The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria Part 62

He looked at the father of the G.o.ds, the G.o.d of Dur-an-ki,[1073]

Desire for rulership seizes hold of his heart.[1074]

'I will take the tablets of the G.o.ds And decree the decisions [of all the G.o.ds.]

I will establish my throne, I will proclaim laws.

I will give all orders to all the Igigi.'

Zu proceeds to the dwelling-place of En-lil and waits for a favorable moment to make an attack.

His heart was bent on the contest.

With his gaze directed toward the entrance of the dwelling,[1075] he awaits for the beginning of day.

As En-lil poured forth the brilliant waters, Took his seat on his throne and put on his crown, He[1076] s.n.a.t.c.hed the tablets of fate out of his hands, Seized the authority--the promulgation of laws.

Thereupon Zu flew off and hid himself in his mountain.

On seal cylinders a G.o.d is frequently pictured pouring forth streams of water from jars placed on his shoulders. This is generally the sun-G.o.d, but the symbol also seems to belong to other deities[1077] and is appropriate to Bel of Nippur, who as the G.o.d of the atmosphere above the earth, controls the upper waters. As long as these are poured out by him, they are beneficent; but once beyond his control, the blessing of rain is turned into the curse of a deluge and storm, flooding the fields and sweeping away the habitations of men. This misfortune happens when Zu robs En-lil of the tablets by means of which law and order are established. En-lil is powerless. The bold act of Zu causes consternation among the G.o.ds. Anu calls upon some one to pursue Zu and capture him. The bird dwells in an inaccessible recess in the mountains, and the G.o.ds are afraid to approach his nest. The scene that ensues reminds us of the episode of the creation epic, where Anshar calls upon Anu, Bel, and Ea in turn to subdue Tiamat.

Anu opens his mouth and speaks, Addressing the G.o.ds his children: 'Who will force Zu to submit And thus make his name great among the inhabitants of the whole world?'

Ramman the storm-G.o.d _par excellence_ is first called upon by the a.s.sembled G.o.ds:

'Ramman the chief,' they cried, 'the son of Anu.'

Anu communicated to him[1078] the order.[1079]

'Go, my son Ramman, conqueror who yields to no one, Subdue Zu with thy weapon,[1080]

That thy name be glorified in the a.s.sembly of the great G.o.ds.

Thou shall be without a rival among the G.o.ds thy brothers.'

Anu furthermore promises Ramman that if he triumphs, lofty shrines will be erected in his honor in many cities.

'Temples will be built in thy honor, In all quarters of the world thy cities[1081] will be situated, Thy cities[1082] will reach up to Ekur.[1083]

Show thyself strong among the G.o.ds, so that thy name be powerful.'

Ramman, however, is afraid of the contest.

Ramman answered the speech, Addressing his father Anu: 'My father, who can proceed to the inaccessible mountain?

Who is there like Zu among the G.o.ds, thy children?'

He furthermore pleads that Zu, who has the tablets of fate in his hands, is invincible. He has the power to decree the fates of the G.o.ds, and all must bow to his will. At this point, unfortunately, the text becomes defective. Anu calls upon two other G.o.ds to take up the contest with Zu.

The name of one of these is altogether lost; the second is called Bar,[1084] and is designated as an offspring of Ishtar. Both these deities decline, answering Anu in precisely the same manner as Ramman.

What finally happens we are left to conjecture. Harper[1085] supposes that Shamash is finally called upon by Anu and accepts the challenge. He bases this opinion upon the pa.s.sage in the Dibbarra legend[1086] where the serpent, appealing to Shamash, extols the sun-G.o.d's power by declaring that even Zu could not escape the net of Shamash. There are, however, grave objections to this view. In the first place, the pa.s.sage in question occurs in a defective part of the text, and Harper himself[1087] is not certain of the restoration that he proposes.[1088]

Secondly, if Shamash conquers Zu, we should expect the sun-G.o.d to have the tablets of fate in his possession. Such, however, is not the case, and the only G.o.d besides En-lil who is represented in the religious literature of the Babylonians as holding the tablets is Marduk.

