.o.d of Babylon.

The last two phases can best be set forth when we come to the period, marked by the political supremacy of the city of Babylon. It is sufficient, at this point, to have made clear his position as G.o.d of Nippur.

Nin-lil or Belit.

The consort of En-lil is Nin-Lil, the 'mistress of the lower world.' She is known also as Belit, the feminine form to Bel, _i.e._, the lady _par excellence_. She, too, had her temple at Nippur, the age of which goes back, at least, to the first dynasty of Ur. But the glory of the G.o.ddess pales by the side of her powerful lord. She is naught but a weak reflection of Bel, as in general the consorts of the G.o.ds are. Another t.i.tle by which this same G.o.ddess was known is

Nin-khar-sag.[27]

which means the 'lady of the high or great mountain.' The t.i.tle may have some reference to the great mountain where the G.o.ds were supposed to dwell, and which was known to Babylonians as the 'mountain of the lands.' Bel, as the chief of the G.o.ds, is more particularly a.s.sociated with this mountain. Hence his temple is called the 'mountain house.'

From being regarded as the inhabitant of the mountain, he comes to be identified with the mountain itself. Accordingly, he is sometimes addressed as the "great mountain,"[28] and his consort would therefore be appropriately termed 'the lady of the great mountain.' Besides the temple at Nippur, Belit, as Nin-khar-sag, had a sanctuary at Girsu, one of the quarters at Lagash (see under Nin-girsu), the earliest mention of which occurs on an inscription of Ur-Bau. The latter calls the G.o.ddess 'the mother of the G.o.ds,' which further establishes her ident.i.ty with the consort of Bel. Entemena, another governor of Lagash, places his domain under the protection of Nin-khar-sag. The worship at Nippur, however, remained most prominent. The continued popularity of her cult is attested by the fortress Dur-zakar, which a later king, Samsu-iluna (_c._ 2200), erected in her honor.

Nin-girsu.

In the inscriptions of Gudea and of his time, the G.o.d most prominently mentioned is the "Lord of Girsu." Girsu itself, as the inscriptions show, is one of the four sections into which the capitol city of Lagash was divided. It was there that the temple stood which was sacred to the patron deity, and we may conclude from this that Girsu is the oldest part of the city. Afterwards, Lagash became the general name for the capitol through being the quarter where the great palace of the king was erected. That Girsu was once quite distinct from Lagash is also evident from the t.i.tle of "king of Girsu," with which a certain Uru-kagina, who is to be placed somewhat before Gudea, contents himself. The other three quarters, all of which were originally independent cities, are Uru-azagga, Nina, and apparently Gish-galla.[29]

Nin-girsu is frequently termed the warrior of Bel,--the one who in the service of the 'lord of the lower world,' appears in the thick of the fight, to aid the subjects of Bel. In this role, he is identical with a solar deity who enjoys especial prominence among the warlike a.s.syrians, whose name is provisionally read Nin-ib, but whose real name may turn out to be Adar.[30] The rulers of Lagash declare themselves to have been chosen for the high office by Nin-girsu, and as if to compensate themselves for the degradation implied in being merely _patesis_, or governors, serving under some powerful chief, they call themselves the patesis of Nin-girsu, implying that the G.o.d was the master to whom they owed allegiance. The temple sacred to him at Girsu was called E-ninnu, and also by a longer name that described the G.o.d as the one 'who changes darkness into light,'--the reference being to the solar character of the G.o.d Nin-ib with whom Nin-girsu is identified. In this temple, Gudea and other rulers place colossal statues of themselves, but temper the vanity implied, by inscribing on the front and back of these statues, an expression of their devotion to their G.o.d. To Nin-girsu, most of the objects found at Tell-loh are dedicated; conspicuous among which are the many clay cones, that became the conventional objects for votive offerings. There was another side, however, to his nature, besides the belligerent one. As the patron of Lagash, he also presided over the agricultural prosperity of the district. In this role he is addressed as Shul-gur or Shul-gur-an, _i.e._, the "G.o.d of the corn heaps"; Entemena and his son Enanna-tuma in erecting a kind of storehouse which they place under the protection of Nin-girsu, declare that their G.o.d is Shul-gur;[31] and an old hymn[32] identifies him with Tammuz, the personification of agricultural activity. Such a combination of apparently opposing attributes is a natural consequence of the transformation of what may originally have been the personification of natural forces, into local deities. Each field had its protecting spirit, but for the city as a whole, a local deity, whose rule mirrored the control of the human chief over his subjects, alone was available.

