The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria Part 15

Tiglathpileser I. tells us that he rebuilt a temple to Bel in the city of Ashur, and he qualifies the name of the G.o.d by adding the word 'old'

to it. In this way he evidently distinguished the G.o.d of Nippur from Bel-Marduk, similarly as Hammurabi in one place adds Dagan to Bel,[290]

to make it perfectly clear what G.o.d he meant. Again, it is Sargon who in consistent accord with his fondness for displaying his archaeological tastes, introduces Bel, the 'great mountain,' 'the lord of countries,'

who dwells in E-khar-sag-kurkura, _i.e._, the sacred mountain on which the G.o.ds are born, as partic.i.p.ating in the festival that takes place upon the dedication of the king's palace in Khorsabad. The t.i.tles used by the king are applicable only to the old Bel, but whether he or his scribes were fully conscious of a differentiation between Bel and Bel-Marduk, it is difficult to say. Bel is introduced in the inscription in question[291] immediately after Ashur, and one is therefore inclined to suspect that Sargon's archaeological knowledge fails him at this point in speaking of the old Bel, whereas he really meant to invoke the protection of Bel-Marduk as the chief G.o.d of his most important possession next to a.s.syria.[292] Besides this, the old Bel is of course meant, when a.s.sociated with Anu, as the powers that, together with Belit, grant victory,[293] or as a member of the old triad, Anu, Bel, and Ea, whose mention we have seen is as characteristic of the a.s.syrian inscriptions as of the Babylonian. Lastly, Sargon calls one of the gates of his palace after Bel, whom he designates as the one who lays the foundation of all things. In this case, too, the old Bel is meant.

Belit.

In the case of Belit a curious species of confusion confronts us in the a.s.syrian inscriptions. At times Belit appears as the wife of Bel, again as the consort of Ashur, again as the consort of Ea, and again simply as a designation of Ishtar.[294] To account for this we must bear in mind, as has already been pointed out, that just as Bel in the sense of lord came to be applied merely as a t.i.tle of the chief G.o.d of Babylonia, so Belit as 'lady' was used in a.s.syria to designate the chief G.o.ddess. This was, as the case may be, either Ishtar or the pale 'reflection'

a.s.sociated with Ashur as his consort. Now this Belit, as the wife of Ashur, absorbs the qualities that distinguish Belit, the wife of Bel-Marduk. The temple in the city of Ashur, which Tiglathpileser I.[295] enriches with presents consisting of the images of the deities vanquished by the king, may in reality have been sacred to the Belit of Babylonia, but Tiglathpileser, for whom Bel becomes merely a designation of Marduk, does not feel called upon to pay his devotions to the Babylonian Sarpanitum, and so converts the old Belit into 'the lofty wife, beloved of Ashur.' Sargon, on the other hand, who calls one of the gates of his palace _Belit ilani_ 'mistress of the G.o.ds,' seems to mean by this, the consort of Ea.[296] Similarly, Ashurbanabal regards Belit as the wife of Ashur, and himself as the offspring of Ashur and Belit.

At the same time he gives to this Belit the t.i.tle of 'mother of great G.o.ds,' which of right belongs to the consort of the Babylonian Bel. In the full pantheon as enumerated by him, Belit occupies a place immediately behind her consort Ashur. Ashurbanabal, however, goes still further, and, influenced by the t.i.tle of 'Belit' as applied to Ishtar, makes the latter the consort of Ashur. This at least is the case in an inscription from the temple of Belit at Nineveh,[297] known as E-mash-mash, and in which Ashurbanabal alternately addresses the G.o.ddess as Belit and as Ishtar, while elsewhere[298] this same Belit, whose seat is in E-mash-mash, is termed the consort of Ashur. How Ashurbanabal or his scribes came to this confusing identification we need not stop to inquire. In part, no doubt, it was due to the general sense of 'G.o.ddess,' which Ishtar began to acquire in his days.[299] At all events, Ashurbanabal's conception marks a contrast to the procedure of Shalmaneser II., who correctly identifies the mother of the great G.o.ds with the wife of Bel.[300] On the other hand, the confusion that took place in Ashurbanabal's days is foreshadowed by the t.i.tle of 'Belit mati,' _i.e._, 'mistress of the land,' by which Ashurbanabal appears to designate some other than Ishtar.[301] Lastly, it is interesting to note that Ashurbanabal recognizes by the side of Belit-Ishtar, the wife of Ashur, the older Belit, the wife of the Bel of Nippur, to whom, in a.s.sociation with Anu and Bel, he attributes his victory over the Arabs.[302]

Sarpanitum.