Moreover, in a hymn to Marduk, which Harper himself quotes,[1089] the bird Zu is referred to as among the evil forces captured by Marduk. In view of this, there seems no reason to question that, in the present form of the Zu myth, Marduk was introduced as the hero, precisely as, in the present form of the Tiamat episode, Marduk successfully carries out a deed from which the other G.o.ds shrink in fear. The theological purport of the myth thus becomes clear. It is to account for the fact that Marduk holds the tablets which were originally in the hands of En-lil.

Marduk supplants the old Bel. In the Tiamat episode his name is subst.i.tuted for that of En-lil, and the latter is represented as giving his consent to the transfer of his name to the G.o.d of Babylon. In the Zu myth, En-lil's claim to the supreme control of the laws and fate of the universe is freely acknowledged, but, En-lil being unable to resist the attack of Zu, it was left for Marduk to capture the bird and thus acquire by his own efforts what the old Bel had lost through lack of strength. Babylon replaces Nippur as the center of power in the Euphrates Valley, and the G.o.d of Babylon, naturally, was imbued by his worshippers with prerogatives that originally belonged to the rival G.o.d of Nippur.[1090]

If this view is correct, Harper's interpretation must be abandoned. The Zu myth does not represent, as he supposes, an attack upon Marduk as the symbol of the early morning sun, but upon En-lil, the Bel of Nippur, as the one who, by virtue of having the tablets of fate in his possession, controls the laws of the universe and fixes the fate of the G.o.ds and of mankind. The annual rain-storm pa.s.sing apparently beyond the control of the G.o.ds is viewed as a revolt against En-lil's authority. It is left for Marduk to reestablish order, and in return, he retains control of the precious tablets. That the conception of Marduk as a solar deity const.i.tutes a factor in the myth is not, of course, to be denied, precisely as in the Tiamat myth, the solar character of Marduk plays an important part. The sun triumphs over the storms. Rain and wind are obliged at last to yield their authority to the former. But for the theologians of Babylon, the position of Marduk as the head of the pantheon was a much more important factor. The myth served to show how Marduk came to supplant the role of the old Bel of Nippur.

Viewed in this light, the Zu myth appears in more senses than one as a pendant to the Marduk-Tiamat episode. Not only do both symbolize the same natural phenomenon, but in both, Bel of Nippur was originally the central figure of the pantheon, and in both Marduk replaces Bel. The Zu myth is made to account in a somewhat more respectful, conciliatory manner for the position of Marduk as the head of the pantheon. Instead of setting aside En-lil altogether, as was done by the compilers of the Tiamat myth, Marduk conquers for himself the supremacy that his followers claimed for him. The contradictions between the two myths need not disturb us. As variant versions of a tale intended to account for one and the same fact,--the supremacy of Marduk,--they may well have arisen even in the same place. Such inconsistencies as the a.s.sumption, in the Zu version of the nature myth, that En-lil is the original establisher of order in the world, as against the Tiamat version where Marduk s.n.a.t.c.hes the tablets of fate directly from Kingu, are inevitable when stories that arose among the people are taken in hand by theologians and modified and adapted to serve doctrines developed under scholastic influences.

The Adapa Legend.

The myths and legends that we have so far considered--including the creation and Gilgamesh epics--will have ill.u.s.trated two important points: firstly, the manner in which historical occurrences were clothed in mythical form and interwoven with purely legendary tales, and, secondly, the way in which nature myths were treated to teach certain doctrines. The story of Gilgamesh is an ill.u.s.tration of the hopelessness of a mortal's attempt to secure the kind of immortal life which is the prerogative of the G.o.ds. Popular tales, ill.u.s.trative of the climatic conditions of Babylonia, serve as a means of unfolding a doctrine of evolution and of impressing upon the people a theological system of beliefs regarding the relationship of the G.o.ds to one another. A collection of war-songs is given a semi-mythical form, and the original purport of the collection is modified to serve as a talisman against misfortunes. In the case of these legends it is necessary and, as we have seen, also possible to distinguish between their original and present form and to separate the story, as in the case of the Gilgamesh epic, into its component parts.

