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the religion of Babylonia and Assyria
chapter 4
CHAPTER IV
THE PRINCIPAL GODS OF THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS
Anu.
The name of this divinity is derived from the Sumero-Akkadian /ana/,
"heaven," of which he was the principal deity. He is called the father
of the great gods, though, in the creation-story, he seems to be
described as the son of Anšar and Kišar. In early names he is
described as the father, creator, and god, probably meaning the
supreme being. His consort was Anatu, and the pair are regarded in the
lists as the same as the Lahmu and Lahame of the creation-story, who,
with other deities, are also described as gods of the heavens. Anu was
worshipped at Erech, along with Ištar.
Ea.
Is given as if it were the /Semitic/ equivalent of /Enki/, "the lord
of the earth," but it would seem to be really a Sumerian word, later
written /Ae/, and certain inscriptions suggest that the true reading
was /Aa/. His titles are "king of the Abyss, creator of everything,
lord of all," the first being seemingly due to the fact that Aa is a
word which may, in its reduplicate form, mean "waters," or if read
/Ęa/, "house of water." He also, like Anu, is called "father of the
gods." As this god was likewise "lord of deep wisdom," it was to him
that his son Merodach went for advice whenever he was in doubt. On
account of his knowledge, he was the god of artisans in general--
potters, blacksmiths, sailors, builders, stone-cutters, gardeners,
seers, barbers, farmers, etc. This is the Aos (a form which confirms
the reading Aa) of Damascius, and the Oannes of the extracts from
Berosus, who states that he was "a creature endowed with reason, with
a body like that of a fish, and under the fish's head another head,
with feet below, like those of a man, with a fish's tail." This
description applies fairly well to certain bas-reliefs from Nimroud in
the British Museum. The creature described by Berosus lived in the
Persian Gulf, landing during the day to teach the inhabitants the
building of houses and temples, the cultivation of useful plants, the
gathering of fruits, and also geometry, law, and letters. From him,
too, came the account of the beginning of things referred to in
chapter III. which, in the original Greek, is preceded by a
description of the composite monsters said to have existed before
Merodach assumed the rule of the universe.
The name of his consort, Damkina or Dawkina, probably means "the
eternal spouse," and her other names, /Gašan-ki/ (Sumerian dialectic)
and /Nin-ki/ (non-dialectic), "Lady of the earth," sufficiently
indicates her province. She is often mentioned in the incantations
with Ęa.
The forsaking of the worship of Ęa as chief god for that of Merodach
seems to have caused considerable heartburning in Babylonia, if we may
judge from the story of the Flood, for it was on account of his
faithfulness that Utnipištim, the Babylonian Noah, attained to
salvation from the Flood and immortality afterwards. All through this
adventure it was the god Ęa who favoured him, and afterwards gave him
immortality like that of the gods. There is an interesting Sumerian
text in which the ship of Ęa seems to be described, the woods of which
its various parts were formed being named, and in it, apparently, were
Enki (Ęa), Damgal-nunna (Damkina), his consort, Asari-lu-duga
(Merodach), In-ab (or Ineš), the pilot of Ęridu (Ęa's city), and
Nin-igi-nagar-sir, "the great architect of heaven":--
"May the ship before thee bring fertility,
May the ship after thee bring joy,
In thy heart may it make joy of heart . . . ."
Ęa was the god of fertility, hence this ending to the poetical
description of the ship of Ęa.
Bel.
The deity who is mentioned next in order in the list given above is
the "older Bel," so called to distinguish him from Bel-Merodach. His
principal names were /Mullil/ (dialectic) or /En-lilla/[*] (standard
speech), the /Illinos/ of Damascius. His name is generally translated
"lord of mist," so-called as god of the underworld, his consort being
/Gašan-lil/ or /Nan-lilla/, "the lady of the mist," in Semitic
Babylonian /Bęltu/, "the Lady," par excellence. Bel, whose name means
"the lord," was so called because he was regarded as chief of the
gods. As there was considerable confusion in consequence of the title
Bel having been given to Merodach, Tiglath-pileser I. (about 1200
B.C.) refers to him as the "older Bel" in describing the temple which
he built for him at Aššur. Numerous names of men compounded with his
occur until the latest times, implying that, though the favourite god
was Merodach, the worship of Bel was not forgotten, even at Babylon--
that he should have been adored at his own city, Niffur, and at Dur-
Kuri-galzu, where Kuri-galzu I. built a temple for "Bel, the lord of
the lands," was naturally to be expected. Being, like Ęa, a god of the
earth, he is regarded as having formed a trinity with Anu, the god of
heaven, and Ęa, the god of the deep, and prayer to these three was as
good as invoking all the gods of the universe. Classification of the
gods according to the domain of their power would naturally take place
in a religious system in which they were all identified with each
other, and this classification indicates, as Jastrow says, a deep
knowledge of the powers of nature, and a more than average
intelligence among the Babylonians--indeed, he holds it as a proof
that, at the period of the older empire, there were schools and
students who had devoted themselves to religious speculation upon this
point. He also conjectures that the third commandment of the Law of
Moses was directed against this doctrine held by the Babylonians.
[*] Ordinarily pronounced /Illila/, as certain glosses and Damascius's
/Illinos/ (for /Illilos/) show.
Beltis.
This goddess was properly only the spouse of the older Bel, but as
/Bęltu/, her Babylonian name, simply meant "lady" in general (just as
/Bęl/ or /bęlu/ meant "lord"), it became a title which could be given
to any goddess, and was in fact borne by Zer-panîtum, Ištar, Nanaa,
and others. It was therefore often needful to add the name of the city
over which the special /Bęltu/ presided, in order to make clear which
of them was meant. Besides being the title of the spouse of the older
Bel, having her earthly seat with him in Niffur and other less
important shrines, the Assyrians sometimes name Bęltu the spouse of
Aššur, their national god, suggesting an identification, in the minds
of the priests, with that deity.
Ęnu-ręštu or Nirig.[*]
Whether /Ęnu-ręštu/ be a translation of /Nirig/ or not, is uncertain,
but not improbable, the meaning being "primeval lord," or something
similar, and "lord" that of the first element, /ni/, in the Sumerian
form. In support of this reading and rendering may be quoted the fact,
that one of the descriptions of this divinity is /ašsarid îlani
âhę-šu/, "the eldest of the gods his brothers." It is noteworthy that
this deity was a special favourite among the Assyrians, many of whose
kings, to say nothing of private persons, bore his name as a component
part of theirs. In the bilingual poem entitled /Ana-kime gimma/
("Formed like Anu"), he is described as being the son of Bel (hence
his appearance after Bel in the list printed above), and in the
likeness of Anu, for which reason, perhaps, his divinity is called
"Anuship." Beginning with words praising him, it seems to refer to his
attitude towards the gods of hostile lands, against whom, apparently,
he rode in a chariot of the sacred lapis-lazuli. Anu having endowed
him with terrible glory, the gods of the earth feared to attack him,
and his onrush was as that of a storm-flood. By the command of Bel,
his course was directed towards Ę-kur, the temple of Bel at Niffur.
Here he was met by Nusku, the supreme messenger of Bel, who, with
words of respect and of praise, asks him not to disturb the god Bel,
his father, in his seat, nor make the gods of the earth tremble in
Upšukennaku (the heavenly festival-hall of the gods), and offers him a
gift.[†] It will thus be seen that Ęnu-ręštu was a rival to the older
Bel, whose temple was the great tower in stages called Ę-kura, in
which, in all probability, Ę-šu-me-du, the shrine of Ęnu-ręštu, was
likewise situated. The inscriptions call him "god of war," though,
unlike Nergal, he was not at the same time god of disease and
pestilence. To all appearance he was the god of the various kinds of
stones, of which another legend states that he "determined their
fate." He was "the hero, whose net overthrows the enemy, who summons
his army to plunder the hostile land, the royal son who caused his
father to bow down to him from afar." "The son who sat not with the
nurse, and eschewed(?) the strength of milk," "the offspring who did
not know his father." "He rode over the mountains and scattered
seed--unanimously the plants proclaimed his name to their dominion,
among them like a great wild bull he raises his horns."