The consort of Marduk is only incidentally referred to: once by Sargon,[303] who groups Bel with Sarpanitum and Nabu and Tashmitum, at the head of the G.o.ds of Babylonia; and similarly by Tiglathpileser III., on the occasion of his enumerating the chief G.o.ds of the Babylonian pantheon.

Nabu.

The intimate a.s.sociation of Nabu with Marduk in the city of Babylon leads as a natural consequence to a similar a.s.sociation in a.s.syria, when once the Marduk cult had for political reasons become established in the north. The kings invoke the favor of Bel (meaning Marduk) and Nabu, especially when dealing with the affairs of Babylonia,[304] as they invoke Ashur and Ishtar. Just as we have certain kings devoted to Nin-ib and Shamash by the side of Ashur, so there are others whose special favorite is Nabu. In the days of Ramman-nirari III. (812-783 B.C.) the Nabu cult reached its highest point of popularity in a.s.syria. From the manner in which the king speaks of the G.o.d, one might draw the conclusion that he attempted to concentrate the whole a.s.syrian cult upon that G.o.d alone. He erects a temple to the G.o.d at Calah, and overwhelms the deity with a great array of t.i.tles. The dedicatory inscription which the king places on a statue of Nebo closes with the significant words, 'O Posterity! trust in Nabu. Trust in no other G.o.d.'[305] Still we must not press such phrases too hard. Ramman-nirari III. had no intention of suppressing Ashur wors.h.i.+p, for he mentions the G.o.d elsewhere, and a.s.signs to him the same rank as the other kings do, but so much we are justified in concluding, that next to Ashur and Ishtar he feels most strongly attached to Nabu. That the Babylonian Nabu is meant, is clear from such designations as 'the offspring of E-sagila, the favorite of Bel,' 'he who dwells at E-zida,' which appear among the epithets bestowed upon the G.o.d; and the temple in Calah, which one of the last kings of a.s.syria, Ashuretililani,[306] is engaged in improving, bears the same name E-zida, as Nabu's great temple at Borsippa. We have already set forth the reasons[307] for the popularity of the Nabu cult in a.s.syria. Suffice it to recall that the peculiar character of the G.o.d as the patron of wisdom placed him beyond the reach of any jealousy on the part of the other members of the pantheon. So Ramman-nirari III.

extols Nabu as the protector of the arts, the all-wise who guides the stylus of the scribe, and the possessor of wisdom in general. He is not merely the originator of writing, but the source of all wisdom, and for this reason he is spoken of as the son of Ea. Attributes of mere brutal force are rarely a.s.signed to Nabu, but as befits a G.o.d of wisdom, mercy, n.o.bility, and majesty const.i.tute his chief attractions. By virtue of his wisdom, Sargon calls him 'the clear seer who guides all the G.o.ds,' and when the last king of a.s.syria--Saracus, as the Greek writers called him--invokes Nabu as the 'leader of forces,' he appears to have in mind the heavenly troops rather than earthly armies. Such patrons of learning as Sargon and Ashurbanabal were naturally fond of parading their devotion to Nabu. The former significantly calls him the 'writer of everything,' and as for Ashurbanabal, almost every tablet in the great literary collection that he made at Nineveh closes with a solemn invocation to Nabu and his consort Tashmitum, to whom he offers thanks for having opened his ears to receive wisdom, and who persuaded him to make the vast literary treasures of the past accessible to his subjects.

Tashmitum.

The consort of Nabu was permitted to share the honors in the temple of Nabu at Calah, but beyond this and Ashurbanabal's constant a.s.sociation of Tashmitum with Nabu in the subscript to his tablets, she appears only when the kings of a.s.syria coming to Babylonia as they were wont to do,[308] in order to perform sacrifices, enumerate the chief G.o.ds of the Babylonian pantheon.

Ea.

