The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World Volume II Part 17

SIN, or THE MOON.

Sin, the Moon-G.o.d, ranked next to Beltis in a.s.syrian mythology, and his place is thus either fifth or sixth in the full lists, according as Beltis is, or is not, inserted. His worship in the time of the early empire appears from the invocation of Tiglath-Pileser I., where he occurs in the third place, between Bel and Shamas. [PLATE CXLII., Fig.

2.] His emblem, the crescent, was worn by a.s.shur-izir-pal, and is found wherever divine symbols are inscribed over their effigies by the a.s.syrian kings. There is no sign which is more frequent on the cylinder-seals, whether Babylonian or a.s.syrian, and it would thus seem that Sin was among the most popular of a.s.syria's deities. His name occurs sometimes, though not so frequently as some others, in the appellations of important personages, as _e, g._ in that of Sennacherib, which is explained to mean "Sin multiplies brethren." Sargon, who thus named one of his sons, appears to have been specially attached to the worship of Sin, to whom, in conjunction with Shamas, he built a temple at Khorsabad, and to whom he a.s.signed the second place among the tutelary deities of his city.

The a.s.syrian monarchs appear to have had a curious belief in the special antiquity of the Moon-G.o.d. When they wished to mark a very remote period, they used the expression "from the origin of the G.o.d Sin." This is perhaps a trace of the ancient connection of a.s.syria with Babylonia, where the earliest capital, Ur, was under the Moon-G.o.d's protection, and the most primeval temple was dedicated to his honor.

Only two temples are known to have been erected to Sin in a.s.syria. One is that already mentioned as dedicated by Sargon at Bit-Sargina (Khorsabad) to the Sun and Moon in conjunction. The other was at Calah, and in that Sin had no a.s.sociate.

SHAMAS.

Shamas, the Sun-G.o.d, though in rank inferior to Sin, seems to have been a still more favorite and more universal object of worship. From many pa.s.sages we should have gathered that he was second only to a.s.shur in the estimation of the a.s.syrian monarchs, who sometimes actually place him above Bel in their lists. His emblem, the four-rayed orb, is worn by the king upon his neck, and seen more commonly than almost any other upon the cylinder-seals. It is even in some instances united with that of a.s.shur, the central circle of a.s.shur's emblem being marked by the fourfold rays of Shamas.

The worship of Shamas was ancient in a.s.syria. Tiglath-Pileser I., not only names him in his invocation, but represents himself as ruling especially under his auspices. a.s.shur-izir-pal mentions a.s.shur and Shamas as the tutelary deities under whose influence he carried on his various wars. His son, the Black-Obelisk king, a.s.signs to Shamas his proper place among the G.o.ds whose favor he invokes at the commencement of his long Inscription. The kings of the Lower Empire were even more devoted to him than their predecessors. Sargon dedicated to him the north gate of his city, in conjunction with Vul, the G.o.d of the air, built a temple to him at Khorsabad in conjunction with Sin, and a.s.signed him the third place among the tutelary deities of his new town.

Sennacherib and Esarhaddon mention his name next to a.s.shur's in pa.s.sages where they enumerate the G.o.ds whom they regard as their chief protectors.

Excepting at Khorsabad, where he had a temple (as above mentioned) in conjunction with Sin, Shamas does not appear to have had any special buildings dedicated to his honor. His images are, however, often noticed in the lists of idols, and it is probable therefore that he received worship in temples dedicated to other deities. His emblem is generally found conjoined with that of the moon, the two being placed side by side, or the one directly under the other. [PLATE CXLII., Fig. 3.]

VUL, or IVA.

This G.o.d, whose name is still so uncertain, was known in a.s.syria from times anterior to the independence, a temple having been raised in his sole honor at a.s.shur, the original a.s.syrian capital, by Shamas-Vul, the son of the Chaldaean king Ismi-Dagon, besides the temple (already mentioned) which the same monarch dedicated to him in conjunction with Anu. These buildings having fallen to ruin by the time of Tiglath-Pileser I., were by him rebuilt from their base; and Vul, who was worshipped in both, appears to have been regarded by that monarch as one of his special "guardian deities." In the Black-Obelisk invocation Vul holds the place intermediate between Sin and Shamas, and on the same monument is recorded the fact that the king who erected it held, on one occasion, a festival to Vul in conjunction with a.s.shur. Sargon names Vul in the fourth place among the tutelary deities of his city, and dedicates to him the north gate in conjunction with the Sun-G.o.d, Shamas.