[*] /Ęnu-ręštu/ is the reading which I have adopted as the Semitic
Babylonian equivalent of the name of this divinity, in consequence
of the Aramaic transcription given by certain contract-tablets
discovered by the American expedition to Niffer, and published by
Prof. Clay of Philadelphia.
[†] The result of this request is not known, in consequence of the
defective state of the tablets.
Many other interesting descriptions of the deity Nirig (generally read
Nin-ip) occur, and show, with those quoted here, that his story was
one of more than ordinary interest.
Nusku.
This deity was especially invoked by the Assyrian kings, but was in no
wise exclusively Assyrian, as is shown by the fact that his name
occurs in many Babylonian inscriptions. He was the great messenger of
the gods, and is variously given as "the offspring of the abyss, the
creation of Ęa," and "the likeness of his father, the first-born of
Bel." As Gibil, the fire-god, has likewise the same diverse parentage,
it is regarded as likely that these two gods were identical. Nusku was
the god whose command is supreme, the counsellor of the great gods,
the protector of the Igigi (the gods of the heavens), the great and
powerful one, the glorious day, the burning one, the founder of
cities, the renewer of sanctuaries, the provider of feasts for all the
Igigi, without whom no feast took place in Ę-kura. Like Nebo, he bore
the glorious spectre, and it was said of him that he attacked mightily
in battle. Without him the sun-god, the judge, could not give
judgment.
All this points to the probability, that Nusku may not have been the
fire-god, but the brother of the fire-god, i.e. either flame, or the
light of fire. The sun-god, without light, could not see, and
therefore could not give judgment: no feast could be prepared without
fire and its flame. As the evidence of the presence of the shining
orbs in the heavens--the light of their fires--he was the messenger of
the gods, and was honoured accordingly. From this idea, too, he became
their messenger in general, especially of Bel-Merodach, the younger
Bel, whose requests he carried to the god Ęa in the Deep. In one
inscription he is identified with Nirig or Ęnu-ręštu, who is described
above.
Merodach.
Concerning this god, and how he arose to the position of king of all
the gods of heaven, has been fully shown in chapter III. Though there
is but little in his attributes to indicate any connection with Šamaš,
there is hardly any doubt that he was originally a sun-god, as is
shown by the etymology of his name. The form, as it has been handed
down to us, is somewhat shortened, the original pronunciation having
been /Amar-uduk/, "the young steer of day," a name which suggests that
he was the morning sun. Of the four names given at the end of chapter
III., two--"lord of Babylon," and "lord god of heaven and earth,"--may
be regarded as expressing his more well-known attributes. /En-ab-šar-
u/, however, is a provisional, though not impossible, reading and
rendering, and if correct, the "36,000 wild bulls" would be a
metaphorical way of speaking of "the 36,000 heroes," probably meaning
the gods of heaven in all their grades. The signification of /En-
bilulu/ is unknown. Like most of the other gods of the Babylonian
pantheon, however, Merodach had many other names, among which may be
mentioned /Asari/, which has been compared with the Egyptian Osiris,
/Asari-lu-duga/, "/Asari/ who is good," compared with Osiris Unnefer;
/Namtila/, "life", /Tutu/, "begetter (of the gods), renewer (of the
gods)," /Šar-azaga/, "the glorious incantation," /Mu-azaga/, "the
glorious charm," and many others. The last two refer to his being the
god who, by his kindness, obtained from his father Ęa, dwelling in the
abyss, those charms and incantations which benefited mankind, and
restored the sick to health. In this connection, a frequent title
given to him is "the merciful one," but most merciful was he in that
he spared the lives of the gods who, having sided with Taiwath, were
his enemies, as is related in the tablet of the fifty-one names. In
connection with the fight he bore also the names, "annihilator of the
enemy," "rooter out of all evil," "troubler of the evil ones," "life
of the whole of the gods." From these names it is clear that Merodach,
in defeating Tiawath, annihilated, at the same time, the spirit of
evil, Satan, the accuser, of which she was, probably, the Babylonian
type. But unlike the Saviour in the Christian creed, he saved not only
man, at that time uncreated, but the gods of heaven also. As "king of
the heavens," he was identified with the largest of the planets,
Jupiter, as well as with other heavenly bodies. Traversing the sky in
great zigzags, Jupiter seemed to the Babylonians to superintend the
stars, and this was regarded as emblematic of Merodach shepherding
them--"pasturing the gods like sheep," as the tablet has it.
A long list of gods gives as it were the court of Merodach, held in
what was apparently a heavenly /Ę-sagila/, and among the spiritual
beings mentioned are /Minâ-îkul-bęli/ and /Minâ-ištî-bęli/, "what my
lord has eaten," and "what has my lord drunk," /Nadin-mę-gati/, "he
who gives water for the hands," also the two door-keepers, and the
four dogs of Merodach, wherein people are inclined to see the four
satellites of Jupiter, which, it is thought, were probably visible to
certain of the more sharp-sighted stargazers of ancient Babylonia.
These dogs were called /Ukkumu/, /Akkulu/, /Ikšsuda/, and /Iltebu/,
"Seizer," "Eater," "Grasper," and "Holder." Images of these beings
were probably kept in the temple of Ę-sagila at Babylon.
Zer-panîtum.
This was the name of the consort of Merodach, and is generally read
Sarp(b)anitum--a transcription which is against the native orthography
and etymology, namely, "seed-creatress" (Zer-banîtum). The meaning
attributed to this word is partly confirmed by another name which
Lehmann has pointed out that she possessed, namely, /Erua/ or /Aru'a/,
who, in an inscription of Antiochus Soter (280-260 B.C.) is called
"the queen who produces birth," but more especially by the
circumstance, that she must be identical with Aruru, who created the
seed of mankind along with Merodach. Why she was called "the lady of
the abyss," and elsewhere "the voice of the abyss" (/Me-abzu/) is not
known. Zer-panîtum was no mere reflection of Merodach, but one of the
most important goddesses in the Babylonian pantheon. The tendency of
scholars has been to identify her with the moon, Merodach being a
solar deity and the meaning "silvery"--/Sarpanitum/, from /sarpu/, one
of the words for "silver," was regarded as supporting this idea. She
was identified with the Elamite goddess named Elagu, and with the
Lahamum of the island of Bahrein, the Babylonian Tilmun.
Nebo and Tašmętum.
As "the teacher" and "the hearer" these were among the most popular of
the deities of Babylonia and Assyria. Nebo (in Semitic Babylonian
Nabű) was worshipped at the temple-tower known as Ę-zida, "the ever-
lasting house," at Borsippa, now the Birs Nimroud, traditionally
regarded as the site of the Tower of Babel, though that title, as has
already been shown, would best suit the similar structure known as
Ę-sagila, "the house of the high head," in Babylon itself. In
composition with men's names, this deity occurs more than any other,
even including Merodach himself--a clear indication of the estimation
in which the Babylonians and Assyrians held the possession of
knowledge. The character with which his name is written means, with
the pronunciation of /ak/, "to make," "to create," "to receive," "to
proclaim," and with the pronunciation of /me/, "to be wise," "wisdom,"
"open of ear," "broad of ear," and "to make, of a house," the last
probably referring to the design rather than to the actual building.
Under the name of /Dim-šara/ he was "the creator of the writing of the
scribes," as /Ni-zu/, "the god who knows" (/zu/, "to know"), as
/Mermer/, "the speeder(?) of the command of the gods"--on the Sumerian
side indicating some connection with Addu or Rimmon, the thunderer,
and on the Semitic side with Ęnu-ręštu, who was one of the gods'
messengers. A small fragment in the British Museum gave his attributes
as god of the various cities of Babylonia, but unfortunately their
names are lost or incomplete. From what remains, however, we see that
Nebo was god of ditching(?), commerce(?), granaries(?), fasting(?),
and food; it was he who overthrew the land of the enemy, and who
protected planting; and, lastly, he was god of Borsippa.