The legend that we are about to consider proves that this process of the adaptation of popular myths begins at a very early period. The text was found on the cuneiform tablets discovered at El-Amarna in Egypt.[1091]

Since the El-Amarna tablets date from the fifteenth century B.C., we have a proof of the compilation of the legend in question at this date.

The legend is again suggested by the storms which visited Babylonia, but instead of a pure nature-myth, we have a tale which concerns the relationship between the G.o.ds and mankind. In its present form, it is an object lesson dealing with the same problem that we came across in the Gilgamesh epic and that we will meet again in another form,--the problem of immortality.

The beginning of the story, as in the case of the Zu myth, is missing, but we are in a position to restore at least the general context. A fisherman, Adapa, is engaged in plying his trade when a storm arises.

Adapa is designated as the son of Ea. The place where he is fishing is spoken of as 'the sea.' The Persian Gulf is meant, and this body of water (as the beginning of the great Okeanos) being sacred to Ea,[1092]

the description of Adapa as the son of Ea is a way of conveying the idea that, like Parnapishtim, he stands under the protection of Ea. The story, like most legends, a.s.sumes a period of close intercourse between G.o.ds and men, a time when the relationship involved in being 'a son of a G.o.d' had a literal force which was lost to a more advanced generation.

Adapa, accordingly, is portrayed as fishing for the 'house of his lord,'

_i.e._, for Ea. When the storm breaks loose the fisherman, though a mortal, subdues the fierce element. The storm comes from the south, the direction from which the most destructive winds came to Babylonia. The south wind is pictured, as in the Zu myth, under the form of a bird. The wind sweeps Adapa into the waters, but, since this element is controlled by Adapa's father,--the G.o.d Ea,--Adapa succeeds in mastering the south wind, and, as we learn from the course of the narrative, in breaking the wings of the storm-bird. When the tablet becomes intelligible we find Adapa engaged in this contest with the south wind.[1093]

The south wind blew and drove him[1094] under the water. Into the dwelling-place[1095] [of the fish] it engulfs him. 'O south wind, thou hast overwhelmed me with thy cruelty (?). Thy wings I will break.'

Adapa's threat is carried out.

Even as he spoke the wings of the south wind were broken. For seven days the south wind did not blow across the land.

Seven is to be interpreted as a round number, as in the Deluge story, and indicates a rather long, though indefinite, period. Anu, the G.o.d of heaven, is astonished at this long-continued disappearance of the south wind, and asks a messenger of his, who is called the G.o.d Ilabrat, for the cause. Anu inquires:

"Why has the south wind not blown for seven days across the land?" His messenger Ilabrat answered him: "My lord! Adapa, the son of Ea, has broken the wings of the south wind."

Of this G.o.d Ilabrat nothing is known. The interpretation of his name is doubtful.[1096] He probably is one of the numerous local G.o.ds who was absorbed by some more powerful one and who thus came to have a position of inferior rank in the pantheon.

Anu, upon hearing the news, is enraged, and cries for 'help' against an interference in his domain. He denounces Adapa in solemn a.s.sembly, and demands his presence of Ea, in whose domain Adapa has taken refuge. The text at this point is defective, but one can gather that Ea, who const.i.tutes himself Adapa's protector, warns the latter, as he warned Parnapishtim. He advises him to present himself at the throne of Anu for trial, and to secure the intervention of two G.o.ds, Tammuz and Gishzida, who are stationed at the gate of heaven, Anu's dwelling-place. To accomplish this, Adapa is to clothe himself in garments of mourning, and when the doorkeepers ask him the reason for his mourning, he is to answer:

... Two G.o.ds have disappeared from our earth, therefore do I appear thus.

