The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria Part 67

Break down the threshold, destroy the door-posts (?).

Bring out the Anunnaki and place them on golden thrones.

Besprinkle Ishtar with the waters of life and take her from me.

Namtar obeys the order. Ishtar is led through the seven gates. At each one, the articles taken from her on her entrance are returned: at the first, the loin cloth; at the second, the bracelets and ankle rings, and so on, until she emerges in her full beauty.

The close of the story thus brings to our gaze once more Ishtar as G.o.ddess of fertility, who gradually brings vegetation, strength, and productivity back again. This curious mixture in the story of the astral Ishtar,--the creation of the astronomers,--and the popular Ishtar, is a trait which shows how the old nature-myth has been elaborated in pa.s.sing through the hands of the _literati_. The various steps in the process can still be seen. In the original form, the G.o.ddess must have been forced into an exile to the nether world, the exile symbolizing the wintry season when fertility and productivity[1181] come to an end.

Ishtar is stripped of her glory. She comes to Allatu, who grieves at her approach, but imprisons her in the 'great house,' and refuses to yield her up, until forced to do so by order of the G.o.ds. A similar story must have been told of Tammuz, the sun-G.o.d, who is also the G.o.d of vegetation. The two stories were combined. Ishtar marries Tammuz, and then destroys him. The G.o.ddess produces fertility, but cannot maintain it. Tammuz goes to the nether world. Ishtar repents, bewails her loss, and goes to seek for her consort and to rescue him. In rage she advances to Allatu, threatens to smash the door and break the lock unless admitted. The story in this form must have ended in the restoration of Tammuz. The identification of Ishtar with the planet Venus introduced a new factor. The disappearance of the planet fitted in well with the original nature-myth. The combination of the Ishtar-Tammuz story with this factor resulted in the tale as we have it now. The enraged Ishtar is the one who seeks for her consort. The Ishtar who is forced to give up her ornaments is the old G.o.ddess who falls into the hands of Allatu.

During her absence, production comes to a standstill; decay sets in. The Ishtar who is rescued by Ea through the mediation of the 'Renewal of Light' is the astral Ishtar, as developed by the astronomers, and, finally, the Ishtar who receives her ornaments back again and comes to the upper world, is once more the G.o.ddess of vegetation, rescued from her exile to new glory. Up to this point, Tammuz has not been mentioned in the story. In the advice, however, that is given at the conclusion of the tale to mourners, the consort of Ishtar is introduced.

If she[1182] will not grant her redemption,[1183] turn to her[1184]

[thy countenance?]

To Tammuz, her youthful consort, Pour out pure waters, costly oil [offer him?].

The mourners are furthermore instructed to inst.i.tute a formal lamentation. The Ukhati,[1185] the priestesses of Ishtar, are to sing dirges; flutes are to accompany the song. The thought intended, apparently, to be conveyed is that if Allatu will not give up the dead, the surviving relatives should endeavor to secure the good grace of Ishtar and Tammuz, who succeeded in subduing Allatu.

The closing lines are rendered obscure by a reference to the G.o.ddess Belili, who appears to be the sister of Tammuz. The reference a.s.sumes the knowledge of a tale in which the G.o.ddess was represented as breaking a costly vessel adorned with precious stones, in sign of her grief for the lost Tammuz. Suitable mourning for Tammuz, therefore, will secure the sympathy of Belili also. The story thus ends with a warning to all who mourn for their dead to remember Tammuz, to observe the rites set aside for the festival celebrated in his honor.

Bearing in mind the tentative character of any interpretation for the closing lines, we may mention Jeremias'[1186] supposition that it is a deceased sister who addresses her sorrowing brother at the end of the story.

My only brother, let me not perish.

On the day of Tammuz, play for me on the flute of lapis lazuli, together with the lyre[1187] of pearl play for me.

Together let the professional dirge singers, male and female, play for me, That the dead may arise and inhale the incense of offerings.

The lines impress one as s.n.a.t.c.hes from a dirge, sung or recited in memory of the dead, and introduced here as an appropriate ill.u.s.tration of the conclusion to be drawn from the tale. At all events, the consolation that the mourner receives lies in this thought,--the dead can hear the lamentation. The survivors are called upon not to forget the dead. When the festival of Tammuz comes, let them combine with the weeping for the G.o.d, a dirge in memory of the dead. Let them pray to Ishtar and Tammuz. If remembered by the living, the dead will at least enjoy the offerings made to them, regain, as it were, a temporary sense of life; but more cannot with certainty be hoped for.