The worship of Nebo was not always as popular as it became in the
later days of the Babylonian empire and after its fall, and Jastrow is
of opinion that Hammurabi intentionally ignored this deity, giving the
preference to Merodach, though he did not suppress the worship. Why
this should have taken place is not by any means certain, for Nebo was
a deity adored far and wide, as may be gathered from the fact that
there was a mountain bearing his name in Moab, upon which Moses--also
an "announcer," adds Jastrow--died. Besides the mountain, there was a
city in Moab so named, and another in Judća. That it was the
Babylonian Nebo originally is implied by the form--the Hebrew
corresponding word is /nabi/.
How old the worship of Tašmętum, his consort, is, is doubtful, but her
name first occurs in a date of the reign of Hammurabi. Details
concerning her attributes are rare, and Jastrow regards this goddess
as the result of Babylonian religious speculations. It is noteworthy
that her worship appears more especially in later times, but it may be
doubted whether it is a product of those late times, especially when
we bear in mind the remarkable seal-impression on an early tablet of
3500-4500 B.C., belonging to Lord Amherst of Hackney, in which we see
a male figure with wide-open mouth seizing a stag by his horns, and a
female figure with no mouth at all, but with very prominent ears,
holding a bull in a similar manner. Here we have the "teacher" and the
"hearer" personified in a very remarkable manner, and it may well be
that this primitive picture shows the idea then prevailing with regard
to these two deities. It is to be noted that the name of Tašmętum has
a Sumerian equivalent, namely, /Kurnun/, and that the ideograph by
which it is represented is one whose general meaning seems to be "to
bind," perhaps with the additional signification of "to accomplish,"
in which case "she who hears" would also be "she who obeys."
Šamaš and his consort.
At all times the worship of the sun in Babylonia and Assyria was
exceedingly popular, as, indeed, was to be expected from his
importance as the greatest of the heavenly bodies and the brightest,
without whose help men could not live, and it is an exceedingly
noteworthy fact that this deity did not become, like Ra in Egypt, the
head of the pantheon. This place was reserved for Merodach, also a
sun-god, but possessing attributes of a far wider scope. Šamaš is
mentioned as early as the reign of Ę-anna-tum, whose date is set at
about 4200 B.C., and at this period his Semitic name does not,
naturally, occur, the character used being /Utu/, or, in its longer
form, /Utuki/.
It is worthy of note that, in consequence of the Babylonian idea of
evolution in the creation of the world, less perfect beings brought
forth those which were more perfect, and the sun was therefore the
offspring of Nannara or Sin, the moon. In accordance with the same
idea, the day, with the Semites, began with the evening, the time when
the moon became visible, and thus becomes the offspring of the night.
In the inscriptions Šamaš is described as "the light of things above
and things below, the illuminator of the regions," "the supreme judge
of heaven and earth," "the lord of living creatures, the gracious one
of the lands." Dawning in the foundation of the sky, he opened the
locks and threw wide the gates of the high heavens, and raised his
head, covering heaven and earth with his splendour. He was the
constantly righteous in heaven, the truth within the ears of the
lands, the god knowing justice and injustice, righteousness he
supported upon his shoulders, unrighteousness he burst asunder like a
leather bond, etc. It will thus be seen, that the sun-god was the
great god of judgment and justice--indeed, he is constantly alluded to
as "the judge," the reason in all probability being, that as the sun
shines upon the earth all day long, and his light penetrates
everywhere, he was regarded as the god who knew and investigated
everything, and was therefore best in a position to judge aright, and
deliver a just decision. It is for this reason that his image appears
at the head of the stele inscribed with Hammurabi's laws, and legal
ceremonies were performed within the precincts of his temples. The
chief seats of his worship were the great temples called Ę-babbara,
"the house of great light," in the cities of Larsa and Sippar.
The consort of Šamaš was Aa, whose chief seat was at Sippar, side by
side with Šamaš. Though only a weak reflex of the sun-god, her worship
was exceedingly ancient, being mentioned in an inscription of
Man-ištusu, who is regarded as having reigned before Sargon of Agadé.
From the fact that, in one of the lists, she has names formed by
reduplicating the name of the sun-god, /Utu/, she would seem once to
have been identical with him, in which case it may be supposed that
she personified the setting sun--"the double sun" from the magnified
disc which he presents at sunset, when, according to a hymn to the
setting sun sung at the temple at Borsippa, Aa, in the Sumerian line
Kur-nirda, was accustomed to go to receive him. According to the list
referred to above, Aa, with the name of Burida in Sumerian, was more
especially the consort of Ša-zu, "him who knows the heart," one of the
names of Merodach, who was probably the morning sun, and therefore the
exact counterpart of the sun at evening.
Besides Šamaš and Utu, the latter his ordinary Sumerian name, the sun-
god had several other non-Semitic names, including /Gišnu/,[*] "the
light," /Ma-banda-anna/, "the bark of heaven," /U-ę/, "the rising
sun," /Mitra/, apparently the Persian Mithra; /Ume-šimaš/ and Nahunda,
Elamite names, and Sahi, the Kassite name of the sun. He also
sometimes bears the names of his attendants Kittu and Męšaru, "Truth"
and "Righteousness," who guided him upon his path as judge of the
earth.
[*] It is the group expressing this word which is used for Šamaš in
the name of Šamaš-šum-ukîn (Saosduchinos), the brother of Aššur-
bani-âpli (Assurbanipal). The Greek equivalent implies the
pronunciation /Šawaš/, as well as /Šamaš/.
Tammuz and Ištar.
The date of the rise of the myth of Tammuz is uncertain, but as the
name of this god is found on tablets of the time of Lugal-anda and
Uru-ka-gina (about 3500 B.C.), it can hardly be of later date than
4000 B.C., and may be much earlier. As he is repeatedly called "the
shepherd," and had a domain where he pastured his flock, Professor
Sayce sees in Tammuz "Daonus or Daos, the shepherd of Pantibibla,"
who, according to Berosus, ruled in Babylonia for 10 /sari/, or 36,000
years, and was the sixth king of the mythical period. According to the
classic story, the mother of Tammuz had unnatural intercourse with her
own father, being urged thereto by Aphrodite whom she had offended,
and who had decided thus to avenge herself. Being pursued by her
father, who wished to kill her for this crime, she prayed to the gods,
and was turned into a tree, from whose trunk Adonis was afterwards
born. Aphrodite was so charmed with the infant that, placing him in a
chest, she gave him into the care of Persephone, who, however, when
she discovered what a treasure she had in her keeping, refused to part
with him again. Zeus was appealed to, and decided that for four months
in the year Adonis should be left to himself, four should be spent
with Aphrodite, and four with Persephone, and six with Aphrodite on
earth. He was afterwards slain, whilst hunting, by a wild boar.