To him who watched over all things pertaining to the welfare of the territory coming under his jurisdiction, various attributes, as occasion required, were ascribed, and quite apart from his original character, the G.o.d could thus be regarded, as the warrior and the peaceful husbandman at the same time.

Bau.

Perhaps the most prominent of the G.o.ddesses in the ancient Babylonian period was Bau. One of the rulers of Lagash has embodied the name of the G.o.ddess in his name, calling himself Ur-Bau. It is natural, therefore, to find him more especially devoted to the worship of this deity. He does not tire of singing her praises, and of speaking of the temple he erected in her honor. Still, Ur-Bau does not stand alone in his devotion; Uru-kagina, Gudea, and others refer to Bau frequently, while in the incantation texts, she is invoked as the great mother, who gives birth to mankind and restores the body to health. In the old Babylonian inscriptions she is called the chief daughter of Anu, the G.o.d of heaven.

Among her t.i.tles, the one most frequently given is that of 'good lady.'

She is the 'mother' who fixes the destinies of men and provides 'abundance' for the tillers of the soil. Gudea calls her his mistress, and declares that it is she who "fills him with speech,"--a phrase whose meaning seems to be that to Bau he owes the power he wields. Locally, she is identified with Uru-azagga (meaning 'brilliant town'), a quarter of Lagash; and it was there that her temple stood. As a consequence, we find her in close a.s.sociation with Nin-girsu, the G.o.d of Girsu. We may indeed go further and a.s.sume that Girsu and Uru-azagga are the two oldest quarters of the city, the combination of the two representing the first natural steps in the development of the princ.i.p.ality, afterwards known as Lagash, through the addition of other quarters[33]. She is indeed explicitly called the consort of Nin-girsu; and this relation is implied also, in the interesting phrase used by Gudea, who presents gifts to Bau in the name of Nin-girsu, and calls them 'marriage gifts'.[34] It is interesting to find, at this early period, the evidence for the custom that still prevails in the Orient, which makes the gifts of the bridegroom to his chosen one, an indispensable formality.[35] These gifts were offered on the New Year's Day, known as Zag-muk, and the importance of the worship of Bau is evidenced by the designation of this day, as the festival of Bau.

The offerings, themselves, consist of lambs, sheep, birds, fish, cream, besides dates and various other fruits. When Uru-azagga becomes a part of Lagash, Bau's dignity is heightened to that of 'mother of Lagash.' As the consort of Ningirsu, she is identified with the G.o.ddess Gula, the name more commonly applied to the 'princely mistress' of Nin-ib, whose worship continues down to the days of the neo-Babylonian monarchy.

It is quite certain, however, that Bau is originally an independent G.o.ddess, and that the a.s.sociation of Uru-azagga and Girsu[36] lead to her identification with Gula. Regarding her original nature, a certain index is her character as "daughter of Anu." Anu being the G.o.d of heaven, Bau must be sought in the upper realm of personified forces, rather than elsewhere; but exactly which one she is, it is difficult to say. Hommel, indeed,[37] is of opinion that she is the personified watery depth, the primitive chaos which has only the heavens above it; but in giving this explanation, he is influenced by the desire to connect the name of Bau with the famous term for chaos in Genesis, _Tohu-wa-bohu_. There is, however, no proof whatsoever that Bau and Bohu have anything to do with one another. A G.o.ddess who can hardly be distinguished from Bau is

Ga-tum-dug.[38]

Indeed, from the fact that she is also the 'mother of Lagash,' it might seem that this is but another name for Bau. However, elsewhere, in two lists of deities invoked by Gudea (Inscr. B, col. ii. 17), Ga-tum-dug is given a separate place by the side of Bau, once placed before and once after the latter; and it is clear therefore that she was originally distinct from Bau. For Gudea, Ga-tum-dug is the mother who produced him.

He is her servant and she is his mistress. Lagash is her beloved city, and there he prepares for her a dwelling-place, which later rulers, like Entena, embellish. She is called the 'brilliant' (_Azag_), but as this t.i.tle is merely a play upon the element found in the city, Uru-azagga, sacred to Bau, not much stress is to be laid upon this designation.