The outlook for the dead, it will be seen, is not hopeful. Their condition is at best a tolerable one. What we may glean from other sources but confirms the general impression, conveyed by the opening and closing lines of the Ishtar story, or makes the picture a still gloomier one. The day of death is a day of sorrow, 'the day without mercy.' The word for corpse conveys the idea that things have 'come to an end.'

Whenever death is referred to in the literature, it is described as an unmitigated evil. A dirge introduced into an impressive hymn to Nergal[1188] laments the fate of him who

... has descended to the breast of the earth, Satiated,[1189] [he has gone] to the land of the dead.

Full of lament on the day that he encountered sorrow, In the month which does not bring to completion the year,[1190]

On the road of destruction for mankind, To the wailing-place (?), The hero [has gone], to the distant invisible land.

We must not be misled by an epithet bestowed upon several G.o.ds, Marduk, Ninib, and Gula, of 'the restorer of the dead to life,' into the belief that the dead could be brought back from Aralu. These epithets appear chiefly in incantations and hymns addressed to the G.o.ds for some specific purpose, such as deliverance of a sufferer from disease. The G.o.ds are appealed to against the demons, whose grasp means death. Ninib and Gula are viewed as G.o.ds of healing.[1191] To be cured through their aid was to be s.n.a.t.c.hed from the jaws of death. Moreover, Ninib and Marduk, as solar deities, symbolize the sun of spring, which brings about the revivification of nature. The return of vegetation suggests the thought that Ninib and Marduk have filled with new life what appeared to be dead. The trees that seemed entirely dead blossom forth; the bare earth is covered with verdure. Similarly, the suffering individual stricken with disease could be awakened to new life. It is this 'restoration' which lies in the power of the G.o.ds, but once a man has been carried off to Aralu, no G.o.d can bring him back to this earth.

An apparent exception to the rule, according to which all mankind eventually comes to Aralu, is formed by Parnapishtim and his wife, who dwell in a place vaguely described as 'distant,' situated at the 'confluence of the streams.' The place, as was pointed out in a previous chapter,[1192] lies in the vicinity of the Persian Gulf, and, since it can only be reached by water, the natural conclusion is that it is an island. The temptation is strong to compare the dwelling of Parnapishtim with the belief found among the Greeks and other nations, of 'an island of the blessed.' This has been done by Jeremias[1193] and others.

However, we must bear in mind that the point in Parnapishtim's narrative is that he and his wife do _not die_. They are removed to the distant place by the G.o.ds and continue to live there. Again, we do not learn of any other person who inhabits this island. If to these considerations we add, that the name Parnapishtim signifies 'offspring of life,' that his wife's name is not mentioned, that we are not told what becomes of his family and servants, who are also saved from the deluge, it is evident that the incident of Parnapishtim's escape is an allegory, introduced into the story as a dramatic means of teaching the doctrine which we have seen dominates the tale,--that man, ordinarily, cannot secure immortal life.

If there is any connection between the island where Parnapishtim dwells and the Greek conception of 'an island of the blessed,' it is a trace of foreign influence in Babylonian mythology. There is nothing to show that among the Babylonians, either among the populace or in the schools, a belief arose in a 'paradise' whither privileged persons were transported after death, nor is any distinction made by them between the good and the bad, so far as the future habitation is concerned. All mankind, kings and subjects, virtuous and wicked, go to Aralu. Those who have obtained the good will of the G.o.ds receive their reward in this world, by a life of happiness and of good health. The G.o.ds can ward off disease, or, rather, since disease (as all ills and misfortunes) is a punishment sent by some G.o.d or demon, forgiveness can be secured, the proof of which will consist in the restoration of the sick to health, but the moment that death ensues the control of the G.o.ds ends. To the Babylonians, the words of the Psalmist,[1194] "who praises thee, O G.o.d, in Sheol?" came home with terrible force. They expressed, admirably, the Babylonian view of the limitations of divine power. The dead do not praise the G.o.ds, simply because it would be useless. The concern of the G.o.ds is with the living.

We are fortunate in possessing a pictorial representation of the nether world that confirms the view to be derived from a study of the religious literature. A number of years ago, Clermont-Ganneau directed attention to a remarkable bronze tablet which was purchased at Hamath in northern Syria.[1195] The art was clearly Babylonian, and there was no reason to question the genuineness of the production. Quite recently a duplicate has been found at Zurghul, in Babylonia,[1196] so that all suspicions are removed. The bronze tablet contains on the one side, the figure of a monster with a lion-like face and body, but provided with huge wings.