Nothing has come down to us as yet concerning this legend except the
incident of his dwelling in Hades, whither Ištar, the Babylonian
Venus, went in search of him. It is not by any means unlikely,
however, that the whole story existed in Babylonia, and thence spread
to Phśnicia, and afterwards to Greece. In Phśnicia it was adapted to
the physical conditions of the country, and the place of Tammuz's
encounter with the boar was said to be the mountains of Lebanon,
whilst the river named after him, Adonis (now the Nahr Ibrahim), which
ran red with the earth washed down by the autumn rains, was said to be
so coloured in consequence of being mingled with his blood. The
descent of Tammuz to the underworld, typified by the flowing down of
the earth-laden waters of the rivers to the sea, was not only
celebrated by the Phśnicians, but also by the Babylonians, who had at
least two series of lamentations which were used on this occasion, and
were probably the originals of those chanted by the Hebrew women in
the time of Ezekiel (about 597 B.C.). Whilst on earth, he was the one
who nourished the ewe and her lamb, the goat and her kid, and also
caused them to be slain--probably in sacrifice. "He has gone, he has
gone to the bosom of the earth," the mourners cried, "he will make
plenty to overflow for the land of the dead, for its lamentations for
the day of his fall, in the unpropitious month of his year." There was
also lamentation for the cessation of the growth of vegetation, and
one of these hymns, after addressing him as the shepherd and husband
of Ištar, "lord of the underworld," and "lord of the shepherd's seat,"
goes on to liken him to a germ which has not absorbed water in the
furrow, whose bud has not blossomed in the meadow; to the sapling
which has not been planted by the watercourse, and to the sapling
whose root has been removed. In the "Lamentations" in the Manchester
Museum, Ištar, or one of her devotees, seems to call for Tammuz,
saying, "Return, my husband," as she makes her way to the region of
gloom in quest of him. Ereš-ę-gala, "the lady of the great house"
(Persephone), is also referred to, and the text seems to imply that
Ištar entered her domain in spite of her. In this text other names are
given to him, namely, /Tumu-giba/, "son of the flute," /Ama-elaggi/,
and /Ši-umunnagi/, "life of the people."
The reference to sheep and goats in the British Museum fragment
recalls the fact that in an incantation for purification the person
using it is told to get the milk of a yellow goat which has been
brought forth in the sheep-fold of Tammuz, recalling the flocks of the
Greek sun-god Helios. These were the clouds illuminated by the sun,
which were likened to sheep--indeed, one of the early Sumerian
expressions for "fleece" was "sheep of the sky." The name of Tammuz in
Sumerian is Dumu-zi, or in its rare fullest form, Dumu-zida, meaning
"true" or "faithful son." There is probably some legend attached to
this which is at present unknown.
In all probability Ištar, the spouse of Tammuz, is best known from her
descent into Hades in quest of him when with Persephone (Ereš-ki-gal)
in the underworld. In this she had to pass through seven gates, and an
article of clothing was taken from her at each, until she arrived in
the underworld quite naked, typifying the teaching, that man can take
nothing away with him when he departs this life. During her absence,
things naturally began to go wrong upon the earth, and the gods were
obliged to intervene, and demand her release, which was ultimately
granted, and at each gate, as she returned, the adornments which she
had left were given back to her. It is uncertain whether the husband
whom she sought to release was set free, but the end of the
inscription seems to imply that Ištar was successful in her mission.
In this story she typifies the faithful wife, but other legends show
another side of her character, as in that of Gilgameš, ruler of her
city Erech, to whom she makes love. Gilgameš, however, knowing the
character of the divine queen of his city too well, reproaches her
with her treatment of her husband and her other lovers--Tammuz, to
whom, from year to year, she caused bitter weeping; the bright
coloured Allala bird, whom she smote and broke his wings; the lion
perfect in strength, in whom she cut wounds "by sevens"; the horse
glorious in war, to whom she caused hardship and distress, and to his
mother Silili bitter weeping; the shepherd who provided for her things
which she liked, whom she smote and changed to a jackal; Išullanu, her
father's gardener, whom she tried, apparently, to poison, but failing,
she smote him, and changed him to a statue(?). On being thus reminded
of her misdeeds, Ištar was naturally angry, and, ascending to heaven,
complained to her father Anu and her mother Anatu, the result being,
that a divine bull was sent against Gilgameš and Enki-du, his friend
and helper. The bull, however, was killed, and a portion of the animal
having been cut off, Enki-du threw it at the goddess, saying at the
same time that, if he could only get hold of her, he would treat her
similarly. Apparently Ištar recognised that there was nothing further
to be done in the matter, so, gathering the hand-maidens, pleasure-
women and whores, in their presence she wept over the portion of the
divine bull which had been thrown at her.
The worship of Ištar, she being the goddess of love and war, was
considerably more popular than that of her spouse, Tammuz, who, as
among the western Semitic nations, was adored rather by the women than
the men. Her worship was in all probability of equal antiquity, and
branched out, so to say, in several directions, as may be judged by
her many names, each of which had a tendency to become a distinct
personality. Thus the syllabaries give the character which represents
her name as having also been pronounced /Innanna/, /Ennen/, and /Nin/,
whilst a not uncommon name in other inscriptions is /Ama-Innanna/,
"mother Ištar." The principal seat of her worship in Babylonia was at
Erech, and in Assyria at Nineveh--also at Arbela, and many other
places. She was also honoured (at Erech and elsewhere) under the
Elamite names of Tišpak and Šušinak, "the Susian goddess."
Nina.
From the name /Nin/, which Ištar bore, there is hardly any doubt that
she acquired the identification with Nina, which is provable as early
as the time of the Lagašite kings, Lugal-anda and Uru-ka-gina. As
identified with Aruru, the goddess who helped Merodach to create
mankind, Ištar was also regarded as the mother of all, and in the
Babylonian story of the Flood, she is made to say that she had
begotten man, but like "the sons of the fishes," he filled the sea.
Nina, then, as another form of Ištar, was a goddess of creation,
typified in the teeming life of the ocean, and her name is written
with a character standing for a house or receptacle, with the sign for
"fish" within. Her earliest seat was the city of Nina in southern
Babylonia, from which place, in all probability, colonists went
northwards, and founded another shrine at Nineveh in Assyria, which
afterwards became the great centre of her worship, and on this account
the city was called after her Ninaa or Ninua. As their tutelary
goddess, the fishermen in the neighbourhood of the Babylonian Nina and
Lagaš were accustomed to make to her, as well as to Innanna or Ištar,
large offerings of fish.
As the masculine deities had feminine forms, so it is not by any means
improbable that the goddesses had masculine forms, and if that be the
case, we may suppose that it was a masculine counterpart of Nina who
founded Nineveh, which, as is well known, is attributed to Ninos, the
same name as Nina with the Greek masculine termination.
Nin-Gursu.
This deity is principally of importance in connection with the ancient
Babylonian state of Lagaš, the home of an old and important line of
kings and viceroys, among the latter being the celebrated Gudea, whose
statues and inscribed cylinders now adorn the Babylonian galleries of
the Louvre at Paris. His name means "Lord of Girsu," which was
probably one of the suburbs, and the oldest part, of Lagaš. This deity
was son of En-lila or Bęl, and was identified with Nirig or Ęnu-ręštu.
To all appearance he was a sun-deity. The dialectic form of his name
was /U-Mersi/, of which a variant, /En-Mersi/, occurs in an
incantation published in the fourth volume of the /Cuneiform
Inscriptions of Western Asia/, pl. 27, where, for the Sumerian "Take a
white kid of En-Mersi," the Semitic translation is "of Tammuz,"
showing that he was identified with the latter god. In the second
volume of the same work Nin-Girsu is given as the pronunciation of the
name of the god of agriculturalists, confirming this identification,
Tammuz being also god of agriculture.
Bau.
This goddess at all times played a prominent part in ancient
Babylonian religion, especially with the rulers before the dynasty of
Hammurabi. She was the "mother" of Lagaš, and her temple was at
Uru-azaga, a district of Lagaš, the chief city of Nin-Girsu, whose
spouse she was. Like Nin-Girsu, she planted (not only grain and
vegetation, but also the seed of men). In her character of the goddess
who gave life to men, and healed their bodies in sickness, she was
identified with Gula, one of those titles is "the lady saving from
death". Ga-tum-duga, whose name probably means "making and producing
good," was also exceedingly popular in ancient times, and though
identified with Bau, is regarded by Jastrow has having been originally
distinct from her.
Ereš-ki-gal or Allatu.
As the prototype of Persephone, this goddess is one of much importance
for comparative mythology, and there is a legend concerning her of
considerable interest. The text is one of those found at Tel-el-
Armana, in Egypt, and states that the gods once made a feast, and sent
to Ereš-ki-gal, saying that, though they could go down to her, she
could not ascend to them, and asking her to send a messenger to fetch
away the food destined for her. This she did, and all the gods stood
up to receive her messenger, except one, who seems to have withheld
this token of respect. The messenger, when he returned, apparently
related to Ereš-ki-gal what had happened, and angered thereat, she
sent him back to the presence of the gods, asking for the delinquent
to be delivered to her, that she might kill him. The gods then
discussed the question of death with the messenger, and told him to
take to his mistress the god who had not stood up in his presence.
