The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria Part 61

Dagan is here used for Bel,[1049] and the phrase 'servitors of Anu and Dagan' embraces the inhabitants of Babylon. Marduk, the lord of Babylon, is enraged at the sight, but apparently is powerless.

The great lord Marduk saw it and cried "Alas!"

His senses left him.

A violent curse issued from his mouth.

At this point the tablet is defective, and when it again becomes intelligible we find Ishum describing an attack of Dibbarra upon another of the great centers of the Euphrates Valley--the city of Uruk. Uruk is called the 'dwelling of Anu and Ishtar,' the city of the _Kizreti_, _Ukhati_, and _Kharimati_[1050]--the sacred harlots. Uruk suffers the same fate as Babylon:

A cruel and wicked governor thou didst place over them, Who brought misery upon them, broke down (?) their laws.

Ishtar was enraged and filled with anger because of Uruk.

Her opposition, however, is as powerless to stem Dibbarra's attack as was Marduk's grief at the onslaught on Babylon.

Dibbarra's greed is insatiable. Ishum continues his address to him:

O warrior Dibbarra, thou dost dispatch the just, Thou dost dispatch the unjust, Who sins against thee, thou dost dispatch, And the one who does not sin against thee thou dost dispatch.

The following lines reveal the purpose of Ishum's long speech. A war more terrible even than the conflicts recounted is planned by Ishum, one that is to involve all creation and extend to the higher regions. Ishum asks Dibbarra's consent to the fearful destruction held in view:

The brightness of Shul-pauddu[1051] I will destroy.

The root of the tree I will tear out That it no longer blossom; Against the dwelling of the king of G.o.ds, I will proceed....

The warrior Dibbarra heard him.[1052]

The speech of Ishum was pleasant to him as fine oil, And thus the warrior Dibbarra spoke: Sea-coast [against] sea-coast, Subartu against Subartu, a.s.syrian against a.s.syrian, Elamite against Elamite, Ca.s.site against Ca.s.site, Sutaean against Sutaean, Kuthaean against Kuthaean, Lullubite against Lullubite, Country against country, house against house, man against man.

Brother is to show no mercy towards brother; they shall kill one another.

The lines remind one of the description in the Gilgamesh epic of the terror aroused by the deluge,[1053] and one might be tempted to combine Dibbarra's speech with the preceding words of Ishum, and interpret this part of the Dibbarra legend as another phase of the same nature myth, which enters as a factor in the narrative of the Deluge. However, the continuation of Dibbarra's speech shows that a great military conflict is foretold. The countries named are those adjacent to Babylonia, and the intention of the writer is evidently to imply that the whole world is to be stirred up. This fearful state of hostility is to continue until

After a time the Akkadian will come, Overthrow all and conquer all of them.

Akkad, it will be recalled, is a name for Babylonia. The triumph of Babylon is foretold in these lines. The Akkadian is, therefore, none other than Hammurabi, who succeeds in obtaining the supremacy over the entire Euphrates Valley, and whose successors for many centuries claimed control of the four quarters of the world.

It is evident from this 'prophecy' that the Dibbarra legend received its final shape under influences emanating from Babylon, precisely as we found to be the case in the 'creation' story and in the Gilgamesh epic.

The hostility that precedes the coming of Hammurabi points to the violence of the conflicts in which that warrior was engaged, while the exaggeration of this hostility shows how strong and permanent the impression of Hammurabi's achievements must have been. The designation of the conqueror as the Akkadian gives him to a certain extent the character of a Messiah, who is to inaugurate an era of peace, and whose coming will appease the grim Dibbarra. It is by no means impossible that Hebrew and Christian conceptions of a general warfare which is to precede the golden age of peace are influenced by the Babylonian legend under consideration.

Dibbarra gives his consent to Ishum's plan:

Go, Ishum, carry out the word thou hast spoken in accordance with thy desire.

Ishum proceeds to do so. The mountain Khi-khi is the first to be attacked.

Ishum directed his countenance to the mountain Khi-khi.

The G.o.d Sibi,[1054] a warrior without rival, Stormed behind him.

The warrior[1055] arrived at the mountain Khi-khi.

He raised his hand, destroyed the mountain.

He levelled the mountain Khi-khi to the ground.

The vineyards in the forest of Khashur he destroyed.