Unfortunately, too, the elements composing her name are not clear,[39]

and it must be borne in mind that the reading is purely provisional. So much, at least, seems certain: that Bau and Ga-tum-dug are two forms under which one and the same natural element was personified. Bau is called in the incantation texts, the mother of Ea. The latter being distinctly a water G.o.d, we may conclude that in some way, Bau is to be connected with water as a natural element. The conjecture may be hazarded that she personifies originally the waters of the upper realm--the clouds. Since Ea, who is her son, represents the waters of the lower realm, the relation of mother and son reflects perhaps a primitive conception of the origin of the deep, through the descent of the upper waters. When we come to the cosmogony of the Babylonians, it will be seen that this conception of a distinction between the two realms of waters is a fundamental one. This character as a spirit of the watery elements is shared by others of the G.o.ddesses appearing in the old Babylonian inscriptions.[40]

En-ki or Ea.

This G.o.d, who, as we shall see, becomes most prominent in the developed form of Babylonian theology, does not occupy the place one should expect in the early Babylonian inscriptions. Ur-Bau erects a sanctuary to Ea, at Girsu. Another of the governors of Lagash calls himself, priest of Ea, describing the G.o.d as the "supreme councillor." From him, the king receives "wisdom."[41] A ruler, Rim-Sin, of the dynasty of Larsa, a.s.sociates Ea with Bel, declaring that these "great G.o.ds" entrusted Uruk into his hands with the injunction to rebuild the city that had fallen in ruins. The ideograms, with which his name is written, En-ki, designate him as G.o.d of that 'which is below,'--the earth in the first place; but with a more precise differentiation of the functions of the great G.o.ds, Ea becomes the G.o.d of the waters of the deep. When this stage of belief is reached, Ea is frequently a.s.sociated with Bel, who, it will be recalled, is the 'G.o.d of the lower region,' but who becomes the G.o.d of earth _par excellence_. When, therefore, Bel and Ea are invoked, it is equivalent, in modern parlance, to calling upon earth and water; and just as Bel is used to personify, as it were, the unification of the earthly forces, so Ea becomes, in a comprehensive sense, the watery deep. Ea and Bel a.s.sume therefore conspicuous proportions in the developed Babylonian cosmogony and theology. In the cosmogony, Bel is the creator and champion of mankind, and Ea is the subterranean deep which surrounds the earth, the source of wisdom and culture; in the theology, Ea and Bel are pictured in the relation of father and son, who, in concert, are appealed to, when misfortune or disease overtakes the sons of man; Ea, the father, being the personification of knowledge, and Bel, the practical activity that 'emanates from wisdom,' as Professor Sayce,[42] adopting the language of Gnosticism, aptly puts it; only that, as already suggested, Marduk a.s.sumes the role of the older Bel.

Confining ourselves here to the earlier phases of Ea, it seems probable that he was originally regarded as the G.o.d of Eridu,--one of the most ancient of the holy cities of Southern Babylonia, now represented by Abu-Shahrein, and which once stood on the sh.o.r.es of the Persian Gulf.

Ur-Bau expressly calls the G.o.d the 'king of Eridu.' The sacredness of the place is attested by Gudea, who boasts of having made the temple of Nin-girsu as sacred as Eridu.[43] It is over this city that Ea watches.

The importance of the Persian Gulf to the growth of the city, would make it natural to place the seat of the G.o.d in the waters themselves. The cult of water-deities arises, naturally, at places which are situated on large sheets of water; and in the attributes of wisdom which an older age ascribed to Ea, there may be seen the embodiment of the tradition that the course of civilization proceeds from the south. The superiority of the Persian Gulf over the other waters of Babylon--over the two great rivers with their tributary streams and ca.n.a.ls--would be another factor that would lead to the G.o.d of the Persian Gulf being regarded as the personification of the watery element in general. For the Babylonians, the Persian Gulf, stretching out indefinitely, and to all appearances one with the great ocean whose ulterior sh.o.r.es could not be reached, was the great 'Okeanos,' that flowed around the earth and on which the earth rested. Ea, accordingly (somewhat like En-lil), was delocalized, as it were, and his worship was maintained long after the recollection of his connection with Eridu had all but disappeared. At the same time, for the very reason that he was cut loose from local a.s.sociations, no place could lay claim to being the seat of the deity. Ur-Bau, when erecting a sanctuary to Ea at Girsu, significantly calls the G.o.d 'the king of Eridu.' The sanctuary is not, in this case, the dwelling-place of the G.o.d.

We are justified, therefore, in going back many centuries, before reaching the period when Ea was, merely, the local G.o.d of Eridu. Whether Ea is to be regarded as the real name of the G.o.d, or is also an ideograph like En-ki, is again open to doubt. If Ea is the real p.r.o.nunciation, then the writing of the name is a play upon the character of the deity, for it is composed of two elements that signify 'house'

and 'water,'--the name thus suggesting the character and real seat of the deity. A point in favor of regarding Ea as the real name, albeit not decisive, is the frequent use of the unmistakable ideographic description of the G.o.d as En-ki. The consort of Ea who is Dam-kina also occurs in the historical texts of the first period.