Standing erect, his head rises above the tablet, his fore legs rest on the edge, and the demon is thus represented in the att.i.tude of looking over to the other side of the tablet. At the side of the monster, are two heads of hideous appearance.

The ill.u.s.trations on the reverse are devoted to a portrayal of a funeral ceremony, and of the general aspects of the nether world. There are five distinct divisions,[1197] marked off from one another by four heavy lines drawn across the tablet. In the first division appear the symbols of the chief G.o.ds of the a.s.syrian pantheon, Marduk, Nabu, Sin, Ishtar, Shamash, Ramman, etc.[1198] These G.o.ds, as inhabiting the heaven, are placed at the head of the tablet. Next come seven evil spirits figured as various animals,[1199] who, as inferior to the G.o.ds, and perhaps also as messengers of the latter, are a.s.signed a place midway between heaven and earth. In the third section, there is pictured the funeral ceremony proper. A dead body lies on a couch. Two rather strange figures, but apparently priests, have taken up a position, one at each end of the funeral bier, performing some rite of purification. One of the priests has a robe of fish scales and is bearded; the other is smooth-faced and clothed in a long garment. Censers are placed near the priests. The latter appear at the same time to be protecting the body against two demons whose threatening gestures suggest that they are endeavoring to secure possession of the dead.[1200] These demons may be the special messengers of the G.o.ds of the nether world, who have brought about the death of their victim. Below this scene, we come to a view of the nether world. The division is much larger than any of the others. Two hideous figures dominate the scene, both of fantastic shape, and evidently so portrayed as to suggest the horror of the nether world. One of these figures[1201] stands erect in a menacing att.i.tude; the other is resting in a kneeling position on a horse.[1202] The second figure is a representation of the chief G.o.ddess of the nether world--Allatu. The demon at her side would then be the special messenger of this G.o.ddess, Namtar. The G.o.ddess has her two arms extended, in the act of strangling a serpent. The act symbolizes her strength. Her face is that of a lioness, and she is suckling two young lions at her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. If it be recalled that Nergal, the chief G.o.d of the lower world, is also pictured as a lion,[1203] it seems but natural to conclude that the monster covering the one side of the tablet is none other than the consort of Allatu, the heads on either side of him representing his attendants. At the left side of Allatu are a series of objects,--a jar, bowl, an arrowhead (?), a trident, which, as being buried with the dead, are symbols of the grave. The G.o.ddess and the demon at her side direct their gaze towards these objects.

The nether world reaches down to the Apsu,--the 'deep' that flows underneath the earth. This is indicated in the design by placing the horse, on which the G.o.ddess rests, in a bark. The bark, again, is of fantastic shape, the one end terminating in the head of a serpent, the other in that of some other animal,--perhaps a bull. The bark reaches into the fifth division,[1204] which is a picture of flowing water with fish swimming from the left to the right, as an indication of the direction in which the water flows. At the verge of the water stand two trees.[1205] What these trees symbolize is not known, and there are other details in the third and fourth sections that still escape us. For our purposes, it is sufficient to note: (_a_) that the sections represent in a general way the divisions of the universe, the heavens, the atmosphere, the earth, the nether world, and the deep;[1206] (_b_) that the nether world is in the interior of the earth, reaching down to Apsu; and (_c_) that this interior is pictured as a place full of horrors, and is presided over by G.o.ds and demons of great strength and fierceness.

Such being the view of the nether world, it is natural that the living should regard with dread, not only the place but also its inhabitants.

The gloom that surrounded the latter reacted on their disposition. In general, the dead were not favorably disposed towards the living, and they were inclined to use what power they had to work evil rather than for good. In this respect they resembled the demons, and it is noticeable that an important cla.s.s of demons was known by the name _ekimmu_, which is one of the common terms for the shades of the dead.

This fear of the dead, which is the natural corollary to the reverence felt for them, enters as an important factor in the honors paid by the living to the memory of the deceased. To provide the dead with food and drink, to recall their virtues in dirges, to bring sacrifices in their honor,--such rites were practised, as much from a desire to secure the favor of the dead and to ward off their evil designs as from motives of piety, which, of course, were not absent. The dead who was not properly cared for by his surviving relatives would take his revenge upon the living by plaguing them as only a demon could. The demons that infested graveyards were in some way identified with the 'spirits,' or perhaps messengers, of the dead, who, in their anger towards the living, lay in wait for an attack upon those against whom they had a grudge.