In a geographical list[1056] a mountain Khi-khi, belonging to the Amoritic country, is mentioned, and a mountain Khashur described as a cedar district. There can be, therefore, no doubt that some military expedition to western lands is recounted in our tablet. The continuation of the narrative is lost, all but a small fragment,[1057] which tells of the destruction of a city--otherwise unknown--called Inmarmaru. At the instigation of Dibbarra, Ishum enters this city and destroys it. The outrages committed are described at some length. Ea, the G.o.d of humanity, hears of the havoc wrought. He is 'filled with wrath.'

Unfortunately, the fragment is too mutilated to permit us to ascertain what steps Ea takes against Dibbarra. Marduk is also mentioned in this connection. Under the circ.u.mstances, one can only conjecture that in the missing portions of this tablet, and perhaps also in two others, the wars preceding the advent of the Akkadian[1058] are recounted in poetic and semi-mythical form. If this conjecture is justified, the main purport at least of the Dibbarra legend becomes clear. It is a collection of war-songs recalling the Hebrew anthology, "Battles of Yahwe,"[1059] in which the military exploits of the Hebrews were poetically set forth.

The closing tablet of the Dibbarra legend is preserved,[1060] though only in part. It describes the appeas.e.m.e.nt of the dreadful war-G.o.d. All the G.o.ds, together with the Igigi and Anunnaki, are gathered around Dibbarra, who addresses them:

Listen all of you to my words.

Because of sin did I formerly plan evil, My heart was enraged and I swept peoples away.

He tells how he destroyed the flocks and devastated the fruits in the fields, how he swept over the lands, punis.h.i.+ng the just and the wicked alike, and sparing no one. Ishum takes up the strain and urges Dibbarra to desist from his wrath:

Do thou appease the G.o.ds of the land, who were angry, May fruits (?) and corn[1061] flourish, May mountains and seas bring their produce.

The era of peace and prosperity is thus inaugurated, and the legend closes with solemn a.s.surances from Dibbarra that he will bless and protect those who properly honor him.

He who glorifies my name will rule the world.

Who proclaims the glory of my power Will be without a rival.

The singer who sings [of my deeds] will not die through pestilence.

To kings and n.o.bles his words will be pleasing.

The writer who preserves them will escape from the grasp of the enemy.

In the temple where the people proclaim my name I will open his ear;[1062]

In the house where this tablet is set up, though war[1063] may rage, And G.o.d Sibi work havoc, Sword and pestilence will not touch him--he will dwell in safety.

Let this song resound forever and endure for eternity.

Let all lands hear it and proclaim my power.

Let the inhabitants of all places learn to glorify my name.

This closing address represents a late addition to the poem that somewhat modifies its original import. Wars did not cease with the establishment of Babylon's control. Many conflicts arose, but on the whole, Babylonia was an empire of peace. The people were inclined towards a life of ease, and the development of commerce served as a wholesome check against too frequent military disturbances. The war-songs, as a glorification of the nation's past, retained their popularity, but the lesson drawn from the songs was the great blessing that peace and freedom from turmoil brought with them. For the warlike a.s.syrians, Dibbarra enraged may have been a more popular figure, but to the peace-loving Babylonian, the appeased Dibbarra appealed with greater force. The story of Dibbarra's deeds became in this way in the course of time an object lesson, a kind of religious allegory handed down from one generation to the other as an ill.u.s.tration of the horrors of war and of violence in general. With the tendency--so characteristic of the Babylonian religion[1064]--for great G.o.ds to absorb the roles of minor ones, Nergal became the G.o.d of war _par excellence_, while Dibbarra, Ishum, and Sibi were chiefly viewed as powers responsible for such forms of violence as pestilence and distress. To ensure the favor of a G.o.d of pestilence was of importance for every individual, and one of the safest means of obtaining this favor was to sing his praises, to recall his power,--to glorify him and thus to keep him, as it were, in good humor.

What better means of accomplis.h.i.+ng this than to have the record of his deeds constantly before one's eyes? The British Museum contains two specimens of tablets on which a portion of the Dibbarra legend is inscribed, and which are pierced with holes in a manner as to leave no doubt[1065] that the tablets were intended to be hung up in houses with a view of securing protection from Dibbarra and his a.s.sociates. The reference in the closing lines of the story:

The house where this tablet is set up,

thus becomes clear. As the Hebrews were commanded, in order to secure the protection of Yahwe, to write his law

On the doorposts of the house,[1066]

so the Babylonians were instructed by their priests to hang tablets in their homes--probably at the entrance--on which Dibbarra was glorified.

