The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria Part 7

[56] Compare _birbiru_, 'sheen,' and the stem _baru_, 'to see,' etc.

[57] See _Keils Bibl._ 3, I, 100. Reading of name uncertain.

[58] Suggested by Rawlinson, ii. 57, 10. See Schrader, _Zeits. f.

a.s.syr._ iii. 33 _seq._

[59] On Sippar, see Sayce, _Hibbert Lectures_, etc., 168-169, who finds in the Old Testament form "Sepharvayim" a trace of this double Sippar.

Dr. Ward's suggestion, however, in regard to Anbar, as representing this 'second' Sippar, is erroneous.

[60] _E.g._, in Southern Arabia. See W. Robertson Smith, _The Religion of the Semites_, I. 59.

[61] In Rabbinical literature, the moon is compared to a 'heifer'

(Talmud Babli Rosh-hashana 22 _b_).

[62] That the name of Sin should have been introduced into Mesopotamia through the 'Arabic' dynasty (see above, p. 39) is less probable, though not impossible in the light of recent discoveries.

[63] Innanna may be separated into _In_ = lord or lady, and _nanna_; _in_ and _nanna_ would then be elements added to "lady," conveying perhaps the idea of greatness. See Jensen's remarks, _Keils Bibl._ 3, I, 20, note 4.

[64] _Rec. of the Past_, N.S., ii. p. 104.

[65] _Keils Bibl._ 3, I, 16. See Jensen's note on the reading of the name.

[66] The fame of this temple outlasts the political importance of the place, and as late as the days of the a.s.syrian monarchy is an object of fostering care on the part of the kings.

[67] That the name is Semitic is no longer seriously questioned by any scholar. The underlying stem suggests etymological relationship with the G.o.d Ashur. If this be so, Ishtar may mean 'the G.o.ddess that brings blessing' to mankind, but all this is tentative, as are the numerous other etymologies suggested.

[68] The ideographs for 'country' and 'mountain' are identical a.s.syrian.

The alternation in the t.i.tle of Ishtar must not be taken to point to a mountainous origin of the G.o.ddess.

[69] A full account of this epic will be given at its proper place.

[70] Again, in the incantation texts she appears only as the daughter of Anu, coordinate with Sin and Shamash.

[71] _Keils Bibl._ 3, 1, 72, note. Some scholars, as Hommel (_Gesch. d.

alt. Morgenlandes_, p. 68), propose to identify this place with the a.s.syrian Nineveh, but the conjecture lacks proof and is altogether improbable.

[72] _Old Babylonian Inscriptions_, I. pls. 30, 31. (See now Peiser, _Keils Bibl._ 4, pp. 64-66.)

[73] Questioned by Peiser, _ib._

[74] Among many nations the moon is pictured as a horned animal. See Robert Brown's interesting monograph on _The Unicorn_, pp. 27 _seq. et pa.s.sim_; also above, p. 76.

[75] Simply the sign AN (= G.o.d, heaven) and the phonetic complement _na_.

[76] See above, p. 59.

[77] Written An-na, without the determinative for deity. De Sarzec, _Decouvertes en Chaldee_, pl. 37, no. 8.

[78] The second element may also be read _dar_. See Jensen, _Keils Bibl._ 3, 1, p. 24, note 1.

[79] Inscription B, col. ii. 19.

[80] See Hommel, _Semitische Kulturen_, p. 389.

[81] For the sacred character of the swine among the Semites, see W.

Robertson Smith's _The Religion of the Semites_, pp. 201, 272, 332, 457.

Rawlinson, iii. 68, 22, occurs a deity, 'swine of the right hand,'

_i.e._, propitious.

[82] Rawlinson, ii. 59, 23. The second element in Pap-sukal is the common Babylonian word for 'servant,' or 'messenger;' other deities therefore standing in a subsidiary position are also called Pap-sukal.

So _e.g._, Nebo and Nusku. See further on and compare Hommel, _Semiten_, pp. 479, 480.

[83] Inscription B, col iii. 2.

[84] Uru-kagina, earlier than Gudea (de Sarzec, pl. 32), appears to have built a temple to Dun-s.h.a.gga, but the pa.s.sage is not altogether clear.

The element also appears in the name of the ruler of Ur, _Dungi_, _i.e._, 'the legitimate hero,' as Sargon is the 'legitimate king.'

[85] Signifying, according to Jensen, _Keils Bibl._ 3, 1, p. 25, 'fighting-place'.

[86] Published by Delitzsch, _Beitrage zur a.s.syr._ I. 301-311.

[87] So also Jensen, _Kosmologie_, p. 14, note 3.

[88] So Anu appears to have concubines.

[89] See above, pp. 92, 93.

[90] Inscription C.

[91] De Sarzec, pl. 37, no. 5; _Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch._ vi. 279.

[92] Jensen, _Kosmologie_, p. 127, proposes to read Umun-pauddu.

[93] Hilprecht, _Old Babylonian Inscriptions_, i. 2, no. 93. The name also appears in syllabaries as Shul-pa-ud-du-a. For the element _pa-udda_, see p. 103. In Nergal's name Shid-lam-ta-uddu-a (p. 65), the same final elements are found which appear to be characteristic epithets of solar deities. The first element in the name has also the value Dun (as in Dun-gi).

[94] Jensen, _Kosmologie_, pp. 125, 126.

[95] See _Journal Asiatique_, September-October, 1895, p. 393.

[96] De Sarzec, pl. 8, col. v. ll. 8-12.

[97] IR. pl. 2, no. 4.

[98] Jensen regards Pa-sag as a possible phonetic form, but his view is hardly tenable.

[99] See Zimmern, _Busspsalmen_, pp. 60, 61.

[100] Cylinder A, cols. iv. and v. Amiaud read the name _Nirba_.