The Pantheon of Aralu.

We have seen how the mystery coupled with death led to the view which brought the dead into more direct relations.h.i.+p with the G.o.ds. Closely allied with this view is the power ascribed to the dead to work evil or good and, like the G.o.ds, to furnish oracles. This power once acknowledged, it was but a short step to the deification of the dead, or, rather, of such personalities who in life exercised authority, by virtue of their position or innate qualities. On the other hand, the gloominess of the nether world, the sad condition of its inhabitants, the impossibility of an escape or a return to this world, necessarily suggested to the Babylonians that the G.o.ds wors.h.i.+pped by the living had no control over the fate of the dead. The G.o.ds, to be sure, were at times wrathful, but, on the whole, they were well disposed towards mankind. When angry, they could be pacified, and it was impossible to believe that they should deliberately consign their creatures to such a sad lot as awaited those who went down to Aralu. The G.o.ds who ruled the dead must be different from those who directed the fate of the living. A special pantheon for the nether world was thus developed. Such deities as Marduk, Ea, Nabu, Shamash, or Ashur, who acted, each in his way, as protectors of mankind, could find no place in this pantheon; but a G.o.d like Nergal, who symbolized the midday sun, and the sun of the summer solstice that brought misery and fever to the inhabitants of the Euphrates Valley; Nergal, who became the G.o.d of violent destruction in general, and, more particularly, the G.o.d of war, the G.o.d whose emblem was the lion, who was cruel and of forbidding aspect,--such a G.o.d was admirably adapted to rule those who could only look forward to a miserable imprisonment in a region filled with horror. Nergal, therefore, became the chief G.o.d of the pantheon of the lower world.

In the religious texts, the cruel aspects of this G.o.d are almost exclusively emphasized. He is the one G.o.d towards whom no love is felt, for he is a G.o.d without mercy. The fierce aspects of the solar Nergal are accentuated in Nergal, the chief of the pantheon of Aralu. He becomes even more ferocious than he already was, as a G.o.d of war. His battle is with all mankind. He is greedy for victims to be forever enclosed in his great and gloomy domain. Destruction is his one and single object; nothing can withstand his attack. Armed with a sword, his favorite time for stalking about is at night, when he strikes his unerring blows. Horrible demons of pestilence and of all manner of disease const.i.tute his train, who are sent out by him on missions of death. The favorite t.i.tles by which he is known appear in a hymn[1207]

addressed to him, as G.o.d of the lower world. He is invoked as the

Warrior, strong whirlwind, sweeping the hostile land,[1208]

Warrior, ruler of Aralu.

Another hymn[1209] describes him as a

Great warrior who is firm as the earth.

Superior as heaven and earth art thou,

What is there in the deep that thou dost not secure?

What is there in the deep that thou dost not clutch?

While references to the local character of the G.o.d as patron of Cuthah survive, the name Cuthah itself becomes synonymous with the nether world. The old solar deity is completely overshadowed by the terrible ruler of the lower world. It is due to this that the real consort of the local Nergal, the G.o.ddess Laz, is rarely mentioned in the religious literature. The priests, when they spoke of Nergal, had in mind always the companions.h.i.+p with Allatu. But the a.s.sociation of ideas which thus led to a.s.signing a G.o.d who was originally a solar deity, a place in the lower world bears the impress of the schools. The popular development of Nergal ceased, when he became the local G.o.d of Cuthah. It is only as an outgrowth of the systematized pantheon that we can understand the transformation involved in making of a local deity, the head of a pantheon that is itself an outcome of the later phases a.s.sumed by the religion.

The problem suggested by this transformation was recognized by the theologians. A curious tale was found among the El-Amarna tablets which endeavors to account for Nergal's presence in the world of the dead.

Unfortunately, the tablet on which the story is inscribed is so badly mutilated that we can hardly gather more than the general outlines.[1210] A conflict has arisen between the G.o.ds on high and a G.o.ddess who has her seat in the lower world. This G.o.ddess is none other than Allatu. She is described as Eresh-Kigal,[1211] _i.e._, queen of Kigal or of the nether world. The scene reminds us of the contest between the G.o.ds and Tiamat, as embodied in the creation epic. The G.o.ds choose Nergal as their leader. a.s.sisted by fourteen companions, whose names--'fever,' 'fiery heart,' 'lightning sender'--remind us again of the eleven monsters that const.i.tute Tiamat's a.s.sistants,[1212] Nergal proceeds to the lower world, and knocks at the gate for admission.