Sennacherib speaks of hurling thunder on his enemies like Vul, and other kings use similar expressions. The term Vul was frequently employed as an element in royal and other names; and the emblem which seems to have symbolized him--the double or triple bolt--appears constantly among those worn by the kings, and engraved above their heads on the rock-tablets. [PLATE CXLII., Fig. 4.]

Vul had a temple at Calah besides the two temples in which he received worship at a.s.shur. It was dedicated to him in conjunction with the G.o.ddess Shala, who appears to have been regarded as his wife.

It is not quite certain whether we can recognize any representations of Vul in the a.s.syrian remains. Perhaps the figure with four wings and a horned cap, who wields a thunderbolt in either hand, and attacks therewith the monster, half lion, half eagle, which is known to us from the Nimrod sculptures, may be intended for this deity. If so, it will be reasonable also to recognize him in the figure with uplifted foot, sometimes perched upon an ox, and bearing, like the other, one or two thunderbolts, which occasionally occurs upon the cylinders. It is uncertain, however, whether the former of these figures is not one of the many different representations of Nin, the a.s.syrian Hercules; and, should that prove the true explanation in the one case, no very great confidence could be felt in the suggested identification in the other.

GULA.

Gula, the Sum-G.o.ddess, does not occupy a very high position among the deities of a.s.syria. Her emblem, indeed, the eight-rayed disk, is borne, together with her husband's, by the a.s.syrian monarchs, and is inscribed on the rock-tablets, on the stones recording benefactions, and on the cylinder-seals, with remarkable frequency. But her name occurs rarely in the inscriptions, and, where it is found, appears low down in the lists.

In the Black-Obelisk invocation, out of thirteen deities named, she is the twelfth. Elsewhere she scarcely appears, unless in inscriptions of a purely religious character. Perhaps she was commonly regarded as so much one with her husband that a separate and distinct mention of her seemed not to be requisite.

Gula is known to have had at least two temples in a.s.syria. One of these was at a.s.shur, where she was worshipped in combination with ten other deities, of whom one only, Ishtar, was of high rank. The other was at Calah, where her husband had also a temple. She is perhaps to be identified with _Bilat-Ili_, "the mistress of the G.o.ds," to whom Sargon dedicated one of his gates in conjunction with Hoa.

NINIP, or NIN.

Among the G.o.ds of the second order, there is none whom the a.s.syrians worshipped with more devotion than Nin, or Ninip. In traditions which are probably ancient, the race of their kings was derived from him, and after him was called the mighty city which ultimately became their capital. As early as the thirteenth century B.C. the name of Nin was used as an element in royal appellations; and the first king who has; left us an historical inscription regarded himself as being in an especial way under Nin's guardianship. Tiglath-Pileser I., is "the ill.u.s.trious prince whom a.s.shur and Nin have exalted to the utmost wishes of his heart." He speaks of Nin sometimes singly, sometimes in conjunction with a.s.shur, as his "guardian deity." Nin and Nergal make his weapons sharp for him, and under Nin's auspices the fiercest beasts of the field fall beneath them. a.s.shur-izir-pal built him a magnificent temple at Nimrud (Calah). Shamas-Vul, the grandson of this king, dedicated to him the obelisk which he set up at that place in commemoration of his victories. Sargon placed his newly-built city in part under his protection, and specially invoked him to guard his magnificent palace. The ornamentation of that edifice indicated in a very striking way the reverence of the builder for this G.o.d, whose symbol, the winged bull, guarded all its main gateways, and who seems to have been actually represented by the figure strangling a lion, so conspicuous on the _Hareem_ portal facing the great court. Nor did Sargon regard Nin as his protector only in peace. He ascribed to his influence the successful issue of his wars; and it is probably to indicate the belief which he entertained on this point that he occasionally placed Nin's emblems on the sculptures representing his expeditions. Sennacherib, the son and successor of Sargon, appears to have had much the same feelings towards Nin, as his father, since in his buildings he gave the same prominence to the winged bull and to the figure strangling the lion; placing the former at almost all his doorways, and giving the latter a conspicuous position on the grand facade of his chief palace. Esarhaddon relates that he continued in the worship of Nin, setting up his emblem over his own royal effigy, together with those of a.s.shur, Shamas, Bel, and Ishtar.