When the gods were brought together, that the culprit might be
recognised, one of them remained in the background, and on the
messenger asking who it was who did not stand up, it was found to be
Nerigal. This god was duly sent, but was not at all inclined to be
submissive, for instead of killing him, as she had threatened, Ereš-
ki-gal found herself seized by the hair and dragged from her throne,
whilst the death-dealing god made ready to cut off her head. "Do not
kill me, my brother, let me speak to thee," she cried, and on his
loosing his hold upon her hair, she continued, "thou shalt be my
husband, and I will be thy wife--I will cause you to take dominion in
the wide earth. I will place the tablet of wisdom in thine hand--thou
shalt be lord, I will be lady." Nerigal thereupon took her, kissed
her, and wiped away her tears, saying, "Whatever thou hast asked me
for months past now receives assent."
Ereš-ki-gal did not treat her rival in the affections of Tammuz so
gently when Ištar descended to Hades in search of the "husband of her
youth." According to the story, not only was Ištar deprived of her
garments and ornaments, but by the orders of Ereš-ki-gal, Namtar smote
her with disease in all her members. It was not until the gods
intervened that Ištar was set free. The meaning of her name is "lady
of the great region," a description which is supposed to apply to
Hades, and of which a variant, Ereš-ki-gal, "lady of the great house,"
occurs in the Hymns to Tammuz in the Manchester Museum.
Nergal.
This name is supposed to mean "lord of the great habitation," which
would be a parallel to that of his spouse Ereš-ki-gal. He was the
ruler of Hades, and at the same time god of war and of disease and
pestilence. As warrior, he naturally fought on the side of those who
worshipped him, as in the phrase which describes him as "the warrior,
the fierce storm-flood overthrowing the land of the enemy." As pointed
out by Jastrow, he differs from Nirig, who was also a god of war, in
that he symbolises, as god of disease and death, the misery and
destruction which accompany the strife of nations. It is in
consequence of this side of his character that he appears also as god
of fire, the destroying element, and Jensen says that Nerigal was god
of the midday or of the summer sun, and therefore of all the
misfortunes caused by an excess of his heat.
The chief centre of his worship was Cuthah (/Kutű/, Sumerian /Gudua/)
near Babylon, now represented by the mounds of Tel Ibrahim. The
identity with the Greek Aries and the Roman Mars is proved by the fact
that his planet was /Muštabarrű-műtanu/, "the death-spreader," which
is probably the name of Mars in Semitic Babylonian.
Amurru.
Although this is not by any means a frequent name among the deities
worshipped in Babylonia, it is worthy of notice on account of its
bearing upon the date of the compilation of the tablet which has been
taken as a basis of this list of gods. He was known as "Lord of the
mountains," and his worship became very popular during the period of
the dynasty to which Hammurabi belonged--say from 2200 to 1937 B.C.,
when Amurru was much combined with the names of men, and is found both
on tablets and cylinder-seals. The ideographic manner of writing it is
/Mar-tu/, a word that is used for /Amurru/, the land of the Amorites,
which stood for the West in general. Amorites had entered Babylonia in
considerable numbers during this period, so that there is but little
doubt that his popularity was largely due to their influence, and the
tablet containing these names was probably drawn up, or at least had
the Semitic equivalents added, towards the beginning of that period.
Sin or Nannara.
The cult of the moon-god was one of the most popular in Babylonia, the
chief seat of his worship being at Uru (now Muqayyar) the Biblical Ur
of the Chaldees. The origin of the name Sin is unknown, but it is
thought that it may be a corruption of Zu-ena, "knowledge-lord," as
the compound ideograph expressing his name may be read and translated.
Besides this compound ideograph, the name of the god Sin was also
expressed by the character for "30," provided with the prefix of
divinity, an ideograph which is due to the thirty days of the month,
and is thought to be of late date. With regard to Nannar, Jastrow
explains it as being for Narnar, and renders it "light-producer." In a
long hymn to this god he is described in many lines as "the lord,
prince of the gods, who in heaven alone is supreme," and as "father
Nannar." Among his other descriptive titles are "great Anu" (Sum. /ana
gale/, Semitic Bab. /Anu rabű/)--another instance of the
identification of two deities. He was also "lord of Ur," "lord of the
temple Gišnu-gala," "lord of the shining crown," etc. He is also said
to be "the mighty steer whose horns are strong, whose limbs are
perfect, who is bearded with a beard of lapis-stone,[*] who is filled
with beauty and fullness (of splendour)."
[*] Probably of the colour of lapis only, not made of the stone
itself.
Besides Babylonia and Assyria, he was also worshipped in other parts
of the Semitic east, especially at Harran, to which city Abraham
migrated, scholars say, in consequence of the patron-deity being the
same as at Ur of the Chaldees, where he had passed the earlier years
of his life. The Mountain of Sinai and the Desert of Sin, both bear
his name.
According to king Dungi (about 2700 B.C.), the spouse of Sin or
Nannara was Nin-Uruwa, "the lady of Ur." Sargon of Assyria (722-705
B.C.) calls her Nin-gala.
Addu or Rammanu.
The numerous names which Hadad bears in the inscriptions, both non-
Semitic and Semitic, testify to the popularity which this god enjoyed
at all times in Babylonia. Among his non-Semitic names may be
mentioned Mer, Mermer, Muru, all, it may be imagined, imitative. Addu
is explained as being his name in the Amorite language, and a variant
form, apparently, which has lost its first syllable, namely, Dadu,
also appears--the Assyrians seem always to have used the
terminationless form of Addu, namely, Adad. In all probability Addu,
Adad, and Dadu are derived from the West Semitic Hadad, but the other
name, Rammanu, is native Babylonian, and cognate with Rimmon, which is
thus shown by the Babylonian form to mean "the thunderer," or
something similar. He was the god of winds, storms, and rain, feared
on account of the former, and worshipped, and his favour sought, on
account of the last. In his name Birqu, he appears as the god of
lightning, and Jastrow is of opinion, that he is sometimes associated
on that account with Šamaš, both of them being (although in different
degrees) gods of light, and this is confirmed by the fact that, in
common with the sun-god, he was called "god of justice." In the
Assyrian inscriptions he appears as a god of war, and the kings
constantly compare the destruction which their armies had wrought with
that of "Adad the inundator." For them he was "the mighty one,
inundating the regions of the enemy, lands and houses," and was prayed
to strike the land of the person who showed hostility to the Assyrian
king, with evil-working lightning, to throw want, famine, drought, and
corpses therein, to order that he should not live one day longer, and
to destroy his name and his seed in the land.
The original seat of his worship was Muru in South Babylonia, to which
the patesi of Girsu in the time of Ibi-Sin sent grain as an offering.
Its site is unknown. Other places (or are they other names of the
same?) where he was worshipped were Ennigi and Kakru. The consort of
Addu was Šala, whose worship was likewise very popular, and to whom
there were temples, not only in Babylonia and Assyria, but also in
Elam, seemingly always in connection with Addu.
Aššur.
In all the deities treated of above, we see the chief gods of the
Babylonian and Assyrian pantheon, which were worshipped by both
peoples extensively, none of them being specifically Assyrian, though
worshipped by the Assyrians. There was one deity, however, whose name
will not be found in the Babylonian lists of gods, namely, Aššur, the
national god of Assyria, who was worshipped in the city of Aššur, the
old capital of the country.