Namtar, the plague-demon, acts as the messenger. He announces the arrival of Nergal to Allatu. The latter is obliged to admit Nergal, just as in the story of Ishtar's descent, she is forced to receive Ishtar.

Fourteen gates of the lower world are mentioned. At each one, Nergal stations one of his companions and pa.s.ses on to the house of Allatu. He seizes the G.o.ddess, drags her from her throne, and is about to kill her when she appeals for mercy. She breaks out in tears, offers herself in marriage if Nergal will spare her.

You shall be my husband and I will be your wife.

The tablets of wisdom I will lay in your hands.

You shall be master and I mistress.

Nergal accepts the condition, kisses Allatu, and wipes away her tears.

One cannot resist the conclusion that the tale is, as already suggested, an imitation of the Marduk-Tiamat episode. Allatu is a female like Tiamat. Nergal acts for the G.o.ds just as Marduk does. The attendants of Nergal are suggested by the monsters accompanying Tiamat; the tables of wisdom which Nergal receives, correspond to the tablets of fate which Marduk s.n.a.t.c.hes from Kingu.[1213] But while the conflict between Marduk and Tiamat is an intelligible nature-myth, symbolizing the annual rainstorms that sweep over Babylonia, there is no such interpretation possible in the contest between Nergal and Allatu. The story is not even a glorification of a local deity, for Nergal appears solely in the role of a solar deity. The attendants given to him--heat, lightning, and disease--are the popular traits in the story; but with the chief characters in the old nature-myth changed,--Marduk or the original Bel replaced by Nergal, and Tiamat by Allatu,--the story loses its popular aspect, and becomes a medium for ill.u.s.trating a doctrine of the schools.

If this view of the tale be correct, we would incidentally have a proof (for which there is other evidence) that as early as the fifteenth century, the Marduk-Tiamat story had already received a definite shape.

But the most valuable conclusion to be drawn from the Nergal-Allatu tale is that, according to the popular conceptions, the real and older head of the pantheon of the lower world was a G.o.ddess, and not a G.o.d.

Allatu takes precedence of Nergal. In the story of Ishtar's descent to the lower world, a trace of the earlier view survives. Allatu is introduced as the ruler of the lower world. Nergal plays no part. Viewed in this light, the design of the tale we have just discussed becomes still more evident. It was inconsistent with the prominence a.s.signed to male deities in the systematized pantheon, that the chief deity of the lower world should be a female. Allatu could not be set aside, for the belief in her power was too strongly imbedded in the popular mind; but a male consort could be given her who might rule with her. Another factor that may have entered into play in the adaptation of the Marduk-Tiamat story to Nergal and Allatu, and that gave to the adaptation more plausibility, was the disappearance of the summer sun after he had done his work. Nergal did not exert his power during the whole year, and even as the sun of midday, he was not in control all day. When he disappeared, there was only one place to which he could go.

As of Tarmmuz and of other solar deities,[1214] it was probably related of Nergal, also, that he was carried to the lower world. This popular basis for the presence of Nergal in the lower world may have served as a point of departure for the scholastic development of Nergal. However, the tale of Nergal and Allatu goes far beyond the length of popular belief in making Nergal conquer Allatu, and force himself, in a measure, into her place. Before Nergal appears on the scene, a G.o.d, Ninazu, was regarded as the consort of Allatu.[1215]

The conception which gives the Babylonian Hades a queen as ruler is of popular origin, in contrast to the scholastic aspect of Nergal as the later king of the lower region. Jensen is of the opinion that the feminine gender of the word for earth in Babylonian superinduced the belief that the ruler of the kingdom situated within the earth was a woman. Allatu would, according to this view, be a personification of the 'earth.' But a factor that also enters into play is the notion of productivity and fertility which gave rise to the conception of the great mother-G.o.ddess, Ishtar.[1216] Allatu is correlated to Ishtar. From the earth comes vegetation. The origin of mankind, too, is traced to the earth, and to the earth mankind ultimately returns.[1217] Hence, the receiver of life is a G.o.ddess equally with the giver of life, and indeed, Ishtar and Allatu are but the two aspects of one and the same phenomenon.[1218] Allatu signifies 'strength.' The name is related to the Arabic _Allah_ and the Hebrew _Eloah_ and _Elohim_. The same meaning--strength, power, rule--attaches to many of the names of the G.o.ds of the Semites: Adon, Etana, Baal, El, and the like.[1219] It is interesting to note that the chief G.o.ddess of Arabia is _Allat_[1220]--a name identical with our Allatu.