It appears at first sight as if, notwithstanding the general prominency of Nin in the a.s.syrian religious system, there was one respect in which he stood below a considerable number of the G.o.ds. We seldom find his name used openly as an element in the royal appellations. In the list of kings three only will be found with names into which the terms Nin enters. But there is reason to believe that, in the case of this G.o.d, it was usual to speak of him under a periphrasis; and this periphrasis entered into names in lieu of the G.o.d's proper designation. Five kings (if this be admitted) may be regarded as named after him, which is as large a number as we find named after any G.o.d but Vul and a.s.shur.

The princ.i.p.al temples known to have been dedicated to Nin in a.s.syria were at Calah, the modern Nimrud. There the vast structure at the north-western angle of the great mound, including the pyramidical eminence which is the most striking feature of the ruins, was a temple dedicated to the honor of Nin by a.s.shur-izir-pal, the builder of the North-West Palace. We can have little doubt that this building represents the "busta Nini" of the clasical writers, the place where Ninus (Nin or Nin-ip), who was regarded by the Greeks as the hero-founder of the nation, was interred and specially worshipped. Nin had also a second temple in this town, which bore the name of _Bit-kura_ (or Beth-kura), as the other one did of _Bit-zira_ (or Beth-zira). It seems to have been from the fame of Beth-zira that Nin had the t.i.tle _Pal-zira_, which forms a subst.i.tute for Nin, as already noticed, in one of the royal names.

MERODACH.

Most of the early kings of a.s.syria mention Merodach in their opening invocations, and we sometimes find an allusion in their inscriptions, which seems to imply that he was viewed as a G.o.d of great power. But he is decidedly not a favorite object of worship in a.s.syria until a comparatively recent period. Vul-lush III., indeed claims to have been the first to give him a prominent place in the a.s.syrian Pantheon; and it may be conjectured that the Babylonian expeditions of this monarch furnished the impulse which led to a modification in this respect of the a.s.syrian religious system. The later kings, Sargon and his successors, maintain the worship introduced by Vul-lush. Sargon habitually regards his power as conferred upon him by the combined favor of Merodach and a.s.shur, while Esarhaddon sculptures Merodach's emblem, together with that of a.s.shur, over the images of foreign G.o.ds brought to him by a suppliant prince. No temple to Merodach, is, however, known to have existed in a.s.syria, even under the later kings. His name, however, was not infrequently used as an element in the appellations of a.s.syrians.

NERGAL.

Among the Minor G.o.ds, Nergal is one whom the a.s.syrians seem to have regarded with extraordinary reverence. He was the divine ancestor from whom the monarchs loved to boast that they derived their descent--the line being traceable, according to Sargon, through three hundred and fifty generations. They symbolized him by the winged lion with a human head, or possibly sometimes by the mere natural lion; and it was to mark their confident dependence on his protection that they made his emblems so conspicuous in their palaces. Nin and Nergal--the G.o.ds of war and hunting, the occupations in which the a.s.syrian monarchs pa.s.sed their lives--were tutelary divinities of the race, the life, and the homes of the kings, who a.s.sociate the two equally in their inscriptions and their sculptures.

Nergal, though thus honored by the frequent mention of his name and erection of his emblem, did not (so far as appears) often receive the tribute of a temple. Sennacherib dedicated one to him at Tarbisi (now Sherif-khan), near Khorsabad; and he may have had another at Calah (Nimrud), of which he is said to have been one of the "resident G.o.ds."