The origin of Babylonian civilization at the Persian Gulf, together with the dependence of Babylonia for her fertility upon the streams and ca.n.a.ls, account for the numerous water-deities to be found in the ancient Babylonian pantheon, some of which have already been discussed.

We will meet with others further on. Every stream, large or small, having its special protecting deity, the number of water-deities naturally increases as the land becomes more and more dissected by the ca.n.a.l system that conditioned the prosperity of the country.

Ea, as we shall see, appears under an unusually large number of names.[44] One of these is

Nin-a-gal,

which, signifying 'G.o.d of great strength,' is given to him as the patron of the smith's art.[45] A G.o.d of this name is mentioned by Ur-Bau,[46]

who speaks of a sanctuary erected in honor of this deity. But since the king refers to Ea (as En-ki) a few lines previous, it would appear that at this period Nin-agal is still an independent deity. The later identification with Ea appears to be due to the idea of 'strength'

involved in the name of Nin-agal. In the same way, many of the names of Ea were originally descriptive of independent G.o.ds who, because of the similarity of their functions to those of the great Ea, were absorbed by the latter. Their names transferred to Ea, are frequently the only trace left of their original independent existence.

Nergal.

Nergal, the local deity of Cuthah (or Kutu), represented by the mound Tell-Ibrahim, some distance to the east of Babylon, was of an entirely different character from Ea, but his history in the development of the Babylonian religion is hardly less interesting. The first mention of his famous temple at Cuthah is found in an inscription of Dungi (to be read Ba'u-ukin, according to Winckler[47]) who belongs to the second dynasty of Ur (_c._ 2700 B.C.). Its origin, however, belongs to a still earlier period. Such was the fame of the temple known as E-shid-lam, and the closeness of the connection between the deity and his favorite seat, that Nergal himself became known as shid-lam-ta-ud-du-a, _i.e._, the G.o.d that rises up from E-shid-lam. It is by this epithet that the same Dungi describes him in one of his inscriptions.[48] Down to the latest period of a.s.syro-Babylonian history, Nergal remains identified with Kutu, being known at all times as the G.o.d of Kutu.[49] When Sargon, the king of a.s.syria, upon his conquest of the kingdom of Israel (_c._ 722 B.C.), brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, and so forth, across to the lands of the Jordan to take the place of the deported Israelites, the Hebrew narrator (II Kings, xvii. 24-35) tells us in an interesting manner of the obnoxious foreign worship which these people brought to the land, each division bringing the G.o.ds of their place with them. The men of Cuthah, he adds (v. 30), made a statue of Nergal. Singamil, of the dynasty, having its capital at Uruk (_c._ 2750 B.C.), likewise testifies to his devotion to Nergal by busying himself with improvements and additions to his temple at Cuthah. His worship, therefore, was not confined to those who happened to reside at Cuthah; and closely as he is identified with the place, the character of the G.o.d is a general and not a special one. The full form of his name appears to have been Ner-unu-gal, of which Nergal, furnished by the Old Testament pa.s.sage referred to, would then be a contraction or a somewhat corrupt form. The three elements composing his name signify "the mighty one of the great dwelling-place," but it is, again, an open question whether this is a mere play upon the character of the G.o.d, as in the name of Ea (according to one of the interpretations above suggested), or whether it is an ideographic form of the name. The Old Testament shows, conclusively, that the name had some such p.r.o.nunciation as Nergal. Jensen, from other evidences, inclines to the opinion that the writing Ner-unu-gal is the result of a species of etymology, brought about by the prominence given to Nergal as the G.o.d of the region of the dead. It is in this capacity that he already appears in the inscription of Singamil, who calls him 'king of the nether world.' The "great dwelling-place," therefore, is clearly the dominion over which Nergal rules, and when we come to the cosmogony of the Babylonians,[50] it will be found that this epithet for the nether world--the great dwelling-place--accords with their conception of the life after death. But while Nergal, with a host of lesser demons about him, appears as the Babylonian Pluto, particularly in the religious texts, his functions are not limited to the control of the dead. He is the personification of some of the evils that bring death to mankind, particularly pestilence and war. The death that follows in his path is a violent one, and his destructive force is one that acts upon large ma.s.ses rather than upon the individual. Hence, one of the most common ideographs used to express his name is that which signifies 'sword.'