From this circumstance, it may be regarded as certain, that Aššur was
the local god of the city whose name he bore, and that he attained to
the position of chief god of the Assyrian pantheon in the same way as
Merodach became king of the gods in Babylonia--namely, because Aššur
was the capital of the country. His acceptance as chief divinity,
however, was much more general than that of Merodach, as temples to
him were to be found all over the Assyrian kingdom--a circumstance
which was probably due to Assyria being more closely united in itself
than Babylonia, causing his name to arouse patriotic feelings wherever
it might be referred to. This was probably partly due to the fact,
that the king in Assyria was more the representative of the god than
in Babylonia, and that the god followed him on warlike expeditions,
and when engaged in religious ceremonies--indeed, it is not by any
means improbable that he was thought to follow him wherever he went.
On the sculptures he is seen accompanying him in the form of a circle
provided with wings, in which is shown sometimes a full-length figure
of the god in human form, sometimes the upper part only, facing
towards and drawing his bow against the foe. In consequence of its
general appearance, the image of the god has been likened to the sun
in eclipse, the far-stretching wings being thought to resemble the
long streamers visible at the moment of totality, and it must be
admitted as probable that this may have given the idea of the symbol
shown on the sculptures. As a sun-god, and at the same time not the
god Šamaš, he resembled the Babylonian Merodach, and was possibly
identified with him, especially as, in at least one text, Bęltu
(Bęltis) is described as his consort, which would possibly identify
Aššur's spouse with Zer-panîtum. The original form of his name would
seem to have been Aušar, "water-field," probably from the tract where
the city of Aššur was built. His identification with Merodach, if that
was ever accepted, may have been due to the likeness of the word to
Asari, one of that deity's names. The pronunciation Aššur, however,
seems to have led to a comparison with the Anšar of the first tablet
of the Creation-story, though it may seem strange that the Assyrians
should have thought that their patron-god was a deity symbolising the
"host of heaven." Nevertheless, the Greek transcription of Anšar,
namely, /Assoros/, given by Damascius, certainly strengthens the
indications of the ideograph in this matter. Delitzsch regards the
word Aššur, or Ašur, as he reads it, as meaning "holy," and quotes a
list of the gods of the city of Nineveh, where the word Aššur occurs
three times, suggesting the exclamation "holy, holy, holy," or "the
holy, holy, holy one." In all probability, however, the repetition of
the name three times simply means that there were three temples
dedicated to Aššur in the cities in question.[*] Jastrow agrees with
Delitzsch in regarding Ašur as another form of Ašir (found in early
Cappadocian names), but he translates it rather as "overseer" or
"guardian" of the land and the people--the terminationless form of
/aširu/, which has this meaning, and is applied to Merodach.
[*] Or there may have been three shrines to Aššur in each temple
referred to.
As the use of the characters /An-šar/ for the god Aššur only appears
at a late date (Jastrow says the eighth century B.C.), this would seem
to have been the work of the scribes, who wished to read into the name
the earlier signification of Anšar, "the host of heaven," an
explanation fully in accord with Jastrow's reasonings with regard to
the nature of the deity. As he represented no personification or power
of nature, he says, but the general protecting spirit of the land, the
king, the army, and the people, the capital of the country could be
transferred from Aššur to Calah, from there back to Aššur, and finally
to Nineveh, without affecting the position of the protecting god of
the land in any way. He needed no temple--though such things were
erected to him--he had no need to fear that he should suffer in esteem
by the preference for some other god. As the embodiment of the spirit
of the Assyrian people the personal side of his being remained to a
certain extent in the background. If he was the "host of heaven," all
the deities might be regarded as having their being in him.
Such was the chief deity of the Assyrians--a national god, grafted on
to, but always distinct from, the rest of the pantheon, which, as has
been shown, was of Babylonian origin, and always maintained the
characteristics and stamp of its origin.
The spouse of Aššur does not appear in the historical texts, and her
mention elsewhere under the title of Bęltu, "the lady," does not allow
of any identification being made. In one inscription, however,
Aššuritu is called the goddess, and Aššur the god, of the star Sib-zi-
anna, identified by Jensen with Regulus, which was apparently the star
of Merodach in Babylonia. This, however, brings us no nearer, for
Aššuritu would simply mean "the Assurite (goddess)."
The minor divinities.
Among the hundreds of names which the lists furnish, a few are worthy
of mention, either because of more than ordinary interest, or in
consequence of their furnishing the name of some deity, chief in its
locality, but identified elsewhere with one of the greater gods.
Aa.--This may be regarded either as the god Ęa (though the name is
written differently), or as the sun-god assuming the name of his
consort; or (what is, perhaps, more probable) as a way of writing A'u
or Ya'u (the Hebrew Jah), without the ending of the nominative. This
last is also found under the form /Aa'u/, /ya'u/, /yau/, and /ya/.
Abil-addu.--This deity seems to have attained a certain popularity in
later times, especially among immigrants from the West. As "the son of
Hadad," he was the equivalent of the Syrian Ben-Hadad. A tablet in New
York shows that his name was weakened in form to /Ablada/.
Aku, the moon-god among the heavenly bodies. It is this name which is
regarded as occurring in the name of the Babylonian king Eri-Aku,
"servant of the moon-god," the biblical Arioch (Gen. xiv.).
Amma-an-ki, Ęa or Aa as lord of heaven and earth.
Amna.--A name only found in a syllabary, and assigned to the sun-god,
from which it would seem that it is a form of the Egyptian Ammon.
Anunitum, the goddess of one of the two Sippars, called Sippar of
Anunitum, who was worshipped in the temple Ę-ulmaš within the city of
Agadé (Akkad). Sayce identifies, on this account, these two places as
being the same. In a list of stars, Anunitum is coupled with
Šinunutum, which are explained as (the stars of) the Tigris and
Euphrates. These were probably names of Venus as the morning and
evening (or evening and morning) star.
Apsu.--The deep dissociated from the evil connection with Tiawath, and
regarded as "the house of deep wisdom," i.e. the home of the god Ęa or
Aa.
Aruru.--One of the deities of Sippar and Aruru (in the time of the
dynasty of Hammurabi called Ya'ruru), of which she was the chief
goddess. Aruru was one of the names of the "lady of the gods," and
aided Merodach to make the seed of mankind.
Bęl.--As this name means "lord," it could be applied, like the
Phśnician Baal, to the chief god of any city, as Bęl of Niffur, Bęl of
Hursag-kalama, Bęl of Aratta, Bęl of Babylon, etc. This often
indicates also the star which represented the chief god of a place.
Bęltu.--In the same way Bęltu, meaning "lady," meant also the chief
goddess of any place, as "Aruru, lady of the gods of Sippar of Aruru,"
"Nin-mah, lady of the gods of Ę-mah," a celebrated temple within
Babylon, recently excavated by the Germans, "Nin-hur-saga, lady of the
gods of Kęš," etc.
Bunene.--A god associated with Šamaš and Ištar at Sippar and
elsewhere. He "gave" and "renewed" to his worshippers.
Dagan.--This deity, whose worship extends back to an exceedingly early
date, is generally identified with the Phśnician Dagon. Hammurabi
seems to speak of the Euphrates as being "the boundary of Dagan," whom
he calls his creator. In later inscriptions the form Daguna, which
approaches nearer to the West Semitic form, is found in a few personal
names. The Phśnician statues of this deity showed him with the lower
part of his body in the form of a fish (see 1 Sam. v. 4). Whether the
deities clothed in a fish's skin in the Nimroud gallery be Dagon or
not is uncertain--they may be intended for Ęa or Aa, the Oannes of
Berosus, who was represented in this way. Probably the two deities
were regarded as identical.
Damu.--a goddess regarded as equivalent to Gula by the Babylonians and
Assyrians. She was goddess of healing, and made one's dreams happy.
Dumu-zi-abzu, "Tammuz of the Abyss."--This was one of the six sons of
Ęa or Aa, according to the lists. His worship is exceedingly ancient,
and goes back to the time of E-anna-tum of Lagaš (about 4000 B.C.).
What connection, if any, he may have with Tammuz, the spouse of Ištar,
is unknown. Jastrow apparently regards him as a distinct deity, and
translates his name "the child of the life of the water-deep."