But generally it would seem that the a.s.syrians were content to pay him honor in other ways without constructing special buildings devoted exclusively to his worship.

ISHTAR.

Ishtar was very generally worshipped by the a.s.syrian monarchs, who called her "their lady," and sometimes in their invocations coupled her with the supreme G.o.d a.s.shur. She had a very ancient temple at a.s.shur, the primeval capital, which Tiglath-Pileser I., repaired and beautified.

a.s.shur-izir-pal built her a second temple at Nineveh, and she had a third at Arbela, which a.s.shur-bani-pal states that he restored. Sargon placed under her protection, conjointly with Anu, the western gate of his city; and his son, Sennacherib, seems to have viewed a.s.shur and Ishtar as the special guardians of his progeny. a.s.shur-bani-pal, the great hunting king was a devotee of the G.o.ddess, whom he regarded as presiding over his special diversion, the chase.

What is most remarkable in the a.s.syrian worship of Ishtar is the local character a.s.signed to her. The Ishtar of Nineveh is distinguished from the Ishtar of Arbela, and both from the Ishtar of Babylon, separate addresses being made to them in one and the same invocation. It would appear that in this case there was, more decidedly than in any other, an identification of the divinity with her idols, from which resulted the multiplication of one G.o.ddess into many.

The name of Ishtar appears to have been rarely used in a.s.syria in royal or other appellations. It is difficult to account for this fact, which is the more remarkable, since in Phoenicia Astarte, which corresponds closely to Ishtar, is found repeatedly as an element in the royal t.i.tles.

NEBO.

Nebo must have been acknowledged as a G.o.d by the a.s.syrians from very ancient times, for his name occurs as an element in a royal appellation as early as the twelfth century B.C. He seems, however, to have been very little worshipped till the time of Vud-lush III., who first brought him prominently forward in the Pantheon of a.s.syria after an expedition which he conducted into Babylonia, where Nebo had always been in high favor. Vul-lush set up two statues to Nebo at Calah and probably built him the temple there which was known as Bit-Siggil, or Beth-Saggil, from whence the G.o.d derived one of his appellations. He did not receive much honor from Sargon; but both Sennacherib and Esarhaddon held him in considerable reverence, the latter even placing him above Merodach in an important invocation. a.s.shur-bani-pal also paid him considerable respect, mentioning him and his wife Warmita, as the deities under whose auspices he undertook certain literary labors.

It is curious that Nebo, though he may thus almost be called a late importation into a.s.syria, became under the Later Dynasty (apparently) one of most popular of the G.o.ds. In the latter portion of the list of Eponyms obtained from the celebrated "Canon," we find Nebo an element in the names as frequently as any other G.o.d excepting a.s.shur. Regarding this as a test of popularity we should say that a.s.shur held the first place; but that his supremacy was closely contested by Bel and Nebo, who were held in nearly equal repute, both being far in advance of any other deity.

Besides these princ.i.p.al G.o.ds, the a.s.syrians acknowledged and worshipped a vast number of minor divinities, of whom, however, some few only appear to deserve special mention. It may be noticed in the first place, as a remarkable feature of this people's mythological system, that each important G.o.d was closely a.s.sociated with a G.o.ddess, who is commonly called his wife, but who yet does not take rank in the Pantheon at all in accordance with the dignity of her husband. Some of these G.o.ddesses have been already mentioned, as Beltis, the feminine counterpart of Bel; Gala, the Sun-G.o.ddess, the wife of Shamas; and Ishtar, who is sometimes represented as the wife of Nebo. To the same cla.s.s belong Sheruha, the wife of a.s.shur; Anata or Anuta, the wife of Anu; Dav-Kina, the wife of Hea or Hoa; Shales, the wife of Vul or Iva; Zir-banit, the wife of Merodach; and Laz, the wife of Nergal. Nin, the a.s.syrian Hercules, and Sin, the Moon-G.o.d, have also wives, whose proper names are unknown, but who are ent.i.tled respectively "the Queen of the Land" and "the great Lady." Nebo's wife, according to most of the Inscriptions, is Warmita; but occasionally, as above remarked, this name is replaced by that of Ishtar. A tabular view of the G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses, thus far, will probably be found of use by the reader towards obtaining a clear conception of the a.s.syrian Pantheon:

[Ill.u.s.tration: Page 358]

It appears to have been the general a.s.syrian practice to unite together in the same worship, under the same roof, the female and the male principle. The female deities had in fact, for the most part, an unsubstantial character: they were ordinarily the mere reflex image of the male, and consequently could not stand alone, but required the support of the stronger s.e.x to give then something of substance and reality. This was the general rule; but at the same time it was not without certain exceptions. Ishtar appears almost always as an independent and unattached divinity; while Beltis and Gula are presented to us in colors as strong and a form as distinct as their husbands, Bel and Shamas. Again, there are minor G.o.ddesses, such as Telita, the G.o.ddess of the great marshes near Babylon, who stand alone, unaccompanied by any male. The minor male divinities are also, it would seem, very generally without female counterparts.

Of these minor male divinities the most noticeable are Martu, a son of Anu, who is called "the minister of the deep," and seems to correspond to the Greek Erebus; Sargana, another son of Anu, from whom Sargon is thought by some to have derived his name Idak, G.o.d of the Tigris; Supulat, lord of the Euphrates; and Il or Ra, who seems to be the Babylonian chief G.o.d transferred to a.s.syria, and there placed in a humble position. Besides these, cuneiform scholars recognize in the Inscriptions some scores of divine names, of more or less doubtful etymology, some of which are thought to designate distinct G.o.ds, while others may be names of deities known familiarly to us under a different appellation. Into this branch of the subject it is not proposed to enter in the present work, which addresses itself to the general reader.

It is probable that, besides G.o.ds, the a.s.syrians acknowledged the existence of a number of genii, some of whom they regarded as powers of good, others as powers of evil. The winged figure wearing the horned cap, which is so constantly represented as attending upon the monarch when he is employed in any sacred function, would seem to be his tutelary genius--a benignant spirit who watches over him, and protects him from the spirits of darkness. This figure commonly bears in the right hand either a pomegranate or a pine-cone, while the left is either free or else supports a sort of plaited bag or basket. [PLATE CXLII., Fig. 6.] Where the pine-cone is carried, it is invariably pointed towards the monarch, as if it were the means of communication between the protector and the protected, the instrument by which grace and power pa.s.sed from the genius to the mortal whom he had undertaken to guard.

Why the pine-cone was chosen for this purpose it is difficult to form a conjecture. Perhaps it had originally become a sacred emblem merely as a symbol of productiveness after which it was made to subserve a further purpose, without much regard to its old symbolical meaning.

The sacred basket, held in the left hand, is of still more dubious interpretation. It is an object of great elegance, always elaborately and sometimes very tastefully ornamented. Possibly it may represent the receptacle in which the divine gifts are stored, and from which they can be taken by the genius at his discretion, to be bestowed upon the mortal under his care.

Another good genius would seem to be represented by the hawk-headed figure, which is likewise found in attendance upon the monarch, attentively watching his proceedings. This figure has been called that of a G.o.d, and has been supposed to represent the Nisroch of Holy Scripture; but the only ground for such an identification is the conjectural derivation of Nisroch from a root _nisr_, which in some Semitic languages signifies a "hawk" or "falcon." As _nisr_, however, has not been found with any such meaning in a.s.syrian, and as the word "Nisroch" nowhere appears in the Inscriptions, it must be regarded as in the highest degree doubtful whether there is any real connection between the hawk-headed figure and the G.o.d in whose temple Sennacherib was a.s.sa.s.sinated. [PLATE CXLII., Fig. 5.] The various readings of the Septuagint version make it extremely uncertain what was the name actually written in the original Hebrew text. Nisroch, which is utterly unlike any divine name hitherto found in the a.s.syrian records, is most probable a corruption. At any rate there are no sufficient grounds for identifying the G.o.d mentioned, whatever the true reading of his name may be, with the hawk-headed figure, which has the appearance of an attendant genius rather than that of a G.o.d, and which was certainly not included among the main deities of a.s.syria.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 143]