Ea takes his place in the a.s.syrian pantheon in the double capacity of G.o.d of wisdom and as a member of the old triad. Ashurnasirbal makes mention of a sanctuary erected to the honor of Ea in Ashur. A recollection of the role that Ea plays in Babylonian mythology survives in the t.i.tles of 'creator' and 'king of the ocean,' which Shalmaneser gives him,[309] and of the 'one who opens the fountains' as Ashurbanabal declares.[310] He is also, as in Babylonia, the one who determines the fates of mankind. As the one who has a care for the arts, he is the wise G.o.d, just as Nabu, and under various t.i.tles, as Nu-gim-mud,[311]

Nin-igi-azag, and Igi-dug-gu,[312] all emphasizing his skill, he is the artificer who aids the kings in their building operations. The similarity of the roles of Nabu and Ea, as G.o.ds of wisdom and the arts, might easily have led to a confusion. Fortunately, the grandiloquent and all-embracing t.i.tles accorded to the former did not alter his character as essentially the G.o.d who presides over the art of writing, while Ea retains the control over the architectural achievements,--the great colossi, in the first instance, that guarded the approach of palaces, the images of the G.o.ds in the second, and the temples and palaces in general as his third function.

Damkina.

Of the consort of Ea, it is sufficient to note that she is occasionally referred to in the historical texts of the a.s.syrian period. In the inscriptions of Sargon she appears under the rather strange t.i.tle of 'Belit ilani,' _i.e._, the mistress of the G.o.ds.[313] This 'mistress'

cannot be, as might at first blush appear, Ishtar or the old Belit, for elsewhere[314] Ishtar, Belit, and Belit ilani occur side by side. Sargon declares that he owes his wisdom to Ea and Belit ilani. In naming the gates of his palace, he again a.s.sociates Ea with 'the mistress of the G.o.ds,' from which it is clear that the epithet is used of Ea's consort.

Nin-gal.

A sanctuary to the old Babylonian G.o.ddess Nin-gal is included by Sargon among the holy edifices erected by him in his official residence.[315]

Dibharra.

We have pointed out in a previous chapter how faint the dividing line sometimes becomes between G.o.ds and spirits. Among the minor deities, ranking hardly above demons, is the plague-G.o.d, whose name may provisionally be read Dibbarra.[316] The G.o.d plays a role in some of the ancient legends of Babylonia. Remains have been found of a kind of epic in which Dibbarra is the chief personage.[317] In the historical texts he is once incidentally mentioned by Ashurbanabal, who in the course of his campaign against Babylonia[318] describes how the corpses of those killed by Dibbarra, _i.e._, through hunger and want, filled the streets of the cities. Evidently Dibbarra here is a mere personification of the dreadful demon of want that so often follows in the wake of a military destruction. Still there can be no doubt that at one time he was regarded as a real deity, and not merely a spirit or demon. Dibbarra is identified in the theological system of Babylonia with Nergal.

Damku, Sharru-ilu, and Sha-nit(?)-ka.

In an interesting pa.s.sage recounting the restoration of the city Magganubba, Sargon[319] says that he prayed to Damku, _i.e._, 'grace,'

Sharru-ilu, _i.e._, 'king-G.o.d,' and Sha-nit(?)-ka. The two former he calls the judges of mankind. That Damku and Sharru-ilu are t.i.tles and not names is evident from the meaning of the words, but at present it is impossible to say what G.o.ds are meant.[320] Perhaps that these are the translations of names of the old deities of Magganubba. We have at least one other example of a foreign deity introduced into the a.s.syrian pantheon. At Dur-ilu, a town lying near the Elamitic frontier, there flourished the cult of Ka-di,[321] evidently a G.o.d imported into the a.s.syrian pantheon from Elam or some other eastern district. Sargon's scribes are fond of translating foreign names and words, and they may have done so in this case, and thus added two new deities to the glorious pantheon protecting their royal chief. As for Sha-nit(?)-ka,[322] were it not that she is called the mistress of Nineveh, one would also put her down as a foreign G.o.ddess. In view of this, however, it may be that Sha-nit(?)-ka is an ideographic designation of Ishtar.

Before leaving the subject, a word needs to be said regarding the relation between the active a.s.syrian pantheon and the long lists of deities prepared by the schoolmen of Babylonia and a.s.syria. Reference has already been made to these lists.[323] They vary in character. Some of them furnish an index of the various names under which a G.o.d was known,[324] or the t.i.tles a.s.signed to him. These names and t.i.tles are frequently indications that some great G.o.d has absorbed the attributes of smaller ones, whose independence was in this way destroyed. Other lists[325] are simple enumerations of local deities, and when to these names some indications are added, as to the locality to which the G.o.ds belong,[326] their importance is correspondingly increased. There can be no doubt that most of these lists were prepared on the basis of the occurrence of these G.o.ds in texts, and it seems most plausible to conclude that the texts in question were of a religious character.

References to local cults are numerous in the incantations which form a considerable proportion of the religious literature, while in hymns and prayers, G.o.ds are often referred to by their t.i.tles instead of their names. In some respects, however, these lists of G.o.ds are still obscure.