Elali.--A deity identified with the Hebrew Helal, the new moon. Only
found in names of the time of the Hammurabi dynasty, in one of which
he appears as "a creator."
En-nugi is described as "lord of streams and canals," and "lord of the
earth, lord of no-return." This last description, which gives the
meaning of his name, suggests that he was one of the gods of the realm
of Ereš-ki-gal, though he may have borne that name simply as god of
streams, which always flow down, never the reverse.
Gibil.--One of the names of the god of fire, sometimes transcribed
Girru by Assyriologists, the meaning apparently being "the fire-
bearer" or "light-bearer." Girru is another name of this deity, and
translates an ideographic group, rendered by Delitzsch "great" or
"highest decider," suggesting the custom of trial by ordeal. He was
identified with Nirig, in Semitic Ęnu-ręštu.
Gušqi-banda or Kuski-banda, one of the names of Ęa, probably as god of
gold-workers.
Išum, "the glorious sacrificer," seemingly a name of the fire-god as a
means whereby burnt offerings were made. Nűr-Išum, "light of Išum," is
found as a man's name.
Kâawanu, the planet Saturn.
Lagamal.--A god identified with the Elamite Lagamar, whose name is
regarded as existing in Chedorlaomer (cf. Gen. xiv. 2). He was the
chief god of Mair, "the ship-city."
Lugal-Amarada or Lugal-Marad.--This name means "king of Marad," a city
as yet unidentified. The king of this place seems to have been
Nerigal, of whom, therefore, Lugal-Marad is another name.
Lugal-banda.--This name means "the powerful king," or something
similar, and the god bearing it is supposed to be the same as Nerigal.
His consort, however, was named Nin-sun (or Nin-gul).
Lugal-Du-azaga, "the king of the glorious seat."--The founder of
Ęridu, "the good city within the Abyss," probably the paradise (or a
paradise) of the world to come. As it was the aim of every good
Babylonian to dwell hereafter with the god whom he had worshipped upon
earth, it may be conjectured that this was the paradise in the domain
of Ęa or Aa.
Mama, Mami.--Names of "the lady of the gods," and creatress of the
seed of mankind, Aruru. Probably so called as the "mother" of all
things. Another name of this goddess is Ama, "mother."
Mammitum, Mamitum, goddess of fate.
Mur, one of the names of Addu or Rammanu (Hadad or Rimmon).
Nanâ or Nanaa was the consort of Nebo at Borsippa, but appears as a
form of Ištar, worshipped, with Anu her father, at Erech.
Nin-aha-kuku, a name of Ęa or Aa and of his daughter as deity of the
rivers, and therefore of gardens and plantations, which were watered
by means of the small canals leading therefrom. As daughter of Ęa,
this deity was also "lady of the incantation."
Nin-azu, the consort of Ereš-ki-gal, probably as "lord physician." He
is probably to be identified with Nerigal.
Nin-igi-nagar-si, a name somewhat more doubtful as to its reading than
the others, designates Ęa or Aa as "the god of the carpenter." He
seems to have borne this as "the great constructor of heaven" or "of
Anu."
Nin-mah, chief goddess of the temple Ę-mah in Babylon. Probably to be
identified with Aruru, and therefore with Zer-panîtum.
Nin-šah, a deity whose name is conjectured to mean "lord of the wild
boar." He seems to have been a god of war, and was identified with
Nirig or Ęnu-ręštu and Pap-sukal.
Nin-sirsir, Ęa as the god of sailors.
Nin-sun, as pointed out by Jastrow, was probably the same as Ištar or
Nanâ of Erech, where she had a shrine, with them, in Ę-anna, "the
house of Anu." He renders her name "the annihilating lady,"[*]
"appropriate for the consort of a sun-god," for such he regards Lugal-
banda her spouse. King Sin-gasid of Erech (about 3000 B.C.) refers to
her as his mother.
[*] This is due to the second element of the name having, with another
pronunciation, the meaning of "to destroy."
Nun-urra.--Ęa, as the god of potters.
Pap-sukal.--A name of Nin-šah as the "divine messenger," who is also
described as god "of decisions." Nin-šah would seem to have been one
of the names of Pap-sukal rather than the reverse.
Qarradu, "strong," "mighty," "brave."--This word, which was formerly
translated "warrior," is applied to several deities, among them being
Bęl, Nergal, Nirig (Ęnu-ręštu), and Šamaš, the sun-god.
Ragimu and Ramimu, names of Rimmon or Hadad as "the thunderer." The
second comes from the same root as Rammanu (Rimmon).
Šuqamunu.--A deity regarded as "lord of watercourses," probably the
artificial channels dug for the irrigation of fields.
Ura-gala, a name of Nerigal.
Uraš, a name of Nirig, under which he was worshipped at Dailem, near
Babylon.
Zagaga, dialectic Zamama.--This deity, who was a god of war, was
identified with Nirig. One of this titles was /bęl parakki/, "lord of
the royal chamber," or "throne-room."
Zaraqu or Zariqu.--As the root of this name means "to sprinkle," he
was probably also a god of irrigation, and may have presided over
ceremonial purification. He is mentioned in names as the "giver of
seed" and "giver of a name" (i.e. offspring).
These are only a small proportion of the names found in the
inscriptions, but short as the list necessarily is, the nature, if not
the full composition, of the Babylonian pantheon will easily be
estimated therefrom.
It will be seen that besides the identifications of the deities of all
the local pantheons with each other, each divinity had almost as many
names as attributes and titles, hence their exceeding multiplicity. In
such an extensive pantheon, many of the gods composing it necessarily
overlap, and identification of each other, to which the faith, in its
primitive form, was a stranger, were inevitable. The tendency to
monotheism which this caused will be referred to later on.
The gods and the heavenly bodies.
It has already been pointed out that, from the evidence of the
Babylonian syllabary, the deities of the Babylonians were not astral
in their origin, the only gods certainly originating in heavenly
bodies being the sun and the moon. This leads to the supposition that
the Babylonians, bearing these two deities in mind, may have asked
themselves why, if these two were represented by heavenly bodies, the
others should not be so represented also. Be this as it may, the other
deities of the pantheon were so represented, and the full planetary
scheme, as given by a bilingual list in the British Museum, was as
follows:
Aku Sin the moon Sin
Bišebi Šamaš the sun Šamaš
Dapinu Umun-sig-ęa Jupiter Merodach
Zib[*] Dele-bat Venus Ištar
Lu-lim Lu-bat-sag-uš Saturn Nirig (acc. to Jensen)
Bibbu Lubat-gud Mercury Nebo
Simutu Muštabarru Mars Nergal
műtanu
All the above names of planets have the prefix of divinity, but in
other inscriptions the determinative prefix is that for "star,"
/kakkabu/.
[*] This is apparently a Sumerian dialectic form, the original word
having seemingly been Zig.
Moon and Sun.
Unfortunately, all the above identifications of the planets with the
deities in the fourth column are not certain, namely, those
corresponding with Saturn, Mercury, and Mars. With regard to the
others, however, there is no doubt whatever. The reason why the moon
is placed before the sun is that the sun, as already explained, was
regarded as his son. It was noteworthy also that the moon was
accredited with two other offspring, namely, Mâšu and Mâštu--son and
daughter respectively. As /mâšu/ means "twin," these names must
symbolise the two halves, or, as we say, "quarters" of the moon, who
were thus regarded, in Babylonian mythology, as his "twin children."
Jupiter and Saturn.
Concerning Jupiter, who is in the above called Dapinu (Semitic), and
Umun-sig-ęa (Sumerian), it has already been noted that he was called
Nibiru--according to Jensen, Merodach as he who went about among the
stars "pasturing" them like sheep, as stated in the Babylonian story
of the Creation (or Bel and the Dragon). This is explained by him as
being due to the comparatively rapid and extensive path of Jupiter on
the ecliptic, and it would seem probable that the names of Saturn,
/Kâawanu/ and /Sag-uš/ (the former, which is Semitic Babylonian,
meaning "steadfast," or something similar, and the latter, in
Sumerian, "head-firm" or "steadfast"--"phlegmatic"), to all appearance
indicate in like manner the deliberation of his movements compared
with those of the planet dedicated to the king of the gods.