Representations of evil genii are comparatively infrequent; but we can scarcely be mistaken in regarding as either an evil genius, or a representation of the evil principle, the monster--half lion, half eagle--which in the Nimrud sculptures retreats from the attacks of a G.o.d, probably Vul, who a.s.sails him with thunderbolts. [PLATE CXLIII., Fig. I.] Again, in the case of certain grotesque statuettes found at Khorsabad, one of which has already been represented, where a human figure has the head of a lion with the ears of an a.s.s, the most natural explanation seems to be that an evil genius is intended. In another instance, where we see two monsters with heads like the statuette just mentioned, placed on human bodies, the legs of which terminate in eagles' claws--both of them armed with daggers and maces, and engaged in a struggle with one another--we seem to have a symbolical representation of the tendency of evil to turn upon itself, and reduce itself to feebleness by internal quarrel and disorder. A considerable number of instances occur in which a human figure, with the head of a hawk or eagle, threatens a winged human-headed lion--the emblem of Nergal--with a strap or mace. In these we may have a spirit of evil a.s.sailing a G.o.d, or possibly one G.o.d opposing another--the hawk-headed G.o.d or genius driving Nergal (i.e., War) beyond the a.s.syrian borders.

If we pa.s.s from the objects to the mode of worship in a.s.syria, we must notice at the outset the strongly idolatrous character of the religion.

Not only were images of the G.o.ds worshipped set up, as a matter of course, in every temple dedicated to their honor, but the G.o.ds were sometimes so identified with their images as to be multiplied in popular estimation when they had several famous temples, in each of which was a famous image. Thus we hear of the Ishtar of Arbela, the Ishtar of Nineveh, and the Ishtar of Babylon, and find these G.o.ddesses invoked separately, as distinct divinities, by one and the same king in one and the same Inscription. In other cases, without this multiplication, we observe expressions which imply a similar identification of the actual G.o.d with the mere image. Tiglath-Pileser I., boasts that he has set Anu and Vul (i.e., their images) up in their places. He identifies repeatedly the images which he carries off from foreign countries with the G.o.ds of those countries. In a similar spirit Sennacherib asks, by the mouth of Rabshakeh, "_Where are the G.o.ds_ of Hamath and of Arpad?

_Where are the G.o.ds_ of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?"--and again unable to rise to the conception of a purely spiritual deity, supposes that, because Hezekiah has destroyed all the images throughout Judaea, he has left his people without any divine protection. The carrying off of the idols from conquered countries, which we find universally practised, was not perhaps intended as a mere sign of the power of the conqueror, and of the superiority of his G.o.ds to those of his enemies; it was probably designed further to weaken those enemies by depriving them of their celestial protectors; and it may even have been viewed as strengthening of the conqueror by multiplying his divine guardians. It was certainly usual to remove the images in a reverential manner; and it was the custom to deposit them in some of the princ.i.p.al temples of a.s.syria. We may presume that there lay at the root of this practice a real belief in the super-natural power of the in images themselves, and a notion that, with the possession of the images, this power likewise changed sides and pa.s.sed over from the conquered to the conquerors.

a.s.syrian idols were in stone, baked clay, or metal. Some images of Nebo and of Ishtar have been obtained from the ruins. Those of Nebo are standing figures, of a larger size than the human, though not greatly exceeding it. They have been much injured by time, and it is difficult to p.r.o.nounce decidedly on their original workmanship: but, judging by what appears, it would seem to have been of a ruder and coa.r.s.er character than that of the slabs or of the royal statues. The Nebo images are heavy, formal, inexpressive, and not over well-proportioned; but they are not wanting in a certain quiet dignity which impresses the beholder. They are unfortunately disfigured, like so many of the lions and bulls, by several lines of cuneiform writing inscribed round their bodies; but this artistic defect is pardoned by the antiquarian, who learns from the inscribed lines the fact that the statues represent Nebo, and the time and circ.u.mstances of their dedication.