It is often difficult to determine whether we are dealing with G.o.ds or spirits, and the origin and meaning of many of the names and epithets a.s.signed to G.o.ds are similarly involved in doubt. Use has been made of these lists in determining the character of the G.o.ds included in this survey of the Babylonian and a.s.syrian pantheon, but it would be manifestly precarious to make additions to this pantheon on the basis of the lists alone. Despite the tendency towards centralization of divine power in a limited number of G.o.ds, local cults, no doubt, continued to enjoy some importance in a.s.syria as well as Babylonia; but, in the present stage of our knowledge, we have no means of determining either the number or the character of these local cults. While, therefore, a complete treatment of the pantheon of Babylonia and a.s.syria would include all the minor local cults, we may feel quite certain that these local cults furnish few, if any, additions to the concepts connected with these G.o.ds which we have discussed. I have therefore contented myself with some ill.u.s.trations, in each of the three divisions under which the pantheon has been surveyed, of some of the minor deities chosen, such as actually occur in historical, commercial, or religious texts. For the a.s.syrian pantheon, we may place Nin-gal and most of the consorts of the G.o.ds among the minor G.o.ds, and also such deities as Ka-di, Khani, Gaga, Dibbarra, Sherua, and Azag-sir, who are merely incidentally referred to.[327] These ill.u.s.trations suffice for placing clearly before us the distinction to be made in the pantheon between G.o.ds whose wors.h.i.+p was actively carried on, and those who occupy more of a theoretical position in the system perfected by the schoolmen, standing under the political and social influences of their days. With this distinction clearly impressed upon us, we will be prepared for such modifications of our views of the Babylonian-a.s.syrian pantheon as further researches and discoveries may render necessary.

FOOTNOTES:

[222] Semitic alphabet.

[223] A form of Nebo, according to Meissner-Rost, _Bauinschriften Sanherib's_, p. 105.

[224] See Meissner-Rost, _ib._ p. 108.

[225] As _e.g._, En-e-in-pal (Meissner-Rost, _ib._ p. 76). Sherua and Arag-sir (_ib._ p. 101). For further lists of deities, see pp. 234, 238.

[226] The a.s.syrian kings are fond of mentioning foreign deities, and of adding them to their pantheon. In his annals (VR. col. vi. ll. 30-43) Ashurbanabal gives a list of twenty Elamitic deities captured by him.

[227] Tiele (_Babyl.-a.s.syr. Geschichte_, p. 519) suggests Ea.

[228] An interesting example of this tendency is furnished by a tablet published by T. G. Pinches (_Journal of the Victoria Inst.i.tute_, xxviii.

8-10), in which the name Marduk is treated almost as a generic term for deity. Nergal is called 'the Marduk of warfare'; Nebo, 'the Marduk of earthly possessions'; Ninib, 'the Marduk of strength'; En-lil, 'the Marduk of sovereignty'; and so on, in a long enumeration, the G.o.ds are regarded as so many forms of Marduk. Pinches' conclusion that the list points to monotheistic beliefs is, however, unwarranted. The list only ill.u.s.trates a tendency towards a centralization of divine powers in Marduk, that accompanies the political centralization of the period.

[229] See below, pp. 228, 229.

[230] So the G.o.ds of the a.s.syrian pantheon are generally termed in the inscriptions of the kings.

[231] See below, p. 195.

[232] See below, p. 220.

[233] A description of this symbol occurs in a text of Sennacherib (Meissner-Rost, _Bauinschriften Sanherib's_, p. 94). The symbol itself is found on sculptured slabs and on seal cylinders.

[234] So Sennacherib still speaks of Images of Ashur, and of the great G.o.ds erected by him (Meissner-Rost, _Bauinschriften Sanherib's_, p. 94).

[235] See Stevenson, "The Feather and the Wing in Mythology," _Oriental Studies of the Phila. Oriental Club_, pp. 236-239.

[236] _Babyl.-a.s.syr. Geschichte_, p. 533.

[237] For the sake of convenience it is customary to distinguish between Ashur the G.o.d, and the country by writing the latter with a double _sh_--Ashshur.

[238] _Geschichte_, p. 533.

[239] See Jensen _Zeits. fur a.s.syr._ i. 1 _seq._ and Delitzsch, _Das Babylonische Weltschopfungsepos_, p. 94.

[240] By the a.s.similation of the _n_ to the following consonant.