And when he is asked:

"Who are the two G.o.ds who have disappeared from the earth?"

Tammuz and Gishzida will look at one another; they will sigh and speak a favorable word before Anu, and the glorious countenance of Anu they will show thee.

Tammuz and Gishzida will know that they are meant. The mourning of Adapa will be regarded as a sign of reverence for the two G.o.ds, whose sympathy and good-will will thus be secured.

The introduction of Tammuz and Gishzida introduces a widely spread nature-myth into the story. Gishzida is identical with Nin-gishzida, a solar deity whom we came across in the old Babylonian pantheon.[1097]

Tammuz similarly is a solar deity. Both represent local solar cults. At a later period, Nin-gishzida is entirely absorbed by Ninib, but the Adapa legend affords us a glimpse of the G.o.d still occupying an independent, though already inferior, position. The Babylonian calendar[1098] designates the fifth month as sacred to Gishzida, while the fourth month is named for Tammuz. The two deities, therefore, take their place in the systematized pantheon as symbolical of the phases of the sun peculiar to its approach to the summer solstice. The disappearance of the two G.o.ds signifies the decline of the year after the summer solstice. Of Tammuz, the popular myth related that it was Ishtar,[1099] represented as his consort, who carried him off. Since the disappearance of Gishzida embodies precisely the same idea as that of Tammuz, it was natural that the story should in time have been told only of the one. The annual mourning for Tammuz was maintained in Babylonia to a very late period. The Adapa legend shows us that at one time the festival was celebrated in honor of the two related deities. The Tammuz festival was celebrated just before the summer solstice set in, so that the mourning was followed immediately by rejoicing at the reappearance of the G.o.d whose coming heralded the culmination of vegetation.

The destructive storms take place during the winter, when Tammuz and Gishzida have disappeared. Adapa's mourning is thus an indication of the season of the year when his encounter with the south wind took place.

Since Adapa succeeds in overcoming the destructive wind, the wintry season has pa.s.sed by. Summer is approaching. The time for celebrating both the fast and the festival of the two solar deities has arrived.

Tammuz and Gishzida, the G.o.ds of spring, accordingly stand at Adapa's side, ready to plead his cause before Anu. So much being clear, we may advance a step further in the interpretation of the legend. By the side of Tammuz and Gishzida, there is still a third solar deity who belongs to the spring of the year,--Marduk, who, by virtue of his later position as the head of the pantheon, sets aside his two fellows and becomes the solar G.o.d of spring _par excellence_. Marduk, it will be recalled, is commonly designated as the son of Ea,[1100] and we have seen that, apart from political considerations, the sun rising out of the ocean--the domain of Ea--was a factor in this a.s.sociation. Adapa dwells at the sea, and is forced into the ocean by the south wind, in the same way that the sun dips into the great 'Okeanos' every evening. The identification of Adapa with Marduk[1101] thus becomes apparent, and as a matter of fact the Babylonian scribes of later times[1102] accepted this identification.

The basis of the Adapa legend is, therefore, the nature-myth of the annual fight of the sun with the violent elements of nature. At the same time, other ideas have been introduced into it, and Adapa himself, while playing the role of Marduk, is yet not entirely confounded with this G.o.d. His name is never written with the determinative for deity.

Moreover, the nature-myth is soon lost sight of, in order to make room for an entirely different order of ideas. The real purport of the legend in its present form is foreshadowed by the further advice that Ea offers to Adapa:

When thou comest before Anu they will offer thee food of death.

Do not eat. They will offer thee waters of death. Do not drink.

They will offer thee a garment. Put it on. They will offer thee oil. Anoint thyself. The order that I give thee do not neglect.

The word that I speak to thee take to heart. The messenger of Anu approached.[1103] 'Adapa has broken the wings of the south wind. Deliver him into my hands....'