Venus at sunrise and sunset.
A fragment of a tablet published in 1870 gives some interesting
particulars concerning the planet Venus, probably explaining some as
yet unknown mythological story concerning her. According to this, she
was a female at sunset, and a male at sunrise; Ištar of Agadé (Akad or
Akkad) at sunrise, and Ištar of Erech at sunset: Ištar of the stars at
sunrise, and the lady of the gods at sunset.
And in the various months.
Ištar was identified with Nin-si-anna in the first month of the year
(Nisan = March-April), with the star of the bow in Ab (August-
September), etc. In Sebat (January-February) she was the star of the
water-channel, Ikű, which was Merodach's star in Sivan (May-June), and
in Marcheswan her star was Rabbu, which also belonged to Merodach in
the same month. It will thus be seen, that Babylonian astronomy is far
from being as clear as would be desired, but doubtless many
difficulties will disappear when further inscriptions are available.
Stars identified with Merodach.
The same fragment gives the celestial names of Merodach for every
month of the year, from which it would appear, that the astrologers
called him Umun-sig-ęa in Nisan (March-April), Dapinu in Tammuz (June-
July), Nibiru in Tisri (September-October), Šarru (the star Regulus),
in Tebet (December-January), etc. The first three are names by which
the planet Jupiter was known.
As for the planets and stars, so also for the constellations, which
are identified with many gods and divine beings, and probably contain
references, in their names and descriptions, to many legends. In the
sixth tablet of the Creation-series, it is related of Merodach that,
after creating the heavens and the stations for Anu, Bęl, and Ae,
"He built firmly the stations of the great gods--
Stars their likeness--he set up the /Lumali/,
He designated the year, he outlined the (heavenly) forms.
He set for the twelve months three stars each,
From the day when the year begins, . . . for signs."
As pointed out by Mr. Robert Brown, jr., who has made a study of these
things, the "three stars" for each month occur on one of the remains
of planispheres in the British Museum, and are completed by a tablet
which gives them in list-form, in one case with explanations. Until
these are properly identified, however, it will be impossible to
estimate their real value. The signs of the Zodiac, which are given by
another tablet, are of greater interest, as they are the originals of
those which are in use at the present time:--
Month Sign Equivalent
Nisan (Mar.-Apr.) The Labourer The Ram
Iyyar (Apr.-May) /Mulmula/ and the Bull of heaven The Bull
Sivan (May-June) /Sib-zi-anna/ and the great Twins The Twins
Tammuz (June-July) /Allul/ or /Nagar/ The Crab
Ab (July.-Aug.) The Lion (or dog) The Lion
Elul (Aug.-Sep.) The Ear of corn(?) The ear of Corn (Virgo)
Tisri (Sep.-Oct.) The Scales The Scales
Marcheswan (Oct.-Nov.) The Scorpion The Scorpion
Chisleu (Nov.-Dec.) /Pa-bil-sag/ The Archer
Tebet (Dec.-Jan.) /Sahar-maš/, the Fish-kid The Goat
Sebat (Jan.-Feb.) /Gula/ The Water-bearer
Adar (Feb.-Mar.) The Water Channel and the Tails The Fishes
Parallels in Babylonian legends.
The "bull of heaven" probably refers to some legend such as that of
the story of Gilgameš in his conflict with the goddess Ištar when the
divine bull was killed; /Sib-zi-anna/, "the faithful shepherd of
heaven," suggests that this constellation may refer to Tammuz, the
divine shepherd; whilst "the scorpion" reminds us of the scorpion-men
who guarded the gate of the sun (Šamaš), when Gilgameš was journeying
to gain information concerning his friend Enki-du, who had departed to
the place of the dead. Sir Henry Rawlinson many years ago pointed out
that the story of the Flood occupied the eleventh tablet of the
Gilgameš series, corresponding with the eleventh sign of the Zodiac,
Aquarius, or the Water-bearer.
Other star-names.
Other names of stars or constellations include "the weapon of
Merodach's hand," probably that with which he slew the dragon of
Chaos; "the Horse," which is described as "the god Zű," Rimmon's
storm-bird--Pegasus; "the Serpent," explained as Ereš-ki-gal, the
queen of Hades, who would therefore seem to have been conceived in
that form; "the Scorpion," which is given as /Išhara tântim/, "Išhara
of the sea," a description difficult to explain, unless it refer to
her as the goddess of the Phśnician coast. Many other identifications,
exceedingly interesting, await solution.
How the gods were represented. On cylinder-seals.
Many representations of the gods occur, both on bas-reliefs, boundary-
stones, and cylindrical and ordinary seals. Unfortunately, their
identification generally presents more or less difficulty, on account
of the absence of indications of their identity. On a small cylinder-
seal in the possession of the Rev. Dr. W. Hayes Ward, Merodach is
shown striding along the serpentine body of Tiawath, who turns her
head to attack him, whilst the god threatens her with a pointed weapon
which he carries. Another, published by the same scholar, shows a
deity, whom he regards as being Merodach, driven in a chariot drawn by
a winged lion, upon whose shoulders stands a naked goddess, holding
thunderbolts in each hand, whom he describes as Zer-panîtum. Another
cylinder-seal shows the corn-deity, probably Nisaba, seated in
flounced robe and horned hat, with corn-stalks springing out from his
shoulders, and holding a twofold ear of corn in his hand, whilst an
attendant introduces, and another with a threefold ear of corn
follows, a man carrying a plough, apparently as an offering. On
another, a beautiful specimen from Assyria, Ištar is shown standing on
an Assyrian lion, which turns his head as if to caress her feet. As
goddess of war, she is armed with bow and arrows, and her star is
represented upon the crown of her tiara.
On boundary-stones, etc.
On the boundary-stones of Babylonia and the royal monoliths of Assyria
the emblems of the gods are nearly always seen. Most prominent are
three horned tiaras, emblematic, probably, of Merodach, Anu, and Bęl
(the older). A column ending in a ram's head is used for Ęa or Ae, a
crescent for Sin or Nannar, the moon-god; a disc with rays for Šamaš,
the sun-god; a thunderbolt for Rimmon or Hadad, the god of thunder,
lightning, wind, and storms; a lamp for Nusku, etc. A bird, perhaps a
hawk, stood for Utu-gišgallu, a deity whose name has been translated
"the southern sun," and is explained in the bilingual inscriptions as
Šamaš, the sun-god, and Nirig, one of the gods of war. The emblem of
Gal-alim, who is identified with the older Bęl, is a snarling dragon's
head forming the termination of a pole, and that of Dun-ašaga is a
bird's head similarly posed. On a boundary-stone of the time of
Nebuchadnezzar I., about 1120 B.C., one of the signs of the gods shows
a horse's head in a kind of shrine, probably the emblem of Rimmon's
storm-bird, Zű, the Babylonian Pegasus.
Other divine figures.
One of the finest of all the representations of divinities is that of
the "Sun-god-stone," found by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam at Abu-habbah (the
ancient Sippar), which was one of the chief seats of his worship. It
represents him, seated in his shrine, holding in his hand a staff and
a ring, his usual emblems, typifying his position as judge of the
world and his endless course. The position of Merodach as sun-god is
confirmed by the small lapis-lazuli relief found by the German
expedition at the mound known as Amran ibn 'Ali, as he also carries a
staff and a ring, and his robe is covered with ornamental circles,
showing, in all probability, his solar nature. In the same place
another small relief representing Rimmon or Hadad was found. His robe
has discs emblematical of the five planets, and he holds in each hand
a thunderbolt, one of which he is about to launch forth. Merodach is
accompanied by a large two-horned dragon, whilst Hadad has a small
winged dragon, typifying the swiftness of his course, and another
animal, both of which he holds with cords.
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MESOPOTAMIA