The bronze relief above described furnished us with a picture of this queen of the lower world. The gloom enveloping the region controls this picture. Allatu is of as forbidding an aspect as Tiamat. She is warlike and ferocious. When enraged, her anger knows no bounds. Her chief attendants are the terrible Namtar and a scribe--also a female--known as Belit-seri. Of these two personages, Namtar, the personification of disease, is a popular conception, whereas the addition of a scribe points again to the influence of the schools. Marduk, the chief G.o.d of the living, has a scribe who writes down, at the G.o.d's dictation, the fate decreed for individuals. Corresponding to this, the ruler of the lower world has a scribe who writes down on the tablets of wisdom the decrees of the G.o.ddess, and, at a later stage, the decrees of Nergal as well. Belit-seri, whose name signifies 'mistress of the field,' was originally a G.o.ddess of vegetation, some local deity who has been reduced to the rank of an attendant upon a greater one; and it is significant that almost all the members of the nether-world pantheon are in some way connected with vegetation.

Tammuz, of whose position in this pantheon we have already had occasion to speak, is the G.o.d of spring vegetation. Another solar deity, Nin-gishzida,[1221] who is a.s.sociated in the Adapa legend with Tammuz, is the deity who presides over the growth of trees. En-meshara, who also belongs to the court of Nergal and Allatu, appears to represent vegetation in general. To these may be added Girra (or Gira), who originally, as it would appear, a G.o.d of vegetation, is eventually identified with Dibbarra,[1222] Gil, whom Jensen[1223] regards as 'the G.o.d of foliage,' and Belili, the sister of Tammuz.[1224] Of this group of deities, Tammuz and Nin-gishzida are the most important. In the Adapa legend, it will be recalled, they are stationed as guardians in heaven.

As solar deities, they properly belong there. Like Nergal, they have been transferred to the nether world; and in the case of all three, the process that led to the change appears to have been the same. The trees blossom, bear fruit, and then decay; the fields are clothed in glory, and then shorn of their strength. The decay of vegetation was popularly figured as due to the weakness[1225] of the G.o.d who produced the fertility. Tammuz has been deceived by Ishtar; Nin-gishzida has been carried off to the lower world. In the month of Tebet,--the tenth month,--there was celebrated a festival of mourning for the lost En-meshara. It is the time of the winter solstice. A similar fate must have overtaken Belit-seri, Girra, and Gil. For a time, at least, they are hidden in the realm of Allatu. Of all these deities, stories were no doubt current that formed so many variations of one and the same theme, symbolizing their disappearance and the hoped-for return, the same story that we encounter in the myth of Venus and Adonis, in the myth of Osiris, and, in some guise or other, among many other nations of the ancient world. Of Girra, it may be well to remember that he is viewed merely as a form of Nergal in the later texts. Belili, it will be recalled, is a.s.sociated with Tammuz in the story of Ishtar's journey.[1226] She is not, however, the consort of the G.o.d, but his sister. The antiquity of her cult follows from the occurrence of her name in the list of G.o.ds antecedent to Anu,[1227] and where Alala is entered as her consort. Whatever else the relations.h.i.+p of 'sister' to Tammuz means, it certainly indicates that Belili belongs to the deities of vegetation, and it may be that she will turn out to be identical with Belit-seri, which is merely the designation of some G.o.ddess, and not a real name.[1228] One is inclined also to suspect some, albeit remote, connection between Alala, the consort of Belili, and the Alallu bird who is spoken of in the Gilgamesh epic as having been deprived of her pinions by Ishtar.[1229] In the tale, Tammuz, the Alallu bird, a lion, and a horse are successively introduced as those once loved and then deceived by Ishtar. The lion is, as has been several times indicated, the symbol of Nergal; the horse appears in the Hades relief above described as the animal upon which Allatu is seated, and it seems legitimate, therefore, to seek for Alallu also in the nether world.

While it may be that a long process intervened, before such a species of symbolization was brought about as the representation of an ancient deity in the guise of a bird, still, if it will be recalled that Zu is a deity, pictured as a bird,[1230] there is every reason to interpret the bird Alallu merely as the symbol of some deity, just as the lion is certainly such a symbol.