Naturally, it was impossible to inscribe the whole story on a little tablet, just as it was impossible to place the entire law of Yahwe on the doorposts. In both cases a significant extract served as a part, representative of the whole. In the case of the Dibbarra legend, the closing portion was selected, which emphasized the necessity of keeping the deeds of Dibbarra and the greatness of his power in mind. Like the Gilgamesh epic, so the Dibbarra legend was to be taught by the father to his son. The scribes were enjoined to teach the story to the people. The poets were to make it the subject of their songs, and kings and n.o.bles were not exempt from the obligation to listen to the tale.

The Myth of the Storm-G.o.d Zu.

Birds and bulls were to the Babylonians the symbols of storms and clouds. In the Gilgamesh epic, it will be recalled, Anu sends a divine bull to engage in a contest with Gilgamesh.[1067] The text of the epic being unfortunately defective, we have no definite indication of the character of the attack to be made upon the hero by the messenger from the G.o.d of heaven; but since storms and disease are the two chief weapons in the hands of the G.o.ds, and inasmuch as Gilgamesh in a later section of the epic is struck down by disease, it is more than likely that the bull represents a storm that is to sweep the hero and his companion off the earth. The winged bulls placed at the entrance of palaces embody the same idea, and in addition to the explanation for these fantastic figures above[1068] suggested, it is noteworthy that the two types of animals chosen for this symbolical decoration of edifices, the bull and the lion, again ill.u.s.trate the same two means at the disposal of the G.o.ds for the punishment of man, the bull representing the storms, and the lion being the symbol of Nergal, who is the G.o.d of pestilence, as well as of war and of violent destruction in general.

A storm-G.o.d symbolized under the form of a bird is Zu. The underlying stem of the word conveys the notion of strength and violence. How bulls came to be chosen as symbols of storms is not altogether clear. Possibly the element of "strength" formed the connecting link in the chain of the a.s.sociation of ideas. In the case of birds, on the other hand, the a.s.sociation is to be sought in the appearance of the clouds during a storm moving across the heavens like a flock of birds. In the Etana legend, a reference occurs to Zu, who, as it would appear, is unable to escape from the control of the supreme judge Shamash.[1069] Zu is there called the chief worker of evil--a kind of arch satan. A story has been found which ill.u.s.trates an attempt made by the bird Zu to break loose from the control of the sun. A storm was viewed as a conflict between the clouds and the sun, much as an eclipse symbolized a revolt in the heavens. The myth represents the conflict as taking place between Zu and En-lil, the Bel of Nippur. The latter holds in his possession the tablets of fate, by means of which he enjoys supreme authority over men and G.o.ds. Zu's jealousy is aroused, and he plans to tear these tablets from En-lil. The tablets of fate, it will be recalled, play an important part in the Marduk-Tiamat episode.[1070] Kingu--the symbol of chaos, like Tiamat--wears them on his breast, but he is obliged to yield them to the conqueror of Tiamat and of her brood, who replaces 'chaos' by 'order.' This conqueror was originally Bel of Nippur, and the Zu myth in representing En-lil as holding the tablets of fate confirms the view above set forth,[1071] according to which the original Tiamat tale has been modified by the subst.i.tution of Marduk for the old Bel. But the story, while thus admitting the legitimacy of En-lil's claim to supreme power, is yet so constructed as to contribute to the glory of Marduk.

The attack of the Zu-bird was suggested--as the Tiamat myth--by the annual storms that work such havoc in Babylonia. The forces of 'chaos'

are let loose, and an attempt is made to overthrow the 'order' of the world, symbolized by the tablets of fate which En-lil holds in his possession. Whoever has these tablets is invincible. But En-lil is unable to resist the attack of Zu. The tablets are taken away from him, and it is left for Marduk to recapture them. The tablets once in Marduk's possession, En-lil's supremacy comes to an end, and the triumph of Marduk is complete. To substantiate this interpretation of the myth, an a.n.a.lysis of the text is necessary. The beginning of the story is unfortunately missing. It appears to have been devoted to a glorification of the G.o.d who controls the fate of the universe. The second column opens as follows:

And the oracles of all the G.o.ds he determined.

From the context it is clear that Bel of Nippur is meant. Up to this point, the myth reflects the old view according to which it was En-lil who succeeded in overcoming Tiamat or at any rate, in s.n.a.t.c.hing the tablets of fate from the breast of Kingu. Nippur's G.o.d lays claim to being the one who established 'order' in the universe. His authority could only be threatened if he were robbed of the tablets which symbolize absolute control over the course of affairs. Zu boldly attempts this:

His eyes saw the mark of rulers.h.i.+p, The crown of his[1072] sovereignty, the garment of his[1072] divinity.

Zu saw the divine tablets of fate.